The Brief

President Donald Trump delivered the first official State of the Union address of his second term on Tuesday night. The speech gave Trump the opportunity to tout accomplishments and outline his agenda for his administration's second year.

It comes at at time when Americans are divided on whether Trump's first year has been a success. A new NPR/PBS News/Marist poll shows that six in 10 believe the country is worse off than last year and that a majority think the state of the union is not strong.

Reporters from across NPR's newsroom are fact checking his speech and offer context — on topics like immigration, the economy, tariffs and trade and foreign policy.

Immigration

Do we have the strongest and most secure border so far?

This is partly true.

It is not true that there have been zero crossings; for example, there were 237,538 in 2025, according to data from U.S. Customs and Border Protection. But Border Patrol encounters with migrants crossing into the United States from Mexico have fallen to their lowest level in more than 50 years, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of statistics from the federal government.

While it is true that there were a historic number of crossings during the Biden administration, it is untrue that the border was wide open for people to cross unvetted: in the final year of his administration, President Biden significantly tightened controls.

— Jasmine Garsd, Immigration Correspondent

Did murderers, ex-convicts and mental institution patients emigrate to the U.S. under Biden?

There is no evidence of this.

A historic number of people came across the U.S. border during the Biden administration, however many were vetted. Programs like parole and the CBP One app required entry screenings and interviews.

There has also been extensive research showing that immigrants, both documented and undocumented, are less likely to commit crimes than citizens. What's more, although the number of people in immigration detention is at a historic high (near 70,000 as of earlier this month), around 74% have no criminal conviction.

— Jasmine Garsd, Immigration Correspondent

Did members of the Somali community pillage $19 billion?

Almost 100 defendants — many of Somali descent — have been charged by the Department of Justice in connection with alleged fraud connected to federal social safety net and child welfare programs in Minnesota, according to the White House.

In one high-profile case, federal prosecutors charged dozens of people in 2022 connected to a Minnesota nonprofit called Feeding Our Future with stealing hundreds of millions of dollars from taxpayer-funded child nutrition programs during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The president has used that controversy to attack the Somali American community at large in Minneapolis, including calling Somali immigrants "garbage" who "contribute nothing."

— Jasmine Garsd, Immigration Correspondent

Foreign policy

Foreign investment 

Trump referenced this figure, but a White House website of total investment at both home and abroad sits at under $10 trillion. And other analyses have found that number inflated as well.

— Saige Miller, Washington Desk Producer

Iran's nuclear program "obliterated"

Trump again repeated his oft-stated claim that the U.S. "obliterated" Iran's nuclear program during one day of bombing in Iran last June. There's a broad consensus that combined U.S. and Israeli strikes inflicted major damage on Iran's nuclear program. However, Iran has not allowed international inspectors to examine their nuclear facilities, making a precise assessment impossible.

In addition, Trump has not explained why he's considering a new round of attacks on Iran's nuclear program if it was 'obliterated' just months ago.

— Greg Myre, national security correspondent

 "I ended eight wars"

President Trump has had diplomatic successes, but his repeated claim that he's ended eight wars is an exaggeration.

Perhaps his biggest success to date was brokering a ceasefire in the Israel and Hamas war in Gaza last October. However, Israel has continued to carry out airstrikes, killing hundreds of Palestinians since the truce was announced. Israel alleges many ceasefire violations by Palestinian militias.

Trump's list also includes Israel and Iran. Israel and the U.S. exchanged airstrikes with Iran for 12 days last June before Trump declared a truce. However, none of the longstanding issues were resolved, and Trump is again threatening to attack Iran.

— Greg Myre, National Security Correspondent

Iranian protesters killed

Iran's security forces unleashed a brutal crackdown against protesters in January. The Human Rights Activist News Agency has put the death toll at more than 7,000, though various human rights groups say the number could be even higher. Iran's government has acknowledged more than 3,000 deaths in clashes, a figure that includes protesters and security force members.

— Greg Myre, National Security Correspondent

Economy

A "turnaround for the ages"

The U.S. economy was in solid shape before President Trump returned to the White House for his second term. In fact, in October 2024, The Economist had labeled the U.S. economy "the envy of the world," because it had bounced back from the pandemic recession in stronger shape than most of its peers. To be sure, many Americans were frustrated with the high cost of living, and that dissatisfaction contributed to Trump's victory the following month. However, costs have continued to climb over the last year, and that dissatisfaction is now weighing on Trump's own approval rating. Nearly six-in-ten Americans say the country is worse off now than it was a year ago, according to the latest NPR/PBS News/Marist poll.

— Scott Horsley, Chief Economics Correspondent

Inflated claims about inflation

Inflation has cooled in recent months. But the cost of living is still climbing faster than most people would like. A few items have gotten cheaper in the last year, such as gasoline and eggs. But housing, groceries, electricity and natural gas have all gotten more expensive.

Inflation reached a four-decade high of 9.1% in 2022, after Russia's invasion of Ukraine sent prices soaring around the world. By the time President Joe Biden left office, inflation had fallen to 3%. It dropped as low as 2.3% last April, before rebounding to 3% in September.

Trump's tariffs have raised the price of some imported goods, but the effects on the overall cost of living have been limited. Annual inflation dipped to 2.4% in January. (A separate measure of inflation, which is closely watched by the Federal Reserve, shows that prices are still climbing at roughly the same rate that they were a year ago.)

— Scott Horsley, Chief Economics Correspondent

Stock market 

The stock market has enjoyed big gains over the last year, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average topping 50,000 for the first time earlier this month. In 2025, the S&P 500 index jumped 18%, after a 24% gain in 2024. The stock market rally has given a boost to many people's retirement savings. It's important to remember, however, that stock ownership is very concentrated. The richest 10% of families own 87% of all stock market wealth, while half of all Americans own little or no stock.

— Scott Horsley, Chief Economics Correspondent

Job growth

Job growth slowed sharply in the last year. U.S. employers added just 181,000 jobs in all of 2025, compared to more than 1.4 million in 2024. Hiring picked up in January of this year, but the job gains last month were concentrated in health care — an industry that is typically insulated from the ups and downs of the broader economy. Unemployment has remained low — just 4.3% in January — but that's up from 4% a year ago when Trump returned to the White House.

— Scott Horsley, Chief Economics Correspondent

Tax cuts

Congressional Republicans voted last summer to extend portions of the 2017 tax cut which otherwise would have expired last year. An analysis by the Tax Foundation found the package — the One Big Beautiful Bill Act — is the sixth largest tax cut in U.S. history, not the largest. The bill also adds new tax breaks on tips, overtime pay and Social Security benefits. The result will be somewhat higher take-home pay for many workers in 2026. The bill also cut government spending on safety-net programs such as Medicaid and food stamps.

The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office says the bulk of the tax savings will go to the wealthy. Middle-income households will see a smaller benefit, between $500 and $1000 a year. For families making less than $55,000 the loss of government benefits will likely outweigh any tax savings, leaving them worse off. The tax cut is also expected to encourage more business investment, which could boost future economic growth.

— Scott Horsley, Chief Economics Correspondent

Standing by tariffs after rebuke by SCOTUS

The federal government has been collecting about $30 billion every month in tariffs, which is far more than it made from import taxes before Trump returned to the White House last year.

The Supreme Court struck down about half of Trump's tariffs last week, ruling that the president had exceeded his authority. Some of those levies are being replaced with alternative import taxes.

The Constitution gives Congress the power to levy tariffs — though lawmakers have delegated limited tariff powers to the executive branch.

Economists say the vast majority of tariff bills are being paid by businesses in the U.S. that import products. In some cases, those costs are being passed along to consumers in the form of higher prices.

Tariff revenue, while substantial, has fallen short of what the administration projected. This is partly because some imports have been granted tariff exemptions, and partly because importers have shifted production to countries facing lower tariff rates. Imports from China, for example, made up 12% of total imports in 2024. By last fall that had dropped to about 8%.

— Scott Horsley, Chief Economics Correspondent

Tariffs and manufacturing

President Trump argues that high tariffs will spark a renaissance in U.S. manufacturing. But it hasn't happened yet. Factories have been in a slump for most of the last year, shedding 108,000 jobs in 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

No doubt Trump's taxes on foreign imports have allowed some U.S. factories to raise their prices. But the vast majority of factory managers, many of whom rely on foreign components, say tariffs have been a drag on their business. "Morale is very low across manufacturing in general," one unnamed factory manager told the Institute for Supply Management in December.

— Scott Horsley, Chief Economics Correspondent

Energy

Gasoline prices

According to GasBuddy, only the cheapest 10% of stations in the country are seeing prices of $2.31 per gallon or cheaper. And while gasoline was $1.85 a gallon in Iowa in early January, prices have since risen. As for $1.99 gasoline, "only 8 out of roughly 150,000 gas stations nationwide are selling gasoline below $2 per gallon," GasBuddy's Patrick de Haan wrote on Tuesday.

While the specific prices named by President Trump are exceptional rather than representative, gasoline is certainly cheaper now than it was before his inauguration. The national average gasoline price is currently at $2.92 a gallon, according to AAA, or about 22 cents cheaper than this time a year ago.

Those prices are driven by global markets, and a worldwide oversupply of oil is the dominant force keeping prices in check. Presidents do not set gasoline prices. However, politics can be a factor in global markets, and Trump has put pressure on the oil cartel OPEC to keep oil prices down.

— Camila Domonoske, Cars and Energy Correspondent

Data centers and electricity rates

Electricity prices rose 6.3% in the last 12 months – more than double the overall rate of inflation. That's partly due to the high cost of natural gas, which is a major fuel for power plants. It's also due to increased demand, some of which comes from power-hungry data centers. Rising electricity prices were a big theme in last year's gubernatorial elections in New Jersey and Virginia.

— Scott Horsley, Chief Economics Correspondent

Venezuelan oil "received" in the U.S.

Since the U.S. captured Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro last month, the U.S. government has been helping sell some of Venezuela's oil. The U.S. has worked with two Swiss oil trading companies, Vitol and Trafigura. (Both Vitol and Trafigura have pleaded guilty to bribery and settled cases with the Department of Justice during the Biden administration.)

Secretary of Energy Chris Wright says that U.S.-facilitated oil sales total more than $1 billion. However the Venezuelan government has said it has only received $300 million. In a Senate hearing last month, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said $200 million is in a bank account in Qatar. It's unclear where the rest of the money is and if and when it will get to the Venezuelan people.

The U.S. is the biggest producer of oil in the world and the world is currently oversupplied with oil.

– Julia Simon, Climate Solutions Correspondent

Oil and natural gas production

The U.S. set an annual crude oil production record last year, rising about 400,000 barrels a day from 2024, according to the Energy Information Administration. That was not a new trend initiated by Trump — crude output rose for four years in a row. However, it's expected to drop by about 100,000 barrels a day in 2026, thanks in large part to low oil prices. Globally, the world is currently oversupplied with oil.

It is true that natural gas production is up; the EIA forecasts record natural gas production in 2026 and 2027. Natural gas prices were low in 2024 but jumped sharply last year, due in part to massive exports of liquefied natural gas from the U.S. to other countries, mostly in Europe and Asia.

Oil companies have not been on a drilling spree, as Trump's "drill, baby, drill" phrasing would suggest. According to Baker Hughes, a firm that monitors the energy industry, the number of active drilling rigs in the U.S. this week is down about 7% from this time a year ago. Low oil prices and skeptical investors have kept companies cautious. However, technological improvements have helped make U.S. oil production more efficient, squeezing more oil and natural gas out of existing wells, which has helped keep production high anyway.

— Camila Domonoske, Cars and Energy Correspondent

Government

DHS and terrorism prevention

Since Trump took office for his second term in January 2025, there have been mounting concerns among former federal employees and field experts about a diminished capacity to counter violent extremism. Many seasoned counterterrorism officials left government service, and budget cuts have fundamentally shifted the core infrastructure that had been devoted to community-based prevention programs, data-gathering and analysis. In the case of one of these programs, the Center for Prevention Programs and Partnerships, the administration replaced an outgoing head with a 22-year-old without experience in law enforcement or counterterrorism. Outside of DHS, other agencies that have traditionally played a role in countering violent extremism, such as the FBI, have seen manpower diverted to immigration enforcement.

— Odette Yousef, Domestic Extremism Correspondent

Congressional stock trading ban faces tough odds for passage

Congress has unsuccessfully pursued a stock trading ban for their members for years. Members of both sides of the aisle have put forth proposals that have drawn broad, bipartisan support. However, those efforts have fallen short of becoming law.

Those failures have spanned several House speakers, including former Speakers Nancy Pelosi and Kevin McCarthy. Pelosi's husband, Paul, has drawn attention as a venture capitalist who has been active in trading.

This time around, the GOP-led Stop Insider Trading Act has little chance of passage, currently without much bipartisan support.

— Claudia Grisales, Congressional Correspondent

Voter fraud is already incredibly rare

Trump has been claiming that noncitizens are voting en masse in American elections for more than a decade.

But it's illegal for noncitizens to vote in federal races, and they have never been found to vote in anything but microscopic numbers. In the rare cases they do vote, research has found it's often due to misunderstandings about the rules, as opposed to an attempt to influence election results, as Trump often claims.

Still, since Trump took office for his second term, his government has put more resources than ever before toward trying to find these voters. They've found very little.

"Even states that are looking everywhere to try to amplify the numbers of noncitizens … when they actually look, they find a surprisingly, shockingly small number," said David Becker, an election expert who runs a nonprofit that has been tracking noncitizen voting audits across the country.

In Michigan, an audit after the 2024 election found 16 alleged noncitizen votes out of the state's roughly 5.7 million cast. In Iowa, it was 35 votes out of 1.67 million cast.

Experts often note that for immigrants without legal status, it doesn't make sense to risk prison, deportation and family separation to cast one ballot — especially because the inherent paper trail of voting makes it very easy to get caught.

Trump correctly noted that not every state requires voters to show photo ID at the time they cast a ballot. But he oversimplified the dozen or so states that don't have such a requirement in implying that anyone can easily vote without being verified by officials first.

Federal law already requires identity verification for all voters at registration, by mandating they provide a valid driver's license number or the last four digits of their Social Security number. People who don't register in person are also required to provide ID the first time they vote, regardless of the state they live in.

The SAVE America Act that Trump referenced tonight isn't expected to garner the requisite 60 votes in the Senate needed to overcome a legislative filibuster, but you can still read a breakdown of what's in the proposed Republican election overhaul here.

— Miles Parks, Voting Correspondent

Warrior dividend 

Trump announced military service members would receive a $1,776 "warrior dividend" during his prime time address in December.

The money was allocated to service members in the massive omnibus budget bill known as "One Big Beautiful Bill." Congress — which has the power of the purse and is solely responsible for taxation and appropriation — approved $2.9 billion to subsidize housing for military members. Trump rebranded those funds as the "warrior dividend."

— Saige Miller, Washington Desk Producer

Health

Prescription drug prices

This claim is not true. Americans still pay several times more money for prescription drugs than people in peer countries. The Trump administration has taken aim at drug prices in various ways, but how helpful those efforts will ultimately be — and for how many people — is not yet clear.

His biggest move so far has been to use tariffs as leverage to negotiate deals with more than a dozen drugmakers, and then launch a direct-to-consumer website called TrumpRx where people can buy brand-named drugs at a discount. There are only about 40 drugs currently available on the site, and those same companies Trump struck deals with raised prices on hundreds of other drugs they sell. For most people, using insurance and paying a copay for their medications will be cheaper than TrumpRx, according to an analysis by KFF.

What many peer countries do to keep the prices of prescription drugs down is to regulate those prices. President Trump and congressional Republicans have generally rejected that approach, branding it as "government price setting."

— Selena Simmons-Duffin & Sydney Lupkin, health correspondents

Payments to insurance companies

At this point, Trump's "Great Health Care Plan" isn't a comprehensive health policy, but an articulation of policy priorities that Trump has asked Congress to develop into legislation. He supports loosening rules around mandatory benefits required by the Affordable Care Act and promoting health savings accounts, which allow people to set aside pre-tax funds to pay for certain health-related expenses. Under current law, HSA funds can't be used for health insurance costs like premiums.

Even the "catastrophic" or skinny plans preferred by Trump are private insurance plans, and the money paid for them goes to big insurance companies. The only way to stop payments to health insurance companies would be to bolster public health insurance options like Medicaid and Medicare.

A recent poll from KFF found Americans are more worried about health costs than any other household expenses. It also found that people plan to vote based on whether they think a candidate will help with health costs.

This year, ACA premiums have doubled on average, and in some cases, have increased much more, because Republicans did not vote with Democrats to extend extra ACA tax credits. Since then, more than a million people have dropped their coverage.

— Selena Simmons-Duffin, Health Policy Correspondent

Transgender youth

For the second year in a row, President Trump has brought as a guest a parent with a story about a child who began a gender transition in secret. The children mentioned in both speeches seem to have done some version of "social transition," which involves changing a name, pronouns, clothes, haircuts and the like. All of those things are reversible.

This is a topic he brought up frequently during his presidential campaign, in which he and Republicans spent millions on anti-trans ads.

So far, the Trump administration's efforts to ban trangender care has focused on medical interventions for youth. Using threats of withheld federal funding, investigations, proposed regulations, and subpoenas, the White House has succeeded in shutting down many gender clinics for youth at hospitals across the country. There are also many lawsuits challenging these actions.

— Selena Simmons-Duffin, Health Policy Correspondent

Crime

Declining murder rates 

Murders have been on a steep decline following a pandemic-era surge.

The homicide rate in 35 studied cities dropped 21% in 2025, compared with 2024, according to data from the Council on Criminal Justice.

The FBI hasn't released 2025 homicide data for all jurisdictions nationwide yet. However, the Council on Criminal Justice states "there is a strong possibility" that the murder rate will be roughly 4 per 100,000 residents. That, according to the council, would be the lowest rate ever recorded, going back to 1900. It would also mark the largest single-year percentage drop in homicides on record.

Murders and violent crime were already declining under the Biden administration. In 2024, President Joe Biden's final year in office, violent crime dropped to a 20-year low.

— Saige Miller, Washington Desk Producer

Was Iryna Zarutska killed by an immigrant?

Iryna Zarutska was fatally stabbed on August 22, 2025 while riding the light rail line in Charlotte, N.C. Zarutska, who was 23, was stabbed by 34-year-old DeCarlos Brown Jr., who has a reported history of mental health issues.

In tonight's address, Trump claimed Brown was an immigrant released into America thanks to an open border policy. There is no evidence of this. Local media has reported that Brown was born and raised in Charlotte and had spent time in and out of North Carolina jails.

— Jasmine Garsd Immigration Correspondent

Drug cartels as FTOs

Under Trump, the State Department has designated a number of drug cartels as Foreign Terrorist Organizations, or FTOs. This is a novel use of the designation, which has traditionally been used to go after overseas entities that have threatened the security interests of the U.S., such as al-Qaida or ISIS. This pivot in definition of FTO has raised some concern among those who were previously involved in the designation process and other counterterrorism experts. They say that responding to criminal narcotics enterprises that operate from a profit motive is fundamentally different from disrupting networks that sow ideological and violent opposition to the U.S. government.

— Odette Yousef, Domestic Extremism Correspondent 

Copyright 2026 NPR

Unusual creatures are visiting Southern California’s coastal waters.

One of them, a sea turtle, nested near Seal Beach last week for the first time in California history.

And they’re here because of El Niño.

Forecasters say there is more than a 90% chance that this year’s El Niño is going to be very strong, and most Southern Californians are bracing for record-high surf and heavy rains that usually come with the climate pattern.

Residents got a taste earlier this month of what could come this fall and winter, when surf from Hurricane Marie caused widespread damage along the Southern California coast.

But the region is also starting to see a lesser-known effect of El Niño: sea creatures that don’t normally live here showing up in our waters.

Scientists say they are following the warm waters that fuel El Niño, which are likely to have a dramatic impact on our marine ecosystems over the course of the season.

“ Animals like a certain range of temperature, just like you're setting the thermostat at home to a certain temperature that you like,” said Bill Ludt, a curator of ichthyology, or the study of fish, at the Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History.

During an El Niño year, the normally cool waters off the California coast warm significantly. As that happens, animals that normally live in warmer, tropical waters off the coast of Mexico, like sea turtles, move north.

Unusual visitors

The endangered olive ridley sea turtle crawled out of the ocean near Seal Beach on Sept. 16, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. It dug a hole and laid its clutch of eggs inside before burying it and shuffling back into the sea.

A turtle was also seen nesting near the Huntington Beach Pier. Officials have fenced off both nesting sites.

The Seal Beach turtle is just one of a number of unusual creatures that have been spotted off the Southern California coast lately.

A whale shark was spotted near the Channel Islands, off the coast of Malibu. There have also been reports of hammerhead sharks and other large fish like mahi mahi and bullet tuna.

Like the turtle, some creatures have never been recorded in California waters before. A fisherman recently caught a longfinned bigeye from the Venice fishing pier, a bright red-orange fish that normally lives off of Mexico and Baja California.

“It is a wide-ranging species, just not typically in California,” Ludt said. “So it will occur in Baja, as well as other parts of the world. But for California, this is a first.”

Ludt and his colleagues at the Natural History Museum collected the longfinned bigeye and are preserving the physical specimen in the museum’s archive.

“We just want to document things that are rare along our coast, as well as the common things,” Ludt said. “Our goal is always to just document life and how it changes over time on our planet.”

According to Ludt, the creatures Southern California is seeing so far are just the beginning of what’s to come this year.

Animals like the sea turtle and the sharks are what scientists call pelagic animals, meaning they live mostly in open oceans, often migrating in search of food.

Ludt said it will take longer for sea life to show up that doesn’t normally migrate over long distances, like smaller fish. He said we could eventually see colorful reef fish, such as damselfish, angelfish or pufferfish, similar to those one might see living among corals in Hawaii.

A yellow-bellied sea snake, recovered from a previous El Niño event, is preserved at the L.A. County Natural History Museum.

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Edgar Chamorro Gonzalez

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Courtesy of the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County

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Sea snakes are also likely to move into our waters. There was a report of a yellow-bellied sea snake washing up at Crystal Cove in Orange County, but scientists have yet to confirm its authenticity.

Yellow-bellied sea snakes have also been seen here during past El Niño events. They are venomous but don’t pose a threat to humans unless handled.

These warm-water animals will likely retreat south, and some may die and wash ashore when waters cool down again later this winter.

Stress on native wildlife

While the newcomers thrive in warm waters, California’s native sea life does not.

The heat can affect their immune system and metabolism. That, in turn, means less food is available for other animals that eat fish, including seals, sea lions and dolphins.

Another danger is algal blooms. Warmer water allows more algae to grow, and at times, the algae can be toxic, especially to marine mammals.

Scientists say these stressors will likely leave some animals sick and stranded.

“They'll beach, and they'll be acting up weirdly, sometimes maybe more aggressively than they normally would,” said Jorge Velez-Juarbe, curator of marine mammals at the L.A. County Natural History Museum.

Velez-Juarbe added that we could also see more deaths of marine mammals over the next few months.

El Niño’s warming trend is also a window into the effects of a changing climate. Velez-Juarbe said it's an example of how ongoing ocean warming due to climate change can affect Southern California’s marine environments.

Thankfully, Velez-Juarbe said it's unlikely El Niño will cause long-term damage to native species populations. They will likely rebound when ocean temperatures fall later this winter.

If you see a sick or stranded animal, the best thing to do is to keep your distance and call authorities. He also recommends reporting the animal to NOAA’s stranded animal hotline at (866) 767-6114.

If you come across an unusual sea creature along the shore, you can also email the team at the Natural History Museum at nature@nhm.org.

The big day is finally here: The Lucas Museum of Narrative Art opened its doors in Expo Park on Tuesday. But have no fear if you missed the big, celeb-studded bash last weekend (I’m just here scrolling through the Vanity Fair photos of Justin Trudeau and Katy Perry, too, my friends); the museum is here to stay. Keep those reviews coming, and I’m planning to work remotely from that gorgeous reading room one day soon.

Elsewhere on LAist, you read up on Long Beach Aquarium’s plans to save an endangered frog and find your favorite fat bear to vote for during Fat Bear week.

Music

Tove Lo will be at the Greek on Sunday.

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Nykieria Chaney

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Getty Images

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Licorice Pizza’s music picks this week include:

Wednesday

• Beck at the Greek Theatre 
• Cut Chemist (Vernal Equinox Candlelight Set) at Townhouse Venice at Del Monte Speakeasy 

Thursday

• Kehlani with Durand Bernarr, TheARTI$t and Waseel at the Intuit Dome
• Laurie Anderson at the Orpheum Theatre

Friday

• Faye Webster with Laila! at the Fonda
• The Ohana Festival kicks off in Dana Point

Saturday

• Jay Park with LNGSHOT at the Shrine Auditorium 
• Rilo Kiley with Beachwood Sparks at Fairbanks Lawn at Hollywood Forever Cemetery 
• Latino Carnaval 2026

Sunday

• Tove Lo with Mallrat at the Greek Theatre 
• Brujeria with Section H8, Auditory Anguish, Plagas and more at the Paramount

Events

Tacita Dean: Film

Through Feb. 2027
Marciano Art Foundation
4357 Wilshire Blvd., Mid-Wilshire
COST: FREE WITH ONLINE RESERVATION; MORE INFO 

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Tacita Dean

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Marciano Art Foundation

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One of my favorite things about writing this column every week is that over time, I get to see how art and culture are on a continuum in L.A. This was one of those weeks. I went to the opening of the new Tacita Dean installation, Film, at Marciano Art Foundation. Dean is a British artist and champion of analogue film (it’s no surprise that she counts Christopher Nolan among her many fans and friends). In April, her work was shown at the now-closed Marion Goodman Gallery, and it’s been a joy to get to know a new-to-me artist this year who has such deep ties to film and L.A. culture. While you’re there, the Foundation also has an enjoyable new exhibit from Belgian artist Pierre Leguillon on artists and advertising.

The Women of Lockerbie

Through Sunday, Sept. 27 
The Actors’ Gang
9070 Venice Blvd., Culver City
COST: FROM $28; MORE INFO

This play, first produced in the early 2000s, looks at one woman's search for her son's remains years after he was killed in the attack on Pan Am 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland. Presented loosely as a Greek tragedy and inspired by true events, the drama looks at the ties that bind people through loss and stars Actors’ Gang regular Kate Mulligan.

Free pancakes at Redbird

Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 26-27
Redbird 
114 E. 2nd St. Downtown L.A. 
COST: FREE; MORE INFO

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Courtesy Redbird

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I hope these pancakes look like Leia’s buns! To celebrate the opening of the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, Redbird is offering a free short stack for your table; just show a ticket from your visit to the newest art museum in LA. And don’t worry: If you’re brunching pre-museum, just use the passphrase “may the force be with you” to secure the sustenance.

Watts Towers Day of the Drum Festival + Simon Rodia Watts Towers Jazz Festival

Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 26-27
Watts Towers Arts Center 
1727 E. 107th St., Watts
COST: FREE; MORE INFO

The Watts Towers will be the backdrop to two festivals this weekend.

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Carolyn Cole

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Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

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Two festivals are on at Watts Towers, with both days featuring music and culture at Simon Rodia’s ship-shaped temple of tile. Saturday is the 44th Annual Watts Towers Day of the Drum Festival, and Sunday brings the 49th Annual Simon Rodia Watts Towers Jazz Festival.

Mr. Wash’s First Decade Bday Bash

Saturday, Sept. 26, 6 p.m. to 10 p.m.
HVW8 Gallery
661 N. Spaulding Ave., Fairfax District
COST: FREE; MORE INFO

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Courtesy Art by Wash

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President Barack Obama granted clemency to Mr. Wash in 2016 after 21 years of wrongful incarceration. Self-taught while in prison, Mr. Wash has seen his work shown and collected across L.A. at the Hammer Museum, LACMA and the Huntington Library; his latest work is on view at David Zwirner Gallery. Celebrate his first decade out and support his Art By Wash Studio and Community Center in Compton, which will offer all-levels art classes and workshops, creative residencies and “reintegration resources for individuals returning home from prison” at the HVW8 party.

Catch Me If You Can 

Through Sunday, Oct. 18
Colony Theatre
555 N. Third St., Burbank 
COST: $60; MORE INFO 

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Courtesy Colony Theatre

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The Colony puts on consistently fun, solid shows, and Catch Me If You Can is no exception. This version of the musical adaptation of the 2002 Leonardo DiCaprio movie is directed by Colony regular Michael Donovan, who most recently directed the theater’s The Wedding Singer. The original musical about con artist extraordinaire Frank Abagnale scored four Tony nominations.

Art of Storytelling in Admissions

Friday, Sept. 25, 6 p.m.
Zibby’s Bookshop
1113 Montana Ave., Santa Monica
COST: FREE; MORE INFO 

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Courtesy Zibby's Bookshop

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It’s that time of year again, and Zibby’s Bookshop in Santa Monica has gathered some student-essay-writing experts to help your teenager through the application process, whether that’s a personal statement for college, a local private or boarding school or any other application. The art of the essay is in self-discovery, so bring your budding writer and strap in.

35 Years of Speed: The Sonic Art Exhibit

Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 26-27, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
ARK/8
115 S. La Brea Ave., Inglewood
COST: FREE; MORE INFO 

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Courtesy fortyseven communications

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I’ve missed iam8bit’s shows, so I’m delighted to see this new partnership with SEGA for all the other '90s gamers out there. It celebrates 35 years of Sonic the Hedgehog with 35 Years of Speed: The Sonic Art Exhibit, and will feature original works from more than 30 renowned artists who pay homage to Sonic’s journey throughout the years.

State and local lawmakers are joining immigrant rights groups in urging Gov. Gavin Newsom to sign a bill that would bar California law enforcement from moonlighting for ICE.

Assemblymember Isaac Bryan, who represents Angelenos from South L.A. to Mar Vista, introduced AB 1537 in January. If implemented, the bill would ban California police, sheriffs and other law enforcement from taking on second jobs that involve “arresting, detaining, transporting, or deporting” people.

The bill has made its way through the state legislature and is now on the governor’s desk. Newsom has until Sept. 30 to sign or veto it.

At a press conference outside L.A. City Hall on Wednesday, José Madera, who directs the Pasadena Job Center, pointed to multiple deaths involving federal immigration agents in recent months — from Minneapolis to Houston — and to a recent shooting in Austin. “We don't need our local police to be part of that violence,” he said.

“ICE is a lawless, rogue agency that is terrorizing our communities, separating our families and kidnapping our neighbors,” said Bruno Huizar, supervising policy manager at the California Immigrant Policy Center. “Governor Newsom must sign AB 1537 into law to protect Californians.”

L.A. City councilmember Hugo Soto-Martínez, whose own parents were undocumented, said it pained him to see immigrant parents go to work and to church in fear of being separated from their children.

“If you’re a public servant, you should be serving the public — not helping ICE tear families apart,” he added in a follow-up email statement.

The bill, dubbed “No side jobs for ICE” by its proponents, would also require officers to report secondary employment offers relating to immigration to their employers.

“If a law enforcement agent gets a conditional offer from an immigration enforcement agency, that will be part of their employment records. And that will be subject to a public records act request,” said Shiu-Ming Cheer, a licensed attorney at the California Immigration Policy Center. “This is aimed at bringing transparency, so that we know how many officers are actually getting offers to work as an ICE agent or a Border Patrol agent.”

The Peace Officers Research Association of California, which represents officers across the state, has spoken out against the bill, arguing that “policies like this don’t improve public safety.” The Los Angeles Police Protective League did not immediately respond to LAist’s request for comment.

The bill is part of a growing effort to bar local law enforcement from engaging in the ongoing mass deportation effort. The L.A. City Council approved a motion in March, barring city employees from holding second jobs with federal immigration enforcement agencies.

In Santa Ana, the City Council recently adopted a policy that prohibits employees from obtaining outside work that involves federal immigration enforcement activities.

Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed a bill aimed at protecting children who are abused.

The law, which went into effect this week, is named “Gabriel’s Law,” after Gabriel Fernandez — an 8-year-old boy in Palmdale who died in 2013 after being tortured and abused by his mother and her boyfriend.

“It devastated the community. Still has,” said State Assemblymember Tom Lackey (R-Palmdale), who worked on legislation related to Gabriel’s case for years. “It hasn't gone away, right? It’s something we still acknowledge.”

Since Fernandez’s death, the Antelope Valley has seen a number of high-profile child deaths at the hands of their parents.

The new law requires social workers to make sure a child gets emergency medical care when needed, and it makes it easier to prosecute social workers who knowingly falsify records.

Officials said there had been warning signs about Fernandez’s abuse, but social workers with the L.A. County Department of Children and Family Services failed to follow up on them. The high-profile case prompted internal reforms in the agency.

What happened to Gabriel

Gabriel died in May 2013, after months of abuse from his mother and her boyfriend. He was found with a number of injuries, including a fractured skull, broken ribs and BB pellets lodged in his body. His mother and her boyfriend were both sentenced.

A teacher had reported signs of abuse to the county, but social workers did not remove him from the home. Then they ended the investigation. Prosecutors charged the social workers with child abuse, but the charges were later dismissed.

“He was literally tortured. And there were many, many, many documented events, and there are many encounters that he had with people that lacked follow-up,” Lackey said.

What does the law change?

Before this week, the law said that social workers may authorize care if a child needs immediate emergency care, but did not require it. Gabriel’s law requires a social worker to secure medical care for a child.

“ They call for an ambulance or escort the child to an emergency room— make sure a physician has the opportunity to provide some level of remedy and documentation of the injury,” Lackey said.

It also clarifies the law so that social workers who are guilty of falsifying or destroying public records can be imprisoned or fined.

Why did the law take so long to change?

Lackey’s previous legislative efforts related to Fernandez’s case failed over the years. He introduced at least five different pieces of legislation that failed to advance.

“I'm not even saying that I blame the pushback and the concern, because if you're too aggressive, there's a tendency to accuse people of wrongdoing when they are not guilty of wrongdoing, so we wanted to make sure that the balance was reasonable,” he said.

Lackey terms out this year. “We're trying to do something as a community to not only pay tribute to [Gabriel], but to prevent it from reoccurring,” he said.