Hidden Los Angeles

10/21/2026

One of Los Angeles’ oldest restaurants is getting a second helping of life.

10/21/2026

10/15/2026

👎🏼

A classic California diner could soon be reduced to rubble.

10/13/2026

09/21/2026

We’re late to this very sad news. We only recently learned that HLA friend Steve Appleton, co-founder of L.A. River Kayak Safari, passed away on July 25.

Steve was a public artist, environmental activist and longtime Elysian Valley resident who became one of the L.A. River’s most dedicated advocates.

Hidden LA was already spending plenty of time exploring the river when we met Steve back in 2012, but he quickly became someone we were always happy to work with and point people toward. We spent a lot of time with him over the years, and I was lucky enough to kayak the river with him several times.

Steve cared deeply about the river, its wildlife and its future, but what I remember just as much was how easygoing he was. He was knowledgeable, funny, kind, generous with his time, and genuinely enjoyable to be around. He had a warm way of sharing his enthusiasm that made people want to know more.

Through L.A. River Kayak Safari and years of advocacy, Steve helped thousands of people experience the Glendale Narrows from the water and appreciate just how special this surprisingly wild stretch of Los Angeles can be.

We’re very grateful for the time we got to spend with him and very sad to know he’s gone.

L.A. River Kayak Safari is still carrying on the river experience Steve built in Frogtown. The Elysian Valley paddling season has ended for 2026, but please keep them in mind when the river reopens next year.

Rest in peace, Steve. 🙏🏼💕

L.A. River Kayak Safari:
https://lariverkayaksafari.org

Elysian Valley— Steven James Appleton, an artist, environmental activist and founder of L.A. River Kayak Safari, died July 25 after an 18-month battle with esophageal adenocarcinoma, according to a post

09/17/2026

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This 3354 square feet Single Family home has 4 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. It is in the Echo Park neighborhood in Los Angeles, CA.

09/13/2026

No one wants to buy LA's most famous midcentury house

09/11/2026

09/10/2026

BREAKING🚨 ICE agents took a Los Angeles family in a raid. and left their dog behind. A year later she has been through multiple homes and shelters and still has nowhere to go.

Macey, a 6-year-old shepherd-husky mix in Los Angeles, was left behind when her family was swept up in an immigration raid in 2025. She has bounced between homes and shelters ever since.

Victoria Begler, the founder and director of GSL Rescue, pulled Macey out of a shelter 10 months ago, on the day she was set to be euthanized.

"She was in much better condition than most of the animals we see in the shelter," Begler said. "Her previous family had gotten her spayed already. She clearly had been very loved and cared for."

One family took her home and returned her. Another took her recently as a trial adoption and returned her too.

Begler said it is likely the sudden separation from her original family that is making it so hard for Macey to settle with anyone else.

"Macey cannot go back into a shelter, because she was on a euthanasia list, meaning if she's returned to the shelter, she will be euthanized," Begler said. Without an adopter or a foster, the rescue will have to move her into a boarding facility.

At least 15 dogs were surrendered at L.A. County shelters because of deportations in a single three-and-a-half-week stretch after the raids began.

Dogs relinquished at the county's Palmdale shelter more than doubled compared with the same month the year before.

Euthanasia rates for dogs at L.A. city shelters climbed 57% in April over the previous April. No government agency tracks how many pets have lost their homes to the crackdown.

Asked about animals left behind, the Department of Homeland Security said ICE "does NOT impound property," and did not explain further.

Begler said that if someone is willing to give Macey the same loyalty she gave her first family, "I think she could be somebody's soul dog."

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09/06/2026

When Los Angeles started cutting arts education out of its public schools, Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers did not write an open letter.

In 2001 he and his childhood friend Keith Barry opened the Silverlake Conservatory of Music.

It is a real music school. Lessons are priced so ordinary families can afford them, and any child whose family cannot afford them at all is given a scholarship. There are ensemble classes, summer camps and workshops.

It opened at Sunset Junction and it is still going, twenty-five years later, now on Hollywood Boulevard.

Flea learned music as a kid in Los Angeles because the schools taught it. When the city stopped, he built the replacement himself and has kept it open ever since.