The Brief

Topline:

Why now: Last month Metro's board of directors voted to look into creating an in-house police force to respond to transit incidents. But the agency has been exploring the move for years.

"Public safety is my number one priority and we know the status quo is not working the way we would like it," she said.

Why it matters: Speaking on LAist's AirTalk, Wiggins says ridership levels are still 23% below pre-pandemic levels. And recent safety concerns have some questioning safety on public transit.

What transportation advocates say: Madeline Brozen who directs UCLA's Lewis Center for Regional Police Studies told LAist last month that the perception of safety hits different when you're reading about it versus when you're really experiencing it.

"If you kind of compare overall crime statistics for the city in terms of property crime or car break-ins with the amount of crime concerns that we see on public transit, public transit is a safer environment by and large," she said.

What's next: While the plan is still in development, Wiggins says the in-house police force would focus on engaging riders and employees, "establishing relationships, having a more visible presence so that they're riding our trains and buses as opposed to being in their vehicles."

Cost savings: Wiggins says the in-house department could save Metro between 20 to 40% of what it spends on law enforcement contracts. For 2023, the agency set aside $173 million in policing contracts.

Go deeper: LA Metro calls for in-house public safety plan

Throwaway vapes will be illegal in California under a new law Gov. Gavin Newsom signed this week that’s aimed to reduce the risk of battery fires at landfills and recycling centers.

Retailers and distributors found breaking the law would be fined $500 for the first violation and as much as $2,000 for subsequent violations.

Assemblymember Jacqui Irwin, a Thousand Oaks Democrat, introduced the bill to curb the proliferation of hazardous waste — particularly the highly flammable lithium batteries inside e-cigarettes, which can ignite at trash facilities and put workers at risk.

The batteries “cannot easily be removed, so they pose costly and hazardous safety issues at every point in the waste stream,” she said during a June hearing. “We do not throw away our phones or our laptops after one week of use, and we should not treat other lithium devices any differently?”

About 12 million disposable vapes are sold nationally every month, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In 2016, a lithium battery started a fire in a San Mateo County recycling facility, costing it $8.5 million and driving up its annual insurance cost by almost $3 million. In addition to anti-smoking and healthcare groups, waste management authorities and environmental advocacy organizations supported the measure.

“The growing vape crisis is posing an existential threat to our waste and recycling system,” said Nick Lapis of Californians Against Waste, a co-sponsor of the bill. “Even if managed responsibly, this is a staggering waste of the finite natural resources that go into making them.”

Residents also end up absorbing the cost of the fires e-cigarettes cause in garbage facilities, through higher garbage rates and taxpayer-funded cleanups, Lapis said.

Law enforcement groups, business groups including the California Business Roundtable and the California Chamber Of Commerce and an industry group representing convenience stores and gas stations opposed the measure.

Referring to a June report from Zurich Insurance UK, an insurance company, that found that fires originating from vapes are still rising in the United Kingdom despite a 2025 ban on disposable vapes, Alessandra Brichetto of the California Fuels & Convenience Alliance said that disposable vapes that are already illegal are the source of most of the litter and fires the measure attempts to curb.

Banning the limited number of legal disposable devices would also push consumers to buy illicit vape products, said Brichetto.

“That’s the fundamental flaw in this bill,” she said. “It assumes eliminating the legal market eliminates the problem. It doesn’t.”

Most Republican lawmakers also voted against the bill. In her opposition to the bill, state Sen. Shannon Grove said that the true issue is burning batteries, like the 2025 fire at the Moss Landing battery storage facility, which “cause catastrophic health impacts to communities.”

“We need to start to make a real difference in the issue of climate change, contamination in our air,” said the Bakersfield Republican during an August floor vote. "So let's take on real challenges, colleagues, and not just banning vapes.”

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

I yelped out loud twice this week; first while watching Jeopardy! — there was a clue comparing Shohei Ohtani to Babe Ruth (here for it!) — and the second while wistfully wishing I was in Dublin watching U2 serenade a crowd on Grafton Street when they launched into a tribute to the late Glen Hansard.

Closer to home, I checked out the new karaoke venue Mic Drop (in celebration of our Licorice Pizza host Lyndsey Parker’s birthday). Fun fact: The space used to be Larrabee Studios, which was originally owned by Carole King.

Elsewhere on LAist, you can visit late indie icon Elliott Smith’s haunts, check out the Sunshine Skate Center in Inglewood or get all the info for the Downtown Santa Ana ArtWalk on Oct. 3.

Music

She & Him reunite for two nights at The Orpheum.

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Chantal Anderson

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Here are the music picks from Lyndsey at Licorice Pizza. Don't forget that Saturday and Sunday there’s the big Neverender Festival at the Observatory Festival Grounds, featuring Coheed and Cambria, Circa Survive, Sunny Day Real Estate, Pup, Thursday, Destroy Boys and many more.

Wednesday

• Jazz guitar great Bill Frisell and Harmony Five featuring Petra Haden at Zebulon
• Darkside featuring renowned electronic musician Nicolas Jaar starts four consecutive nights at the Lodge Room

Thursday

• Social Distortion, with Descendents and The Chats at the Palladium (they’ll be there Friday, too)
• DeVotchKa: A Celebration of the Music of “Little Miss Sunshine” at the Ford

Friday

• Osees at the Bellwether
• Hiss Golden Messenger at the Troubadour
• She & Him at the Orpheum — they’ll be there Saturday too.

Saturday

• Michelle Branch at the Wiltern
• Tech house star Max Styler at the Shrine
• Soulection Experience: With Kaytranada and friends at Reframe Studios

Sunday

• Tristen with Sharon Silva at Permanent Record Roadhouse
• Jessie Reyez at the Blue Note

Monday

• Mama's Broke — Reunion Album Release Tour
• Kylesa with Habak and New Skeletal Faces

Tuesday

• Jesse Welles at the Wiltern
• ivri at the Echoplex

Saturday and Sunday, the big Neverender Festival is at the Observatory Festival Grounds with Coheed and Cambria, Circa Survive, Sunny Day Real Estate, Pup, Thursday, Destroy Boys and many more.

Events

David Lynch: L.A.

Through Wednesday, Dec. 23
Pace Gallery
1201 S. La Brea Ave., Mid-Wilshire
COST: FREE; MORE INFO

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David Lynch

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Pace Gallery

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David Lynch helped to define modern-day Los Angeles through his influential films, his daily weather report on KCRW and his visual art in painting and photography. It’s that last part that’s explored at the Pace Gallery's new exhibit (their La Brea space is one of my favorite new galleries in the city), with a spotlight on the space between Lynch’s films, his photography and his paintings. Lynch understood the darkness and the light of L.A. like none other — do a Mulholland Drive rewatch and then head here.

The Longest Table

Sunday, Oct. 4, 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. 
Pampas Ricas Blvd. (between Sunset and Chapala), Pacific Palisades
COST: FREE; MORE INFO

The Palisades is making its way back after the fires, and a big part of that is the community spirit that has always fueled the beach cliff enclave. Join neighbors at The Longest Table, a free community potluck at some VERY long tables with chairs and tablecloths on Pampas Ricas Blvd. between Sunset and Chapala. Bring your favorite dish to share and pull up a chair.

Hola México Film Festival 

Through Saturday, Oct. 3
Various locations
COST: VARIES; MORE INFO

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Roberto Girault Facha

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Hola Mexico Film Festival

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The 18th annual Hola México Film Festival includes films from across Mexico, including a closing night screening of the new rom-com Amarte outside at Plaza de Culturas y Artes, featuring a performance by Spaghetti Cumbia. The full film lineup is here.

Montana Avenue Art Walk

Saturday, Oct. 3
Montana Ave.
Between 6th St. and 17th St., Santa Monica
COST: FREE; MORE INFO

Art pop-ups, interactive displays, food, music and more will take over the swish Montana Ave. shopping district in Santa Monica. It’s all part of Santa Monica's celebrations commemorating the 100th Anniversary of Historic Route 66.

Sword Yoga with Weapon Up

Monday, Oct. 5, 7 p.m.
Clark Building 
861 Valley Drive, Hermosa Beach
COST: $45.67; MORE INFO

Do you fantasize about being a swashbuckling hero in a swordfight? Or the maiden who gets rescued? It’s all as-you-wish in this romantasy-themed sword yoga class that blends elements of kung fu, yoga and sword fighting — props provided.

America(!) the Beautiful(?)

Saturday, Oct. 3, 8 p.m.
The Ford 
2580 Cahuenga Blvd. E., Hollywood 
COST: FROM $35; MORE INFO 

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Courtesy For Freedoms

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Art activism collective For Freedoms brings together a night of soul, jazz, hip hop and poetry exploring what being American means today (it’s complicated!). The night includes a DJ set by artist-storyteller Kai the Universe, Xochimilco recording artist and activist Xiuhtezcatl, curator Marc Bamuthi Joseph, and a performance by surrealist blues poet Aja Monet. This is one of six events developed by Joseph that aim to create “a shared story of who we are and who we are becoming.”

Joey Clift: We’ve Been Here the Whole Time 

Saturday, Oct. 3, 7:30 p.m. to 8:45 p.m.
Elysian Theater
1944 Riverside Drive, Silver Lake
COST: $19.61; MORE INFO

Native American satirist Joey Clift is celebrating his new book — We’ve Been Here The Whole Time! A Not So Sacred Guide to All Things Native America — with an all-Native comedy show at the Elysian. The night features stand-up from Brian Bahe (Ghosts), Kristin Chirico (Buzzfeed), Jim Ruel (Showtime's American Indian Comedy Slam) and more — plus a live book talk between Clift and Julie Fiveash (The Froggy Librarian), moderated by Darrell Dennis (Just For Laughs). The show benefits ChapterHouse LA.

Laura Benanti: Nobody Cares 

Thursday to Sunday, Oct. 1-4 
The Wallis
9390 N. Santa Monica Blvd., Beverly Hills
COST: FROM $53; MORE INFO

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Courtesy Nobody Cares Is a Comedy

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Broadway star Laura Benanti is mixing her big voice with a stand-up comedy show — and it works. If you follow her on Instagram, you’re already familiar with her hot takes on perimenopause, accompanied by song. The Tony-winning Supergirl actress performs at the Wallis this week, followed by a short run at South Coast Repertory in Costa Mesa from Oct. 8-11.

Pacific Air Show 

Friday to Sunday, Oct. 2-4
5252 Bolsa Ave., Huntington Beach 
COST: FROM $20; MORE INFO

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Courtesy Pacific Air Show

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Whoosh! That’s the sound of dozens of planes flying high, doing Top Gun-style acrobatics overhead at the annual Pacific Air Show in Huntington Beach. Of course, it’s free to see the planes (they are in the sky), but snag a seat on the beach for direct vantage points, live commentary, access to food and drink venues and more.

This story first appeared on The LA Local.

An empty lot at the southwest corner of Wilshire Boulevard and Crenshaw Boulevard could soon transform into nearly 200 affordable apartments.

Abode Communities, a nonprofit affordable housing developer, is developing the Koreatown-adjacent project in partnership with Metro, which owns the property. The development would include 194 income-restricted apartments and two manager units for households earning between 30% and 60% of area median income.

Construction is projected to begin in 2028 and continue through 2030, with apartments expected to begin leasing that year, according to the project’s current timeline.

The project will include 69 one-bedroom, 76 two-bedroom and 49 three-bedroom apartments, along with a 6,200-square-foot flex-use transit plaza connecting two bus stops, a shared community room, landscaped open space, a community garden, play areas and bike facilities. 

The proposed 196-unit affordable housing development at Wilshire Boulevard and Crenshaw Boulevard.

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Rendering courtesy of Koning Eizenberg Architecture

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Plans also call for two bus shelters and extended bus bays. Residents would park along Crenshaw Boulevard, with more than 100 parking spaces planned in an underground garage.

The site is located in Windsor Village, within the Park Mile Specific Plan area, just outside Koreatown.

Rick Kim, Koreatown Youth and Community Center’s director of economic development services, said their organization will provide its knowledge of the surrounding community as a development partner. KYCC also plans to connect future residents with its programs as a service provider. 

“We have services for kids and family services around a wide range of social needs — after school programs, preschool programs, mental health resources and personal financial literacy, so we figured it just all made perfect sense,” he told The LA Local. “We are trying to figure out exactly how and what type of resources would most benefit the residents.” 

Metro acquired the property in the 1980s for potential future transportation projects. It was later used for construction staging for the D Line subway extension. The development is now part of Metro’s effort to build 10,000 homes on agency-owned property by 2031, including at least 5,000 income-restricted homes. 

Metro received eight proposals for the property in 2025 before selecting Abode Communities to develop the site.

The project is subject to planning rules for the Park Mile area and additional historic-preservation review because of its location in Windsor Village, a designated historic district.

The buildings would be taller along Wilshire Boulevard and gradually get lower toward the single-family homes to the south, according to Troy Fosler, a principal at Koning Eizenberg Architecture. 

At a recent community open house, residents left design suggestions, including requests for bulky item pickup, pet washing stations, additional setbacks near neighboring single-family homes and limiting the Wilshire frontage to six stories.

Tracy Park lives about two blocks from the site, which is currently an empty lot. For her, the development would bring new activity to a property she has watched for years.

Park, 43, attended the September open house at the Korean Resource Center with her husband and their two children. 

Tracy Park, 43, and her husband, Ben Bowes, 49, at the Sept. 23 community open house for the proposed Wilshire/Crenshaw development.

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Hanna Kang

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The LA Local

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“I’ve been seeing that lot for a very, very long time,” she said. “I was really curious what was going to happen with it because it’s in such a prime location and it’s so central to our little community.”

“We want our children here to also see that there’s planning like this going on,” she added. 

Park said she supports adding affordable housing to the area, which she described as densely populated. She sees a sharp contrast between the wealthier neighborhoods north of Wilshire and people experiencing homelessness along the boulevard.

“We see these rich, huge mansions right in Hancock Park, just north of Wilshire, and then walking along Wilshire every single night, we hear our homeless neighbors struggling or sort of asking for food or suffering in the heat,” she said.

Kim said more community meetings are planned before construction.

“We’ll continue to have more engagement sessions between now and the groundbreaking because we want everyone who lives and works in the area to be aware of the situation and have a say in how we can best move forward,” he said.

Residents with questions about the project can email wilshirecrenshaw@abodecommunities.org or sign up here to receive project updates and notices about upcoming meetings.