Makenna Cramer
covers the daily drumbeat of Southern California — events, processes and nuances making it a unique place to call home.
Published March 31, 2025 6:30 AM
The Burbank TARDIS sits next to Harvey the Dalek at Geeky Teas and Games. Can you help doctor it?
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Makenna Sievertson
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LAist
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Topline:
A blue police box in Burbank has hosted wedding proposals, family Christmas photoshoots and countless excited smiles over the past 15 years — but now, it needs your help.
About the TARDIS: It’s a replica of one of the most recognizable and iconic inventions from the long-running TV series Doctor Who. And this one was engineered by the late Grant Imahara, a roboticist best known for his work on Mythbusters and White Rabbit Project.
Why now: The creation has been in the care of Donna Ricci, owner of Geeky Teas and Games, who is looking for handy Whovian volunteers to give the Burbank TARDIS an overdue facelift.
How you can help: If you’re willing to help, you can reach out to Ricci by email: donna@geekyteas.com.
Read on ... about the origin of Burbank's TARDIS.
A blue police box in Burbank has hosted wedding proposals, family Christmas photo shoots and countless excited smiles over the past 15 years — but now, it needs your help.
It’s a replica of a TARDIS, which stands for “Time and Relative Dimension in Space.” It’s one of the most recognizable and iconic inventions from the long-running TV series Doctor Who.
This box may not be able to travel through time and is just as big on the inside as the outside, but it was engineered by the late Grant Imahara, a roboticist best known for his work on Mythbusters and White Rabbit Project.
The creation has been in the care of Donna Ricci, friend and owner of Geeky Teas and Games, who is now looking for handy Whovian volunteers who can give the Burbank TARDIS an overdue facelift.
“She’s brought joy,” she told LAist. ”I love it when people didn't expect her but then stumble upon her. For them, it's like a piece of magic. It's kind of a signal that magic exists somewhere in the world and possibilities are there.”
Grant Imahara poses inside the Burbank TARDIS. It used to make a roaring sound when the door opened.
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Courtesy of Donna Ricci
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The origin story
Ricci knew how important Doctor Who was to people even before she watched an episode.
She figured that the TARDIS, a strange ship that carries characters to parallel universes and alien worlds, would be a great addition for her store and community.
Imahara "got so excited when I told him I'm gonna build a TARDIS for people to enjoy outside,” she said. “And he's like, I have some friends at the BBC. Let me get you some plans to help you out.”
He brought back the dimensions from the BBC (the network that produces the show), drew up the rest of the plans from there and gave Ricci a “police telephone box” sign to put on the front door for when it was finished.
The TARDIS has traveled between various store locations over the years, even earning a visit from Doctor Who star John Barrowman. And Ricci still remembers when she realized it meant something to others too.
“ I was in my store late at night and ... I heard brakes on the car go slamming,” she said, her voice cracking slightly with emotion. “ People were just posing with her and having a great time and just so excited that they could open the door and, you know, act like they were coming out of the TARDIS. And that's when I knew.”
TARDIS needs a little TLC
The TARDIS got banged up at Geeky Teas and Games' last location, where it sat in the glaring SoCal sun for about five years.
The heat warped the doors and pulled pieces of wood away from itself. It’s been marred with graffiti and scratches, and someone even threw a full container of orange juice through one of the windows.
“She used to also light up and make the roaring noise when you open the door,” Ricci said. “She doesn't do that anymore.”
The TARDIS definitely needs some work.
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Makenna Sievertson
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LAist
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How you can help
The Burbank TARDIS needs a sonic screwdriver, or at least someone who can help give it a new lease on life.
Ricci is looking for volunteers who have experience in building, carpentry, woodworking or similar skills. Some pieces can be saved, she said, while others need to be rebuilt.
If you’re willing to help, you can reach out to Ricci by sending an email to: donna@geekyteas.com.
She’s hoping to have the TARDIS fixed up by July, the anniversary of Imahara’s death, so it can be part of a new memorial.
TARDIS under construction.
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Makenna Sievertson
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LAist
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The memorial plaque for Grant Imahara.
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Courtesy of Donna Ricci
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“ I don't think people knew how kind he was,” she said. “ I'm so grateful that he was always on board with anything I wanted to do and just constantly lending a hand, not to just me, but other people. He was always giving things ... I wish more people could have known him.”
Ricci is also planning to hang a portrait of Imahara in the lobby of Geeky Teas and Games' new Alameda Avenue location, not far from their life-sized Dalek named Harvey.
Jordan Rynning
has been following this case for months, including interviewing the man at the center of allegations.
Published October 31, 2026 7:00 AM
Michael Angel Alvarez, 41, spoke with LAist on Sept. 16, 2026, about the federal body armor case against him being dismissed.
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Jordan Rynning
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LAist
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Topline:
The L.A. County District Attorney’s office dropped its felony body armor charges against Michael Angel Alvarez earlier this week. Alvarez was sentenced to time served on a lesser charge — a probation violation. He served more than 100 days in jail earlier this year while awaiting trial.
Most serious claims haven’t materialized: Though federal prosecutors made headlines claiming in court documents and on social media that Alvarez was “leading a violent street gang, while claiming to be a gang interventionist for the City,” they have not filed charges related to those claims.
The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office dropped its felony body armor charges against Michael Angel Alvarez on Wednesday. Alvarez was sentenced to time served on a lesser charge — a probation violation. He had served more than 100 days in jail earlier this year while awaiting trial.
Why Alvarez’s arrest made headlines: Alvarez was working as a city-contracted peace ambassador in MacArthur Park when he was arrested by federal agents in May. Federal and county prosecutors each brought felony charges against him, claiming he was in possession of body armor as a violent felon.
Bill Essayli, who leads the U.S. Attorney’s office in L.A., pointed to the case on social media to criticize city officials for allowing taxpayer money to be “shelled out to a convicted gang murderer.”
About his criminal record: Judges in federal and state court have now dismissed prosecutors’ felony charges against Alvarez, after U.S. District Judge Anne Hwang found on Sept. 9 that Alvarez did not have a violent felony conviction. Alvarez was 15 when he committed a gang-related murder. He was tried and convicted as an adult in 2002. After a change in state law increased the age at which minors could be sentenced as adults to 16, Alvarez’s case was sent back to juvenile court, and he was released in 2024. At that point, he had served more than 20 years.
A federal judge ruled Tuesday, Oct. 7 that Republican Bill Essayli is not legally serving as the top U.S. prosecutor in Los Angeles.
The ruling is the latest roadblock to the Trump administration’s effort to extend handpicked acting U.S. attorneys beyond the 120-day limit set by federal law. The strategy was designed to bypass confirmation by the U.S. Senate — something that generally requires a degree of bipartisan support.
Essayli “is unlawfully serving as a ‘de facto’ United States Attorney,” U.S. District Judge J. Michael Seabright wrote.
The order won’t take effect until the court rules on the government’s motion for a stay pending appeal. Essayli said he doesn’t agree with the court’s order. He said the president and Attorney General “have every right to select supervisors within the Justice Department.”
If you're enjoying this article, you'll love our daily newsletter, The LA Report. Each weekday, catch up on the 5 most pressing stories to start your morning in 3 minutes or less.
Mariana Dale
explores and explains the forces that shape how and what kids learn from kindergarten to high school.
Published October 31, 2026 5:00 AM
Myrna Velasco (left) performs as Dolores Huerta in “¡Sí Se Puede!” at Boyle Heights City Hall on April 2, 2026.
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Carlin Stiehl
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LAist
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Topline:
An all-ages play about the life of Dolores Huerta and other under-told stories of the farmworker labor movement is back on tour in Los Angeles.
The backstory: Center Theatre Group commissioned ¡Sí Se Puede! from Eliana Pipes in March 2025 and it debuted in L.A. this spring. “There's this perception that farm work was only done by men,” Pipes said. “There were women on the fields, there were women on the picket lines, and there were women in leadership in the United Farm Workers movement.”
An all-ages play about the life of Dolores Huerta and other under-told stories of the farmworker labor movement is back on tour in Los Angeles.
The show's extension had been announced prior to the news that Huerta died Wednesday, Oct. 28., at her Bakersfield home. She was 96 years old.
“There's this perception that farm work was only done by men,” said playwright Eliana Pipes. “There were women on the fields, there were women on the picket lines, and there were women in leadership in the United Farm Workers movement.”
Center Theatre Group commissioned ¡Sí Se Puede! from Pipes in March 2025 and it debuted in L.A. this spring.
CSULA seeks memories from underground music scenes
Adolfo Guzman-Lopez
is an arts and general assignment reporter on LAist's Explore LA team.
Published October 31, 2026 5:00 AM
CSULA is seeking memorabilia from LA's underground music scenes for its research archives.
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Courtesy Special Collections and Archives, University Library, California State University, Los Angeles.
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Topline
There’s a whole world of underground Southern California music history that’s hidden in storage boxes — photos, fliers, cassettes and other memorabilia. Research librarians at the California State University, Los Angeles are holding a community archive event on Nov. 5 to ensure the cultural memory of L.A.’s underground music scenes are preserved for future generations.
Why it matters: The memorabilia are the physical remnants of the supportive L.A. communities built around music and enjoyment. But many of these objects languish out of sight, and run the risk of being lost, along with the memories attached to them.
Why now: For four years, archive staff have held an annual day to receive ephemera from the public. They're doing it again on Thursday, Nov. 5.
Read on… to hear how goth, rockabilly and other underground clubs in L.A. inspired the head archivist.
Right around the year 2000, there was a club night in Hollywood called Clockwork Orange. Fans of The Smiths, Depeche Mode, Bauhaus and other bands came for the DJ’s mix of their favorite songs but also for a vibe that welcomed people regardless of race, ethnicity or sexual and gender identity.
“I was a pretty shy person, and so that was a place where I could sort of be myself and express myself,” said Azalea Camacho, a regular there in those days.
She had just graduated from Workman High School in the City of Industry and was also clubbing at rockabilly music nights in Rosemead and goth club nights in downtown L.A.
Camacho said there was lots of memorabilia from those times, such as photos taken in and outside the clubs, ticket stubs and promotional fliers. They're the physical remnants of those supportive communities built around music and enjoyment, but many of them languish in shoeboxes and storage units, at risk of being lost — along with the memories attached to them.
Cal State LA has hosted Sounds of the Underground Archive for the last four years. It's an opportunity for people to donate their underground music scene memorabilia.
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Courtesy Special Collections and Archives, University Library, California State University, Los Angeles
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“I think the danger is maybe those stories are not being told, or people don't know about the story,” she said.
Keeping stories alive
More than two decades later, Camacho is now in a position to make sure those stories are kept alive. She’s head of special collections and archives at the university library at California State University, Los Angeles.
Four years ago, she and library staff created an annual day for area residents to donate or digitize memorabilia for their Sounds of the Underground Archive. This year it's on Thursday, Nov. 5. They’ll accept physical donations, but they’ll also have a scanner to digitize printed material, so people can keep items that are precious to them.
SOUNDS OF THE UNDERGROUND ARCHIVE
Date: Thursday, Nov. 5 Time: 2 p.m. – 5 p.m. Location: Cal State LA Library Community Room, 5151 State University Drive, Los Angeles
Camacho is hoping this year will bring in a bumper amount of memorabilia. It's taken time to get the word out, she said.
“From the actual community archiving day [we’ve collected] maybe 100 or less than 100 items. … It's not a lot,” she said.
She said they're on the lookout for a wide range of mementos, including:
Fliers
Handbills
Zines
Newsletters
Posters
Set lists
Photographs (prints, negatives or digital files)
Cassette tapes, CDs, or vinyl records
Ticket stubs
Wristbands
Band merchandise (stickers, buttons, patches, T-shirts)
DIY press kits or liner notes and correspondence (letters, emails, messages related to music scenes)
Venue or collective ephemera (membership cards, schedules, announcements and more)
