The Brief

Southern California officials reacted strongly Friday to a U.S. Supreme Court decision that effectively removes some legal protections for unhoused people who sleep on streets and in other public places when shelter beds are full.

Some officials, like Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, slammed the decision, calling it both “surprising” and “disappointing.” She and others cautioned local governments against using jail time as a means to address homelessness.

Reaction to the ruling

“This ruling must not be used as an excuse for cities across the country to attempt to arrest their way out of this problem or hide the homelessness crisis in neighboring cities or in jail,” Bass said in a statement.

Lindsey Horvath, chair of the L.A. County Board of Supervisors and the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority Commission, shared Bass' concerns, saying that the ruling “green lights the criminalization of homelessness.”

“We know what works in Los Angeles County — partnership, accountability, scrutinizing the status quo, and aligning all resources,” Horvath added in her statement. “It is not arrest. It is not pushing people from community to community.”

But others, like Orange County Supervisor Katrina Foley, said they saw the high court's decision as a way to further push local governments to create more housing.

“In order to truly solve homelessness, enforcement must accompany an aggressive effort to build all types of housing opportunities from permanent supportive, affordable, and workforce housing,” Foley said.

What the decision does and doesn't mean

The decision, released by the federal court Friday morning, is expected to have broad implications for how cities like Los Angeles treat people experiencing homelessness. The justices ruled 6-3 to reverse a lower court opinion that found bans on sleeping in public unconstitutional.

Shayla Myers, senior attorney with the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles, said that the topic was divisive across the board and that there were cascading consequences for criminalizing homelessness with anti-camping bans.

“We know after decades of research on this topic that ordinances that prevent people from sleeping outside when they have no place else to go does nothing to solve the homelessness crisis and in fact make[s] it worse,” Myers said in an Friday on AirTalk, LAist's public affairs show that airs on 89.3 FM.

Myers stressed that the ruling does not tell jurisdictions what they should do, but rather states that bans on sleeping in public don’t violate one part of the U.S. Constitution.

The backstory

This case began when the small city of Grants Pass, Oregon started fining unhoused people for using cardboard boxes, pillows and blankets to sleep in public, with possible jail time for repeat offenders. Lawyers representing unhoused people in the city challenged that policy, and lower courts agreed that the city’s ordinance was unconstitutional.

Advocates for the unhoused have agreed with lower court opinions holding that public camping bans amount to cruel and unusual punishment because they essentially criminalize the involuntary state of being homeless and needing somewhere to sleep.

A similar case in Boise, Idaho led to a ruling by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, which applies to nine Western states including California.

Why it matters

Local governments have complained these restrictions leave them hamstrung in responding to growing encampments that they see as threats to public safety and health. Elected leaders in California have asked the Supreme Court for more leeway to fine and punish people living on public property.

In many ways, the decision aligns with desires from L.A. business leaders, who feel the status quo has led to chaos that threatens businesses in many neighborhoods.

The L.A. Chamber of Commerce and the Central City Association, two L.A. based business groups, filed an amicus brief with the Supreme Court saying: “Business owners are bearing the brunt of the homelessness crisis … Los Angeles businesses, customers, and workers should not be forced to endure the unsafe environments on their doorsteps while local governments’ reasonable efforts to help are thwarted and no end is in sight.”

This story first appeared on The LA Local.

Friends & Family Flea, a new market from the team behind Maum Market, will make its debut Saturday in Koreatown. 

For organizer Arnold Byun, the launch is something of a homecoming. 

Nearly five years ago, Byun and his co-founder, Kioh Park, were living in Koreatown and spending months at Document Coffee Bar dreaming up what would eventually become Maum Market, the Asian makers market they launched in January 2022. The market now has a regular presence at ROW DTLA, where it hosts pop-up markets on Dock Street several times a year.

“The genesis of Maum Market is actually really embedded in Koreatown,” Byun, 31, told The LA Local. “And we have a lot of affection and personal history with Koreatown, so it’s a very personal thing for us just to return to our roots.” 

Most of the 24 vendors participating in the first Friends & Family Flea have some connection to Koreatown, Byun said. Some grew up in the neighborhood, some still live there and others have moved away but retain ties to the area. The vendor list includes apparel brands, artists, jewelry makers, beauty and wellness businesses and food vendors. 

“We’ve been trying to be pretty intentional about curating from the community as much as possible,” Byun said.

There will be plenty of food and shopping, including “sogeum-bbang,” or salt bread, tea, handmade candles, soaps and vintage clothing, as well as flash tattoos and burgers and fries from Love Hour. The LA Hwatu-Hanafuda Club will teach visitors about hwatu, the Korean deck of playing cards with roots in Japan. The club will also offer $5 tarot card readings.

Friends & Family Flea, a new market from the team behind Maum Market, will make its debut Saturday in Koreatown.

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Courtesy Eena Cho

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Eena Cho, founder of the LA Hwatu-Hanafuda Club, was born and raised in Koreatown. She remembers living with her mother in an apartment on Wilshire Boulevard and Vermont Avenue and volunteering at the senior center near Seoul International Park, where she spent time with older Korean residents.

She also grew up playing go-stop with her grandparents during Korean holidays, like Chuseok and Seollal. 

“That was a big part of my childhood,” said Cho, 24. “Another part is that living in LA where there’s so many different groups of people together, I remember my best friend Maria growing up, she was Mexican, and we would be playmates because both of our parents were working overtime.”

For Cho, joining Friends & Family Flea felt like a natural fit.

“Koreatown is a beautiful diaspora of many different cultures,” Cho said. “And I think that makes Koreatown, Koreatown.”

Friends & Family Flea, a new market from the team behind Maum Market, will make its debut Saturday in Koreatown.

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Courtesy Eena Cho

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The local focus is a big part of what Byun hopes will distinguish Friends & Family from other flea markets and fairs. He said organizers wanted to create something that “intentionally celebrates a specific neighborhood,” in this case, Koreatown. 

For the Koreatown market, that also means highlighting small businesses beyond the restaurants that often get the most attention.

“It’s more about, you know, where do we get our dry cleaning, where do we get our shoes done, or these kinds of services that I think don’t get highlighted as often as maybe restaurants do, but are really core and essential parts of a community business,” Byun said.

Byun’s own history with Koreatown also makes the neighborhood an especially fitting place to start.

His family immigrated to the South Bay from Korea in 2002, when he was 6. He remembers coming to Koreatown with his parents on the weekends for Korean meals and grocery trips.

Byun still thinks of the neighborhood as a second home for Korean immigrants, while appreciating how its community has grown more diverse.

“I’m just really happy to see it become a really beloved neighborhood,” he said.

The market is also giving back locally. Hats sold at the event will benefit the Koreatown Youth and Community Center, Byun said.

And this may not be a one-time run. If Saturday goes well, organizers hope to bring Friends & Family Flea back to Koreatown on a monthly basis. They also plan to offer discounted vendor fees to Koreatown residents.

“I feel like there was so much opportunity for us to really hone in and create something more hyperlocal and also really embed ourselves in the community as well,” Byun said.

When I lived in the UK, I worked on a BBC television show about birding. It was a strange experience as I couldn’t exactly book guests — “Hello Mr. Sparrow, could you be on location for an interview at 2 p.m.?”

So instead I spent a lot of time with the crew climbing up mountains with a large tripod on my shoulder. Did you know there’s a bird in the Scottish Highlands whose plumage turns white in winter to blend in with the snow? (It’s called a ptarmigan. Don’t pronounce the p.)

But it did mean I was attuned to British bird calls. I could hear something and pronounce solemnly: “Ah yes, that’s a lark. And that one's a chaffinch."

Moving to LA meant learning a new set of bird calls

When I moved to the U.S., however, it was a whole other story. I really didn’t recognize any of the bird calls. They were all so different. I just shrugged and figured they were part of the backdrop. But one day recently, a woman told me about a free app and said it was life-changing. "Hmm, I’ll see about that," I thought.

Merlin bird app

It’s called Merlin, from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, and it’s kind of like Shazam for bird calls. As in, you click it, and it tells you what bird song you can hear around you. When I opened it in my backyard for the first time, a whole orchestra of bird sounds opened up around me. I admit: it was kind of life-changing.

Of course it first picked up a crow, which I know only too well, given its loud, raucous sound. But then it identified a house finch. Huh. Who knew they were in my backyard? And as I listened closely, I realized … I knew that sound! It’s the first thing I hear when I wake up at dawn, lovely and melodic.

The house finch, awakening the day.

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Cornell Lab of Ornithology | Macaulay Library

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So now when I open my eyes in the morning, I say, "Good morning, house finch, communing with fellow beings alive on a vibrant California morning!" It kicks off my day, although I guess I’ve been reading too much Mary Oliver.

The backyard birds you're probably hearing right now

But then other birds I didn’t know would pop up on my phone during the day, with names as intriguing as their calls: the spotted towhee, the orange-crowned warbler, or Cassin’s kingbird.

I mean, they do realize they’re in a backyard in Los Angeles, not some estate in Georgian England? My favorite for a while was the dark-eyed junco. Now we’re talking romantic heroes. Imagine him slyly popping across the apple tree limbs to call to you. Dark-Eyed Junco, at your service.

Dark-eyed junco, at your service.

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Cornell Lab of Ornithology | Macaulay Library

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Meet Swinhoe's white-eye, a non-native bird spreading across SoCal

And then there’s Swinhoe’s white-eye. Which sounds a little like an eye ailment, but there you go. It’s a tiny bright yellow bird with a white ring around each eye. So cute! I first noticed them when there were a bazillion of them in a tree outside my house. It was such an unusual sight that I mentioned it to a woman walking her dog, and we stood there, oohing and aahing, until we both realized we’d oohed a little too much, and it was time to go.

Swinhoe's white-eyes are not native to SoCal, but are thriving.

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Cornell Lab of Ornithology | Macaulay Library

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When I researched them, I was surprised to find they’re not native to SoCal. They’re actually pretty new to the area. There were just a handful in Orange County 20 years ago, probably having been brought over from Asia as pets and escaped. And now, they’re thriving and have spread everywhere from Baja to San Luis Obispo. Who knows where they’ll end up next? If anyone sees a chartreuse cutie in New York, let me know. It'll probably be very tired.

Yes, you can see I’ve become slightly annoying with my newfound bird interest. I’ll be asking my family what they want for dinner, and I’ll say, “Wait, is that the spotted towhee?” and turn to my phone, and my teenager will wrest it out of my hand and say, “Mom, be in the present!” Which is right. But my morning serenade as the birds come online one by one and greet the new day — well, that’s as present as you can be.

During a life cut short at 34, musician Elliott Smith left traces of his legacy in many cities, perhaps most notably in Los Angele

Writer Jamie Fisher spoke with some 140 people for her new book Nobody Broke Your Heart: An Intimate Biography of Elliott Smith.

Even though some of Smith’s painful struggles with addiction and mental health took place in L.A., Fisher said his time in the city wasn’t all bad.

“He was always very suspicious of artifice and then I think he found himself enjoying it more than he thought he would,” said Fisher, who worked as a researcher at the New York Times Magazine for a decade. “He liked how big and expansive the city was: you can just kind of vanish into L.A.”

Smith moved to L.A. in the summer of 1999. He died here about four years later. But in that time he cut some deep grooves into the city, in places from Los Feliz to the San Fernando Valley — if you know where to look.

Snow White Cottages

Take the Snow White Cottages in Los Feliz, lovingly named for their fairytale-like architecture, where Smith once lived.

Fisher said the cottages were run down when the musician moved in. One of her sources said a raccoon threw a roof shingle at Smith’s head.

“It was more of an apartment than a house really. And it was this little community that was tight knit at the time,” Fisher said.

The Roost

On Los Feliz Boulevard, just across the 5 Freeway, is the beloved dive bar The Roost in Atwater Village, a joint Smith memorialized on his album Figure 8 — as a fade out on the track "In the Lost and Found (Honky Beach)/The Roost."

“It’s just this little nod,” Fisher said. “He was always folding the places and people he loved into his music.”

Back in the ‘90s, the place was more of a working-class joint, and one of the more overlooked bars Smith had a penchant for, Fisher said.

“One of the bartenders there who really loved Elliott owns it now,” Fisher said.

Largo

Then, of course, there’s Largo at its old Fairfax location. Fisher said it was a huge part of Smith’s life starting in the late ‘90s, when he spent late nights playing piano with fellow musician Jon Brion.

New Monkey

Motor on over to Van Nuys for New Monkey, a music studio Smith founded where artists are still recording to this day.

Fisher said you can also find equipment that was used to record his final album, From a Basement on the Hill.

Fisher said Smith put the studio together at a point when he was struggling with addiction, in the last years of his life.

“It was really hard for him to write music, but buying broken equipment and repairing it and putting the studio together was something he could focus his energy into,” she said.

Smith wanted New Monkey, Fisher said, to be a place where musicians could affordably access some of the best recording equipment available.

As Smith lived with addiction and other personal issues, he was mentoring younger musicians and making a lifelong impression on artists such as Jim Fairchild from Modest Mouse and Grandaddy, and Aaron Espinoza from Earlimart.

“He was so generous with his time,” Fisher said. “He would show up to Earlimart shows and stand right in the front row and make them all extremely nervous.”

Fisher said she’d braced herself for writing the last chapters of the book about the final years of Smith’s life.

In 2003, Smith died from two stab wounds in his chest — and the case is still open.

Fisher said that despite his addiction and mental health struggles, she was surprised by the many “moments of light” during his time in L.A., from his love of cooking to his mentorship of other musicians and his work on New Monkey.

Figure 8 wall

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Courtesy FMLY used with permission

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The go-to spot for fans to remember Smith is still standing in L.A. — the Figure 8 wall in Silver Lake.

The mural of bending red and black lines famously became the cover art for the Figure 8 album.

More than two decades after his death, the wall is still alive with new memories.

“There’s always new notes from people saying, like, Elliott saved their life or quoting their favorite lyric or saying they wished he was still here,” Fisher said.

Walk through the automatic doors at the Carson Library and you’ll see on your left a 1973 painting called "Dominoes" by John Riddle.

Riddle, a prominent Black artist, has worked in the L.A. County Museum of Art and the Brooklyn Museum, and has been collected by Jesse Jackson and Roberta Flack.

Riddle's work was previously owned by the Golden State Mutual Life Insurance Company in West Adams. Over two decades, the company’s art director, William Pajaud, an L.A. artist himself, carefully collected hundreds of pieces of Black art. Each piece in the collection, Pajaud said, would be a chapter telling the story of African Americans in the U.S. The collection included oil paintings, watercolors, and sculptures in clay, wood and metal.

When Golden State Mutual Life Insurance shut down, the company sold most of the best pieces at a private auction in 2007, with some selling for hundreds of thousands of dollars. L.A. County was able to acquire about 120 works, including Riddle's piece.

To keep the works accessible to the public and free of charge, county officials chose four public libraries and three community centers to show the work. Earlier this year, the county arts department created a new website with a map to make them easier to find. The locations include the Golden State Mutual historic building in West Adams, plus:
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Libraries

• Carson Library (Carson)
• A.C. Bilbrew Library (Willowbrook)
• Masao W. Satow Library (Gardena)
• View Park Bebe Moore Campbell Library (View Park/Windsor Hills)
  

Community centers:

• Curtis Tucker Behavioral Health Center Health Services (Inglewood)
• Willowbrook Senior Center Aging and Disabilities (Willowbrook)
• Mark Ridley-Thomas Behavioral Health Center Health Services (on the Martin Luther King, Jr. Medical Campus).

“All of these are county-owned spaces that are available, accessible to the public and to patrons to be able to live with the works, learn about the works, see the works, learn about the works,” said Kristin Sakoda, director of the Los Angeles County Department of Arts and Culture.

Dominoes by John Riddle. The painting was part of the Golden State Mutual Life Insurance collection but is now part of the Los Angeles County Civic Art Collection.

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Adolfo Guzman-Lopez/LAist

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As you walk past the checkout desk at the Carson Library, toward the teen section, you’ll see another remarkable piece from the county’s holdings. It’s a two-foot-tall sculpture made from one piece of mahogany. It’s called "The Embrace" by artist Elizabeth Catlett, whose work is in the collection of New York’s Museum of Modern Art, among many other institutions. Catlett depicted two people hugging, their faces and bodies fused together, their eyes looking at the viewer.

Detail of El Abrazo (The Embrace) by Elizabeth Catlett.

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Adolfo Guzman-Lopez/LAist

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In the auction catalogue for the Golden State Collection, Catlett wrote: “I still work figuratively, trying to express emotion through abstract form, color, line, and space. I attempt to reach out to ordinary people who have little or no experience or understanding of art principles, and extend to them what I may feel about a subject."

Ancestral Fragments by Stanley Wilson.

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Adolfo Guzman-Lopez/LAist

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Meanwhile at A.C. Bilbrew Library, north of Compton, there’s a piece by Charles White, who lived in L.A. County for decades and mentored many artists in the region. His paintings and drawings in the 1960s took on the issues of the Black Civil Rights Movement, and that led well-known Black Americans like Nat King Cole and Eartha Kitt to buy his art.

County officials are hopeful that the communities around these neighborhoods enjoy the art’s benefits, including “mental health, in our education, our youth development, our sense of inclusion and belonging,” Sakoda said.