The Brief

A tiny geocache was supposed to be hidden in a hedge lining a Pasadena sidewalk, between a pole without a sign and a parking meter. The geocaching community labeled it as an easy find in the app, but I still came up empty handed after several minutes of searching through the branches and leaves.

Turns out, geocaching can be tricky, but the search was — as thousands of people have described it — exciting, curious and fun.

But what exactly is geocaching? And why is it the heart of a Spring Fling Block Party happening at Elysian Park on May 3?

Chris Ronan,  senior public relations manager at Geocaching HQ, told LAist it’s essentially a worldwide, mobile game of hide-and-seek.

“It takes you places and maybe introduces you to people that you never would've known about otherwise,” he said. “ Geocaching tends to maybe take you out of that routine, introduce you to a part of your neighborhood or a part of your city.”

SoCal caching community

Southern California’s geocaching community is thriving and passionate, Ronan said.

Unlike some other areas, the climate is pleasant year-round and has a variety of landscapes within driving distance.

Sharon Carlson, who lives in Simi Valley and goes by the geocaching username ShareBear64, has found more than 8,000 geocaches across dozens of states and 7 countries. It started as a New Year’s resolution to be more active and became a way to bond with her soon-to-be son-in-law through his “weird hobby,” she said.

“It just hit a chord with me. ... So  on January 1st, 2016, I turned on my app and I said, 'Oh, there's some geocaches, like, within a mile of me near a park,'” Carlson said. “I took my dog, and we walked, and I found my first geocache that day. And I've been caching ever since.”

More than 2,000 geocaches are within a few miles of her home. For comparison, Carlson's son-in-law has about about 700 active in Richmond, Virginia, where he lives.

A "GeoArt" series, created by user foomanjoo, honors the Dodgers.

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Courtesy of Sharon Carlson

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The geocaching community also keeps itself going. Some players hide the caches, while others prefer to stick to the hunt. Carlson said that’s part of what makes exploring so exciting — you get to experience different terrains and creativity.

“ I had friends who just took a cruise to Antarctica, and there's a geocache on Antarctica, and so it's truly worldwide,” she said.

How it works

A geocache is a container hidden in the real world for other people to find.

Players will post the coordinates of that geocache and other details, including difficulty, terrain, size and hints (in case you need it) on the official app or online.

Other players will use that information to look for and find containers in urban areas, deserts, underwater and on hiking trails, just to name a few.

If you’re successful, you sign the log sheet or book tucked inside. You then use the app or website to share your experience and register the find before putting the geocache back where you found it.

Pull up the fake snail and find a small vial to record that you found this cache disguised as a log.

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Courtesy of Sharon Carlson

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More than 3.3 million active geocaches are hidden worldwide, and there’s also different types.

They include:

• Traditional geocache, the simplest form that can come in many different sizes.
• Multi-cache, which contains at least one additional stage that geocachers use to find the next stage or final container.
• Mystery cache, otherwise known as a puzzle cache, which requires players to solve a puzzle or bring a special tool.
• Earth cache, which includes educational information and geoscience questions players need to answer.
• And 16 others.

An earth cache took Ronan to the top of Mauna Kea, a dormant volcano in Hawaii, for one of his most meaningful finds.

“My memory is not just of being on the top of this beautiful mountain and beautiful views of the Hawaiian islands, but also of being with this friend that I hadn't seen in 20 years,” he said. “That was one of those experiences that geocaching gave to me that I'm pretty sure I never would've had … and I can tell you about a hundred or more different experiences like that.”

A gadget-style cache was displayed at a previous Spring Fling event.

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Courtesy of Sharon Carlson

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How to participate

The Spring Fling Block Party geocaching event will be held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, May 3, at the Bishop Canyon Picnic Area in Elysian Park.

Registration has closed, but anyone is welcome to attend.

“ It's this wonderful social community of just, you know, people from all walks of life that have this one bizarre common interest,” Carlson said.

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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J.W. Hendricks

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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.