Best things to do in LA and SoCal: Nov. 11-17
'The Importance of Being Earnest' is at the Wallis.(Courtesy The Wallis)A big thank you to all the service members who’ve served our country this Veterans Day. There’s lots going on to honor them, including a ceremony on the beach in Santa Monica, a celebration at the VA and more.Elsewhere on LAist, you can learn about one couple who chose the LAUSD coffee cake for their wedding, come hang out with us at CicLAvia in Pasadena and grab tickets for FilmWeek’s screening of Sideways.MusicLicorice Pizza has your music picks for the week ahead — it is Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction time, after all — including:Wednesday Bonobo begin their two-night run at the WilternAustralian EDM star Ninajirachi begins her four-night run at the Fonda Theatre Thursday The Smashing Pumpkins performing ‘Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness’ in full at the ForumSparta at Sid The CatFriday Icelandic composer Ólafur Arnalds at the WilternE-40 with Too $hort, Mack 10 & more at the YouTube TheaterBand of Horse
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Driver in deadly Los Angeles metro station crash is arrested on DUI and murder counts
A damaged vehicle lies at the scene of a vehicle crash, involving multiple fatalities, Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2026, in the North Hollywood section of Los Angeles.(David Swanson / AP Photo)The 61-year-old driver of a minivan that killed three people when it crashed outside a Los Angeles metro station during rush hour was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence and three counts of murder, a police spokesperson said Wednesday.Police have said the driver was taken out of the vehicle and was able to talk, but he appeared in shock after Tuesday’s crash. Officials were not immediately able to determine the cause or whether he acted intentionally.Police identified the driver as Ihor Demianenko, a resident of the Valley Village neighborhood of Los Angeles, Officer Norma Eisenman said. She didn’t know whether he was still at a hospital early Wednesday.It was not immediately clear if Demianenko had a lawyer who could respond to the allegations.The crash at a busy intersection in the North
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OC’s Bolsa Chica Conservancy’s braces for more flooding after damage from El Niño high tides
The Bolsa Chica Conservancy's Interpretive Center pictured after last month's coastal flooding.(Courtesy Bolsa Chica Conservancy)Topline:Huntington Beach nonprofit Bolsa Chica Conservancy is fundraising to replace equipment damaged in recent coastal flooding. It's anticipating the need for more repairs, as the flooding forecast around Thanksgiving and Christmas could be even worse.What was damaged: Bolsa Chica Conservancy’s executive director, Carissa Macias, said that despite its efforts, a pump used for its aquarium shorted out due to water damage and needed to be replaced. (The aquarium houses a tide pool, various fish species and a shark.) The conservancy has since replaced the pump and taken measures to protect the surviving equipment.Future risk: The organization’s Interpretive Center, which hosts its aquarium and exhibits about the region’s ecology, is in a modular trailer-style building. “The threat that we are concerned about is that if we get enough water flow underneath the
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In LA’s Little Bangladesh, Raman’s visits won votes. Now residents have a to-do list for her
Nazmul Chaudhry, owner of Deshi Food in Little Bangladesh, told all his customers and friends to vote for Nithya Raman for mayor of Los Angeles after she spent time in the community speaking to residents about their concerns. (Courtesy Nazmul Chaudhry)For seven years, Nazmul Chaudhry has been trying to get the city of Los Angeles to fix a broken sidewalk in front of his store.Chaudhry owns Deshi Food, a restaurant and grocery store in Little Bangladesh. Before I could even begin our interview, he led me to the front of his store to show me the sidewalk that pedestrians sidestep and electric scooter riders slow down around.He said he’s tried to get the attention of city officials, but nothing has been done. The broken sidewalk in front of Nazmul Chaudhry's shop in Little Bangladesh. (Yusra Farzan / LAist)He’s hoping that will soon change. He said then-candidate Nithya Raman spent time in the historic enclave just north of Koreatown this fall, talking with community members about their p
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Dan Shimell unseats incumbent Valerie Amezcua as Santa Ana’s next mayor
Dan Shimell, an attorney and a new face in local politics, is Santa Ana’s next mayor after an unexpected win against incumbent Valerie Amezcua. (Courtesy of Dan Shimell)Dan Shimell, an attorney and a new face in local politics, is Santa Ana’s next mayor after a shocking win against incumbent Valerie Amezcua. His win has become one of the most surprising upsets in Orange County’s general election and marks a shift for a city that previously elected its first Latina mayor.Amezcua congratulated Shimell on social media late Monday night after the last round of election results nearly doubled Shimell’s lead. As of Tuesday night, Shimell held a 5-point lead over Amezcua. Amezcua did not respond to LAist’s requests for comment.“It has been the honor of my life to serve the people of Santa Ana,” Amezcua said in a post. “Together, we have accomplished great things. We invested in our neighborhoods, expanded opportunity for families, and strengthened the services that make Santa Ana home. Our wo
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In tight South LA race, one city council candidate accuses the other of alleged voter fraud
Estuardo Mazariegos, left, a candidate for LA City Council District 9, speaks during the candidate forum that also featured his opponent, Jose Ugarte, that took place at A Place Called Home on Oct. 3, 2026.(J.W. Hendricks / The LA Local)As the race to represent L.A.’s Council District 9 remains too close to call, candidate Estuardo Mazariegos’ campaign has accused the campaign of Jose Ugarte, the front-runner, of potential ballot tampering.The Mazariegos campaign made the accusations Monday, saying it had filed a complaint with the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk. In a press release, the campaign alleged that representatives for the Ugarte campaign had collected voters’ ballots to drop off without signing the appropriate line identifying the individual who returned the ballot.In one case, Mazariegos’ team accused Ugarte campaigners of filling out a ballot on a voter’s behalf without her knowledge of who she was voting for.“Taking people’s ballots, filling them out, a
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LAHSA shuts down its computers over ‘potential security issue’
Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority workers observe L.A. city sanitation workers removing an encampment in Venice Beach in June 2023. (Brian Feinzimer / LAist)The Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority told its employees Friday to stop work, shut down their computers and stay off agency systems while it looked into “a potential security issue affecting our systems,” its chief executive confirmed to LAist.That shutdown order was still in place Monday evening, according to a LAHSA official not authorized to speak on the record.Gita O'Neill, the agency’s interim CEO, told LAist on Friday evening that the agency did not “yet have enough information to say definitively whether any sensitive or confidential personal information was accessed.”She has not answered questions about whether or not services for unhoused people are disrupted.Gita O’Neill, interim CEO of LAHSA, speaks ahead of the annual homeless count on Jan. 20, 2026.(Jordan Rynning / LAist)LAHSA holds highly sensitive inform
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Breaking down the vote for LA mayor: Raman’s path to victory
Precincts won by L.A. Mayor Karen Bass, left, are shown in blue. Mayor-elect Nithya Raman's wins are in yellow.(Jill Connelly/Etienne Laurent / Associated Press/Getty Images)Nithya Raman turned the tide in the L.A. mayoral race by winning over large swathes of the city that voted for Karen Bass in 2022, according to an LAist analysis of election data.Bass was a favorite in many areas that voted for Rick Caruso when she faced him in 2022. She held onto a majority of voters across South L.A., but lost much of her previous support. She outperformed Raman in areas where Spencer Pratt, the third-place primary finisher, saw strong turnout in June.The switchup came after Bass — a veteran in progressive politics — took a relatively-conservative approach on issues like policing and high-density housing developments compared to Raman, a member of the Democratic Socialists of America.
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Raman’s win triggers surge of optimism among advocates of transit and safer streets in LA
L.A. Mayor-elect Nithya Raman at a press conference to speak in support of safety updates following a fatal crash that occurred on Forest Lawn Drive, on Tuesday, August 18, 2026. (Christina House / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)In the home-stretch of the L.A. mayor’s race, Mayor Karen Bass and her former ally-turned-challenger Nithya Raman met for the only televised debate of the campaign.They traded jabs over public safety, homelessness and other core issues for Angelenos. But one dig was particularly eyebrow-raising. It came toward the end of the debate, when Bass chided Raman for her support from bike lane advocates.“There’s very influential people who are supporting your campaign who are very, very much advocates for bike lanes,” Bass, who conceded the race Thursday, said in the Oct. 13 debate hosted by NBCLA and Telemundo.“Um, yes,” Mayor-elect Raman can be heard quietly saying as one of the moderators tries to move the conversation along.While it represented just a moment in
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All 8 LA city ballot measures are passing. Here’s what changes
Measure FD increases the L.A. city sales tax to boost the Fire Department's budget. It's one of eight measures residents voted on.(Libby Denkman / LAist)Voters in the city of Los Angeles are poised to pass all eight ballot measures put before them this year — six related directly to charter reform and two that are tied to the aftermath of the Palisades Fire in January 2025.Proponents of city reform welcomed the results.“Last night was a phenomenal Election Day for charter reform,” said Diego Andrades, who served as a Charter Reform commissioner. Andrades said he wasn’t surprised the amendments passed, tying voter support to the substantial public input in the process long before Election Day.For example, Andrades said Measure PRK, which doubles the parks department budget, was “purely recommended by the public.”“That was something we weren't even looking at,” Andrades said. “Everything that we recommended to the City Council was driven by who we were serving.” Zev Yaroslavsky, the dire
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