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At a warehouse in Irwindale, around 250 people were hard at work on Boxing Day morning preparing for the New Year’s Day event.
About the volunteers: The volunteers are a mix of a seasoned pros as well as first-timers. For the last 36 years on Christmas Day, Victoria Boyd has boarded a flight from Illinois to Los Angeles.
“I keep coming back because I think I'm addicted. It's an art form. It's pleasurable,” she said. “It's meeting all the people.”
The floats that enthrall visitors at the Rose Parade don’t just have professionals working on them. Every year, thousands of volunteers spend hours painstakingly gluing seeds, fruits, vegetables, dried florals and, of course, fresh flowers on the floats.
At a warehouse in Irwindale, around 250 of them were hard at work on Boxing Day morning preparing for the New Year’s Day event.
One of the volunteers is Victoria Boyd. For the last 36 years on Christmas Day, she has boarded a flight from Illinois to Los Angeles. She volunteers her time to decorate floats for Pasadena’s 135th Rose Parade. Over the years, Boyd has made friends with other volunteers from places like Maine, Louisiana and Michigan, keeping in touch with them on Facebook.
“I keep coming back because I think I'm addicted. It's an art form. It's pleasurable,” Boyd said. “It's meeting all the people.”
This year, she’s helping decorate the float for the nonprofit One Legacy. It celebrates the culture of the Hopi tribe, native to the American Southwest. In her first year volunteering, she worked on a ‘Beam Me Up Scotty’ float, where two little martians came out of the spaceship during the parade.
Dawn Hamilton is returning as a volunteer for her 31st year.
“I started when I was a freshman in high school,,” she said. “I don't do art for my job and so this is my one time a year I get to come out and use my art degree and I just love doing art and so this is like a giant paint by number, decorate by number and color.”
Hamilton took a bus from Torrance with her son Dakota to the Fiesta Parade Floats warehouse in Irwindale, where volunteers were decorating five floats that will be a part of the parade.
Dakota Hamilton said every year his mother would leave home to go work on the floats for a week. When he turned 13, he decided to join her. While his mother helps with the more intricate art projects, he helps out by running around and getting people supplies.
Working on the floats, he said, has helped him realize just how much time, work and “a lot of patience” goes into building them.
Twelve-year-old Destiny Peña is volunteering for the first time with members of her Girl Scout troop. She patiently added crushed parsley to the stem of a giant flower.
“It's fun. I like doing art stuff. I'm pretty good at drawing, so I'm interested in that kind of stuff,” she said.
Erica Vazquez drove 30 minutes from Long Beach for two reasons. “What brought me in this morning is my bucket list for wanting to help decorate the floats so it's always been, something I've wanted to do since I was younger,” she said. “So I came with my daughter, who's here to earn some service hours.”
Vazquez said she has cut up “thousands” of safflowers that will be used on the Louisiana Office of Tourism Mardi Gras-themed float.
“My goal is to obviously get over there on that float and help glue some of this stuff on there,” she said. “But I think just the experience is great.”
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The California Science Center unveiled Tuesday the first of many launch vehicles, engines and other artifacts set to be installed in the museum’s 200,000-square-foot expansion coming to Exposition Park.
Why it matters: Jeff Rudolph, president and CEO of the California Science Center, said the $450 million expansion is California’s biggest “endeavor” yet that will inspire the next generation of scientists, engineers and explorers.
Why now: The first artifacts in the expanded museum were placed in the Kenta Kresa Space Gallery, including a three-story-tall Electron launch vehicle from Rocket Lab in Long Beach.
The backstory: It’ll be the only place in the world where visitors can see an authentic space shuttle in its “Go for Stack” position, which is what museum officials called the process of moving each of the space shuttle components into place.
What's next: Officials expect to announce next year an opening date for the expansion.
Read on ... for a peak inside the expansion coming to Exposition Park.
The California Science Center unveiled Tuesday the first of many launch vehicles, engines and other artifacts set to be installed in the museum’s 200,000-square-foot expansion coming to Exposition Park.
Once complete, the new Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center will include multi-level galleries built around a towering centerpiece — the space shuttle Endeavour — displayed in its 20-story vertical launch position.
It’ll be the only place in the world where visitors can see an authentic space shuttle in its “Go for Stack” position, which is what museum officials called the process of moving each of the space shuttle components into place.
Museum admission will be free.
Jeff Rudolph, president and CEO of the California Science Center, said the $450 million expansion is California’s biggest “endeavor” yet to inspire the next generation of scientists, engineers and explorers.
“The enthusiasm that people have when they come in and see this stuff and get excited about it will hopefully lead to many more people, young and old, but particularly young people wanting to pursue more education in science,” Rudolph told LAist.
Museum officials expect to announce next year an opening date, according to Rudolph.
The Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center will feature three main galleries: the Samuel Oschin Shuttle Gallery, the Korean Air Aviation Gallery and the Kent Kresa Space Gallery.
Guests will be guided through hundreds of exhibits and authentic artifacts focused on the exploration of the universe — including rocket ships that carried humans into space and telescopes used to view stars and galaxies beyond our reach.
The first artifacts in the expanded museum were placed in the Kenta Kresa Space Gallery, including a three-story-tall Electron launch vehicle from Rocket Lab in Long Beach.
Adam Spice, chief financial officer of Rocket Lab, told LAist the Electron helped lower the cost of getting to space by sending satellites in smaller, cheaper rockets. The new center is an opportunity to get up close and personal with an Electron for the first time outside of a factory.
Spice said he hopes it’ll show visitors their dreams can become a reality.
“They can be part of something much bigger than probably they ever thought they could,” he said.
A segment of a solid rocket booster that flew into space several times is laid on its side on the second floor of the gallery.
Kenneth Phillips, the California Science Center’s aerospace curator, told LAist it’ll be turned into an interactive exhibit with audio, video and educational graphics.
“It's 12 feet in diameter, so people can actually walk through it and learn about the function of it from the inside out literally,” Phillips said.
A detailed model of a space shuttle main engine is set up next to the solid rocket booster. Three of those main engines helped boost space shuttles into orbit by providing about 20% of their power, Phillips said.
Construction of the Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center started more than three years ago and is on track to be completed in the coming weeks, according to museum officials.
The remaining exhibits and artifacts will then be installed over "many months," Rudolph said. Officials expect to announce next year an opening date for the expansion.
The California Science Center also is looking to raise about $70 million more for the $450 million project before it opens. You can learn more about its “EndeavourLA” fundraising campaign here.
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The group of directors restoring the Village Theater in Westwood are tapping film nonprofit American Cinematheque to program and run the venue when it opens.
Why it matters: American Cinematheque also programs the Aero Theatre in Santa Monica, the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood and the Los Feliz Theater, making it a visible and active film arts nonprofit in the industry.
The backstory: The nearly century-old movie palace went up for sale in 2024 before Village Directors Circle bought it in February. The group is comprised of more than 30 notable filmmakers. They're led by director Jason Reitman (Thank You For Smoking, Juno) and their ranks include Guillermo del Toro, Alfonso Cuarón, Lulu Wang, Chloé Zhao, Christopher Nolan and Ryan Coogler.
What's next: VDC says it's eyeing a 2027 opening for the Village Theater, and is currently in the quiet phase of a capital campaign to raise $25 million to restore and remodel the Village Theater into a more than 1,000-seat venue.
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The city of Long Beach has launched a new jobs program to help people affected by January’s fires.
Who is it for? The initiative will provide paid career opportunities and financial assistance to people looking for a fresh start in Long Beach.
To start, 10 people will get up to 300 hours of paid work experience with local employers. Another five people also will get training scholarships of up to $7,500 in high-demand fields like health care and information technology.
Who's paying for it? The initiative is funded by a $130,000 federal act called the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act.
How to apply: Anyone interested in applying can contact Nakawa Shepherd, Career Center manager, Economic Development and Opportunity, at Nakawa.Shepherd@longbeach.gov or visit the LBWIN Adult Career Services Center.
How to participate: Long Beach’s Economic Development and Opportunity office also is looking for local employers to provide on-the-job training for applicants.
Interested businesses can contact Courtney Chatterson, business engagement officer, EDO, at Courtney.Chatterson@longbeach.gov.
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The man accused of igniting a fire that led to the deadly and destructive Palisades Fire in January will remain in custody without bond, U.S. Judge Rozella Oliver decided Tuesday in Los Angeles. Jonathan Rinderknecht has been in custody since his arrest in Florida on Oct. 7.
Where things stand: Rinderknecht was indicted by a federal grand jury in October and is charged with one count of arson, one count of timber set afire and one count of destruction of property by means of fire. Rinderknecht pleaded not guilty in mid-October and faces anywhere from five to 45 years in federal prison if convicted. His trial is set to begin April 21, 2026. His lawyers recently asked the court to allow him out of custody as he awaits trial.
Argument against release: In a filing on Monday, prosecutors said Rinderknecht is a flight risk because of his familial ties to France, as well as a danger to the community. The filing states that Rinderknecht threatened to burn down his sister’s home and that he purchased a gun and threatened to kill his brother-in-law. Prosecutors also raised the fact that a judge determined in October that the suspect’s mental health had declined.
The allegations: Authorities allege Rinderknecht set fire to brush near the Skull Rock Trailhead in the Santa Monica Mountains at around midnight Jan. 1, starting the Lachman Fire. Though the fire was held to just 8 acres and was believed to have been extinguished, authorities say it flared up once again amid strong, dry winds a week later. That fire grew into the Palisades Fire, which killed 12 people and destroyed more than 6,800 structures.
Go deeper: How could the Palisades Fire have reignited after a week? Experts explain
