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Category: Los Angeles

Bakersfield
News Observer

IN MEMORIAM: The Mighty Sparrow, King of Calypso, Dies at Age 91 in New York

Author U.S. Embassy Trinidad and TobagoNEW YORK — For anyone raised in the Caribbean, or in a Brooklyn, Bronx, or Queens household where the radio stayed tuned to home, there was never a time without the Mighty Sparrow. His voice was simply part of the furniture of our lives: at Carnival, at weddings, at Sunday lunch, in the car on the way to JFK. On Sunday, that voice went quiet.

News Observer October 6, 2026
African Americans
News Observer

Rulings Leave Questions Lingering in Nolan Wells Case

A grand jury declines charges in the Nolan Wells case, a Jackson man pleads not guilty in Tasia Fortune’s hanging death, and a Maryland suicide ruling lands on raw nerves.

News Observer October 6, 2026
African Americans
News Observer

Financial Help May Make Health Coverage More Affordable for Southern California Families in 2027

Covered California has connected nearly 1.8 million people to health insurance this year and actively negotiates with health insurance companies to get the lowest possible prices for consumers.  California’s rate increase of 9.9% is significantly lower than the preliminary national median rate increase of 14% — and why for most of the past decade, the average cost of a benchmark plan in California has been lower than the national average.

News Observer October 6, 2026
African Americans
News Observer

Why Black Artists Struggle to Sell Tours

The internet chatter about Black artists struggling to sell concert tickets points to a much larger crisis reshaping the touring business, according to recent industry reporting and artists’ own comments.

News Observer October 6, 2026
Los Angeles
News Observer

Lakers Split Preseason Back-to-Back

The new-look Los Angeles Lakers got their first taste of game action this week, and it came in two very different flavors.

News Observer October 6, 2026
Los Angeles
News Observer

Chargers Fall to 0-4 in Seattle

SEATTLE — The Los Angeles Chargers put up a season-high 23 points Sunday and still came home empty-handed.

News Observer October 6, 2026
Los Angeles
News Observer

Rams Rally Past Eagles 24-20

PHILADELPHIA — For three and a half quarters Sunday, the Los Angeles Rams looked like a team headed for a 1-3 start. Then Matthew Stafford and Kyren Williams went to work.

News Observer October 6, 2026
Virginia State Capitol, Richmond, Virginia, USA - After a violent storm
Bakersfield
News Observer

Virginia Votes on Ending Its 1902 Lifetime Voting Ban

On Nov. 3, Virginians decide Ballot Question 3, a constitutional amendment that would automatically restore voting rights to people with felony convictions when they leave prison — ending a lifetime ban adopted in 1902. Nearly half the Virginians it affects are Black.

News Observer October 5, 2026
Bakersfield
News Observer

As Halloween Approaches, We Need More Treats and Fewer Legal Tricks; Lawsuit Abuse Awareness Week is October 5-9

As business owners check their mailboxes this Halloween season, they shouldn’t have to fear being targeted by a frightening demand letter threatening costly litigation. Yet for too many California businesses, that fear has become a reality. One of the scariest examples has been the explosion of lawsuits under the California Invasion of Privacy Act (CIPA), a statute written in 1967 to stop illegal wiretapping of landline telephones. This law was never intended to regulate online activity decades before the internet even existed. 

News Observer October 5, 2026
Los Angeles City Hall with sister cities 2006
Elections
News Observer

Los Angeles Mayor, Nov. 3: Karen Bass and Nithya Raman

Two candidates are on the general-election ballot for Los Angeles mayor on Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026. Here’s what the office does, what each candidate says she’d do, and how to check your registration. Observed makes no endorsement.

News Observer October 4, 2026
Different types of state EBT card(s)
Bakersfield
News Observer

Your Child’s $120 in SUN Bucks Grocery Money Is Expiring

About $106 million in federal summer food benefits is still sitting unspent on California families’ EBT cards — and it expires on a rolling basis through mid-November, after which the money goes back to the federal government.

News Observer September 30, 2026
Sacramento,-California---State-Capitol
Bakersfield
News Observer

California Governor, Nov. 3: Xavier Becerra and Steve Hilton

Xavier Becerra (Democratic) and Steve Hilton (Republican) are on California’s Nov. 3 general-election ballot for governor. Here’s what each candidate says he’d do, and how to check your registration.

News Observer September 30, 2026
Georgia State Capitol, Atlanta, Georgia
Bakersfield
News Observer

Georgia Governor’s Race: Bottoms and Jackson on the Nov. 3 Ballot

Georgia voters will choose a new governor on Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026, with Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms and Republican Rick Jackson on the general-election ballot. Here’s what each candidate says they’d do, and the key dates for voting.

News Observer September 30, 2026