In-person classes resumed at several UC campuses this week, but some students are pushing for a permanent hybrid learning option. A wildlife crossing over the 101 freeway is about to break ground just as new research shows LA’s mountain lion population is likely 12-15 years away from extinction. A slate of new SoCal restaurants will debut this year. KCRW gets a rundown of the hotly anticipated spots that serve burgers, barbeque, Japanese fare, and more.

Santa Monica bulldozed homes to build the I-10 freeway in the 1960s. Now it’s offering displaced families or their descendants affordable rent as reparations. Dangerous levels of lead exist in the soil underneath Santa Ana’s Logan barrio, a Grist investigation found. Activists blame the city for deciding to zone it as industrial nearly a century ago. The Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District hasn’t been able to meet because some residents and trustees aren’t masking up. Now they’re considering meeting online. 

LA Times columnist Patt Morrison is back with an updated version of her 2011 bestseller: “Río L.A.: Tales from the Los Angeles River.” Mark Oliver Everett, singer of the LA band Eels, talks about the lack of a warm relationship with his quantum physicist dad, and eating strawberries and popcorn for dinner.

As LA makes safety improvements during rapid neighborhood development south of the 10 freeway, locals ask why now, and who are these changes meant to benefit? LAUSD is seeing a drop in COVID numbers and rise in attendance. KCRW checks in with third grade teacher Kristie Collette and high school teacher Aviva Alvarez-Zakson.

The City of Los Angeles is seven years into an ambitious plan to end traffic-related deaths by 2025. So why are fatalities going up? Former LA Rams running back Eric Dickerson talks about the team’s prospects, his untraditional family, and why retired players deserve better health care and pensions.

Long-term care facilities have made COVID testing requirements stricter just as tests have become harder to find. Now visitors can’t get inside. LA Fire Department Deputy Chief Kristin Crowley has been tapped to become the next fire chief, which would make her the first woman to ever lead the LAFD. A proposed bill would change when OC residents vote for the Board of Education, from the primary to the general election. Critics say the change is partisan and would create the same problem it’s intended to fix.

With Omicron, many offices resemble ghost towns again, and questions emerge about the future of in-person work. It’s especially true in Culver City. “Salt in My Soul” is a documentary and book about former KCRW intern Mallory Smith, who died of cystic fibrosis at age 25. Her mom Diane is raising awareness about CF and the new medical technologies to fight it. Marty Roberts — of the beloved jazz lounge duo Marty and Elayne — passed away this week. His wife Elayne says, “The two of us were like a unit. We didn't really need anything else.”

Assembly member Ash Kalra defends AB 1400, his bill that would establish California universal health care by taxing businesses and citizens. Two very different exhibits recently opened in LA: Rodrigo Valenzuela’s “New Work for a Post-Worker’s World” at Luis de Jesus, and Katherina Olschbaur’s “Live Flesh” at Nicodim.

Cutting or eliminating greenhouse gas emissions is the aim of two new developments in Valencia and Tejon Ranch. KCRW looks at how residents are living “net zero” at Five Point Valencia. LA Sheriff Alex Villanueva circumvented LA County District Attorney George Gascón in a high-profile case last week. And Governor Gavin Newsom reversed the state parole board in another. What might that mean for criminal justice reform efforts? The primary election for Orange County’s next district attorney is in June. Candidates Todd Spitzer and Pete Hardin are already duking it out in the public square.

LA City Council expanded restrictions on street camping this week, while advocates for the unhoused called for a pause on such bans during the Omicron surge. The nationwide shortage of blood is the worst in over a decade, according to the Red Cross. This week, a SoCal trauma center closed for a few hours because of it. The LA Rams have a chance to play in Super Bowl LVI on their home turf. But they first have to beat Arizona on Monday.