Adolfo Guzman-Lopez
is an arts and general assignment reporter on LAist's Explore LA team.
Published July 27, 2025 5:00 AM
The sculpture Embodied is located in front of the L.A. County Hall of Justice. Artist Alison Saar depicted a non-traditional image of Lady Justice.
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L.A. Louver
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Topline:
In a new series, LAist’s Adolfo Guzman-Lopez tells the stories behind Los Angeles public art pieces. The series kicks off with the L.A. Lady Justice sculpture with no sword, scales, or blindfold… and the Black artist who made it.
Why it matters: As Southern California and the country grapple with how to carry out justice and what the concept means, the sculpture offers alternative ways to see justice.
Why now: Artist Alison Saar created the sculpture just over a decade ago and the piece of public art remains in front of the L.A. County Hall of Justice.
Read on ... about the sculpture and the artist's vision behind it.
Artist Alison Saar remembers being in a meeting before she was awarded the commission to create a sculpture of Lady Justice in front of the renovated L.A. County Hall of Justice. Lee Baca was still the L.A. County sheriff.
“He came into the office," Saar said, "and plopped down a traditional Lady Justice and he says, ‘This is what I want.'"
Baca’s statuette wielded a sword, held scales and her eyes were covered with a blindfold. That traditional depiction is thousands of years old.
To Saar, the image was jarring, given her life experiences and world views.
“The sword… which to me just talked about the violence in the judiciary system… and the scales… they're monetary scales. It felt to me like if you’ve got money, you've got one kind of justice,” she said.
And the blindfold? To Saar, it makes Lady Justice blind to compassion.
The piece is called "Embodied" and it is one of many pieces of public art in Southern California that have rich back stories which reveal important aspects of the region’s history and changing demographics.
This corner has seen a lot of injustice
Stand in front of the statue facing east, toward the L.A. River, and despite the many buildings that block much of the view you can sense the natural slope of the land.
From the 1850s to the 1870s, when most of the buildings were one story, you may have seen mobs congregate here, some in broad daylight, carrying out dozens of lynchings. Vague accusations were made against the victim before they were violently killed.
The sculpture Embodied, is located at Temple and Spring streets in downtown Los Angeles.
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Adolfo Guzman-Lopez/LAist
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The L.A. County Hall of Justice was finished in 1925 and re-opened in 2014 after repairs from earthquake damage.
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Adolfo Guzman-Lopez/LAist
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Saar was thinking of that history as she made the sculpture.
“I think the last documented lynching took place up on that hill; a lot of bad stuff happened on that hill,” Saar said.
Walk up to the bronze statue and you’ll see words in English, Spanish, Chinese and other languages. They include “advocate,” “punishment,” “virtud,” and “kousei.”
Words inlaid into the bronze surface of the sculpture Embodied.
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Adolfo Guzman-Lopez/LAist
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Saar gathered the words from students at the nearby Cortines high school for visual and performing arts, Valley College, from L.A. County Art Department staff, as well as people she encountered outside courthouses. The prompt? What words come to mind when you hear the word “justice.”
“Peace we have, I think, in every language,” Saar said. “The idea that people could come and see this piece and find the word that they submitted, or find words that really were in their language, was really important to me."
Preliminary drawings by artist Alison Saar for the sculpture, Embodied.
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Adolfo Guzman-Lopez/LAist
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Saar wants people to use their eyes and their hands when they’re up close to the sculpture. She wants "Embodied" to appeal to the intellect and to the touch.
The figure’s face is a composite of different races and ethnicities of people in the L.A. area. From the back of her head, a long braid falls down her back and loops up and over the figure’s right arm. Saar says the braid’s three strands symbolize law enforcement, the courts, and the people. The interconnection of these three is needed for justice to work.
Detail from the sculpture Embodied, by Alison Saar.
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L.A. Louver
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“We see that these things are more crucial than ever,” she said.
“[Public art] is a really important component of what Los Angeles is,” she said.
That's because it’s free and when it’s located where people congregate and meander, it gives them the opportunity to stop and look at the art and meditate on what they see and the art’s ideas, she added.
“I think it's just really important to have art that's available to everybody,” Saar said.
Gab Chabrán
covers what's happening in food and culture for LAist.
Published January 8, 2026 4:33 PM
The Original Saugus Cafe's neon sign.
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Konrad Summers
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Creative Commons on Flickr
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Topline:
The Original Saugus Cafe, L.A. County's oldest restaurant since 1886, was supposed to have closed Sunday, with lines around the block. But this week a sign on the door said it was reopening under new ownership. That was news to the Mercado family, who had previously run the business for nearly 30 years. It's turned into a legal dispute between the Mercado family and the owners of the property, who are laying claim to the name.
Why it matters: The dispute highlights the precarious position of small business owners who operate under informal agreements with their landlords. For nearly 30 years, the Mercado family ran the restaurant on a handshake deal with property owner Hank Arklin Sr. After he died, the Mercado family is facing losing not just their location, but potentially the business name and legacy they've built.
Why now: Hank Arklin Sr., a former California assemblyman with multiple properties, died in August at age 97. New management presented the Mercado family with written lease terms they found unfavorable, triggering negotiations to sell the business that ultimately fell apart.
Lines stretched around the block Sunday at the Original Saugus Cafe in Santa Clarita. It was supposed to be the restaurant's last day before closing after 139 years — making it the oldest continually operated restaurant in Los Angeles County.
But earlier this week, a sign was posted on the door saying, "Reopening under new ownership soon," although there were few details about who would be running it.
The sign was a surprise to the Mercado family,who have operated the restaurant for nearly 30 years. The family now is in a legal dispute with the Arklin family, who owns the property, about the potential re-opening and who owns the historic name.
The background
Alfredo Mercado worked his way up from bartender to restaurateur, purchasing the business in 1998. Since then Mercado and his daughters have operated the restaurant, leasing from the Arklin family. For most of that time, according to the Mercado side, the two families maintained good terms. Property owner Hank Arklin Sr., a former state assemblyman who owned other properties in the area, kept a verbal month-to-month agreement with the Mercados — no written lease required.
That changed when Arklin died in August at age 97.
New terms, failed negotiations
Larry Goodman, who manages multiple properties for the Arklin family's company, North Valley Construction, took over the landlord relationship. In September, the Mercado family say they were presented with a new written month-to-month lease.
Yecenia Ponce, Alfredo's daughter, said the new terms included various changes to the existing agreement, including a rent increase and charges for equipment.
Months of back and forth negotiations about different options, including selling the business, ultimately fell apart. Their attorney, Steffanie Stelnick, says they are being forced out, without proper legal notice, and has sent a cease-and-desist letter to Goodman saying the family has plans to continue running the business.
LAist reached out to Goodman for comment repeatedly Wednesday and Thursday by phone but did not hear back.
Goodman told The Signal, a Santa Clarita valley news outlet, that Alfredo Mercado had changed his mind several times in recent weeks about keeping the business.
“I said, ‘Fine,’ then I got out and got someone to take it over,” Goodman said.
He said he'd been in contact with Eduardo Reyna, the CEO of Dario's, a local Santa Clarita restaurant, and that the cafe could re-open as soon as Jan. 16.
Who owns what?
The dispute also focuses on who owns the rights to the Original Saugus Cafe name.
Ponce said when her father purchased the restaurant in 1998, it was called The Olde Saugus Cafe, but the name was then changed to The Original Saugus Cafe. State records show that name registered as an LLC under Alfredo Mercado.
After Arklin’s death, however, the Arklin family filed a pending trademark application to lay its own claim to the name.
The Mercado family is resisting.
"As long as they don't buy the name from us, we're not handing it over," Ponce said.
Ponce said the family had no idea the landlord planned to continue operations.
"We truly did think we were closing," she said. "We were not aware that they had plans to continue."
She apologized to customers for the confusion.
Whether the decades-old restaurant name survives — and under whose control — may ultimately be decided in court.
Makenna Sievertson
covers the daily drumbeat of Southern California. She has a special place in her heart for eagles and other creatures that make this such a fascinating place to live.
Published January 8, 2026 4:22 PM
The roughly 550-pound male black bear has been hiding out under an Altadena home.
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CBS LA
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Ken Jonhson
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Topline:
A large black bear has finally crawled out from under a house in Altadena where he’s been hiding for more than a month.
How we got here: The roughly 550-pound bear, dubbed “Barry” by the neighbors, had been holed up in a crawlspace beneath the home since late November.
Why now: Cort Klopping, a spokesperson with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, confirmed to LAist Thursday that the bear had left and the access point had been secured.
The backstory: This wasn’t the first time the bear hid out under a house in Altadena. The same bear was lured out from another crawlspace in the area and relocated miles away to the Angeles National Forest after the Eaton Fire last year. Wildlife officials said they believed he'd been back in Altadena for several months.
Why it matters: Officials encourage residents to secure access points around their homes. One suggestion is to cover crawlspaces with something stronger than the wire mesh Barry has broken through, such as metal bars.
What you can do: Bears are extremely food motivated and can smell snacks in trash cans on the curb from 5 miles away, Klopping has said. He suggested putting trash cans out the same day they get picked up and bringing pet food sources inside, including bird feeders. You can find tips on how to handle a bear in your backyard here and resources from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife here.
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.
Libby Rainey
is a general assignment reporter. She covers the news that shapes Los Angeles and how people change the city in return.
Published January 8, 2026 2:15 PM
A protester displays a poster as tear gas is used in the Metropolitan Detention Center of downtown Los Angeles on June 8, 2025.
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Eric Thayer/AP
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FR171986 AP
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Topline:
Community leaders and politicians in Los Angeles are responding in outrage after an ICE agent shot and killed a woman in Minnesota on Wednesday.
Why it matters: The fatal ICE shooting of 37-year-old Renee Good has sparked anger and fear in Los Angeles, which has been an epicenter of federal immigration enforcement since the summer.
What are some groups saying? Jorge-Mario Cabrera with the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights, or CHIRLA, says the killing was upsetting but not surprising. " Los Angeles has been witness of the escalating aggressiveness of these federal agents against the community," he told LAist.
Read on... for how local politicians are reacting.
Community leaders and politicians in Los Angeles are responding in outrage after an ICE agent shot and killed a woman in Minnesota on Wednesday.
The fatal ICE shooting of 37-year-old Renee Good has sparked anger and fear in Los Angeles, which has been an epicenter of federal immigration enforcement since the summer.
Jorge-Mario Cabrera with the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights, or CHIRLA, says the killing was upsetting but not surprising.
" Los Angeles has been witness of the escalating aggressiveness of these federal agents against the community," he told LAist.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has defended the shooting, saying Good was trying to run agents over with her car. That account has been disputed by eyewitnesses, the mayor of Minneapolis and other officials. Bystander video also challenges the federal narrative, according to MPR News.
L.A. politicians have joined a chorus demanding justice for Good. Mayor Karen Bass posted on X, saying that ICE agents are waging "a purposeful campaign of fear and intimidation" on American cities.
"The senseless killing of an innocent and unarmed wife and mother by ICE agents today in Minneapolis is shocking and tragic and should never have occurred," she said in the post.
The senseless killing of an innocent and unarmed wife and mother by ICE agents today in Minneapolis is shocking and tragic and should never have occurred. And it happened because of the brutal and racist policies of the Trump administration that unleashed these agents in…
Nereida Moreno
is our midday host on LAist 89.3 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Published January 8, 2026 2:05 PM
Crystal Hernández is the violinist for the Mariachi Rams and the only woman in the group.
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Courtesy Los Angeles Rams
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Topline:
As the Rams head to the NFL playoffs this weekend, we’re shining the spotlight on a beloved fan favorite: the Mariachi Rams. Violinist Crystal Hernández, the only woman in the band, tells LAist it’s exciting to see how fans — even those cheering for the opposing team — have embraced their presence at SoFi Stadium. She said it shows how involved and integral Latino culture is to L.A.
“There's no boundary. There's no border,” she said. “It’s all about love and joy and bringing excitement to the game.”
Why it matters: The Rams are the first NFL team to have an official mariachi. The group was formed in 2019 by Hernández' father, the renowned mariachi Jose Hernández. Since then, a handful of teams, including the Houston Texans, have begun incorporating mariachi bands as part of their cultural programming.
Game day: The Mariachi Rams’ musical flare has captivated audiences, blending hip-hop and rock-and-roll sounds with traditional mariachi. They typically perform two or three times throughout the game, starting with a Mexican classic like “El Rey” and segueing into local favorites like “Low Rider” from the Long Beach band War and Tupac’s “California Love.”
The Mariachi Rams blend hip-hop and rock and roll sounds with traditional mariachi. They typically perform two or three times throughout each game.
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Courtesy Los Angeles Rams
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Keeping traditions alive: Crystal Hernández also works with L.A. County students at the nonprofit Mariachi Heritage Society. She said it’s important to pass the tradition down to kids — and especially young girls who may not otherwise see themselves represented onstage.
“If you're a mariachi, you're also an educator,” she said. “It's our responsibility to teach the next generation so this beautiful Mexican tradition doesn't die out.”
