Kahani Malhotra

Criminal Justice

9 out of 10 UC campus police departments fail to comply with state law around protest response

State law requires public reports on crowd-control weapons. Most UC police agencies ignore it.

Light illuminate CHP officers facing protesters at night.

Civics & Democracy

Law enforcement agencies in California have to report how they use weapons during protests. Many don’t

Recent protests show major gaps in enforcement of California’s existing protest laws.

Several lines of police in helmets and other riot gear face off with protesters, many in hard hats and masks

Food

We bought, we tried, we sputtered: looking for LA's spiciest Nashville hot chicken

We tried out the highest spice levels so you don't have to.

Civics & Democracy

Dozens of SoCal car washes have been raided by ICE. Why aren't employers the focus?

Notably absent from those facing penalties during this era of stepped-up immigration enforcement are the employers themselves: LAist found just one instance since January in which an employer was penalized for hiring unauthorized workers.

The waiting room of a car wash. A glass door fills the right side of the image, which says 'pull' near the handle. On the glass facing us are two printed 'private property' signs on top of one another. The one on top reads 'STOP: This is a private space for clients and employees only.' The one on the bottom reads 'Private property: ICE, CPB, Homeland Security, & any other federal agencies cannot enter without a signed judicial warrant or expressed permission from management. The left side of the image shows the inside of a room with a vending machine and a large cooler. There's a 'coca cola' sign on the wall. In the reflection of the glass, we see the tarp of the outdoor car wash, with the street and a line of restaurants and buildings further in the background.

LA History

Marilyn Monroe, RFK, John Belushi: the LA coroner who became 'coroner to the stars'

"He was the godfather of true crime," said Anne Soon Choi, author of L.A. Coroner: Thomas Noguchi and Death in Hollywood.

A black in white cover of a book with a photo of a man in a white medical coat and the words "L.A. Coroner" in bright yellow

Housing & Homelessness

Post-fire rent gouging charges have been rare, but LA County violators could soon be fined

The district attorney’s office has not filed any charges for post-fire price gouging. Now, county leaders want the ability to issue daily fines of up to $1,000 per violation.