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No Longer Live from SXSW: We Miss It Already Edition

We ran from our very last SXSW event - the It Takes a Nation of Millions to Make this Panel panel - and straight to the airport to return to Los Angeles. Mena Suvari was on the plane and we wanted badly to chat her up but didn't; we got caught up in traffic on the 101 (no shock) because of a Sherman Oaks lockdown while the police searched for a bank robbery suspect (again, no shock) and, now, we see there is a week of rain in our future. Wait, are we sure LAist hasn't turned into Seattlest?
SXSW soldiers on, though. Yesterday we got to see Robert Plant receive his lifetime achievement award from the Recording Academy and hear him then give a lively discussion about his relationship with music, fame, Elvis Presley, and his new music (which sounds pretty spectacular). Bill Flanagan, once again, brought up "The Killer" Jerry Lee Lewis and now we can't get his songs out of our head. ITunes is going to have a field day with our wallet this weekend.
If you are still in Austin, KCRW and The Hotel Cafe are both in town now. If you've got some time, check out the Shooting Stars: The Golden Age of Hollywood Portraiture, 1925-1950 at the Ransom Center Galleries on the UT campus and, if you see our boy Mel spinning at different venues tonight, give him a pound, he won an Austin Music Award this week as the city's best DJ. We're so proud of him.
And, damnit, we miss Austin.
As Editor-in-Chief of our newsroom, I’m extremely proud of the work our top-notch journalists are doing here at LAist. We’re doing more hard-hitting watchdog journalism than ever before — powerful reporting on the economy, elections, climate and the homelessness crisis that is making a difference in your lives. At the same time, it’s never been more difficult to maintain a paywall-free, independent news source that informs, inspires, and engages everyone.
Simply put, we cannot do this essential work without your help. Federal funding for public media has been clawed back by Congress and that means LAist has lost $3.4 million in federal funding over the next two years. So we’re asking for your help. LAist has been there for you and we’re asking you to be here for us.
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After rising for years, the number of residential installations in the city of Los Angeles began to drop in 2023. The city isn’t subject to recent changes in state incentives, but other factors may be contributing to the decline.
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The L.A. City Council approved the venue change Wednesday, which organizers say will save $12 million in infrastructure costs.
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Taxes on the sale of some newer apartment buildings would be lowered under a plan by Sacramento lawmakers to partially rein in city Measure ULA.
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The union representing the restaurant's workers announced Tuesday that The Pantry will welcome back patrons after suddenly shutting down six months ago.
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If approved, the more than 62-acre project would include 50 housing lots and a marina less than a mile from Jackie and Shadow's famous nest overlooking the lake.
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The U.S. Supreme Court lifted limits on immigration sweeps in Southern California, overturning a lower court ruling that prohibited agents from stopping people based on their appearance.