News

Best of LAist: Our editors' picks for top stories of 2024

LAist Staff

Published Dec 31, 2024 5:00 AM

(

LAist

)

With our free press under threat and federal funding for public media gone, your support matters more than ever. Help keep the LAist newsroom strong, become a monthly member or increase your support today.

What a year.

From an historic election to a new Los Angeles area code, LAist covered news that was meaningful to readers and listeners throughout Southern California.

But before we roll up our sleeves and turn our attention to the year ahead, let’s take a moment to reflect on some of LAist's best investigative and enterprise work of 2024.

Here are some of the editors’ picks:

Sponsor

A man dressed in a suit jacket and tie looks up while seated in front of a sign that says "County of Orange California," "Andrew Do," "District 1."

'Robin Hood in reverse.' OC Supervisor Andrew Do resigns and will plead guilty to bribery conspiracy charge

Andrew Do resigned in late October as Orange County supervisor and agreed to plead guilty to a conspiracy to steal millions of taxpayer dollars meant to feed needy seniors. The announcement by U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada came after a months-long LAist investigation led by reporter Nick Gerda and later a federal probe. Out of $9.3 million in taxpayer dollars that were supposed to feed people, only 15% went to people in need, according to Estrada.

More news

California court tosses Wonderful Company lawsuit over farmworker unionization law

The Wonderful Company sued to overturn a farmworker unionization law, but a California appeals court found the lawsuit was premature. The company contends the law is unconstitutional.
Trump administration pausing all asylum decisions after National Guard shooting

After the alleged shooter was identified as Rahmanullah Lakanwal — a 29-year-old Afghan national — Trump said he would permanently shut down immigration from impoverished countries.
'Sparkle balls' light up Fullerton neighborhood all December long

What started with 4 homes 22 years ago has now grown to over 160 homes.

Two men with light-tone skin in side-by-side photos. On left, the man has gray hair and glasses and has a "I voted" sticked on his suit. He stands in front of a large office building. At right, the man has dark hair and is at a lectern.

What should justice look like? Your vote for LA County DA is a choice between 2 visions

The 2024 race to become Los Angeles County’s next district attorney was one of the most-watched in Southern California and across the country. The incumbent, George Gascón, was known as the godfather of progressive prosecutors and was voted into office at a time when the nationwide call for criminal justice reform was particularly strong. But LAist’s Frank Stoltze reported in multiple articles — and a four-episode podcast series — that the political environment had changed significantly. Nathan Hochman, who vowed to reverse many of Gascón’s policies, was voted into office by a decisive margin.

Sponsor

Dogs hang out the window of a truck as a massive fire burns in the background.

‘We f***ing started a fire’: Orange County records document missteps by officials leading up to devastating Airport Fire

Orange County Public Works officials knew about high fire danger last September, but failed to take precautions the day a crew accidentally started the massive Airport Fire, according to messages obtained by LAist. The fire burned down more than 160 buildings and injured 22 people. Reporters Yusra Farzan, Jill Replogle and Nick Gerda explained the details.

Mifepristone is a medication typically used in combination with misoprostol to bring about a medical abortion.

California universities are required to offer students abortion pills. A lot just don't mention it

One year after California became the first state to require its public universities to provide the abortion pill to students, LAist reporters Jackie Fortiér and Adolfo Guzman-Lopez found that many campuses had failed to provide basic information to students about how or where they could get the medication. As of late January 2024, nearly half the clinics at California State University’s 23 campuses had no information about medication abortion on their clinic websites. Of University of California’s 10 campuses, eight mentioned abortion on their clinic websites at the time.

An illustration of the figure of a man being lit by the lights of a police car. The hue is purple, red, and blue.

Sponsor

Nearly a third of LAPD shootings since 2017 involved a person in a mental health crisis

The Los Angeles Police Department has said for decades it was doing more to de-escalate confrontations with people struggling with mental illness, but an analysis by LAist reporter Robert Garrova found little change in recent years. Since 2017, 31% of people shot at by police were perceived by officers to be struggling with some kind of mental illness, according to LAPD annual use-of-force reports.

A person looks through a fence at a massive structure on fire, with at least half already destroyed by the flames.

The toxic footprint of the Tustin hangar fire: We mapped 1,382 locations where debris was reported

In November 2023, a fire broke out at a World War II-era airplane hangar in Tustin, sending smoke and asbestos-laden debris into the air and spreading it for miles. In an effort led by reporter Jill Replogle, LAist examined data from the city of Tustin and mapped how far reports showed that the debris fell. Some of it was reported up to 10 miles away from the damaged hangar.

A boy in a red shirt holds a pencil in his right hand.

California is adding a new grade for all 4-year-olds. But not every district has the right space for them

Sponsor

Transitional kindergarten is the first year of a two-year program meant to prepare children for elementary school. In 2021, California embarked on a $2.7 billion plan to offer the program to all 4-year-olds by the 2025-26 school year. But Elly Yu’s reporting shows that many schools are a long way from meeting that deadline. School districts across the state are struggling to build or modify the classroom space needed for the new students.

Outreach workers, seen from the back, are walking down a street. A man and a woman on the left are wearing tops with the words LAHSA on them; the man on the right is wearing a neon green jacket. All three are wearing blue masks

Following scathing audit, LA County supervisor proposes moving homeless services under direct county control

An audit of the Los Angeles region's biggest homeless services agency was big news, and LAist reporter David Wagner wrote this piece that not only detailed the findings, but explained what they mean now and how they could affect the agency's future. Auditors found that the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, which operates with an $875-million annual budget, routinely paid service providers late, failed to track whether they followed gave taxpayer funds earmarked for other purposes to providers who weren’t supposed to receive it.

A Korean American woman in her 60s wearing a blue dress looks to the side of the camera in a hearing room. An American flag is set behind her.

As an OC supervisor, Michelle Steel awarded a $1.2M pandemic meals contract to her campaign mail printer

LAist reporters Nick Gerda and Josie Huang examined contracts each Orange County supervisor created for a pandemic meals program in 2020, and reviewed how that taxpayer money was supposed to be spent. The reporters found that the contract developed for the district represented by then-Supervisor Michelle Steel charged taxpayers the most for meals — by far. The reporters also found that Steel, who later became a U.S. representative, directed a $1.2 million taxpayer-funded contract to a marketing and printing company she was using for her congressional election campaign mailers.

Deep brown compost is held in the palm of both hands.

Your guide to following California’s 'compost' law

Two years after California law began requiring residents to keep food waste out of landfills, LAist’s Erin Stone had questions. How would the program work in the city of L.A.? What challenges were cities facing to comply with an unfunded state mandate? Will apartment complexes and other rentals be able to make it work? She found answers and laid them all out in a comprehensive guide for readers.

A blue map, showing primarily L.A. and Orange counties area with their area code boundaries outlined in white. The area codes are on specific sections showing their coverage area. For example, 818 and 747 are in the valley area. 213 and 323 are in the central L.A. area. 909 and 840 are by Pomona. 310 and 424 are by the South Bay and Catalina Island.

818 til you die? OG 213? LA, you have very strong feelings about area codes

Prompted by news that Los Angeles County would be getting yet another area code — 738 — reporter Cato Hernández wrote a fun story about how the codes have, for some Southern Californians in particular, become a marker of identity. Even as consumers transitioned from landlines to cellphones, those three little numbers have remained important for various reasons, including what they may signify about who you are and where you’re from.

A brown and white bald eagle is adjusting itself over a nest and three small eggs in a tall, snow covered tree. The nest is made up of small sticks and shrubs, surrounded by larger branches keeping it steady. Beyond the nest, in the background, is a large lake surrounded by a forest of trees.

Hope and heartbreak: Jackie and Shadow's saga is hitting humans hard

A bald eagle couple who were awaiting the hatching of eggs in Big Bear Valley captured the attention of many, including LAist reporter Makenna Sievertson. When the eggs were no longer visible in the livestream, and the Friends of Big Bear Valley Facebook page reported that one of the birds "had begun acting differently at the nest," it was clear that the happy ending many were waiting for was not to be. LAist followed the reactions of many people who watched the saga play out.

Partially shown a pizza with the outer crust containing a series of black spots from its cooking. The pizza's center contains slices of cooked sausage charred from the heat underneath a layer of fresh yellow pineapple covered in a light green salsa and diced white onions.

Yes, LA pizza is a thing, and it beats out all the other pizza in the world

Controversy? Yeah, we know controversy. That’s why Gab Chabrán didn’t shy away from asking whether Los Angeles had not only the best pizza in the county (sorry, New Yorkers) but the world! His thesis: Untethered by any specific pizza standards, chefs in L.A. get to use all the best parts of what makes a great pie. Don’t believe it? You’re free to test out that theory on your own.

A movie still of a Black woman on the phone walking down a school hallway next to another woman with a light skin tone. They are both wearing prepp plaid skirts and blazers as people walk behind them.

Think you know the origins of the ‘Valley Girl’ accent? Like OMG, as if!

Long live the Valley Girl. Where did that distinctive Southern California accent come from and is it here to stay? Reporter Cato Hernández did some digging into the origins of the moniker and the manner of speaking. Fer sure!

Hey, LA listener!

Best of LAist: Our editors' picks for top stories of 2024

Keep up with LAist.

Chip in now to fund your local journalism