The Brief

When the rapper Tony Obi, who performs as Fat Tony, left his Altadena home the night of the Eaton Fire, he didn't think he'd be gone for long. The winds were fierce, but the wildfire was still small, burning out in Eaton Canyon. So he grabbed a laptop, a couple changes of clothes and a bottle of mezcal, and headed to his girlfriend's house.

"We thought, all right, we should get out of Dodge so that the fire department can do their thing," he recalls. "But it was so far away that it truly never crossed my mind that the fire could reach my home."

Two weeks later, standing in front of the charred wreckage that used to be his house, he says it felt like he'd never lived there at all — his Altadena dream was dead.

"I was thinking that I'd go in there and maybe I'd rummage through and find some stuff," he says. "There's nothing. The only thing left standing is the fireplace, which I loved. I had a lot of wonderful moments at that fireplace over the holidays. And I'm grateful for that. So grateful for that."

Obi in the wreckage of his home.

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Ikee Cosby

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The fire claimed all his clothes, including a prized 1996 Tori Amos tour shirt, with "Recovering Christian" written on it in big, bold letters. It burned up his collection of the Japanese men's fashion magazine Popeye. And it incinerated the 20 years' worth of music equipment he'd bought to support his career.

"I couldn't see myself going out to the store and buying everything again. That just feels so daunting — I don't even want to think about doing that."

The January fires in Altadena and the Pacific Palisades killed at least 29 people and destroyed more than 16,000 homes and businesses, disrupting the lives of tens of thousands of Angelenos. And because Los Angeles is one of the global hubs of the music business, hundreds of those displaced by the fires, like Obi, are working musicians, singers, composers, producers or engineers. Their homes are often integral to their work — it's where they collect their synthesizers and guitars, practice and record their music and store unsold merchandise. So when the fires roared through their neighborhoods, the flames took not only their homes, but entire livelihoods.

Tim Darcy, who sings and plays guitar in the post-punk band Cola, managed to save two guitars and a hard drive from his Altadena home before it was destroyed.

"But I lost everything else, like my home studio and my pedalboards for touring and a bunch of effects units and a tape machine and all that kind of stuff," he says. "I didn't have a multimillion-dollar studio or anything like that, but it all just adds up so quickly."

Darcy says he feels lucky for the support he's received so far from his band and the broader music community. Guitar Center and Fender each replaced one piece of equipment he lost in the fire. His label sent a note to fans, asking them to support Darcy's GoFundMe. And he received a $1,500 grant and a grocery card from MusiCares, the charity founded by the Recording Academy. The charity has been providing financial assistance to working musicians, along with other services like mental health care and rental assistance.

There's little time to regroup and recover, though. Cola has a European tour coming up in May, and Darcy is trying to rebuild his collection of equipment in time for that. It's good to keep busy, he says, but there's a certain split-screen reality to pushing on without a pause.

"There's this kind of weird, mercurial quality to the grief aspect of this, where one day doing something totally unrelated to what happened feels really good," he says. "It's like, 'Wow, it's so nice that for 20 minutes, I just didn't think about the fact that the house burned down, and all of our stuff is gone.' Then another day you can do something distracting and be like, 'Wow, it feels really messed up that I'm not thinking about this, you know?' "

The audio engineer Jake Viator, who's worked with artists like Julia Holter and Lee "Scratch" Perry, has been busy dealing with insurance and government agencies since his Altadena home burned down. So he says he welcomes the distraction to dive back into his work, mastering albums at Stones Throw Studios. "I'm as back to work as can be. Can't stop, won't stop. And in this business, if you can't do a job, you might not ever do a job again."

Viator's vinyl collection.

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Melissa Viator

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Viator says he lost loads of equipment in the fire, like cables, connectors and electronic parts. "Having to buy that stuff at 2025 prices is a huge financial loss, for sure," he says. And there are plenty of things he can't ever buy again: amplifiers and speakers, made by small-time electrical engineers.

But his vinyl collection is what he's grieving the most, he says. When he returned to his home in the weeks following the Eaton Fire, suited up in hazmat gear, he found remnants of his 1,500 records among the debris. He recalls one lost title in particular — a 1968 live recording of Philip Cohran & the Artistic Heritage Ensemble, playing a tribute concert to Malcolm X.

"There's a few hundred of these in existence," Viator says. "I looked for years for this and finally got the record in good condition. It's a literal historical musical document. Those are the ones that are really painful to lose."

In addition to prized music memorabilia and special equipment, artists have lost their creative work in the fire, too. The pianist and composer John Carroll Kirby was out of the country when the Eaton Fire began to rage. He tends to keep new song ideas and demos saved on his laptop, so before leaving town, he backed it all up on a hard drive. "And I intentionally left the hard drive in my home studio," he reminisces, "thinking if I lose my laptop or my bag, I have this backup at home."

His laptop failed on his trip. But he was reassured that he had a copy of his compositions back home. The night of the Eaton Fire, his landlord called letting him know they had to evacuate, and asked if there was anything he wanted her to grab. He was on a flight, and the call went to voicemail. By the time he got the message, his home — and the hard drive in his studio — had been destroyed.

"So I've been piecing together this piano album from little videos I took of myself composing, and I'm relearning some music," he says.

But he's trying to put his experience to use the way he knows best. "Music has always been therapy number one for me. Whatever I'm going through, music has always been there to help," Kirby says. "A lot of great music comes out of suffering. And having experienced my own loss, and experienced this loss for my community, has been a source of inspiration and has been a source of new music."

A suitcase full of hard drives was one of the few things the composer Celia Hollander was able to save from the Altadena home she shared with her partner Evan Shornstein, who performs as Photay. She says those archives of live shows and older musical ideas have taken on a different quality for her now.

"It's actually made me more interested in going back into past recordings in a way that I wasn't before, because now it has more significance to me," she says.

Hollander and Shornstein have contributed one of their past recordings, a live duet taped in Elysian Park a few years ago, to a new 98-track compilation put out by Leaving Records. The album is called Staying, and it's meant to benefit artists impacted by the LA fires. The album joins at least half a dozen other benefit compilations that have gone on sale in the wake of the wildfires, just one example of the music community's push to raise funds. Artists have turned out to play benefit concerts too, like last month's FireAid, which raised more than $100 million for wildfire relief. And this year's Grammy Awards, broadcast from LA, centered heavily on fundraising and the impact of the fires on artists.

"You know, you make music or you make things sort of in isolation, and sometimes it's hard to understand who's hearing it or just understand the extent of the community you're a part of. And it's really large and it's really loving," Shornstein says. "I feel like when this first happened, I turned to Celia and I was like, 'you know, we have more people than possessions, more people than objects, in our life.' "

Tony Obi, the rapper, says in the immediate aftermath of the fire, he thought he might hang up his music career and close that chapter of his life. But he says his fellow musician friends DJ Sun and Toro y Moi reached out and donated some music gear to get him started again. And the other day, he was making beats again.

It's all contributed to a sense of gratitude, he says. He's alive. He's safe. He has support from FEMA and his GoFundMe. And he's moving into a new home. So despite losing nearly everything he owned just weeks ago, he's already performing at benefits for fire victims — another reminder that the ties of community run deep.

"I have opportunities to rebuild my life, and I think that I'm lucky to be a somewhat public person, to be an artist — I'm more visible than many other people in Altadena or affected by the Eaton Fire — and I want to put a spotlight on them," he says. "Now that I'm a little more settled, I'm ready to get right back to helping others."

Copyright 2025 NPR

This story first appeared on The LA Local.

Since 1977, Richard Santillan has been to every Opening Day game at Dodger Stadium. 

“The tradition goes from my father, to me, to my children and grandchildren. Some of my best memories are with my father and children here at Dodger Stadium,” Santillan told The LA Local, smiling under the shade of palm trees near the entrance to the ballpark Wednesday morning. He was there to protest the team less than 24 hours before Opening Day.

Santillan, like countless other loyal Dodgers fans, is grappling with his fan identity over the team’s decision to accept an invitation to the White House and owner Mark Walter’s ties to ICE detention facilities.

More than 30 people joined Santillan on Wednesday morning for a press conference held near 1000 Vin Scully Drive to convey a message directly to the team. 

“We are demanding the Dodgers stop participating in funding of inhumane treatment of families and do not go to the White House to celebrate with the criminal in chief,” Evelyn Escatiola told the crowd. “Together, we have the power to make a change.”

Escatiola, a former dean of East Los Angeles College and longtime community organizer, urged fans to flex their economic power by “letting the Dodgers know that we do not support repression.”

Jorge “Coqui” Rodriguez, a lifelong Dodgers fan, spoke to the crowd and called on Dodgers ownership to divest from immigration detention centers owned and operated by GEO Group and CoreCivic.

Jorge Coqui H Rodriguez speaks at a press conference outside Dodger Stadium on March 25, 2026, to demand the Dodgers not to visit the White House following their 2025 World Series win.

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The LA Local

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In a phone interview a day before the protest, Rodriguez told The LA Local he did not want the Dodgers using his “cheve” or beer money to fund detention centers. 

“They can’t take our parking money, our cacahuate money, our cheve money, our Dodger Dog money and invest those funds into corporations that are imprisoning people. It’s wrong,” Rodriguez said. 

Rodriguez considers the Dodgers one of the most racially diverse teams and said the players need to support fans at a time when heightened immigration enforcement has become more common across L.A.

The team’s 2025’s visit to the White House drew ire from the largely Latino fan base, citing the Trump administration’s ongoing attacks on immigrants. 

In June, the team came under further scrutiny when rumors swirled online that federal immigration agents were using the stadium’s parking, which immigration authorities later denied in statements posted on social media accounts.

The team again came under fire after not releasing a statement on the impacts of ICE raids on its mostly Latino fan base at the height of immigration enforcement last summer. The team later agreed to invest $1 million to support families affected by immigration enforcement.

When he learned the Dodgers were pledging only $1 million to families in need, Rodriguez called the amount a  “slap in the face.” 

“These guys just bought the Lakers for billions of dollars and they give a million dollars to fight for legal services? That’s a joke,” Rodriguez said. “They need to have a moral backbone and not be investing in those companies.”

According to reporting from the Los Angeles Times, former Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershawsaid last week that he is looking forward to the trip.

“I went when President [Joe] Biden was in office. I’m going to go when President [Donald] Trump is in office,” Kershaw said. “To me, it’s just about getting to go to the White House. You don’t get that opportunity every day, so I’m excited to go.”

The Dodgers have yet to announce when their planned visit will take place. 

Santillan sometimes laments his decision to give up his season tickets in protest of the team. His connection to the stadium and the memories he has made there with family and friends will last a lifetime, he said. On Thursday, he will uphold his tradition and be there for the first pitch of the season, but with a heavy heart.

“It’s a family tradition, but the Dodgers have a lot of work to do,” he said.

A local favorite mom-and-pop bookshop in Eagle Rock is facing displacement due to a steep rent hike. The owners say theirs is just one of several small businesses along Eagle Rock Boulevard struggling to keep up with lease increases.

Over the past 19 years, many in the neighborhood have come to love READ Books for its eclectic collection of used titles and shop dog Florence.

Co-owner Jeremy Kaplan said it’s been a delight to grow with the community over the years.

“Like seeing kids come back in, who were in grade school and now they’re in college,” Kaplan said.

But the building where Kaplan and wife Debbie rent was recently sold, and the rent increased by more than 130% to $2,805 a month, Kaplan said. He told LAist it was an increase his small business simply could not absorb.

Kaplan said he originally was given 30 days notice of the rent increase. After some research, assistance from Councilmember Ysabel Jurado’s office and some pro-bono legal help, Kaplan said he pushed back and got the 90-day notice he’s afforded by state law.

California Senate Bill 1103 requires landlords to give businesses with five or less employees 90 days’ notice for rent increases exceeding 10%, among other protections.

Systems Real Estate, the property management company, did not immediately respond to LAist’s request for comment.

What can small businesses do? 

Nadia Segura, directing attorney of the Small Business Program at pro bono legal aid non-profit Bet Tzedek said California law does not currently allow for rent control for commercial tenancies.

Outside of the protections under SB 1103, Segura said small businesses like READ Books don’t have much other recourse. And even then, commercial landlords are not required to inform their tenants of their protections under the law.

“There’s still a lot of people that don’t know about SB 1103. And then it’s very sad that they tell them they have these rent increases and within a month they have to leave,” Segura said.

She said her group is seeing steep rent hikes like this for commercial tenants across the city.

“We are seeing this even more with the World Cup coming up, the Olympics coming up. And I will say it was very sad to see that also after the wildfires,” Segura said.

Part of Bet Tzedek’s ongoing work is to advocate for small businesses, working with landlords who are increasing rents to see if they are willing to give business owners longer leases that lock in rents.

What’s next 

After READ Books posted about their situation on social media, commenters chimed in to express their outrage and love for the little shop.

While he looks for a new spot, Kaplan says he’s forming a coalition of local businesses and activist groups to see what can be done to help other small businesses facing similar displacement. He wants to address the displacement issue for businesses like his, which have made Eagle Rock the distinctive neighborhood that it is today.

Owl Talk, a longtime Eagle Rock staple selling clothing and accessories in a unit in the same building as READ Books, is facing a “more than double” rent increase, according to a post on their Instagram account.

Kaplan said he’s been in touch with the office of state Assemblywoman Jessica Caloza and wants to explore the possibility of introducing legislation to set up protections for small businesses like his, including rent-control measures or a vacancy tax for landlords. Kaplan said he also reached out to the office of state Sen. Maria Durazo.

By his count, Kaplan said there are about a dozen businesses within surrounding blocks that are at risk of closing their doors or have shuttered due to rent increases or other struggles.

When READ Books was founded during the Great Recession, Kaplan said he knew it was a longshot to open a bookstore at the same time so many were struggling to stay in business.

“It was kind of interesting to be doing something that neighborhoods needed. That was important to me growing up, that was important to my children, that was important to my wife growing up,” Kaplan said.

“And then somebody comes in and says, ‘We’re gonna over double your rent.”

Topline:

Frozen budget: Most of the city’s Bureau of Street Lighting budget comes from an assessment that people who own property illuminated by lights pay on their county property tax bill. The amount people pay depends on the kind of property they own and how much they benefit from lighting. A typical single-family home currently pays $53 annually, and in total, the assessments bring in about $45 million annually for the city to repair and maintain streetlights. Changing the amount the Bureau of Street Lighting gets from the assessment requires a vote among property owners who benefit from the lights.

Ballots: L.A. City Council’s vote gives city staff the green light to prepare and send out those ballots. Miguel Sangalang, who oversees the bureau, said at a committee meeting earlier this month that he expects to send out ballots by April 17. Notices about the ballots will be sent out prior to the ballots themselves.

Near unanimous vote: L.A. City Councilmember Monica Rodriguez was the only “No” vote Tuesday, saying she wanted to see a more current strategic plan for the bureau. Sangalang said the bureau developed a plan in 2022 that lays out how money will be spent. Councilmember Imelda Padilla was absent for the vote.

Vote count: Votes will be weighted according to the assessment amount. Basically, the more you’re asked to pay yearly to maintain streetlights, the more your vote will count. Ballots received before June 2 will be tabulated by the L.A. City Clerk.

How much more money: According to a report, the amount needed in assessments from property owners to meet the repair and maintenance needs of the city’s streetlighting in the next fiscal year is nearly $112 million.

Use of the money: Sangalang said at a March 11 committee meeting that the extra funds would be used to double the number of staff to handle repairs and procure solar streetlights, which don’t face the threat of copper wire theft. That would all potentially reduce the time it takes to repair simple fixes down to a week. Currently, city residents wait for months to see broken streetlights repaired. The assessment would come with a three-year auditing mechanism.