As the winter season approaches, LA County might be spared from another major COVID-19 spike. That’s due to rising vaccination rates and the lasting power of booster shots, says Paula Cannon, professor of microbiology and immunology at USC’s Keck School of Medicine. 

On the first Saturday each month in Ladera Heights, a group of volunteers picks up trash along the stretch of La Cienega Boulevard by Slauson Ave. “Several residents and myself, we don't want to look at this anymore. If they're [city authorities] not going to do it, unfortunately, we're going to get out there and we're going to do it ourselves,” says Ray Craycraft, founder of the 28-month-old group.

Also, desert tortoise populations are heading toward extinction. Can they be saved?