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Rebel Wilson talks about her new memoir, an Ed Ruscha retrospective comes to LACMA, a tasting event downtown, and more.is spinning at Grandmaster Records, in what’s billed as a"deep dive listening session.
". Well, only a partial eclipse here in Los Angeles, but it still makes for a wacky week. LAist Science Reporterreports from the eclipse"centerline" in Waco, TX — part of a family tradition: My father manufactures eclipse glasses and we've been traveling around the world to see eclipses my entire life. This one's a big deal because it's the last American solar eclipse we'll likely see as a family as the next one is in 2044., and then there are still plenty of non-celestial events to check out. The Aussies are taking over L.A., from a chat with Rebel Wilson about her new memoir that’s stirring up a lot ofto a talk with Australian chefs, to a Tame Impala listening session. Plus, the much-anticipated Ed Ruscha retrospective comes to LACMA andArtist Ed Ruscha attends the Ed Ruscha Paintings Opening Reception at Galleria Gagosian on November 20, 2014 in Rome, Italy.Ed Ruscha’s paintings are synonymous with the Los Angeles landscape — the big pop art lettering, the large-scale images of gas stations, apartment buildings, and even the Hollywood sign. The first retrospective of his work in 20 years takes up all of LACMA’s second-floor gallery space and features both large-scale paintings as well as photographs and written documentation. Highlights are, of course, the, Ruscha’s photography series of Sunset Boulevard, and his huge 1965-68 work,, is certainly causing a stir in the entertainment world this week. The brassy Australian doesn’t hold back in her new book, talking about everything from losing her virginity at 35 to stories from theAmerican Idol back in Season 6, but he’s consistently released solid albums in the years since and continued his unique brand of pop. Lewis comes to The Hotel Cafe this week for an intimate show supporting his latest album,Historic Hollywood recording studio Grandmaster Records is the perfect place to immerse yourself in a favorite album and that’s just what The Record Club has planned. Australian band Tame Impala’s 2012 recordis what’s spinning, in what’s billed as a"deep dive listening session" followed by DJ sets and drinks.Chefs Jo Barett and Josh Niland visit from down under for a conversation with L.A. Times food editor Laurie Ochoa. Barrett’s restaurants focus on sustainability; Niland has done groundbreaking work on ethical fishing and fish storage. Now Serving is such a special store – beautifully curated food books and cookbooks, fun apparel, and a great speaker series. Don’t miss a chance to check it out.while supporting Sexual Assault Awareness Month. The show and the event put a focus on survivors’ stories and the power of the arts to heal. The musical by Lindsay Bartlette Allen and Rachel Page is based on true events and follows the stories of two women who survive sexual assault and rape. The evening is put on byA moving meditation at the Arboretum, what could be more relaxing? Join the L.A. County Arboretum this Thursday and every Thursday for a 90-minute Tai Chi practice under the covered walkway. The ancient martial art can improve balance, lessen anxiety, and build strength.Get a peek at the food and event vendors making the Music Center their home and explore the space for free. Visitors will be able to sample food from The Music Center’s onsite restaurants, including Chef Ray Garcia’s asterid, and an exclusive catering menu.With lines around the block at all hours at their Venice location, Italian sandwich hotspot All’Antico Vinaio is expanding to Koreatown – just a block from the Purple line Metro station – this week. Favorites from the Florence, Italy mini chain include anything with pistachio creme and the simple but delicious caprese on their signature bread.Does ordering wine intimidate you? Fear no more. Neighborhood Winery is hosting a series of April nights to give you the cheat codes to impress your date, your palate, and your sommelier.It's time to spring clean our apartments and houses. LAist has you covered with tips from some pros and a few resourceful Angelenos who responded to us on social media.like dust mites, pet dander and mold. And with all the rain we’ve had, blooms are in full force with Santa Ana winds and spring breezes likely blowing pollen through your window.Spring cleaning can help you feel better physically, emotionally and mentally. It's a good thing to give our living spaces a big, deep clean once or twice a year. But can be overwhelming. You have to figure out where to start, how it can fit in your busy schedule and what supplies to get. For Atwater Village resident Laura Cowan, deep cleaning her home this spring means more than just decluttering and dusting off hard-to-reach spaces. It’s a fresh mind shift. “I get sad in the wintertime,” Cowan said. “I think instead of the new year, is more about renewing your commitment to yourself, your life and what you want to be.” It’ll also be a time of deep reflection for her. She lost both of her parents and her father-in-law within the first few years of getting married and buying a house with her husband. Her house has become a storage area, full of random items they’ve inherited or kept from their past lives.“I do a deep cleaning of my own feelings and emotions this time of year too,” Cowan said. “Sometimes in life, you're pushing things down the road. I just want to clear everything out, physically, mentally, emotionally.”Cowan is one of several Americans who will embark on decluttering, dusting and disinfecting their living spaces this spring. According to the American Cleaning Institute study,like dust mites, pet dander and mold. And with all the rain we’ve had, blooms are in full force with Santa Ana winds and spring breezes likely blowing pollen through your window. But where to start? We all know it's a good thing to give our living spaces a big, deep clean once or twice a year. But it can be overwhelming. Where to begin? How to fit it in a busy schedule? What supplies to get? We’ve got you covered with tips from some pros and a few resourceful Angelenos who responded to our social media post on X, formerly known as Twitter.franchise in L.A. and they say they see an uptick in clients during this time of year because. As the days get warmer, people open their doors more, invite people over, and want to have a clean home.They recommend starting with a smaller room like a home office or a den, rather than the kitchen or the bathroom so that you can feel accomplished at the end of the day. “Do it section by section,” Nancy Mehtar said. “Don’t try to tackle it all in one Saturday where you’re going to get your day completely destroyed by cleaning.”Whether it's dirt, pollen or pet hair, dust and particles accumulate everywhere. “There is something about the combination of a microfiber towel and a little bit of water. Water on a microfiber towel that traps the dust,” Nancy Mehtar said. If it’s been a long time, she recommends using a combination dish soap, vinegar and water to get rid of more stubborn dust. “You want to try to eliminate the dust so that it doesn't go up in the air and come back down,” she added. “The microfiber towel is more of a trapper than anything else.”Cowan said her husband has respiratory issues which has caused them to stop using almost all chemical cleaners. Some products“Baking soda, vinegar, hot water, biodegradable, just everyday soap all do about 99% of what you want and need,” Cowan said. “Tea tree oil with a little alcohol in a spray bottle makes it a nice alternative.”South L.A. resident Teja Smith said spring cleaning gives her a peace of mind, especially as a busy millennial with a social media agency. Her first target is her closet. “Spring cleaning to me is getting things out of your main areas and putting things in storage, which is a great way to bring back wardrobes and get yourself excited about certain items back in your house,” Smith said.“It’s really just a non-tedious process of realizing what I've worn in the last six months and realizing what I either need to wear or move,” Smith said. “If it still doesn't get used … then it goes.”Cowan said she struggles with setting high expectations for herself, but the process of spring cleaning can be reassuring when you are overwhelmed with life. There is also a lot of emotion that goes along with “letting go” of things that may have sentimental value or bring up memories. She said it’s important to ask yourself questions like: Is this particular item serving me? And is this helping me get to where I want to go?“If you're doing this for the first time in a long time, it can be intimidating and scary,” Cowan said. “Something is better than nothing. Only you know what it was supposed to look like. Just do it because it makes you feel good.”Here’s one last thing that might seem overwhelming, but doesn’t need to be. At the end of all your clearing out, you might have a pile of things — clothes, sports equipment, homewares — that you might think is too good to throw out. Or maybe you just want to avoid adding too much more to our brimming landfills. Regardless of motivation, here’s some options to consider for passing on all that excess stuff without tossing in the trash: donate, consign, recycle.There is always the Goodwill or the Salvation Army, which will take gently used items for donation almost any day of the week. But there’s plenty of other spots to consider as well.San Fernando Rescue Mission Alliance provides shelter to families experiencing homeless and recovery services to men experiencing homelessness and living with substance abuse issues, as well as job counseling supportIf you have an unworn or barely used dress in that closet of yours and would like to make a little money back on that purchase, consider a consignment shop, which will offer to sell it for you for a piece of the profit.in West L.A. accepts clothes, accessories and housewares that are in good shape based on a seasonal basis and other demands in Silver Lake is a little more high end but if you’ve got that Gucci belt collecting dust in your armoire, see if you can resell itspecializes in designer purses and will buy, trade or consign that Louis Vuitton you just don’t use anymore If you’re conscious about the environment and want to find a way to get rid of things that may not be in decent enough shape to donate or consign, you could check out. You need to get a membership but, for a fee, it will pick up your old threads — as well as other items — each month. You put your recyclables in a bag, and the workers get the bag right at your front door.program at Suay in L.A. where you can buy a $20 recycling bag in exchange for $20 in store credit. Fill up the bag with unwanted clothes and fabrics and drop it in their bin.shows U.S. landfills emit methane at levels at least 40% higher than previously reported to the Environmental Protection Agency. At more than half of the hundreds of garbage dumps surveyed — in the largest assessment yet of such emissions — most of the pollution flowed from leaks, creating concentrated plumes.Methane warms the planet and isn't great for our health. Tackling these hotspots could be a huge stride toward lowering emission rates, but blindspots in current monitoring protocols mean they often evade detection.A landfill is a place of perpetual motion, where mountains of garbage rise in days and crews race to contain the influx of ever more trash. Amid the commotion, an invisible gas often escapes unnoticed, warming the planet and harming our health: Grist is a nonprofit, independent media organization dedicated to telling stories of climate solutions and a just future.that shows U.S. landfills emit methane at levels at least 40% higher than previously reported to the Environmental Protection Agency. At more than half of the hundreds of garbage dumps surveyed — in the largest assessment yet of such emissions — most of the pollution flowed from leaks, creating concentrated plumes. The researchers found these super-emitting points can persist for months or even years, and account for almost 90 percent of all measured methane from the landfills. Tackling these hotspots could be a huge stride toward lowering emission rates, but blindspots in current monitoring protocols mean they often evade detection. “It’s a very hard problem to get totally right without any leaks at any place,” said Daniel Cusworth, an atmospheric chemist and project scientist for Carbon Mapper, a nonprofit that provides data to inform greenhouse gas reduction efforts. Sometimes Cusworth conducts aerial surveys of landfills and is relieved to find nothing. “And then other times, you know, I’ll see a massive billowing plume that’s three kilometers long.”, and it often seeps through the soil and plastic covers meant to contain it. Although federal regulations require large facilities to use gas capture systems, landfills remain theLeaks that exceed the Clean Air Act’s limit of 500 parts per million are common, as shown by the hotspots Carbon Mapper identified. These areas typically appear after unanticipated events, such as cracks in landfill covers, valve failure in the vast gas collection systems, and other maintenance or construction issues. “They really dominated the total emissions for the landfill,” Cusworth said. The survey found that average release from the most surveyed sites was at least 1.4 times, and sometimes as much as 2.7 times, larger than those reported to the EPA’s Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program. Although federal guidelines require these facilities to track emissions and provide that data to the EPA, current reporting and monitoring methods just aren’t up to snuff, according to the study. Most operators report an estimate, using EPA guidelines, calculated from the amount of trash they take in, not from measured data. Regulators also require facilities to perform walking ground surveys four times a year, but experts like Cusworth say these efforts aren’t frequent or precise enough. Hotspots can easily escape notice because many areas are too dangerous or inaccessible to walk on, and monitoring sensors react only to high concentrations on the ground and wouldn’t catch dispersed plumes. “You can’t manage what you can’t measure,” said Cusworth, adding that it’s a popular cliche in the air monitoring business. In the survey, the Carbon Mapper researchers flew over landfills with airplanes that captured infrared images, revealing the plumes. Similar remote sensing methods, such as drones and satellites, are amongthat could keep the pollutant in check, helping facilities find and address leaks quickly. Other innovations to methane capturing systems, such as self-calibrating caps on valves and sensors that can detect leaks, further reduce the risk of failures. “In the waste sector, specifically, we know what technologies to implement – we’ve known for a number of years. They’re feasible, readily available, and a number of them are actually quite cost effective,” said Kait Siegel, waste sector manager on the methane pollution team at Clean Air Task Force. “We need to have regulations in place.” This upcoming August, the EPA is expected to update its landfill management policies as part of a required 8-year review cycle. Tom Frankiewicz, a waste sector methane scientist at RMI, which collaborated with Carbon Mapper on the study, said addressing outsized methane sources, like landfills, is urgent due to the short lifespan and extreme potency of the gas, compared to the longer-lasting carbon dioxide. The world won’t see the climate benefits of reducing CO2 emissions for a century, he said. That time frame drops to a decade when curbing methane. “We have to be working on both, and leaning in on methane becauseGrist is a nonprofit, independent media organization dedicated to telling stories of climate solutions and a just future. Learn more at Fires. Mudslides. Heat waves. What questions do you need answered as you prepare for the effects of the climate emergency?Employees of SunEdison install photovoltaic solar panels on the roof of a Kohl's Department Store in Hillsborough, New Jersey.Across the nation, strip malls, schools, factories, and other big, nonresidential buildings bask in the sun — a powerful, and too often wasted, source of electricity that could serve the neighborhoods that surround them. Installing solar panels on these vast rooftops could provide one-fifth of the power that disadvantaged communities need, bringing renewable energy to people who can least afford it,Research found that marginalized neighborhoods generate almost 40% less electricity than wealthy ones. This imbalance, often called the solar equity gap, is even more prevalent in the number of home installations.Across the nation, strip malls, schools, factories, and other big, nonresidential buildings bask in the sun — a powerful, and too often wasted, source of electricity that could serve the neighborhoods that surround them. Grist is a nonprofit, independent media organization dedicated to telling stories of climate solutions and a just future. Installing solar panels on these vast rooftops could provide one-fifth of the power that disadvantaged communities need, bringing renewable energy to people who can least afford it,by Stanford University. Although such power-sharing arrangements do exist, the research found that marginalized neighborhoods generate almost 40% less electricity than wealthy ones. “We were astonished to see there is still such a large difference,” said Moritz Wussow, a data and climate scientist and the study’s lead author. This imbalance, often called the solar equity gap, is even more prevalent in the number of home installations. Placing solar arrays atop large commercial buildings could bring renewable energy to renters, while also helping homeowners who can’t afford the technology’s high upfront cost.by Wussow’s collaborators found that affluent households are more likely to benefit from tax credits and rebates designed to make solar more affordable.to create fairer access to clean energy, the study shows that harnessing commercial rooftops could be an effective way to reach two-thirds of the nation’s disadvantaged communities and begin to close that gap. “The renewable energy transition is one of the big pillars of where the government is seeking to spend money,” said Wussow. “Our research is supposed to contribute to narrowing the equity gap, and to provide an idea of how this can be accomplished.”, Stanford’s AI-powered database of satellite imagery, the study tallied the number of photovoltaic panels on large rooftops, at least 1,000 square feet in size, across the U.S. To help its research more readily inform policy, it examined the prevalence of these arrays in census tracts defined as disadvantaged by the federaland have a second environmental burden, such as pollution, make up roughly a third of census tracts. The researchers then calculated the cost of generating solar on nonresidential buildings in those areas and found that even in states like Alaska, where the sun all but vanishes for two months each year, the costs per kilowatt would still be cheaper than the local utility rate. If businesses generate their own energy and share it, the results show residents of the surrounding neighborhoods can cash in savings and meet at least 20% of their annual power needs.. “I like to think of it as a model, a billing mechanism, where people, regardless of whether they own or rent, can participate in the solar energy transition,” said Matthew Popkin, a U.S. programs manager at RMI, a nonprofit dedicated to sustainability research. Most community solar systems rely on subscriptions, where homes connected to a local solar array pay for a share of the energy. Such programs are helping neighborhoods in cities from “There is no one-size-fits-all approach, there is no model that will nail it for every single community, or a whole city,” Popkin said. “More creativity is probably going to help expand this further.” Boston, a city short on open space but with plenty of rooftops, can expect to see community solar on commercial buildings expanding soon. The Boston Community Solar Cooperative,this March, will begin its mission to bring clean energy to disadvantaged households with an 81-kilowatt solar array on top of a grocery store in Dorchester, one of the city’s lowest income neighborhoods. Gregory King, president of the cooperative, said the project is only possible because of solar tax credits provided by the Inflation Reduction Act. “The idea behind the model is really to create community empowerment,” he says. “And we have to create more and more, particularly rooftop solar, in an urban environment like Boston.”, experts like Popkin say these new resources could shape the next wave of community solar. “The biggest unknown we have right now is what some of those exact funding structures are going to look like,” he said, but inclusive planning will be key. As communities across the U.S. race to seize clean energy benefits, incentivizing businesses to go solar and share the bounty could give everyone a brighter future. Grist is a nonprofit, independent media organization dedicated to telling stories of climate solutions and a just future. Learn more at Fires. Mudslides. Heat waves. What questions do you need answered as you prepare for the effects of the climate emergency?Delivery trucks, school buses, and other short-haul vehicles will electrify much faster than big rigs, easing air pollution in urban neighborhoods.The Environmental Protection Agency has in recent months raced to roll them out, in the form of key regulations that penalize carbon emissions from power plants, oil wells, and, under an effort to finalize new rules before the election. The administration on Friday finalized the last of those rules, a set of strict standards for carbon emissions from This regulation has been among the most controversial Biden climate rules, in large part because it pushes up against the limits of available technology: Freight companies and trucking industry advocates have argued that the rule could force them to abandon diesel engines before electric drivetrains are ready to replace them in long-haul tractor-trailers. The EPAfrom an earlier version in response to those concerns, delaying the mandate for the largest trucks by a few years.In the 20 months since Congress passed the Inflation Reduction Act, which offered billions in subsidies for clean energy projects and electric vehicles, President Joe Biden has sought to supplement those climate carrots with a few key sticks. The Environmental Protection Agency has in recent months raced to roll them out, in the form of key regulations that penalize carbon emissions from power plants, oil wells, andGrist is a nonprofit, independent media organization dedicated to telling stories of climate solutions and a just future.. This regulation has been among the most controversial Biden climate rules, in large part because it pushes up against the limits of available technology: Freight companies and trucking industry advocates have argued that the rule could force them to abandon diesel engines before electric drivetrains are ready to replace them in long-haul tractor-trailers. The EPAfrom an earlier version in response to those concerns, delaying the mandate for the largest trucks by a few years. But the rule goes beyond long-haul trucking. It also applies to a wide range of other heavy-duty vehicles, including garbage trucks, box trucks, cement mixers, and school buses. These vehicles spew toxic air pollution just like 18-wheelers, but they travel far fewer miles and carry lighter loads, making them easier to replace with electric models. “When you look at the share of vehicles, even in the tractor-trailer space, a huge chunk of those don’t travel more than 250 miles per day,” said Dave Cooke, a vehicles analyst at the Union of Concerned Scientists, a climate advocacy organization. “There is a significant chunk of the sector that could be electrified now, because a large portion of it has these really distinct routes.” The rule will apply tohas centered on what EV drivers often call range anxiety: Tractor-trailers have to haul heavy loads down interstate highways for hours at a time, and many existing batteriesdiesel engines over such long ranges. Furthermore, the few electric tractor-trailers on the market right now are several times more expensive than conventional models, and there are few places to charge them. The Biden administration has sought to remedy this infrastructure gap with a “But a large percentage of trucks and heavy-duty vehicles don’t make long trips and so don’t need to worry so much about range. Garbage trucks, city buses, and delivery vehicles, for example, travel just a few hundred miles each day at most, within the range of current battery technology, and they return to a depot or warehouse where they can charge overnight. Even the Clean Freight Coalition, which represents freight companies and truck dealers, has found that most of these vehicles could go electric using available technology. Afound that electric models on the market right now could handle 93 percent of medium-duty trucking routes, with only the longest 7 percent requiring more juice than current batteries can offer. That’s compared to just half of all tractor-trailer routes, according to the report. The electric transition among short-haul vehicles is already happening in many parts of the country. The Biden administration has doled out billions of dollars to cities like Baltimore to roll outThe nation’s most ambitious effort is afoot in California, which has been seeking federal permission to impose even stricter truck emissions standards than the EPA. It has been making an, otherwise known as drayage. Trucks unloading freight from the nation’s two biggest ports, in Los Angeles and Long Beach, California, make thousands of trips through residential neighborhoods, and the state is pushing companies to go electric and improve air quality in those areas.sets a faster timeline for things like delivery vans and utility trucks than it does for tractor-trailers. The standards for those smaller vehicles start in the 2027 model year, but standards for “sleeper cab” long-haul rigs don’t take effect until 2030, a change that represents a big concession to concerns from the trucking industry. “We thank for addressing industry concern about the challenges of the early years of the rule, and we remain committed to upholding the spirit of this regulation,” Sean Waters, an executive at the major trucking company Daimler, said in a statement following the rule’s announcement., the truck rule is “technology neutral,” meaning it doesn’t mandate an electric transition. Instead it sets goals for the carbon emissions of a truck manufacturer’s entire fleet, giving them the option to increase the fuel efficiency of their diesel engines or offer hybrid or electric models. The agency laid out a hypothetical scenario showing how a company could reach compliance in model year 2032 by rolling out a line of hybrid delivery vans and school buses. Two-thirds of its tractor-trailers would still run on diesel, with a smaller number of hydrogen fuel cell trucks thrown into the mix as well. Cooke says the agency could have pushed companies harder to switch to zero-emission vehicles given that the technology for electrified short-haul trucks already exists. “This rule doesn’t put that guarantee in place, that we’re going to see zero-emission trucks in communities on the ground that are dealing with the trucking sector,” he said, adding that he had hoped for a “stronger signal” to companies and utilities to invest in electric trucks and transmission infrastructure to charge them. Even so, the rule will still lead to significant air quality improvements, says Laura Kate Bender, who leads healthy air advocacy at the American Lung Association. That will be true even for cities without major trucking routes or large ports, she said: Large local vehicles like buses and garbage trucks are some of the most polluting on the average city street, and a strong push to replace them with electric models will ease the burden on frontline communities. “There’s a lot of different types of trucks, beyond the big long-haul trucks that we think of on the highway, that are actually in folks’ neighborhoods,” said Bender. “We’re excited to see the cleanup that this leads to.” Grist is a nonprofit, independent media organization dedicated to telling stories of climate solutions and a just future. Learn more at Fires. Mudslides. Heat waves. What questions do you need answered as you prepare for the effects of the climate emergency?Los Angeles sunrise view of Porter Ranch and the 118 freeway in the San Fernando Valley. The San Gabriel Mountains, Burbank and North Hollywood, California are in the background.Angelenos can expect clear skies for Monday’s solar eclipse, according to the National Weather Service. Folks near the coast will have a low morning marine layer, but the clouds should burn off in time for the eclipse’s 10 a.m. viewing.Weather should permit a good viewing for those looking to catch a glimpse of the solar eclipse. Although scattered high clouds are expected throughout the day, they should not obscure anyone attempting to experience this once in a lifetime event.Due to last week's winter temperatures and rains, many were worried about Monday’s possible cloudy skies. The mountain and desert areas should expect even clearer skies.Despite last week’s winter temperatures and rain, Monday’s forecast in the L.A. region is expected to be mostly clear, especially for those in the mountains and desert areas, according to the National Weather Service. “Overall, it's looking like it's going to be a generally good viewing session for the solar eclipse,” said Mark Moede, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service in San Diego. Temperatures will remain cool Monday morning and quickly rise as the sun comes up, as is typical for Spring. For coastal areas, Moede said to expect possible low marine layer clouds in the morning and around sunrise for the inland valleys. “Those are anticipated to dissipate through the morning and essentially be mostly gone for the viewing session between, say, 10 a.m. or 11 a.m.” There will be scattered high clouds throughout the day, but they shouldn’t impair any Angelenos’ view of the eclipse. According to Moede, the L.A. Basin and Orange County areas should see highs between 70 and 75 degrees, with coastal areas ranging more in the mid to high 60s on Monday. Folks in places to experience a total eclipse, like Texas and New England, will feel a drop in temperature as the sun disappears for a few minutes, said Moede. Here, in Los Angeles, changes to temperature during the eclipse will be more subdued, if noticeable at all.A new exhibit of photographs document Long Beach Chicano Movement activists in the 1970s and the work of the community center they ran.L.A. and East L.A. get most of the mentions in conversations about the SoCal Chicano Movement in the 1970s, but Chicanos in Long Beach made sizable contributions.Activists founded the community center, Centro de la Raza in an East Long Beach storefront and expanded in the following years to offer meals, self defense, housing assistance, and other services.A speech in Long Beach by Cesar Chavez, the summer school program and artists at work such as current CSUN professor, Yreina Cervantez.The photos are part of a 3,500 image archive by photographer John Taboada, who died last year. Taboada was a Long Beach activist at Centro de la Raza. As he was dying of cancer, artist and photographer John Taboada thought of the stories contained in his half century-long photographic archive. “Before he passed was able to scan all of the photographs from his life's work and basically save them digitally,” said Brian Chavez, project specialist with the Historical Society of Long Beach.Taboada died last year of cancer. He was not well known outside of the 1970s artists and activists he photographed. Taboada’s friends and family told the historical society that his archives weave together a story about Long Beach that has yet been told: A community center called Centro de la Raza in East Long Beach that Chicano activists founded and operated for nearly two decades to carry out the goals of self-determination that were central to the Chicano civil rights movement.Taboada and others affiliated with the Centro attended or had graduated from Cal State Long Beach. Like Taboada, who grew up in Palm Springs, many of them came to Long Beach from other communities for college.The Chicano student organization at CSU Long Beach was one of the strongest. One of the 60 photos on display shows a large group of young adults standing at a Long Beach park to hear a speech by farmworker leader Cesar Chavez. Another photo shows ten people with fists raised.The majority of the work on display are photographs taken by Taboada. But he was also a potter and visual artist. A woodblock print by Taboada depicting a scene with police at the 1970 Chicano Moratorium is displayed near the exhibit entrance. A few steps away a case holds a straw hat worn by Taboada and his camera and lenses, some dented from use. “He had his camera with him all the time,” said Ron Arias, one of Taboada’s friends and a founder of Centro de la Raza. While some of the photos in the exhibit show activists with fists raised, many other images show people at ease, exuding “happiness and the energy and the camaraderie and all of that,” Arias said, “those photos just pop out.”A blown-up photo taller than a person welcomes visitors entering the historical society’s storefront on Atlantic Avenue in Long Beach’s Bixby Knolls business district. The black and white photo shows Indigenous designs on the storefront of Centro de la Raza. “The murals were actually done by students that were part of the Centro,” said Bianca Moreno, the exhibit’s designer.“You have this big, beautiful photo so you know what it's like to walk into thi s… cool place to visit that attracts your eye and highlights Mexican American culture,” she said.The Centro de la Raza, Arias said, lost critical funding in the 1980s as the Reagan administration eliminated funding created in the 1960s to help social service organizations like his. The Centro eventually folded, but its activists continued their work. Arias and others earned graduate degrees and sought jobs from which they could affect public policy. A Taboada photo in the exhibit sums up this stage of Long Beach Chicano activism. It shows Arias and others, older than in previous photos and in suits, standing next to 1980 presidential candidate Jerry Brown. “It just shows that we have been involved, that we have been paying our dues, that we have tried to create betterment, not just for our people … we always tried to make improvements that benefited everyone,” Arias said.Mosquitoes need water to lay their eggs, and the Southland has been getting a lot of rain these past few months. So, will we be looking at an uptick in blood-sucking insects? The short answer is: Yes.Southern California has two mosquito species. There's the traditional Culex tarsalis mosquitoes, which tend to bite when it’s dark out. Because of global warming, residents also grapple with Aedes mosquitoes, which bite during the day and are usually more itchy.Both species have the potential to transmit diseases. Culex tarsalis mosquitoes are responsible for the transmission of the West Nile virus and St. Louis encephalitis. Aedes mosquitoes can transmit dengue and chikungunya.Mosquitoes need water to lay their eggs, and no doubt you’ve noticed the Southland has been getting a lot of rain in the last few months. So the question begs, will we be looking at an uptick in blood-sucking insects? “The short answer is: Yes, you might expect a larger abundance of mosquitoes,” said Ryan Harrigan, a biologist at UCLA who studies vector borne diseases. So far, that forecast seems to be in line with the experience of the Greater Los Angeles Vector Control District, which monitors mosquitoes and related diseases in the region. “We are seeing some elevated numbers, in comparison to some of our five year averages,” said Steve Vetrone, director of scientific-technical services at the agency.The logic is pretty simple: Mosquitoes lay their eggs in standing water. After it rains, there are often more places for them to breed. In Southern California, Vetrone added, the top two mosquito-breeding sources are unmaintained swimming pools and backyard containers. According to his agency, a single “green” swimming pool — with dirty, algae-filled water — can produce up to 3 million mosquitoes in one month. “Stagnant water is a huge deal,” said Harrigan at UCLA. “Even a bottle cap full of water is enough for mosquitoes to lay eggs and reproduce.” Backyard containers can be just about anything that’s left outdoors, said Harrigan, from old tires to empty flower pots.Southern California has two mosquito species. This includes the traditional Culex tarsalis mosquitoes, which “tend to only bite at dawn and dusk, or in the evening,” said Harrigan. In recent years, residents have also had to grapple with Aedes mosquitoes, colloquially known as the “ankle biters,” which bite during the day and “typically try to go for parts of the body with thin skin, like your wrists or ankles,” he added. Aedes mosquito bites are usually more itchy. Aedes mosquitoes are also an invasive species. “They haven't been here traditionally,” said Harrigan. “But, because of global warming, you're seeing more of in Southern California.” Both species “have the potential to transmit some very nasty diseases,” said Vetrone. Culex tarsalis mosquitoes, which like to breed in swimming pools, are responsible for the transmission of theLarger mosquito populations do not necessarily mean residents will experience more biting, said Harrigan. The female insects also feed on other mammals, including pets, and other warm-blooded animals, like birds.mosquito populations, said Vetrone. That’s because the insects also like to breed in underground storm drains, particularly in sections that are old and in disrepair. Pools of water can accumulate in those sections, and they tend to maintain a favorable temperature and humidity all year long. “With big rains, we have a significant amount of water entering those systems,” said Vetrone. And all that rainwater can flush out debris, allowing water to flow and destroying mosquito breeding sources.How can I prevent mosquito population growth? From now through the rest of the summer, Vetrone recommends that SoCal residents take a close look around their property at least once a week. “Make sure there isn't anything holding any water that would create a mosquito breeding source,” he said. “And even if it's not currently holding water, if it has the ability to, we ask that residents invert those .” “ tend to create a very, very suitable place for mosquitoes to breed,” he said. This can create a problem not just for those who live in the home, but for everyone in the neighborhood.. These agencies will send an inspector to your home, who will work to identify any potential breeding sources, provide guidance, and address other potential sources nearby. “Mosquito control is a shared responsibility,” Vetrone said. “We are definitely out there doing our part.”In an aerial view, workers make repairs to the roadway after a section of southbound Highway 1 broke off and fell in the ocean at Rocky Creek Bridge on April 02, 2024 near Big Sur, California.A stretch of Highway 1 in Big Sur is closed indefinitely after the southbound lane eroded during last weekend's rainstorm, bringing uncertainty to the communities that rely on the road for transportation.Engineers are currently working on stabilizing the stretch of road that was affected by the slide last weekend. Once the terrain is stable, Caltrans will install a temporary traffic light to allow traffic to pass through the stretch at all times of day.Landslides and erosion often lead to road closures along the coast, especially along the stark Big Sur coast. A similar landslide took place nearby in 2011, leading to the construction of a viaduct in that stretch.Once the temporary traffic light is installed, engineers will determine how they'll rebuild the highway. Possible solutions include constructing a bridge, viaduct or wall. It will likely take months for engineers to determine which construction project to pursue.A stretch of Highway 1 in Big Sur is closed indefinitely after the southbound lane eroded during last weekend's rainstorm, bringing uncertainty to the communities that rely on the road for transportation. As Caltrans works to repair the road, which is closed from Limekiln State Park to Palo Colorado in Monterey County, the agency is coordinating convoys for residents and essential workers to enter and exit the area for food and supplies. The state is now working on a temporary fix that would allow residents and visitors to pass using the structurally stable northbound lane of traffic. It's one of several closures along this stretch of Highway 1 in recent years, as slides during the rainy season wash rocks down. That's because the area's mountainous terrain and steep cliffs — the very thing that makes the area a world-famous road trip destination — are what makes the road so prone to rapid erosion, or slip-outs.It might not have crossed your mind when you're driving on that part of Highway 1, but the road was built on highly unstable ground, full of faults and fractures in the ground that leave the area prone to rockslides, especially after heavy rainfall. In short, the Big Sur coastline is"a road builder's nightmare," said Dick Norris, marine geologist at University of California San Diego's Scripps Institution of Oceanography.According to Norris, much of Highway 1 was built downhill from the location of previous rockslides — and once a slide has happened, it's more likely to recur. "I think that probably many of the current slides are old slides that are being reactivated," Norris said."Then of course, the material that the roadbed is built on is oftentimes an old slide deposit." As we've seen in the last several years, this unstable soil can lead to intensive, and often costly, repairs. "The ideal thing I suppose would be to have the road far inland from where it is: instead of on the cliff, farther up, in towards the interior," Norris said."As we know, the whole point about why Big Sur is so beautiful is that it's so bloody steep. And the steepness reflects both the active erosion that is going on there all the time, and then, of course, a lot of that erosion is happening through these big slides." The composition of these rocks is similar to much of the California coast — though Norris, who's done field work in Big Sur, said the region is especially affected by slides since closing the often-unstable Highway 1 can strand residentsThis unstable terrain across the region leads to something like a long-term game of Whac-A-Mole — once one segment of Highway 1 is fixed, another section inevitably erodes before long.Caltrans workers first went out to survey the collapsed highway on March 31, the day after the slip-out, and determined that the site was stable enough to run convoys along the stretch twice a day, according to Caltrans District 5 spokesperson Jim Shivers — though Caltrans is still exercising caution. "While stable, it is expected to see some further recession as the slope comes to a state of equilibrium," Shivers wrote in an email to LAist. Next, engineers will stabilize the edge of the road, drilling into parts of the rock that is known to be competent, i.e. stable enough to support pillars. Then, they will insert dowels into the rock and reinforce the area with shotcrete, or concrete that is projected pneumatically. "Once this work is completed, a traffic signal can be put in place and utilized to allow unlimited access to the traveling public," Shivers wrote, noting that the edge stabilization work needs to take place before Caltrans' planned temporary solution. This traffic signal would allow for more regular traffic to pass on the stable northbound lane without the assistance of workers. Currently, the only public access allowed on the eroded part of Highway 1 — the only way for Big Sur residents to leave for supplies or goods — takes place on twice-daily convoys. Caltrans engineers are still determining how best to repair the stretch of road after the temporary traffic signal is installed. Possible solutions include building a bridge, wall or viaduct, according to the agency. There is some precedent for this repair: When a similar failure took place just south of this location in 2011, engineers ended up fixing the stretch of road by constructing a viaduct. A hole is visible where a section of southbound Highway 1 broke off and fell in the ocean at Rocky Creek Bridge on April 02, 2024 near Big Sur, California.Shivers wrote that Caltrans currently can't say when this stretch of Highway 1 will reopen with a temporary traffic signal — though they anticipate more information will soon become available.As for the permanent fix, Shivers wrote that it may still be months before Caltrans will know how long the repairs and construction will take, as its method and design still need to be finalized. That's typical for projects like this one, which often use pillars, bridges or retaining walls to keep the road stable and keep landslides at bay, said Norris. "I don't envy at all, but they are obviously getting to be experts at it since they've been building repairs for decades," Norris said. Caltrans is also working on repairing a separate stretch of Highway 1 at Paul's Slide that eroded in January 2023. That fix is projected to be finished by late this spring.Bald eagle Jackie is seen laying a second egg as captured by the Friends of Big Bear Valley and Big Bear Eagle Nest Cam in January 2024Hundreds of thousands of viewers from around the world have tuned into the livestream of Big Bear bald eagles Jackie and Shadow as they attempt to expand their family in the last several months. But they're not the only subjects of around-the-clock cams.It's becoming all but impossible that the three eggs Jackie laid earlier this year will hatch into eaglets, which means that the eagle couple might decide to abandon their nest and return later this year. And yet, people remain glued to their livecam. Eventually, though, the pair will move on until next season, which means viewers will need other options.Big Bear's first couple and world famous bald eagles Jackie and Shadow have captivated the world as they have attempted to expand their family over the last several months. Though theAnd the season is not yet over, at least for the time being, since the couple is still hanging out at the nest — though they are spending less and less time there. "There's no defined nesting season," said Sandy Steers, executive director of Friends of Big Bear Valley that operates the livestream."It's different every year. It's based on when Jackie and Shadow decide to come in, which is based somewhat on the weather, on what's happening in the environment." As to when they'll leave, same deal."They choose, nature chooses. There's no set time frame," Steers said. Even when the nest is empty, the organization's livestream is always on, 24/7, waiting for the eagles to return in the fall. But Jackie and Shadow aren't the only animal celebs out there. We've selected these five other wildlife cams for your viewing pleasure.The interweb continues to marvel. We searched high and low for information on the El Cajon Barn Owls cam, but admittedly have come up short.in San Diego County, according to the San Diego Natural History Museum. And since barn owls don't build nests, they have been known to take up backyard nest boxes in the area to lay eggs.Here we have a live underwater cam at Anacapa Island, one of the five islands in Channel Islands National Park. In addition to views of the surreal and breathtaking kelp forests —are found in that area, according to the National Park Service — you could also catch sight of the nearly one thousand marine species that call this place home, including theThe Piedras Blancas Elephant Seal Rookery in California's Central Coast is one of the largest breeding colony for Northern elephant seals. Roadtrippers on Highway 1 can pull over for an up-close look at the giant marine mammals, estimated to number up toTwo livestreams have been set up by the nonprofit Friends of the Elephant Seals for those who want to keep tabs on these magnificent animals that are considered a conservation miracle in SoCal. The first known pup wasAngelenos are no stranger to sightings of the small but mighty hummingbirds, but as we all know, these creatures are as quick as they are elusive. In comes the Live Hummingbird Feeder stream, operated by a Studio City resident since 2020, who has been feeding these birds from her home for more than a decade, according to herFinally, we come full circle — to another pair of bald eagles named Liberty and Guardian in Redding. Of the three eggs she laid in February, two have hatched. Check out the eaglets and their parents on the
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