Latest news with #LosAngelesTimes
Yahoo
13 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
After push from L.A., Newsom plans to weaken state duplex law in wildfire areas
Gov. Gavin Newsom plans to issue an executive order Wednesday allowing local governments in Los Angeles to limit development in wildfire-affected neighborhoods by exempting them from provisions of a landmark housing law, a spokesperson for his office said. The proposed order would let the city and county of Los Angeles and Malibu restrict construction that was allowed under Senate Bill 9, a 2021 law that lets property owners build up to four units on land previously reserved for single-family homes. The order will apply to Pacific Palisades and parts of Malibu and Altadena — areas that burned in January's Palisades and Eaton fires that are designated as "very high fire hazard severity zones" by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, Newsom spokesperson Tara Gallegos said. The decision came after concerns about the potential of a significant population increase if there were widespread use of SB 9 developments in rebuilding areas, making future fire evacuations even more difficult, Gallegos said. The governor's action follows pressure this week from elected officials in Los Angeles. On Monday, City Councilmember Traci Park, who represents Pacific Palisades, sent a letter to Newsom requesting he suspend SB 9, warning otherwise there could be "an unforeseen explosion of density" in a risky area. "When SB 9 was adopted into state law, it was never intended to capitalize on a horrific disaster," Park wrote. On Tuesday, L.A. Mayor Karen Bass released a statement supporting Park's request, citing similar concerns about SB 9 straining evacuation routes and local infrastructure in the Palisades. "It could fundamentally alter the safety of the area," Bass said. Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Forbes
20 hours ago
- Forbes
Colorado: The Best State To Feel The Wild West, New Study Says
Horseback riders watch as aspiring ballet dancers frolic on a corral fence at a theater school in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, which, a new study says, is the nation's No. 1 Wild West destination. (Photo by Dean Conger/Corbis via Getty Images) Corbis via Getty Images Colorado is the No. 1 state for travelers looking for the best Wild West experience, a new study says. Three cities and one town in Colorado finished in the top 5 of Wild West destinations, according to a study done by InsureMyTrip, a travel insurance comparison website. The study analyzed 50 cities and towns in seven states that were once part of the Wild West and compared them based on various criteria, including average cost of ranch-style accommodations, number of hotels with horseback riding and number of nature and wildlife parks. Steamboat Springs, a small skiing town in Yampa Valley about 155 miles northwest of Denver, ranked first. It has 142 hotels that offer horseback riding and about 20 nature and wildlife parks in its small town, according to the study. Steamboat rated highly for ranch-style accommodations but at an expensive price: Nightly lodging averages $579 during high season. The town also has an average summer temperature of 63.9 degrees, which can be ideal, InsureMyTrip says, because horses prefer exercising in 53.6-66.2 temperatures. Tourists take a covered wagon ride in Durango, Colorado. (Photo by Mark Boster/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images) Los Angeles Times via Getty Images Colorado cities in the top 5 are No. 2 Durango, No. 3 Estes Park and No. 4 Colorado Springs. The non-Colorado locale in the elite five is No. 5 West Yellowstone, Montana. Besides Colorado and Montana, the study evaluated cities and towns in Arizona, California, Idaho, Texas and Wyoming. 'With more travelers looking to tap into their inner cowboy and explore the Great West, we wanted to make it easier to find the best spots for a true Wild West experience,' says Sara Boisvert, InsureMyTrip's marketing director. 'These destinations offer something special for anyone chasing that frontier feeling: horseback riding, ranch stays or just soaking in the scenery.' Durango, about 335 miles southwest of Denver and 220 miles north of Albuquerque, New Mexico, scored highly for number of lodgings with horseback riding, average cost of ranch-style accommodations and average temperature. The city is among the most affordable for lodging. It is known for its Victorian-era architecture and the scenic Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad. The city has been a backdrop in more than 145 Western films, including The Revenant , The Mask of Zorro and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid . Estes Park, about 65 miles north of Denver and the gateway to Rocky Mountain National Park, scored highly in the study because of its ranch-style accommodations, affordable lodging and 10 nature and wildlife parks. Following No. 4 Colorado Springs and No. 5 West Yellowstone in the rankings are No. 6 Tucson, Arizona; a 7th-place tie between Granby, Colorado and Harrison, Idaho, and an 8th-place tie between Douglas and Cody, Wyoming. The Garden of the Gods attracts tourists year-round to Colorado Springs, one of the best cities, according to a new study, to experience the Wild West. Gary Stoller According to a March story in Vogue , 'a renaissance' of Western fashion and a Wild West travel trend have emerged. The magazine said the emergence can be atributed to Beyoncé's Grammy-winning Cowboy Carter album, the popularity of Western melodrama Yellowstone, Netflix's Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders docuseries and other factors. 'Dubbed cowboy-core, an increasing number of travelers are saddling up to visit destinations where 10-gallon hats are as common as caps and where ranches and rodeos reign,' the Vogue story said.
New York Times
a day ago
- Entertainment
- New York Times
A Playful Story Collection Unbound From Realism or Form
AN ORAL HISTORY OF ATLANTIS: Stories, by Ed Park Fifteen years after his comical debut novel, 'Personal Days,' skewered white-collar work culture in the midst of the 2008 financial crisis, the writer and editor Ed Park published a second novel that reached beyond mundane office realities. Inventive, dense and more than 500 pages long, 'Same Bed Different Dreams' was a demanding literary collage of spy and metafiction devices, real and manufactured South Korean and Korean American history, and pop culture. It went on to become a 2024 Pulitzer Prize finalist and the winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for its energy, ambition and sly humor. Now Park's third book is out, a collection called 'An Oral History of Atlantis' whose 16 stories are similarly unbound by run-of-the-mill realism. Like 'Same Bed Different Dreams,' it is a pastiche of forms and nods to genre fiction, from commentaries on campy sci-fi movies to middle-aged dissections of long-gone relationships to indignant epistolary rebukes. The tales often adopt a knowing, nerd-chic irony. Characters with names like Bethany Blanket and Vernon Bodily are rendered in prose full of writerly self-deprecation and mock hipsterdom: In Portland my handler, Jonas, took me to lunch at a locavore haunt that featured seafood haggis and artisanal jelly beans. Park's flash fictions can be capsules of wit. In one, a man lists the antic behaviors of his medicated wife in a series of repeated assertions: 'The wife on Ambien hacks into my Facebook account and leaves slurs on the pages of my enemies.' The introductory story, 'A Note to My Translator,' is a critique by a disgruntled novelist of an arbitrary translation of one of his books. His lofty, antiquated diction and ego reminded me instantly of Charles Kinbote, the deranged scholar-narrator of Vladimir Nabokov's 'Pale Fire': Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Korea Herald
2 days ago
- General
- Korea Herald
Wallis Annenberg, billionaire philanthropist who backed arts, science and other causes, dies at 86
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Wallis Annenberg, the billionaire philanthropist who supported the arts, science, education and animal welfare causes over decades in Los Angeles, died Monday, her family said. She was 86. Annenberg died at home from complications related to lung cancer, the family said in a statement to the Los Angeles Times. "Wallis transitioned peacefully and comfortable this morning to her new adventure," the statement said. "Cancer may have beaten her body but it never got her spirit. We will hold her and her wisdom in our hearts forever." Her name adorns institutions across the Los Angeles area, including the Wallis Annenberg Building at the California Science Center, the Wallis Annenberg GenSpace senior center and the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts. The Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing, the world's largest bridge for animals on the move, will open next year over an LA freeway. During her 16-year tenure as president and chief executive of the Annenberg Foundation, the nonprofit organization has donated about $1.5 billion to thousands of organizations in Southern California, the Times reported. Under Wallis Annenberg's leadership, the foundation expanded its philanthropic scope beyond media, arts and education to include animal welfare, environmental conservation and healthcare. Her father, Walter Annenberg, started the foundation after selling his publishing empire, including TV Guide and other publications, in 1989 to Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. Walter Annenberg died in 2002. Wallis Annenberg was a longtime board member of LA's Museum of Contemporary Art and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, or LACMA. In 2002, she gave $10 million to endow LACMA's director position. "Wallis Annenberg blessed the Los Angeles community not only with her philanthropy, but also with her guidance about how to improve our community," said LACMA Chief Executive Michael Govan, who filled that endowed position in 2006. Born in Philadelphia, she moved to Los Angeles in the early 1970s after marrying neurosurgeon Seth Weingarten. The couple divorced in 1975. Wallis Annenberg received the 2022 National Humanities Medal from President Joe Biden for her life in philanthropy.
Hindustan Times
2 days ago
- Business
- Hindustan Times
Wallis Annenberg dies at 86: Family, legacy, and net worth of the LA philanthropist
Wallis Annenberg, one of Los Angeles' most influential philanthropists, died Monday morning at her home. She was 86. According to the Los Angeles Times, her family said the cause was complications from lung cancer. Annenberg ran the Annenberg Foundation for nearly 20 years. She had held the top positions of chair, CEO, and president, overseeing approximately $1.2 billion in assets. The foundation, started by her father, media mogul Walter Annenberg, played a major role in funding education, the arts, environmental efforts, and civic projects across the region. Wallis Annenberg dies at 86.(Instagram/ annenberggenspace) Who was Wallis Annenberg? Wallis was Walter Annenberg's only daughter. He built a publishing empire that included TV Guide and Seventeen. After selling the company to Rupert Murdoch in 1988, he launched the Annenberg Foundation. Wallis worked at TV Guide early on and later stepped in at the foundation after her father died in 2002. By 2009, she had full control. She widened its mission. Her focus was not just on media or education-it was local. L.A. local. She pushed for parks, animal shelters, beach access, senior centers, and more. Her major establishments included the Community Beach House in Santa Monica, the GenSpace in Koreatown, and the wildlife crossing in Agoura Hills. Also read: Miami philanthropists donate an American masterpiece to Britain's Tate Modern What was Wallis Annenberg's net worth? According to the Los Angeles Times, she did not discuss her personal fortune extensively, but the foundation's assets were publicly known: approximately $1.2 billion. Under her watch, about $1.5 billion was donated to groups across L.A. County. She also made personal gifts. A few examples: $75 million for the performing arts center that now carries her name in Beverly Hills. $50 million to USC. $10 million to LACMA. Family and what's next Wallis was once married to Dr. Seth Weingarten. They divorced in 1975. She had four children: Lauren, Gregory, Charles, and Roger Weingarten. Three of them-Lauren Bon, Gregory Annenberg Weingarten, and Charles Annenberg Weingarten-are all involved in the foundation and will continue its work. Lauren is an artist. Gregory paints. Charles makes documentaries and runs She also leaves behind five grandchildren and one great-grandchild. FAQs When did Wallis Annenberg die? She died on July 28, 2025, at her home in Los Angeles. How much money did she oversee? Roughly $1.2 billion in Annenberg Foundation assets. Who are her children? Lauren Bon, Gregory, Charles, and Roger Annenberg Weingarten. Was she married? She was divorced from Dr. Seth Weingarten. What is she known for? Leading the Annenberg Foundation and funding key public spaces in L.A.
