The Brief

Jets are blazing across the sky in and around Huntington Beach on the first day of the Pacific Airshow that starts Friday and continues over this weekend.

In recent years, more than half a million visitors have come out to watch eye-and-ear popping aerial demonstrations from the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds and other renowned daredevils.

The event has also become a political lightning rod in the increasingly fractious beach city.

Why opinions are divided

Some say the airshow promoter got a suspiciously sweet deal in a recent legal settlement with the city. Others say Huntington Beach should support the airshow, and its hometown promoter, in any way it can.

At issue are questions of political quid pro quo, transparency and how cities determine whether and how much to support special events put on by private companies.

The backstory

Fans watch the 2021 Pacific Airshow in Huntington Beach.

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Michael Heiman

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Here’s a guide to what happened, why this matters for residents and what’s to come.

First the shorthand timeline:

• In October 2021, the city canceled the final day of the three-day airshow after oil began gushing from an underwater pipeline and moving toward the Huntington Beach shoreline. 

• A year later, in October 2022, airshow organizer Kevin Elliott sued the city, saying the previous year's cancellation amounted to a breach of contract. Elliott also supported the election of new city council members who promised to support the airshow. 

• Then, earlier this year, that new city council majority approved a minimum $5.4 million settlement with Elliott plus a potential additional $2 million if the city recoups money from the companies responsible for the oil spill. 

About Huntington Beach politics

The strong and distinct reactions to the deal from residents and officials in this city of 200,000 residents illustrate intensifying political divisions. While Huntington Beach is traditionally conservative, the electorate had been trending more purple in recent years. Then, in November, voters handed a solid victory to four ardently conservative candidates.

Huntington Beach Mayor Tony Strickland, a Republican former state legislator who ran Larry Elder's 2020 presidential campaign, said the settlement was good for the city.

"Anything that brings in $70 million to our local economy, that's worth it," Strickland said, referring to an economic impact report on the 2022 airshow.

On the other side, City Councilmember Dan Kalmick, one of three Democrats on the council, said Huntington Beach taxpayers got a "horrible deal." He and the other two Democrats on the council voted against the airshow settlement.

"The settlement, as publicized, goes well beyond any exposure the city had for cancellation of one day of an airshow, which it didn't even do," Kalmick said. He said multiple authorities — state, federal and local — agreed the airshow had to be canceled so that monitoring and clean-up crews could get to work.

Kevin Elliott, organizer of the Pacific Airshow and CEO of event company Code Four.

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What the airshow organizer says

Elliott, for his part, says he regrets that the airshow has gotten wrapped up in local politics. (We should note that after we published this story, it was announced that former President Donald Trump would do a flyover as part of Friday’s airshow lineup. Trump is on his way to the California Republican Party convention in Anaheim.)

Elliot told us that, at heart, he's a "plane brain" who's especially excited this year to watch the F-22 Raptor do "things that an airplane shouldn't do, including flying backwards and all kinds of really cool stuff."

"I just want to put on a great event and I want to go back to running my business and having a good time," he told LAist. "And staying out of the newspaper. That would be my goal."

The start of the problems: The oil spill

On Friday, Oct. 1, 2021 coastal authorities got a call reporting an oil sheen off the coast of Huntington Beach. Amplify Energy, ultimately responsible for the spill, later said it found out Saturday morning about the pipeline leak from one of its offshore oil platforms.

A worker with Patriot Environmental Services stands near bags of oil collected throughout Sunday morning near the mouth of the Santa Ana River and Talbert Marsh.

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That same Saturday, the Pacific Airshow went on, as planned as local officials tried to understand the extent of the oil spill and whether and when it might reach shore. By afternoon, boaters watching the airshow from the ocean began reporting oil in the water.

City and state parks authorities closed the water at many of the area beaches to swimming and surfing.

That evening, then-Huntington Beach Mayor Kim Carr appeared at a news conference with the city's marine safety chief, Eric McCoy, and several other officials. Carr said a decision about whether to cancel the third and final day of the airshow would be made the following morning.

At the time, the leak was estimated to be around 126,000 gallons of oil, which McCoy said was considered a major spill by the U.S. Coast Guard. Later estimates revised that down to a much smaller amount, around 25,000 gallons.

On Sunday morning, Oct. 3, 2021, the city announced that the airshow was canceled "in order to facilitate clean-up coordination efforts, and given the potential health impacts from the ongoing situation."

Beaches were closed and remediation workers were dispatched to mop up the oil that had already washed up on the shore and into several sensitive wetland areas. The coast reeked of petroleum.

A sign keeps beachgoers off the sand.

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Impact of the 2021 cancellation

The airshow cancellation was devastating for Elliott. "It was probably one of the worst days of my professional life," Elliott said. "What we had put together in 2021 was essentially the Super Bowl of air shows."

Plus, the previous year, 2020, the entire airshow had been canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Elliott, who also runs an event company called Code Four, said he lost "in the multi-millions" the day of the oil spill. "We put over $750,000 worth of catering in the trash," he said.

It was also upsetting for patrons, some of whom had spent hundreds or thousands of dollars on premium tickets for the last day of the show.

The airshow is free to watch from part of the city beach and nearby state beaches. But Elliott also sells tickets, for example, for seating on the Huntington Beach pier or for a private cabana on the beach. This year, prices range from $25 to more than $5,000 for a group.

Elliott said he eventually reimbursed everyone who had bought tickets "out of my own pocket."

The legal battle that followed

The following year, 2022, Elliott asked the city to give him a break on some of the fees and other expenses involved with putting on the airshow — as the city had in previous years. Specifically, the city had previously credited Elliott up to $110,000 in parking revenue generated over the airshow weekend toward his bill for permits, reserved parking, and extra public safety staff needed for the event.

Elliott's city bill for the 2022 airshow, according to a presentation at the time, was expected to be around $257,000.

This time, though, Elliott made a last-minute request that all of the city's parking revenue generated by the airshow be credited toward his bill, with no cap.

The city council at the time denied his request by a vote of 6 to 1 and decided to revoke the parking credit completely. City officials and staff at the time noted that Huntington Beach didn't grant this kind of credit to the organizers of any other big events in the city, including the U.S. Open of Surfing, which has drawn crowds similar in size to the airshow, although over a longer period of time.

Former Councilmember Mike Posey told LAist the parking "subsidy … was always supposed to be temporary" until Elliott could attract a corporate sponsor for the airshow. A smaller, previous iteration of the airshow, before Elliott took it over, was sponsored by Swiss watchmaker Breitling.

But Elliott saw the city's decision to revoke the parking subsidy as the latest in a series of efforts, starting with the 2021 post-oil spill cancellation, to shut the airshow down.

The following month, Elliott sued the city and then-Mayor Carr.

In his complaint, he alleged the 2021 cancellation amounted to a breach of contract and damaged the airshow's reputation. He also claimed that subsequent actions taken by Carr and the city, including removing the parking subsidy, were retaliation for Elliott raising concerns about the cancellation.

Elliott told LAist he felt slighted after investing heavily in the airshow to try and make it profitable and to bring tourism benefits to the city.

"I wish that the city had come forth and said, 'Hey, you've been a great partner to the city, you're a local kid … we understand that you've been damaged by this and we want to try to do the right thing.' But instead they basically told me to pound sand and left me with no choice but to protect my interests."

Initially, the city tried to get the lawsuit dismissed, claiming it had no factual basis. But then it seemed to do an abrupt about-face, settling with Elliott for at least $5.4 million, to be paid out incrementally through January 2029. What changed?

How the air show became a hot-button campaign issue

A seat on the Huntington Beach city council is generally considered a non-partisan position — a candidate's political party is not listed on the ballot. But Huntington Beach had traditionally had a conservative-leaning council. That changed after the 2020 election, but not the way you might think.

Tito Ortiz, a mixed martial arts fighter and staunch conservative, won a seat on the council in 2020 and then resigned six months later. In his place, the council appointed left-leaning attorney Rhonda Bolton, giving Huntington Beach's city government a majority Democrat block.

They passed pro-housing measures and voted to fly the Pride flag outside city hall every June — with the support of the council's moderate Republicans. A backlash ensued.

A group of residents attempted to recall six of the seven council members in 2021. But the effort failed to make it to the ballot. They set their sights on the 2022 general election.

The Lincoln Club and several other conservative political action committees coalesced around a slate of four conservative council candidates — Strickland, Casey McKeon, Pat Burns and Gracey Van Der Mark — dubbed by supporters the "Fab 4," plus city attorney Michael Gates, who was running for re-election. (Huntington Beach is one of the few cities in California where voters elect their city attorney.)

They paid for mailers and signs saying the candidates would "save" Huntington Beach — and "save" the airshow.

On Oct. 27, 2022, the candidates held a "victory rally" at the Huntington Beach pier. Elliott's company, Code Four, provided the sound and some of the signage for the rally, he said.

Elliott said the work was "pretty simple" and cost him less than the $1,089 that the four city council candidates claimed as in-kind contributions in campaign finance disclosures.

Elliott did not donate money directly to any of the four council candidates or city attorney Gates. (His company Code Four did give money, the maximum $4,900 allowed, to the 2022 winning campaigns of state Republican state legislators Diane Dixon and Janet Nguyen.)

"Franky, I supported them as much as I could without creating any kind of a conflict of interest for them," Elliott said of the council candidates. "Because, you know, they campaigned on saving the air show and I've invested millions and millions of dollars in saving this air show for the city, so our interests were pretty aligned in that regard."

But looking back — post-election and post-airshow settlement — some political opponents and civic watchdogs see the rally and Elliott's work on it as part of a suspicious pattern.

"I have substantial questions about the relationship between the four newly elected council members, the city attorney and Elliott," said Kalmick, one of the liberal council members.

Kalmick also pointed to several photos from the 2022 airshow posted to Facebook showing Elliott and his wife posing on the beach with the "Fab 4" candidates. (Elliott said he regularly invites candidates, council members and many others to the show, "Democrats, Republicans, my mom's friends, you know, my friends that were my teachers in the first grade.")

All four council candidates and city attorney Gates won their election in November.

The settlement and concerns about quid pro quo

In March 2023, Gates, the city attorney, filed a request in Orange County Superior Court to have Elliott's airshow cancellation lawsuit dismissed. Gates and deputy city attorney Lauren Rose argued that the city was "legally permitted to cancel the Airshow due to unforeseen circumstances rendering performance impossible due to health and safety reasons."

They also said this about Elliott's claim that revoking the parking subsidy was retaliation: "it is speculative and unsubstantiated how this was in any way connected to [Elliott's] negative comments regarding the City's reaction to the unexpected and disastrous oil spill."

But less than two months later, Gates, Elliott, Strickland and two of the other conservative council members held a news conference announcing a settlement. "Ladies and gentlemen, we saved the airshow," Strickland said to applause.

"The previous city council was not business-friendly and not airshow-friendly," he went on. "The Fab 4 …saved the airshow by putting the hard work and leadership required to solve this conflict."

In dollars, what they put in is $4,999,999 of city funds spread out over seven years, with the first payment of $1,999,000 due before July 31.

The city also agreed to:

• Forfeit $194,945 in fees still owed by Elliott for the 2021 airshow.
• Refund him $149,200 from the 2022 airshow, when the city council declined to give him the parking subsidy. 
• Reinstate the parking subsidy, starting at a minimum, rather than maximum, of $110,000. Plus, waive parking fees for up to 600 spaces for airshow setup and takedown.
• Pay Elliott up to an additional $2 million of any money the city recovers from the oil companies responsible for the 2021 spill. 

Those are the details in the settlement summary released to the public. Gates has declined to make the full settlement public, raising questions about what else the city may have agreed to.

A legal push for more transparency

Gina Clayton-Tarvin, a local school board member and former city council candidate, has sued Gates under state public records law in an effort to get the full settlement released.

Gates told LAist earlier this year that he hasn't released the full settlement agreement because there's still pending litigation in the airshow saga and doing so could compromise the city's position in that litigation. "But if a judge were to order the release of [the settlement], I'm happy to release it," Gates said.

Both sides of the settlement say it was a tough negotiation and neither side got everything they wanted. "We get a lot more as a city than we're giving out," Strickland said. "It's not even a close call."

Earlier this year, a former Huntington Beach mayor and a former planning commissioner tried to intervene to halt the settlement agreement. Thus far, they haven't been successful, although Lee Fink, a lawyer working with them, has said they haven't given up.

At the same time, Elliott hasn't dropped his lawsuit against former Mayor Carr for her role in canceling the 2021 airshow. In his complaint, he said Carr "unilaterally" canceled the airshow because of her personal feelings towards Elliott, and in order to garner media attention to “further her own political career.”

Carr told LAist earlier this year that the claim was bogus. "He's created a completely fantastic tale of somehow I unilaterally canceled the air show," she said. "As the mayor of Huntington Beach, you do not have the authority to issue permits, consequently, you don't have the authority to cancel permits."

She said she didn't understand why the city would offer millions to settle what she called "an easily dismissible lawsuit." Then she corrected herself.

"Well, I do understand why the new council majority would settle. I mean, [Elliott] is their friend, their ally," Carr said. "To me, it smacks of corruption, definitely feels like a pay to play."

What about the oil company responsible for the spill that caused the 2021 airshow to be canceled? Amplify Energy recently settled a $45 million class action lawsuit with impacted businesses and property owners.

Elliott's company was not part of that settlement, but he said he's been "in very intensive pre-litigation settlement discussions" with the company.

The city of Huntington Beach also plans to pursue money from Amplify. How much could come back to city coffers after the Pacific Airshow gets its $2 million cut is unknown.

Fink, the lawyer, said his clients would likely be enjoying the airshow this weekend. "No one’s against the Airshow," he wrote in an email. "The Airshow will go on regardless of the litigation. But people are against a $7 Million giveaway to a political supporter under the guise of a settlement agreement in a frivolous case."

The First United Methodist Church has been in its ornate home in Pasadena for 101 years. For about 10 years, it has also been the home of a satellite location of the Islamic Center of Southern California, a large mosque in the downtown area. And for a little over a year, the Pasadena Jewish Temple and Center has also used space at the Colorado Boulevard church. The congregation lost their worship space to the Eaton Fire in January 2025.

That means that First United Methodist Church in Pasadena is today the site of bar mitzvahs and Shabbat services, iftar meals and Friday prayers and Christian Holy Week services.

Sometimes, within hours of each other.

“I'm not aware of any other church in the country that has all three Abrahamic faiths worshiping under one roof. It's pretty phenomenal,” said Pastor Amy Aitken of the First United Methodist Church.

The three congregations are using the church at a time when religion is an inescapable fact in conflicts around the world. Global tensions in Israel, the Palestinian territories and Iran are hitting close to home for communities with ties to the region. And in America, President Donald Trump is in a war of words with an unlikely combatant: the pope.

Pastor Amy Aitken sees First United Methodist as "an island of hope and grace in the middle of a world that is really divided."

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But Aitken views First United Methodist as “an island of hope and grace in the middle of a world that is really divided.”

“We're offering a place for people to gather, to worship, to connect, to be in community with one another,” Aitken said. “We don't have to agree on everything, and we come from different worldviews, and that's OK.”

I recently attended Friday prayers, Shabbat and Easter Sunday service at First United Methodist — and found quite a bit more common ground than you might expect.

Friday, April 3: Assalamu Alaykum

12:30 p.m.

People are streaming into a church hall on the First United Methodist campus through a side entrance.

Rizwan Bhatti, a doctor and volunteer who helps manage the mosque’s partnership with the church, pulls out colorful woven mats from a supply closet and lays them on the gray carpeted floor.

Two large wooden crosses hang on the wall at the front of the room, but the orientation is about to change. As people take their places and lay out their thick prayer mats, they face the back of the room — east, toward Mecca.

Muslim women listen to the Friday Jummah sermon in a church hall at First United Methodist in Pasadena.

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“ Honestly, it's the second best place that you could pray in,” Farah Bhatti said about the church hall, “because there's a spiritual feeling here, no matter what faith it originates from.”

Aitken said the previous pastor at the church had lived in the Palestinian territories for about 10 years and had deep ties to the Muslim community. When Rizwan Bhatti, who was connected with some of the parishioners, asked if the church had space for the Muslims to worship on Fridays, the pastor was determined to make it happen.

Mohamad Saleh Kholaki and Rizwan Bhatti.

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Mohamad Saleh Kholaki, a dentist who also serves as the khatib or imam on some Fridays, said the congregation is “lucky enough to have this location.”

“It serves a lot of community members that live around this area and their businesses around this area instead of going to the downtown,” he said.

And he said, the congregations haven’t had to compromise any aspects of their faiths. Kholaki said the Muslim congregation acknowledges Methodist Christian celebrations and that in turn is also reciprocated.

1:15 p.m.

After the call to prayer, Kholaki begins his sermon. Being Muslim, he says, is all-encompassing.

 ”If we deal with others when they show us some aggression with kindness and we smile and wave it off, I think we'll be in a better shape,” he says.

“ The act of transformation of discipline from Islamic teachings into regular life is the key word here,” Kholaki continues. “We have to transform ourselves from the time where we are on the rug to pray into regular life, to transfer that attitude to public.”

Muslim Jummah prayers at Pasadena's First United Methodist Church.

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After the sermon, the congregation faces Mecca and turns to the left and right. “Assalamualaikum warahmatullah,” they say — may the peace of God be with you.

Then, the worshipers neatly fold their mats and clear the space.

In two days’ time, tables will be set out in this hall for an Easter lunch.

5 p.m.

The church parking lot looks very different on Friday evening compared with this afternoon. Gone are the people with hijabs and fezzes.

Now, staffers from the Pasadena Jewish Temple and Center pin kippahs to their heads and help transform a chapel at First United Methodist into a temporary Jewish prayer space.

Kippahs are ready for worshipers.

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They wheel a wooden ark from a storage room through the church’s courtyard, passing the Fellowship Hall where Muslims prayed earlier, into the chapel. A cross on a stand is put away. The organ is pushed to a corner.

The ark is then set up in the front of the chapel and prayer scrolls laid out. Soft dark blue fabric lines the ark, and it is opened during specific times of the service. A table is set up for the rabbi and cantor. Members of the band are setting up their instruments and sound system.

7 p.m.

Hanging above the altar, an ornate lamp emits a red glow. The light in the chapel is called the perpetual light: For the Methodist congregation, it signifies God's everlasting presence with us.

It reminds Lawrence Harris, a member of the congregation of the ner tamid, or eternal light, which is found in all synagogues.

 ”When you walk into any synagogue, there's the feeling of the light of God,” Harris said. “And it's wonderful that they have here in the church the same symbolic light, whether it's the same God, it's just practiced slightly differently.”

The Pasadena Jewish Temple and Center's ark is placed under the chapel's perpetual light.

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Using the church as a temporary home for the temple, Harris said, has allowed him to reflect on the connections between Christianity and Judaism. And it has forced this congregation out of their cocoons.

This reporting trip has forced me out of my cocoon too. I am Muslim and wear a hijab. I’m also a radio reporter, carrying bulky recording equipment, a phone for pictures and backup sound and a notebook. Out of respect for Jewish practice, I put the tools of my trade away and become an observer.

That allows me to really listen and understand the prayers being sung. The rabbi and cantor begin by praising and thanking God. Then they ask for blessings for children and safety in this world. And because it is Passover, Rabbi Josh Ratner recounts the story of the Exodus, how Moses led the Israelites through the Red Sea to the promised land.

The echoes with that afternoon’s prayers praising God and asking for guidance are clear.

8:30 p.m. 

When the service ends, the rabbi and cantor lead the congregation into a small room, which years ago served as the Muslim prayer space, for a simple Passover observance with matzo crackers and grape juice.

And as the congregation begins to clear out, staffers restart the dance to put the ark, prayer books and tables back in storage. The cross is returned to its place and the chapel transforms back into a Christian worship space.

Saturday, April 4: Shabbat Shalom

6:30 p.m.

How do you know when Shabbat is over?

Some say it’s when you see three stars in the sky. Others say it can be planets and stars.

I chuckle a little inside: It’s a similar predicament for Muslims determining the end of Ramadan — some rely on calculations; others say you have to see the new moon.

Emily Catalano, assistant director of youth engagement and education, leads worshipers in Havdalah to mark the end of Shabbat.

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As the sky darkens on Saturday evening at a private ceremony at a home in Arcadia, the congregants of the Pasadena Jewish Temple and Center gather in a circle, link arms and sing “Blessed are You, God, our Lord, King of the universe, Creator of the fruit of the vine.”

With the sabbath over, Stacey Miller, a member of the congregation, reflects on practicing Judaism in a Christian church.

 ”What I find so easy about going to a church, though I still call it my temple, is that the Jesus that is up at this beautiful First United Methodist church in Pasadena is very abstract,” she said. “I don't feel like I'm looking at Jesus the Savior while I'm doing all my prayers with Moses.”

The stained glass windows of the chapel.

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The group of about 20 then settle in front of a projector to watch The Prince of Egypt, armed guards keeping watch outside.

That’s the reality of being Jewish in America right now, said Stuart Miller, a physician and Stacey Miller’s husband.

“ We call it a Jewish tax because we have an added expense of security,” he said.

Rising antisemitism has led local chapters of the Jewish Federation to partner to offer security at temples and other community spaces across Southern California.

The presence of armed guards at First United Methodist was unnerving at first, said Aitken, the Methodist pastor. It also helped teach empathy, she said.

 ”It's been a sobering teaching moment for our congregation as well to kind of see that,” she said.

Sunday, April 5: The peace of Christ be with you

9:30 a.m. 

The main sanctuary at First United Methodist is bathed in colorful light from huge stained glass windows. I watch from the balcony as parishioners come in wearing soft pastels on Christianity’s most important day. They are celebrating Easter after observing the solemn Maundy Thursday, which marks the Last Supper, and Good Friday, commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.

Worshipers takes their seats before Easter Sunday service at First United Methodist.

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Aitken said I was welcome to use my recording equipment and phone, but wanting to immerse myself again, I place it all on the pew.

The hymn “Christ the Lord is Risen Today” echoes through the church, and the joy people feel after the solemn week is palpable.

“The peace of Christ be with you,” they say, hugging.

In her sermon, Aitken draws out the similarities between Christ’s resurrection and the message of Passover.

The Exodus, she says, “is a story of liberation, and it is, of course, the story that is at the crux of Judaism — the sense that God comes, that God redeems, that God sees suffering, injustice and despair, and God intervenes to bring people freedom.”

Similarly with Easter — the celebration of Jesus’ resurrection after his crucifixion and death.

“ No matter how dark the tombs of despair and sorrow are in the world, we follow a Risen Christ, one who comes to bring into the world a new story, a story of a world transformed by the power of love.”

Stained glass windows depicting the life of Christ at Pasadena's First United Methodist Church.

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10:30 a.m.

As I sit in the pew reflecting on the weekend, I think back to Kholaki’s sermon at Friday Jummah prayers — about transforming ourselves not just “on this rug to pray,” but also out in the world.

Cantor Ruth Berman Harris of the Pasadena Jewish Temple and Center had the same thought.

 ”For Judaism I am very concerned with finding a path, a bridge between what we do when we are at synagogue and what we do when we leave the synagogue,” she told LAist in an interview.

Rabbi Josh Ratner added,  ”How do we make it so it's not just empty words that we're saying, but for words to live by?”

Aitken and her congregation see welcoming their Muslim and Jewish neighbors as living their faith.

“ We don't view this as anything heroic,” she said. “We are blessed with incredible buildings and beautiful sacred spaces. We are grateful to be able to use them in ways that I don't think our founders quite imagined, but that are perfectly fitting with the way the church understands its mission now.”

The jacaranda trees are blooming (a little early); the three-acre rose garden at The Huntington is in full bloom too; and Jazz at LACMA is about to start …

It's springtime in Southern California!

That also means it’s time to do a little planning for your next Southern California museum visit — so you can not only see some art, but also enjoy a free live music performance.

Music in the Rose Garden at The Huntington

The Huntington Rose Garden

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The Huntington’s Music in the Rose Garden live music performance series is already underway. The series is in partnership with the Pasadena Conservatory of Music, and now is a great time to go and see the more than 1,300 varieties of roses in full bloom in the San Marino garden that dates back to 1908.

On Monday afternoons from 1 to 3 p.m. (through June 8) a different Pasadena Conservatory performer or duo plays instruments including piano, violin, accordion, cello and guitar.

Music in the Rose Garden performances are free, with paid admission to The Huntington or an annual membership. The series also returns in the fall.

An insider tip, especially for those visiting with kids (who get free admission if they’re under 4-years-old): keep an eye out for the rose garden’s fairy door.

Jazz at LACMA

Jazz at LACMA

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Photo courtesy of LACMA

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via Facebook

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The 35th season of Jazz at LACMA kicks off on Friday, May 1 and runs through October. The first performance this year is by vocalist and composer Michelle Coltrane, the daughter of jazz legends John and Alice Coltrane, as part of a celebration of the 100th anniversary of her father’s birth.

The live performances take place from 6 to 8 p.m. in the Smidt Welcome Plaza, next to the Instagram-famous “Urban Light” installation of 200+ antique street lamps.

The free jazz nights at LACMA don’t require admission to the museum, but if you do also want to visit the museum, admission is free for L.A. County residents from 3 to 6 p.m. on weekdays (including Friday).

If you’re looking to check out LACMA’s newly unveiled David Geffen museum galleries, you’ll need to be a member to enter on May 1. The next Friday opportunity for non-members is May 8.

Off the 405 concerts at The Getty

Off the 405 Concert: Woods

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Photo by Cassia Davis. © 2024 J. Paul Getty Trust

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The Getty Center’s nighttime Off the 405 summer concert series kicks off on Saturday, May 30 with a performance by blues poet, vocalist and composer aja monet. Other artists in the series include South Korean pop band and electronic musician Laurel Halo.

The “Off the 405” performance series is free, but does require an online reservation. Reservations for the aja monet performance will be available beginning May 7 and about three weeks ahead of each of the following performances (which run through August 22).

Also, admission to the Getty Center is free, but there is a fee ($15-25) for parking before 6 p.m. on Saturdays.

Golden Hour: Music in the Garden at the Norton Simon Museum

Norton Simon Museum’s annual Garden Party

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Norton Simon Museum

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The Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena offers free live music in its newly renovated sculpture garden on select Fridays from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m., beginning this year May 26 and running through August.

The performances are programmed by bassist and composer Masatoshi Sato and feature a range of musical styles. They’re free with admission to the Norton Simon Museum, which is $20 for adults and free for students and people 18 and under. Admission is free for all on the first Friday of every month from 4 to 7 p.m.

This story first appeared on The LA Local.

After widespread reports last year of immigration agents interfering with patient care and privacy at local hospitals, Los Angeles County now has a policy that asserts the rights of detained patients and instructs county public hospital staff on how to handle the ICE agents that accompany them. 

The policy, which went into effect in March, clarifies that patients brought in by civil law enforcement officers, including immigration agents, have the right to communicate with family members, legal counsel and advocates. Implemented by the LA County Department of Health Services, the policy has been described as a “new gold standard of care” meant to safeguard patient rights as hospitals navigate an influx of federal immigration raids.

There’s one problem, though: Hardly anyone knows about it. 

To physicians and advocates with the People’s Care Collective, a network of health care workers and organizers, this policy marks a major shift in how hospitals handle patients in immigration custody. But they said awareness of it has been lacking within the health care system, even though the Department of Health Services said the policy has been shared with staff. 

“The vast majority of the [LA County Department of Health Services] workforce, which is the second largest health care system in the country — second only to NYC — is unaware of this policy, unaware of all of the rights of their patients under this policy, and how the policy empowers health care workers to protect these rights,” said a Department of Health Services physician who is a member of the People’s Care Collective. The doctor asked to speak anonymously due to fear of retaliation.

The policy follows a Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors directive requiring the Department of Health Services to develop guidelines allowing patients detained by immigration authorities to authorize the release of information to family, counsel and government representatives. 

The policy also:

• Instructs staff to ask agents to remain outside of a patient’s room at all times, absent safety concerns
• Forbids unnecessary restraints, or shackling, of patients
• Requires agents to remain in public areas of the hospital unless they have a judicial warrant
• Requires agents to “remain identifiable at all times”
• Prohibits agents from acting as interpreters or surrogate decision-makers for detained patients
• Instructs staff not to physically interfere with ICE agents or assist a patient in hiding or fleeing
• Prohibits discharging the patient back into immigration custody “until custody is confirmed as lawful and documented.”

You can read the full policy here. 

These new guidelines only apply to public health care facilities and not private hospitals such as Adventist White Memorial in Boyle Heights, where doctors last year reported ICE agents violating the privacy rights of detained patients and prohibiting contact with patients’ family members. 

This article was published in collaboration with LAist.

People’s Care Collective members say they hope private health care facilities adopt similar measures — and they may have to if the state legislature passes several bills making their way through the legislature. But first, the members say, an education campaign is crucial to inform hospital workers and the public at large about the new guidelines.

“Being upfront about this really can set the precedent for places across the country to follow suit,” the LA County Department of Health Services physician said. “It’s our patients’ rights to know these rights. If we really care as a county that wants to live by our values [of caring] about all of its residents, including immigrant residents and folks who are being targeted by ICE, we need to walk the walk.”

The physician said members of the collective, who were aware of the Board of Supervisors’ directive, learned about the policy’s implementation last month only after searching through the Department of Health Services’ internal website. The department officially announced the policy a few days later by summarizing key points through email, according to the physician.

“The majority of health care workers are only going to know about the policy to the extent that is shared with them … and are not going to have the time and capacity to be digging deep into this internal website, finding the policy, reading it through [and] understanding it,” the physician said.

While health care facilities may fear retaliation by the Trump administration for being vocal about the rights of patients and immigrants, the physician said the Department of Health Services should “model the bravery and integrity” that its workforce has embodied since the beginning of the raids.

“These rights are not up for negotiation. They’re not flexible pending political circumstances,” the physician said.

A statement provided by the Department of Health Services said the policy is accessible to staff through a workforce portal, adding that a “guidance tool” has been distributed.

“We have also taken proactive steps to communicate this specific policy to all staff, supervisors, and managers through multiple internal channels, including all staff emails, hospital newsletters,” the statement said.

None of the hospitals or medical centers operated by LA Health Services have received a patient under civil custody, including ICE detention, since January 2026, according to the department.

This article was published in collaboration with LAist.

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J.W. Hendricks

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The LA Local

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Rebecca Trotzky-Sirr, a physician at LA General who has worked closely with patients in criminal custody, said hospitals across the country were caught off guard when the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration tactics led to an influx of patients brought in by ICE for emergency care. Many hospitals, including LA General, have clear protocols for handling patients in criminal detention, for example, after being arrested by a police officer. 

But most patients accompanied by ICE are civil, not criminal detainees.

“It took a long time for people to understand that,” she said. Trotzky-Sirr spoke with LAist as an individual physician, not on behalf of the Department of Health Services or LA General. 

Initially, she said, many health care workers assumed ICE had the same authority as criminal law enforcement agencies in medical settings to take precautions like restricting a patient’s communications.

“But that’s not what we should do," she said. "That’s not what we’re legally obligated to do.”

Plus, Trotzky-Sirr said, hospital staff, like anyone, might feel intimidated by a masked, armed agent.

“It’s hard to stand up confidently to someone with a gun,” she said. 

But staff members’ deference to the demands of federal immigration agents over patients’ rights  has been slowly changing, the doctor said, as more staff become educated on policies for handling detained patients, and especially, the difference between patients in civil custody versus criminal custody. Most patients who have been apprehended by ICE are civil, not criminal detainees.

“It took a long time for people to understand that,” the doctor said.

To Henry Perez, executive director of InnerCity Struggle, the county can strengthen awareness by working with organizations “with deep roots in the community.”

Perez, who has been involved in community efforts to protect patient rights at White Memorial, thinks of the county’s outreach work around housing and renters’ rights, partnering with organizations like Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles, Public Counsel and InnerCity Struggle. 

“There is a roadmap … and the county needs to reproduce that template that they already know how to do,” Perez said. “Just as housing is a critical issue in the community, so are immigrant rights and protections.

“A policy is only as good and as strong as its implementation and enforcement.”

Some Southern California legislators are trying to safeguard the rights of detained patients at the state level. State Sen. Caroline Menjivar, who represents Burbank and the San Fernando Valley, authored a bill, SB 915, that would, among other measures, prohibit immigration officers from remaining at a patient’s bedside unless there’s a credible risk of harm, or the officer has a valid judicial warrant.

A second bill, SB 1323, authored by state Sen. Susan Rubio, whose district stretches from El Monte to Ontario, would require hospital staff to immediately notify management when immigration agents show up. It would also require hospital management to instruct staff on how to respond to a detained patient’s request to notify family of their whereabouts. 

Both bills would apply to all health care entities in California, both public and private. 

The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to a request for comment by publication time. This story will be updated if a response is received.

What screams Thai more than pad Thai? Nothing. And on Sunday, the utilitarian stir-fried noodles will be the main character in an attempt to break a Guinness World Record.

The challenge? To serve and sell 1,200 plates of the stuff in 60 minutes. The headline-grabbing gambit is part of 17th Thai New Year Festival happening Sunday in Hollywood Thai Town.

Chinnakrit Soonthornwan (he said you can just call him Oak) came up with the idea to break the old Guinness record of around 1,000 plates. As of Thursday, the team already has received about 700 orders from participants.

 "I think it [is] very possible," Oak said of their chances to make history.  "It is going to be epic."

Also epic is the setting of this record-breaking attempt.

"It's all outside," Oak said. " There will be 35 restaurants working at the same time with big woks — like, gigantic woks."

Not to mention the 1,200 (or more) people chowing down on said noodles.

Pad Thai wasn't the first dish of choice. The team first landed on mango sticky rice.

"It seemed like everyone can eat it. It's vegan," he said.

But the popular dessert is difficult to make, and Oak added,  "It's Thai, but the name is not Thai."

Again, what screams Thai cuisine more than pad Thai?

"This is Thai. This is how we do it together," he said. "This is how we do world history."

Oak is also a co-founder of DS Night Market, a weekly Thai gathering proffering music and food taking place in Chinatown for the past couple years. He said his team has been regular attendees of the New Year festival and those born-and-raised in Thai Town have always wanted to help out.

"And we were like, 'We not gonna do something like they had done for 16 years,'" Oak said. "So we pitched them the pad Thai world record thing."

The bigger goal is to shed a spotlight on the community and to support the mom-and-pops. The pad Thai challenge is just one of the highlights. The all-day Sunday New Year celebration includes  five stages focusing on food, music, a beer garden and even boxing.

"We want to drive the business sales and bring more good vibes to Thai business owners," he said.