Topline:
The days of discreetly engaging in nerdy hobbies for fear of ridicule are long gone, thanks to LGS — or local game stores.
Why now: With the mainstream popularity of board games and tabletop games, the places that cater to players have grown in number.
Why it matters: In many communities, local game stores have become third spaces for people to gather, hang out and find community.
Read on ... to learn more about these shops — and for a list of recommended places.
The days of discreetly engaging in nerdy hobbies for fear of ridicule are long gone.
On any given night, you’ll find groups of people at a local game store, or LGS for the initiated, gathered around tables for all kinds of fun and games. For the most serious hobbyists, they offer something crucial: a place to play. And the simple presence of free or low-cost tables can turn a shop into the beating heart of its community.
The growth of local game stores throughout Southern California has been a long time coming, meeting a demand that’s been building over the last couple decades.
As evidence, look no further to Dungeons & Dragons’ decade-long cultural renaissance. Once thought as something you play in your parents' basement, the tabletop roleplaying game has spawned popular podcasts, Madison Square Garden-filling YouTube shows and award-winning video games. Then there’s Magic: The Gathering, the trading card game that’s become $1 billion empire.
It’s great news for game and toy companies like Hasbro — and better news for the brick-and-mortar stores that fuel these hobbies.
LGS regulars like Casey Malone, a writer in the games industry living in Los Feliz, see these stores as an antidote to a pastime that has become more impersonal — and isolating.
“So much of the experience of going to a store and just looking around and immersing yourself in a hobby has been eradicated by tech companies, it’s really lovely to just be in that space and occasionally find a new thing I’d never even heard of,” Malone said.
It’s a sentiment that Donna Ricci, owner of Geeky Teas & Games, has heard repeated at her Burbank shop.
“I see the same question all the time online,” Donna Ricci said. “I work from home, how do I meet people?”
Geeky Teas & Games is a decade-long staple of the Burbank hobby scene, It’s both hoping to provide the answer and to capitalize on that question. They recently moved to a new 22,000 square feet location on Alameda Avenue — three times its original size.
Ricci is leading me through the new digs — a labyrinthian single-story complex with a variety of private rooms as well as larger warehouse and storage spaces. Even on a weekday afternoon, a dozen or so hobbyists are here to hang out, play games or just browse the store’s extensive offerings.
To some, Geeky Teas’ latest expansion may seem like a leap of faith, but for Ricci and the rest of her team, it was inevitable. Over the course of a decade, the shop has moved four times, each into larger spaces.
Players appreciate the extra legroom, like North Hollywood resident Ian Ager, who goes to Geeky Teas for Warhammer, and Magic.
“I'm far more likely to come back if the place doesn't feel cramped and the folks behind the counter don't skeev me out,” Ager said. “The social scene there is very strong because they have a ton of space and some of the cleanest game rooms in the city.”
Even newer stores, like Revenge Of, have been racing to meet that specific demand. The Glassell Park shop opened in 2022, and almost immediately doubled its size after a year. The added space is used for events and will soon house a cafe.
The point is to create community.
“It was never enough to just create the space and let it exist, we needed to curate an event, a destination, a reason to leave the house,” Jeff Eyeser, Revenge Of’s creative director, said.
To that end, the shop hosts spotlights for local makers, book clubs and the monthly summertime outdoor market LotZilla, featuring local vendors and artists.
As to Ricci, she is expanding Geeky Teas offerings to podcasting and content creation equipment rental.
“Not everyone has Critical Role money,” she said.
However they evolve, the two shops say their commitment to providing a safe space for everyone — no matter their age, race, gender or sexual orientations — to play games remains unchanged.
“We honor everyone who walks through our doors — except mean people,” Ricci said. “They can f**k off.”
Topline:
An independent homeless count showed Hollywood's unsheltered population was flat over the past 18 months, despite ongoing efforts to move people inside. It also found a surprising increase this month in people living in tents in the neighborhood.
Why it matters: A RAND Corporation report released last week found Hollywood’s unsheltered homeless population stayed mostly unchanged throughout 2025, as reductions in tent encampments were offset by large increases in vehicle-dwellers and so-called “rough sleepers." Findings released Wednesday by Hollywood 4WRD, a public-private coalition, show that flat trend continued in Hollywood over the past four months but also found more people were living in tents and fewer in cars than RAND had observed in January, a surprising reversal.
The findings: About 745 people were camping in Hollywood and East Hollywood on May 19, according to the count. About 19% slept in tents or makeshift lean-tos. An estimated 35% slept in cars, vans or RVs. Meanwhile, 45% were rough sleepers camped directly on sidewalks and streets. The count covered 29 census tracts and relied on volunteers from local homeless service provider organizations. They followed methods developed by RAND researchers, who also verified Hollywood 4WRD’s findings.
A coalition that organized an independent homeless count in Hollywood found the neighborhood’s unsheltered population has remained flat over the past 18 months, despite ongoing city-led efforts to move people inside.
A RAND Corporation report released last week found Hollywood’s unsheltered homeless population stayed mostly unchanged throughout 2025, as reductions in tent encampments were offset by large increases in vehicle-dwellers and so-called “rough sleepers,” people living on the streets without even a makeshift roof over their heads.
Findings released Wednesday by Hollywood 4WRD, a public-private coalition, show that trend continued in Hollywood over the past four months. But the group also found in May that more people were living in tents and fewer in cars than RAND had observed in January, a surprising reversal of the recent overall trend.
“ It's not something we expected to find,” said Brittney Weissman, Hollywood 4WRD’s executive director. “The headline has been that there are no tents and no encampments left in Hollywood, but that’s not the case right now. So, we’ll have to see where this goes.”
About 745 people were camping in Hollywood and East Hollywood on May 19, according to the count. About 19% slept in tents or makeshift lean-tos. An estimated 35% slept in cars, vans or RVs. Meanwhile, 45% were rough sleepers camped directly on sidewalks and streets.
Organizers say understanding and tracking those breakdowns over time helps make sure the right services are directed to the right people and develop new outreach strategies for people falling through the cracks.
“ We can really only meet the moment if we know who's there and we adapt to the need,” Weissman said.
The count covered 29 census tracts and relied on volunteers from local homeless service provider organizations. They followed methods developed by RAND researchers, who also verified Hollywood 4WRD’s findings.
Official homeless counts from the region’s lead homelessness agency, the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, occur once a year. The latest official estimates are based on 14-month-old data. The results from this January’s official count are expected sometime this summer.
Service providers said they want more frequent and precise data.
“ It feels good to have the data immediately and figure out what we need to do,” said Arnali Ray, executive director of the Hollywood Food Coalition who volunteered for last week’s count.
Service providers in Hollywood have relied on data from The RAND Housing Center, which led bimonthly counts of the neighborhood, along with Venice and Skid Row, since 2021. That project, the Los Angeles Longitudinal Enumeration and Demographic Survey, or LA LEADS, conducted its final unsheltered counts this January and released its results last week.
RAND is looking for funding to restart the project, researchers said. In the meantime, the researchers said they hope community efforts like Hollywood 4WRD’s can help fill the void.
“You need to understand the homeless population to end homelessness,” said Louis Abramson, lead author of RAND’s LA LEADS study who consulted on Hollywood’s count. “As RAND's marquee project in this field ends, the best thing we as researchers could do was give the community the tools to gain this understanding in perpetuity for themselves.”
In 2022 and 2023, RAND’s LA LEADS estimates were in line with LAHSA’s official point-in-time tallies. But RAND found LAHSA increasingly undercounted the unsheltered population in both 2024 and 2025.
That has increased demand for independent data-gathering among service providers and public officials.
Hollywood 4WRD said it aims to complement, not replace, official data.
“Our annual count sometimes misses people,” said Weissman. “ We can really only meet the moment if we know who's there and we adapt to the need.”
Official estimates from the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority showed a nearly 18% citywide reduction in unsheltered homelessness between 2023 and 2025, along with small declines in overall homelessness.
RAND’s previous surveys found declines in overall street homelessness in Hollywood throughout 2024, led by reductions in tent-encampments through programs like Inside Safe. Tent dwelling dropped by nearly half between late 2021 and January 2026 within RAND’s LA LEADS study area, including a 23% drop in 2025 alone. But those reductions were mostly offset by an increase in rough sleepers and vehicle dwellers.
RAND’s survey data suggested tent removal could be contributing to the rise in rough sleeping. About half of rough sleepers surveyed reported losing a dwelling within the past year, and 46% of those said it was confiscated or towed by government officials.
Vehicle dwellers are, on average, more likely to have jobs than people living in tents, researchers said. Rough sleepers are harder for outreach workers to engage and have greater health needs.
Hollywood 4WRD said its findings might encourage some providers to advocate for more safe camping and safe parking programs in Hollywood.
Topline:
Amid concerns following the East L.A. oil spill, residents in East L.A. and Boyle Heights can apply for free air purifiers through the South Coast Air Quality Management District.
Who can apply? The residential air filtration program is open to residents of Boyle Heights, East Los Angeles, Eastern Coachella Valley and parts of Commerce. Applications are accepted on a first-come, first-served basis.
Why it matters: Parents, teachers and environmental advocates have raised concerns about possible health risks after crews punctured an underground pipeline, spilling more than 2,000 gallons of crude oil onto East L.A. streets and into storm drains. Some students and teachers on Friday complained about strong odors, with some reporting feeling nauseous or dizzy.
Read on... for more on how to apply.
This story first appeared on The LA Local.
As concerns linger after last week’s East L.A. oil spill, qualifying Eastside residents can still apply for free in-home air purifiers provided by the South Coast Air Quality Management District.
The residential air filtration program is open to residents of Boyle Heights, East Los Angeles, Eastern Coachella Valley and parts of Commerce. Applications are accepted on a first-come, first-served basis.
Read more: Live near the East LA oil spill? What you need to know about your health and safety
Parents, teachers and environmental advocates have raised concerns about possible health risks after crews punctured an underground pipeline, spilling more than 2,000 gallons of crude oil onto East L.A. streets and into storm drains. Some students and teachers on Friday complained about strong odors, with some reporting feeling nauseous or dizzy.
East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice warned about potential respiratory exposure to nearby residents. “The oil releases volatile organic compounds,” said mark! Lopez with East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice. “Benzene is of particular interest because it’s so hazardous. When people breathe it in, that exposure is happening.”
The air filtration program, which predates the spill, aims to reduce residential exposure to particulate matter (PM), defined by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as a mixture of solid particles and liquid droplets in the air so small they can be inhaled and cause serious health problems, in neighborhoods disproportionately affected by air pollution.
Funding for the units comes from Assembly Bill 617 (AB 617), a state law passed in 2017 aimed at addressing environmental justice concerns in such neighborhoods.
The neighborhoods of East L.A., Boyle Heights and Commerce are impacted by rail yards, freight and freeway activities, as well as industrial activities at refining, rendering and processing facilities in the area, according to the California Air Resources Board.
To qualify, applicants must submit the first page of a utility bill or property tax statement to verify residence in one of the four target areas. Specific boundaries for these areas for program eligibility are available here.
Interested applicants can find more information on the program and apply online here.
The following is a South Coast AQMD guide on how to apply:
Topline:
The Los Angeles City Council’s recently approved budget includes funding to expand a city program that diverts police from some mental health crisis calls to 911.
The backstory: Since launching in 2024, trained clinicians with the city’s Unarmed Model of Crisis Response (UMCR) have handled over 20,000 calls ranging from mental health crises to wellbeing checks. About 96% of those calls were resolved without police or a response from the L.A. Fire Department.
What's new? The new city budget includes funding to expand those teams from nine police divisions — including Devonshire, Wilshire, Southeast, West L.A., Olympic and West Valley — to a total of 15.
Why it matters: A 2024 LAist investigation found that nearly one-third of LAPD shootings since 2017 involved someone living with a mental illness and/or experiencing a mental health crisis.
Read on... for more about plans to expand the city program
The Los Angeles City Council’s recently approved budget includes funding to expand a program that diverts police from some mental health crisis calls to 911.
Since launching in 2024, trained clinicians with the city’s Unarmed Model of Crisis Response (UMCR) have handled over 20,000 calls ranging from mental health crises to wellbeing checks. About 96% of those calls were resolved without police or a response from the L.A. Fire Department.
The new city budget includes funding to expand those teams from nine police divisions — including Devonshire, Wilshire, Southeast, West L.A., Olympic and West Valley — to a total of 15.
“In a year where many programs continue to fight for service funding from the city, it’s so great that we are able to continue prioritizing this,” Godfrey Plata, deputy director of progressive policy advocacy group the LA Forward Institute, told LAist.
Plata said UMCR’s expansion is one more step toward taking the program citywide, which his group hopes to do by the 2028 Olympics.
The crisis teams are slated to go online within the six additional police divisions by June 2027. It’s not yet clear which police divisions will be selected for expansion.
The move comes after the City Council voted unanimously in February to make the pilot program permanent.
A 2024 LAist investigation found that nearly one-third of LAPD shootings since 2017 involved someone living with a mental illness and/or experiencing a mental health crisis.
In 2024, the city partnered with three nonprofit organizations — Exodus Recovery, Alcott Center and Penny Lane Centers — to provide teams of trained clinicians in service areas spread across L.A. The teams are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week within the Police Department’s Devonshire, Wilshire, Southeast, West L.A., Olympic and West Valley divisions.
Crisis response workers are trained in de-escalation techniques, mental health, substance use, conflict resolution and more, according to a report from the Office of City Administrative Officer. The teams don’t have the authority to order psychiatric holds for people in crisis, but they can work with them to find help locally, and spend more time on follow up than law enforcement can.
In its first year, Los Angeles’s Unarmed Model of Crisis Response sent teams of unarmed clinicians to more than 6,700 calls for service, ranging from mental health crises to wellbeing checks. About 4% were redirected to the LAPD. Average response times have been under 30 minutes.
Examples of these interactions include members of the teams taking food to a woman who was crying and hungry, working with a business owner to engage with someone sleeping in a parking lot and sitting with a family for nearly three hours to help resolve a conflict involving a relative.
During an L.A. City budget hearing last month, fire officials expressed support for the Unarmed Model of Crisis Response.
The department said it’s worked with the teams of clinicians to divert calls for service away from fire first responders since September 2025. The department saw 144 calls diverted to UMCR in the month of March alone.
“We’ve found them to be an incredible asset and ally to addressing some of the issues in the field,” LAFD Chief Jaime Moore told council members at the hearing. “The recommendation would be to expand the program, get it into more police divisions which would then get it into more of our battalions and our bureaus."
City officials have expressed support for expanding UMCR citywide by the 2028 Olympics.
With the plan to expand to 15 police divisions by June 2027, UMCR would need to expand into another six divisions to meet that goal.
Topline:
Matthew Perry’s former live-in assistant, Kenneth Iwamasa, was sentenced Wednesday to three years and five months in prison for his role in the actor's overdose death. He was also fined $10,000.
What we know: Iwamasa injected Perry with ketamine several times in October 2023, including three times on the day the Friends actor died, according to the plea agreement. The agreement also says Iwamasa found Perry unconscious at least twice in October 2023.
Background: Perry died in October 2023 in his Pacific Palisades home. The L.A. County medical examiner determined the cause was “acute effects of ketamine.” According to the plea agreement, Sangha worked with alleged drug dealer Erik Fleming to distribute ketamine to Perry. On Oct. 28, 2023, Perry's personal assistant injected the actor with at least three shots of ketamine provided by Sangha.
Who else has been sentenced? Iwamasa is the fifth person sentenced in Perry’s overdose death. For their roles in Perry’s death, San Diego physician Mark Chavez was sentenced to eight months of house arrest, along with community service. And Santa Monica-based doctor Salvador Plasencia was sentenced to two-and-a-half years in federal prison. Drug dealer Jasveen Sangha was sentenced to 15 years in prison, and Erik Fleming was sentenced to two years.
