On this Christmas Eve, we look back at some of the year’s best stories: a monthly ceremony welcoming former lifers back into their communities; an underground cannabis market; a town where a golden retriever is the mayor.

Several experts, tastemakers and trendsetters at KCRW bring you arts and culture stories all year. They’ve come up with their top everything of 2019, including restaurants, books, movies, documentaries, TV shows, music, and even architecture.

Every day, customs officers at airports nationwide pore over documents of thousands of travelers flying into the country. They decide who gets in and who doesn't. We follow a customs officer doing this work at LAX, and talk to a traveler who’s been denied entry and is being sent back to Venezuela.

LA will host the 2028 Olympics, but activists here are against the idea, believing that preparations for the games will displace low-income communities. They’re networking with activists abroad who feel the same. 

A judge ruled that Orange County cannot arrest people for sleeping in public spaces if there are no alternatives. So the county has been creating shelters out of bus stations, motels and warehouses. But reports of conditions in them are not good.

“The L Word” is back after 10 years off air. Lots of young queer women saw themselves for the first time in the show’s characters. The show is also famous for helping queer people discover their own sexual or gender identities, and come out of the closet.

A new genre of art is growing in LA: “immersive interactive experiences.” Board games and video games are immersive, so are virtual and augmented reality, escape rooms, haunted houses, and theme parks. “Safehouse ‘82” is an immersive theater show. The common denominator: the experience requires your active participation. 

The deadline to apply to the University of California was Thanksgiving weekend. Many private college applications are due in early January. We hear from LA high school seniors about the stress and anxiety they’re facing during the admissions process.

XOTX Tropico Nursery, founded in 1988, is a haven for endangered plant life. But now it’s endangered itself. The owner is required to vacate the nursery by December 30.

Los Angeles County held a memorial ceremony this week honoring the lives of 1,457 people who died in 2016, but whose remains were not claimed by loved ones.