Greater LA

Days after the school shooting in Uvalde, KCRW checks in with two LA teachers. They say they’ve come up with their own plans to protect students, but things could go awry during a real incident. The Tayo Help Desk is a virtual platform with COVID-19 resources that all Filipinos can use. People can also dial 800-899-5090 if they want to speak with someone for help.

Southern Californians are struggling with anxiety and depression as they process the aftermath of recent mass shootings and racist attacks in Texas and New York. And on a different note, an Indian pizza parlor and sports bar recently opened in Silver Lake. Pijja Palace is “full of vibe with really great food,” says Eater LA’s Mona Holmes.

Dancers at a North Hollywood strip club say owners and security guards don’t keep them safe. What do they want workplace safety to look like? The monarch butterfly population has been dwindling over the years, so the Monarch Fellowship has decided to take things into their own hands to save the species in California. Karla Benavides went from trying to save some cash as a new mom to becoming a coupon savant and going viral on TikTok. 

A new coffee shop in Long Beach brings together community, coffee, and job skills under one roof. The business aims to help house insecure families. It is challenging enough finding an affordable apartment to rent in LA. It’s even harder to find one that is both affordable and has a refrigerator. But why? The sale of Angel Stadium of Anaheim has been paused due to a federal investigation into Anaheim Mayor Harry Sidhu for public corruption.

Parents and teachers describe changed relationships with school as the 2021-2022 academic year ends. For many, the new normal was difficult after COVID-19 fractured the educational system. Actor Dennis Hopper and his wife, Brooke Hayward, became the nexus of art and film during 1960s LA. They’re the focus of a new book called “Everybody Thought We Were Crazy.”

Business is booming for a maker of the prefab homeless shelters known as tiny homes. Can a company banking on homelessness also help alleviate it? A newly installed arch over Beverly Boulevard, designed by Eliseo Silva, proudly welcomes people to Historic Filipinotown. It’s titled “Talang Gabay: Our Guiding World.” Kevin Beasley’s new art exhibition in LA features mixed media that explores the Black experience and how it shapes American history and culture.

To prevent small businesses from being priced out of Boyle Heights, a nonprofit is buying commercial property and offering tenants a share in ownership. On May 15, a gunman entered a Taiwanese church in Laguna Woods, killing one person and injuring five others. How are SoCal’s Taiwanese and mainland Chinese American communities processing what happened? In LA, more than 2500 species were identified by about 1400 observers in this year’s City Nature Challenge. The western fence lizard was the most observed species.

Landmark Theatres will close their arthouse location on Pico Boulevard after 15 years. Is this the beginning of the end of indie theaters?

Plans for a Poseidon Water desalination plant in Huntington Beach were unanimously rejected by the California Coastal Commission. What’s the future for desalination in the state

Southern Californians are taking their own approaches to the drought. One man waters his yard daily. Another has native plants and hardly ever waters. Measure W is meant to raise money to clean and capture rainwater. LA County residents voted to pass it in 2018. Is it making a difference? Jacqueline Chow, an 11-year-old student in Arcadia, is part of KCRW’s Young Creators Project. She likes to write and read about bugs. Her poetry speaks to the beauty of nature.

The next LA County supervisor from the San Fernando Valley and Westside will represent over 2 million people and control billions of dollars. But where’s the campaign? In the LA city attorney’s race, two candidates previously ran for office as Republicans, but they say they’ve been with the Democratic Party for many years now. With the June primary election ahead, KCRW gets an explainer on how mail-in ballots will work or where, and when, you can go to vote in person. High school student Salome Agbaroji is part of KCRW’s Young Creators Project. She writes and performs poetry about racism, oppression, femininity, and social change.