Greater LA

Decades ago, a legendary local soccer team called Hollywood United brought together expats from Europe, including rock musicians, movie actors, and even Milli Vanilli. Rex Richardson will be Long Beach’s first Black mayor. He wants to make the city a model for addressing housing, homelessness, and public safety.

About 10% of the water shuttled through the LA Aqueduct gets lost to evaporation. To stop it, LA DWP wants to cover some of those miles of water with solar panels. Desalination of ocean water, long-considered too energy-inefficient and environmentally destructive, is increasingly finding its way into California’s water future. But is it a wave that’s going to fizzle out? The City of Laguna Beach is poised to take control of several Orange County beaches. What will this mean for beachgoers?

The holidays are a time to be thankful for friends, family, and good health. Three Angelenos share their most unforgettable tales. Tony Tetro has forged pieces by Dalí, Caravaggio, and Picasso — and sold them to dealers who didn’t care about authenticity. In their KCRW Radio Race story “Heaven by the Highway,” Angel Carreras and Nisha Venkat tell the story of a hidden hideaway.

California is spending billions revamping traditional public schools as community schools, which offer families more support. Questions about whether they improve academic results and enrollment remain. The LA Auto show runs through Sunday, and these days, it’s all about electric vehicles. But have engineers worked out all the kinks in the technology? David Levinson’s organization Big Sunday has distributed bags of food on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving for the last decade. It also organizes sing-a-longs, boat rides, and other events — year-round.

Supporting the hometown team in Major League Soccer is a no-brainer, but deciding which country to root for on the international stage can be trickier. Angelenos weigh in on the World Cup in Qatar. Activists say OC Animal Care, a shelter in Orange County, is euthanizing too many pets there and not making it easy for the public to adopt cats and dogs.

LA City Councilmember-elect Hugo Soto-Martinez credits his South LA-based upbringing, union organizing, and time studying criminology at UC Irvine for giving him a different perspective on housing and policing. Susan Straight wrote a love letter to SoCal with “Mecca,” her newest book. She tells a vivid tale of her many characters’ interwoven lives as the Santa Anas blow.

A group of 14 unhoused veterans in Los Angeles have filed a civil rights lawsuit against the VA, alleging the federal agency is depriving them of housing. LA is home to many cultures and traditions that share a common thread: bread. The Natural History Museum celebrates them in the multimedia exhibit “Kneaded: LA Bread Stories.” “My Caldera” is artist Cauleen Smith’s search for meaning in volcanoes. “Locating Perception” features the late artist Nancy Holt’s room-sized lighting fixture — the kind you’ve never seen before.

Two years after they fought for the right to live in vacant, state-owned houses in El Sereno, a group of activists are facing eviction. They hope to stay in the houses for good. Democratic State Senator Sydney Kamlager has been elected to replace LA mayoral hopeful Karen Bass in Congress. Can she find her way in a divided Washington?

The birth rate is the lowest it’s been in U.S. history. Meanwhile, climate change is a growing reason why Gen Zers and millennials are not having kids. SNAP, hosted by Deirdre O’Donoghue, premiered on KCRW in 1982 and ran through 1991. It was a weekly three-hour love letter to alternative music and independent culture both locally and around the world. For the first time in 50 years, Democrats have a chance to control the OC Board of Supervisors. But Huntington Beach — famous for its waves — just got hit by a red one.

Restaurant and coffee shop owners are aware they are often seen as gentrifiers. Some are taking steps to avoid behaviors that can accelerate displacement. California’s Three Strikes Law is still in effect. But since 2012, “non-serious” and “non-violent” felonies have stopped counting as third strikes, and thousands of people have been released. The Los Angeles Gay Freedom Band has been making music since 1978. This weekend, they’ll be performing original songs, each focused on causes important to the organization.