The most important stories for you to know today
A federal judge heard arguments today in a case to decide whether California should have to give the federal government sensitive data about its more than 23 million voters. California is one of 14 states the U.
S. Department of Justice has sued in recent months in a nearly nationwide effort to collect voter data, including sensitive information that typically is under state control and kept private.however, that the Department of Justice is considering sharing voter information with the Department of Homeland Security for criminal and immigration-related prosecutions.for more about the legal showdown and why some say it's likely to end up at the U.S. Supreme Court.A federal judge heard arguments today in a case to decide whether California should have to give the federal government sensitive data about its more than 23 million voters. California is one of 14 states the U.S. Department of Justice has sued in recent months in a nearly nationwide effort to collect voter data, including sensitive information that typically is under state control and kept private. The California case is further along than any other, so it serves as a kind of test that’s being closely watched by election officials, voting rights advocates and election integrity hawks. The U.S. Department of Justice has requested complete voter registration data from at least 40 states. Here's a closer look at the legal showdown — and why it ultimately might be decided by the U.S. Supreme Court:The U.S. Department of Justice says it needs the data to ensure “free and fair elections.” In court filings, the department says it wants to make sure states are complying with federal election law, specifically a requirement that states keep voter registration databases current, including by removing ineligible voters.California, plus allied states and voting rights groups, says state and federal privacy rules prohibit the sharing of voters’ sensitive personal data, namely driver’s license and social security numbers.Yes and no. The Social Security Administration has your data. But there are rules and protocols about sharing that data — even with other government entities. Driver’s licenses are issued by the state. A lawyer for California said in court that driver’s license information is connected to other state programs and, therefore, giving that information to the federal government would potentially give it access to a much broader range of private information. , and some critics worry this may be an effort to usurp some of that power. They say the federal government could use the data to cancel the registration of valid voters. Others say that amassing the sensitive personal data of almost the entire voting population of the U.S. could have devastating consequences if hacked. More than anything, lawyers arguing on the side of California and elections experts who spoke with LAist said they’re concerned about the fact that they don’t know what the government intends to do with the information. “They haven't really told anybody, in particular the folks who they're asking for this data, the exact purposes to which the data will be used. And that’s the problem,” said Michael Alvarez, a Caltech political science professor who specializes in elections.however, that the Department of Justice is considering sharing voter information with the Department of Homeland Security for criminal and immigration-related prosecutions.U.S. District Judge David O. Carter heard from lawyers for California, the NAACP and the League of Women Voters on why they think the case should get dismissed. Their main arguments are that the government hasn’t stated a valid purpose for wanting the data, such as to investigate a specific civil rights violation. A lawyer for the Department of Justice said the government is “clearly entitled” to the voting records. He also said California was “maybe the most worrisome state in the nation” in terms of anomalies regarding its voter registration data and that it would be"irresponsible for the government to not come in at this point to ensure free and fair elections.” The attorneys for California disputed that characterization.see the app's support page.At Sí! Mon in Venice, Chef José Olmedo Carles Rojas puts his spin on Panamanian tamal tradition with a rich, lamb neck version.Three L.A.-area chefs are reimagining tamales with high-end ingredients and global techniques, from a $27 Panamanian lamb neck version in Venice to a $21 dish with hyperlocal farm-grown ingredients in Orange County. These aren't replacements for traditional tamales — they're explorations of what happens when fine dining ambition meets this centuries-old form.Tamales are deeply rooted in tradition, often tied to family recipes and holiday gatherings. These chef-driven versions respect that heritage while proving the dish can hold its own in upscale contexts beyond the Mexican versions most Angelenos know. They're expanding the conversation about what tamales can be without abandoning what makes them special.The holiday season is tamal season in L.A., when families gather for tamaladas and local bakeries sell out daily. But this year, chefs across the region are offering versions that push beyond tradition — some available only as limited seasonal specials, others as glimpses of ambitious tasting menus to come., where my mother always orders the day after Thanksgiving, or our annual tamalada with family friends, where we churn out hundreds in slightly drunken assembly-line fashion.in Orange County to the Chinese lo mai gai found at dim sum spots across the city. My pursuit of new tamal variations is relentless, especially this time of year. So when I heard about a $27 lamb neck tamal in Venice, I had to know: could an elevated, chef-driven approach ever justify that price? Since a few other restaurants are also recreating the humble dish with a high-end approach, I decided to go and try them. What I discovered was that these aren't replacements for traditional tamales — they're explorations of what happens when fine dining ambition meets this centuries-old form.opened in 2023 in the former James Beach space, a collaboration between chef José Olmedo Carles Rojas and restaurateurs Louie and Netty Ryan, known for Venice-adjacent mainstays Hatchet Hall and Menotti's Coffee Stop. Si! Mon offers Carles Rojas' take on Panamanian fine dining, drawing on Panama's melting pot of Chinese, French, Spanish, African and Caribbean influences. For the holidays, Carles Rojas is offering a $27 lamb neck tamal — a clear departure from the Mexican versions most Angelenos know. And while the price might cause some sticker shock, it’s worth considering what goes into it and how much food there is. Wrapped in a banana leaf, the tamal uses a lighter, softer masa enriched with the lamb neck’s braising liquid. Rojas pulls the meat, tosses it with sofrito until it takes on a sauce-like consistency, then adds Indian-style quick-pickled dates for sweetness and olives for brine. Finally, the tamal is finished in Si! mon's wood-fired oven, adding subtle smokiness. My verdict? After taking that first bite, I can tell you… it’s worth the splurge. One tamal is meant to be shared between two people, which partly explains the price point . I’ve had plenty of Central American tamales over the years — Salvadoran versions with their silky masa, Nicaraguan nacatamales loaded with vegetables and pork — but Carles’ take pulls out all the stops. This is a deluxe, bells-and-whistles vision: sweet, salty, and deeply savory all at once, comforting yet unlike anything I’ve tasted before. Yes, it is a high price, but I’d say it reflects the time, technique and premium ingredients behind it. Monday through Thursday, 5 to 10 p.m., Friday through Saturday, 5 p.m. to midnight, Sunday, 5 to 9 p.m.is L.A.'s first craft molino , founded by Fátima Júarez and Conrado Rivera, former employees of Michelin-rated Holbox, who opened this masa-centric counter inside South L.A.'sI wanted to try the chuchito , a regular menu staple at KOMAL. Júarez refers to the dish as a gift — both for the unwrapping it requires and the labor of love behind it. Each one takes more than 22 hours to make, starting with nixtamalizing heirloom corn to create the masa. . The result is a fluffy steamed tamal filled with tender pork and crowned with roasted pepper and tomato sauce, pickled cabbage and vegetables, and crema. The dish honors her kitchen team, most of whom are from Guatemala, and it's KOMAL's way of putting their heritage front and center on the menu.Beyond the chuchito, Júarez is offering three special tamales as holiday pick-ups for Christmas and New Year's: a deep, complex tamal rojo filled with sweet corn and squash calabacita, a vibrant tomatillo-based tamal verde filled with chicken, and a tamal de leche made with oranges and strawberry jam, a sweet version that hints at the pre-Hispanic tasting menu they're developing. After the holidays, these tamales will transition to appearing exclusively at Komal's planned ancestral and ceremonial dinners in 2026 — making this a rare chance to try them before they become part of a more formal dining experience. Available by the half-dozen or the dozen , they can be ordered for pick-up at KOMAL on Tuesday, Dec. 23, or Tuesday, Dec. 30., works within a unique constraint: everything on his menu comes from the 28-acre regenerative organic farm surrounding the restaurant. That includes the corn he grows, dries, harvests and processes into masa for his tamales. For the winter season, Zimmer is offering two versions that reflect what's abundant on the farm right now. The shelling bean and cheese tamal features beans from one of four varieties they grow on-site — shelling beans are harvested before they're thoroughly dried, prized for their creamy texture and delicate, earthy flavor. The cooked-down beans are incorporated into the fresh masa with cheese, then topped with chili con queso made with pickled giardiniera from their summer harvest. Campesino Café’s tamal duo pairs winter squash in walnut mole with a shelling-bean-and-cheese tamal topped with chile con queso.The winter squash tamal features squash finished with a walnut mole sauce. The sweet, nutty texture, combined with the squash's sweet, earthy flavors and soft, fresh-tasting masa, creates a highly multidimensional bite. Both are wrapped in masa and steamed in corn husks, then topped with whatever's available in the larder at any given moment, such as freshly grown cilantro or pickled onion. It's a hyperlocal, intensely seasonal approach that makes each tamal a snapshot of what the farm is producing — versatile, sustainable, and entirely tied to the land it comes from.The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, or CalFire, is suing Orange County for nearly $32 million over the Airport Fire, according to recently uncovered documents.: The Airport Fire burned for 26 days, burning more than 23,000 acres across Orange and Riverside counties in 2024. As a result, 22 people were injured, and 160 structures were damaged.CalFire filed the suit in September, according to court documents. The department is looking to recover fire suppression, investigation and administrative costs related to the fire, as well as legal fees.The fire has resulted in hundreds of millions of dollars in damage claims filed against the county — $60 million of which already has been paid out. The county’s insurance covers up to $30 million, meaning remaining claim damages will beThe lawsuit also named two O.C. Public Works employees, who CalFire claims started the fire while moving rocks in Trabuco Canyon. The county “failed to take reasonable precautions necessary to prevent the starting and spreading of fire,” the lawsuit says. The County of Orange and CalFire declined to comment.Messages between public officials obtained by LAist show that all three work crew supervisors and a manager at O.C. Public Works were alerted to high fire danger Sept. 9, 2024, hours before their crew accidentally started the Airport Fire.There's how old you are, and there's how old Spotify thinks you are. That divide became clear this week with the release of Spotify Wrapped, the streaming platform's personalized year-end recap.Spotify wrapped walks listeners through their top artists, albums, genres and more in a self-reflective interactive slideshow, based on data and delivered with sass. The decade-old tradition varies slightly in its aesthetics and substance every year, and this edition seems to have caught a lot of users off guard by bluntly informing them of their"listening age."Spotify did not respond to NPR's request for comment at the time of publication. But on a webpage explaining its process, the company says listening age is based on the idea of a"reminiscence bump," which it describes as the tendency for people to feel most connected to music from their youth.That divide became clear this week with the release of Spotify Wrapped, the streaming platform's personalized year-end recap. It walks listeners through their top artists, albums, genres and more in a self-reflective interactive slideshow, based on data and delivered with sass. Thetradition varies slightly in its aesthetics and substance every year, and this edition seems to have caught a lot of users off guard by bluntly informing them of their"listening age." "Age is just a number, so don't take this personally," reads one of the slides, before proceeding to alternately humble, amuse and confuse.It's not just celebrities. Within hours of Wrapped dropping, social media was ablaze with screenshots and memes from listeners mostly either bragging or baffled about their listening age — particularly those many decades younger or older than their actual age. Jokes about" It has become the norm for people to repost their top-five lists and listening-time tallies on social media — both giving Spotify" is a way by which we're able to project our identity based upon our cultural consumption," says Marcus Collins, a professor at the University of Michigan's Ross School of Business ."It creates another identity project force, another … shock to the system for us to talk about," says Collins, who previously worked on iTunes initiatives at Apple and ran digital strategy for Beyoncé."If you're 20 and your listening age is 70, what does that say about you?"explaining its process, the company says listening age is based on the idea of a"reminiscence bump," which it describes as the tendency for people to feel most connected to music from their youth., for example, found that young adults had strong positive memories of the music that their parents — and even grandparents — loved when they were that age. "There's this idea that there are life stages … where we are receptive and open to new music, where music sort of shapes the experiences that we have, and as we get past those years, we kind of stay … in that moment in time," Collins says. Spotify says it combs through a listener's songs to identify the"five-year span of music that you engaged with more than other listeners your age." It hypothesizes that this five-year window matches a listener's"reminiscence bump," assuming they were between 16 and 21 when those songs came out. "For example, if you listen to way more music from the late 1970s than others your age, we playfully hypothesize that your 'listening' age is 63 today, the age of someone who would have been in their formative years in the late 1970s," it explains.but also helps"carve out where we sit in the timeline of our … social world." Our listening age tells us more about ourselves and gives us something new to talk about with our friends, especially if it's extreme or unexpected. "We don't talk about things that are just boring — we talk about the things that are unbelievable," Collins says."It gets our attention but also sparks this part of us that makes us want to engage."Isn't this just a ploy by Spotify to get people listening and reposting? Is it turning our shock into free publicity? Are we being — the 2025 Oxford Word of the Year —"What one may see as a productive way by which people can engage with people, one may also see it as a manipulative way of getting people to engage in consumption," he says."The truth of the matter is, it's both of them at the same time." Collins says it's a win-win situation because"the best marketing on the planet is us." Spotify is trying to get business for its platform, he says, but also helping people connect — which in turn helps it even more. Collins says that he, like most people, learns that Spotify Wrapped is live from friends posting theirs on social media, rather than TV or online advertisements. That in turn makes him want to see and share his stats,"not because I love Spotify so much but because I want to participate in the social practices of my people."For its part, Spotify says that each of its slides is"made to be accurate, fair and reflective, while still keeping a sense of mystery and magic." It's that mystery that some of us may find slightly maddening. Personally? As a fan of '70s music, I was pretty content with my listening age of 70 — until my much younger, cooler sister told me hers: 73.The Helms Bakery sign in the Helms Bakery District in Culver City. The revived bakery will close Dec. 14 after just over a year in business.— an L.A. institution resurrected in November 2024 after more than a half-century — is closing again after just over a year in business, reflecting broader challenges facing independent restaurants across Los Angeles., owner Sang Yoon cites the increasingly difficult operating environment for independent restaurants in Los Angeles, pointing to changed dining habits and economic pressures that have made it difficult to sustain the bakery in its current form. Yoon also owns Father's Office, the popular gastropub with locations in the Helms Bakery District on the Westside and Santa Monica. He closed Father's Office's Arts District location in September.The original Helms Bakery opened in Culver City in 1931 and became an L.A. icon, known for its fleet of yellow delivery trucks that brought fresh bread directly to Angelenos' doorsteps daily. The trucks became a fixture of the Southern California landscape before the bakery closed in 1969, unable to compete with rising costs and mass-produced supermarket bread.Helms Bakery will serve its last customers Dec. 14. Yoon noted in the closure announcement that the team is"looking forward to what the future holds," though no specific plans for a reopening or new location have been announced.— an L.A. institution resurrected in November 2024 after more than a half-century — is closing again after just over a year in business, reflecting broader challenges facing independent restaurants across Los Angeles., owner Sang Yoon cites the increasingly difficult operating environment for independent restaurants in Los Angeles, pointing to changed dining habits and economic pressures that have made it difficult to sustain the bakery in its current form. Yoon also owns Father's Office, the popular gastropub with locations in the Helms Bakery District on the Westside and Santa Monica. He closed Father's Office's Arts District location in September.The original Helms Bakery opened in Culver City in 1931 and became an L.A. icon, known for its fleet of yellow delivery trucks that brought fresh bread directly to Angelenos' doorsteps daily. The trucks became a fixture of the Southern California landscape before the bakery closed in 1969, unable to compete with rising costs and mass-produced supermarket bread.Helms Bakery will serve its last customers Dec. 14. Yoon noted in the closure announcement that the team is"looking forward to what the future holds," though no specific plans for a reopening or new location have been announced.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
California EV Owners Now Risk A $490 Fine Under New Driving RulesDrivers across California now face tickets after losing long-standing carpool lane privileges as the EV decal program ends
Read more »
Claude, beloved albino alligator at the California Academy of Sciences, dies at 30Claude the albino alligator, a beloved figure at the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco, has died, the museum announced.
Read more »
Trump administration says it will withhold SNAP from Democrat-led states if they don't provide dataCalifornia is among the states that could be impacted by the potential decision.
Read more »
Intra-Party Battle in California: Younger Challengers Target Incumbents in Democratic PrimariesA wave of younger challengers is emerging to contest long-tenured Democratic incumbents in California's primary elections, raising questions about the future of the party. Sacramento City Councilmember Mai Vang is challenging Rep. Doris Matsui, arguing for new ideas and a stronger connection to the community. This trend reflects broader debates about generational change and the need for fresh perspectives within the Democratic Party.
Read more »
Black Friday shooting at Valley Fair mall renews debate: Are California’s juvenile laws too lax?Youth advocates have long held that more emphasis should be placed on solving the root causes of youth and gang violence and rehabilitation rather than punishment.
Read more »
3 takeaways from CFP rankings: ACC on brink, Texas Tech nearing byeSMU’s loss to California turned the unthinkable into a reality for the ACC.
Read more »