Los Angeles (Calif)

Subterms

    More stories

    • 125 Shares99 Views

      in Elections

      Newsom Tacks to the Middle With California in the Spotlight

      by

      While Donald J. Trump has attacked California as too liberal for the nation, Gov. Gavin Newsom has vetoed several bills that could have become political fodder.For much of the past year, conservatives have considered Gov. Gavin Newsom of California a perfect symbol of liberal excess, a well-coifed coastal governor with national aspirations whose state seemed to embrace undocumented immigrants while homeless encampments proliferated on the streets.It was Mr. Newsom who was invited to debate Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida on Fox News last November. It was Mr. Newsom whose political action committee ran ads in Republican states to criticize their policies on abortion rights.But Mr. Newsom, a business owner, often governs more from the middle than his critics acknowledge. And over the past month, as he has sifted through hundreds of bills that the heavily Democratic Legislature sent his way to sign or veto by this Monday, his decisions indicate a more centrist shift than usual.With Vice President Kamala Harris, a former senator from California, in a hotly contested race for the White House, Republicans have aimed a spotlight on her and Mr. Newsom’s home state. As such, the governor has been under pressure to make sure that California’s lawmakers don’t give them more ammunition for political attacks.The national political stakes are highMr. Newsom approved many measures that were in keeping with what most Americans would expect in California. There were big bills to address the state’s ongoing housing crisis; labor bills to protect the earnings of child influencers and the likenesses of Hollywood performers; and an outright ban on all plastic bags at retail stores.There was legislation to name the Dungeness crab as the official state crustacean, the banana slug as the official slug, and the black abalone as the official seashell. There was a bill pushed by celebrities like Woody Harrelson and Whoopi Goldberg that will allow Amsterdam-style “cannabis cafes” to open.There was a measure that will require health insurers to cover infertility treatment, including in vitro fertilization, as Democrats have attacked Republicans nationally for restricting access to fertility services.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

    • 88 Shares159 Views

      in Elections

      Earthquake Rattles Coastal Area Near Los Angeles

      by

      Preliminary estimates said a 4.7-magnitude temblor was centered near Malibu. The authorities were determining whether there was any significant damage.Los Angeles residents were rattled on Thursday morning by an earthquake centered near Malibu. Preliminary estimates showed it was a magnitude 4.7, according to the United States Geological Survey.Across the region, which has been shaken by several temblors in recent months, some residents still in bed were awakened by an alert on their phones. Window coverings and shelves rattled for about 15 seconds.The authorities were looking to determine whether there was any significant damage.This is a developing story. Check back for updates. More

    • 125 Shares199 Views

      in Elections

      Lloyd Ziff, Visionary Photographer and Art Director, Dies at 81

      by

      He designed some of the most visually exciting magazines of the 1970s and ’80s. But his real love, and eventually his focus, was photography.Lloyd Ziff was not yet a celebrated art director in 1968, when he photographed an art school classmate, Robert Mapplethorpe, and his girlfriend, Patti Smith, in their tiny Brooklyn apartment. “I found them very beautiful,” Mr. Ziff said years later.The black-and-white portraits he took are tender and moving, almost heartbreakingly so; as James Danziger, the gallerist who showed them in 2013, said recently: “Youth is moving. They capture a moment in time just before Patti and Robert were going to explode. They both carried an aura, and Lloyd was drawn to that. They wanted to be photographed just as much as he wanted to photograph them.”Mr. Ziff photographed Robert Mapplethorpe and Patti Smith at their apartment in 1968. “I found them very beautiful,” he said.Lloyd ZiffMr. Ziff went on to serve as art director for some of the most influential and visually arresting magazines of the 1970s and ’80s, including Rolling Stone, House & Garden, Vanity Fair and Condé Nast Traveler. Mr. Mapplethorpe and Ms. Smith, of course, would find their own fame, and tragedy, when Mr. Mapplethorpe died of AIDS in 1989. When Ms. Smith wrote of their coming-of-age in her 2010 memoir, “Just Kids,” she included a few of Mr. Ziff’s portraits.“Although we weren’t particularly close,” Mr. Ziff said, “I believe we recognized in each other something we probably couldn’t put into words at the time.”Mr. Ziff died on Aug. 1 at his home in Orient Point, N.Y., on Long Island. He was 81.His husband, Stephen Kelemen, confirmed the death. He said that Mr. Ziff had been in declining health.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

    • 125 Shares179 Views

      in Elections

      At Los Angeles Galleries, Savoring the Waning Days of Summer

      by

      During an often quiet season in the art world, several outstanding solo shows and one group show offer a feast for the eye and the mind.Rick Lowe’s “Cavafy Remains,” 2024, acrylic on canvas, in the group exhibition “Social Abstraction” at Gagosian Beverly Hills.via Rick Lowe and Gagosian; Photo by Thomas DubrockThe traditional summer lull in the art gallery calendar typically spurs a rash of phoned-in group shows, a chance to drag unsold works out of storage and repackage them under limp catchall themes. Not so much this month in Los Angeles, where several eye-catching solo exhibitions feature artists who are overdue for a moment in the sun.On the evidence of these shows, there’s no single dominant trend in art right now, but rather a general sense of permission to take seriously a broad spectrum of artists and positions, especially those of older generations. In this late-summer heat, it’s a welcome respite.‘Magdalena Suarez Frimkess: The Finest Disregard’Through Jan. 25. Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 5905 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles; 323-857-6000; lacma.org.Top to bottom: “Minnie Mouse Wearing Venice Canals Dress,” 2004; “Minnie Mouse Wearing Pineapple and Palm Tree Pattern,” 2005; “Minnie Mouse in a White Dress With Red Polka Dots,” 2007; “Minnie Mouse in a Green Dress With Pink Polka Dots,” 2007; and “Minnie Mouse in a Pink Dress,” undated.via Magdalena Suarez Frimkess and Los Angeles County Museum of ArtAt 95, the Venezuelan-born Magdalena Suarez Frimkess has waited a long time for her first museum retrospective. Trained in Chile as a sculptor, she came to the United States on a fellowship in 1962 and met Michael Frimkess, a classical ceramist. They were soon married, and settled in Los Angeles. After he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, she began applying her Pop-inflected imagery onto his elegant vessels, painting them with colored glaze.This exhibition of ceramics, furniture, paintings and drawings at LACMA, curated by José Luis Blondet, takes its title from an astute review in Art in America by Paul Harris: “The work of Magdalena Suarez Frimkess — the most daring sculptor working in Chile — is distinguished by the finest disregard for whatever is supposed to be so.” We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

    • 100 Shares99 Views

      in Elections

      Tim Walz and the Pull of Rural America

      by

      More from our inbox:A Rattled Donald TrumpCancer Screenings Save Lives and Are Worth the CostFrom Rust to Rescue HeroAn Olympic Transit Reality Check Abbie Parr/Associated PressTo the Editor:Re “Democrats Have Needed Someone Like Walz for Decades,” by Sarah Smarsh (Opinion guest essay, Aug. 9):Thank you for publishing Ms. Smarsh’s article, which so eloquently and succinctly illustrates how politicians, pundits and journalists have marginalized rural America by lumping us into a single category: red state.I am from a long line of early Indiana settlers: hard-working people who began as farmers and maintained honest lives while supporting democratic ideals and the Democratic Party. Reading this piece is a breath of fresh air, and I appreciate that Ms. Smarsh shares our appreciation for the honesty and direct communication of a fine person like Tim Walz. Thank you, Minnesota.Diana WannLebanon, Ind.To the Editor:Having grown up in a small town in Minnesota, I agree with Sarah Smarsh that Gov. Tim Walz brings back some essential elements into our politics.I am only a few generations removed from Norwegian immigrants who came to America and helped settle an area near the South Dakota border in the last decades of the 19th century.The effort to tame and harvest the prairie created a very pragmatic “let’s get it done and move on to other things” philosophy. Many of the older farmers I remember would describe today’s political rhetoric as “bells and whistles, but no engine.”Mr. Walz is not only a refreshing relief from much of the mindless political rhetoric we have to listen to today. He may very well also be putting the engine back on our national economy.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

    • 150 Shares199 Views

      in Elections

      Perry Kurtz, Comedian Who Appeared on ‘America’s Got Talent,’ Dies at 73

      by

      Mr. Kurtz, who was killed in a hit-and-run on Thursday, honed his routine over decades and eventually became a recognizable face at comedy institutions.Perry Kurtz, who worked stand-up comedy circuits for decades and appeared on “America’s Got Talent” and “The Late Late Show With James Corden,” died on Thursday night in a hit-and-run in Los Angeles. He was 73.A daughter, Zelda Velazquez, confirmed his death. Mr. Kurtz was crossing Ventura Boulevard when he was struck by a car, according to the authorities. He was pronounced dead at the scene, and the driver was later arrested.Mr. Kurtz was a familiar face in long-established comedy halls, such as the Comedy Store in Los Angeles, but rose to prominence on the national stage with an appearance on “America’s Got Talent” in 2013 in which he performed a rap wearing a silver suit that gleamed like a disco ball.The performance did not go over well with the judges, who eliminated him from the competition, but it fit a campy persona that Mr. Kurtz embraced.On “The Late Late Show With James Corden” in 2018, Mr. Kurtz walked onstage wearing thick suspenders and a Hawaiian shirt, a keytar hanging around his neck. He proceeded to play “Louie Louie,” made famous by the Kingsmen, using his tongue.“In 1979 I moved to San Francisco to pursue my dream,” Mr. Kurtz said in a 2022 interview with Shoutout LA. “Since then, the only job I’ve had is making people laugh.”We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

    • 100 Shares119 Views

      in Elections

      Four Arrested in Killing of ‘General Hospital’ Actor

      by

      The police said they arrested three men on murder charges in the fatal May 25 shooting of Johnny Wactor, 37, in Los Angeles. A fourth person was also charged.The authorities have arrested four men in the killing of “General Hospital” actor Johnny Wactor, who was shot dead in May as three men attempted to steal the catalytic converter from his vehicle in downtown Los Angeles.The Los Angeles Police Department on Thursday announced the arrests of Robert Barceleau, Leonel Gutierrez and Sergio Estrada. All three men are 18 and from Los Angeles County. They will face murder charges.They were arrested Thursday and were being held on $2 million bond, jail records show. A fourth man, Frank Olano, 22, was arrested on an accessory charge for helping at least one of the suspects evade the authorities.Mr. Wactor was gunned down at around 3:25 a.m. on May 25 when he returned to his parked vehicle after finishing a shift at a downtown Los Angeles bar where he worked. The 37-year-old came across three men who were in the middle of stealing his car’s catalytic converter.“When Wactor arrived at his vehicle, he was confronted by three individuals who had Wactor’s vehicle raised up with a floor jack and were in the process of stealing the catalytic converter,” the police said. “Without provocation, the victim was shot by one of the individuals.”The actor was walking with a co-worker and initially thought that his car was being towed, his mother, Scarlett Wactor, told ABC7 news.She added that one of the persons “looked up, he was wearing a mask, and opened fire.”Mr. Wactor was transported to the hospital by emergency workers where he was pronounced dead.The three men were able to get away in a stolen sedan, the police said in August.Mr. Wactor was known for appearing in more than 160 episodes of the soap opera “General Hospital” as the character Brando Corbin. He also appeared in other shows, including “Westworld” and in one episode of “Criminal Minds,” according to IMDb.Catalytic converter thefts have become more common across America in recent years.The emissions-control devices contain rare and expensive metals like palladium and rhodium, making them a hot target for thieves.In a Thursday evening phone call, Ms. Wactor said she was glad to hear that the arrests had been made and said she hoped the men are convicted.“It’s a great early birthday present for Johnny,” Ms. Wactor said.Her son, she said, would have been 38 on Aug. 31. More

    • 113 Shares139 Views

      in Elections

      Paris, Uncharacteristically Giddy, Bids Au Revoir to the Olympics

      by

      A joyous Games, a cleaned-up Seine and improvements to the region brought cheer to Parisians as they handed off the Summer Olympics to Los Angeles.There were French firemen flipping like acrobats, a musician playing a piano that hung vertically in the air, and Olympic athletes overwhelming the stage and forming a mosh pit around the French electro-pop band Phoenix.The Paris Olympics ended much as they began, with a raucous spectacle before a joyous crowd, a generous supply of strobe lights, smoke and fireworks. And then the actor Tom Cruise rappelled off the stadium roof to collect the Olympic flag from the gymnast Simone Biles and carry it off on his motorcycle, à la “Top Gun” and “Mission: Impossible” to Los Angeles, where the next summer Olympics is set to take place in 2028.“Together, we have experienced the Games like nothing we have ever lived before,” said Tony Estanguet, the president of the Paris Olympics organizing committee, adding that of all the records broken, among them was one for marriage proposals. “From one day to the next, time stood still and a whole country got goose bumps.”As Paris bids au revoir to the Olympic Games, many are reluctant to let go of its magic: of the adrenaline-fueled excitement, of the party free of political debate, of the sense of time deliciously suspended, like the glowing Olympic cauldron that has hovered wistfully over the city every night.The beach volleyball venue became one of the most popular, and most photographed, at the Games.Daniel Berehulak/The New York TimesThe Olympic cauldron hovering over the city.Dmitry Kostyukov for The New York TimesWe are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More