Greater LA

California is on track to live with coronavirus as “endemic.” Gov. Newsom’s recently announced “SMARTER Plan” is an acronym for shots, masks, awareness, readiness, testing, education, and Rx. A new children’s book presents the late Betty White as a role model for kids. She was the first woman to host a TV talk show, and worked with animals off-camera. Join the Natural History Museum of LA County and fellow citizen scientists to document snails and slugs around your neighborhood. You could be the first to discover a species never before found in SoCal. 

Kids living in unstable housing are considered homeless by LA public schools. The data reveals that hundreds of thousands of people in LA are on the brink of being unhoused. Once a month, members of the East Side Riders club distribute food to unhoused Angelenos along their cycling route. The group has evolved since John Jones III founded it in 2008. The homelessness crisis remains a sore subject in LA — as revealed in backlash to a recent tweet by Gustavo Arellano.

Burning waste may be “greener” than dumping it in a landfill, but the process still creates a lot of air pollution. Environmental justice advocates are targeting Long Beach’s incinerator. Susy Thunder was a computer hacker in 1980s Los Angeles who never got caught. Writer and musician Claire L. Evans spent a year tracking her down during the pandemic. The Underground Museum has reopened after a pandemic-induced closure, and it’s featuring an exhibit by founder Noah Davis. The space is a community hub with a book shop, garden, and events.

Rams fans celebrated their Super Bowl LVI win at today’s parade and rally. It was the first parade for an LA sports championship since before the pandemic. High school football is less popular than basketball, soccer, and swimming in LA. Could the Rams’ Super Bowl victory inspire more kids to be running backs and wide receivers? A bus driver strike in OC was averted after final hour negotiations between the Orange County Transit Authority and the union representing drivers.

LA’s latest pop-up, The Break Up Bar, is a safe space for haters of Valentine’s Day. Patrons here can find healing together. Erik Braverman and Jonathan Cottrell talk about getting married on the pitcher’s mound at Dodger Stadium, and how it’s taking time for pro sports to accept the LGBTQ community. Flowers are in short supply worldwide due to the pandemic and supply chain issues. California florists are getting creative in case their orders can’t be filled.

LA Metro is losing bus operators faster than they can hire them. That’s led to overworked drivers, canceled routes, and service cutbacks. LA City Council wants to ban the repair or sale of bikes on city streets to prevent bike thefts and create more space. Opponents say it will criminalize unhoused people. Californians Chloe Kim, Nathan Chen, and Shaun White are all medaling at the Beijing Winter Olympics. Their success stems from their competitive drives, says one KTLA sports anchor.

Watson “Al” Allison discusses his decades on death row, and how his freedom and career path inspires others. Law professor Ellen Kreitzberg explains the bias behind the death penalty. LA’s ban on homeless camps in specific areas was supposed to be tied to offers of help. Those offers are not always coming, leaving everyone frustrated.

Actor Issa Rae admits that her hit HBO show, “Insecure,” has played a role in making neighborhoods south of the 10 freeway more popular and often more expensive. The LA Rams play in the Super Bowl this Sunday, but the team wasn’t always based here. KCRW hears the long, windy road of how they got to SoCal. 

The $5.5 billion SoFi Stadium is hosting the Feb. 13 Super Bowl, and while investment is pouring into Inglewood, some residents worry about being able to afford their community. After Cari Golden graduated from culinary school in 2020, she started cooking and distributing meals for unhoused residents of Skid Row. KCRW previews Frieze, Felix, and Spring Break Art Fairs that are returning to LA the weekend of February 17.

A bronze statue of Dana Point surfer Joyce Hoffman was recently unveiled. It’s believed to be the first life-sized statue of a female surfer in the country. The December storms weren’t enough to get Southern California out of the drought, and February has almost no rain in the forecast. The novel “Fiona and Jane” is about the 30-year friendship between two Taiwanese American women who grew up in LA.