The Brief

Tuesday is shaping up to be a big day for L.A. street vendors — and the customers who buy their hot dogs, tacos, fruit salads and countless other products.

Tuesday morning the Los Angeles City Council voted unanimously 15-0 in favor of an ordinance that eliminates several so-called “no-vending” zones where street vending is prohibited, including on the busy Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Street vendors who’ve long opposed no-vending zones said they welcomed the ordinance.

“This is what we have fought for,” said Hollywood Boulevard hot dog vendor Merlin Alvarado in Spanish, referring to the lifting of no-vending zones.

Alvarado is among the street vendors who sued the city over no-vending zones in late 2022. The lawsuit alleges that no-vending zones conflict with SB 946, the 2018 state law that decriminalized street vending. Trial in the lawsuit is set to begin Feb. 15; street vendor plaintiffs and their advocates said that while they cheer the ordinance, they want the trial to continue.

City officials said the city ordinance could take effect in 31-40 days, depending on when Mayor Karen Bass signs it.

No-vending zones and tickets

The Los Angeles area is home to an estimated 50,000 street vendors, 10,000 of whom sell food. Over the decades, L.A.'s street vendor carts have become an integral part of the city's culinary scene, selling everything from sliced mango to the ubiquitous bacon-wrapped hot dog that has become an emblem of L.A. street food.

After years of lobbying by street vendors and their advocates, Los Angeles decriminalized street vending in late 2018, as did the state of California. But it’s taken years for local jurisdictions to work out and finesse city and county regulations.

While street vending was decriminalized in most of the city of Los Angeles, eight busy and lucrative areas like the Hollywood Walk of Fame, Dodger Stadium, Universal CityWalk and several others remained off limits; vendors have since been prohibited from setting up within 500 feet of these areas, and those who do are ticketed.

The city ordinance eliminates these blanket no-vending areas, allowing street vendors to do business there; however, it would still allow no-vending zones to be set up for health or safety reasons “if there's a farmer's market, or there's filming, or around schools,” said L.A. city councilmember Hugo Soto-Martínez, whose district includes Hollywood Boulevard.

Katie McKeon, an attorney with the Western Center on Law and Poverty who is representing the vendors in the case against the city, said she sees Tuesday’s city council vote as affirmation that no-vending zones shouldn’t exist.

“The way that I see the city's actions is that they are worried about losing in court and they would prefer that a judge not rule on this case,” McKeon said. “And so they are making this 11th hour move in order to try to make the lawsuit go away.”

McKeon added that there are no plans to settle the case at the moment, and that plaintiffs want for a judge to rule against no-vending zones. Earlier this week, the city attorney’s office declined comment when asked by LAist if the goal was to resolve the lawsuit prior to trial.

Another reason the plaintiffs want their case to go to trial: Street vendors who’ve continued to sell in no-vending zones — particularly in Hollywood, where vendors brave tickets as a cost of doing business — have racked up hefty fines. The city ordinance does not provide for reimbursement.

“Our position is that a full response from the city should also include a plan to rescind and refund the past citations that have been issued in these zones,” said Doug Smith, senior director for policy and legal strategy with Inclusive Action for the City, a nonprofit that advocates for street vendors. “And so the ordinance is really important and it's really necessary, but the job isn't done.”

Alvarado said she fears that without a court ruling on no-vending zones, there are no future guarantees.

“They would still have the freedom to establish new ones in the future,” she said.

County health permits, regulations

Also on Tuesday, L.A. County supervisors gave a unanimous final nod to two measures tentatively approved last week.

One applies to street food vendors under the auspices of the county health department, who for years have had trouble obtaining needed county health permits. Until recently, the state’s retail food code was geared toward larger mobile food operations, like food trucks, and not small carts.

A state bill amending the retail food code to be friendlier to street vendors was approved in 2022. The new county permitting standards will apply to “compact mobile food operations,” such as pushcarts, operating within the county except for those in Pasadena, Long Beach and Vernon, which have their own public health departments.

Health permit fees for these street vendors will range from $309 for “low-risk” vendors selling packaged foods to $1,186 for “high-risk” vendors preparing and selling hot food items. To that end, supervisors approved a related motion from Supervisor Hilda Solis that would make low-income street vendors in unincorporated county areas eligible for a 75% fee subsidy.

The board also voted on a formal plan to regulate street vendors in unincorporated areas. Unlike in the city of Los Angeles, the county so far has not had an official program with which to regulate street vendors in unincorporated county zones, like busy East L.A. The ordinance sets official rules for these vendors, including a $604 annual registration fee. This fee would be subsidized the first year by the county’s Department of Economic Opportunity, and partially subsidized after that.

The two county ordinances are set to take effect in 30 days.

This story first appeared on The LA Local.

Every Wednesday morning, at a coffee shop near the corner of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Western Avenue, a line begins to form. 

People aren’t just coming to South LA Cafe for coffee, they come for the groceries that will ensure their respective households have enough food for the week.

The food giveaway at the cafe, co-founded by Joe Ward-Wallace, has become a weekly stop for hundreds of residents. What started as a coffee shop has grown into a community hub addressing food insecurity through consistent grocery distributions and local support.

Each week, South LA Cafe distributes 200 bags of groceries, many filled with fresh produce, meat and a mix of pantry goods. 

Most of the people in line are the elderly and families because the distribution happens mid-morning during the week.

“Usually a bag of groceries can feed a family of four for about a week,” Ward-Wallace said. “It gives them the essentials so they can survive … We hope for a lot of people.”

Volunteer Kiki Miller distributing strawberries into each bag of groceries.

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Hawaii Utterbach

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The LA Local

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As of 2026, South LA Cafe has five locations across LA. It opened its fifth location on Vermont Avenue in October 2025. 

“It’s become more than a coffee shop. It’s become a movement in every community.” Ward-Wallace said.

That growth is supported by a system that depends heavily on volunteers. From packing bags to organizing supplies, the weekly food drive requires constant coordination.

 “Every bag has fresh produce in it… so it requires a huge volunteer network,” said Kiki Miller, a volunteer.  “People are constantly coming in to prep and pack bags.”

The need for that support continues to grow as many families struggle to keep up with the rising cost of living. Rent, transportation and supporting a family can quickly add up, making food one of the hardest expenses to afford consistently. According to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, food prices have risen by 3.1% overall during the last 12 months. Grocery prices increased by 2.4%, while dining out saw a 4.1% increase.

There is also a stigma attached to seeking food assistance. Some people feel like spaces like this are not meant for them, or they feel embarrassed to show up at all.

Ward-Wallace understands that feeling personally.

 “I used to be in those lines … and I was embarrassed,” he said. “If we’re going to have a community space, people are going to feel welcome. No one should feel bad for needing food.”

Co-founder of South LA Cafe, Joe Ward-Wallace, stands outside the cafe.

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Hawaii Utterbach

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That perspective shapes how South LA Cafe operates. The grocery program meets immediate needs, but it also prioritizes removing stigma around asking for help. 

“Why do they have to go somewhere else?” Ward-Wallace said. “We can do it right here in our own community.”

For volunteers, the impact is easy to see but meaningful.

“I might not be able to fix everything, but today I can come feed someone,” Miller said.

For more information on South LA Cafe’s Wednesday grocery giveaway, including how to receive groceries or volunteer, visit the cafe’s website. 

This story was produced under The LA Local’s Youth Journalism Program. To learn more or to get involved, click here.

Should surgeons be allowed to perform euthanasia by removing patients' hearts and other organs while they're still alive?

The idea, dubbed "Death by Organ Donation," would enable euthanasia patients to donate organs for transplantation in a way that would make their organs more likely to be usable. It would also kill them.

"It would be an ethical thing to do because this is something the patients have chosen for themselves," says Dr. Robert Truog, a physician and bioethicist at Harvard Medical School who co-authored a paper outlining Death by Organ Donation in the New England Journal of Medicine. "They have very generously thought: 'How might my death help other people?' It's a very altruistic, generous thing to do.'"

But the idea is controversial for a variety of reasons, including because it goes against fundamental principles that have guided organ donation for decades. The Dead Donor Rule requires that patients must be dead before any organs are removed. Doctors also can't kill patients in the process of removing organs.

The rule has long generated intense debate, including disputes over how to precisely determine when a person is dead, as well as the development of new ways to extend the lives of dying patients and recover usable organs for transplants.

At the same time, many countries, including Canada, the Netherlands and Spain, have made it legal for doctors to help patients die through euthanasia.

"What if they chose to be organ donors? The problem is that under current standards doctors must not cause death in the process of procuring organs for transplant," Truog says.

So hearts, lungs, livers and kidneys can only be removed from euthanasia patients after they have received a lethal dose of drugs, which makes their organs, especially their hearts, much less useful for transplantation.

"Why would it not be OK for patients to say, 'I've chosen to die by a lethal injection. Isn't there some way I can help others?' They should be able to donate organs as a lasting gift to others. And denying them that option doesn't seem to make any sense," Truog says. "I would say a more appropriate framework is that for patients who are choosing to die from euthanasia they could also choose to have euthanasia linked with organ donation."

A "creepy idea" that might have merit

Euthanasia involves doctors administering lethal drugs to cause the death of a patient. The practice is illegal in the U.S., but a growing number of states have legalized assisted-suicide, in which doctors give patients lethal drugs to take at home.

Instead of a doctor administering lethal medication to a patient, Death by Organ Donation patients would end the patient's life by anesthetizing them and then removing their organs while they are still functioning.

"So the organs would still be in ideal condition," says Truog says.

Some other bioethicists say the argument could have merit.

"The concept of death by donation is an extremely troubling notion at first glance. It's a creepy idea," says Ruth Faden, a bioethicist at Johns Hopkins University. "But in fact if you look at it critically in terms of the foundational ethical considerations, it's not as disturbing as it first appears."

That's because, she says, of the spread and acceptance of euthanasia and the desires of some of those patients to be organ donors.

"If we're committed to respecting the autonomy of individuals at the end of their life. And if they prefer to maximize the good their bodies can do at the end of their life, that's the ethical justification for death by donation," Faden says. She adds it would be important for strong safeguards to be implemented to ensure full informed consent and to protect patients from abuse.

A shift could undermine patient trust

But some other bioethicists are horrified by the mere notion.

"This is asking surgeons to take a living person into the operating room and to come out with a dead person, which I think is murder," says Lainie Friedman Ross, a bioethicist at the University of Rochester. "There are limits to consent. And one of the things we're not allowed to do is consent to saying that somebody else can just murder you."

Others worry this approach would undermine trust in both organ donation and end-of-life care at a time when some potential donors are already wary because of controversies about organ procurement efforts.

"You could be doing real damage to both the physician-assisted suicide system and the organ donation system," says Lori Andrews, a bioethicist and professor emerita at the Chicago-Kent College of Law. "It might give people the image that these are vultures that no longer wait until you die to attack. It does give up visions of body snatchers from prior centuries."

Critics also fear that allowing Death by Donation for euthanasia patients could open the door to someday saying it would be acceptable practice for physician-assisted suicide patients and even potentially hospice patients.

But others argue that for now this approach could be considered for at least some euthanasia patients.

"If there are people who want to donate organs, this would be the way to maximize their wishes and their altruistic goal to help others," says Dr. Carter Winberg, a Canadian critical care physician working on his master's degree in bioethics at Harvard who co-authored the New England Journal of Medicine paper. "These are people who are already consenting to voluntary euthanasia and already consent to organ donation. That warrants a new conversation about whether this is possibly ethical."
Copyright 2026 NPR

With the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art opening in Exposition Park this fall, residents who share the South L.A. ZIP code will be able to visit for free with a new pass, officials announced Thursday.

Some members of the community will also be invited into the museum for a preview day a little more than a week before the Sept. 22 grand opening.

Other tickets are going up for grabs starting next week, with members of the museum getting priority access before general admission opens to the public the following week.

CEO Tracey Bates told LAist the 300,000-square-foot building feels comforting, intimate and familiar once you walk inside. Its collection represents more than 40,000 works, and Bates said it platforms artists you may have never seen in a museum before.

“I think as an Angeleno, the sheer love of what this city is built on — storytelling, filmmaking, illustration — is something to really come and take in,” Bates said. “And hopefully inspire you to become a creative when you leave us.”

Here’s what you need to know to get in.

Neighborhood pass

Angelenos who live in the museum’s 90037 ZIP code will have exclusive access to the “LM37” pass, which allows free tickets to be reserved for themselves and one guest.

A portion of tickets will be set aside for passholders for the opening and beyond, according to officials.

The LM37 program launches in August. Those interested in registering for the pass should sign up here.

There will also be a special community preview day on Sept. 13 for partners, local business owners and civic leaders. Officials said tickets to the preview day will be handed out through local government officials, community partners and directly to registered passholders.

“We really wanted to make sure our neighbors were some of the first people through the door to thank them,” Bates said.

Priority access

Founding members will get the first shot at snagging tickets, starting with the highest tiers.

People who got the Insider membership for $375 and Alliance membership for $600 will have access to tickets starting at 10 a.m. July 14.

Priority tickets will be open to all members by 10 a.m. July 15, including the $140 Access tier and $270 Social tier.

Members will also get a preview from Sept. 5 through Sept. 11 before the museum officially opens to the public later that month.

You can find more membership information here.

General admission

General tickets will go on sale at 10 a.m. July 21. Visitors will be able to reserve a spot from the opening date through the end of next February.

Adults will cost $25 and people aged 65 and older will be $21.

All tickets are timed entry, and you can share them with your party if you buy more than one. You’ll have to create an account to accept and access the shared ticket. Whoever purchases the tickets will be required to keep at least one in their account, according to museum officials.

Tickets for children, founding members, active-duty military, personal aides or attendants and EBT cardholders will be free.

Bates said one of the key missions of the museum is inspiring the next generation of storytellers, and the free options help get as many people through the doors as possible.

“We just want to make sure that nobody is limited to come to the museum and enjoy what we hope the museum will inspire in everybody,” she said.

You can find more ticket information here.

More to come

More tickets will be released once museum officials get a sense of how the first several months sell, and next year’s programming will also be announced at a later date.

Bates noted that the 2028 Olympics will bring in visitors from around the world. She said that if people’s first trip to South L.A. is for the Lucas Museum, she hopes they will come back and spend time in the rest of Exposition Park, including the Natural History Museum and California Science Center.

“With the wealth of cultural events that are going to be happening over the next two years, the Super Bowl and LA28, there's just so much going on,” she said. “We're just very proud to be a part of this rich history of Los Angeles.”

The U.S. may be knocked out, but that doesn’t mean the World Cup action in L.A. is slowing down one bit. Pick your new favorite to root for, then head to one of the fan fests to find friends from all over the world. This weekend, Venice Beach and Whittier Narrows are both hosting events with big screens, food, music and more.

Music-wise, Friday it’s your prerogative to go old-school with Bobby Brown at the Saban Theatre, or see Bone Thugs-N-Harmony at the Garden Amphitheatre. You can go a bit more new-school with DRAM at the Blue Note, or rock out with Belmont at the Roxy. Plus, Dave Alvin and Jimmie Dale Gilmore are at McCabe’s.

Licorice Pizza’s Lyndsey Parker is a long-time Adam Lambert fan, so you can find her at the Bellwether Friday night, catching the former Idol and current Queen frontman.

On Saturday, 5 Seconds of Summer with the Band CAMINO play the Forum; Wolfmother make their howling return at the Wiltern; the I Love Oldies fest is at Pershing Square Park with the Chi-Lites, Heatwave, the Stylistics and the Delphonics. Joji is at the Intuit Dome, and Flying Lotus is at the Blue Note — those two shows are happening Sunday, too.

Also on Sunday, 93-year-young Willie Nelson will be at the Pacific Amphitheatre; Wynonna Judd and special guest Melissa Etheridge are at Great Park Live; and bluegrass star Molly Tuttle plays the Majestic Ventura Theater.

Elsewhere on LAist, you can read up on the taco spot aiming to be the next In-N-Out, learn about where you’re most likely to get a parking ticket in L.A., and the Olvera Street shopkeepers have something to say about that reported World Cup business “boom.”

Events

MUSE/IQUE: Defiantly Joni

Saturday and Sunday, July 11 and 12
Mark Taper Forum 
135 N. Grand Ave., Downtown L.A.
COST: FROM $40.25; MORE INFO 

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Courtesy MUSE/IQUE

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LA ensemble MUSE/IQUE takes on iconic songstress Joni Mitchell’s history and hits in this career-sweeping look. From “Chelsea Morning” to “Both Sides Now,” the ensemble, led by Artistic Director Rachael Worby, combines visuals and expert musicians to bring cultural history to life onstage as part of the CTG: FWD series at the Music Center.

Mahjong Social

Sunday, July 12, 1:30 p.m. 
Hammer Museum 
10899 Wilshire Blvd., Westwood 
COST: FREE; MORE INFO 

A game of mahjong underway at Intergenerational Mahjong in Monterey Park.

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Fiona Ng

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LAist

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Clack clack clack! Fit in an afternoon of film, play and connection with Mahjong Mistress, whose instructors will be on hand to lead mahjong tables, teach beginners and welcome everyone to the centuries-old tile game. But first, catch a screening of Edward Yang’s Mahjong (1996), a “fast-moving portrait of Taipei in the ’90s where every interaction feels like a high-stakes game.”

Music of the Films of Wes Anderson 

Friday to Sunday, July 10 to 12
Hollywood Bowl 
2301 Highland Ave., Hollywood 
COST: FROM $15; MORE INFO

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Courtesy the LA Phil

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I’m going to come right out and say that this is the music event of the summer at the Bowl for a certain aging hipster crowd of Angelenos to which I definitely belong. I realize it’s going to be 90 degrees, but Margo Tannenbaum would still be in her fur coat and thick eyeliner, and so should you (well, a fake fur coat, anyway). A cast of indie stars of stage and screen join the fun, including Juliette Lewis, Rufus Wainwright, Beck, Jackson Browne, Jason Schwartzman and Steve Zissou himself, Bill Murray.

Centennial Festival 

Saturday, July 11, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. 
L.A. Central Library 
630 W. 5th St., Downtown L.A. 
COST: FREE; MORE INFO

Is there a better birthday party than one for a library? The L.A. Central Library is a survivor (see: Susan Orlean’s The Library Book), and what better way to celebrate than with a bevy of L.A. bands from the Linda Lindas to Lucy Kalantari & the Jazz Cats. Plus tons of activities and exhibits like Luceros y Penumbras: The World's Largest Pop-Up Book, created by L.A. artist Daniel González, about growing up in Boyle Heights.

Bad Hair

Saturday, July 11, 2 p.m.
North Hollywood, address on RSVP
COST: FROM $45; MORE INFO

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Courtesy Bad Hair

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Watching Bridgerton, I was blown away by the elaborate wigs and hairpieces — how do they do it?! Learn how to make your own bird’s nest or macaron-inspired wig at the new creative event Bad Hair (though it kind of looks more like "insanely fabulous hair," if you ask me). Guests take wigs and make them into original, wearable artworks with all kinds of unusual accoutrements. Join the group’s inaugural event at Miniluxe in North Hollywood.

Rail Giants Train Museum

Saturday and Sunday, July 11 and 12 
L.A. County Fair Complex 
1101 W. McKinley Ave., Pomona
COST: FREE; MORE INFO 

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Courtesy Rail Giants Train Museum

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Train fiends, this is for you. The second weekend of the month means the Rail Giants Train Museum is pulling into the L.A. County Fair Complex. Check out steam locomotives, the largest surviving diesel locomotive, plus the historic Arcadia Depot and much more train lore.

UC Irvine Langson Orange County Museum of Art 

Ongoing 
Segerstrom Center for the Arts
3333 Avenue of the Arts, Costa Mesa 
COST: FREE, MORE INFO

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Estate of Raymond Saunders

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UC Irvine Orange County Museum of Art

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Three new exhibits recently opened at the always-free OCMA. Raymond Saunders: Flowers from a Black Garden takes a sweeping look at Black artist Raymond Saunders' painting work, Staging California in Early Hollywood acknowledges the artistry of set designers and painters in the early studio system, and Jon Serl: As One Many examines his work from 1940s rural California through the late 20th century. All three exhibits are on view through the summer.

Rhythm & Flow 

Saturday, July 11, 9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. 
Aliza Hotel 
710 Rose Ave., Venice 
COST: $25; MORE INFO 

Get up early and hit the Pilates mat for a special reset by the beach at the Aliza Hotel in Venice. A mat Pilates flow class starts at 9:30 a.m., followed by a restorative sound bath from 10:15 to 10:40 a.m. and a live DJ set from MANDAS.

L.A. Pizza Run Club: West Hollywood

Sunday, July 12, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Prince Street Pizza
9161 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood
COST: $30; MORE INFO

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The LA Countdown

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Eventbrite

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If you love pizza and running, then we've got an event for you. Our friend at the L.A. Countdown, aka gourmand-about-town Luca Servodio, is hosting a charity fun run/walk from Prince Street Pizza to Bar Next Door, benefiting Soccer Without Borders. There's a three-mile run or a mile-and-a-half walk option, finishing with Bar Next Door's bar pies and Henry's Secret Ice Cream (the first 30 sign-ups get a free half-pint). And don’t worry if the running isn’t your thing; you can just come for the food and cocktails part. -Gab Chabrán