The Brief

The Justice Department is offering nearly $1 billion in federal public safety grants for cities and police departments across the country. But the grants, announced this month, come with a catch: Local officials have to be willing to work with federal immigration officers.

The move is part of a larger push from the Trump administration to entice cities and their police forces to work more closely with federal immigration officers, a shift officials at the DOJ and the Department of Homeland Security have been quietly making in the aftermath of the highly visible — and highly unpopular — immigration enforcement surges in cities like Minneapolis and Chicago in recent months.

"They are trying to take dollars that local agencies have been depending on for years and saying, 'Oh, well, if you want these dollars, then you need to help us out with our immigration enforcement work," says Tahir Duckett, executive director of the Center for Innovations in Community Safety at Georgetown Law.

About $700 million of the grant money comes from the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services within the DOJ. These funding opportunities, known as COPS grants, have existed since 1994. Historically, they are one of the largest sources of federal funding for local police. In the last three decades, COPS grants have sent more than $20 billion to cities across the country.

Much of that money has traditionally gone toward hiring new police officers, but it can also support school safety programs, mental health services for police officers and other initiatives.

A second set of funds, called the Model Cities Initiative, is new and comes from last year's One Big Beautiful Bill Act, President Trump's massive tax and spending law. That grant money, once awarded, can be used for things like increasing police presence in high crime areas or purchasing new technology, like drones and AI. It will amount to about $300 million and will be awarded to two to four midsize cities.

"That is highly unusual and especially concerning, because the grants appear to be bypassing the standard competitive peer review process," Amy Solomon, senior fellow at the Council on Criminal Justice and former head of the DOJ's Office of Justice Programs, told NPR. Typically, a team of reviewers, which sometimes includes subject matter experts outside the DOJ, evaluates the grant applications that meet the eligibility basic minimum requirements.

For the Model Cities Initiative, the DOJ says agency leadership will review each application and publish a list of finalists who will be invited to make a presentation to agency leadership.

"The strongest applications will not come from one office or one representative acting alone. They will come from jurisdictions that offer true partnership," acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a recent video statement about the Model Cities Initiative.

What "true partnership" entails becomes clearer in the fine print.

In the grant materials for the Model Cities Initiative, the DOJ says any program or activity that "impedes or hinders" the enforcement of federal immigration law, including by failing to honor DHS requests, will not be funded.

In announcing the new batch of COPS grants, the DOJ included a similar stipulation, indicating that "priority consideration" will be given to cities and counties that cooperate with federal immigration enforcement.

Insha Rahman, president and director of the Vera Institute of Justice, a criminal justice reform nonprofit, says the grant language may signal to Democratic-led cities that they need not apply.

"What's the end result? The only cities and localities that apply are Republican-led cities," Rahman says. "Then on the campaign trail in the midterms, the Trump administration can say, 'Look, Republicans take crime seriously. They're tough on crime. These Democrats are soft on crime. They want to defund the police. So they're not applying for these grants.'"

It is not unusual for federal grant money to be tied to a political agenda. During the Obama administration, for instance, the DOJ gave additional consideration to agencies that said they wanted to build trust in their communities. That was just a few years after the 2014 police killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo. During President Joe Biden's years in office, priority was given to cities that used community approaches to violence intervention.

The first Trump administration also linked some grants to immigration enforcement, though that was challenged in court and ultimately revoked by the Biden administration.

Some criminal justice experts say the reattempt to forge a link between federal immigration enforcement and local policing is troubling, especially because experts say there's no clear link between immigration and public safety. Studies show immigrants are less likely to commit crimes than their citizen counterparts.

Immigration enforcement has typically been the job of the federal government, not local law enforcement, and many police chiefs insist there's good reason for that. They say working with immigration authorities erodes community trust in local policing and makes people less likely to call 911 or cooperate as witnesses in police investigations.

The Justice Department declined an interview on the grant funding. Initially, it directed NPR to DHS, which is also offering large funding incentives for local police doing immigration work

DHS told NPR in a statement that refusing to work with ICE is "misguided" and that when local police don't work with them, federal officers have to have a "more visible presence" in communities.

Later, the DOJ sent its own statement to NPR saying the suggestion that immigration is not related to public safety is "ludicrous" and that ICE has arrested "hundreds of thousands of criminal illegal aliens across all 50 states, including terrorists, murderers, rapists, pedophiles, and gang members."

Recent data shows more than 70% of immigrant detainees have no criminal convictions.
Copyright 2026 NPR

Clive Davis, the record company lawyer who became one of the music industry’s most powerful figures, launching or resurrecting the careers of such superstars as Janis Joplin, Whitney Houston, Carlos Santana and Alicia Keys, has died, his family confirmed. He was 94.

Earlier this year, Davis was hospitalized following an upper respiratory issue and was released a few days later. His death, in his Manhattan apartment, was confirmed by his publicist Aliza Rabinoff, who also shared a statement from his family.

“To the world, our father was the iconic music legend whose vision, instincts, and relentless pursuit of excellence shaped the soundtrack of countless lives. He discovered, mentored, and championed the greatest artists in modern music history, leaving an indelible mark on culture that will endure for generations,” the statement read.

Unlike other record moguls whose influence waned as they got older, Davis’ might only seemed to grow over his career, which spanned multiple genres and labels. Into his 80s, he was directing the careers of everyone from Barry Manilow to “American Idol” winners Carrie Underwood and Kelly Clarkson.

His success stories were staggering, with Houston a crowning achievement and devastating tragedy: Davis signed her to his Arista record label when she was just a teen and turned her into America’s reigning pop princess.

Houston racked up multiple No. 1 hits and became one of the top-selling artists in pop history before drug abuse hobbled her career. She died in a Los Angeles hotel room in 2012, just hours before she was to appear at the annual pre-Grammy Awards gala hosted by Davis, who had been convinced she was turning her life around.

“Maybe I should have been more skeptical,” Davis wrote in his 2013 memoir, “The Soundtrack of My Life,” “but I’ve always been optimistic, and I felt hopeful. It felt like old times.”

He also launched the career of multi-platinum, multiple-Grammy winner Keys — and was quick to note other talents he signed, including Joplin and Billy Joel, Blood Sweat & Tears and other “all-timers,” as he so often put it.

“I signed Patti Smith, the great Renaissance woman ... I signed Lou Reed ... I signed the Grateful Dead,” he proudly touted in an interview with The Associated Press in 1999.

But Davis didn’t simply have an eye for new talent — he also knew how to keep veterans relevant decades after their first hit. Aretha Franklin, whose legend was made at Atlantic Records, flourished in her later years at Arista, as did Luther Vandross, who made his last albums for another Davis label, J Records.

It was Davis who conceived of the 1999 album “Supernatural,” which paired guitar god Santana with some of the day’s hottest talents. The record won a record-tying eight Grammys and gave Santana more success than he had ever enjoyed in his decades-long career.

He had middle aged star Rod Stewart trade in his rock hits for standards from “The Great American Songbook.” The album, released in 2003, sold millions and was so successful it spawned four titles in all.

Davis didn’t always make the right choices; he turned down a chance to sign up Meatloaf. And he and his collaborators didn’t always agree. He and producer David Foster fought bitterly over the arrangement for Houston’s all-time hit, a cover of Dolly Parton’s “I Will Always Love You.”

And Manilow strongly objected to recording “I Write the Songs,” noting that he didn’t even write the song, a Bruce Johnston ballad that became a signature hit for Manilow, who would have similar latter-day success mining the music of the 1950s, 60s and ‘70s.

“He’s just brilliant at picking ideas he thinks the public will connect,” raved Manilow, who had worked with Davis since he was a budding singer at Columbia Records.

Davis also had his struggles. Though he became president of Columbia Records in 1967 after joining the label in 1960 as a lawyer, by 1973 he was gone in a bitter fallout. The label accused him of mismanagement of funds and he was fired. Although Davis says he was later cleared, it wasn’t the end of his problems; he later was indicted on tax evasion charges, pleaded guilty to one count and had to pay a $10,000 fine.

However, Davis would declare victory: He says Columbia gave him the money to start Arista to resolve the dispute, and the label would become a huge success with artists like country superstars Brooks & Dunn, sassy R&B group TLC, Babyface, Houston, Franklin and others.

The label had huge success with a debut act — Milli Vanilli. But the male pop duo would become the embarrassment of the industry when, after winning a Grammy, it was revealed that they weren’t actually singing their songs (Davis blamed the debacle on the label’s European division, which he said signed them; the group was later stripped of its best new artist Grammy).

In 1999, as Arista was celebrating its 25th anniversary, Davis faced another crisis: The label’s then-parent company, BMG Entertainment, a division of German media conglomerate Bertelsmann, wanted him to retire; most of its executives were eased out by 60, and Davis was in his mid-60s.

In 2000, despite support from his superstar roster, the company ousted him in favor of producer and songwriter Antonio “L.A.” Reid, who would later become chairman of Island/Def Jam.

However, instead of severing its ties with Davis, BMG helped him launch J Records in what BMG has described as the largest record company startup ever created. Vandross was one of his initial artists, along with forgettable acts like the boy-band O-Town.

J Records was a success from the start, though, and only grew in stature with the arrival of a young singer named Keys, a piano-playing singer-songwriter with powerful pipes and dramatic R&B songs. Keys’ albums would go on to sell millions and win several Grammys.

His influence grew even more when Davis was tapped for BMG’s U.S. division.

He became a key backer of the careers of the winners of “American Idol,” guiding many albums to platinum status. The show’s link to Sony BMG came through a deal between Davis and 19 Recordings Unlimited, the label managed by “Idol” creator Simon Fuller.

In 2007, however, Davis disagreed with the direction of Clarkson’s “My December,” and she publicly criticized him. The album was a flop, and she later apologized.

In 2008, Sony BMG replaced Davis as chairman and chief executive officer of the BMG label group, giving him the title of chief creative officer.

Davis, who was born on April 4, 1932, had four children. In his memoir, he confirmed longtime rumors that he was bisexual and had been living with a man in recent years.

“Do I feel I could have been similarly attracted to a woman?” Davis wrote. “The answer is yes.”

His family shared a loving statement on Monday.

“Through every chapter of his remarkable life, family remained Clive’s greatest pride and deepest joy. Today, we celebrate not only a towering figure whose influence changed music forever, but the man who led our family with grace, generosity, and kindness. We will miss him greatly, cherish him always, and carry his love with us for the rest of our lives.”

Former AP writer Nekesa Mumbi Moody was the main writer of this obituary.

Across California, every incarcerated individual taking a college course now has a tool those of us on the outside take for granted: a laptop.

In the past three years, the prison system spent $23.2 million to distribute 30,000 laptops to all incarcerated students. Almost half of those went to the 13,000 inmates enrolled in community college, who are increasingly doing their coursework online.

The growth of online learning marks a shift away from correspondence courses, where inmates receive assignments in physical packets, fill them out, and mail them back to colleges, with limited feedback. While some community colleges still offer those types of courses, the laptops are starting to replace the packets.

Meanwhile, students and faculty alike debate whether online courses are as effective as in-person courses. Some teachers say online options reduce disruptions when students have to miss class due to court hearings or prison lockdowns. Some students say they prefer in-person courses because they can build invaluable connections. In either mode of learning, inmates say using laptops helps them prepare for life on the outside.

“The more we understand about today's world, the better we'll be equipped to get out into the workforce as things continue to change,” incarcerated student Richard Moye said in an interview. “We don’t want to get left behind. ... Tech literacy is of the utmost importance behind prison walls.”

Online courses could increase enrollment 

In 2024, the state Legislative Analyst’s Office recommended improving the California Community Colleges’ prison education program, called Rising Scholars. The Legislature’s spending and policy adviser recommended addressing limited classroom space by offering more online courses. The office also suggested Rising Scholars prioritize enrollment for students still pursuing their first degrees, to allow for greater student access.

Today, 104 of the 116 community colleges in the state partner with prisons to provide courses and degree programs. According to data tracked by the community colleges, over 21,000 courses took place in prisons during fall 2025. Twenty colleges offer courses in person, with a faculty member commuting to the prison to teach the course. The rest teach courses either online or, with diminishing frequency, via mail correspondence, according to the California Community Colleges Chancellor's Office.

The true number of online versus mail correspondence courses taken by incarcerated community college students is unknown. While community colleges have the option to track courses using the data labels “correspondence” or “text one-way,” there is no consistency as far as which ones they use, according to the Chancellor's Office.

In-person classes can be difficult to get into because of enrollment caps and limited classroom space. The average in-person course generally ranges from 18 to 40 students. Many colleges enroll students on a first-come, first-served basis, enabling people on their second or third degree to “crowd out” those on their first degree, according to Orlando Sanchez Zavala, a policy analyst for the Legislative Analyst’s Office.

The Project Rebound study room at Cal State Northridge on May 26, 2026.

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CalMatters

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Sanchez Zavala said prioritizing enrollment for people pursuing their first degree would have the most impact on lowering recidivism rates.

Leaving prison with a degree can make parolees eligible for a wider range of jobs, and more prepared to enter the workforce, reducing their likelihood of reoffending. According to the prison system’s recidivism report, during the 2018-2019 fiscal year, those who earned an associate’s degree while incarcerated had a 8.5% conviction rate in the three years after getting out, compared to a 41.9% conviction rate for all individuals released that same year.

Sanchez Zavala also suggested utilizing correspondence and online classes to open more courses with lower enrollment caps, allowing more incarcerated people to access community college.

Incarcerated students face multiple barriers

For in-person courses, a major challenge is finding classroom space in prisons. Though prisons have classrooms, they are also used for other programming and group meetings. Sometimes, classes take place in gyms or dining areas.

Joseph Bruno Martinez, 40, said he struggled to get into classes when he was incarcerated at high-security facilities, where institution-wide lockdowns sometimes interrupted learning.

Formerly incarcerated student Garret Eiferman, 56, said he found that prison correctional officers were not always amenable to helping incarcerated students complete degrees. He had to build relationships with officers so he could use the classrooms past 7 p.m., and, at times, even convince officers to allow his classmates to leave their buildings to attend class.

Graduate student Garret Eiferman at Cal State Northridge campus on May 26, 2026.

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He cited other obstacles to his instruction as well, including out-of-date textbooks with the hard covers ripped off for safety reasons, little to no feedback on his correspondence coursework, and challenges balancing work and other prison programs with classes.

Though he didn’t take any online-only courses when he was in prison, Eiferman said he can see the benefits for students as they grapple with the obstacles he went through trying to take in-person courses.

Online courses improve tech literacy 

The new laptops offer much to the inmates: education, enrichment, and — for those who will go free one day — future employment.

For Moye, online education is important for technology literacy. Moye, 44, has been incarcerated for 16 years and takes courses online and in-person through Solano Community College at California Medical Facility in Vacaville.

Moye said a lack of emphasis on tech literacy in prisons is a “disservice to this community” as jobs on the outside require applicants to be skilled at using computers and other tech. Online learning is closing this gap for incarcerated people.

Students and teachers told CalMatters they now complete much of their coursework and grading through the online learning site Canvas, which is used across the state's higher education systems for assigning and submitting work, as well as messaging between students and instructors.

Isela Ocegueda is the vice president of instruction at Coastline College and teaches an online English course to incarcerated students. She says using Canvas streamlines an incarcerated student's transition from school on the inside to school on the outside. At her college, 80% of instruction is online.

Until 2023, Coastline College provided courses in prisons through mail-in correspondence. The college calls its new online format “Canvas-supported correspondence.”

Ocegueda says the online format allows instructors to offer more creative assignments and thorough feedback. Her first assignment to her English class last semester was a journal entry, in which she asked students to introduce themselves and tell her how she can help them throughout the class.

The class final is a research paper, on which Ocegueda can give instant feedback and edits to students who can turn in multiple drafts, which was nearly impossible through snail-mail correspondence.

“Imagine just trying to receive essays in the mail and then make your corrections and then send them back,” Ocegueda said. “That was really hard to do in the mail version of correspondence. ... Canvas-supported correspondence allows more for that writing process to actually happen.”

Obstacles to online instruction

While major improvements to Wi-Fi connectivity and research materials for inmate coursework have been made, there are still obstacles. Wi-Fi access varies from prison to prison, and it can often take up to a week for students to get reading materials approved by prison librarians for them to access.

Students at Pelican Bay State Prison in Del Norte County and California Institution for Women in San Bernardino County say they can’t access Canvas in their cells due to a lack of Wi-Fi, while students at Folsom State Prison and San Quentin Rehabilitation Center say they are able to complete coursework from their cells, where the Wi-Fi is strong. According to a state prison system spokesperson, inmates have Wi-Fi access in the housing units at all but four state prisons. All prisons have Wi-Fi in education areas and classrooms, though signal strength may vary, according to the spokesperson.

Some students pursuing bachelor’s degrees in prisons reported to CalMatters last year ongoing challenges with Wi-Fi and limited access to research materials, with some wishing they could do a simple Google search for information.

Solano College English professor Ben Brookeshire’s main teaching challenge is delay in students accessing what he calls the “information space.” Some documents his students might need to explore on digital research libraries require approval from prison librarians.

In-person courses boost engagement

Eiferman, now a Cal State Northridge graduate student, did most of his in-prison coursework via correspondence courses from Palo Verde and Coastline colleges from 2009 to 2019. Eiferman holds an associate in arts, an associate in science and a business certificate from his time incarcerated. He was also pursuing a U.S. history degree when he paroled in 2020.

“The bulk of my interaction with professors during the degree completion was very minimal. It's distance learning, so that means it's all done with an envelope and a stamp, and feedback was never a thing,” Eiferman said. “It was extremely challenging to transfer out here to the university, thinking that I knew stuff that I didn't or stuff that I knew that needed to be retaught and relearned correctly.”

Garret Eiferman, a graduate student, uses one of the computers inside the Project Rebound study room at Cal State Northridge on May 26, 2026.

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Jules Hotz

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CalMatters

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Eiferman took his first in-person course through Bakersfield College at Golden State Community Correctional Facility, a medium-security prison in the southern San Joaquin Valley. It was a math class, a subject he had always struggled with, but Eiferman said he had “aha moments” and was even able to help teach his fellow students. He said he took people “under his wings” to conduct “spirit building” and encourage them to stay in class.

Moye said in-person classes allow students to more clearly understand teachers’ expectations. They also offer group interaction, peer support, tutoring and collaboration on class assignments.

Data tracked by the community college system indicates a 77% success rate for internet-based and correspondence instruction, and an 85% success rate for in-person instruction, for incarcerated students in spring 2025. “Success” means the student earned a C or higher, or a “pass” in non-letter graded courses. Incarcerated students have a success rate 10% higher than community college students overall in in-person courses.

“I’m a fan of in-person learning,” Moye said. “That's my favorite style of learning, because to me, it resembles most what's going on in society. If we're trying to prepare incarcerated men and women for society, we have to have it look as much like society as possible.”

Brookeshire said he has seen his peers debate the merits of online versus in-person courses in the prisons. He said he knows online courses are inevitable, but he strictly teaches in person because it’s the best way for him to connect with students.

“I'm very passionate,” Brookshire said. “I really believe there's magic in a classroom, and I really believe that face-to-face instruction is irreplaceable.”

Joe Garcia contributed to this story.

Ella Carter-Klauschie is a contributor with the College Journalism Network, a collaboration between CalMatters and student journalists from across California. CalMatters higher education coverage is supported by a grant from the College Futures Foundation.

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

The World Cup and the Hollywood Fringe theater festival may not have a huge Venn diagram of overlapping fans, but perhaps the closest is the theatrics of England fans singing "It’s Coming Home" loudly at Ye Olde King's Head in Santa Monica (get there early if you want a seat for the England match on Tuesday). Then head to the theater to check out sporty Fringe shows Ball Boy, where comedian Ben Fisher recounts his experiences as the gay son of a baseball umpire, or go catch Kickball: The Musical (self-explanatory!).

If music is more your thing, Licorice Pizza’s picks for the week include supermodel and eyebrows icon Cara Delevingne’s two special showcases at Hollywood Forever Cemetery on Monday and Tuesday; also on Monday, shoegaze legends Heavenly make their own comeback at the Regent.

Tuesday, rapper and singer Isaiah Rashad is at the Grammy Museum, and singer-songwriter Audrey Hobert plays her first of two nights at the Wiltern. Also on Wednesday, Khalid plays the Greek, Madison Beer and Thủy play the Forum, Britrockers Bôa play the Bellwether, and rising U.K. electropop star Girli is at the Lodge Room.

On Thursday, Summer Walker is at the Crypto.com Arena, and Killswitch Engage with Machine Head are at the Hollywood Palladium.

Elsewhere on LAist, you can find out who to blame for the lack of public bathrooms in L.A., make a plan to see the top 25 documentaries of this century and get our full guide to World Cup festivities around town.

Events

16th Annual Zócalo Book Prize Event: America, Can We Take Down the Walls Between Us?

Thursday, June 25, 7 p.m. 
ASU California Center Broadway 
1111 S. Broadway, Downtown L.A.
COST: FREE; MORE INFO

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Courtesy Zócalo Public Square

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Anand Pandian, the winner of the 2026 Zócalo Book Prize, will join political strategist and Lincoln Project co-founder Mike Madrid for a conversation about Pandian’s winning book, Something Between Us: The Everyday Walls of American Life, and How to Take Them Down. From fences around our houses to the "walled gardens" of the internet, our real and imagined borders are the focus of Pandian’s work. Plus, Deborah Ager, winner of the Zócalo Poetry Prize, will read her winning poem, “Letter from Indialantic.”

Rod Lightning & the Thunderbolts of Love

Thursday, June 25, 6 p.m.
Concerts on Cañon
Beverly Cañon Gardens
241 N. Canon Drive, Beverly Hills
COST: FREE; MORE INFO 

Celebrate Pride with a free early evening concert in Beverly Hills, featuring classic hits from Rod Lightning & the Thunderbolts of Love.

29th Annual Dances With Films LA Festival

Wednesday, June 24, 4 p.m.
The Art of Sharing film screening
Chinese Theatre
6925 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood
COST: $26.90; MORE INFO 

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Courtesy GPPR

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The annual indie film fest Dances With Films continues through June 28, but this Wednesday is a great chance to see the block of documentary short films in the lineup. The docs include The Art of Sharing, which follows Michelin-starred chef and artist Minh H. Phan during her artist residency with Food Forward, a California nonprofit dedicated to rescuing fresh surplus produce that we’ve featured in Best Things to Do for their annual Zest Fest and volunteer opportunities.

Dataland 

Ongoing
100 S. Grand Ave., Downtown L.A.
COST: FROM $49; MORE INFO

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Refik Anadol Studio

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I had the chance to spend several hours at Dataland, the world’s first AI art museum, ahead of its opening, and to speak with its founders, the artists (and married couple) Refik Anadol and Efsun Erkiliç. The pair have brought to life something truly unique, and we’re lucky to be in L.A. to experience it. You enter into a deeply immersive (I know, overused word, but it’s true) world that takes you to the rainforests of the Amazon and into the connected networks that exist across nature. It’s a totally new way of going to a museum, and I think there’s a lot that other institutions that could take notes on how to make art and technology feel visceral and relevant. It just opened last week and is a permanent installation that takes more than two hours to really see, so plan accordingly.

Stud Country beginner night 

Monday, June 22, 8 p.m.
Los Globos 
3040 W. Sunset Blvd., Silver Lake
COST: $20; MORE INFO

Cross learning to country line dance off your bucket list at Stud Country’s weekly queer line-dancing party at Los Globos. Mondays are for beginners; Thursdays, you’d better know what you’re doing or fear the trample! Howdy, pardner.

Chris Fleming

Tuesday, June 23, 8 p.m.
Largo at the Coronet
366 N. La Cienega Blvd., Melrose 
COST: $50; MORE INFO 

Chris Fleming performs at the Largo this week.

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Arturo Holmes

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Getty Images for Tribeca Film Festival

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I saw Chris Fleming at a Netflix Is a Joke Festival event, and now I’m kind of obsessed with their quirky, offbeat humor. They’re doing a standup set at the Largo — which will definitely be longer than their fleeting but excellent Widow’s Bay turn as the shaman who gets sucked up into a tornado (IYKYK).

Live reading: Mrs. Alving & The Captain, Los Feliz

Wednesday, June 24, 7:30 p.m.
Echo Theater Company
Atwater Village Theatre
3269 Casitas Ave., Atwater Village
COST: FREE; MORE INFO 

Hamish Linklater's new play will get a free reading this week.

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Michael Loccisano

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Getty Images

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Oh look, another Widow’s Bay reference from me. Y’all really need to watch this show. But I digress. This time, the featured actor from the Apple TV hit is Hamish Linklater, who wrote a new play — Mrs. Alving & The Captain, Los Feliz — and is also in the cast. Get in early and check out this free reading of the new comedy with Echo Theater Company.

It all began with a business contract signed inside a pickup truck in the desert — with little more than a dream and a song — and became something far bigger than anyone could have imagined.

That's the story of La Copine, the cult-favorite restaurant that helped redefine what dining in the Mojave Desert could be.

"I would not advise anyone to do what we did," says Claire Wadsworth, who, along with her wife and partner Nikki Hill, bought the restaurant with a $5,000 check from their honeymoon fund — no lawyers, no inspection, and seven days to come up with the rest of the money.

At the time, Wadsworth and Hill were ready to sign a lease on an L.A. restaurant space. Hill was working as a sous chef under Antonia Lofaso at Scopa in Venice, a chef she still counts among her closest mentors and friends. Wadsworth was in the music industry: a musician herself, trained at Berklee College of Music, who also ran the front desk at the Village recording studio in West L.A. There, she mastered the craft of hospitality, learning the food and drink orders of the high-profile clients who came through — Elton John's non-alcoholic Heineken, Weezer's penchant for vegan fare.

A cult favorite in the desert

Eleven years later, La Copine has become the kind of place people plan whole trips around — a remote desert restaurant that draws road-trippers, locals and a steady stream of famous fans alike. Set near Joshua Tree, it pulls in music from every direction: over the years it has fed and hosted the likes of Big Thief, Jenny Lewis, Courtney Barnett and Patti Smith, with neighbors like Pappy & Harriet's and Rancho de la Luna feeding the same creative current.

La Copine's hand-lettered sign stands roadside in Flamingo Heights, near Joshua Tree.

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Sheva Fafai

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Courtesy La Copine

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What keeps people making the drive is a globe-hopping but unfussy menu — dishes pulled from France, the Mediterranean, Southeast Asia and beyond, built on fresh ingredients and a come-as-you-are spirit that treats a curious first-timer and a longtime regular exactly the same. It's food that's adventurous without being precious, the kind that has earned the restaurant a cult following and a reputation as one of California's most singular places to eat.

Inside the cookbook, each chapter opens with its own illustration.

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Sheva Kafai

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Courtesy La Copine

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That sensibility is now a cookbook. La Copine: New California Cooking from an Oasis in the Desert , written with James Beard Award–nominated author Ben Mims, translates the restaurant's dishes — and its philosophy — for the home kitchen.

On June 25, Wadsworth and Hill bring it to Pasadena for Cookbook Live, an onstage conversation and live cooking demo presented by LAist in partnership with the James Beard Foundation. Wadsworth will also be giving a short performance under her alias St. Claire.

The food

The menu at La Copine refuses to sit still. Take the bánh mì, which started as a special, born from a craving for Southeast Asian flavors and an unwillingness to drive two hours to the San Gabriel Valley for the real thing. Their version leans indulgent: pork belly with a house five-spice-and-brown-sugar rub and yuzu kosho — a spicy Japanese citrus-chile paste — folded into house mayo. The galette complète, inspired by Gabrielle Hamilton's writing on the savory buckwheat crêpes of Brittany, is naturally gluten-free and built with ham, gruyère, a fried egg, and a tangy apricot gastrique. And the Sichuan noodles, a loose riff on dan dan, swap fermented black garlic for pickled mustard greens, tahini for Chinese sesame paste, and mushrooms for pork — vegan-friendly by design.

Staying affordable for their community

Beyond the food itself, Wadsworth and Hill consider affordability part of their mission at La Copine. In a town where, by their estimate, the median income is around $25,000, they aim to appeal to both diners accustomed to high-end prices and locals living on a fixed income.

The pair share the story of one of their favorite regulars, Patty, who lives on Social Security and comes in once or twice a month. She's open about what she budgets — about $50 a visit for the salad Copine, a glass of wine, a panna cotta, and a cup of gazpacho. "Patty needs to be able to come in here and afford the meal," they say.

Their goal, they say, is to make food so good that people forget what they spent, without making it so expensive that they're afraid to walk in.

Dessert lined up on the pass — proof the sweet end of the menu gets the same care as everything else.

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Sheva Kafai

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Courtesy La Copine

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Music + food

When speaking with the La Copine couple, one thing becomes very clear: music is almost as central to the restaurant's concept as the food itself. Recalling the night they met, Hill says she was working a catering gig when Wadsworth put on a song by the band Devotchka — a group they both loved — a moment that signaled to each of them that they'd found their type. It now opens their cookbook.

To them, music is "woven into the fabric of our restaurant."

When it came to laying out the dining room, Wadsworth gave up a table to make space for a piano, so that she and visiting musicians could perform. She plays under the name St. Claire and hosts cabaret nights; a nomadic piano tuner now shows up to tune the instrument for free, won over by the fact that they sacrificed a table for it.

Ultimately, what Wadsworth and Hill hope visitors take away has less to do with any single dish than with a state of mind. Slow down, they say. Take in the view. Do nothing for a while.

"La Copine is a happy place in the universe," Wadsworth says.