How To LA: Covering The Climate Emergency (And Other Headlines)

It’s Climate Wednesday here at LAist. Today, we’ll be featuring some stories about the climate emergency from our climate reporter, Erin Stone.

Here's your guide to the climate emergency

More rain headed our way? The answer is yes, we’re likely in for another wet year — possibly an even wetter winter than last year due to the El Niño climate pattern. Here’s what the state is currently doing to prepare.

We're in a climate emergency caused by human actions meant to fuel society, such as burning coal, oil and gas. How much worse it gets remains to be seen, but there's hope — and a lot we can do. Here’s all of our coverage and what you need to know.

And with changes in our climate comes uncertainty coupled with headlines of climate disasters around the world, as well as escalating effects in our own backyard here in Southern California, where there’s a growing movement to address the intertwined crises of mental health and the climate emergency.

A reminder: NPR is dedicating an entire week to covering solutions to the climate crisis.

A must-listen: L.A. is the epicenter of fast fashion in the US, but there's a lot of people here working to make the industry more sustainable. This How To LA episode talks about what sustainable fashion is, who is doing it and what it means for the downtown garment district. Listen to the episode here.

There’s more news below — just keep reading. 

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• Democrats and a faction of far-right Republicans  have voted to remove Kevin McCarthy (R-Bakersfield) as speaker of the House, marking the first time in history that someone in his position has been ousted by a vote of the chamber.
• Consider yourself warned. The federal government will conduct a nationwide test of the emergency alert system this afternoon. The test messages will be sent to all cell phones, televisions and radios. The test will emit sound and — on phones — vibration.
• Metro is offering free rides all day to celebrate Clean Air Day. The nonprofit organization Coalition for Clean Air declared Oct. 4 as Clean Air Day in California to improve the state’s air quality.
• L.A. Mayor Karen Bass is bringing on someone new to be her top advisor on homelessness. Lourdes Castro Ramirez, who oversees much of the state’s homelessness and housing spending, will start as Bass’ chief of housing and homelessness on Nov. 6.
• A section of Wilshire Boulevard adjacent to the Saudi consulate was renamed "Jamal Khashoggi Square” in honor of the slain Washington Post columnist and Saudi journalist. Khashoggi was killed five years ago on the orders of Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, according to a U.S. intelligence report.
• From the archives: Is it a river? A sewer? A flood control channel? A place to film awesome drag racing scenes? Here’s the L.A. River explained.

Wait... one more thing

La Golondrina Cafe Faces Eviction

The exterior of La Golondrina Cafe in Olvera Street.

(

David Gomez

)

The owners of the famed La Golondrina Cafe on Olvera Street have 30 days to pay almost $300,000 in unpaid rent and maintenance fees or face eviction.

For 90 years, La Golondrina was a Los Angeles institution where patrons enjoyed fresh flour tortillas, margaritas and creamy flan while a mariachi band performed.

David Gomez and his mother Bertha Gomez bought the restaurant from original owners, the Bonzo family, in 2022 and hit some roadblocks that caused the restaurant to remain closed — including plumbing repairs in the city-owned building and a lawsuit. Read more here.