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The federal government is reopening. But after 43 days on pause, things may not return to business as usual right away.The longest government shutdown in U.S. history is officially over after President Donald Trump signed a bill passed by Congress last night.
some impacts could continue much longer than six weeks, whether that's national parks trying to make up for lost visitor revenue or taxpayers waiting longer for refunds from a backlogged Internal Revenue Service . There's also the looming threat of another potential shutdown in the not-too-distant future, since this bill only funds the government through Jan. 30. The federal government is reopening. But after 43 days on pause, things may not return to business as usual right away. For instance, federal workers are still awaiting backpay and air travel disruptions are expected to linger. And some impacts could continue much longer than six weeks, whether that's national parks trying to make up for lost visitor revenue or taxpayers waiting longer for refunds from a backlogged Internal Revenue Service . There's also the looming threat of another potential shutdown in the not-too-distant future, since this bill only funds the government through Jan. 30.Roughly 1.4 million federal workers have gone without pay for six weeks. Roughly half of them were required to keep working without paychecks, while hundreds of thousands of others were furloughed. Russ Vought, director of the Office of Management and Budget, told agency heads to direct furloughed employees to return to work Thursday. "Agencies should take all necessary steps to ensure that offices reopen in a prompt and orderly manner" on Thursday, Vought wrote in aensuring back pay for federal workers"at the earliest date possible after the lapse in appropriations ends, regardless of scheduled pay dates." The bill that Congress passed to end the shutdown guarantees back pay. It also reverses several agencies' attempted staffing reductions during the shutdown, which werethat the timing of backpay will vary by agency based on their payroll providers, but most employees should start seeing deposits within days. "Many employees historically saw deposits within the first business days after reopening," he says of the last shutdown."A minority may roll to the next cycle if the system needs extra processing."for food assistance, has been the subject of much uncertainty — and an escalating legal battle — in recent weeks. The Trump administration said last month that it would suspend SNAP funding in November due to the shutdown, prompting a wide outcry and a series of legal challenges. While the administration initially said it would comply with two rulings requiring it to provide at least partial funding for SNAP in November, it balked — and ultimately appealed to the Supreme Court — after one of those judges said it must fund the program fully for the month. The Supreme Court paused that order brings his take on the future, AI and more to the Carpenter Center in Long Beach for an evening of laughs and community as part of the venue’s Wit & Wisdom series. And celebrate all things cider at Benny Boy Brewing’s 4th annual Applefest Fall Festival — including actually crushing the apples.There are some really special music events this weekend. Miguel is playing a set at The Broad on Saturday afternoon, and Patti Smith is rocking through her landmark albumon its 50th anniversary at Walt Disney Concert Hall. Plus, Tyler, the Creator’s sold-out Camp Flog Gnaw is happening all weekend long at Dodger Stadium.Bring a non-perishable food item and your dancing energy for a free hip-hop and R&B DJ set from Yaya Bey, who’s performing an intimate show to support Feed the Streets. Do some good to support those in our community struggling with SNAP benefit cuts and have some fun — a double win., a performance from Faith “Aya” Umoh. Umoh, who won last year’s MIT XR Grand Prize, is also a Royal Shakespeare fellow who blends her theater and dance experience with motion capture, ancestral Nigerian dance, and AI. She’ll be performing at this latest iteration of the Music Center’s Innovation Social series.More dance! CONGRESS invites the audience to participate in a salon-style environment, creating a conversation that bridges genres and builds community through movement. Eight choreographers come together at the event to “create a unique piece showcasing both L.A.'s rising stars and established creative voices.”Calling all Deadheads, flower children and tie-dye enthusiasts — and I mean all that in the best possible way. Artist, skier and filmmaker Chris Benchetler is launchingan immersive experience set to the music of the Grateful Dead. The week-long premiere event, in partnership with Arc’teryx, includes the film itself and background on how it was made.Grandmas are the best. Enter this unique experience — part museum, part culinary adventure, all heart — which takes you into the homes of several real-life and much-admired L.A. grandmas. The team behind the Netflix filmhas created a series of themed rooms curated by the women who share their stories, recipes and keepsakes in this walk-through experience. The grandmothers featured are:, a pivotal figure in advocacy for Indigenous migrant communities; and Pauline Bunt, a doting grandmother of four with Sicilian and Neapolitan Calabrian roots. The experience also includes bites from Komal chef Fatima Juarez, sharing the flavors of her native Mexico City.Take a peek inside many of the artist studios in one of the city’s most artsy neighborhoods: Venice. Learn about the beachside community’s art-centric history and visit artist spaces to learn more about the creative processes behind the work of locals like William Attaway and Alejandro Gehry, and visit local favorite spots like Sunset Avenue gallery Arcane Space.) brings his take on the future, AI and more to the Carpenter Center in Long Beach. It’s part of the venue’s Wit & Wisdom series, and promises to be an evening of laughs and community.is a group exhibition pairing works by Louis Stern Gallery artists with those of artists from a different era, encouraging the viewer to reflect on the relationship between past and present. The show includes paintings, photography and sculptures by artists like Lorser Feitelson, Helen Lundeberg, Karl Benjamin and Alfredo Ramos Martínez, as well as contemporary artists like James Little, Mark Leonard, Mokha Laget and Cecilia Z. Miguez.National Geographic Explorer and community scientist Krystle Hickman leads a conversation about one of our most precious natural resources — bees — at the Arboretum. Her work centers on native bees and the ecosystems they call home.While this is more of a listening pick than a viewing pick, I hope you’ll forgive the loose interpretation. The magic of the music of, Christopher Nolan’s 2015 epic space adventure, was a collaboration between Hans Zimmer and organist Roger Sayer, who is performing pieces from the soundtrack at the First Congregational Church. Those acoustics! Get it! The concert also includes additional space-themed pieces, like the opening theme fromCelebrate all things cider at Benny Boy Brewing’s 4th annual Applefest Fall Festival — including actually crushing the apples. Get hands-on in the harvest and help sort, crush and press apples on Benny Boy’s old-fashioned rack and cloth press to make a community cider. Nearly 500 volunteers have collectively crushed and pressed 3 tons of apples at the annual event!More fermentation is on the menu at Joimo Kombucha. Get a tour of the fermentation room, learn about the brewing process, and try free tastings of the pungent, sparkly, probiotic brew.The L.A. City Council has approved funding for a project that will teach San Fernando Valley residents how to build and run a hydroponic system to grow food indoors and outdoors.Mid Valley Family YMCA will teach residents in Mission Hills, Panorama City and North Hills about hydroponic gardening, a process whereby plants grow in water instead of soil. The program will cover skills to build your own system and best practices for planting.The nonprofit will get nearly $390,000 to run the program. The money comes from funds already set aside for L.A. REPAIR, the city’s participatory budget program, which asked Angelenos in 2023 to vote on how to spend a pot of money. The designated neighborhoods are part of the Valley’sMid Valley Family YMCA is stepping in because the original grantee dropped out recently. Another program is the works for urban farming.After living 42 years wrongfully incarcerated in the Angola State Penitentiary, Gary Tyler has spent the past decade living and working as an artist and advocate in Los Angeles. His newest exhibition now is on display at the Official Welcome Gallery through Dec. 20.Tyler was part of a group of Black students in Louisiana bussed to a formerly all-white high school under court ordered desegregation. In 1974, their bus was attacked by a white mob and a white boy was killed. Tyler was wrongfully convicted of his murder by an all-white jury.to learn about Tyler’s political awakening in Los Angeles and how and why Tyler learned to quilt in prison.After living 42 years wrongfully incarcerated in the Angola State Penitentiary, Gary Tyler has spent the past decade living and working as an artist and advocate in Los Angeles.Growing up in Louisiana, Gary Tyler experienced some culture shock when he initially moved to South Central L.A. at 12 years old. “It was like a new world I was venturing into,” Tyler said. “I learned things that I never thought was accessible 'cause it was totally different from the way the culture in the South was. It was more open and engaging.Negro History Week was the precursor to what would become Black History Month. Activist Angela Davis had been the subject of international outcry after being charged with murder and kidnapping. She said she was innocent and that she was being politically framed. She was later acquitted of all charges. “I learned about Negro History Week. I also walked around the community, knocked on doors and got petitions signed for Angela Davis.A segregationist mob changes the course of Tyler’s life After a couple of years, Tyler moved back to Louisiana, where he was part of a group of Black students bused to a formerly all-white high school under court-ordered desegregation. On Oct. 16, 1974, their bus was attacked by a white mob and a white boy was killed. Tyler was wrongfully convicted of his murder by an all-white jury.Multiple witnesses later recanted their testimonies, saying they were pressured by police. Nevertheless, at just 17, Tyler became the youngest person on death row in the country, and was sent to theTyler said he was afraid of the people he would meet in prison, but to his surprise, he found a community of older men who came together to protect him. “Little did I know, despite the appearance of these guys, these guys was caring. These guys were loving,” Tyler said. “And these guys didn't perceive me as a threat at all because I was this little kid in adult prison.” Tyler paid that care forward in different ways within the community in Angola, spending decades leading the prison theater program and volunteering with the country’s first prison hospice program, which was established in 1988 during the heigh of the AIDS crisis. It was the need to fund hospice care that led Tyler to learn quilting in order to have something to sell at the notorious Angola Prison Rodeo, an annual fundraiser where inmates risk life and limb facing off against agitated bulls before a crowd.“I felt that it was a feminine thing to do in prison,” Tyler said. “But I started thinking about my grandmother when I was this little kid. … I said, 'Wait a minute. I come from a family generation where my grandmother made quilts.' So I started having a different perspective … we’re doing something noble. We doing something that supports dying men in prison.” As Tyler’s quilts became big sellers at the rodeo and his leadership in the theater program attracted even more attention to his case, Tyler’s lawyers and national and international supporters rallied around his case. Still, it took 42 years for Tyler to be released — in 2016 at the age of 57.With the aid of some of his longtime supporters, Tyler settled in Pasadena, where he became an advocate, working with organizations like“I felt that doing something tangible through my artwork, through quilting … that would give an understanding of my life experience in prison.” 'Illuminations from a Captured Soul' is now on display at the Official Welcome Gallery in Los Angeles through December 20th, 2025.Tyler’s newest exhibition of narrative quilts includes portraits of people serving sentences in Angola, depicted not as inmates but as the characters they portrayed in his plays. Tyler says this gives the viewer an opportunity to see their humanity.“I wanted to maintain my own individuality, knowing that I was an innocent person,” he said. “And I want people to know … even if you’re guilty, there's a chance for change. Never miss out on that opportunity, no matter what.” "Illuminations from a Captured Soul" is now on display at the Official Welcome Gallery in Los Angeles through Dec. 20.
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