Dakota Smith covers the San Fernando Valley for the Los Angeles Times. She is part of the team that won the 2023 Pulitzer Prize in breaking news for reporting on a leaked audio recording that upended City Hall politics. She joined the newsroom in 2016 and previously covered City Hall for the Los Angeles Daily News. She is a graduate of Lewis & Clark College and lives in Los Angeles.
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Overtime for police officers responding to the protests reached nearly $12 million, according to the city’s top budget analyst.
At least a dozen groups are planning anti-Trump protests in the Los Angeles area Saturday, following eight days of immigration enforcement demonstrations.
Over and over, John Lee, who was then Englander’s chief of staff, denied accepting gifts or breaking city laws. Under grilling by an city ethics enforcement officer, Lee described stuffing $300 into the pocket of a businessman to cover his drinks at a nightclub.
Amid a corporate fundraising effort described as “going gangbusters,” 2028 L.A. Olympics organizers are confident the city will not have to pay for the Games.
In an interview with The Times, Staycee Dains said she felt powerless to solve entrenched problems that included severe understaffing and employees who mistreated or neglected animals.
Suspected members of a South American crime group are accused of committing burglaries in Burbank and other cities in California, Oregon and Washington.
A kit-built plane crashed in Simi Valley, killing two passengers and a dog. It was the second crash of that model aircraft in the last five months.
Two people and one dog are dead after a single-engine aircraft crashed into a residential area of Simi Valley. Two homes were damaged.
Tujunga residents are outraged over a hauling operation in their neighborhood. L.A. County officials contend the soil is safe and say more storm debris will be trucked in.
Three men were arrested on suspicion of killing another man during an alleged home-invasion robbery in Woodland Hills, the L.A. Police Department said.