Skip to Content
Los Angeles

Headlines To Know Today: Historic Lakers Dunks; Lincoln Heights Fights to Save Flat Top

@deanbennett/Unsplash

Welcome to L.A. TACO’s new daily news briefs, where we will bring our loyal members, readers, and supporters the latest headlines about Los Angeles politics and culture. Stay informed and always look at it closely. 

—Shawn Laval Smith, the 31-year-old man accused of murdering 24-year-old UCLA grad student Brianna Kupfer at her job on La Brea last week, was arrested in Pasadena yesterday. [CBS]

—In the other LA., Gary Chambers Jr., a Baton Rouge-raised Democratic Senate candidate is featured burning a big old blunt in his new campaign ad to shine a light on racial disparities in arrest levels for cannabis. He'd get our vote. [Vice]

—Flat Top, the scenic Lincoln Heights property beloved by locals and endowed with immortality in Blood In, Blood Out, has concerned preservationists and neighborhood residents fighting to save it from becoming a proposed single-family home. [LAist]

—The Beverly Hills house that sits on the property where Sharon Tate was murdered by members of the Manson Family in 1969 has been sold for $85 million by its owner, the creator of Full House. [MSN]

—Four suspects stole $72,000 from a Studio City Lululemon store on Tuesday, before leading cops on a high-speed chase, crashing, and being arrested. [KTLA]

—35-year-old, Long Beach-raised, former pro skater Evan Jaime Hernandez was sentenced to over eight years for distribution of the skante and laundering crypto. [LBPN]

—There are some early signs that California could be "reaching a crest" in our current surge of Omicron infections. [LAT]

—It's time for... some of the greatest dunks in Lakers history!! [SI]

—Film production in Los Angeles set an all-time quarterly record in 2021. [THR]

—Murder charges are being upheld in the case of the Long Beach school security officer who fired shots at a fleeing car last year, killing 18-year-old Manuela Rodriguez, one of two young women involved in an earlier fight he attempted to break up. [LAT]

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from L.A. TACO

Sunday Taquitos #13: Mask On

Sunday Taquitos! Art by Ivan Ehlers.

February 1, 2026

LAPD Chief hints they may not enforce mask bans on federal immigration agents

"It's not a good public policy decision and it wasn't well thought out in my opinion,” said LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell during a press conference for the release of 2025 citywide crime data.

January 31, 2026

DAILY MEMO: Border Patrol Continues To Follow, Point Their Guns, and Detain Community Watchers

While L.A. showed out for the General Strike, with what felt like 100,000 people marching for three hours from downtown L.A. to Boyle Heights and back, ICE and Border Patrol continued their new streak of following and arresting community watchers.

January 30, 2026

Weekend Eats: Lucia Exploring Black Foodways On Fairfax

While Tomat teams up with a bagel business to raise money for CHIRLA.

January 30, 2026

Letter From the Editor: L.A. TACO Shop Closed Tomorrow, and How We Are Striking

We are shutting down and closing down our online shop for the day. We will only be posting our essential ICE coverage and Daily Memo, which has been proven to prevent abductions and has helped families identify loved ones who have been unfairly taken.

January 29, 2026
See all posts