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Bass focuses on 'customer experience of Angelenos' with new executive directive

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:42:14 GMT

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass is leading the charge to improve city services for residents.On Monday, Bass signed Executive Directive 5, which intends to "improve the customer experience of Angelenos requesting city services like graffiti removal, pothole repair, and bulky item pick-up by decreasing wait times, enhancing the quality of the service and better communicating the result of the operation," her office said in an announcement. To demonstrate the types of improved services Angelenos can expect, Bass visited a Boyle Heights home for the pickup of a bulky item, the "most common city service request," according to Crosstown LA."Haul a mattress or old desk out to the curb, call 311, and sanitation crews will usually remove it on the next regularly scheduled trash day, for no fee (beyond taxes already paid)," the outlet explained.On Monday, Bass said that "we need to upgrade our services," both in the way residents experience them and in outcomes. "The city is here to deliver, an...

This California city is growing faster than any other

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:42:14 GMT

Even with California seeing more people leave the state than move in, some Golden State cities are still growing ... and growing rapidly.SmartAsset has released a list of the fastest-growing cities with populations over 100,000 in the United States, and two California municipalities landed in the top 20.Menifee in Riverside County saw its population grow from 90,599 in 2017 to 109,399 in 2022, or 17.4%, ranking 9th in the nation. Leaving California: These were the top destinations for Californians who moved in 2022 In Placer County, Roseville’s population surged from 135,325 to 154,826, or 12.2%, ranking 20th.SmartAsset, a financial tech company, ranked 344 cities based on U.S. Census data. It found that southwestern cities, many of them desert suburbs, dominated the top of the list.Buckeye, Arizona saw its population explode 48% from 2017 to 2022. Enterprise, Nevada grew by 46% and Goodyear, Arizona surged 27%.Over the same time period, California’s largest and most expensive cit...

7 must-see spots in Southern California’s deserts

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:42:14 GMT

California’s deserts — the Mojave, the Colorado — may not be the most enticing places to be in mid-summer, when temperatures soar above the century mark. But winter brings cooler temperatures and fewer crowds, and spring adds wildflowers to the mix. In other words, this is the perfect time to plan a sunny sojourn south.If you go, make sure these strange and beautiful places are on your itinerary, from the surreal, sunset-hued rock formations and spiky trees of Joshua Tree National Park to the arid landscapes of Death Valley, which partially reopened to the public in mid-October after catastrophic flash floods in August.Don’t miss the movie set-like Pioneertown in California’s High Desert. Built in 1946 as a filming location, Pioneertown exudes an 1880s Western vibe — movies such as “The Cisco Kid” and “Judge Roy Bean” were filmed here. It’s also home to Pappy & Harriet’s Palace, an atmospheric honky tonk tha...

Classic rock act is really, really, super-duper serious about not retiring soon

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:42:14 GMT

Lynyrd Skynyrd guitarist Rickey Medlocke told us earlier this year that — despite having announced its farewell tour in 2018 — the band actually is not retiring “anytime soon.”To further underscore that point, Skynyrd has announced 36 more concert dates for 2024, as they continue on with their joint co-headlining Sharp Dressed Simple Man Tour with fellow Rock and Roll Hall of Famers ZZ Top.The trek includes a stop at the Toyota Pavilion in Concord on Sept. 19. The full itinerary is listed below.Tickets go on sale to the general public at 10 a.m. Nov. 3, livenation.com (for the Concord show). There is a artist pre-sale that begins at 10 a.m. Oct. 31. Visit https://www.lynyrdskynyrd.com/#tour for more information.LYNYRD SKYNYRD & ZZ TOP: THE SHARP DRESSED SIMPLE MAN TOUR DATES:3/08     Savannah, GA                                                 Enmarket Arena3/09     Estero, FL                                                       Hertz Arena3/14     Green...

Explore limestone caves at Mitchell Caverns, a hidden gem in the Mojave Desert

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:42:14 GMT

Let’s say you’re on your way to Needles.OK, you’re probably not on your way to Needles. But say you’re headed to Las Vegas or Lake Havasu, and you’re looking for a fascinating stop along the way. Or perhaps you’d like to plan a road trip – the kind that whisks you away from the daily grind and takes you whooshing down wide desert roads to a destination that seems to exist out of time, a place where you won’t be bothered because cell service is spotty, and you’re too awed by nature to answer a call anyway.This is the trip for you.Mitchell Caverns is a gem of the California State Parks system, home to magnificent limestone caves and unique wildlife. Though the park is remote, it’s an easy, two-hour drive from Barstow to the 5,900-acre Providence Mountains State Recreation Area – a place to be savored.Here, the rugged mountains, cactus-dotted canyons and gnarled pine trees conspire to evoke awe. This is a sky island, where the habitat shifts dramatically with the elevation gain, so the...

Stanford says it is investigating after hacker group threatens to release confidential information

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:42:14 GMT

Stanford University said Monday it was investigating a “cybersecurity incident” after a ransomware group threatened to release confidential information from the university’s Department of Public Safety on the dark web.According to a screenshot posted to social media by cybersecurity analyst Brett Callow, the ransomware group ‘Akira’ holds 430 gigabytes worth of internal data from the Department of Public Safety, including confidential documents and private information. The group instructed those interested in the information to contact them.#Akira has listed #Stanford University. #ransomware 1/2 pic.twitter.com/Jya3hbnDNn— Brett Callow (@BrettCallow) October 27, 2023“Stanford University is one of the world’s leading research universities. Stanford is known for its entrepreneurial character, drawing from the legacy of its founders, Jane and Leland Stanford, and its relationship to Silicon Valley,” the Akira threat reads. “So...

Recipe: The Pie Hole’s Lemon-Pear pie

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:42:14 GMT

Rebecca Grasley, co-founder of Los Angeles-based The Pie Hole, usually makes this pie around Thanksgiving, when pears are in season in her Pennsylvania hometown. Now she’s sharing the how tos in her new cookbook, “Pie is Messy” (Ten Speed Press, $28).“The combination of the pears and the lemon filling is a little unusual, but it’s always a hit,” she writes in the new book, which features recipes for 100 different kinds of pie, crusts and toppings.Lemon-Pear PieMakes one 9-inch pieINGREDIENTS1 recipe of Moe’s pie crust1 egg“Pie is Messy” (Ten Speed Press, 2023) 1 cup sugar1 teaspoon grated lemon zest1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice1 tablespoon salted butter6 to 8 pears, peeled, cored and cut into small dice (about 6 cups)DIRECTIONSHeat the oven to 400 degrees.Roll the pastry dough into two rounds for the bottom and top crusts. Lay the bottom crust in a 9-inch pie pan and trim the edges.In a medium saucepan, whisk together the egg, su...

Recipe: The Pie Hole’s Spiced Hot Chocolate Pie

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:42:14 GMT

This recipe draws its inspiration from a tasting that The Pie Hole had for family and friends before their first bakeshop opened in Los Angeles’ Arts District. A Mexican restaurant had heard about the new pie shop and asked the founders to consider developing a pie for them, says Rebecca Grasley, Pie Hole co-founder and author of new “Pie is Messy” cookbook (Ten Speed Press, $28).“So we got to thinking: How could we incorporate Mexican flavors and ingredients into a pie? That collaboration ultimately never happened, but we got our wonderful spiced chocolate pie,” she writes.The bakery version uses a chocolate ganache filling spiked with pasilla peppers and cinnamon, but this home cook-friendly version from the new cookbook uses a vanilla pudding mixed with cinnamon-spiced chocolate.Spiced Hot Chocolate PieMakes one 9-inch pieINGREDIENTS1⁄2 recipe Moe’s PiecrustFilling:4 cups whole milk2 tablespoons salted butter4 egg yolks1 cup granulated sugar1/4 cup c...

Recipe: The Pie Hole’s secret pie crust

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:42:14 GMT

Pie crusts can be daunting. But don’t be discouraged, says Becky Grasley, the baker behind Los Angeles’ The Pie Hole pie shops and author of a new cookbook, “Pie is Messy” (Ten Speed Press, $28).“There is a learning curve,” she says. “You’re going to start out and make a crust that’s too dry, for instance, and you can’t roll it out. It cracks and you try to paste the cracks together. But if you start with the flour and the shortening, and then the ice water (which is key to making a flaky crust) and the salt — that’s all there is to the crust. You can use butter instead of the shortening or lard.  Practice makes perfect, but every crust is delicious.“It’s never too late to learn,” she adds. “I almost prefer, if you’re going to make a mistake, to make the crust on the soft side and add too much water because when you go to roll it, the flour on the counter will soak up some of it.”Ho...

American hockey player Adam Johnson dies after getting cut in the neck by a skate

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:42:14 GMT

NOTTINGHAM, England (AP) — American hockey player Adam Johnson, who appeared in 13 NHL games with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2019 and 2020, has died after his neck was cut by a skate blade during a game in England on Saturday, his team said. He was 29.Johnson was playing for the Nottingham Panthers in a Challenge Cup game against the Sheffield Steelers when he suffered the skate cut during the second period of the Elite Ice Hockey League game at Sheffield’s Utilita Arena.“The Nottingham Panthers are truly devastated to announce that Adam Johnson has tragically passed away following a freak accident at the game in Sheffield last night,” the team said Sunday.“The Panthers would like to send our thoughts and condolences to Adam’s family, his partner and all his friends at this extremely difficult time. Everyone at the club including players, staff, management and ownership are heartbroken at the news of Adam’s passing.”A Minnesota native, Johnson spent 13 games over parts of the 2018-1...