The Brief

Nestled between Historic Filipinotown and Echo Park is a bookstore turned artisan craft space turned food market, all within 900 square feet. Every Sunday, A Good Used Book on Glendale Boulevard transforms from a retail bookstore into what they call “Sunday Funday Market.”

Founders Jenny Yang and Chris Capizzi spent seven years operating as a pop-up without a brick-and-mortar location. Opening their doors to local vendors pays homage to their own roots selling at Los Angeles markets, from the Melrose Trading Post to the Pasadena Rose Bowl Flea Market.

“Mega giant online sellers have the scale and the resources and the patience and the reach to capture most people,” Capizzi said. “Whereas for us, I think we have to be really creative — we have to band together.”

Nestled between Historic Filipinotown and Echo Park is a bookstore turned artisan craft space turned food market, all within 900 square feet. Every Sunday, A Good Used Book on Glendale Boulevard transforms from a retail bookstore into what they call “Sunday Funday Market.”

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Nick Ducassi

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The LA Local

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Yang and Capizzi’s long history of vending at markets taught them how isolating running a small business can be. At their market, they aim to build connections with each vendor and strategize the best timing and layout so everyone can succeed.

“[Amazon and Barnes & Noble] are Goliath, and we’re not even David — we’re just the ant underneath David’s foot,” Capizzi said. “I think we can do what we do and try to get as many people, at our level or even smaller, to get together.”

Weekly markets at A Good Used Book have captivated the neighborhood since its opening in October 2023, with charming names like “Sunday Funday,” “Saturday School” and “Hi-Fi Friday Night,” plus hand-drawn flyers by well-known artist Noah Harmon. Now, it’s become a weekly occurrence where LA pop-ups can display their own crafts, allowing local readers to indulge in a little more than a pocket paperback.

Each week holds a Pandora’s box of niche snacks, crafts or trinkets you didn’t know you needed, ranging from Southeast Asian-inspired trail mix to natural incense sticks to vintage Japanese audio equipment. One week you might be enticed to adopt a kitten from a rescue booth outside, another week you might impulsively get a stick-and-poke tattoo in the back of the store.

Nestled between Historic Filipinotown and Echo Park is a bookstore turned artisan craft space turned food market, all within 900 square feet. Every Sunday, A Good Used Book on Glendale Boulevard transforms from a retail bookstore into what they call “Sunday Funday Market.”

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Nick Ducassi

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The LA Local

)

On one sunny Sunday afternoon, Brandon Stanciell hand-tossed fresh pizza dough on the sidewalk outside the bookstore. His 2-year-old pop-up, Pizza Ananda, which he named after his daughter, is an homage to her and to Italian cooking, a hobby he started during paternity leave. An hour before the market closed, Stanciell had already sold out and garnished his last pepperoni-and-hot-honey pie for one lucky customer.

“I love that places like this allow us all to meet at once to share what we have and give it to the community around us,” Stanciell said.

Nestled between Historic Filipinotown and Echo Park is a bookstore turned artisan craft space turned food market, all within 900 square feet. Every Sunday, A Good Used Book on Glendale Boulevard transforms from a retail bookstore into what they call “Sunday Funday Market.”

(

Nick Ducassi

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The LA Local

)

For the owners, building a community market is about deepening relationships with the people who walk through their doors. In an increasingly digital landscape, it is also a reciprocal partnership among local businesses.

“A lot of people talk about community building nowadays as a marketing strategy,” Capizzi said. “But I think the actual community building comes from talking to each vendor and each customer and being a consistent presence in the neighborhood.”

Nestled between Historic Filipinotown and Echo Park is a bookstore turned artisan craft space turned food market, all within 900 square feet. Every Sunday, A Good Used Book on Glendale Boulevard transforms from a retail bookstore into what they call “Sunday Funday Market.”

(

Nick Ducassi

/

The LA Local

)

While customers browsed for unique titles, Gerin del Carmen worked her booth of ceramic dishware, oyster-shaped trinket holders and vases resembling miniature boxes. As a ceramicist, del Carmen draws from her Filipino heritage, including the Balikbayan boxes that represent immigrants sending gifts to family in the Philippines.

“Sharing the community and your space is such a big deal. This is not a huge, gigantic Barnes & Noble store,” del Carmen said. “It has so much foot traffic, and the fact that [the owners] are setting up and sharing the space once or twice a week with other vendors and other artists is huge.”

Yang and Capizzi may think of themselves as an “ant underneath David’s foot,” but A Good Used Book is building a colony of vendors, rooted in community.

The El Niño climate pattern is here and, in Southern California, that can mean heavy rain in the winter — which is why experts say now is the time to prepare and make sure you’re signed up for emergency alerts. But for the thousands of people who lost their homes and businesses in the Eaton and Palisades fires, there are some additional concerns.

With no trees or vegetation with roots to hold soil together, open dirt lots are prone to flooding and erosion. That soil can still be contaminated with toxic metals, which can wind up downstream with rain.

But there are ways survivors can prepare their properties, according to experts LAist spoke with, including understanding how water is flowing in your area, applying organic mulch to bare soil, and diverting water from structures and foundations.

Organic composted mulch ftw

Natalie Levy, a soil scientist with the University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources, has been studying how organic mulch can help prevent erosion and reinvigorate soil on fire-scarred properties in Altadena since last year.

In a pilot project, she and a group of 14 Altadena property owners applied 1 to 2 inches of compost "erosion-control blankets" to their lots. The mixture needs to be a combination of fine-screened compost and larger, coarser, composted mulch.

"Think of this coarse composted mulch as a protective blanket," Levy said. "Your strategy here is you're reducing rainfall hitting bare soil directly.  We're really trying to slow the movement of water down and give it more opportunity to infiltrate."

The larger pieces of mulch dissipate the energy of rainfall, while the finer compost can break down and help nourish the soil over time, Levy said.

The pilot analyzed 14 properties before and after significant rains last year. Levy found the properties with organic mulch had less erosion.

"Instead of a mass of soil that had fallen off of the edge of the parkway, we saw very clean curbs and less actual sediment in that storm drain," Levy said.

Lydia Whitlock was one of the participants in the pilot. A UC Master Gardener, she wanted to find more natural ways to clean her soil and prevent erosion after her home burned in the Eaton Fire. She worked closely with Levy and later contacted local native plant and nature-based stormwater capture experts, Hardy Californians, who connected her with a local landscaper to spread 645 tons of organic mulch across more than 128,000 square feet of her and her neighbors' properties.

A truck dumps organic composted mulch on Lydia Whitlock's property in Altadena.

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Courtesy Lydia Whitlock

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"Seeing how tended for and cared for the land looked as opposed to how it had looked as just bare dirt, it really felt like, oh, I'm taking a step towards coming back home," Whitlock said.

She was especially pleased with a neighbor’s property across the street, which had a steeper slope.

"After the first rains post-mulch, we noticed that she had almost no soil movement whatsoever," Whitlock said.

The county paid for the mulch to be applied for this pilot, but Whitlock said she hopes there's a broader effort and additional support from local authorities ahead of the rainy season, which officially starts mid-October. Many of the lots covered in the pilot have now been uncovered as rebuilding continues, Whitlock said.

"It was encouraging to get this done," she said, "but at the same time, 14 lots feels like a drop in the bucket compared to how many still-empty dirt lots there are around Altadena."

Other ways to prepare your property 

Meanwhile, Parker Davis, founder of Hardy Californians, said there are other affordable ways to prep your property ahead of potential significant rain. The group has been working closely with fire survivors on natural soil remediation strategies, as well as erosion control and water capture.

In most cases, on properties with moderate to minimal sloping, he said, residents shouldn’t be all that concerned.

"In general, the moderately-sloped [properties], they can help themselves," Davis said.

However, Davis emphasized, people right against recently burned hillsides do need to prepare for more significant mudflows and potential evacuations.

"People should really start preparing now," he said. "Crews are going to get busy, and once things get wet, then there's not a whole lot you can do about it."

Here are some other ways to prepare your property, according to Davis:

• Filling and placing sandbags now
• Staggering chain link fences on sloped properties can help capture debris
• Creating channels to redirect water from construction areas (though be sure to coordinate with neighbors if you can’t direct to a public storm drain)
• Apply jute on exposed soil under mulch on hillsides. That can also be used in combination with natural material wattles (some are made with plastics, which Davis doesn’t recommend, as it can contaminate soil and water)

Immigrants from El Salvador with Temporary Protected Status remain uncertain about their ability to legally live and work in the U.S. after federal officials said late Tuesday that the Department of Homeland Security planned to make an announcement about the program.

“Until such [an] announcement is made, Salvadoran individuals present in the U.S. under TPS retain protection,” DHS said in a statement.

On Wednesday, the federal program that allows people to live and work in the U.S. due to armed conflict, environmental disaster and other “extraordinary” conditions in their native countries was slated to expire for El Salvador.

An estimated 170,000 immigrants face the loss of their work authorizations and potential deportation, which has ignited fear of family separation and other anxieties.

Why this matters

L.A. County is home to the largest Salvadoran diaspora, though it’s unclear how many are beneficiaries of Temporary Protected Status.

El Salvador was granted TPS in 2001, meaning some immigrants have been living in the U.S. for more than two decades. Here, they’ve built families, launched businesses and become integral parts of their communities.

What TPS holders can do now

Nonprofits like the Asylum Seeker Advocacy Project recommend that TPS holders seek an attorney to determine if they're eligible for a different immigration status. Advocates also recommend that people who are on the verge of losing TPS create an emergency plan in case a family member is detained or deported.

How does this TPS decision impact your community?

From 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Sept. 12, immigration reporter Julia Barajas and community engagement producer Annie Nguyen will be speaking with community members at Café Calle, 3310 S. Central Ave., Los Angeles.

If you would like to share your experience, or if you have ideas about immigration issues they should be covering, join them for a conversation and a free drink.

How other former TPS beneficiaries have fared

In July, the Department of Homeland Security terminated TPS for Haiti. Since then, many Haitians have lost their jobs and increasing numbers are being deported.

The anxiety of losing TPS can also influence former recipients’ mental health: in Springfield, Ohio, an incoming college freshman died by suicide after DHS fitted him with an electronic ankle monitor (one of the ways the agency tracks people it may deport). The man’s name was Pierre Damas Bel, and in a social media post, he described “carrying a feeling of shame and humiliation [he] never imagined” shortly before he died.

What the Trump administration says

“TPS is just that — it’s temporary. It was never designed to be permanent,” said Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin with regard to the Supreme Court majority’s decision to allow for the expiration of TPS for Haiti. The dissenting justices determined there was ample evidence that the federal government’s move was fueled by racial animus.

The Trump administration has moved to terminate most of the 17 TPS designations that were in place when its second term began. Signed into law by former President George H.W. Bush in 1990, TPS offered temporary safeguard from deportation and eligibility for a work permit — but not a pathway to permanent residence.

This story first appeared on The LA Local.

A stretch of beach along Long Beach’s Peninsula is gone after a weekend of pounding waves eroded massive amounts of sand. The hurricane-driven swell left the area’s boardwalk in tatters and is threatening to undermine the foundations of more than a dozen oceanfront houses.

Homeowners and structural engineers were assessing the damage to about 20 residences, and crews were trying to rebuild defenses after a weekend of unforgiving waves pulled so much sand into the sea that, at low tide, there was a 15-foot drop from the boardwalk to exposed rocks below. The waves damaged the boardwalk’s already battered seawall and left dozens of homes exposed to future swells, which are expected to pummel Long Beach again on Tuesday evening.

Dennis Poulsen, who built his beachfront home on the Peninsula in 2005, said he has never seen the backside of the seawall. Now that it’s exposed, “it’s in far worse shape than I thought,” he said of the eroded wood. “It just has no muscle left to fight.” 

Without the beach’s sand barrier and intact seawall, the ocean water can pour in beneath the boardwalk and attack the foundations of the ocean-facing homes, Poulsen said. Many houses are built atop shallow foundations that erode easily, as the waves drag sand back into the Pacific, compromising homes’ structural integrity, he said. 

A man jumps onto a collapsed pathway and looks at the waves coming under the boardwalk after strong waves flooded the Long Beach peninsula on Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2026.

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Thomas R. Cordova

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Long Beach Post

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Poulsen said his home was built on fine sand compacted to the point that it behaves like concrete, but all the Peninsula’s homes were built under the assumption that the beach and seawall would offer protection. Now, the barriers are compromised, inviting the ocean into the homes built to overlook it. 

Why were these waves so bad?

In this neighborhood, residents are used to guarding against strong tides and waves.

Heavy trucks commonly rumble up the shoreline to build a protective sand berm. City crews truck in the sand six days a week to replace what waves wash away, at the cost of about $1 million annually. Before storms, residents heap sandbags and tack up plywood, usually escaping major damage.

This time was different.

One resident called it a “perfect storm” — the result of a hurricane hundreds of miles away, warmer ocean temperatures and the convergence of high tide and high swell. 

Hurricane Marie, originally a Category 2 storm that’s since been downgraded, gave the weather system most of its energy, said Marine Safety Chief Gonzalo Medina. Warm ocean temperatures, as hot as 80 degrees, caused the water to expand, resulting in greater volume and higher tide, Medina said. When combined with high swell, the Peninsula faced a “one-two punch” that produced large waves, as high as five feet, Medina said.

City workers salvage what’s left of the seawall as they prepare for the next round of strong waves along the boardwalk after waves pounded the Long Beach Peninsula on Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2026.

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Thomas R. Cordova

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Long Beach Post

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High swells are expected again this evening, when high tide is predicted to crest over six feet, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Though Medina expects it to be smaller than over the weekend, he added that the weather system is dynamic and unpredictable. “We’re keeping our fingers crossed that it’s a lot less impactful than the last two nights,” he said. 

Experts have warned that low-lying areas of Long Beach like this are especially vulnerable as climate change causes tides to reach further inland and exacerbates extreme weather.

Residents brace for more 

Inspectors on Tuesday were still trying to assess damage between 63rd and 67th places, where waves can hit the Peninsula after passing through a gap in Long Beach’s breakwater system. Evacuation orders remained in effect, and the boardwalk was closed to foot traffic.

Residents remained uncertain about the immediate safety of their homes, let alone their long-term prognoses, and some returned to fortify their houses in the meantime.  

One resident, Keith Holt, who moved into his oceanside home in 2015, said he was “just trying to save the house” as engineers drilled reinforcements into the seawall, all that stood between Holt and the ocean as waves pelted the walls and shot geysers of water into the air. 

Long Beach firefighters survey the damage along the boardwalk after strong waves pounded the Long Beach peninsula on Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2026.

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Thomas R. Cordova

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Long Beach Post

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Ashley Simpson, a neighbor, walked out to the boardwalk in her pajamas to gauge the situation. Two of her kids participated as junior lifeguards every summer, running miles on the now-submerged Peninsula beach. She added that it’s devastating to see that land gone, especially in a community as tightly knit as Long Beach. 

The swallowed beach puts other homes in jeopardy, because the oceanside homes protect the bayside homes, Poulsen said, adding, “If this goes away, the Peninsula goes away.” 

Jennifer Pieracci-Jensen, who lives on 67th Place, said she “hasn’t stopped moving” since her street flooded with several feet of water two nights ago. She combined a pump in her subterranean garage, sandbags and a water gate to try to keep the ocean and accompanying debris at bay, but it had overcome the defenses on her low-lying street.

Robbie Cox shovels out 2 feet of sand in front of a home along the boardwalk after strong waves pounded the Long Beach Peninsula on Sept. 8, 2026.

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Thomas R. Cordova

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Long Beach Post

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She has only spent a few years in the home, having purchased the duplex with her husband and family friends in 2023, yet she already knows that more battles are ahead. An exceptionally strong El Niño is headed to the region this year, and the coastal neighborhood will have to keep fighting rising sea levels.

“It’s not going to get any better,” she said.