So really, what is calendar duty? L.A. Material's @matt-hamilton87.bsky.social breaks down the ongoing litigation against former D.A. George Gascón, and why L.A. County taxpayers are now footing the bill. Read the full investigation: lamaterial.com/p/gascon-da-...

On almost any given day, the center median of Larchmont Boulevard is packed with cars parked in flagrant violation of the California Vehicle Code. L.A. Material’s Tomo Chien reports from the scene on what has become a daily "Carmageddon." Read more: lamaterial.com/p/larchmont-...

Forget Spain vs. Argentina. The real international showdown was L.A. Material's Culinary Cup. 🏆 And the winner is... Sara’s Empanadas, representing Paraguay! 🇵🇾 Sara Dominguez cooks Paraguayan classics from her Torrance home kitchen. Read more about the winner: buff.ly/uU8XUHn

How did luxury ice get so hot? L.A. Material contributor Anna Holmes traces the rise of bespoke ice, learns what makes it unique, and gets into the details with the L.A.-based representative for the Japanese ice company that supplies trendy bars like Vandell. Read more: buff.ly/Yky6xH1

LAST CHANCE to crown L.A. Material’s Culinary Cup champion! 🏆 It’s down to the final matchup — Paraguay vs. Mexico: 🇵🇾 Sara's Empanadas vs. 🇲🇽 Angel's Tijuana Taco Voting closes TONIGHT. Cast your ballot and help decide who takes home the title: buff.ly/A9aKiMc

L.A. Material’s Tomo Chien found that L.A. issued nearly $1 million in invalid street sweeping tickets — many in one of the city’s poorest neighborhoods. LADOT claims it voided them but wouldn’t release the data to prove it. Check if your street sweeping ticket was invalid: buff.ly/zxkUcrI

The championship is set! 🏆 After weeks of voting, L.A. Material readers have picked the Culinary Cup final matchup: 🇵🇾 Sara's Empanadas vs. 🇲🇽 Angel's Tijuana Taco Voting closes TOMORROW. Cast your vote and crown the champion in today's newsletter: lamaterial.com/p/spiny-lobs...

Many Los Angeles elected officials, it turns out, love to leave online reviews. L.A. Material’s Tomo Chien spent hours scouring the internet for Yelp reviews by Southern California politicians — then built an interactive map of their ratings. Explore the full map: lamaterial.com/p/la-politic...

The semifinals continue as Mexico takes on Colombia for a spot in the final! SEMIFINAL MATCHUP: 🇲🇽 Angel’s Tijuana Taco vs. 🇨🇴 La Fonda Antioquena Vote now in today’s newsletter and help crown the Culinary Cup Champion: lamaterial.com/p/rotting-fo...

L.A. Material's Summer Kickback is on! ☀️ Refer friends to our free newsletter to earn exclusive merch, discounts, and a $10 gift card towards any beverage at Homage Brewing. Top the leaderboard, and you'll earn an invite to our already-legendary end-of-summer party.

FINAL CALL: Nominate a restaurant to compete in L.A. Material’s Culinary Cup. 🏆⚽ Upgrade to join the L.A. Material Forum on Discord — if you haven’t already — to submit the restaurants you think deserve a spot and help shape the final championship bracket. Join the conversation: buff.ly/7Y7f4xm

How worried should you be about this air? Join L.A. Material at 7:30 p.m. tonight for a Zoom conversation with experts about L.A. air quality amid the ongoing Boyle Heights warehouse fire. Register now: lamaterial.com/airquality

This is the late-night text message Mayor Karen Bass sent Nithya Raman the night before Raman filed to run for mayor. Obtained via a public records request.

JUST IN: Nithya Raman has now surpassed Spencer Pratt by 0.4%, making it likely that she will face Mayor Karen Bass in November.

JUST IN: A Bass-Raman runoff in November is looking more likely, according to Saturday's batch of election results. Councilmember Nithya Raman gains 2.24 points on Spencer Pratt, cutting his lead to 1.11% in the L.A. mayor's race.

JUST IN: Nithya Raman narrowed the gap between her and Spencer Pratt, with 5.93 percentage points separating them.

Who is The Hiding Man of Griffith Park? A guerrilla artist, who wanted to remain anonymous, has made the park his canvas. His medium: Strange signs. Read the full story: lamaterial.com/p/hiding-man...

Why is the escalator at the AMC Burbank 16 always broken? It’s become one of America’s most notorious escalators. To find out why, L.A. Material contributor Alex Zaragoza went all the way to the top. Read the full story: lamaterial.com/p/why-is-amc...

Joseph Freeman went viral for bashing UCLA’s Sigma Chi fraternity. But there’s a darker story off screen. L.A. Material’s Tomo Chien dug into how Freeman has left a trail of disturbing phone calls and online intimidation, and how authorities have struggled to stop him. lamaterial.com/p/joseph-fre...

The fraud case that L.A.’s top federal prosecutor rarely talks about. Trump’s man in L.A., Bill Essayli, once represented relatives accused of running a massive scheme to defraud Target to buy millions of dollars in goods. Read the full story in today’s newsletter: lamaterial.com/p/when-trump...