For many families facing the fire’s aftermath, baseball became a refuge: a place for joy, community and hope.
As springtime rolled around a few weeks after the fire, the idea of a season without baseball felt like another blow the Altadena’s Little League community simply couldn’t take. So the parents and coaches and organizers of the league took on what would become a herculean task.
On opening day last year, almost 20 Altadena-based teams kicked off what would become a historic season no matter the outcome.
Then, somehow, the league’s Braves team of 10- and 11-year-olds pulled off a string of playoff victories no one thought possible.
“Kind of like when the New Orleans Saints won the Super Bowl after Katrina, we were like, ‘Wouldn’t it be awesome if some special moment happened this year?’” said Robert “Trey” Milton III, a lifelong Altadenan and former Central Altadena Little League player who helped organize the league’s post-fire comeback.
Read more at the link in bio 🔗.
📸: @genaro4707 and @robgauthier
Today, Original Tommy’s World Famous Hamburgers is selling chili burgers for 80 cents at any of there locations from noon to 8 p.m., because Tommy’s is turning 80 years old.
Which raises an important line math question, how long can you wait in line before the deal stops being worth it?
Yesterday @tomexploresla stopped by the original location and paid $6.04 after tax for a chili burger. Today that same burger is about 87 cents after tax, which means you save roughly five bucks.
If your time is worth around $20 an hour, the line stops being financially worth it at about 15 minutes for one burger (this deal is limited to 3 burgers per person).
After that, you are no longer saving money. You are participating in a cultural event.
How long would you wait in line for a Tommy’s Chili Burger?
In private, tensions gripped negotiations that touched nearly every major issue on Trump’s agenda.
China’s Foreign Ministry did not comment on any commitment to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
Read more at the link in bio.
Director Jon Erwin used AI to produce “The Old Stories: Moses” in one week on a Los Angeles soundstage.
Amid rapid technological change, a growing number of filmmakers and companies in Southern California are using AI tools to radically rethink how films and TV shows are made.
Although much of Hollywood is bracing for AI to hollow out jobs, Erwin argues that AI can return at least some production jobs that have been outsourced.
Read more at the link in bio.
The likelihood of a potentially powerful El Niño taking shape in the Pacific Ocean is rising, heightening concerns that Southern California could be in for an extreme rainy season.
There is now an 82% chance that El Niño is likely to emerge over the next few months, up from the 61% chance estimated a month ago. And there’s now a 96% chance that the climate pattern — characterized by warmer ocean waters in the central and eastern tropical Pacific — will be in force this winter, the National Weather Service’s Climate Prediction Center said Thursday.
It remains to be seen how strong this iteration of El Niño could be. There’s up to a 37% chance that it will be “very strong” by the end of the year, up from a forecast of 25% issued last month.
There’s also a 30% chance El Niño will be “strong,” a 22% chance it’ll be “moderate,” and a 9% chance it’ll be “weak,” forecasters said.
Read more at the link in bio.
📷 @alschaben
The problem is not where to find photos on Route 66. The problem is putting down the camera, especially during this centennial year, when the road is dressed up with more lights, banners, murals and fresh paint than it has seen in decades.
Click the link in bio to see the full gallery of photos from this iconic American artifact, and our tips for capturing brilliant snapshots of neon signs, cool landmarks and other sights throughout your trip.
📷 Christopher Reynolds, Mike Simons, Mark Lipczynski, David Fouts for The Times
"Fast & Furious" played a special midnight screening at the 2026 Cannes Film Festival. Actor Vin Diesel, star of the franchise, spoke to the crowd ahead of the screening about his history with the festival and what the film's fans mean to him.
Over four-years, a Los Angeles school district manager enriched herself with $3 million in kickbacks by working with a tech company executive to deliver $22 million in work, according to allegations in a lawsuit filed by the school district.
She gave high scores to secure contracts, signed off on increasing payouts to the firm and used shell companies to launder money siphoned from the contracts, the suit said. To apparently keep herself on task, the former employee, Hong “Grace” Peng, 53, wrote a note to herself and posted it on her district office phone to “promote” the contracting firm and “redirect more business to” it, the lawsuit alleges.
Now, the Los Angeles Unified School District wants its $22 million back.
Read more at the link in bio 🔗.
📸: Getty Images
Social media videos are displacing traditional television ads in L.A.'s mayoral campaigns, with Spencer Pratt's ads reaching over 13 million views while other candidates deploy varied digital strategies based on their resources.
Mayor Karen Bass leads fundraising at nearly $4 million, investing heavily in streaming platforms and broadcast television, while lower-budget candidates lean on targeted social media, podcasts and outside group support for visibility.
Yet viral reach extends far beyond Los Angeles voters, forcing campaigns to combine traditional voter targeting and outside spending with trending videos to effectively reach the city's actual primary electorate.
Read more at the link in bio.
Shark sightings have surged at Southern California beaches during an unusually warm spring, and experts predict a “sharky summer” ahead.
Juvenile great whites seen near local shores do not view humans as food, and the risk of negative encounters is low.
Sharks play an essential role in balancing ocean ecosystems; their presence signals a healthy marine environment.
Read more at the link in bio.
Some people take on Route 66 in one epic driving session. Others nibble at it mile by mile, year by year. Either way works, so long as you don’t hurry.
As many a “roadie” will tell you, the best parts are unplannable: the people you didn’t expect to meet, the detour you didn’t have in mind. En route, you are likely to meet travelers from Europe, innkeepers with Indian roots, photo geeks, recent retirees, commercial archaeologists, families, car guys, nostalgic boomers, and maybe an influencer or two. Talk to all.
Over the course of the 2,448-mile route from Chicago to Santa Monica, there’s enough to keep any explorer busy. Click the link in bio to see the full list of stops that Times journalist Christopher Reynolds made that he’d recommend to anyone.
