Topline:
A proposed bill in the California legislature would require certain electric bikes to register with the Department of Motor Vehicles and to carry license plates.
Why does it matter?: This proposal would make it easier to identify people involved in dangerous incidents.
Why now?: E-bike related injuries increased 18-fold between 2018 and 2023, according to data from the Statewide Integrated Traffic Records System.
Read on for more details …
Some electric bikes in California could soon require license plates under a proposed state bill aiming to address the rise in electric bike related injuries.
AB 1942 or the E-bike Accountability Act, would apply exclusively to Class 2 and Class 3 electric bikes.
Class 2 bikes can be operated without peddling until it reaches the speed of 20 mph.
Class 3 bikes reach a max speed of 28 mph; motor assist could only kick in with peddling.
The bill would also require owners to carry proof of ownership and would direct the Department of Motor Vehicles to establish a registration process. It was introduced by Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer-Kahan of Orinda in Contra Costa County earlier this month.
E-bike injuries spiked 18-fold between 2018 and 2023, according to state traffic data.
The bill may be heard in committee March 16.
Topline:
For the last 70 years, the 27th Street Bakery hasn’t just been the go-to place for people who want to spend less time in the kitchen — it’s become a staple in South Central, providing jobs and security for people living in the neighborhood.
The history: The bakery sits on Central Avenue, the focal point of Black Los Angeles between the 1930s and 1960s. As segregation laws were struck down, Black people in LA began to move elsewhere and took their businesses with them. The bakery, though, is still Black-owned and operating 70 years later.
Read on ... for more on the local landmark.
For the last 70 years, the 27th Street Bakery hasn’t just been the go-to place for people who want to spend less time in the kitchen — it’s become a staple in South Central, providing jobs and security for people living in the neighborhood.
The bakery is Black-owned and in its third generation as a business. It’s co-owned by sisters Denise Cravin-Paschal and Olympic gold-medalist Jeanette Bolden-Pickens, as well as her husband Al Pickens.
“My grandfather employed a lot of people around here as he was growing his business and so have we,” Cravin-Paschal told the LA Local. “They feel that this is a safe place to come. We have the respect of being here for 70 years and so we enjoy it.”
The bakery sits on Central Avenue, the focal point of Black Los Angeles between the 1930s and 1960s. As segregation laws were struck down, Black people in LA began to move elsewhere and took their businesses with them. The bakery, though, is still Black-owned and operating 70 years later.
Today it is considered the largest manufacturer of sweet potato pies on the West Coast, the bakery’s website states. Last year, the city and District 9 Councilmember Curren Price Jr. presented the bakery with a plaque that reads: “A Walk Down Central Avenue — A legacy of community: powered by the people and its places.”
It hangs on the wall in the bakery’s lobby along with several other photos and recognitions they’ve received over the years.
“Our goal is to keep this legacy alive and we’re celebrating 70 years of being here in business. We are so grateful to the community,” Bolden-Pickens said.
In celebration of its anniversary, a sign in the bakery says it is offering one slice of sweet potato pie for 70 cents on Saturdays starting this weekend through Oct. 31.
The bakery began as a restaurant in the 1930s on Central Avenue founded by Harry and Sadie Patterson, according to the family and Los Angeles Conservancy. Back then, Central Avenue was the epicenter of LA’s Black community and Patterson, who came from Shreveport, Louisiana, decided to bring his Southern recipes to life in Los Angeles.
The restaurant later became a bakery in 1956, according to the bakery’s website. Patterson’s daughter Alberta Cravin and her son Gregory Spann took over the bakery in 1980. After Spann passed away, Cravin’s daughters — the sisters who are current owners — took over the family business. Five other relatives also help them out, Cravin-Paschal said.
These days, the bakery is open Tuesday through Saturday each week and the bulk of their customers are other businesses. They serve nearly 300 vendors including convenience stores like 7-Eleven, Ralphs grocery stores, Smart & Final, ARCO gas stations, restaurants and other mom-and-pop stores. Louisiana Fried Chicken has been a customer since 1980, Cravin-Paschal said.
An average delivery today is usually 45 dozen pies and they also ship orders out of state, Cravin-Paschal said.
She also told The LA Local they have six full time employees and most of them have worked for the bakery at least 25 years.
“I like working here, I like the people,” Maximina “Maxi” Rodriguez, a longtime employee, told The LA Local. After 32 years at the bakery, she said she plans to retire in June. “I’m going to miss it.”
Rodriguez said working at the bakery is a family affair for her, too. Her sister, Guadalupe Garibaldi, has worked at the bakery for over 40 years and her niece, Yoselin Garibaldi, is now a cashier and driver.
For Bolden-Pickens and Cravin-Paschal, running the bakery is a labor of love. Both told The LA Local that their grandfather taught them to stay true to the fresh ingredients they use and not to cut corners.
These lessons helped Bolden-Pickens in her life before taking over the family business. She won a gold medal as part of the U.S. 4×100 meter relay team in track and field during the 1984 Olympics.
“What I learned from being an Olympian is that it takes a lot of hard work. I learned that from my grandfather,” she said.
Bolden-Pickens said it hasn’t been easy running the business, but they’ve been able to stay afloat because of the lessons learned from their grandfather.
“I remember during the pandemic, we actually had to go to the egg farm and stand in line for a couple of hours just to get the eggs that we needed,” Bolden-Pickens said. “We use the best spices. We make our own vanilla.”
Cravin-Paschal said after the death of their brother Gregory Spann, who was the main baker for nearly two decades, they struggled for a few years to keep the recipe and taste consistent. But eventually they figured it out.
“We had a little rough spot because we all know the recipes but you have to put it together (correctly),” Cravin-Paschal said. “Now we’re back to the original taste.”
Topline:
As marijuana use among teens has grown in the past decade, researchers have been trying to better understand the health risks of the drug. Now, a new longitudinal study finds that cannabis use among adolescents increases risks of being diagnosed with bipolar and psychotic disorders, as well as anxiety and depression, years later.
What was the study: Researchers analyzed health data on 460,000 teenagers in the Kaiser Permanente Health System in Northern California. The teens were followed until they were 25 years old.
What was the result: They found that the teens who reported using cannabis in the past year were at a higher risk of being diagnosed with several mental health conditions a few years later, compared to teens who didn't use cannabis.
Read on ... for more on what the study found.
As marijuana use among teens has grown in the past decade, researchers have been trying to better understand the health risks of the drug. Now, a new longitudinal study finds that cannabis use among adolescents increases risks of being diagnosed with bipolar and psychotic disorders, as well as anxiety and depression, years later.
"This is very, very, very worrying," says psychiatrist Dr. Ryan Sultan at Columbia University, a cannabis researcher who wasn't involved in the new study published in the latest JAMA Health Forum.
Researchers analyzed health data on 460,000 teenagers in the Kaiser Permanente Health System in Northern California. The teens were followed until they were 25 years old. The data included annual screenings for substance use and any mental health diagnoses from the health records. Researchers excluded the adolescents who had symptoms of mental illnesses before using cannabis.
"We looked at kids using cannabis before they had any evidence of these psychiatric conditions and then followed them to understand if they were more likely or less likely to develop them," says Dr. Lynn Silver, a pediatrician and researcher at the Public Health Institute, and an author of the new study.
They found that the teens who reported using cannabis in the past year were at a higher risk of being diagnosed with several mental health conditions a few years later, compared to teens who didn't use cannabis.
Teens who reported using cannabis had twice the risk of developing two serious mental illnesses: bipolar, which manifests as alternating episodes of depression and mania, and psychotic disorders, such as schizophrenia which involve a break with reality.
Now, only a small fraction — nearly 4,000 — of all teens in the study were diagnosed with each of these two disorders. Both bipolar and psychotic disorders are among the most serious and disabling of mental illnesses.
"Those are the scarier conditions that we worry about," says Sultan.
Silver points out these illnesses are expensive to treat and come at a high cost to society. The U.S. cannabis market is an industry with a value in the tens-of-billions — but the societal cost of schizophrenia has been calculated to be $350 billion a year.
"And if we increase the number of people who develop that condition in a way that's preventable, that can wipe out the whole value of the cannabis market," Silver says.
The new study also found that the risk for more common conditions like depression and anxiety was also higher among cannabis users.
"Depression alone went up by about a third," says Silver, "and anxiety went up by about a quarter."
But the link between cannabis use and depression and anxiety got weaker for teens who were older when they used cannabis. "Which really shows the sensitivity of the younger child's brain to the effects of cannabis," says Silver. "The brain is still developing. The effects of cannabis on the receptors in the brain seem to have a significant impact on their neurological development and the risk for these mental health disorders."
Silver hopes these findings will make teens more cautious about using the drug, which is not as safe as people perceive it to be.
"With legalization, we've had a tremendous wave of this perception of cannabis as a safe, natural product to treat your stress with," she says. "That is simply not true."
The new study is well designed and gets at "the chicken or the egg, order-of-operations question," says Sultan. There have been other past studies that have also found a link between cannabis use and mental health conditions, especially psychosis. But, those studies couldn't tell whether cannabis affected the likelihood of developing mental health symptoms or whether people with existing problems were more likely to use cannabis — perhaps to treat their symptoms.
But by excluding teens who were already showing mental health symptoms, the new study suggests a causal link between cannabis use and later mental health diagnoses. Additional research is needed to understand the link fully.
Sultan, the psychiatrist and researcher at Columbia University, says the study confirms what he's seeing in his clinic — more teens using cannabis who've developed new or worsening mental health symptoms.
"It is most common around anxiety and depression, but it's also showing up in more severe conditions like bipolar disorder and psychosis," he says.
He notes that mental health disorders are complex in origin. A host of risk factors, like genetics, environment, lifestyle and life experiences all play a role. And some young people are more at risk than others.
"When someone has a psychotic episode in the context of cannabis or a manic episode in the context of cannabis, clinicians are going to say, 'Please do not do that again because you're you're you're playing with fire,'" he says.
Because the more they use the drug, he says the more likely that their symptoms will worsen over time, making recovery harder.
"What we're worried about [is if] you sort of get stuck in psychosis, it gets harder and harder to pull the person back," says Sultan. "Psychosis and severe mood disorders, particularly bipolar disorder are like seizures in your brain. They're sort of neurotoxic to your brain, and so it seems to be associated with a more rapid deterioration of the brain."
Topline:
NASA could launch four astronauts on a mission to fly around the moon as soon as March 6th.
The backstory: The Artemis II test flight will send four astronauts on an approximately 600,000-mile trip around the moon and back. It will mark the first time that people have ventured to the moon since the final Apollo lunar mission in 1972.
What's next: There's still some pending work that remains to be done out at the launch pad, and officials will have to conduct a multi-day flight readiness review late next week to make sure that every aspect of the mission is truly ready to go.
NASA could launch four astronauts on a mission to fly around the moon as soon as March 6.
That's the launch date that the space agency is now working toward following a successful test fueling of its big, 322-foot tall moon rocket, which is standing on a launch pad at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
"This is really getting real," says Lori Glaze, acting associate administrator of NASA's exploration systems development mission directorate. "It's time to get serious and start getting excited."
But she cautioned that there's still some pending work that remains to be done out at the launch pad, and officials will have to conduct a multi-day flight readiness review late next week to make sure that every aspect of the mission is truly ready to go.
"We need to successfully navigate all of those, but assuming that happens, it puts us in a very good position to target March 6th," she says, noting that the flight readiness review will be "extensive and detailed."
The Artemis II test flight will send four astronauts on an approximately 600,000-mile trip around the moon and back. It will mark the first time that people have ventured to the moon since the final Apollo lunar mission in 1972.
When NASA workers first tested out fueling the rocket earlier this month, they encountered problems like a liquid hydrogen leak. Swapping out some seals and other work seems to have fixed these issues, according to officials who say that the latest countdown dress rehearsal went smoothly, despite glitches such as a loss of ground communications in the Launch Control Center that forced workers to temporarily use backups.
Members of the Artemis II crew — NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen — are starting their roughly two-week quarantine to limit their exposure to illnesses before their flight.
Glaze says she spoke to several of the astronauts during the recent test fueling, as they were in Florida to observe the preparations. "They're all very, very excited," she says. "They are really getting a lot of anticipation for a potential launch in March."
Copyright 2026 NPR
Topline:
An exhibition that takes visitors through the magical water worlds of the 2008 film Ponyo and the hand-drawn artistry of Studio Ghibli is now open at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures.
Why it matters: The films from the Japanese animation studio and director Hayao Miyazaki have captivated imaginations around the world for decades — this reporter with my four tattoos of favorite Studio Ghibli characters included.
Why now: This is now the second time the Miracle Mile museum has dedicated an exhibition to Miyazaki’s works, with the focus on Ponyo arriving more than four years after the retrospective of all his animated feature films.
The backstory: “These drawings have never been shown outside of Japan,” Shraddha Aryal, the museum’s executive vice president of exhibitions, told LAist. “We have an amazing conservation team who actually cell by cell took care of these, conserved these and that was what led us to say let’s do another exhibition really highlighting their artwork.”
Read on ... for more about the Ponyo exhibition.
An exhibition that takes visitors through the magical water worlds of the 2008 film Ponyo and the hand-drawn artistry of Studio Ghibli is now open at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures.
The films from the Japanese animation studio and director Hayao Miyazaki have captivated imaginations around the world for decades — this reporter with my four tattoos of favorite Studio Ghibli characters included.
This is now the second time the Miracle Mile museum has dedicated an exhibition to Miyazaki’s works, with the focus on Ponyo arriving more than four years after the retrospective of all his animated feature films.
“These drawings have never been shown outside of Japan,” Shraddha Aryal, the museum’s executive vice president of exhibitions, told LAist. “We have an amazing conservation team who actually cell by cell took care of these, conserved these and that was what led us to say let’s do another exhibition really highlighting their artwork.”
Since Studio Ghibli’s founding in 1985, the animation powerhouse has created more than 20 feature films, including My Neighbor Totoro, Kiki’s Delivery Service and most recently The Boy and the Heron, steadily gaining international acclaim.
Its Spirited Away is among the most celebrated animated movies of all time, becoming Japan’s highest-grossing film and holding that record for 19 years. It was also the first hand-drawn film to win the Oscar for Best Animated Feature in 2003.
The studio and Miyazaki would achieve the same feat again two decades later with The Boy and the Heron in 2024.
Studio Ghibli’s films are often fantastical with a lens of childlike wonder, but they also touch on difficult topics like the horrors of war, fascism, greed and environmental destruction. Characters are complex, with women and girls regularly in strong roles, such as the spear-wielding San or the brave but stubborn Kiki.
For me, there’s something about the carefully crafted storylines and colorful style that still make me feel like I’m exploring the forest with Princess Mononoke or stuck in a secret world of sorcery with Spirited Away, even as an adult.
Ponyo is one of Miyazaki’s most kid friendly films — with positive themes of courage and curiosity as the audience tags along with the adventures of the young main characters. Plus, there’s no unnerving scenes of parents being turned into pigs like in Spirited Away (if you know you know).
The 2008 film tells the story of its namesake, the magical goldfish-like creature, Ponyo, and her budding friendship with a 5-year-old human boy named Sōsuke. The film follows Ponyo’s desire to leave her underwater world and become a human to be with Sōsuke, disrupting the balance of nature and having to contend with challenges like a tsunami along the way.
The exhibit creates a 3D version of the filmic world where visitors can climb inside an interactive version of Sōsuke’s green bucket or walk on wave displays like Ponyo in the tsunami.
“Ponyo exhibition is all about this character’s perseverance, and the joyful nature and triumph through ups and downs, [being] willing to explore a new world,” Aryal said. “And it's such a beautiful love story about friendship.”
The exhibition includes rare Studio Ghibli donations on display in North America for the first time ever, such as original Miyazaki drawings and Ponyo animation cells, according to the Academy Museum. Guests can explore more than 100 items hand-picked by the studio, including an original animation desk and a make-your-own stop-motion station.
The experience is designed for all ages, reporter superfans with several tattoos of Studio Ghibli characters included.
But Jessica Niebel, the museum’s senior exhibitions curator, told LAist she hopes the Ponyo exhibition helps children feel inspired by the "beautiful messages” of the movie, especially after last year’s L.A. fires and the COVID pandemic.
“Sometimes you live through times where you have a tsunami, where you lose your magic or your mojo, you know, you're not quite sure of your identity,” she said. “[Miyazaki] gives us hope and courage that we can be free and run on the waves like Ponyo.”
“And instead of seeing things as a threat, maybe we use them to carry us,” she continued.
The exhibition is split into four sections focused on different aspects of the film.
The first dives inside Ponyo’s magical underwater home, introducing some main characters with a scene played on a screen spanning nearly the entire room.
A portrait of Ponyo’s goddess mother, Granmamare, is set up behind a few bean bag chairs in the space, giving guests the sense she’s watching the sea creatures over your shoulder.
The second section centers on Ponyo leaving her home, following her curiosity to dry land where she meets Sōsuke.
The room intentionally reflects the green and blue tones of the film, with curved designs and an interactive bucket that mirrors Miyazaki’s spirit, according to Aryal.
The walls are lined with the original Japanese release posters from Studio Ghibli’s other famed films, including Howl’s Moving Castle, Porco Rosso and The Wind Rises.
The third section takes you inside “the animators’ imaginative world,” Niebel said. The centerpiece is an original animation desk donated by Studio Ghibli and surrounded by Miyazaki’s detailed drawings for Ponyo.
Two stations are set-up on the side where guests can create their own stop motion animation scene using some of the sea creature cut-out materials sent by the studio, according to Arturo Arias, an Academy Museum educator and gallery attendant.
“It's really nice to have the sort of underwater theme happening and so people submerge — no pun intended — into it and just kind of play along,” Arias told LAist.
The final section focuses on the scene where Ponyo runs on waves instead of being swallowed by the water.
“That's a moment that's really close to my heart and I think it's sensational and only [something] Hayao Miyazaki could do,” Neibel said. “[Ponyo]'s just so joyful and so free.”
Painted waves cascade on the exhibition walls as a bright Ponyo pokes out, with behind-the-scenes clips showcased on the side.
The movie may be nearly 20-years-old, but Aryal said the hopeful messages of Ponyo are still “really relevant” in the current world and political climate.
“It kind of becomes a refuge, if I may say that, this joyful refuge,” she said. “There is an option for you, even in this sort of disruptive climate that we're living in right now, that you can come and go through this joyful immersive experience.”
The Academy Museum’s “Studio Ghibli’s PONYO” exhibition is open until Jan. 10, 2027. General admission to the museum is free for children and $25 for adults.
