Reagan Morris

It's a beautiful sunny day as usual in Los Angeles and I'm cycling in one of these new protected bike lanes through Hollywood. There's a barrier between me and the cars and I'm moving, you know, almost the same speed as the traffic. More often than not, I'm stuck in gridlock on the other side of the barrier, often moving slower than the handful of bikes that have started using these lanes.

Damian Kevitt, the executive director of the pro cycling group Streets Are For Everyone, knows just how dangerous it can be to ride a bike in L.A.

Bike lanes have transformed Olympic host cities like London and Paris, and Kevitt and others would like to see Los Angeles do the same. He was voicing his support for safer streets at an event showcasing new planned bike routes connecting Griffith Park, where he was hit, with Burbank and Hollywood.

Mimi Holt says she would ride her bike everywhere if neighborhoods were better connected.

L.A. officials also want that, but they're running out of time and money. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and L.A. 28 leaders have been promising a sustainable, transit-first or car-free Olympics. But with just a few years left to go, L.A. has asked the Trump transition team for $3.2 billion in federal funding to make their Olympic transit dreams a reality.

Mayor Best, I know that Los Angeles and former President Trump and soon to be incoming President Trump again have had sort of an acrimonious relationship. You've asked for $3 billion from the Trump administration. Are you optimistic about that?

If they build it, will Angelenos get out of their cars? The City of Stars is a city of cars, and many people here think the idea of a car-free Olympics is absurd.

It's an impossible question. How long does it take to get to Venice Beach?

Siobhan Nzinga, a Burbank resident, does not want new bike lanes near her neighborhood.

But city officials can imagine a different, more connected Los Angeles. And new train stations and bike lanes will make the city easier to navigate, for tourists at least. Some here are skeptical about the locals, or if LA will be able to end its love affair with cars.

With its sun-drenched lifeguard towers, bronzed surfers and bikini-clad volleyball players, Will Rogers State Beach is one of the most recognizable stretches of sand in the world. Thanks to the global cult classic Baywatch. Aber jetzt ist die berühmte Fläche kaum anerkennbar.

Verbrannt von den Ruinen von verbrannten Häusern und Baumwäldern, ist die Parkplätze eine Versorgungsfläche für gefährliche Wäsche aus den Wildschweigen. Die Flüchtlinge der Fläche wurden von der Umweltversorgungsagentur verwendet. Die Entscheidung, durch gefährliche Wäsche auf der Küste zu versorgen, hat Proteste gefordert.

Der Schauspieler Bonnie Wright, die Ginny Weasley in den Harry-Potter-Filmen spielte und ein Buch über Sustainability geschrieben hat, hat Offizielle überprüft, um schädliche Wasserwege nahe ihrer Nähe im Topanga Canyon zu schützen.

The EPA says there is no ideal spot and that speed is of the essence. Steve Kalinog is the EPA's incident commander for the LA fires.

L.A. County closed beaches along a 14 kilometer stretch for weeks following the fires in January. Torrential rain, which helped douse smoldering embers, caused mudslides in the burn area and runoff of toxic ash and chemicals into the ocean.

Now most beaches are reopened, but an advisory remains in effect along the coast from Santa Monica to Malibu, urging people to stay out of the water until further notice. though some will risk most anything to catch a wave. Only the most dedicated and local surfers could access the beaches in the burn area anyway.

There's no parking or stopping for miles along Pacific Coast Highway, which is clogged with trucks and workers cleaning up debris. It's not known how long it will take to rebuild L.A. The scale of the cleanup from the fires is unprecedented, but L.A. is a city known for reinvention.

L.A. 's film crews say it is far too quiet on the set, as productions move to other countries in search of cheaper labor and better tax breaks. The wildfires, which killed at least 29 people and destroyed thousands of homes, have only added to Hollywood's existential crisis.

Director Sarah Adina Smith co-founded Stay in L.A. in response to the wildfires.

Nearly 20,000 people, including actors Keanu Reeves, Zooey Deschanel and Kevin Bacon, have signed the Stay in L.A. petition.

Before the fires, Governor Newsom proposed more than doubling the state's film and TV incentives to $750 million. But that wouldn't come into effect until at least the summer of 2020. if it's approved by the legislature. Critics say the tax breaks amount to corporate welfare, but that they're a necessary evil if LA wants to compete.

Australia, Canada, and the UK now all have more lucrative tax deals for filmmakers than California.

Production designer Mark Worthington lost his home in the Eaton fire. He says many fire victims won't be able to stay and rebuild if there's no work.

Companies don't often make business decisions based on the greater good of workers in one city. But studios are often very responsive to A-list actors.

After the fires, megastar Vin Diesel announced that Universal Pictures would finish filming the latest Fast and Furious movie in Los Angeles 25 years after it started here.

Originally set in working class neighbourhoods of LA, Fast and Furious has been blamed for glorifying the reckless street racing in Los Angeles that persists today. Now maybe the franchise will be credited with preserving some of Hollywood's legacy as a dream factory.

Andrea is 33 and came to the U.S. from Mexico as a child. Like everyone else at this workshop, she didn't want her full name used to protect her identity.

Like many people in California, some members of Andrea's own family supported Donald Trump for president, including her mother, who herself is vulnerable to deportation. Although unable to vote, Andrea's mother urged others to support Trump because she believes he will be better for the economy and that he will only deport criminal immigrants.

Since the election, Californians have come out demonstrating in support of immigrant rights, and the state has vowed to defend its immigrant population. California sued the Trump administration more than 120 times last time Donald Trump was president, and California Governor Newsom convened a special session of the legislature to prepare for possible future lawsuits.

Although Donald Trump lost California, as was expected, he did better here this election than four years ago, with 38% of the Golden State's vote. And he won the presidency with the promise of deporting millions of people.

Critics say he will struggle to keep his promises. Immigration attorneys say the system is so backlogged that they don't see how anyone could deport so many people. Tess Feldman is an immigration attorney for the Los Angeles LGBT Center. She says many of her clients seeking asylum had their cases started under the first Trump administration.

Many are curious how that will work. But critics say any attempt to Trump-proof California is premature and that people should focus on the facts, not the rhetoric. Although the Biden administration was blamed for letting the border get out of control, the fact is his administration deported more immigrants in 2024 than Donald Trump ever did, more than 270,000 people.

That was the highest tally of deportations since Obama was in office 10 years ago.

Wow.

Good morning.

Immigrants packed into a public school in Los Angeles to get free legal advice. Workshops to help immigrants get their papers in order have been held across California since Donald Trump was elected in November. Many here say they are afraid of being deported.

The growing political influence of Elon Musk, the world's richest man, has sparked a wave of protests outside Tesla facilities in the United States. I would like to run Musk out of business. Critics call him President Musk and say the billionaire has too much power in the White House.

As President Trump's chief cost-cutting advisor, Musk has been instrumental in firing thousands of government workers and canceling humanitarian aid contracts around the world. Musk is also the CEO of Tesla, and protesters are urging people to ditch their stock in the company and to stop driving their cars.

Karen Rabwin protested two days after selling her Tesla.

Most Tesla takedown protests have been peaceful, but a few have been destructive, with fires intentionally set at Tesla showrooms and charging stations. And there's also been a spike in Cybertruck vandalism across the country.

While Elon Musk's social media platform X is full of videos showing happy Cybertruck owners marveling at the futuristic-looking vehicles, the site is also full of videos calling Cybertrucks swastikars and deplorians. showing the vehicles emblazoned with swastikas or anti-Musk graffiti.

But Musk and Tesla have many devoted supporters, including President Trump, who used the White House as a backdrop to buy a bright red Tesla this week in front of the cameras.

President Trump said violence against Tesla owners and dealerships would be labeled domestic terrorism.

Elon Musk has billions of dollars worth of contracts with the U.S. government, mostly with NASA and the Defense Department through his company SpaceX. But unlike SpaceX, Tesla is a publicly traded company, and the boycott is working. Tesla's stock price surged after Donald Trump was elected, with Elon Musk by his side.

But Tesla shares have since plunged in value, and driving one of their electric vehicles is now increasingly seen as a political statement.