Topline:
Forget water or bananas. At the L.A. Marathon for the last decade, a pop-up stand has been offering free chili cheese dogs to intrepid runners who dare to tempt their gastric fate.
Where is it: Located at Mile 5 of the marathon route, it's the brainchild of L.A. resident Julianna Parr and her friend Alex Kenefick, who started it in 2011 as joke. But now, the stand has become a curious feature of the race.
Read on... to learn about it's history and see a video.
It must have been about 10 years ago when I was running in the L.A. Marathon and had worked my way through the early miles along Sunset Boulevard, through downtown L.A. and up Temple Street.
On crossing the 101 Freeway into historic residential Echo Park, I see them: the hand-painted signs, lined up one after another: “Super Sloppy,” “Chili Cheese Dogz.” Then “BAD IDEA?” … “Maybe, Maybe not!”
Then I hear the music, and cheering from the neighbors who’ve come out to see who will tempt gastric disaster for some spicy, drippy chili and yellow American cheese atop nitrate-laced tube steaks.
Did I grab a chili cheese dog? No. I have never dared to take anything more than photos at the stand, given that I still have, at about Mile 5, 21 more miles to run, and running with the “runs” is not my thing.
But Marvin Suntonvipart did in 2016, he said, because he was undertrained and going at a slow jog. He figured it wouldn’t hurt.
“Digestive speed,” he called it. And the roadside snack? “It was good, highly recommended.”
The chili cheese dogs, free to marathon participants, have been the brainchild of artist and puppeteer Julianna Parr and her friend Alex Kenefick since 2011
“He ran up to me breathlessly and said I have this idea where we serve super sloppy chili cheese dogs to marathon runners. And I said to him 'That's a terrible idea. When do we start?'" Parr said.
This will be their 13th year serving marathoners, having skipped a few during the pandemic.
“It’s a happening,” Parr said, adding that she still gets a kick thinking about the runners’ reactions when they turn the corner off the freeway and see the signs leading them to free chili cheese dogs.
“We know that you're expecting to make choices about how you'll run, how fast you'll run, how slow you'll run, how you're going to pace, you've been doing this maybe for months to train," she said. "But we know that you have one choice that you probably did not bank on and that would be whether you're going to eat a super sloppy chili cheese dog."
The food is prepped outdoors on site starting at 5 a.m. Marathon Sunday using camp stoves and heated chafing dishes to keep everything at a safe temperature. Then, the group waits for the athletes to come through. The race starts at Dodger Stadium before 7 a.m. First to pass their stand are the wheelchair racers, then the pro men and women runners and then amateur elites, who are too fast to try to stop.
Soon, by about 8 a.m., there is a trickle of takers. And then the masses arrive.
“We just get mobbed,” she said. “People will try to grab them out of the hot vat. And I go, ‘Back, back!’ Like that's when they get wild, and they don't have common sense anymore and that's [just] at Mile 5."
The stunt costs about $700 each year to put together, which Parr and friends have footed. But this year, for the first time, she has put up a website to sell merch, including stickers, hats, tote bags and mugs. I think it will be a very “locals only” statement to be walking around with a Super Sloppy Chili Cheese Dog tote bag.
Runner Diana Kitching said she picks up a free dog almost every year when she passes by. In fact, in 2024, as a breastfeeding mom whose marathon pace was slowed with a few breaks to pump, she had two!
Unsurprisingly, the chili cheese dogs are most attractive to runners on a more relaxed and fun pace, those who are not taking their marathon times too seriously.
That was the case for David Winslow one year, when he was running with a group of cancer survivors and living kidney and liver organ donors.
“Each time you see the chili guys it’s like, ‘Who would be that crazy and stupid?’ You see guys grab them and go for it, and you shake your head," Winslow said.
But in 2019 and 2020, as he and his survivor and donor friends rounded the turn over the freeway, something changed.
“We just said, ‘Hey, we HAVE to do this!’ And I do not regret it. One of the craziest things to do during a race," Winslow said.
Playwright and performance artist Kristina Wong has eaten bagel and lox and baklava while taking on the L.A. Marathon, but she draws the line at a chili cheese dog.
“These hot dog portions look downright diarrhea-sized,” Wong said.
And runner O. Gary Pealer said he’d eat one at Mile 5 if they also served beer to wash it down.
But in my experience, the people pouring free beer are usually at Mile 20.
Topline:
Lineage has said it is racing to meet Mayor Karen Bass’ deadline to remove millions of pounds of spoiled food waste from the burned warehouse in Boyle Heights.
Why it matters: Residents continue to report strong odors emanating from the warehouse.
That date is fast approaching: Keep reading for where things stand ahead of that Aug. 14 deadline.
Lineage has said it is racing to meet Mayor Karen Bass’ 45-day deadline to remove millions of pounds of spoiled food waste from the burned warehouse in Boyle Heights. That date is fast approaching on Aug 14. Here’s where things stand as we’re more than halfway through.
LA Documenter Julania Marechal-Raymond contributed reporting for this story. LA Documenters trains and pays LA residents to take notes at local government meetings around Los Angeles. You can find meeting notes and audio at losangeles.documenters.org
This story appeared first on LA Local.
Topline:
The Los Angeles Metro Board voted unanimously Thursday to move forward with a plan that would create the first-ever seat for a regular transit rider on the agency’s governing board. Such a plan would need state approval before it becomes final.
An additional rider seat: Another motion put forward by L.A. Mayor Karen Bass passed on a 12-1 vote. That motion would also reserve a seat — one of the L.A. mayor’s three appointees — for a rider or rider advocate. Both rider seats would have voting power. The make up of the rest of the board would largely remain the same.
Why it matters: The L.A. Metro Board has an annual budget of nearly $10 billion and facilitates countywide transportation projects.
What’s next: The board asked Metro staff to further study adding a labor representative. The make up of the Metro Board is codified in the state’s public utilities code, so any proposed changes approved on Thursday will need another vote by legislators in Sacramento before they become official.
More info: You can read more about the current make up of the Metro Board and the debate over its future composition in our pervious story.
The Los Angeles Metro Board voted unanimously Thursday to move forward with a plan that would create the first-ever seat for a regular transit rider on the agency’s governing board. Such a plan would need state approval before it becomes final.
Janice Hahn, an L.A. County supervisor and Metro Board member, introduced the motion.
Another motion put forward by L.A. Mayor Karen Bass passed on a 12-1 vote. That motion would also reserve a seat — one of the L.A. mayor’s three appointees — for a rider or rider advocate. Both rider seats would have voting power. The make up of the rest of the board would largely remain the same, although members asked Metro staff to further study adding a labor representative.
The L.A. Metro Board has an annual budget of nearly $10 billion and facilitates countywide transportation projects.
Earlier this year, a Metro committee began debating the future composition of its board. The discussion was prompted by Measure G, the voter-approved initiative that will expand the county Board of Supervisors from five to nine members, and add a position for an elected countywide executive.
Five of the Metro Board’s 13 voting seats are reserved for county supervisors. Bass’ motion maintains the five county seats and will leave it up to the Board of Supervisors to decide who, including the county executive, will have a seat on the Metro Board.
Lindsey Horvath, an L.A. County supervisor and Metro board member, cast the lone dissenting vote Thursday on Bass’ motion. Horvath said she supports the inclusion of a rider voice on the board, but had campaigned for a designated seat for the county executive.
“ The county executive will be the only elected seat to represent the entire county of Los Angeles,” Horvath told LAist before Thursday’s vote. “For that position to not be at the decision-making table on something as critical as transit solutions for the region ... makes absolutely no sense.”
The make up of the Metro Board is codified in the state’s public utilities code, so any proposed changes approved on Thursday will need another vote by legislators in Sacramento before they become official.
Topline:
President Donald Trump feted Shohei Ohtani, Freddie Freeman and the World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers at the White House on Thursday, calling the team “one of the great brands anywhere in the world” during a Rose Garden event celebrating its second title in as many years.
Back to back visits: Trump said the Dodgers edging the Toronto Blue Jays in Game 7 last fall capped “a hell of a series.” He indicated he was surprised to learn that the Dodgers had never before won consecutive titles but also mused about a third in a row. “I’m thrilled to say welcome back to the White House,” he said. “And maybe I’ll see you again next year.” The president saluted the team in the East Room in April 2025 to mark their 2024 World Series championship over the New York Yankees.
Long-standing tradition: Championship baseball teams have been coming to the White House since 1869, when President Ulysses S. Grant hosted the Cincinnati Red Stockings. They were the first fully professional team to visit the White House and went undefeated that season, though the World Series wasn’t established in its modern form until 1903. Sports teams’ visits to the Trump White House have sometimes been a source of controversy. In 2018, the president rescinded an invitation to the Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles after many players suggested they might skip such a trip.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump feted Shohei Ohtani, Freddie Freeman and the World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers at the White House on Thursday, calling the team “one of the great brands anywhere in the world” during a Rose Garden event celebrating its second title in as many years.
Trump said the Dodgers edging the Toronto Blue Jays in Game 7 last fall capped “a hell of a series.” He indicated he was surprised to learn that the Dodgers had never before won consecutive titles but also mused about a third in a row.
“I’m thrilled to say welcome back to the White House,” he said. “And maybe I’ll see you again next year.”
The president saluted the team in the East Room in April 2025 to mark their 2024 World Series championship over the New York Yankees. He said before the latest event that he was most excited about meeting Ohtani, whom he compared at length to the legendary Babe Ruth — even saying the Dodgers star was arguably the best hitter and pitcher in baseball.
“It’s truly a great — when you talk about a brand — it’s one of the great brands anywhere in the world,” Trump said of the Dodgers. He spoke in front of a table with two World Series trophies and a Trump 47 jersey, which the team presented to him.
The Dodgers also gave Trump what looked like a replica of a World Series ring. That prompted Trump to exclaim: “Wow. Do I have to report this? I don’t want to report this” before slipping the ring into the inside pocket of his suit jacket.
Those in the crowd wore blue Dodgers caps to guard against bright overhead sun, and the band played a jazzy instrumental version of Randy Newman’s “I Love LA” before Trump took the stage.
Trump described last year’s World Series’ epic Game 3 during which the Dodgers won 6-5 in 18 innings. Trump said he stayed up until around 3 a.m. to watch, noting that “it was a long one, but it was amazing.”
“I thought it was a game that you were going to lose about four or five times, and you ended up winning,” he said, adding, “Luck is OK, too, right?” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts agreed: “Luck is OK.”
“But with talent you get a lot of luck,” Trump continued.
The president said he spoke briefly with Roberts before the event and learned that his team currently has the best record in baseball, noting, “I’ve been a little busy with Iran and some other things.”
That was his only reference during the event to fighting in the Middle East, which has escalated on both sides in recent days.
Roberts also spoke briefly, saying, “We’re going for a three-peat.”
Championship baseball teams have been coming to the White House since 1869, when President Ulysses S. Grant hosted the Cincinnati Red Stockings. They were the first fully professional team to visit the White House and went undefeated that season, though the World Series wasn’t established in its modern form until 1903.
Sports teams’ visits to the Trump White House have sometimes been a source of controversy. In 2018, the president rescinded an invitation to the Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles after many players suggested they might skip such a trip.
Dodgers star right fielder Mookie Betts wasn’t at Thursday’s Rose Garden event, though he did make the 2025 visit. He said he prefers to spend the team’s scheduled days off with his family.
The Dodgers originally considered coming to the White House this past April during a series with the Washington Nationals, but a crowded early season schedule didn’t permit that. Instead, they’re in the nation’s capital during the off-day between a just-completed series against the Philadelphia Phillies and Friday’s opener against the New York Mets in Queens.
Over the past year, Trump has revamped the Rose Garden and added a patio area reminiscent of his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida. At Thursday’s event for the Dodgers, he referenced the “ Walk of Fame ” installed on the colonnade, which features plaques of past presidents along with partisan insults against Joe Biden and other Democrats.
“I could put some of the great Dodgers on the wall,” Trump joked, “but I figured maybe it’s more appropriate that we put the presidents.”
Trump, a baseball fan and New York native, has for years been closely associated with the Yankees, whose late, longtime owner George Steinbrenner was a close friend. Trump referenced Steinbrenner on Thursday, saying, “He would do anything to win” before telling the Dodgers’ team owners, “But you’re doing the same thing.”
The president isn’t always so complimentary of teams, though. During a rally in Georgia on Wednesday, he praised the ownership of the local Atlanta Braves and slammed the Mets for their sky-high payroll and losing record.
Trump was joined on stage during that event by former Braves manager Brian Snitker, and Mike Plant, president and CEO of the Braves Development Company.
”You know, the Mets have the highest salary in baseball, and they lose all the time,” Trump said then. "And I’m like, maybe we can steal this guy.”
“There are teams like that, where they never go down,” Trump said. “Then you have other teams — ‘We’re rebuilding.’ They’ve been rebuilding for years. I don’t want to mention teams ’cause I know all the owners. They’re all friends of mine.”
Topline:
Republican Steve Hilton launched his general election campaign for California governor Wednesday with a gambit to win over left-leaning voters who dominate the state: Even if they loathe President Donald Trump, he said, they should consider voting for him.
Campaign promises: Against the backdrop of the stinking, scorched Lineage warehouse in Boyle Heights which he described as a symbol of the state’s political incompetence, Hilton rolled out a list of campaign promises clearly aimed at residents buckling under California’s notoriously high cost of living. He vowed to bring the price of gasoline down to $3 a gallon, about half the current cost, cut residents’ utility bills in half, now among the nation’s highest, and eliminate state income taxes on the first $150,000 in earnings.
Distancing from Trump: In his campaign remarks and ads he took out in leading newspapers throughout the state, Hilton addressed his relationship with President Donald Trump, who has endorsed him. Hilton’s maneuver is meant to create a sliver of distance from Trump without breaking from him. It’s a tacit nod to the political math in California, one of the nation’s most solidly Democratic states. Registered Republicans are outnumbered nearly 2-to-1 by Democratic voters, and a GOP candidate hasn’t won a statewide election since 2006.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Republican Steve Hilton launched his general election campaign for California governor Wednesday with a gambit to win over left-leaning voters who dominate the state: Even if they loathe President Donald Trump, he said, they should consider voting for him.
During an event in Los Angeles, against the backdrop of a stinking, scorched food warehouse he described as a symbol of the state’s political incompetence, Hilton rolled out a list of campaign promises clearly aimed at residents buckling under California’s notoriously high cost of living. He vowed to bring the price of gasoline down to $3 a gallon, about half the current cost, cut residents’ utility bills in half, now among the nation’s highest, and eliminate state income taxes on the first $150,000 in earnings.
He blamed the state’s problems — from homelessness to low student test scores — squarely on Democrats, who hold every statewide office and supermajorities in the Legislature. He called Democrats a “rotten regime that has abandoned the working class.”
In his campaign remarks and ads he took out in leading newspapers throughout the state, Hilton addressed his relationship with Trump, who has endorsed him in the race.
“This is not about who you hate in Washington. It’s about what we love about California and what we can do to make California once again the best place anywhere in the country to start and raise a family, to start and run a business,” he said before a small group of supporters. “That’s what this election is about.”
Hilton’s maneuver is meant to create a sliver of distance from Trump without breaking from him. It’s a tacit nod to the political math in California, one of the nation’s most solidly Democratic states. Registered Republicans are outnumbered nearly 2-to-1 by Democratic voters, and a GOP candidate hasn’t won a statewide election since 2006.
Trump is widely unpopular in California outside his loyal conservative base. In 2016, Trump lost to Democrat Hillary Clinton by 30 points; in 2020, he lost to Joe Biden by 29 points; and in 2024, he lost to Kamala Harris by 20 points.
California is regarded as the home of the so-called Trump resistance, where Democrats have effectively used Trump as a foil in campaigns to motivate voters. Last year, Gov. Gavin Newsom essentially nationalized the state’s fight over Proposition 50, which recast U.S. House districts to favor Democrats, by framing it as a confrontation with Trump. The measure notched a 29-point win.
The campaign of Hilton’s Democratic opponent, former U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, scoffed at the notion of Hilton being a change agent.
“Californians already know who Steve Hilton is: Trump’s puppet in California. His campaign is a promise to run our state the way Trump runs the country and we’re not buying it,” campaign spokesman Jonathan Underland said in a statement.
As for Hilton’s pitch that voters who dislike Trump should feel free to consider him in November, Underland said, “Steve Hilton cheers on a president whose illegal war has sent gas prices soaring and illegal tariffs have cost California families more than $2,500 this year alone. You can’t fix the affordability crisis while carrying water for the man causing it.”
In a heavily Democratic state, Hilton’s campaign is hoping his appeal to Democrats and independents will “give voters a permission slip” to look past the letter next to a candidate’s name, even in a nation deeply divided by partisanship.
“You do have a choice if you think that this state is going in the wrong direction,” he told supporters at a kickoff event in Boyle Heights, a Los Angeles neighborhood where residents have been complaining about the stench of rotting food, flies and rodents that followed a fire last month at a cold storage warehouse.
He was accompanied by Gloria Romero, a former Democratic state lawmaker who switched parties in 2024 and is this year’s Republican nominee for lieutenant governor. She delivered her own address in both English and Spanish, with supporters holding “Hilton-Romero” signs in the background.
Becerra, a former state lawmaker, congressman and state attorney general, is heavily favored to win the seat now held by Newsom, a likely 2028 Democratic presidential candidate who is barred by law from seeking a third term. Hilton and Becerra emerged from a chaotic primary election in June that had more than 50 candidates on the ballot.
The race is unfolding at a time when California is facing multiple crises. Despite billions in spending, homelessness remains widespread, especially in larger cities. Multibillion-dollar budget gaps are projected into the future. Home prices remain out of reach for many residents. The home insurance market is in disarray, businesses and residents have been fleeing the state, and residents contend with some of the nation’s highest gas prices, taxes and utility bills.
Making good on his campaign promises won’t be an easy task for Hilton, a former adviser to ex-United Kingdom Prime Minister David Cameron who has never held elective office. The governor doesn’t control the oil or utility markets, but Hilton says he will get rid of mandates, taxes and fees that drive those prices higher. He also would likely need the consent of a Legislature controlled by Democrats to change the state’s income tax structure.
Hilton crowned his campaign kickoff with a 30-second TV ad underscoring the financial challenges for many families.
“Life here has become impossible for anyone who isn’t already rich,” he says. “Let’s fix California.”
