Skip to Content
News

Headlines: Fire Damages ‘Karate Kid’ Apartment; Exploring Lao Cuisine in SoCal

photo: Lord Jim/Flickr CC

Happy International Women's Day! Welcome to L.A. TACO’s daily news briefs, where we bring our loyal members, readers, and supporters the latest headlines about Los Angeles politics and culture. Stay informed and look closely.

—Melissa Lucio, a mother of twelve, is scheduled to be executed in Texas next month despite several judges concluding that her trail was unfair as well as a coerced confession in the falling death of her daughter. [Innocence Project/HBO]

—LAUSD has seen a 40% drop in enrollment in the last 20 years, as some schools struggle to operate with declining numbers. [LAT]

—A new book looks at the rise of Mexican neighborhoods in Chicago and their fight against gentrification. [Borderless Mag]

—Reseda's South Seas apartment building, made famous as Daniel LaRusso's place in Karate Kid and Cobra Kai, was damaged in a fire last night, with no reported injuries to residents. [KTLA]

—An injured, beached pygmy sperm whale was euthanized on Malibu's Surfrider Beach on Sunday. [KTLA]

—The New York Times explores four Lao restaurants in Southern California. [NYT]

—Artist Noni Olabisi, known for powerful community murals in Los Angeles, is dead at 67. [LAT]

—The City of L.A. is suing three companies, including Monsanto, for polluting our local waterways with dangerous PCBs. [SMDP]

—Help Stop Mobil Exxon's "dangerous proposal to restart three offshore oil platforms in the Santa Barbara Channel and send nearly 70 oil-filled tanker trucks per day on our coastal highways." [Environmental Defense Center]

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from L.A. TACO

Why Waving a Mexican Flag at a Protest in the U.S. Is a Form of Resistance

Raising Mexican flags is not an act of anti-Americanism. Quite the opposite—it is an expression of cultural pride, dignity, and resistance in the face of racism and intolerance. In the United States, waving the Mexican flag—or any national flag—can be an act of defiance against oppression, a declaration of one’s humanity and rights in response to relentless denigration by movements like MAGA that seek to marginalize entire communities. Even Trump would agree...

February 18, 2025

Tens of Thousands of Angelenos Flock to L.A.’s Flower District for a Valentine’s Day Flower Free-For-All

Tens of thousands made their way to the city's wholesale flower capital, jamming the streets and sidewalks with countless flowers and people. L.A. TACO'S contributing photographer Kemal Cilengir was there to capture it all, including street vendors getting fined and the dystopian-like flower free-for-all being had by lovestruck customers and hustling vendors eager to offload their prized plants.

February 14, 2025

This Weekend: A New Bar-Setting Indian Restaurant, Duck Laab Pizza, and a Filipino Breakfast Diner Pop-Up

Have a three-day weekend full of chai cheesecake, black garlic cocktails, egg pie, and famous flour tortillas.

February 14, 2025

Self-Defense Against ICE: Community Groups In L.A. Are Uniting to Protect Themselves

More than 50 organizations have joined the call to join this coalition, making it one of Southern California's largest immigrant rights coalitions. The group aims to extend from the San Fernando Valley to the U.S./Mexico border. The coalition is organizing training sessions to prepare its members for community tactics to defend their neighbors from ICE raids and deportations. Their first mass protest is taking place on Monday.

February 13, 2025

Tacos Before Vatos: 13 Tacos In L.A. That Will Make You Forget About Him

For L.A. TACO, love is always in the air, and it smells like charcoal burning on a sunny day under carne asada and tortillas hot off the comal, with vibrant salsas, caramelized onions, and thick guacamole. Forget him, and spend time with things that matter in life: tacos, forever. 

February 13, 2025
See all posts