The Brief

Welcome to Spooky L.A., where over the next four days we’ll shine a flashlight on some hair-raising history and haunts across Los Angeles.

To that end, we called in some experts to help us understand the ghoulish history of L.A. For today’s debut, Hadley Meares takes us through Hollywood, where celebrity ghost sightings are both disturbing and good for business.

Why are we obsessed with Hollywood ghosts? 

It can be hard to part with loved ones in this life, and maybe that’s why we like to believe their spirit is sticking around. That can also ring true with celebrities we’ve connected with.

“I think we kind of create these stories to keep a piece of them to ourselves and feel like we can still have that exciting, personal relationship like when you get an autograph or spot a celebrity in the wild,” Meares said.

The holy grail of ghosts

Meares called one particular spirit the holy Grail of ghosts. Can you guess it?

I’ll give you a hint. Diamonds are this spirit’s best friend.

Yep. Marilyn Monroe.

Her story is a tragic one — dying at the young age of 36 from a fatal overdose inside her Brentwood home on Aug. 5, 1962.

Meares said Monroe is reported to be spotted often throughout L.A, from powder rooms to hotels.

“Marilyn has supposedly been seen sitting wistfully on a bench at the Hippodrome on the Santa Monica Pier. She’s said to be in a full length mirror, checking her face, at the Roosevelt Hotel where she’s also been seen dancing,” Meares said.

Other sightings of Monroe have been reported at the former Hollywood Knickerbocker Hotel and in a mirror at the El Capitan Theatre. Meares said her favorite story of Marilyn sighting is at her final resting place.

“Marilyn is seen at her grave at the beautiful Westwood Memorial Cemetery, where they say that her tomb is sometimes surrounded by a delicate pink mist that you can see,” Meares said.

Where Rudolph Valentino's spirit likes to hang around 

Rudolph Valentino is another Hollywood star whose life was cut short at the age of 31. The Italian actor nicknamed "the Latin Lover" died of pleurisy on Aug. 23, 1926.

He’s been spotted at his mansion in Beverly Hills, called the Falcon Lair. The mansion is reportedly also haunted by a later resident, heiress Doris Duke.

“It’s said that socialite Millicent Rogers claimed that she was even chased out of Falcon Lair one night by Valentino's ghost,” Meares said.

Other places his ghost has reportedly frequented are the former Hollywood Knickerbocker hotel, his beach house on Hollywood Beach, Hotel Alexandra, the bathroom of Musso and Frank Grill, and his old apartment now called Valentino Place in Hollywood. He’s also been seen at Paramount Studios and the Hollywood Forever Cemetery, where according to Meares, “the lady in black comes to pay her respects to him every year.”

Meares said not only does Valentino appear everywhere in Hollywood, but so does his furry friend.

“His beloved dog Kabar is also said to still be howling for his lost owner," Meares said, "both at Falcon Lair and at the fascinating Los Angeles Pet Cemetery, which is in Calabasas. And that is where Kabar is actually buried.”

That’s it for today’s top celebrity ghost stories. Check back in tomorrow as we explore the Cecil Hotel in downtown L.A. and the chilling and tragic case of Elisa Lam. You can read more about other top celebrity ghost sightings from Hadley Meares here.

Long-term eviction defense funding for Los Angeles renters could soon begin to flow now that city officials have announced a break in an impasse dating back to May 2025.

L.A. City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto said Thursday she intends to sign a new $107 million contract with the Legal Aid Foundation of L.A. She said the contract — which was approved by the City Council and the mayor in April, but still awaits her approval — was “nearly finalized.”

“I am fully committed to supporting these crucial eviction defense services for our vulnerable neighbors in need,” Feldstein Soto said in a statement.

Feldstein Soto — who will not secure a second term after placing third in last month’s primary election — pledged to continue investigating the legal aid group. She has frequently criticized the nonprofit for what she sees as a lack of transparency, though L.A. Housing Department officials say the group has consistently provided accounting and caseload data to the city.

“Taxpayers deserve transparency and accountability and to know that their money is being used as intended,” Feldstein Soto said.

Barbara Schultz, a Legal Aid Foundation attorney overseeing the city-funded Stay Housed L.A. program, said both parties have been negotiating final contract details for more than a week. She said the city attorney’s announcement was encouraging.

“[Feldstein Soto] said she was going to approve the contract, so I'm very excited to hear that,” Schultz said. “Moving forward… we can continue to grow, fully implement the ‘Right to Counsel,’ and tenants in Los Angeles will be much better off as a result.”

In response to Feldstein Soto’s claims that more than $58 million in eviction defense grants remain “unaccounted for” in the foundation’s financial audits and IRS forms, Schultz said taxpayer dollars have not been misspent and that no findings have been made to that effect.

“[The Legal Aid Foundation] is a very large nonprofit law firm that has over 40 federal, state and local government contracts,” Schultz said. “We are very used to being audited. Any audit the city wants to do to satisfy itself is absolutely fine with us.”

Feldstein Soto denied a five-year contract to the legal aid group last year, arguing it should have gone through a competitive bidding process. After the city solicited applications and selected the group for new long-term funding, she later told city councilmembers in a confidential memo that they should consider withholding support for “a frequent litigant against the city.”

While she announced the contract should be ready for her signature by July 7, Feldstein Soto said her office would move forward with plans to assign forensic accountants to study how the legal aid group has spent more than $90 million in city funds since 2021.

At the Bristol Swap Mall in Santa Ana, people are flocking to buy their Mexico soccer team jerseys and paraphernalia.

“The color is green and that says Mexico right here,” said Catherine Hernandez, who’s entering third grade, as she pointed to the replica Mexico soccer jersey her mother had bought her at a nearby stall.

She asked her mother to get her one the day after Mexico’s win against Ecuador and is already thinking about how she’ll feel wearing it Sunday during Mexico’s knockout game against England in the Round of 16.

“Excited, very excited because I’m Mexican and I love this shirt,” she said.

Hernandez was born in the U.S. and her mother was born in Mexico. Both say their Mexico jerseys symbolize those similar but different prides in their Mexican backgrounds.

They're among fans rooting for Mexico’s men’s national soccer team to advance further than ever before into the World Cup tournament. A win against England would move the team to the Round of 8, the quarterfinals, for the third time. Along the way, this Mexico team has captured the imagination of many in the U.S. who have, or are close to, those of Mexican heritage.

Proudly wearing the green jersey

The market vendor at the stall said only one adult-size 2026 jersey remained. So many had been sold they'd had to place an order for more.

A replica of Mexico's 2026 FIFA World Cup soccer jersey.

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Adolfo Guzman-Lopez

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LAist

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Many Mexico fans have been wearing their jerseys on the days leading up to the team's World Cup matches.

“On Monday, I looked around to see a sea of green, white and red, and it nearly brought me to tears in line at Costco,” said Alex Alcantar, who lives in Norwalk.

He was born and raised in the U.S. and he says his Mexico soccer jersey symbolizes that experience.

“Why I wear my Mexico jersey is because I want to visibly represent this community when our contributions to society are so heavily discounted,” he said.

The team’s growing prominence has also coaxed some others in Mexican communities in the U.S. to feel more confident in their identity.

“I've never used [a Mexico jersey] before,” said Xochi Flores, who was born in Oxnard and whose great-grandparents were Mexican.

“I didn't feel like I could go around representing Mexico when I'm a Chicana, third generation, not the best Spanish speaker,” she said.

Xochi Flores (left), with her husband Cesar Castro, has become more comfortable wearing the soccer jersey recently.

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Courtesy Xochi Flores

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In the past year, she said she’s felt closer to her Mexican roots as she’s seen reports of farmworkers and other people of Mexican descent arrested by ICE agents.

So to her, wearing her Mexico soccer jersey means leaving behind insecurities she used to have about not being “Mexican enough,” as well as “not being American enough.”

“I want my kids to see me embracing all of the parts of me. … They don't have those insecurities, and that makes me happy,” Flores said.

Wearing the jersey when you're Mexican-ish

The stalls are attracting all types of customers. “I'm just looking for a Mexican soccer jersey,” said Son Lam, who lives in nearby Orange and identifies as Vietnamese.

Lam says he’s become devoted to soccer since the World Cup started June 11. Buying and wearing a Mexican soccer team jersey means showing off his newfound sports fandom already embraced by his extended family

“My wife is Mexican and to me, [wearing the Mexico jersey] means I can fit in with the family more," he said as he laughed.

However they identify, all these shoppers will likely be wearing their jerseys as they watch Mexico compete against England on Sunday, July 5. Joining millions of fans rooting for their team to advance to the next round, and keeping dreams of a 2026 FIFA World Cup championship alive.

Santa Ana voters could be asked in November to maintain the city’s 1.5% sales tax, which was set to decrease in 2029 and eventually expire.

Voters approved the citywide sales tax in 2018 on the condition that it sunset in 20 years. Now, the Santa Ana City Council will vote Tuesday on whether to ask voters in November to make the tax permanent.

The big picture

Only about one-third of cities in Orange County have a local sales tax on top of the county-imposed sales tax of 7.75%. Sales taxes in most of Los Angeles County are much higher — L.A.’s countywide sales tax is 9.75% and the highest total sales taxes for cities in L.A. County are in Lancaster and Palmdale, at 11.25% each, according to the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration.

Other potential tax hikes in OC

Voters in Orange will be considering a sales tax hike on their November ballot, after failing to get voters’ approval in 2024. San Clemente voters will also consider a local sales tax in November to pay for more sand to shore up local beaches.