United States

Some of The Lowest Air Fares in The U.S. Can Be Found in SoCal

If you're tired of L.A. constantly having the some of the highest gas prices in the nation, there's a small consolation. If you're the flying type, the area also has some of the most affordable air fares in the entire U.S. of A. That according to a U.S. Department of Transportation domestic air far ... More >>

Sex Offenders, Narcotics Convicts Working As California Drug Counselors?

A look at California's substance abuse counselors found that at least 23 of them were convicted sex offenders, with many having rape or child molestation on their records. That's according to a California Senate Rules Committee study of our lack of oversight for drug counselors in the Golden State:

What's In Season at the Farmers Market: Morels, Kind Of

Acclaimed American poet William Jay Smith has so far painted the most accurate picture of the morel mushroom, in a short excerpt from his 1969 nature poems series. "Not ringed but rare, not gilled but polyp-like, having sprung up overnight -- these mushrooms of the gods, resembling human organs upro ... More >>

Nearly 1 in 10 California Workers Here Illegally

Nearly one out of every 10 workers in California is here illegally. So says a new USC Center for the Study of Immigrant Integration report. The research, released today, also says that more than 1 in 10 Golden State kids (1.2 million of them, or 13 percent) has at least one parent who's here illega ... More >>

Happy National Pretzel Day Tom Bergin's Classic Recipe

Today is National Pretzel Day, a holiday that is actually Pennsylvanian -- due to the state's early German and Dutch settlers who popularized the snack. It was declared not once, but twice in a span of twenty years by two Pennsylvanian politicians. So celebrate it for the pretzels, which are pretty ... More >>

California Takes Up Soda Tax Idea

California lawmakers are considering a bill this week that would tax sugary drinks to the tune of one cent per fluid ounce. That would add 12 cents to your typical can of Coke -- but not Diet Coke. It would also affect the price of sweet tea, but not tea that you add sugar to yourself. Yes, this is ... More >>

A New Book About the Gay Press, From The Advocate to Anderson Cooper

See also: *Top 12 LGBT Movies You Need To See, as Picked by Film Fest Organizers *Our Queertown column In her highly illustrated, keenly observed book Gay Press, Gay Power: The Growth of LGBT Community Newspapers in America, Chicago-based editor Tracy Baim looks at how gay magazines and newspapers ... More >>

Last Call At 4 a.m. Gets Support Of L.A. Clubs

Guess who's getting behind a state senator's proposal to extend California's last call for alcohol to 4 a.m? It wouldn't take a sober genius to figure out: The L.A. club industry. Yeah, the Muse Lifestyle Group, which owns such Hollywood venues as Playhouse and Sound, is lobbying nightlife denizens ... More >>

Boston Marathon's Los Angeles Runners Listed

Here's a list of Los Angeles area runners, along with their ages and towns, entered to race in today's tragic Boston Marathon. The list does not suggest any of them were injured -- it's just a list of who was at least planning to be there. At least half the field had finished before today's blasts ... More >>

California Ranks Low on 2013 Locavore Index

California chefs -- think Alice Waters and Suzanne Goin -- have led the way in using seasonal, locally-sourced ingredients, practically inventing the concept of "California cuisine" in the process. And so it's surprising to learn that our state placed a miserable 42nd of 51 in a national index ran ... More >>

Henry Rollins: Joe Cole and American Gun Violence

[Look for your weekly fix from the one and only Henry Rollins right here on West Coast Sound every Thursday, and come back tomorrow for the awesomely annotated playlist for his Saturday KCRW broadcast.] Editor's note: Joe Cole was a friend and roommate of Henry Rollins' as well as a roadie for Bla ... More >>

How We Got Here

What Does Climate Change Mean For CA's Wine Industry?

A new study out this week looks at the wine industry through the lens of climate change. The study, which was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, finds that many of the current wine producing regions in the world will be less suitable for wine production, and that at le ... More >>

Q & A With Soul of a Banquet's Wayne Wang: Cecilia Chiang Why the Best Chinese Food in the World is in the SGV

Back in 2011, when it seemed like the entire Bay Area was seized with Chez Panisse 40th anniversary fever, Hong Kong-born, San Francisco-based filmmaker Wayne Wang (Chan Is Missing, Joy Luck Club, Smoke) asked Chez Panisse's founder, Alice Waters, if there was a role he could play. Waters suggested ... More >>

Is Anything 'Made in California' Anymore? Law Would Create Prideful Label

You know you swell up just a little bit when you read that "Designed by Apple in California" label on the back of your iPhone. Don't be too proud, though:

Weird World of Wine: A News Round-Up

Slate: The William Koch lawsuit over counterfeit wine sparks a look at how a $10,000 bottle of wine is a show of "prestige, rarity and age" and not necessarily of quality. NPR: New Jersey winemakers are seeking to formalize a geographical label of sorts -- Outer Coastal Plain -- to circumvent stere ... More >>

Q & A With Lou Amdur: Glazed Hams, Slutty Chardonnays What to Drink at Easter

See also: L.A.'s Wine Bars Are Better Than Ever. Here Are Our Seven Favorites Lou Amdur, may have sold his cozy, Laundromat-and-Thai massage parlor adjacent Hollywood strip mall wine bar, LOU, last March. But he still has that gift for being able to effortlessly hold forth on all things wine and fo ... More >>

Marijuana Movement Gets Own Super-PAC

The marijuana nation has marched, lobbied and voted. But while legalization has been successful in Colorado and Washington and medical pot is available from California to New Jersey, weed is still an outlaw on a federal level, and attempts to change that have so far been futile. But a pair of Cali ... More >>

Illegal Immigrants Should Be Able To Stay In California, Voters Say

We're not sure what's happened in recent years, but California's stance toward illegal immigrants has gone from the hate of the Pete Wilson '90s to almost nothin' but love today (unless, of course, you listen to AM talk radio). USC Dornsife/Los Angeles Times poll numbers released over the weekend s ... More >>

Salt Linked to 2.3 Million Deaths Annually

It's the ultimate salt vs. sugar smackdown! On Monday we reported that sugary drinks have been linked to 180,000 deaths worldwide annually. Now a new report presented at a conference yesterday says that eating too much salt kills 2.3 million people every year, CBS News reports. Researchers looked ... More >>

Donald Freed's Play Tomorrow Interlinks Macbeth, George W. Bush and a Theatrical Dynasty

Sugary Drinks Linked to 180,000 Deaths Annually

Now we know you were all really mad at NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg for trying to ban large-sized sodas. But the man may have had a point. Sugary beverages are linked to more than 180,000 deaths worldwide annually, according to new research presented this week at an American Heart Assn. conference. ... More >>

North Korean Missiles Could Reach California; U.S. Beefs Up Interceptor Defense

Can North Korea hit Los Angeles with a nuclear missile? Yes, theoretically. Its tests have been inconclusive and perhaps even unimpressive so far, but the United States government isn't taking any chances. Today Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel announced that 14 interceptor missiles would be added to ... More >>

Henry Rollins: Our Constitutional Rights Require Constant Vigilance

[Look for your weekly fix from the one and only Henry Rollins right here on West Coast Sound every Thursday, and come back tomorrow for the awesomely annotated playlist for his Saturday KCRW broadcast.] See also: Henry Rollins: Hardcore Nostalgia in Washington D.C. "If destruction be our lot, we ... More >>

Porn-Site Search Terms Reveal California's Kink

In California, we love Asian people. Maybe a little too much. We have more Asians -- 5.5 million of them -- than any other state in America. So maybe there's some self-love there too. And that brings us to ... ... California's favorite porn-site search terms:

L.A., California Streets Crumbling, Will Need Billions To Fix, Report Says

If you think our streets our crumbling before our very eyes, you're not alone. The latest California Statewide Local Streets and Roads Needs Assessment by the League of California Cities shows that our roads are in "rapid decline" and that our budget to fix them is perhaps even worse. The assessme ... More >>

Bludso's: 99 Essential Restaurants 2013

Marijuana Legalization Supported By Record Number Of Californians

You love your weed, California. The latest Field Poll found a new record number of California voters backing total legalization of marijuana. To which we ask, Where the hell were you people when you had the chance to make that happen at the voting booth in 2010? Anyway, the poll also says that a d ... More >>

Budweiser Allegedly Watered Down Beer 5 California Craft Alternatives

Anheuser-Busch InBev is being sued by consumers in Pennsylvania, California and New Jersey with companion suits coming from Ohio and Colorado, Bloomberg reports. The complaint filed in Philadelphia alleges that the alcohol content in a variety of Anheuser-Busch products is overstated, which would vi ... More >>

California Dominates America's Happiest Twitter Cities

Los Angeles might not have made this list of happy cities, but three Southern California towns did. (Are we then, happy by association?). And the University of Vermont found that California was a top 13 happy state and that Napa was the nation's happiest city. They did so by analyzing 10 million ge ... More >>

Overdoses Rise In America, But Don't Blame Marijuana Or Cocaine

You've been having a good time America. Too much of a good time. The Centers for Disease Control's National Center for Heath Statistics looked at the latest data and said this week that drug overdoses were on the rise for the 11th straight year. The good news for L.A., the medical marijuana capita ... More >>

Washington D.C. Trumps California As Most Gay Place in the United States, Says UCLA Study

With all its gay equality laws and gay-friendly cities, you'd think California would have the gayest population by percentage in the nation. Not so, according to a new study from UCLA's Williams Institute. It appears Washington D.C. and eight other states are actually gayer. According to research ... More >>

Balance: A 2013 Conference, an Achievement in California Wine (and a Calder Mobile)

For the past three years, a small group of California chardonnay and pinot noir producers has gathered for a conference and tasting called In Pursuit of Balance. In past years it's been staged in San Francisco and New York; in 2013, for the first time, they brought their wines and their message to L ... More >>

California Leads the Way With 30 Advanced Bio-Fuel Companies, as the Industry Grows and Dreams of Fueling the Future

California has almost 30 advanced bio-fuel companies and refineries, beating out all other states -- but 27 of states are on California's heels, including Illinois, Colorado, Texas and Iowa, with a total of more than 80 advanced bio-fuel companies across the U.S. SynGest Inc, in San Francisco, has ... More >>

5 California Winemakers On The Best "Ripe and Fleshy" Valentine's Chocolate Wine Pairings

Chocolate and wine. Could there be a more classic Valentine Day's pairing? There's one small problem: "The flavors of [dark] chocolate and wine aren't always that compatible," as a Food and Wine article summarized. Sure, there's that tannins on tannins thing, a double hit of bitter acidity in the c ... More >>

Marijuana Legalization Across America Possible Under Federal Bill Proposed Today

Marijuana could be legalized across America under a set of bills proposed by two congressman from decidedly liberal states. Yes, these guys -- Rep. Earl Blumenauer of Oregon and Rep. Jared Polis of the recreational-legal state of Colorado -- are the Don Quixotes of federal weed policy. But we can d ... More >>

Henry Rollins: No More Talk About Shooting Americans, Please

[Look for your weekly fix from the one and only Henry Rollins right here on West Coast Sound every Thursday, and come back tomorrow for the awesomely annotated playlist for his Saturday KCRW broadcast.] See also: Henry Rollins: Tragedy, and How to Carry On I spent a large part of the afternoon at ... More >>

The American Wine Market: More Good News

Market research from the Wine Market Council, in its annual analysis of the American drinks market provides more irrefutable evidence that the United States is becoming a wine culture. The country's drinking habits continue to move toward wine above beer and spirits, making it as the fastest growing ... More >>

California's Latino Demographic Takeover Starts In Summer, Says Gov's Office

This is the year Latinos will overtake whites as the largest ethnic group in California. (Pete Wilson is turning in his grave. Wait, he's still alive?!). So says the office of Gov. Jerry Brown in a "Demographic Information" report attached to its new budget plan, released this week. In fact, the ... More >>

5 Films People Will Be Talking About at Sundance

For the next 10 days, all Hollywood eyes--and those of many a filmgoer--will turn toward the frigid wilds of Park City, Utah, reportedly experiencing its chilliest winter in a decade. Their collective hope: to discover at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival (January 17 through 26) the next Beasts of the ... More >>

Americans are Commonly Dying Under Age 50: Blame Stupid Choices, Too Much Driving and Sitting, and Poverty, Study Says

Everyone wants to live forever. But a study from USC and the National Academies suggests that if you'd like to see 51, it's time a lot of people stopped acting stupid. Americans spend more on health care than anyone, but are less healthy, birth to death, than residents in other developed countries. ... More >>

California's Special Education Students Rank Near Bottom in Reading and Math Nationwide

With new findings coming out of the California Department of Education, the state is clearly failing to provide good instruction to special education students. The Cabinet Report revealed yesterday that special education students in California rank near the bottom in reading and math proficiency co ... More >>

The GMO Fight Moves to Washington State

In November, California had the chance to pass the country's first wide-sweeping law mandating the labeling of foods made with genetically modified ingredients. But after a long fight, with celebrities weighing in and big ag companies pouring millions into a campaign to defeat the law, Proposition 3 ... More >>

Marijuana Dispensaries Could Be Indirectly Feeding Teens' Pot Habits, Says Study

We know, at least according to the latest study, that American teens' weed smoking has been on the rise. And given the increasing legality of marijuana in places like L.A., the pot shop capital of the nation, you have to wonder if there is at least some cause and effect here. One recent study sug ... More >>

Naked Wines: Invest In A Winemaker (And Drink The Benefits)

If your resolutions include expanding your wine fridge offerings beyond Trader Joe's corporate specials, UK-based Naked Wines opened a Napa outpost last year with a wine program that, in theory at least, makes small-batch bottles straight from winemakers more affordable. The California winemaker's ... More >>

Stupid California Traffic Laws For 2013

The problem with having a full-time legislature in a high-stakes political state like California is that these people sometimes feel the need to make laws. Unnecessary laws. You see, members of the state assembly and senate have to show some work when the go home to constituents. But instead of att ... More >>

Smoked Salmon Recalled for Listeria

Put down that lox. It might be loaded -- with bacteria. A Seattle-based company is recalling 371 cases of ready-to-eat smoked salmon because the fish may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes, Food Safety News reports. Ocean Beauty Seafoods LLC issued a voluntary recall of its Nathan's Brand ... More >>

Mark Stambler Hosts Cottage Food Educational Meeting

One of the biggest legislative surprises of the year was the California Assembly's passage of the California Homemade Food Act, which was officially signed in to law by Governor Brown in September. The act legalized the sale of homemade "non-potentially hazardous foods," which, according to the bill ... More >>

Friend Overdosed? Call 911 Without Fear Of Prosecution Under New Calif. Law

You're pal just flat-lined after a night of prodigious partying. And you're afraid to call 911 because you've done some of that illicit partying too. A new law that takes effect Jan. 1 will allow you to do the right thing -- call for help -- without fear of being prosecuted for minor drug violation ... More >>

Researchers Report Coffee Cuts Mouth Cancer Risk by Half

Drinking four cups of caffeinated coffee a day slashes mouth and throat cancer risk by 50%, even if people drink alcohol and smoke, according to CBS News. Researchers from the American Cancer Society in Atlanta said the effect may not be due to caffeine but to the hundreds of natural antioxidants ... More >>