Scores of protesters formed a roving pro-Palestinian camp on UCLA’s campus Monday afternoon, reciting the names of thousands of people who have died in Gaza.
After several hours of mostly peaceful demonstration, however, the situation turned chaotic, with Los Angeles police and private security guards forming a skirmish line and confronting protesters who stood behind barricades.
A crowd formed on the opposite side of the skirmish line, with protesters chanting, “Let them go!”
Associate professor Graeme Blair, who is a member of Faculty for Justice in Palestine, said one student went to the hospital for treatment of wounds from a rubber bullet, which he said was fired when students were barricaded near Dodd Hall. He criticized authorities, saying the students had been following dispersal orders throughout the evening.
A UC Police representative declined to answer questions about arrests or whether “less than lethal” weapons were used.
Earlier, police had ordered the demonstrators to disperse at least twice, and the crowd quickly dismantled tents and barricades and moved to different locations on campus.
As protesters marched, one among them was reading aloud names of Palestinians killed.
“They will not die in vain,” protesters chanted after each name. “They will be redeemed.”
Some protesters set roses down next to a coffin painted with the Palestinian flag that sat alongside fake bloodied corpses. A helicopter hovered overhead.
Many protesters declined to give interviews, saying they were not “media liaisons” or “media trained.”
The event was organized by the Students for Justice in Palestine at UCLA. Several faculty members followed the crowd with a banner showing support for the students and the demonstration.
Monday’s event marked the third pro-Palestinian encampment at UCLA in recent weeks, the handling of which has drawn outrage and questions about how ill-prepared the university was for such an event.
The first one was set up April 25, sparking mixed reactions and a largely peaceful counterprotest on April 28.
Two days later, however, UCLA declared the encampment unlawful and directed campus members to leave or face discipline.
Later that night, a violent mob attacked the camp. The few police officers on duty were quickly overwhelmed, and the violence continued for three hours until authorities finally brought the situation under control.
At Monday’s demonstration, most protesters wore surgical masks, and those at the edges of the moving encampment held makeshift wooden shields or set up chicken wire to barricade themselves in. The crowd moved from the courtyard outside Royce Hall to the bottom of the Tongva steps, to the patio behind Kerckhoff Hall, to a courtyard outside Dodd Hall.
Los Angeles police and private security guards formed a line as an unlawful assembly was declared Monday at UCLA.
(Alene Tchekmedyian / Los Angeles Times)
As evening set in, the protesters set up their barricades in the Dodd Hall courtyard. The confrontation escalated as an unlawful assembly was declared. Police and guards formed a line, with protesters shouting, “Cops off campus!”
L.A. Police Capt. Kelly Muniz confirmed to The Times that arrests were made at the protest but did not provide further details.
UCLA professor Yogita Goyal, who teaches English and African American studies, was among faculty on campus Monday expressing support for the protesters. Goyal said police should not have declared an unlawful assembly on Monday — or on April 30 when students were protesting peacefully.
“UCLA leadership should be out here and should be allowing our students to express their political views,” she said.
California lawmakers have revived legislation to charge online platforms for the news articles they publish, a proposal that stalled last year amid divisions within the journalism industry and intense opposition from Google and other tech companies.
New amendments published Monday to Assembly Bill 886 are meant to address concerns from small publishers and make the plan more similar to the way Canada charges platforms for distributing news content.
The bill, also known as the “California Journalism Preservation Act,” requires digital advertising giants to pay news outlets a fee when they sell advertising alongside news content. Publishers would have to use 70% of those funds to pay journalists in California.
The changes call for calculating payments based on the number of journalists a news outlet employs, similar to Canada’s model, rather than on how many impressions an article generates, as originally proposed. And they call for creating a fund that platforms pay into, which would distribute the money to news outlets. Google is paying $74 million annually into a fund for the news industry under the law that took effect last year in Canada.
“What we learned with the Canada version is that it’s possible, and that news is of value, it’s critical,” said Assemblymember Buffy Wicks (D-Oakland). “And that we should be doing everything we can to ensure that our publishers are compensated for the work that they’re providing.”
New amendments in Wicks’ bill also would give an additional boost to small publishers by making them eligible for funding beyond the per-journalist payout and allowing them more flexibility in how they spend the money they would receive under the program by dropping the portion they must spend paying journalists to 50%.
The bill is sponsored by the California News Publishers Assn., of which the Los Angeles Times is a member. Publishers argue that online search and social media platforms are harming the journalism business by gobbling up advertising revenue while publishing content they don’t pay for.
The changes to the bill mark a key development since the bill was put on pause last year in the face of massive opposition from Google and other companies. Google argued the legislation would upend its business model and wrote in an April blog post that the bill “undermines news in California.” The search giant flexed its muscle against the bill earlier this year by removing links to California news sites from its search results for some users.
Google did not respond to an email seeking comment on the latest changes to the bill.
But the amendments are unlikely to be the final modifications. Lawmakers often ramp up negotiations on difficult issues as they approach the end of the legislative session in August. The bill is scheduled for a hearing on June 25 in the Senate Judiciary Committee, its next big hurdle.
State Sen. Tom Umberg (D-Orange), who chairs that committee, said he expects further changes as negotiations continue. He said he would like to see the bill pass but wants to make sure it strikes the right balance between what the news industry needs and what the tech platforms can pay for.
“I believe that we could screw this up so that we make it so expensive that the platforms don’t carry [journalism] content,” Umberg said. “That would be catastrophic. So I don’t know where we hit that sweet spot.”
A separate bill seeking to aid the journalism industry would impose a new tax on Amazon, Meta and Google for the data they take from users and pump the money from this “data extraction mitigation fee” into news organizations by giving them a tax credit for employing full-time journalists.
As a tax measure, Senate Bill 1327 would require approval from two-thirds of the Legislature and presents a political challenge in an election year. Nonetheless, state Sen. Steve Glazer (D-Orinda) said his bill is compatible with Wicks’ legislation, and he remains hopeful lawmakers can find a way to help the journalism industry.
“I continue to have many conversations with her and others about how we have to solve the problem,” Glazer said. “There’s lots of ways to try to go at it.”
A massive gold nugget was reported stolen Thursday from the Long Beach Convention Center, spurring an offer of a $10,000 reward.
Bob Campbell, the owner of a coin shop in Salt Lake City, said he brought the gold nugget to the Long Beach Expo — a show that gathers sellers of coins and other collectibles — to sell for more than $80,000. He said its value exceeds its sheer content in gold, as an “original 49er nugget” believed to date back to the Gold Rush.
“They will lose money if they melt it. It has collector value,” Campbell said. The roughly 27-ounce nugget was about the size of a goose egg, he added, and specimens of that size are “exceedingly rare.”
Video captured by another coin dealer at the event shows someone appearing to press on the display case, then pocket something. Campbell faulted a defect in the case that allowed the thief to wiggle his hand inside.
Long Beach police said they are investing the theft, which was reported before noon Thursday. Campbell is also passing out fliers with a photo of the gold nugget and the alleged thief and personally offering a $10,000 reward hinging on the arrest and conviction of the perpetrator.
“We’re hoping that this information gets out” and maybe “one of his friends will rat him out,” Campbell said.
He urged anyone with information to call his Utah shop at (801) 467-8636 or to contact the Long Beach Police Department regarding case number 24-28245.
Rosa, the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s oldest sea otter and one of its social media stars, died Wednesday, the aquarium said in a statement.
The southern sea otter, 24, had served as a surrogate mother for 15 otters, the most in the aquarium’s history. She outlived the life expectancy for her species in the wild, which is typically 15 to 20 years, according to a post by the aquarium on Facebook.
Rosa was known for her blond head and “her signature head-all-the-way-back swimming style,” the aquarium wrote.
“Rosa was one of our most playful sea otters, and even at 24 years old, she would still be seen frolicking and wrestling with the younger otters when she instigated it,” said Melanie Oerter, curator of mammals.
“Rosa was usually found sleeping against the window while on exhibit with her chin tucked tight into her chest and her tail swishing back and forth,” she said.
She first arrived as a “five-pound, four-week-old pup after being stranded as an orphan in September 1999,” and was released into the wild for several years, according to a page about Rosa on the aquarium’s website. She returned to the Monterey Bay Aquarium in 2002 after experts determined that she had become too accustomed to humans and was not suited for life in the wild.
In the past several weeks, Rosa’s health deteriorated, and experts at the aquarium decided to euthanize her. “She passed away peacefully, surrounded by her caretakers,” according to the aquarium’s post.
In the post, the aquarium called Rosa a “charismatic ambassador for her threatened species” who played “a leading role in the story of sea otter recovery from near-extinction during the fur trade.”
Andrew Meieran is about to reopen the doors of one of L.A.’s legendary restaurants in a bid to once again make it an offbeat dining and entertainment destination.
Meieran is the proprietor of Clifton’s Republic, the kitschy, forest-themed restaurant on Broadway in downtown’s Historic Core that for nearly a century served up comfort food such as pot roast, mashed potatoes and Jell-O. The five-story restaurant and bar complex has been closed for the last year after a burst water pipe caused a flood that destroyed the kitchen and collapsed the ceilings on three floors.
Clifton’s is scheduled to reopen next month after extensive repairs and renovations. Among the changes patrons will find is a basement venue several years in the making that Meieran said is “dedicated to innovation and the magic of experiences” with “entertainment, cocktails and culinary offerings.”
Meieran is keeping details under wraps for now, but he has demonstrated a knack for creating provocative entertainment and dining venues through an obsessive attention to offbeat details, as well as a willingness to spend more money than most real estate developers to realize his vision and preserve the historic integrity of his projects.
A Bay Area transplant with a background in real estate development and filmmaking, Meieran emerged on the L.A. scene in 2007 when he opened the Edison, a subterranean nightclub he created in a former power plant deep under a century-old building on 2nd Street.
In 2010 he took over Clifton’s from the family that had operated it since the 1930s, when founder Clifford Clinton purchased the lease of the former Boos Bros. cafeteria on Broadway and set out to create a space that would evoke the coastal redwoods of the Santa Cruz Mountains, where Clinton spent summers growing up. After taking over, Meieran closed the restaurant for nearly four years for renovations and upgrades and again during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Times spoke with Meieran to discuss his plans for reviving Clifton’s after the current shutdown, as well as his thoughts about the evolving nature of the bar and restaurant business during a time of change downtown. The interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.
Since the pandemic began, the restaurant business has been battered and put through changes that have made it hard for owners to operate profitably. How do you intend to make a go of it?
People need, and I emphasize “NEED” in capital letters, to be able to disengage from their devices and balance their life with physical and social interaction with people who are there and present around them. We are catering to people who are looking for a much more interactive lifestyle and are craving physical experiences to balance the ubiquitous online presence.
A view of the interior of Clifton’s Republic.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
Clifton’s exists in L.A.’s collective memory as a vast cafeteria in a whimsical woodland setting, but we don’t see cafeterias much anymore. Why is that? Will we get back Clifton’s as we remember it?
Cafeterias used to be the dominant form of food delivery and food service and now, with very few exceptions, it’s not. There are clear reasons for that that are understandable and reasonable — you need tons of people in a captive audience to make a cafeteria work. You need volume and you need stable, reasonable food prices that you can pass on to your guests. That’s completely absent in this era.
So what will Clifton’s include when it reopens?
It will be fully operating as a restaurant, lounge and nightlife destination that will include the Brookdale historic dining hall people remember as Forest Glen, Walt Disney’s original inspiration for Disneyland. We’ll also reopen the Monarch Bar on the second floor and the Pacific Seas “adventure bar” on the third floor. The basement will open in midsummer.
Obviously downtown has changed a lot from Clifton’s heyday in the 20th century when Broadway was L.A.’s premier shopping and entertainment district. Occupancy in office buildings, which used to provide a steady source of lunchtime customers, has dwindled substantially since the COVID-19 lockdown. What are the prospects for downtown businesses like Clifton’s?
It’s obviously a very different environment from what it was before the pandemic. People have altered their habits and patterns and businesses have responded accordingly, with some closing and others shifting their focuses. It’s a tectonic level shift, something that hasn’t happened in generations, and it’s happening very rapidly now. It was triggered initially by the pandemic but followed up by technological shifts that have altered the dining experience such as app-based ordering, touchscreens and the potentially revolutionary impact of artificial intelligence.
It’s hard for people to really recognize what’s coming next and where this is all going. Obviously that makes it difficult for a business to respond and for other people to make investments and to determine where we’re going to be in 18 months, three years or five years down the road, which is what you need in business.
Downtown, because of the level of the impact and its density, is slower to respond to change than some other, more nimble communities. It’s like turning a tanker ship that doesn’t turn on a dime. It’s taking a lot more effort and and concerted focus to shift its direction.
What are the odds that the Historic Core can mount a comeback?
Broadway, in particular, has all of the ingredients that make for extraordinary projects and extraordinary communities sitting here waiting for the right catalyst. It has density, historic infrastructure and buildings that have an intrinsic beauty and an intrinsic connection to guests, residents,and visitors. And it’s got the location in terms of accessibility with plenty of parking and service by transit.
President Biden is expected to sign an executive order Tuesday closing the U.S. border with Mexico between official ports of entry while crossings are high, a change designed to make it harder for people who cross illegally to seek asylum.
Under a new interim rule, the president can put the border restrictions into effect when average border arrests surpass 2,500 migrants for seven days in a row — as is the case today. The rule also raises the legal bar for an asylum claim at the border from reasonable possibility they will face torture at home to reasonable probability it will happen.
The heightened restrictions would end two weeks after the number of crossers stopped at the border dips below 1,500 for more than a week. Data shows that for most of the last nine years, border stops have not fallen below 1,500 per day.
“These measures will significantly increase the speed and the scope of consequences for those who cross unlawfully” and will “allow the departments to more quickly remove individuals who do not establish a legal basis to remain in the United States,” said one of several senior administration officials who briefed reporters on the condition of anonymity.
The restrictions would not apply to those who enter at official ports of entry or use other legal means, including those who use a relatively new mobile app to request an appointment. It would also exempt certain groups, including unaccompanied children, victims of severe forms of trafficking and people with dire medical emergencies or extreme threats to life and safety.
Administration officials defended their efforts to secure the border, saying they have already returned more migrants in the past 12 months than in any year since 2010. They also sought to blame Republicans for Congress’ failure to pass a bipartisan bill that would have given the administration more money and authority to control the border.
Officials conceded the president’s executive action, which is likely to face legal challenges, is essentially a stopgap.
“There is no lasting solution to the challenges we are facing without Congress doing its job,” one official said.
While Mexico has agreed to take migrants from several Latin American countries, the administration is facing an increase in arrivals from other continents, including Asia. Officials said they were working to strengthen deals to fly people to India, China and other countries of origin, but said it remains a challenge.
Officials have faced a barrage from critics on the right, who blame Biden for what they call an out-of-control border, and on the left, who accuse him of replicating xenophobic policies advanced by former President Trump. Officials took pains to differentiate their policies from Trump’s most well-known practices, including the attempts to ban the entry of people from Muslim-majority countries and to separate children from their families.
“We will not separate children from their families,” said one official. “It is not only inhumane, it’s grossly ineffective.”
Seeking asylum, regardless of how someone arrives on U.S. soil, is a right under the federal Immigration and Nationality Act and international law. That issue proved problematic for the Trump administration’s efforts to limit border crossings, and it could trip up Biden’s latest order as well.
Amy Fischer, director of refugee and migrant rights at Amnesty International USA, said the expected executive action “plays into false narratives about the invasions at the border and advances a policy grounded in white supremacist ideas at the expense of people in search of safety in the U.S.”
“President Biden’s action sets a dangerous international precedent as a first-of-its-kind numerical cap on asylum, limiting the number of people who can claim asylum in the U.S. and effectively shutting down the U.S.-Mexico border, using the same legal authority that the Trump administration used to implement the dangerous and xenophobic Muslim and African travel bans,” Fischer said.
Immigration has been one of Biden’s thorniest problems, practically and politically. He campaigned in large part on reversing Trump’s most hard-line policies and rhetoric, but after Biden assumed office, border crossings and arrests rose dramatically.
Polls show many voters rate immigration and the border as a top issue, often alongside the economy, character, democracy and abortion. It’s also the area where they are most likely to rate Trump ahead of Biden, according to an ABC News poll released last month showing 47% of Americans trust Trump more on the issue, compared with 30% who trust Biden more.
Larry Allen was an enormous man with unsurpassed talent and a ferocious demeanor on the football field. In 14 NFL seasons — 12 with the Dallas Cowboys, two with the San Francisco 49ers — he was a six-time All-Pro and 11-time Pro Bowl offensive lineman.
“I hear people say Larry was the best offensive lineman in the game, and that’s just not right,” Cowboys teammate and fellow Hall of Famer Michael Irvin once said. “Larry was the best player in the league, and it wasn’t even close.”
Yet Allen, who died suddenly Sunday at age 52 while on vacation with his family in Mexico, had fears rooted in his upbringing in Compton. At age 9, he was stabbed 12 times in the head and shoulder while defending his younger brother, Von, from an older boy whose mother had given him a knife.
After enduring painful stitching of the wounds, Allen became so frightened of needles that he even refused Novocain before his dentist filled a cavity. As for the kid with the knife, though, Allen found him three months after the stabbing.
“My mother said, ‘I’m not raising any punks, so she made me fight this guy,’ ” Allen said during his Hall of Fame induction speech in 2013. “She said, ‘You will fight him until you win.’ First day I lost. Second day I lost. The third day I finally won. That was one of the most valuable lessons I learned in my life, never to back down from anybody.”
Allen’s mother, Vera, was his guiding force.
“We would hear the gunfire outside our house, we would automatically roll out of the bed, lay on the floor until the shooting stopped, then get back in bed and go to sleep,” she told The Times in 1994. “After a while, we got pretty good at that.”
She moved with her two sons to Northern California a few years later. Allen attended four high schools and didn’t play football until his junior year, when the family returned to Southern California and he enrolled at Compton Centennial.
A year later Allen again bolted because of gang activity and drug dealing near his family’s home, playing his senior year at Vintage High in Napa while staying with the family of a friend, Steve Hagland. Allen didn’t graduate and drifted to tiny Butte Junior College in Chico, where he dominated on the field but didn’t earn the grades to transfer to a Division I program.
He moved back to his mom’s house in Compton, played pickup basketball and worked odd jobs. Football became an afterthought until Frank Scalercio, an assistant coach at Division II Sonoma State, tracked him down and hauled him back to Northern California.
While trying to convince Sonoma head coach Tim Walsh that Allen was worth recruiting, Scalercio repeated a rumor he’d heard that the lineman could dunk a basketball. Walsh rolled his eyes when Allen — all 325 pounds of him — arrived on campus.
“I was bragging about this kid for months, and would always include the fact he could dunk,” Scalercio told Star magazine. “So here we were, the basketball team is in the gym, a few football players, just all watching him. And he throws down this two-handed slam like none of us had ever seen. The ball was just bouncing on the floor for like 10 seconds and no one said a word. I have never heard silence like that in my life.”
Two years later, Allen wasn’t quiet when he got a call from Cowboys owner Jerry Jones on NFL draft day.
Jones: “Son, would you like to be a Cowboy?”
Allen: “Yes, sir!”
The kid from Compton who’d bounced around four high schools, a junior college and a Division II program was a second-round pick of the reigning Super Bowl champions.
“I ran out of my apartment and jumped into the swimming pool with all my clothes on,” Allen said.
Soon thereafter, he bought Vera a house in Sacramento.
“Everything she gave and did for my brother and me, that was the one gift I was able to give to her,” Allen said. “She did everything for my brother and me. My life could’ve ended up much differently.”
Yet sadly, his life ended prematurely. Allen left his wife, Janelle, daughters Jayla and Loriana and son Larry III.
“Larry, known for his great athleticism and incredible strength, was one of the most respected, accomplished offensive linemen to ever play in the NFL,” the Cowboys said in a statement. “His versatility and dependability were also signature parts of his career. Through that, he continued to serve as inspiration for many other players, defining what it meant to be a great teammate, competitor and winner.
“The Jones family and the Cowboys extend their deepest condolences, thoughts and prayers to the Allen family and grieve along with the many other friends and Cowboys teammates that also loved Larry.”
Just received the heartbreaking news of the passing of our beloved teammate Larry Allen. He was a HOF offensive lineman that dominated opponents regardless of the position played. Off the field, he was a gentle giant that loved his family. Rest in Peace LA💔🙏🏼
Allen’s exploits on the field are legendary. He excelled at guard and at tackle, ran a 4.8-second 40-yard dash and was astonishing in the weight room — even though he famously didn’t enjoy lifting.
Social media sites Monday were filled with tributes to Allen that included his most memorable feats, such as the time he bench-pressed 700 pounds — 300 pounds more than any teammate — and withstood Rocket Ismail falling on Allen’s chest in jubilation.
And the time he chased down New Orleans Saints linebacker Darion Conner 50 yards downfield following an interception.
Allen apparently also was responsible for opponents contracting a unique malady.
“Players will watch him on film during the week and then pull up with some mysterious injury or flu or something,” New York Giants All-Pro defensive end Michael Strahan said. “We call that catching ‘Allen-itis.’ ”
Allen, who was called for holding only 13 times in 14 seasons, helped the Cowboys win Super Bowl XXX after the 1995 season in a 27-17 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers. Six years after he retired in 2007, he rattled off the names of many teammates, coaches and family members during his Hall of Fame induction speech in Canton, Ohio.
“My goal was simple, to earn a seven-letter word called respect,” he said. “The respect of my teammates, opponents and the NFL. Today, my mission is complete. I also played hard, whistle to whistle, to make my opponents submit. And today, I’m submitting to you. I just can’t wait to see my buddies.
“I’ve been blessed to play the game I love. And remember this, it has never been about me, Larry Allen, but the many, many people that helped me out.”
Drivers and Big Sur visitors will soon gain access to more breathtaking views of the Bixby Bridge and rugged bluffs of Highway 1 along California’s central coast under a recent deal between state regulators and a Monaco billionaire to open an iconic piece of cliff-side property to the public.
The California Coastal Commission and Rocky Point owner Patrice Pastor landed an agreement last month to open the 2.5-acre seaside parcel to the public in exchange for clearing violations related to unapproved construction and property changes made by the former owners.
Pastor’s real estate company, Esperanza Carmel, purchased the Big Sur property, most notably the site of the since-shuttered Rocky Point Restaurant, for $8 million in 2021, according to the Mercury News, with plans to open a high-end 166-seat restaurant and 14-room inn with views of some of California’s most beautiful terrain.
But Pastor inherited a slew of issues with the land, including investigations by the coastal commission into infrastructural changes made to the “environmentally sensitive habitat” by its former owners without approval. The owners also had limited public access to the land with “no trespassing” signs and locked gates, according to the Mercury.
The cliff-side restaurant, located about 10 miles south of the charming coastal town Carmel-by-the-Sea, boasted panoramic views of the awe-inspiring scenery along Highway 1, where visitors could “catch a glimpse of playful sea-otters, dolphins, seals, and many whales as they migrate up the coast.” It closed in 2020 during COVID.
The coastal commission agreed to clear violations and any potential fines if Pastor committed to making property improvements and guaranteeing development rights to the surrounding bluffs. He also agreed to replace the “no trespassing” signs with those signaling public access, and said he would improve trail access and add bathrooms and significant parking space. The agreement was signed May 17, the Mercury reported.
Pastor, a billionaire from Monaco who has in recent years purchased several properties in Carmel, bought the Big Sur land with ambitions to develop the property and open a restaurant, inn and visitor center. The agreement is limited to clearing the violations and guaranteeing public access, but could eventually make it easier for Pastor to earn approval for the redevelopment plans.
Esperanza Carmel did not return requests for comment.
Mark your calendars, because you don’t want to miss these deliciously fun culinary happenings:
Hometown cupcake craftery CRAVE is collaborating with Houston-based MAVEN Coffee Co. to create two new cupcakes, Espresso Martini and Carajillo. For a limited-time only, the cupcakes will be available for purchase at CRAVE’s Uptown Park and West U locations, as well as at MAVEN Coffee + Cocktails, 1717 Allen Parkway, and the Maven Coffee and Cocktails portable cart at Minute Maid. In celebration of the launch, on Saturday, June 1, guests who order both an Espresso Martini and an Espresso Martini cupcake will receive 15 percent off their total order, with the percentage of proceeds going to the Down Syndrome Association of Houston.
The 20th Annual Wine & Food Week returns Monday, June 3 through Sunday, June 9, with fan-favorite events including Wine Around the World Wednesday; Get Frosted at Rose’ Way at The Peach Orchard Venue; Ladies of the Vine Tasting, Luncheon, & Panel Discussion at The Club at Carlton Woods; and Sips, Suds & Savor. The week culminates with the elaborate Wine Rendezvous Grand Tasting & Chef Showcase at The Woodlands Waterway Marriott Ballroom.
Hugo’s, 1600 Westheimer, will host an El Tequileño Tequila Dinner on Wednesday, June 5, with a reception at 6 p.m. followed by a seated four-course dinner at 6:30 p.m. Highlights include tuna ceviche, duck carnitas taco, grilled strip steak in mole pasilla and mole chocolate cake. Seats are $130++ per person.
Hidden Group’s exclusive omakase restaurant, Hidden Omakase, in partnership with its other restaurants, Sushi by Hidden and Norigami, are hosting a special “Tuna Breakdown” Dinner at Norigami and Hidden Bar, 2715 Bissonnet, on Wednesday, June 5 from 6 to 9 p.m. for $300 per person. The dinner will feature chefs Jimmy Kieu and Marcos Juarez breaking down a 300-pound Bluefin Tuna to create 15 courses utilizing all parts of the fish.
Brennan’s of Houston, 3300 Smith, is hosting an exclusive Macallan Tasting on Friday, June 7 from 5 to 7 p.m. The Macallan Flight will include The Macallan 12-year Sherry Oak, The Macallan 15-year Double Cask and The Macallan Harmony Intense Arabica and light bites will be prepared by the kitchen team.
The oldest craft brewery in Texas and Houston, Saint Arnold Brewing Company, celebrates 30 years of brewing beer with a festival on the Saint Arnold campus, 2000 Lyons, on Saturday, June 8. The festival will feature several marquee musical acts from the Bayou City collaborating for the first time, including Kam Franklin, Devin the Dude, Robert Ellis and Fat Tony. General Admission is $15 with food and drink available for purchase. Doors open at 11 a.m. and the party runs from 2 to 10 p.m.
On Sunday June 9, chef Chris Shepherd is reuniting a few of his favorite proteges, including Feges co-owners Patrick Feges and Erin Smith, Victoria Dearmond, JD Woodward, Lyle Bento, Chris Bednorz and Lucas McKinney, for a special Back to the Future dinner, held at Feges BBQ Spring Branch, 8217 Long Point, at 5 p.m. Expect dishes like PB&J Wings, Cola Soy Pickled Deviled Eggs, Cha Ca Crab Cakes, Goat Dumplings and Vinegar Pie Squares alongside wine and beverage selections hand-picked by Southern Smoke beverage director Matthew Pridgen. Tickets are $200 and all proceeds from the tickets will go directly to Southern Smoke’s Emergency Relief Grants and Behind You mental health program.
Be sure to check out tickets for the Ringer Residency in Los Angeles this summer!
Hosts: Charles Holmes, Van Lathan, Jomi Adeniran, and Steve Ahlman Guest: Jake Castorena Senior Producer: Steve Ahlman Additional Production Support: Arjuna Ramgopal Social: Jomi Adeniran
Mark your calendars, because you don’t want to miss these deliciously fun culinary happenings:
Spicy Chilled, the refreshing, brothless cold ramen dish, is back at all six Texas locations of Ramen Tatsu-Ya, including Houston’s location at 1722 California. The warm weather staple features spicy ramen with citrus soy dressing, ajitama (marinated soft boiled egg), cucumber, tomatoes, pirikara (which means “spicy” in Japanese) ground pork, chili oil, scallions and karashi mustard, giving it a wasabi-like punch. The dish’s official beverage pairing — Kyuri Kup — also returns, combining cucumber, simple syrup, yuzu and citrus over ice for a refreshing drink to help tame the ramen’s heat. Guests can choose to make the beverage boozy by adding sake. Spicy Chilled is priced at $14, with Kyuri Kup available for $5 ($6 with sake).
Common Bond celebrates National Burger Day with a limited-time-only Bacon Goat Cheese Burger, offered now through Tuesday, May 28 at Common Bond Bistro locations. Available for $16.99, the burger features a chuck, brisket, short rib blend with sundried tomato goat cheese, arugula, black pepper bacon and garlic aioli on an everything bagel brioche bun.
1891 American Eatery & Bar, 702 East 11th, is ready to smash National Burger Day, offering $12 Smash Burgers and fries for $12 on Tuesday, May 28 only. Made with chuck, brisket and rib patties for extra flavor, guests can pick between Classic (LTO, mustard, pickles, everything bagel brioche bun); Smothered & Covered (grilled onions, cheddar cheese, aioli, brioche bun); High Heat (smoked queso, jack cheese roasted poblano, lettuce, ghost pepper aioli, brioche bun); and Mushroom (grilled portobello, herb goat cheese, provolone, red onion jam, arugula, everything bagel brioche bun).
Artisans Restaurant, 5745 Westheimer, will host the Truffle Masters 2024 winners for an “East meets West Cuisine Wine Dinner” on Thursday, May 30 at 6:30 p.m. Chefs Niki Vongthong, Erik Cruz and Jio Dingayan will showcase their culinary mastery alongside pairings from Bandol Wines. Cost is $329 per person (tax and gratuity included).RSVP at 713-529-9111 or [email protected].
Guests are invited to a five-course Chateau Pichon Baron Wine Dinner, paired with six wines from the legendary Bordeaux winery, at Etoile Cuisine et Bar, 1101-11 Uptown Park, on Thursday, May 30 beginning at 7 p.m. Dishes include seared Gulf shrimp with grapefruit and apple remoulade; duck palo in crust a l’orange; roasted rack of lamb; 30-day dry-aged ribeye with parsnip mousseline; and vanilla panna cotta with apricot sorbet. Cost is $175 per person plus tax and gratuity and reservations are required.
Le Jardinier, 5500 Main, is teaming up with IWA Sake, aka the ‘wine lovers’ sake, for a two-night event on Friday, May 31 and Saturday, June 1. Founder and maker of IWA Sake Richard Geoffroy will welcome guests into the private dining room, taking guests on a journey through older, rare releases flown in from Japan paired with a five-course tasting menu curated by chef de cuisine Felipe Botero, featuring chilled Maine lobster; Comté cheese soufflé; risotto with blue crab, melted leeks and preserved lemon; poached Atlantic cod with sake and Kaluga caviar sauce; and “the white meringue” for dessert – comprised of matcha cream and cherry compote. Limited seats are offered priced at $375 per person.
Landry’s Inc. brings back its Houston Chef Series, offered on select evenings from Wednesday, May 29 through Wednesday, August 7. Participating restaurants include Brenner’s Steakhouse, McCormick & Shmick’s, La Griglia, Grotto Ristorante, Vic & Anthony’s, Brenner’s on the Bayou, Del Frisco’s Double Eagle Steakhouse, Grotto Downtown, Willie G’s Seafood, Morton’s the Steakhouse and King Ranch Texas Kitchen, each offering a menu inspired by the upcoming election and this year’s theme, “Presidential State Dinners.” Up firsts ia Brenner’s Steakhouse and chef Ashley Gadson, presenting “Dinner in the West Wing” with features from a Franklin D. Roosevelt Grilled Cheese and Braised Boars Head Martin Van Buren to an Apple and Pear Tart John Adams.
Hub 51 will close next month after 16 years in River North, according to a news release. The two-level, part restaurant, and part bar, marked a new chapter for Chicago’s largest hospitality company, Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises, as it symbolized a passing of the torch from co-founder Rich Melman to his sons, Jerrod and R.J. Hub 51 was a canvas for the brothers in establishing their own venture.
The space also featured a bar, called Sub 51, and plenty of rooms for private events. Hub 51’s menu was, eclectic to say the least, covering a tremendous amount of ground from fish tacos, to chili, to chicken tenders. While the restaurant debuted with a roar, busy on weekends, and where visitors would see the occasional celebrity, at the end it felt like a garden variety chain. And even as a LEYE restaurant, that was never ownership’s original intention.
In closing Hub 51 at 51 W. Hubbard Street — its final day is scheduled for Saturday, June 8 — LEYE is turning the page again and introducing a pair of new venues. They’ve recruited HaiSous’s Thai Dang and the Vietnamese-born chef will debut a Southeast Asian restaurant, Crying Tiger, in 2025. Crying Tiger is a reference to the marinated beef dish often served as an appetizer at Thai restaurants. The “tears” are from the juicy fat dripping from the meat during cooking and hitting the flames of the grill.
Dang’s Pilsen restaurant, which he runs with his wife Danielle Dang, won’t be impacted. HaiSous will remain independent as LEYE has also made him a partner in the endeavor. Lettuce has selected David Collins Studio — the same interior architecture firm that designed Tre Dita, its lavish restaurant inside the St Regis Chicago — to design Crying Tiger.
For Dang, who moved to Chicago from Virginia to follow the career of French chef Laurent Gras, partnering with LEYE is a full-circle moment. Gras was working at Michelin-starred L20. At the time of his arrival, Dang says he didn’t know that L20, which was open from 2008 to 2014, was a Lettuce Entertain You restaurant.
But before Crying Tiger opens, Lettuce will unveil a cocktail bar later this year. It’s called the Dip Inn and will feature “expertly crafted iconic drinks.” LEYE is calling it a “classic American cocktail bar.” The drinks are from Kevin Beary, the beverage director at the company’s tropical-themed bars in River North, Three Dots and a Dash, and the Bamboo Room.
Details are scarce but look for more information in the coming days. In the meantime, Chicagoans have less than a month to say goodbye to Hub 51.
Crying Tiger, 51 W. Hubbard Steet, planned for a 2025 opening
The Dip Inn, 51 W. Hubbard Steet, planned for a late 2024 opening
The LGBTQ+ Pride flag will no longer fly over a Southern California city during Pride Month in June after city leaders adopted a “neutral flag policy,” reports say.
Photo by Sophie Emeny via Unsplash
The LGBTQ+ Pride flag will no longer fly over a Southern California city during Pride Month in June after city leaders adopted a “neutral flag policy,” reports say.
The new policy reversed the previous one that allowed the LGBTQ+ Pride flag to fly at Downey city buildings during “specific historic events or causes,” KTLA reported.
The Downey City Council voted 3-2 to adopt the “neutral flag policy” during the Tuesday, May 14, council meeting, the station reported. The city started flying the Pride flag during Pride Month three years ago.
Councilmembers Claudia Frometa, Dorothy Pemberton and Hector Sosa voted in favor of adopting the new policy, KTLA reported.
“I don’t think it’s our role as elected officials to pick and choose which groups get to fly their flags,” said Sosa, who is concerned about the requests the council receives to fly flags in support of a variety of causes.
Two council members voted against the policy: the city’s first openly gay Mayor Mario Trujillo and Councilmember Horacio Ortiz, ABC7 reported.
“This is not progress. This is a step backwards for my city,” Trujillo said. “And that’s very unfortunate.”
He said the issue was put to a vote after the Downey chapter of Mass Resistance launched a campaign against it three years ago, the Los Angeles Times reported. Mass Resistance describes itself as a “pro-family activist organization.” It has been labeled as an anti-LGBTQ+ hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.
Voters in nearby Huntington Beach banned Pride flags from flying on city property in March, McClatchy News previously reported.
Huntington Beach is about a 25-mile drive south of Downey.
She said that although she was disappointed in the decision, the Pride flag would still fly at county-owned facilities, including eight in Downey, one of the cities in her district.
“I worry about the message it sends to LGBTQ+ residents,” she said. “We raise the Pride Flag as a reminder of where we stand: no matter where in LA County they may live, LGBTQ+ residents have the unwavering support of their county government.”
Brooke (she/them) is a McClatchy Real-Time reporter who covers LGBTQ+ entertainment news and national parks out west. They studied journalism at the University of Florida, and previously covered LGBTQ+ news for the South Florida Sun Sentinel. When they’re not writing stories, they enjoy hanging out with their cats, riding horses or spending time outdoors.
An extreme summer marked by deadly heat waves, explosive wildfires and record-warm ocean temperatures will go down as among the hottest in the last 2,000 years, new research has found.
The summer of 2023 saw the temperature in the Northern Hemisphere soar 3.72 degrees above the average from 1850 to 1900, when modern instrumental recordkeeping began, according to a study published Tuesday in the journal Nature. The study focused on surface air temperatures across the extra-tropical region, which sits at 30-90 degrees north latitude and includes most of Europe and North America.
June, July and August last year were also 3.96 degrees warmer than the average from the years 1 through 1890, which the researchers calculated by combining observed records with tree ring records from nine global regions.
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Jan Esper, the study’s lead author and a professor of climate geography at Johannes Gutenberg University in Germany, said that he was not expecting summer last year to be quite so anomalous, but that he was ultimately not surprised by the findings. The high temperatures built on an overall warming trend driven by greenhouse gas emissions and were further amplified by the onset of El Niño in the tropical Pacific.
“It’s no surprise — this really, really outstanding 2023 — but it was also, step-wise, a continuation of a trend that will continue,” Esper told reporters Monday. “Personally I’m not surprised, but I am worried.”
He said it was important to place 2023’s temperature extreme in a long-term context. The difference between the region’s previous warmest summer, in the year 246, and the summer of 2023 is 2.14 degrees, the study found.
The heat is even more extreme when compared with the region’s coldest summers — the majority of which were influenced by volcanic eruptions that spewed heat-blocking sulfur into the stratosphere. According to the study, 2023’s summer was 7.07 degrees warmer than the coldest reconstructed summer from this period, in the year 536.
“Although 2023 is consistent with a greenhouse gases-induced warming trend that is amplified by an unfolding El Niño event, this extreme emphasizes the urgency to implement international agreements for carbon emission reduction,” the study says.
The sweltering summer temperatures contributed to scores of heat illnesses and deaths, including at least 645 heat-associated deaths in Maricopa County, Ariz., where Phoenix saw temperatures of 110 degrees or hotter for a record 31 consecutive days.
Wildfires exacerbated by high temperatures raged across Canada and sent hazardous smoke down the East Coast of the United States and across the Atlantic. Meanwhile, ocean temperatures off the coast of Florida soared above 101 degrees, the temperature of a hot tub.
Multiple climate agencies, including the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service, declared 2023 the hottest year on record globally.
Notably, Copernicus found that the summer months of June, July and August last year measured 1.18 degrees warmer than average — still hot, but not nearly as warm as the study’s findings for the Northern Hemisphere’s extra-tropical region.
That region was especially hot in part because it is home to so much land, which warms faster than oceans, said Karen McKinnon, an assistant professor of statistics and the environment at UCLA who did not work on the study. (June, July and August are also winter months in the Southern Hemisphere.)
McKinnon said the study’s findings are not unexpected, as there was already good evidence that the summer of 2023 was record-breaking when compared with measurable data going back to the mid-1800s. But by going back 2,000 years, the researchers also helped illuminate “the full range of natural variability that could have occurred in the past,” she said.
She noted that tree rings can serve as a helpful proxy for climate conditions in the past, as trees tend to grow more in a given year if they receive the right amount of warmth, water and sunshine.
But although last year’s heat was undeniable, the study also underscores that the summer temperature in this region was notably higher than the global target of 2.7 degrees — or 1.5 degrees Celsius — of warming over the preindustrial period, which was established by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in 2015.
It also notes that some recent research has found the data used to calculate that baseline may be off by several tenths of a degree, meaning it could need to be recalibrated, with the target landing closer to an even more challenging 1.6 or 1.7 degrees.
“I don’t think we should use the proxy instead of the instrumental data, but there’s a good indication that there’s a warm bias,” Esper said. “Further research is needed.”
McKinnon said there is always going to be some degree of uncertainty when comparing present-day temperatures to past temperatures, but that the 1.5-degree limit is as symbolic as it is literal. Many effects of climate change, including worsening heat waves, have already begun.
“There are definitely tipping points in the climate system, but we don’t understand the climate system well enough to say 1.5 C is the temperature for certain tipping points,” she said. “This is just a policy goal that gives you a temperature change that maybe would be consistent with averting some damages.”
In fact, the study’s publication comes days after a survey of 380 leading scientists from the IPCC revealed deep concerns about the world’s ability to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees. That report, published last week in the Guardian, found that only 6% of surveyed scientists think the 1.5-degree limit will be met. Nearly 80% said they foresee at least 2.5 degrees Celsius of warming.
The report caused a stir among the scientific community, with some saying it focused too heavily on pessimism and despair. But Daniel Swain, a climate scientist with UCLA who participated in the survey, said its findings are worthy of consideration.
“There are many kinds of scientists, myself included, who are very worried and concerned and increasingly alarmed by what is going on and what the data is showing,” Swain said during a briefing Friday. “But if anything, I think that really results in a stronger sense of resolve and urgency to do even more, and to do better.”
Indeed, while scientists continue to weigh in on whether — or how quickly — humanity can alter the planet’s worsening warming trajectory, Esper said he hopes the latest study will serve as motivation for changing outdated modes of energy consumption that contribute to planet-warming greenhouse gases.
“I am concerned about global warming — I think it’s one of the biggest threats out there,” he said.
He added that he is particularly worried for his children and for younger generations who will bear the brunt of worsening heat and other adverse climate outcomes. There is a strong likelihood that the summer of 2024 will be even hotter, the study says.
“The longer we wait, the more extensive it will be, and the more difficult it will be to mitigate or even stop that process and reverse it,” Esper said. “It’s just so obvious: We should do as much as possible, as soon as possible.”
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Season 3 of The Bear, the critically acclaimed TV series that has showcased many of Chicago’s most popular restaurants, should release in June, according to FX. The network’s chairman, John Landgraf, confirmed the time frame during the Television Critics Association winter press tour last week.
Season 2 and its 10 episodes were released all at once on June 22, 2023 on Hulu. Season 3’s news follows that template. Since then, the series has garnered 10 Emmys and three Golden Globes. After enduring the ire of some Chicagoans for its depiction of the city in Season 1, where some natives railed about inaccuracies, creator and suburban native Christopher Storer and his team began Season 2 as a love letter to the city with plenty of pretty shots of the city and cameos from chefs and restaurant owners.
The show moved away from Italian beef in Season 2 and focused on the opening of an upscale neighborhood restaurant. A handful of local chefs told Eater Chicago that TV reps approached them to see if they were interested in cameos in Season 2; there’s no shortage of possibilities in terms of filming locations. Eater Chicago has some opinions on where the show should go in Season 3. Perhaps they’ll also include a certain rodent-shaped crevice.
Two Chicagoans featured on Top Chef Wisconsin
In more TV news, a pair of local chefs will appear on Season 21 of Top Chef, set in Chicago’s mostly pleasant neighbors to the north, Wisconsin. Get ready for national writers to parachute in and Columbus supper clubs as the TV show heads to Madison and Milwaukee. The season premieres on March 20 and Bravo with Alisha Elenz (last seen at Bambola in Fulton Market) and Kaleena Bliss. Elenz won a local Jean Banchet Award for her work at Mfk in Lakeview. Bliss recently moved to Chicago from Seattle where she worked as executive chef at the Thompson Seattle hotel and its flagship food and beverage offering, Conversation. Bliss also won Chopped Casino Royale. She’s now the executive chef at Chicago Athletic Association. Like the Thompson, it’s a Hyatt property.
Dark Matter Gives Skeletor Some Love
Yes, the world of He-Man is set in Eternia (which perhaps is as fictional a realm as River North was to viewers as Season 1 of The Bear). But the ‘80s cartoon, a series created as a way to sell toys to kids, has made a comeback via Netflix. The latest installment, titled Masters of the Universe: Revolution, dropped in late January, and Chicago’s very own Dark Matter Coffee has released a coffee with toy maker Mattel. “Skeletor Blood” features gorgeous art from Dark Matter’s Jourdon Gullett. Beer fans may recognize his work on bottles for Solemn Oath Brewery. Dark Matter is also selling coffee mugs with the art: “This caffeinated concoction permeates dark chocolate and luscious fruit, fueling the evil lord of destruction to accomplish universal domination.” The mug, canned cold coffee, and 12-ounce bags of beans are available online and at stores.
President Biden and First Lady Jill Biden plan this weekend to attend a fundraiser hosted by Hollywood elites that is likely to make L.A.’s notoriously bad traffic even worse — but authorities have yet to offer advanced warning to help motorists avoid the expected road closures.
The First Couple plans to address prominent donors supporting Biden’s reelection bid for 2024 at an undisclosed location on Friday. Notable hosts for the event include directors Steven Spielberg and Rob Reiner.
Biden is scheduled to arrive in Los Angeles via Los Angeles International Airport on Friday for a two-day visit, departing on Sunday at an undisclosed time.
“For security reasons, there is no advance announcement to the public regarding ramp closures related to a visit by a U.S. president or vice president,” said Caltrans spokesperson Marc Bischoff. “The LAPD or other enforcement personnel make rolling closures at ramps along a motorcade route, with no advance announcement to the public.”
Bischoff recommends that motorists check traffic information, including the Caltrans website, prior to leaving for their destination.
In June, Los Angeles hosted Biden and leaders from the Western Hemisphere for the ninth Summit of the Americas, an event that also created traffic headaches for motorists for six days in downtown L.A. and near Los Angeles International Airport.
Airport officials have confirmed that Van Nuys and Burbank airports will remain open during the president’s visit but will implement temporary flight restrictions. A representative from Burbank noted that flight restrictions would be in effect Saturday and Sunday.
Although officials did not confirm whether these restrictions were in response to the president’s visit, the precautions align with his scheduled time in Los Angeles.
While many families spent Thanksgiving watching football in their living rooms, some lucky few spent it watching killer whales punt a sea lion 20 feet into the air in Monterey Bay.
About 120 people aboard a Monterey Bay Whale Watch boat Thanksgiving morning witnessed a rare sighting of a pod of killer whales hunting sea lions in the bay. A few minutes into the encounter, one whale punted a sea lion almost 20 feet into the air, a common hunting tactic used by killer whales to slow down and exhaust its prey, marine biologist Colleen Talty said.
Although many people on the boat were excited to lay eyes on the killer whales, some raised concern about the well-being of the sea lions, according to a photographer on the boat who called the scene “bittersweet” but a necessary part of nature.
“Of course you feel bad for the sea lion, but you have to remember it’s nature and without sea lions, the pod wouldn’t survive without the food,” photographer Morgan Quimby said.
Talty, who has seen a sea lion punt “multiple times” in her six years of working at Monterey Bay Whale Watch, said witnessing such a moment is quite rare.
“You have to be at the right place at the right time,” Talty said. “You could even get the hunt when they’ve already punted the sea lion, because oftentimes that’s done in the beginning of the hunt when they’re first trying to get the sea lion exhausted, separate it if it’s in a group.”
Based on the behavior of the four whales, Talty said it was a training session for the new calf in the pod that was learning how to hunt with its mother, grandmother and aunt.
“Once they successfully killed a sea lion, the members of the pod took turns displaying attack maneuvers and behaviors to further instruct their newest pod member on how to hunt,” Monterey Bay Whale Watch said Friday on Facebook.
Monterey Bay Whale Watch has seen this particular family of killer whales, known as the CA51As, in the bay for over 30 years and across four generations of whales, Talty said.
A killer whale punts a sea lion almost 20 feet into the air, a common hunting tactic used by killer whales to slow down and exhaust its prey.
(Morgan Quimby Photography)
Quimby was on the boat Thursday morning and caught the rare sighting on camera. The erratic movements of the whales made it challenging for her to photograph them, so she decided to focus her lens on one of the four or five different groups of sea lions in the water. The pack of sea lions she had her camera focused on happened to be the one the killer whales went after.
“Any time there are killer whales in the area, I’m constantly ready, following them, tracking them with my camera, trying to make sure I don’t miss any of the shots, any of their behavior,” she said.
The hunting session began around 10:30 a.m. and went on for almost two hours before the whales’ movements slowed down and they finished feasting, Quimby said.
“They’re so family driven and intelligent, so to be able to watch them teaching this several-month-old calf how to hunt and how to survive is just such a special and intimate moment that we were lucky to witness,” she said.
A federal grand jury in Los Angeles has indicted Naasón Joaquín García on two child pornography counts, in yet another legal challenge for the head of the Mexico-based La Luz del Mundo megachurch who is already serving a 17-year state prison sentence for sexually abusing girls from his congregation.
García was indicted this week on a single count of production of child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography. The indictment comes in connection with sexual acts allegedly committed by García on a 16-year-old victim whom he “knowingly employed, used, persuaded, induced, enticed, and coerced” and recorded, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s office.
Five videos were discovered on an iPad seized by authorities during García’s arrest on state charges at LAX in June 2019.
If convicted of both federal charges, García could face up to 40 years in prison, the release said.
Garcia, who is considered by congregants to be an apostle of Jesus Christ, pleaded guilty last year to committing acts of sexual abuse against girls from his community and was sentenced as part of last-minute plea agreement with Los Angeles County prosecutors.
He is expected to make his initial appearance in federal court in the next few weeks.
The 54-year-old previously served as a minister for the evangelical church in Santa Ana and in 2014 took over the church in Mexico. Garcia’s father and grandfather previously led the church, which was founded in 1926 and claims to have more than 5 million followers in about 50 countries across the globe.
Despite his guilty plea in state court, Garcia has maintained almost universal support within the church. His backers denounced the case as an attempt to tarnish his reputation and promised to continue supporting Garcia during his incarceration.
The church leader addressed them via phone from prison last September, saying “he did not see the bars that separate me from you,” according to an Associated Press report.
At the time of Garcia’s plea deal, some alleged survivors of sexual abuse in the church called it a “slap to the face,” even as prosecutors hailed the outcome. Some said they felt Garcia was treated leniently and worried about the potential chilling effect on other victims who may be reluctant to report assaults after watching how others had become targets of intimidation and harassment by church loyalists.
A docu-series released last year explored the history and power of the church, interviewing former church members who described enduring years of abuse in silence at the hands of La Luz leaders.
The National Weather Service has issued a heat advisory for the Austin area, with temperatures expected to reach dangerous and deadly levels.
With forecasted highs above 105 degrees Saturday and Sunday, we are activating emergency measures to keep our animals safe in the extreme weather conditions. At this time we are also urgently asking for your help!
With the strain the extreme heat puts on our animals, staff, facilities, and the power grid, we are urgently asking for your help now to get our animals out of the shelter before temperatures reach the highest levels expected. We are calling on you to help us get 70 of our most vulnerable animals into homes before Sunday! We have both adoption and fostering options available and to help expedite our efforts to get animals into homes we’re waiving adoption fees* until June 16th for ALL our pets. This offer includes the nearly 40 adorable puppies onsite at TLAC. Visit our Town Lake location between noon and 6 p.m. Friday or Saturday to help get a pet in a home. No appointment is required!
Donate to Support Our Lifesaving Work Through this Emergency and Beyond!
We are calling on everyone to protect the animals who need them most during this extreme heat. The average temperature in Austin in June is 93 degrees with a jump to 98 degrees in August. With thermometers soaring more than 10 degrees higher in early June, some weather experts are anticipating that the summer of 2022 is on track to break records.
The brutally hot temperatures bring a plethora of problems for our shelter: rising electricity costs, overtime for staff, and an increase in supply needs that go beyond the cooling equipment generously donated in the past. Since the heat wave is not limited to Central Texas, we are also providing support to partner shelters across the state.
As you receive this email, our teams are using mister fans and swamp coolers generously donated by friends like you to bring some relief to our dogs in kennels. We’re also using swamp coolers and baby pools in our play yards and making room inside of our buildings for animals struggling in their kennels. We are also placing mister fans and additional sunshades near the cat barns. Ice packs and ice water are being put out for barn and truckport cats, and regular rounds are taking place 24/7 to monitor all animals.
With your support, we can provide our animals with the best possible care during this hazardous Texas heat right now and throughout what could be an extremely hot summer.Will you donate to help us today?
Lastly, check out our blog post with our hot weather recommendations to ensure that the pets in your home and neighborhood are staying safe.
To stay up to date on our extreme weather response efforts, check our blog and social media for the latest news. Thank you for everything you do for our most vulnerable pets. Stay safe and cool Austin!
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.jpg "The LGBTQ+ Pride flag will no longer fly over a Southern California city during Pride Month in June after city leaders adopted a “neutral flag policy,” reports say.")
