The Brief

Wilfredo Cruz went to the doctor in October of last year to have his brain scanned because he was experiencing vertigo — a dangerous condition when you’re a refinery worker like Cruz and your job entails climbing 200-foot towers and fixing heavy machinery.

While he waited at the doctor’s office, he picked up his phone and felt a moment of panic, seeing 100 unread text messages in the last hour.

The Phillips 66 refinery complex in Los Angeles had just said that it was going to close, and Cruz learned in that moment that he would eventually lose his job, along with nearly 1,000 other employees and contractors.

“It was a big shock, a gut punch,” said Cruz, who thinks his last day will be sometime in April. Workers say layoff notices will begin to go out in the next few months.

It’s just one of a handful of refineries that have closed or that intend to close in the coming months. For the workers — most of whom lack a college degree — it’s unlikely they’ll find another job that pays as well, despite recent efforts by the state to help. Though the Trump administration signed legislation creating billions of dollars in tax cuts for oil and gas companies, it’s not going to save these jobs or offer the workers any money to train for new ones.

“You have people earning between $80,000 to $200,000 a year, and almost everyone is a high school graduate and that’s it,” said Cruz. “To go out and look for another job that’s even somewhat comparable, it just doesn’t exist.”

When he isn’t at the refinery, Cruz is wearing a plain black shirt, shorts, and New Balance sneakers — anything that’s easy to clean if his 2-year old son throws food at him, he said. His vertigo is better these days, almost a year after the refinery said it would close, but he now has to find a job so he can support his family and pay his mortgage. The best bet, he said, is to go back to school and start a new career in cybersecurity.

Thousands of jobs lost

California has about 100,000 workers in the fossil fuel industry, according to an August report by the Public Policy Institute of California. That’s about the population of a small city, such as Merced or Redding. As the state continues its transition to renewable energy, many of those jobs may disappear — and some already have.

Refineries have been closing all across the U.S. in recent years, but California has been hit hard, especially in Contra Costa County, Solano County and parts of southern Los Angeles, near Long Beach. First it was the Marathon refinery in Contra Costa County in 2020, which put hundreds of people out of work before the plant converted to renewable fuels with a fraction of the former workforce. Then Phillips 66 began shifting one of its Contra Costa County refineries to renewables and closed an affiliated plant on the Central Coast. A Valero refinery in Solano County is also expected to close in the next few months, leading to more layoffs.

Publicly, oil companies have given vague justifications for the closures, though oil industry advocates, such as the Western States Petroleum Association, blame the state’s increased regulation and its renewable energy transition. Environmental groups point to the decrease in oil demand as more Californians turn to electric vehicles.

With thousands of jobs at stake, Gov. Gavin Newsom and the Democratic-led state Legislature this summer tried to strike a deal with Valero to avoid the closure of its Solano County refinery. Those conversations are still “ongoing,” said Daniel Villaseñor, the deputy director of communications for the governor.

What the state has offered so far is a $30 million pot of money, which refinery workers can use to train for new jobs. The money went out to four different workforce organizations last February, and they have until 2027 to distribute it to workers in various ways, such as through scholarships.

Workers cross a street as smoke billows from a fire at the Martinez Refinery Company in Martinez in Contra Costa County on Feb. 1, 2025.

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Jose Carlos Fajardo

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Bay Area News Group

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A worker stands atop a tank car that carries liquefied petroleum gas at the Marathon Martinez Refinery on April 27, 2020.

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Jose Carlos Fajardo

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Bay Area News Group

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The United Steelworkers union, which represents many of the Phillips 66 refinery workers, received about a third of the money and recruited Cruz to help find eligible workers at his job. Some of his colleagues are trying to become truck drivers, emergency medical technicians, or radiologists, but the state money rarely covers all the training expenses, he said.

In his spare time, Cruz is enrolled in an online, year-long certificate program in cybersecurity at UC San Diego and is using the state money to cover the $4,000 tuition. He said he wants a remote job, something that would allow him to spend more time with his son.

The steelworkers union has pushed Newsom for much more, ideally “hundreds of millions of dollars per year” to help retrain the refinery workers it represents, said Mike Smith, the national bargaining chair for the union. The governor has yet to make any new promises.

Six-figure salary, no degree required

The average work day at a refinery might entail crawling into small spaces, withstanding searing heat, or operating heavy machinery with precision. And it can be dangerous: In 2006, the roof of a storage tank collapsed, killing one person and injuring four others at the Phillips 66 refinery complex in Los Angeles, which was then owned by an earlier iteration of the company.

Twelve-hour shifts are the norm, including many night shifts, and overtime is common. Nearby residents complain that the Phillips 66 facilities have a foul smell and that they pump cancer-causing chemicals into the air, creating health risks for the entire community. Workers are required to wear full-body fire retardant uniforms each day because fires are a constant risk, such as last week, when an explosion rocked a Chevron refinery in El Segundo. There was no major damage.

Flames and smoke from a large fire rises from the Chevron refinery in El Segundo on Oct. 2, 2025.

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Though the work can be physically demanding, the rewards are plentiful. Union workers at the Phillips 66 refinery complex make about $115,000 a year, plus a pension and an 8% match on 401k contributions, said Smith.

Together, the Phillips 66 refineries in Los Angeles and the Valero refinery in Solano County produce about 17% of the state’s gas. Without these facilities, Californians could see higher prices at the pump, according to an independent analysis by the federal government.

Laurie Wallace, a self-described artist, never wanted to work in oil and gas, but the money was a big draw, she said. For years, she was working as many as three different jobs, saving up money for punk and ska concerts while flipping burgers at In-N-Out, helping customers at Ace Hardware, or working shifts at a local cafe. Her husband at the time learned about a training program for refinery workers. He said he was going to apply and when she said she was interested, he told her she would never get in.

“I took the test and got the better score,” Wallace said. “I don’t do well with people telling me not to do something.”

In the nearly 18 years since that exam, she’s worked at the Phillips 66 refinery complex in Los Angeles, handling the heavy machinery that transports California’s oil and gas. Wallace often earns over $100,000, especially with overtime, allowing her to achieve what many might consider the American Dream: a four-bedroom house in the Long Beach suburbs with an affordable mortgage and family vacations every year, including cruises to Mexico and trips to Las Vegas.

She’ll likely see a pay cut in any future job. In a 2023 study by the UC Berkeley Labor Center, UC Irvine professor Virginia Parks helped survey those who had been laid off by the Marathon oil refinery in Contra Costa County in 2020. She found that roughly a quarter were unemployed or no longer looking for work over a year after losing their jobs. Some workers found opportunities at other oil refineries, though they made less money because they lacked seniority or a union. Others found jobs at utility companies or chemical treatment plants, and a few started working in health care or retail.

“I don’t think (refinery workers) need long training programs but they do need some sort of reskilling,” said Parks, who wants the state to provide workers more financial help. She’s especially interested in state grants that give workers income support while they search for a skilled job. “Otherwise they’re just going to find whatever (job) they can.”

Her study found that workers who did find a job after getting laid off made about $38 an hour — $12 less than before.

Lots of experience but few ways to prove it

Since the layoffs at the Phillips 66 refinery complex will happen slowly over the next few months, Wallace still has a job for now. Her department is responsible for receiving and shipping the oil and gas that arrives at the Port of Los Angeles, work that is so essential that she thinks she’ll be one of the last people laid off, potentially in 2027.

Over the years, she’s driven the trains that transport tons of oil and gas, operated cranes to carry pieces of pipelines and climbed on top of the massive fuel storage tanks that line the 110 Freeway. Often, she said she worked six or even seven days in a row.

Laurie Wallace at the end of her overnight shift in front of the Phillips 66 refinery in Wilmington, Los Angeles, on Oct. 1, 2025.

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Stella Kalinina

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CalMatters

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In April, she was diagnosed with breast cancer and got a modified schedule. Now she works night shifts and only two or three days in a row. After finishing her radiation therapy around 2 p.m., she changes out of her usual attire, a punk T-shirt and jeans, and gets into her work uniform. She then has to get through Los Angeles traffic, bypass the plant’s two layers of security, and travel across the refinery, which takes up multiple city blocks, or about 650 acres. Her shift begins at 4:30 p.m., where she spends 12 hours in a room, alone, under fluorescent lights, actively monitoring 16 different computer screens for changes in pressure or chemistry.

After so many years, staying alert during a night shift is second nature, she said with a laugh. “I’m a little high strung. I have no problem staying awake.”

The stakes are high. If she isn’t paying attention and a machine fails or a tank has the wrong pressure, fuel leaks can occur. In 2014, a hole burst in an underground pipeline near the refinery, pouring 1,200 gallons of oil into a residential street.

Although Wallace has used many cranes over the years, she doesn’t have a crane operator’s license. In fact, all of the training that she’s done happens on-site, and her employer isn’t required to track it or give her any credential, such as a license or certificate, that could transfer to another job. After the Marathon refinery in Contra Costa County closed, former workers struggled to substantiate their skills when looking for new jobs, the UC Berkeley Labor survey found.

Drawing directly on the study, and with support from the steelworkers union, longtime labor activist and state Sen. María Elena Durazo, a Los Angeles Democrat, proposed a bill this year that would require employers to provide their workers with proof of any on-the-job training or education. The governor has until Oct. 12 to sign or veto the bill.

It’s only “a first step” though, said Parks, a co-author of the study. Long-term, she said refinery workers should have the option to acquire independent certificates or credentials, such as a crane operator license, that prove their skills and don't rely on an employer at all.

“It’s not ideal but it’s temporary” 

So far, only a fraction of the oil and gas workers who are eligible for state support have actually received it.

“We just started enrolling members,” said Rosi Romo, who coordinates the grant program on behalf of the steelworkers union.

Though the steelworkers union received the money last March, only about 100 people have participated so far, said Romo, most of them in Southern California. She said the program can fund 650 scholarships, offering up to $15,000 in tuition for each worker

In Kern County, where the oil industry is a major employer, the local job centers received over $11 million from the state, which they’ve used to help nearly 370 former oil and gas workers retrain in new careers, including trucking and nursing. The job centers have enough money to serve around 750 people, said Danette Williams, who works in marketing for the centers, known as the Employers’ Training Resource.

Unlike the steelworkers union, which is only giving out scholarships, Williams said the Employers’ Training Resource is also offering to reimburse 50% of wages during the first 480 hours of the workers’ new jobs. Romo said she wasn’t aware that was possible under the union’s contract with the state, but if it is, she said she’d try to offer the same benefit.

The other organizations who received the grant money did not respond to CalMatters' questions.

The Phillips 66 refinery in Wilmington, on Sept. 30, 2025.

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Stella Kalinina

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CalMatters

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Romo, along with other representatives from the steelworkers union, said the work schedule at the Phillips 66 refinery complex is one reason why workers have yet to use most of the money. As of August, about a quarter of union employees have already left the facility for other opportunities, said Smith, the national bargaining chair for the union. The remaining employees are left working overtime.

Once layoffs begin in the coming months, Romo and Smith said they expect an uptick in the number of workers taking advantage of the scholarship money.

Phillips 66 did not respond to multiple requests for comment about its overtime policies or other ways it may be supporting workers’ job transitions.

Cruz said he’s working six days a week now, 12 hours each day. To make progress on his cybersecurity course at UC San Diego, he tries to listen to lectures and audiobooks during his commute or while eating lunch or dinner during his two, 30-minute breaks. After he puts his son to sleep around 9 p.m., he has a few hours to study, though he has to wake up at 5 a.m. to make it to his shift on time. “It’s not ideal but it’s temporary,” he said.

Wallace has a slight advantage, since she started taking online classes in 2020 to complete her associate degree. She’s still one class short, but she hasn’t had the time to finish it. Between her radiation therapy and the 12-hour night shifts, she said it’s unlikely she’ll be able to study for at least another year while she works with the skeleton crew that’s closing the refinery.

If she had time, she said she would finish her associate degree and use the state training grant to help offset the cost of a bachelor’s degree. But because the state tuition grants expire in 2027, it’s quite possible she won't be able to use the tuition money at all.

This article was originally published on CalMatters and was republished under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives license.

Another Grammy Awards telecast is in the books, and it was a night of historic wins, chaotic performances and viral moments, as well as speeches that frequently addressed this moment in American history. Here's a rundown of some of Sunday's highlights.

1. The season of Bad Bunny is playing out as planned. The Puerto Rican superstar had long appeared primed for a big night at this year's Grammys. After all, DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS was a blockbuster, and Bad Bunny himself is headlining next weekend's Super Bowl halftime show. In the end, he ended up sort of headlining this show, too: DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS picked up album of the year and best música urbana album during Sunday's telecast, while "EoO" won best global music performance earlier in the day.

In the process, Bad Bunny made history — this was the first time a Spanish-language album has won album of the year — while also giving speeches that addressed both ICE raids in American cities and the humanity of the people affected. ("We're not savage," he said during his speech for best música urbana album. "We're not animals, we're not aliens, we are humans and we are Americans.")

The parallels between Bad Bunny's wins and Kendrick Lamar's wins last year felt undeniable: Both won major Grammys right before they were scheduled to perform the Super Bowl halftime show, and both seized on moments bigger than themselves. For Lamar, it was the wildfires that had recently devastated the Los Angeles area. For Bad Bunny, whose Super Bowl booking helped place him at the center of the culture wars (and, more specifically, national conversations about immigration policy), this was an even timelier win.

2. Kendrick Lamar's momentum from last year carried over. Lamar won five Grammys last year, including song and record of the year for "Not Like Us." This year, he picked up five more trophies — and leapfrogged Jay-Z to become the winningest rapper in Grammys history. Jay-Z has 25 wins; with Sunday's awards, Lamar now has 27.

Lamar's wins this year included biggies in the rap categories — best rap album for GNX and best rap song for "tv off (feat. Lefty Gunplay)" — and one of the biggest of all: record of the year, for "Luther (feat. SZA)." It's Lamar's second year in a row winning in that category.

The win for "Luther" even came bundled with a surreal moment: Tasked with giving a speech for a lifetime achievement award, Cher was then supposed to hand out the Grammy for record of the year. So she gave a speech, began to wander offstage and had to be summoned back, at which point she announced that the winner was "Luther Vandross" — referring to the singer, who died in 2005.

Fortunately, it quickly became clear that the winner was "Luther," which was inspired by Vandross and samples his song "If This World Were Mine." The gaffe helped compel the winners to pay tribute to Vandross, which is never a bad idea under any circumstances.

3. The category of best new artist spawned an impressive field — and an obvious winner. Give the Grammys credit for pulling together a solid assortment of best new artist nominees in The Marías, Addison Rae, KATSEYE, Leon Thomas, Alex Warren, Lola Young, Olivia Dean and sombr. And give the telecast bonus points for smooshing all eight nominees into a medley that gave each enough room to breathe.

But there could never be much doubt that this was Dean's category to lose: She's got the most commercial momentum of them all — The Art of Loving is still in the top 5 on the charts — and she might as well have been bred in a laboratory to win Grammys. Listen to "Man I Need" and you'll hear a song that would have won Grammys in 1976, 1986, 1996, 2006 …

In fact, Dean will likely be a player in next year's Grammys, as well: The Art of Loving came out shortly after the cutoff for 2026 Grammy eligibility, and it's already yielded other chart hits. In 2027, it wouldn't be a shock to see her compete for album of the year, among other categories.

4. No one hoarded all the trophies this year. Some years, a single artist ends up sweeping the major categories — as Billie Eilish did in 2020, when she won album, record and song of the year, plus best new artist. That's a flashy outcome that's often richly deserved, but it can be deadening to watch after a while.

This year, the prizes were spread to a nice assortment of acts. In fact, the first seven trophies given out during the telecast went to seven different artists: Kendrick Lamar, Olivia Dean, Bad Bunny, Jelly Roll, Lady Gaga, Lola Young and Eilish, who picked up song of the year for the third time in seven years. That helped preserve a sense that the night's two biggest awards — record and album of the year — were still in play until the moment they were handed out.

5. "Messy" was the word of the night. From Cher giving record of the year to "Luther Vandross" — see above — to a chaotic In Memoriam segment headlined by Ms. Lauryn Hill's first Grammys performance since 1999, it was a messy, chaotic night. The performances could be overstuffed-but-heartfelt (In Memoriam), strobe-lit and retrofitted to rock (Lady Gaga's "Abracadabra," ROSÉ and Bruno Mars' "APT."), theatrical and funny (Sabrina Carpenter's "Manchild") or theatrical and arty (Tyler, the Creator's audacious medley), with many points in between.

For the most part, it was the right kind of mess, and if nothing else, you never quite knew what might happen next. When Lola Young picked up a Grammy for best pop solo performance — for "Messy," natch — her speech was a fireball of unregulated emotion. Messy, sure, but it fit on a night ruled by big, fervent feelings.

6. The speeches weren't just heartfelt — they were often political, too. Sometimes, awards shows can feel hermetically sealed off from the world around them; that, in turn, can make their participants feel self-infatuated and out-of-touch, especially when the country is suffering from the effects of national disasters, political strife or both.

Even in milder times, it can be a tough balance to pull off. At the Grammys Sunday, many winners leaned in to address ICE actions and U.S. immigration policy. Olivia Dean described being the granddaughter of an immigrant. Bad Bunny opened his speech by saying, "Before I say thanks to God, I'm gonna say, 'ICE OUT.'" And Billie Eilish gave the fieriest speech of all, as calmly delivered pronouncements ("No one is illegal on stolen land") gave way to a phrase that was dropped from the telecast's audio feed but soon revealed to be the words, "F*** ICE."

Other notes of protest were more muted; Carole King was one of many attendees who wore "ICE OUT" pins, for example. But you couldn't watch these Grammys without knowing that there's a world of conflict beyond the music industry.

7. In the performances (if not the awards themselves), rock staged a comeback. As noted, both Lady Gaga's "Abracadabra" and ROSÉ and Bruno Mars' "APT." were enlivened by grand signifiers of rock and roll: strobe lights, guitars and a generalized sense of mayhem. But they weren't the only ones.

As part of the lengthy In Memoriam segment, Post Malone presided over a tribute to Ozzy Osbourne that also featured Chad Smith, Duff McKagan, Slash and Andrew Watt. And even Justin Bieber stripped "YUKON" down to the singer and an electric guitar, which he used to create a looped riff.

With rock still largely relegated to the margins of the awards themselves — though Turnstile did win best rock album and best metal performance, giving the Baltimore band its first two Grammys — it seemed unusually prominent in the night's many live sets.

8. As always, records were set and milestones were reached. Yes, Kendrick Lamar became the Grammys' most decorated rapper, while Bad Bunny notched the first-ever win for a Spanish-language album. But there were also notable firsts and record-setting wins in some of the less widely discussed categories.

In the category of best children's music album, the father-daughter duo Fyütch & Aura V set a new record, as Aura V became the youngest-ever individually named Grammy winner. (She's 8; the previous record-holder, Blue Ivy Carter, was 9 when she won in 2021.) Their speech was a highlight of the Grammys' Premiere Ceremony on Sunday.

Then there's the latest EGOT winner: Thanks to his role as a producer of the 2024 documentary Music by John Williams, Steven Spielberg has added a Grammy to his previous wins at the Emmys, Oscars and Tonys. It's about time that kid caught a break.

And, speaking of kids catching a break, the 14th Dalai Lama finally snagged the Grammy that had eluded him for more than 90 years. In the process, he's become the first-ever recipient of the coveted GWHRT: Grammy Award, Wallenberg Medal, Holder of the White Lotus, Ramon Magsaysay Award, Templeton Prize. In your face, Spielberg!

KATSEYE, a girl group styled after K-pop (but not technically K-pop), lost in its bid for both best new artist and best pop duo/group performance.

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Getty Images North America

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9. K-pop scored a Grammy breakthrough, but not in a big way. For the first time ever, a K-pop song has won a Grammy Award, as HUNTR/X's inescapable "Golden" picked up a trophy for best song written for visual media. That's a significant milestone for the genre, which had been shut out in spite of five nominations in the past for the boy-band juggernaut BTS.

But Sunday was still a bit of letdown for those hoping for a major K-pop win at the Grammys. HUNTR/X didn't win anything else — it was up for song of the year, among others — while ROSÉ of BLACKPINK went 0-for-3 with her Bruno Mars duet "APT.," which was nominated for record and song of the year. And KATSEYE, a girl group styled after K-pop (but not technically K-pop), lost in its bid for both best new artist and best pop duo/group performance.

Still, those nominations are significant — especially in the major categories — as the Grammys look to be growing more hospitable to K-pop music going forward. Among other things, that's good news for BTS, whose new album is due in March.

10. The Tiny Desk is a Grammy-winner … sort of. Okay, so technically the Tiny Desk has never been up for a Grammy, seeing as how it's a venue and not a performer. But it's already racked up a bit of history with the Grammys.

First, two different winners of NPR's Tiny Desk Contest have won Grammys: Inaugural winner Fantastic Negrito has won three, while former best new artist nominee Tank and the Bangas picked up a prize in spoken word just last year.

This year, the milestones came in the form of the first-ever Tiny Desk performances to be directly nominated for Grammys. The more visible nomination, in the category of best R&B performance, went to Leon Thomas for "Mutt (Live From NPR's Tiny Desk)." But, though he won twice Sunday — for best R&B album and best traditional R&B performance — he lost best R&B performance to Kehlani's "Folded."

The Tiny Desk's less-noticeable nomination came in the category of best Latin rock or alternative album. CA7RIEL & Paco Amoroso, a duo from Argentina who won five Latin Grammys last fall, put out an album last year called Papota. Of its nine songs, five were recorded at its viral 2024 Tiny Desk concert, which has racked up more than 48 million views on YouTube.

On Sunday, Papota won best Latin rock or alternative album, making the Tiny Desk a (sort of) Grammy winner. But again, because the Tiny Desk is a venue and not a performing artist, we don't get a cool li'l gramophone statue. Life is monstrously cruel that way.

Copyright 2026 NPR

We all need some fun things to look forward to, and even though it’s only February, it’s not too early to start planning a Rose Bowl float for next year’s parade. If you have an idea for a float, you can pitch it to a team of Cal Poly Pomona and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo students by Feb. 5; they'll help bring one big creative idea to life for the 2027 event.

Licorice Pizza’s music picks for the week include starting your week with former Little Mix star Jade and her That’s Showbiz, Baby revue at the Hollywood Palladium, or Midwife (aka multi-instrumentalist Madeline Johnston) at Highland Park’s Lodge Room, both on Monday. Tuesday, Andrew Bird is at the Largo, and Wednesday is a big night for hip-hop icons with pioneering Bronx rapper, producer and DJ Pete Rock at the Lodge Room. Meanwhile, Wu-Tang Clan founder GZA and his live band play the first of two nights at the Blue Note. Thursday, you could see Latin legend, bombshell and guitar great Charo, in all her sequined glory, as she brings her flamenco fabulousness to the Smothers Theatre at Pepperdine University.

Elsewhere on LAist, you can get the lowdown on L.A.’s World Cup fan festival, visit Porkchop at the Aquarium of the Pacific’s sea turtle restoration project and mark off how many of the best L.A. films you’ve seen with this definitive list.

Events

American Icon: A Ford Mustang Immersive Experience

Through Sunday, February 8 (closed Tuesdays)
Ace Mission Studios
516 S. Mission Road, Arts District
COST: VARIES; MORE INFO 

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Sean Wehrli

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American Icon: A Ford Mustang Immersive Experience is billed as “a multisensory journey through six decades of Mustang legacy,” taking you through American car history from Motor City to Sunset Boulevard with rare Mustangs from films like Gone in 60 Seconds. It’s closing soon, so don’t miss your last chance to bask in some true American muscle car history. There’s an interactive gallery, 360 projections and a 4D sequence featuring the Mustang GTD. Vrrrrooom! For its final weeks, the exhibit is offering a 2-for-1 promotion on adult tickets, but if you drive a Ford, just show your key and you’ll get a free ticket; kids 12 and under go free as well.

Sweeney Todd

Through Sunday, February 22
La Mirada Theatre 
14900 La Mirada Blvd., La Mirada 
COST: FROM $19.80; MORE INFO

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Courtesy La Mirada Theatre

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Attend Sondheim’s tale of the demon barber of Fleet Street with a star-studded Broadway vet cast (including Will Swenson from A Beautiful Noise and Rock of Ages) and a big-name director (Jason Alexander of The Producers and Seinfeld fame). The La Mirada Theatre is an underrated gem for theater lovers, especially those in the Anaheim area, but it's worth the trek for anyone who wants to check out their consistently great performances and ability to attract high-level talent. Swenson plays Todd as more sexy and brooding than Johnny Depp’s oddball outcast in the film version, and Lesli Margherita shines as an over-the-top Mrs. Lovett.

Queer Mountain

Thursday, February 5, 7:30 p.m. 
Lyric Hyperion Theater & Cafe
2106 Hyperion Ave., Silverlake
COST: $15 Pre-sale // $20 Day of; MORE INFO

Already through your second viewing of Heated Rivalry? Head to this queer storytelling show for more funny and heartwarming stories at Greetings, from Queer Mountain. The evening already has sister shows in New Orleans and Austin, but this is the inaugural L.A. event.

Taschen Art Book Sale 

Through Sunday, February 8, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily 
Beverly Hills and Hollywood locations 
COST: FREE; MORE INFO

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I aspire to a living room that looks like the lobby of a hip hotel, and the next step after a fancy candle is a stack of Taschen art books. For the next week, you can score titles on Virgil Abloh, NASA, Atlantic Records and more for as much as 75% off at Taschen's biannual sale at their Hollywood and Beverly Hills stores.

Chamber Music Palisades

Wednesday February 4, 7:30 p.m.
Brentwood Presbyterian Church
12000 San Vicente Blvd., Brentwood
COST: $35; MORE INFO

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Courtesy Chamber Music Palisades

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Chamber Music Palisades (CMP) will perform a world premiere of Due Voci for flute and cello, composed by Lolita Ritmanis, a Grammy, Emmy and SCL Award-winning composer and faculty member at the USC Thornton School of Music. Ritmanis will also speak at the concert about her new work, and KUSC host Alan Chapman will be on hand with his informative in-person program notes.

USC Visions and Voices Presents MAJOR by Ogemdi Ude

Wednesday, February 4, 7 p.m.
Bovard Auditorium at USC
3551 Trousdale Pkwy., University Park
COST: FREE, RSVP REQUIRED; MORE INFO

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Courtesy USC Visions and Voices

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MAJOR, a dance theater performance exploring the history and legacy of majorette dance by Brooklyn-based dance, theatre and interdisciplinary artist and educator Ogemdi Ude, will premiere at USC. Featuring a score that blends Southern rap, blues and R&B, the show also includes a digital archive of interviews with HBCU majorettes over the years, furthering the “love letter” to Black majorette culture. A conversation with Ude and the performers follows.

Dr. Strangelove Screening

Tuesday, February 3, 7 p.m. 
National Theatre at the Wallis 
The Wallis 
9390 N. Santa Monica Blvd., Beverly Hills 
COST: FROM $27.50; MORE INFO 

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National Theatre Live

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The Wallis

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London’s National Theatre production of the stage adaptation of Dr. Strangelove comes to the Wallis with this special screening. Steve Coogan (The Trip) is a national treasure in the UK and stars as the zany Dr. Strangelove — as well as 11 other characters — in the stage version of Peter Sellers’ classic satire. I saw the stage production in London last year, and what Coogan pulls off is a feat, not to mention the way the design of the infamous plane works on stage, smoke effects and all. The National always does a great job of filming these to feel like you’re at the live show, so I’m sure the effects will come through on screen.

Kristen Schaal: The Legend of Crystal Shell 

February 4 and 6, 7:30 p.m.
Dynasty Typewriter 
2511 Wilshire Blvd., Mid-Wilshire 
COST: $30; MORE INFO

Hot off two premiere performances at the SF Sketchfest, comedian Kristen Schaal (Last Man on Earth) brings her new stage show to Dynasty Typewriter. Her out-there comedy is sure to shine through in this one-hour production that co-stars John Roberts (Bob's Burgers), with music by Schaal and Big Black Delta.

Desert Night in Venice 

Thursday, February 5, 7 p.m.
Saba Surf
12912 Venice Blvd., Venice
COST: FROM $15.71; MORE INFO 

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Courtesy Saba Surf

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Celebrate a new poetry release, meet other artists, listen to live music and maybe even get a custom flash tattoo at the super chill Saba Surf space in Venice. They have a great garden and space to dance, plus there will be drinks (and great NA options, too, if you’re keeping dry January going a little longer).

The late application window for Los Angeles Unified School District opens Monday.

Every fall, LAUSD opens applications for families who are interested in attending a school that is not their neighborhood school (or “resident school,” in the district’s terminology).

The process for the largest pool of non-resident schools is called “Choices.” This includes hundreds of magnet schools, dual-language programs and some charter schools, among other options.

The regular application window closes in November. The spots available during the late application period are those left after families who applied “on time” accept their offers.

The application can be done online or on paper, and the selection process begins in April — and acceptances can run into the following school year.

How do I know what schools I might want to apply to?

Families have told us the process of choosing a school for their child is often confusing and anxiety-driven.

Still: No one type of school is inherently better than another, and the “right” school will look different for every family.

To help, LAist has our School Game Plan — a series that helps families think through and evaluate their options. That includes:

• How do I choose a school?
• Know if a school is 'good'
• Enroll in transitional kindergarten
• Acquire magnet school points
• Understand charter schools
• Learn what happens in transitional kindergarten
• Get involved at a child's school
• Make a school repair request
• Get your child a bus seat
• Hold the school board accountable

Our guides are also available in Spanish. And if you prefer an easy-to-print version, we also have PDFs in English and Spanish.

What you read is based on the experience of real southern California families, educators and other experts, including their experiences in their own words.

Any other questions? Get in touch with us.

Senior editor Ross Brenneman contributed to this story.

A second case of measles has been confirmed in Los Angeles County.

L.A. County Department of Public Health officials announced on Saturday the virus was detected in an international traveler who arrived at the Tom Bradley International Terminal — or Terminal B — at LAX on Monday, Jan. 26, through Gate 201A on Viva Aerobus Flight 518.

Public Health said anyone at Terminal B from 10:45 p.m. on Jan. 26 to 1 a.m. on Jan. 27 may have been exposed.

The traveler also spent a day in Disneyland Park and California Adventure Park in Anaheim on Jan. 28 from 12:30 to 10 p.m. On Jan. 30, they visited a Dunkin’ Donuts in Woodland Hills from 3 to 4:45 p.m.

Health officials say people who visited the above locations during those time periods may also be at risk of developing measles.

Symptoms typically appear one to three weeks after exposure.

Public Health recommends these individuals check if they are already protected against measles and advise getting a measles, mumps and rubella vaccine if they aren't.

Symptoms include a fever above 101 degrees; cough; runny nose; red, watery eyes; and a rash that typically starts on the face.

• For those exposed at LAX, the last day to monitor for symptoms is Feb. 16.
• For those exposed at Disneyland Park and California Adventure Park, the last day to monitor for symptoms is Feb. 18.
• For those exposed at Dunkin’ Donuts, the last day to monitor for symptoms is Feb. 20.

Saturday's announcement comes one day after L.A. County public health officials confirmed the first case of measles in the county. More information about that case here.

Orange County has reported two other measles cases this year, one in a young adult who recently traveled internationally and the second in an unvaccinated toddler who had no known exposure to the virus.

Transmission, prevention and more

Measles spreads easily through the air and can stay on surfaces for many hours. Those infected can spread the virus before showing symptoms, which can take weeks to appear.

So far, 588 measles cases of measles have been reported in the U.S. this year, the highest number of cases in a January since the U.S. eliminated measles in 2000. Most of these cases are linked to outbreaks in South Carolina, Arizona and Utah.

The L.A. County Department of Public Health is encouraging Angelenos to check their immunization status for the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine to determine if they’re protected against the virus.

If symptoms develop, contact a health care provider via phone as soon as possible. L.A. Public Health advises people not to go physically into a health care facility before notifying them of measles symptoms.