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The most important stories for you to know today
  • Janice Hahn reflects
    A woman with light skin tone and short blond hair wearing a dark blue, yellow, and red patterned shawl.
    Los Angeles County Supervisor and Metro Board Chair Janice Hahn speaks at a special board meeting called by Metro on April 4.
    In an interview with LAist, L.A. County Supervisor Janice Hahn reflected on her time as Metro Board chair. She discussed the need to secure the Metro system against weapons, the status of the $3.2 billion Olympics funding request, and what she thinks public transportation’s responsibility is during protests.

    Immigration enforcement fears: “I never thought I would live in a time where our own federal government, through the Office of Homeland Security, would come in and engage in these irresponsible and reckless raids and sweeps of good people who are going about their lives,” Hahn said.

    Olympics funding: “We’re still asking. I don’t know if we’re gonna get the whole $3.2 [billion].”

    Read on … for more highlights from LAist’s interview with Hahn and also an unedited audio version of the interview.

    To the critics who call her a “fake Metro rider,” L.A. County Supervisor Janice Hahn says “fair enough.”

    Hahn’s monthly rides from San Pedro to downtown L.A. for Metro’s board meetings, a practice she committed to when she became chair last year and one she said she’ll continue to do, are regular but minimal — and she acknowledges that. Still, Hahn insists they were invaluable.

    Hahn said she met the diverse set of people who ride the system and experienced what happens when the bus breaks down on your way to work.

    Hahn said her time on the bus influenced some of her policy decisions, including promoting proactive outreach to homeless riders and establishing a Know-Your-Rights campaign in the wake of federal immigration enforcement.

    The Metro Board Chair turns over yearly, cycling among a county supervisor, city representative, and the mayor of L.A. In July, Hahn passed the gavel to Whittier City Councilmember Fernando Dutra. As a county supervisor, Hahn will remain on the board.

    Below are selections from an interview with Hahn, in which she reflected on the challenges and accomplishments during her time as chair.

    You can listen to the unedited interview here:

    Listen 27:45
    AUDIO: L.A. County Supervisor Janice Hahn's full interview with LAist's Kavish Harjai

    Hahn’s fears about federal immigration enforcement were 'exceeded' by reality

    Kavish Harjai: You directed Metro to launch a Know-Your-Rights campaign earlier this year. What were your fears about immigration and the administration back then, and have they come true?

    Janice Hahn: I never thought I would live in a time where our own federal government, through the Office of Homeland Security, would come in and engage in these irresponsible and reckless raids and sweeps of good people who are going about their lives, they’re going to work, they’re taking their kids to school, they’re sitting on a bus stop ready to ride our system, they’re going to their court appearances for their hearings.

    To think that these ICE agents have come in with no respect and [are] treating people like they’re treating [them] — I honestly never thought I would live in this time to see grown men slammed to the ground, their faces pressed into chainlink fences, whisked away in unmarked vans with no ability to contact their families. I honestly did not think that I would see this day.

    In L.A. County, we are trying to do whatever we can, to the best of our ability, to protect our residents, making sure our residents understand their rights because they absolutely do have rights as a resident of Los Angeles County.

    Closing Metro stations should be a 'last resort'

    A crowd of people hold various signs denouncing ICE and the Trump administration.
    Los Angeles, CA - June 14: Protesters clash against law enforcement at the "No Kings" Day demonstration in downtown Los Angeles on Saturday, June 14, 2025 in Los Angeles, CA. (Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
    (
    Jason Armond/Los Angeles Times via Getty Imag
    /
    Los Angeles Times
    )

    Kavish Harjai: The board approved a motion calling for updated protocols for station closures and service interruptions. [...] If you could make service better during the “No Kings Day” protest, what would that have looked like?

    Janice Hahn: I mean for me, it has to be a last resort to shut down service or close a station [...] We have to be a neutral party here — we have to be the transportation agency that gets people safely to a protest and safely home.

    These protests are, many people think, not just our right but our obligation to protest against a government that we disagree with. Well, Metro is that public agency that has sort of promised to get people where they need to get to, safely, and to home again.

    I’m hoping that the protocol would speak to that last resort option to shut down service because of a lawful protest.

    Expansion of weapons detection necessary to 'keep system safe'

    Kavish Harjai: The second phase of the weapons detection program launched at the end of April. Those detection pillars were installed at the Norwalk C-Line station and the San Pedro A-Line station. Do you think this is a system-wide, like scalable solution?

    Janice Hahn: I think it should be. I don’t think we can afford not to. If we want our system safe, particularly when we’re preparing for some of the mega events, I think it’s a must. I think we need to figure out the technology that exists so it doesn’t slow people’s commutes down. And also, it’s a big message that you can’t take a weapon onto our system. We already know that it’s kind of been a deterrent. We think people that see the pillars in place decide, “Oh, maybe today’s not the day that I board with this weapon.” So we think it’s a deterrent as well, but I think it should be part of our system going forward.

    Two men in security uniforms stand along a walk way leading to an outdoor train platform with two cylindrical poles that form an entrance with text that reads "Metro" along the length.
    A new "weapons detection" system was installed at the San Pedro Metro stop along the A line going towards Long Beach. Metro security officers are present to search riders when the system detects metal objects.
    (
    Samanta Helou Hernandez
    /
    LAist
    )

    LA will 'absolutely' be ready for the Olympics

    Kavish Harjai: There are some challenges, specifically with the Olympics, which is Metro’s ask for $3.2 billion [in federal funding]. What’s the status of that ask?

    Janice Hahn: We’re still asking. I don’t know if we’re gonna get the whole $3.2 [billion]. A lot of what we need is to lease extra buses. We’re gonna lease close to 3,000 buses, which also means we need to lease the drivers of the buses, which means we need to figure out where they’re gonna stay and live, and the training that they’re gonna need to navigate our streets in L.A. County because the Olympics venues are all over. They’re not just in the city of L.A. So that’s a big undertaking.

    I will say that I was interested in seeing the recent development from the White House, where President Trump has appointed himself to head up the 2028 Olympic Games Task Force. There was Casey Wasserman, who is the head of our LA28 Games, standing with him. So maybe that kind of an interest from the president in our games might cause the resources to flow, as well. We’re kind of waiting and seeing, but clearly this is a huge undertaking, and we’re going to need help.

    Kavish Harjai: You obviously have connections in Washington. What is your role specifically here?

    Janice Hahn: My connections used to be better in the last administration [laughs]. I think our role is to continue to position these Olympics as the United States is hosting the world. We’re going to continue to advocate, to write letters, to lobby for what we need to make this a successful games.

    A lot of people are like, “Are you sure that L.A. should host the Olympics? There’s so many things on the horizon that could be against that.” To that I say, “Absolutely.” We’ve been planning for these Olympics for almost eight years, and we’re going to be ready. It’s going to be fantastic.

    How to reach me

    If you have a tip, you can reach me on Signal. My username is kharjai.61.

  • 'Dilbert' cartoonist dies at 68
    Scott Adams works on his comic strip in his California studio in 2006. He announced in May that he was dying of metastatic prostate cancer.

    Topline:

    Scott Adams, the controversial cartoonist who skewered corporate culture, has died at age 68, He announced in May 2025 that he had metastatic prostate cancer and only months to live.

    Dilbert: Adams rose to fame in the early 1990s with his comic strip Dilbert, satirizing white-collar culture based on his own experiences working in company offices. He made headlines again in the final years of his life for controversial comments about race, gender and other topics, which led to Dilbert's widespread cancellation in 2023. He ventured briefly into food retail at the turn of the millennium, selling vegetarian, microwavable burritos called Dilberitos. He published several novels and nonfiction books unrelated to the Dilbert universe over the years.

    A plea to Trump: In November, Adams took to X to request — and receive — some very public help from President Donald Trump and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in addressing health insurance issues that had delayed his treatment with an FDA-approved cancer drug called Pluvicto. Adams said he was able to book an appointment the next day. Despite the Trump administration's public intervention, Adams shared on his YouTube show in early January 2026 that "the odds of me recovering are essentially zero."

    Scott Adams, the controversial cartoonist who skewered corporate culture, has died at age 68, He announced in May 2025 that he had metastatic prostate cancer and only months to live.

    Months later, in November, Adams took to X to request — and receive — some very public help from President Trump and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in addressing health insurance issues that had delayed his treatment with an FDA-approved cancer drug called Pluvicto.

    Adams said he was able to book an appointment the next day. Despite the Trump administration's public intervention, Adams shared on his YouTube show in early January 2026 that "the odds of me recovering are essentially zero."

    Adams' former wife, Shelly Miles, announced his death Tuesday during a YouTube livestream, and then read a statement from Adams who said, "I had an amazing life. I gave it everything I had. If you got any benefits from my life, I ask you pay it forward as best you can."

    Adams rose to fame in the early 1990s with his comic strip Dilbert, satirizing white-collar culture based on his own experiences working in company offices. He made headlines again in the final years of his life for controversial comments about race, gender and other topics, which led to Dilbert's widespread cancellation in 2023.

    Dilbert, which at its height was syndicated in some 2,000 newspapers across 65 countries, spawned a number of books, a video game and two seasons of an animated sitcom.

    "I think you have to be fundamentally irrational to think that you can make money as a cartoonist, and so I can never answer succinctly why it is that I thought this would work," Adams told NPR's Weekend Edition in 1996. "It was about the same cost as buying a lottery ticket and about the same odds of succeeding. And I buy a lottery ticket, so why not?"

    He said that he had "pretty much always wanted to be a famous cartoonist," even applying to the Famous Artists School, a correspondence art course, as a pre-teen.

    "I was 11 years old, and I'd filled out the application saying that I wanted to be a cartoonist," he said. "It turns out, as they explained in their rejection letter, that you have to be at least 12 years old to be a famous cartoonist."

    Turning to more practical matters, Adams studied economics at Hartwick College in Oneonta, N.Y. and earned an MBA from UC Berkeley. He also trained as a hypnotist at the Clement School of Hypnosis in the 1980s.

    Adams began his career at Crocker National Bank, working what he described in a blog post as a "number of humiliating and low paying jobs: teller (robbed twice at gunpoint), computer programmer, financial analyst, product manager, and commercial lender."

    He then spent nearly a decade working at Pacific Bell — the California telephone company now owned by AT&T — in various jobs "that defy description but all involve technology and finances," as Adams put it in his biography. It was there that he started drawing Dilbert, working on the strip on mornings, evenings and weekends from 1989 until 1995.

    "You get real cynical if you spend more than five minutes in a cubicle," he told NPR's Weekend Edition in 2002. "But I certainly always planned that I would escape someday, as soon as I got escape velocity."

    Adams satirized corporate culture for decades 

    A man wearing a black shirt and eyeglasses sits at a large monitor, holding a stylus.
    Scott Adams works on his comic strip in his California studio in 2006. He announced in May that he was dying of metastatic prostate cancer.
    (
    Marcio Jose Sanchez
    /
    AP
    )

    Dilbert revolves around its eponymous white-collar engineer as he navigates his company's comically dysfunctional bureaucracy, alongside his sidekick: an anthropomorphized, megalomaniac dog named Dogbert.

    "Dilbert is a composite of my co-workers over the years," Adams wrote on his website. "He emerged as the main character of my doodles. I started using him for business presentations and got great responses … Dogbert was created so Dilbert would have someone to talk to."

    Dilbert — with his trademark curly head, round glasses and always-upturned red and black tie — fights a constant battle for his sanity amidst a micromanaged, largely illogical corporate environment full of pointless meetings, technical difficulties, too many buzzwords and an out-of-touch manager known only as Pointy-haired Boss.

    Even after Adams quit his day job, he kept a firm grasp on the absurdities and mundanities of cubicle life with help from his devoted audience.

    He included his email address on the strip and said he got hundreds of messages each day. Recurring reader suggestions ranged from stolen refrigerator lunches to bosses' unrealistic expectations.

    "So they all, for example, say, 'I need this report in a week, but make sure that I get it two weeks early so I could look at it,'" Adams said. "Just bizarre stories where it's clear that they either have never owned a watch or a calendar or they are in some kind of a time warp."

    Dilbert's storylines evolved alongside office culture, taking aim at a growing range of societal and technological topics over the years. In 2022, Adams introduced Dave, the strip's first Black character, who identifies as white — a choice critics interpreted as poking fun at DEI initiatives.

    That ushered in an era of anti-woke plotlines that saw dozens of U.S. newspapers drop the strip in 2022, foreshadowing its widespread cancellation just a year later.

    The comic strip was cancelled over Adams' comments

    Adams didn't limit himself to cartoons. He was a proponent of what he called the "talent stack," combining multiple common skills in a unique and valuable way: like drawing, humor and risk tolerance, in his case.

    He ventured briefly into food retail at the turn of the millennium, selling vegetarian, microwavable burritos called Dilberitos. He published several novels and nonfiction books unrelated to the Dilbert universe over the years.

    Adams was open about his health struggles throughout his career, including the movement disorder focal dystonia — which particularly affected his drawing hand — and, years later, spasmodic dysphonia, an involuntary clenching of the vocal cords that he managed to cure through an experimental surgery.

    And he opined on social and political events on "Real Coffee with Scott Adams," his YouTube talk series with over 180,000 subscribers.

    His commentary, which often touched on race and other hot-button issues, led to Dilbert's widespread cancellation in February 2023.

    In a YouTube livestream that month, Adams — while discussing a Rasmussen public opinion poll asking readers whether they agree "It's OK to be white" (which is considered an alt-right slogan) — urged white people to "get the hell away from Black people," labeling them a "hate group." The backlash was swift: Dozens of newspapers across the country ditched Dilbert, and the comic's distributor dropped Adams.

    The incident also renewed focus on numerous controversial comments Adams had made in the past, including about race, men's rights, the Holocaust and COVID-19 vaccines. Adams defended his remarks as hyperbole, and later said getting "canceled" had improved his life, with public support coming from conservative figures like Elon Musk and Charlie Kirk.

    Adams, in his final years, was a vocal supporter of President Trump and a critic of Democrats.

    But he extended his "respect and compassion" to former President Joe Biden in a video the day after Biden's prostate cancer diagnosis became public in May 2025.

    The prognosis was personal for Adams: He shared that he too had metastatic prostate cancer and only months to live, saying he expected "to be checking out from this domain sometime this summer."

    "I've just sort of processed it, so it just sort of is what it is," he said on his YouTube show. "Everybody has to die, as far as I know."
    Copyright 2026 NPR

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  • Eastside officials condemn detentions on Monday
    Councilmember Ysabel Jurado, a woman with medium skin tone, wearing a black coat, and silver dress, speaks in front of a stand of microphones with people holding up signs behind her that read "ICE out of LA!" and "Keep families together!" and more.
    Councilmember Ysabel Jurado speaks at a news conference on Monday, Jan. 12, 2026.

    Topline:

    Elected officials, school leaders and community advocates condemned federal immigration enforcement across Eastside neighborhoods on Monday, as families returned to school following the Los Angeles Unified School District’s winter recess.

    Why now: Community members reported immigration activity in El Sereno, Eagle Rock and Highland Park.

    More details: Councilmember Ysabel Jurado, whose 14th District includes several Eastside neighborhoods, said the timing of the enforcement actions was particularly troubling.

    Read on... for more about the news conference and ICE detentions.

    This story was originally published by Boyle Heights Beat on Jan. 12, 2025.

    Elected officials, school leaders and community advocates condemned federal immigration enforcement across Eastside neighborhoods on Monday, as families returned to school following the Los Angeles Unified School District’s winter recess.

    Community members reported immigration activity in El Sereno, Eagle Rock and Highland Park. According to the Boyle Heights Immigrant Rights Network, three street vendors were detained before 10 a.m. at York Boulevard and Figueroa Street in Highland Park, including a father of three LAUSD students who is the head of his household. The network also confirmed that another person was detained at Division Street and Cypress Avenue in Cypress Park.

    Two additional people were detained near a commercial strip mall in El Sereno, according to Council District 14 spokesperson Alejandra Alarcon.

    At a news conference in front of Eagle Rock Plaza, where federal enforcement vehicles were spotted earlier that day, attendees held signs that read, “Education not deportation,” and “ICE out of Eagle Rock.”

    Councilmember Ysabel Jurado, whose 14th District includes several Eastside neighborhoods, said the timing of the enforcement actions was particularly troubling.

    “Let’s be clear about what happened today,” Jurado said. “Parents were taken, community members were taken, workers were taken and this all happened on the first day of school.”

    Jurado acknowledged that households are losing breadwinners due to immigration enforcement, and urged families to seek support from her office.

    LAUSD school board member Rocio Rivas represents District 2, which includes neighborhoods such as Boyle Heights, East L.A., El Sereno, Lincoln Heights, Highland Park and Cypress Park. She said these areas have been heavily impacted by immigration enforcement over the past few months. She also denounced the recent deaths of Keith Porter and Rene Good, who were killed by immigration agents.

    “The result is predictable and devastating. People are dying, families are being torn apart and being shattered and communities are traumatized,” Rivas said.

    Some LAUSD families received an automated robocall on Monday informing parents that the district was aware of federal enforcement activity in the area.

    On Monday, federal enforcement vehicles were also reported at the Home Depot in Cypress Park and Dollar Tree in El Sereno, according to the BHIRN. They were also seen at a Costco in Los Feliz and the Glendale Galleria, according to CD14 spokesperson Alejandra Alarcon

    At the news conference, Jurado said the council district plans to launch a text alert service, similar to one used by Council District 1, to notify constituents about federal immigration enforcement activity.

    Jurado also announced the creation of the Eagle Rock Development Task Force, which will work to ”make sure that development in our neighborhood lines up with our values,” she said.

    The task force was created in response to a new Home Depot that is slated to take the spot of a former Macy’s in the Eagle Rock Plaza. Home Depot locations have often been sites of immigration enforcement operations targeting day laborers and street vendors.

    “When your name becomes synonymous with the cruelty of federal enforcement, here in Eagle Rock, we say no more, not here, not in our community,” Jurado said.

  • In 2025, they happened every 10 days in the US
    A police car driving past a building that's been burned. It's daytime. There's an American flag in the foreground.
    2025 began with the massively destructive L.A. fires. But those were far from the only expensive disasters to strike the U.S.

    Topline:

    Last year began with the costliest wildfires in American history, as a series of blazes tore across Southern California for nearly all of January. A parade of other catastrophes followed: severe storms across the southern and northeastern United States, tornadoes in the central states, drought and heat waves through the western expanse of the country.

    Why it matters: All told, the U.S. notched 23 billion-dollar weather and climate disasters in 2025, which claimed 276 lives and caused $115 billion in damages, according to a new analysis from the research group Climate Central. Last year was the ninth most expensive on record for billion-dollar disasters. In 2025, Americans endured one of these events every 10 days on average — an almost nonstop cavalcade of suffering.

    Why now: Last May, the Trump administration announced that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration would no longer update the federal government’s own billion-dollar disaster database, to the alarm of experts who call it an essential tool for determining risk and adapting to climate change. In October, Climate Central revived that database, hence its release of these figures for 2025.

    Read on ... to learn about the role of climate change.

    Last year began with the costliest wildfires in American history, as a series of blazes tore across Los Angeles for nearly all of January.

    About this article

    This story was originally published by Grist. Sign up for Grist's weekly newsletter here.

    LAist partner newsroom Grist is a nonprofit, independent media organization dedicated to telling stories of climate solutions and a just future. Learn more at Grist.org.

    A parade of other catastrophes followed: severe storms across the southern and northeastern United States, tornadoes in the central states, drought and heat waves through the western expanse of the country.

    All told, the U.S. notched 23 billion-dollar weather and climate disasters in 2025, which claimed 276 lives and caused $115 billion in damages, according to a new analysis from the research group Climate Central. Only 2023 and 2024 recorded more of these events, and 2025 was the 15th consecutive year with an above-average number. (Since 1980, the annual average has been nine events costing $67.6 billion. In that time, the country tallied 426 total billion-dollar disasters, costing more than $3.1 trillion.) Last year was the ninth most expensive on record for billion-dollar disasters.

    The clear signal here is climate change: It’s worsening wildfires, causing heavier rainfall and flooding, and supercharging hurricanes. In the 1980s, billion-dollar disasters happened on average every 82 days, according to the analysis, but over the last decade that window has tightened to just 16 days. In 2025, Americans endured one of these events every 10 days on average — an almost nonstop cavalcade of suffering.

    Last May, the Trump administration announced that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration would no longer update the federal government’s own billion-dollar disaster database, to the alarm of experts who call it an essential tool for determining risk and adapting to climate change.

    In October, Climate Central revived that database, hence its release of these figures for 2025. “The continuation of this dataset, like other datasets, is important because it helps demonstrate the economic impact of extreme weather and climate events,” said Adam Smith, senior climate impacts scientist with the organization, who’s leading the program and was formerly the lead scientist for NOAA’s version. That, in turn, can give policymakers and the general public more information for “a more enhanced decision-making process, as we try to learn from these events and rebuild after these extremes that we know will continue into the future.”

    At $61.2 billion in damages, the Los Angeles fires accounted for more than half of the losses from the 23 total events in 2025, according to the analysis. That outbreak brought a public health crisis that’s harder to calculate: Hundreds of people likely died from inhaling smoke, even if they were many miles away from the flames. Wildfire smoke already exacerbates conditions like heart disease and cardiovascular disease, but this smoke was especially toxic because the fires were chewing through houses and cars, melting plastic and metal.

    For the folks who survived inhaling the smoke but nonetheless experienced complications, medical costs add yet more to that $61.2 billion that Climate Central reported. Add still more when you factor in the trauma of surviving such a disaster, and the associated mental health costs.

    “Even though we have a very robust, comprehensive estimate based on the data that’s available, it’s still conservative with respect to what is truly lost, but cannot be completely measured,” Smith said.

    Elsewhere across the U.S., communities struggled with unruly weather: hail events in Texas and Colorado, and severe storms all across the South and Northeast. (Of the 23 events, 21 were related to tornadoes, hail or high wind events. When considering only severe storms, 2025 was the second most costly year for billion-dollar disasters, after 2023.) Generally speaking, the warmer the atmosphere, the more moisture it can hold and then dump as rain. In addition, the Gulf of Mexico was extra hot in 2025, which added still more moisture to storms that marched across Southern states. (Scientists are still working out how climate change might be influencing tornadoes, like the six separate billion-dollar outbreaks that struck the U.S. in 2025.)

    In addition to climate change making weather and wildfires more catastrophic, human factors are adding to the growing costs of billion-dollar disasters. In the West, for example, communities have been expanding into the “wildland-urban interface,” where structures butt up against forests. So there’s more to burn, while at the same time climate change is amplifying the blazes.

    “You’re supercharging some of the ingredients that when they’re aligned in a certain way — with the dryness of the fuels and the near hurricane-force winds, and then, of course, some ignition source — it’s literally impossible to stop,” Smith said.

    But if climate change is worsening disasters, why didn’t 2025 see more billion-dollar events than the two years before it? And why was it the ninth most expensive, not the first? That’s largely because for the first time in a decade, no hurricane made landfall in the U.S. last year, thanks to an atmospheric quirk above the Southeastern states that created a sort of force field that bounced storms back out to sea. That was fortunate — both for human lives and economic losses — because hurricanes tend to be the costliest of weather and climate extremes.

    “If you talk about major hurricanes making landfall, you can easily approach or exceed $100 billion,” Smith said. “The $115 billion could have been $215 billion.”

    Although the U.S. got lucky, the hurricane season was still extreme. Only five Atlantic hurricanes spun up, but four of them — or 80 percent — reached major strength, while in a typical year it’s 40 percent. In addition, 2025 was the second year to have produced three or more Category 5 storms, at least in recorded history.

    That’s where climate change comes in: It’s boosting hurricanes by warming up the ocean waters the storms use for fuel. And indeed in 2025 those temperatures reached record highs: Hurricane Melissa, which ravaged the Caribbean, fed on waters made hundreds of times more likely by climate change to fuel hurricanes — which increased wind speeds by 11 mph and extreme rainfall by 16%. All that oceanic fuel helped the storm undergo “extreme rapid intensification,” its maximum sustained wind speeds jumping from 70 mph to 140 mph in 18 hours.

    So just because no hurricanes made landfall in the U.S. last year doesn’t mean that the storms won’t get more powerful from here.

    To prepare, Smith said that Climate Central will be improving the billion-dollar disaster database, for example reexamining historic data to dig more deeply into individual events like wildfires.

    “By this time next year,” Smith said, “if we’re having a conversation, I think that it’ll be even a much more useful and helpful data resource.”

  • Treats galore on Northeast LA's bakery trail
    An open brown container contains two cinnamon buns, one iced in a vibrant green, and the other in a creamy white. They rest on a piece of paper which says Badash.
    Badash's matcha and classic cinnamon rolls.

    Topline:

    The plethora of bakery openings in recent years has some wondering — has LA hit peak pastry? We counter: can you ever have too many luscious butter croissants or icing-dripped cinnamon rolls? Come with us on an 8-mile pastry crawl, a trail of treats across Northeast L.A.

    Why it matters: Because you need your high-quality baked goods fix and you need it now. And in a complex world, a bite of a lovingly prepared kouign amann can soothe the most stressed-out soul.

    Why now: L.A.'s bakery scene continues to expand, with viral openings (we see you Salted Butter and Badash) and loong lines. Get there early.

    Has Los Angeles reached peak pastry?

    It feels like brand new sweets shops are opening every week across the city. At the end of last year, Filipino ice cream shop Eat Perlas began scooping flavors like calamansi creamsicle in Montrose, Altadena Cookie Co. debuted a storefront on the west side of the neighborhood, and French bakery The Little Cake started slinging croissants, eclairs and tarts in Commerce.

    L.A.'s deep appreciation for bakeries and confectioneries isn’t novel. But with the widespread influence of TikTok and the continued rise in little treat culture, the number of places to satisfy one’s sweet tooth has reached a fever pitch.

    The dense concentration of internet-famous bakeries across Pasadena and Highland Park even inspired Koreatown resident and TikToker Irene Chang to coordinate a 13.1-mile walking route that crisscrossed town to sample half a dozen spots.

    With over 1,000 sign-ups and only 50 entrants due to limited capacity, many sweets lovers were left disappointed. “Someone said, ‘I'm more nervous about getting a spot than getting into college,'" Chang said. "I was doing the math, and that's true.”

    Eight bakeries in eight miles

    As an avid walker and runner, I'd put together something similar in 2009, a 5-mile dumpling race across the San Gabriel Valley. After reading about Chang's venture, I felt compelled to curate my own pedestrian-friendly, pastry-centric crawl for the LAist reader.

    This 8-mile route visits eight Northeast Los Angeles bakeries that have gained viral popularity in recent years.

    Starting in Pasadena and winding its way west toward Highland Park, the itinerary includes Los Angeles’s ultimate chocolate croissant, the plushest matcha cinnamon rolls around, and the internet’s most photogenic churros. These are the spots that everyone is talking about online and in real life.

    So, lace up your sneakers, grab a water bottle and slather on sunscreen — you’re in for a treat.

    Artisanal Goods by CAR

    A close up of a luscious chocolate croissant, sitting on a grey plate on a wooden table in a bakery cafe
    The luscious chocolate croissant by Artisanal Goods by CAR
    (
    Cathy Chaplin
    /
    LAist
    )

    In a city blessed with world-class pastries, the chocolate croissants at Artisanal Goods by CAR stand out for owner Haris Car’s meticulous attention to detail. While it is standard for many bakeries to laminate dough on site, Car goes the extra mile by making chocolate batons from scratch using ethically sourced cacao beans. The result is supremely flaky croissants laced with Normandy butter and oozing with chocolaty satisfaction.

    Location: 1009 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena
    Hours: Tuesday through Sunday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

    BadAshBakes

    Rows of perfectly round cookies of different colors (chocolate, cream, matcha) line up on a counter behind a piece of glass
    Bad Ash's cookie display
    (
    Cathy Chaplin
    /
    LAist
    )

    Pastry chef Ashley Cunningham took her nearly 600,000 TikTok followers on the winding journey of opening a bakery in Pasadena months before the business officially launched. By the time doors opened in May 2025, crowds were queuing up and clamoring for a taste of the charismatic baker’s slate of cakes and cookies. While it’s hard to go wrong with any of Cunningham’s well-balanced sweets, the matcha cinnamon rolls are as fetching to behold as they are to taste, while the banana pudding comforts with layers of fruit, custard and vanilla wafer cookies.

    Location: 247 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena
    Hours: Wednesday through Saturday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

    Delight Pastry

    A spiral croissant is standing on its side, covered in luscious white icing that's dripping down. It's on a white floral plate, sitting on a wooden table
    Delight Pastry's take on spiral croissants, with a Persian bent
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    Cathy Chaplin
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    LAist
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    Taking a cue from the viral success of The Suprême pastry from Lafayette Grand Cafe & Bakery in New York, Pasadena’s Delight Pastry introduced its take on spiral croissants in 2023. Inside the brightly lit cafe tucked into a quieter pocket of Old Pasadena, the tightly coiled laminated pastries — usually filled with cream, dipped in white or dark chocolate, and adorned with garnishes — take on a Persian bent as a nod to the shop’s owner and pastry chef Lily Azar’s heritage. The creation filled with pistachio cream is the one to get.

    Location: 39 N. Raymond Ave., Pasadena
    Hours: Daily, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
    sweet gooey cinnamon bun doused in a creamy icing
    Sweet Red Peach's cinnamon bun
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    Cathy Chaplin
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    LAist
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    Sweet Red Peach

    Sweet Red Peach opened in Inglewood in 2011 and has expanded to Pasadena, Carson and even Atlanta in recent years. While Karolyn Plummer’s Southern bakery has always attracted a steady crowd for its expertly constructed layer cakes, especially the red velvet, her cinnamon rolls are bringing in additional foot traffic after being declared L.A.’s very best by a popular food-rating website. Served in individual-sized aluminum tins, the cinnamon rolls are incredibly supple, saturated with cinnamon, and finished with a tangy cream cheese icing.

    Location: 319 S. Arroyo Pkwy. #6, Pasadena
    Hours: Daily, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

    Salted Butter Company

    An open take out brown box contains three pastries; a cinnamon roll with a large swathe of white icing; a croissant, and a chocolate chip cookies. The box sits on a wooden table with slats.
    Salted Butter Company has been packed since it opened in August 2025
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    Cathy Chaplin
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    LAist
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    Wife and husband team Haruna and Johnny Romo weren’t sure what to expect when they opened Salted Butter Company in August 2025. Seemingly from the start, crowds descended on the Nancy Meyers-coded bakery and bought out the whole lot of well-crafted sweet and savory pastries within its first hours of business. These days, dedicated folks are lining up before the shop’s posted 7 a.m. opening time for the choicest selection of classic croissants, laminated cinnamon rolls, and Earl Grey morning buns.

    Location: 1 W. California Blvd., #412, Pasadena
    Hours: Wednesday through Monday, 7 a.m. to 2 p.m.

    Modu Cafe

    Modu Cafe owner and pastry chef Jiyoon Jang knows the power of social media for small businesses. Before opening her bakery in Highland Park in 2024, the self-taught baker sold her Korean-inflected cookies, doughnuts and milk breads on Instagram, selling out with every drop. Now that Jang has settled into a smartly appointed home base, sweets seekers can dependably swing by for picture-perfect milk cream buns, perilla lime tarts, and black sesame mochi cake bars.

    Location: 5805 York Blvd., Unit A, Los Angeles
    Hours: Tuesday through Sunday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

    Santa Canela

    Two churros which have been laid out to spell out LA, sit on a metal tray, on a wooden table
    L.A. shaped churros are served fresh out of the fryer at Santa Canela
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    Cathy Chaplin
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    LAist
    )

    At Highland Park’s warm and welcoming panaderia Santa Canela, pastry chef Ellen Ramos is serving new-school takes on classic Mexican pan dulces. Find the bakery’s daily selection casually arranged and neatly labeled on butcher paper at the front counter. The conchas are memorable, served simply or piped with seasonal cream, as are the frosted long johns. Still, it's the L.A.-shaped churros served fresh out of the fryer and dusted in cinnamon and sugar that have captured the hearts and stomachs of Angelenos online and off.

    Location: 5601 N. Figueroa St., Unit 120, Los Angeles
    Hours: Daily, 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.

    Fondry

    The opening of Fondry — a bakery founded by the owners of Kumquat and Loquat coffee shops, as well as the all-new Quat campus in Glassell Park — attracted eager crowds from day one, and it continues to be a pastry destination for many. The daily selection of flaky and rich viennoiserie flexes with the seasons and is overwhelming in the best way possible, offering a dozen different sweet and savory croissants, kouign amanns, Danishes and “croiffins” (a mash-up of croissant and muffin).

    Location: 4703 York Blvd., Los Angeles
    Hours: Wednesday through Sunday, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.