2025 was difficult for Angelenos. The yr started with the double firestorms, and chaos and uncertainty continued into June when immigration brokers and protesters clashed, because the Trump administration deployed 1000’s of Nationwide Guard troops to town. Unquestionably, these information occasions had been among the many most-read articles revealed by the Los Angeles Occasions this yr.
Nevertheless, a number of different tales made the checklist, together with two notable faith-focused tales, how Cesar Galan joined the priesthood after belonging to a violent L.A. road gang and the way the hosts of a well-liked evangelical podcast generally known as âLadies Gone Bibleâ have change into unlikely spiritual authorities.
To look again on the various tales that outlined this yr, we compiled our most-visited protection into three classes: The articles that attracted the best variety of readers, the tales our viewers spent the longest time studying (most of them are accompanied by audio) and the most well-liked tales that solely our subscribers get to learn.
Most-read tales | Deep reads | Subscribersâ favorites
Most-read tales
(ranked by general variety of visits)
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The Occasions revealed numerous dwell blogs, tales, investigations and have items associated to the catastrophic January fires that blazed by 1000’s of acres, killed 31, compelled the evacuation of roughly 100,000 individuals and destroyed greater than 16,000 constructions.
These tales, undoubtedly, obtained the best variety of visits, because the Eaton and Palisades fires introduced disruption, displacement and uncertainty throughout town.
Residents obtained defective emergency alerts, exposing early on the systemic failures in preparedness, evacuation protocols and emergency response. The Occasions reviewed the aftermath of L.A.âs double catastrophe to name metropolis and county officers to account, reveal essential gaps and make the case for making certain that weâll be higher ready subsequent time.
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The information of the killings of âWhen Harry Met Sallyâ director Rob Reiner and his photographer spouse, Michele Singer Reiner, despatched shock waves throughout Hollywood and the nationâs political institution â Reiner championed progressive causes and was concerned in efforts to problem the proposition that had banned same-sex marriage in California in 2008. Reinerâs son Nick, who struggled with habit for years, was arrested on suspicion of murdering his mother and father.
What we learn about Nickâs habit wrestle and the hours earlier than the director and his spouse had been killed.
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A large earthquake of magnitude 8.8 in Russia introduced tsunami alerts to a large swath of the Pacific. After the tsunami waves arrived in California, advisories had been downgraded and canceled for a lot of the state. Southern California noticed solely modest waves and the best tsunami waves reported on state shores peaked round 4 toes in Crescent Metropolis, about 20 miles from the Oregon border, the place a dock was broken. For a way monstrous the earthquake was, why was there so little injury?
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In September, detectives found a womanâs badly decomposed stays in an deserted Tesla registered to rising singer D4vd at a Hollywood tow yard. Authorities recognized the stays as these of 15-year-old Celeste Rivas, an Inland Empire resident who was reported lacking in April 2024. In keeping with court docket paperwork reviewed by The Occasions, the LAPD is now investigating Rivasâ loss of life as a murder.
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The fifth-most learn story of the yr was these pertaining to the June immigration raids and protests in L.A. On June 6, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement brokers carried out a collection of immigration sweeps, together with two downtown that sparked a tense standoff. Within the following days, immigration brokers and protesters clashed throughout L.A. In a present of pressure, President Trump despatched 2,000 California Nationwide Guard troops to town, marking the primary time in 60 years {that a} president had deployed a stateâs Nationwide Guard with no request from that stateâs governor.
Learn extra about what occurred within the days following the Nationwide Guardâs arrival in L.A. and discover extra immigration tales right here.
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Because the wildfires raged into Wednesday, Jan. 8, scores of fireside hydrants in Pacific Palisades had little to no water flowing out and all water storage tanks within the space rapidly âwent dry.â Gov. Gavin Newsom ordered an investigation into the causes behind the dry hearth hydrants that hampered firefighting efforts and L.A. Metropolis Council known as on townâs water utility to clarify why firefighters ran out of water and why a key reservoir was offline.
Practically a yr later, residents and consultants are analyzing the weaknesses of L.A.âs water programs and are calling to revamp Southern Californiaâs water infrastructure.
Additionally extensively learn: State to probe why Pacific Palisades reservoir was offline, empty when firestorm exploded
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Seven-month-old Emmanuel Haro disappeared on Aug. 14 after his mom, Rebecca Haro, mentioned she was assaulted by an unknown man in a sporting items retailerâs parking zone and was rendered unconscious. The lacking childâs mother instructed investigators that when she awoke, her son was gone. Greater than every week later, child Emmanuelâs mother and father had been arrested on suspicion of homicide.
In keeping with a information launch from the San Bernardino County sheriffâs division, the couple faked the story about their son being kidnapped. In November, Jake Haro, Emmanuelâs father, was sentenced to 25 years to life for the homicide of his son.
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In late January, after President Trump mentioned on social media that the U.S. army had âenteredâ California and âTURNED ON THE WATER,â the U.S. Military Corps of Engineers dramatically elevated the quantity of water flowing from two dams in Tulare County. In a go to to L.A. the earlier week, Trump had additionally vowed to âopen up the valves and pumpsâ in California to ship extra water. Native water managers had been caught off-guard by the choice, however they mentioned they satisfied Military Corps officers to launch much less water than initially deliberate.
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Per week after the Palisades hearth started, a number of areas reopened to residents as officers continued to analyze the reason for the wildfire. Officers targeted their efforts on a well-liked climbing path that reveals the well-known Cranium Rock and views of the Pacific Ocean. The final space was the location of a small hearth on New 12 monthsâs Eve that burned for a number of hours earlier than hearth officers mentioned they extinguished it.
In October, authorities supplied an in depth timeline about what they allege prompted the hearth: The Jan. 1 blaze, now generally known as the Lachman hearth, rekindled to change into the Palisades hearth days later. In addition they concurrently introduced the arrest of a 29-year-old man whom they suspected of setting the preliminary hearth on New 12 monthsâs Eve. He has now been charged with intentionally setting the Lachman hearth.
A Occasions investigation later discovered that firefighters had been ordered to go away the smoldering burn web site, as a substitute of monitoring the burn space for reignitions.
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Over the primary weekend of the January fires, firefighters had been in a position make progress with the assistance of calmer winds and better humidity. As a fleet of plane labored to forestall the Palisades hearth from scorching houses in Brentwood and Encino, officers warned that Santa Ana gusts had been anticipated to choose up once more the next week and cautioned the general public to remain on alert.
Most-read tales | Deep reads | Subscribersâ favorites
Deep reads
(ranked by common time spent on the web page)
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That is the story of Father Cesar Galan, a chaplain at St. Francis Medical Middle, who skilled the bottom second of his life and located the grace to vary within the very hospital through which he now listens to sufferersâ fears, prays with them and affords to listen to their confessions if they’re Catholic. Galan grew up within the coronary heart of Chivas and belonged to its road gang till a bullet spun him all the way down to the bottom on his abdomen.
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For Alejandro SĂĄnchez, reclaiming a gold mine in Mexico, which was taken over by the sons of the drug lord JoaquĂn âEl Chapoâ GuzmĂĄn, was greater than a enterprise proposition. It was a reckoning together with his previous.
For years, SĂĄnchez had labored to revive the mine, encountering corrupt officers and cartel operatives who demanded hefty bribes. He as soon as needed to dive for canopy throughout a firefight. However now he was near resuming operations on the mine with deposits value billions.
Why did the billion-dollar mine matter a lot to SĂĄnchez and was he in a position to reckon together with his previous and reclaim the billion-dollar mine?
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Angela Halili and Arielle Reitsma are finest mates who each have a background in modeling and performing. Practically each week for the final two years, the 2 have shared heart-to-hearts which can be on the core of âLadies Gone Bible,â their faith-based podcast they launched in 2023. The evangelical podcast now has thousands and thousands of listeners and consequently, Halili and Reitsma have constructed a two-microphone megachurch. They’ve gone on a nationwide dwell tour and prayed at President Trumpâs pre-inauguration rally.
The co-hosts of this podcast that tops spiritual charts on Spotify predict {that a} Southern Californian Christian revival is coming.
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Occasions workers author Christopher Goffard revists previous crimes in L.A. and past, from the well-known to the forgotten, in his collection âCrimes of The Occasions.â On this installment of the collection, Goffard examined the 1968 assassination of Robert F. Kennedy in California, after the Trump administration launched a cache of labeled information.
Convicted gunman Sirhan Sirhanâs present lawyer, Angela Berry, mentioned a staff of researchers is combing the information for brand spanking new proof. Have they been capable of finding something of use?
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Because the Eaton hearth devastated components of the San Gabriel Valley, Santa Anita Park stepped up and fulfilled its position as a group citizen. Regardless that the 80-year-old monitor was unaffected by the fires and the air high quality was effectively inside the vary for secure racing, the park canceled racing the primary week after the fires and opened up its expansive area for use as a middle for donation assortment and distribution amongst different charitable gestures.
However horse racing is many years previous the times when spectators lined as much as watch the game. As attendance continues to say no from what it was years in the past, many battle with the unfathomable concept that the monitor might quickly shut or be offered.
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That is the story of Jerardyn, a 40-year-old refugee from Venezuela, who on the top of the immigration raids and protests in Southern California, confronted a painful resolution: After getting into the USA final yr along with her household in hopes of acquiring asylum, Jerardyn would migrate once more, this time, voluntarily.
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Authorities initially dominated the 2023 loss of life of 18-year-old Amelia Salehpour an open-and-shut case of unintended overdose. The medical expertâs workplace agreed, deciding towards a extra thorough post-mortem. However Salehpourâs household was unconvinced. They employed a high-end investigative agency that uncovered proof that Amelia was being groomed for intercourse work, that she was strangled to loss of life and that her loss of life had been made to appear like an overdose.
The contradictory findings have since triggered inside battle amongst L.A. County prosecutors and detectives from the LAPDâs murder and narcotics models.
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From Andrew Garfield to Zendaya, Daniel Craig and Demi Moore, Hollywoodâs largest stars dressed to impress on the 82nd Golden Globe Awards.
Additionally extensively learn: Oscars crimson carpet 2025: Ariana Grande, Mikey Madison and all the perfect seems
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Since L.A. skilled its first wide-scale homelessness in the course of the Nice Melancholy and the housing crunch after World Battle II, it has suffered power homelessness. Former Occasions workers writers Mitchell Landsberg and Gale Holland explored the important thing occasions and insurance policies that formed L.A. to change into the homeless capital of the U.S.
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In April 2024, USC employed a brand new coach for its malesâs basketball program. USC athletic director Jennifer Cohen declared the day Eric Musselman was launched as a âtransformational day for USC malesâs basketball.â Nearly a yr later, in March, Occasions USC beat author Ryan Kartje joined Musselman towards the tip of a tough first season.
Most-read tales | Deep reads | Subscribersâ favorites
Subscribersâ favorites
(subscriber-exclusive tales ranked by variety of visits)
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A brand new California housing invoice, which took impact July 1, has modified the best way owners associations are allowed to self-discipline owners. The modifications got here simply in time for Jinah Kim, who was set to be fined as much as $500 per day for fixing a doorway inside her rental despite the fact that her owners affiliation mentioned she couldnât. Below the brand new guidelines, she now owes solely $100.
Will the brand new guidelines enable owners to get away with issues they shouldnât and abuse group guidelines?
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In July, speak present host Phil McGrawâs TV community, Benefit Road Media, which launched final yr, filed for chapter safety from collectors and sued its distribution associate, Trinity Broadcasting Community. Throughout a virtually three-hour listening to in Dallas in October, U.S. Chapter Choose Scott Everett mentioned that heâd âby no means seen a caseâ just like the Chapter 11 submitting Dr. Philâs firm was trying.
How did the genial superstar psychologistâs media community crash?
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Coming into the job market could be a hectic endeavor for brand spanking new graduates and for a contemporary technology of scholars behind them who’re making ready to begin their faculty journeys. The unemployment fee for current faculty graduates is at its highest nationwide since 2021. What are the lowest- and highest-paying majors in line with a Federal Reserve Financial institution of New York report?
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This investigation was so common, it additionally landed on our checklist of deep reads.
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Yearly for the final 13 years, The Occasions has revealed its important information to L.A.âs eating scene. This yr, Occasions restaurant critic Invoice Addison took the problem additional and spent months journeying California to seek out the perfect eating places that depict the stateâs eclectic meals scene precisely. As a substitute of rating the eating places that make the Golden State, in Addisonâs phrases, a âculinary juggernaut,â the checklist, which is simply a starting, affords a glimpse into the cultures and diversities that make up California. Begin consuming!
Additionally extensively learn: These are the 101 finest eating places in Los Angeles
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That is the grisly story of Patrice Miller, 71, who was discovered lifeless along with her proper leg and left arm partially gnawed off in her kitchen and whose post-mortem decided, officers mentioned, that she had in all probability been killed by an animal after it broke into her house. Millerâs loss of life marked the primary recognized occasion in California historical past of a deadly bear assault on a human and has sparked more and more heated battles round predators within the state.
What options are lawmakers representing conservative rural districts within the stateâs rugged northern reaches pushing ahead? Would measures to thrust back Californiaâs predators enhance security?
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Tulsa Distant is a program that pays distant employees to relocate to Oklahomaâs second-largest metropolis for not less than a yr. Since its inception in 2019, this system has attracted greater than 3,600 distant employees. Greater than 7,800 Californians have utilized to this system and 539 have made the transfer.
Why are Californians shifting to Tulsa by this system, cementing California because the second-most common origin state behind Texas?
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In a newer version of the âCrimes of the Occasionsâ collection, Goffard writes a couple of 50-year-old West Virginia man, Alex Baber, who dropped out of highschool and taught himself codebreaking. Baber now says he has cracked the Zodiac killerâs id, and within the course of solved the Black Dahlia case as effectively.
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This collection attracted a excessive variety of readers and likewise landed on our checklist of deep reads.
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Synthetic intelligenceâs coding capabilities and instruments are quickly advancing, making skilled engineers extra productive. However these enhancements now outpace entry-level programmers, making job prospects for early-career software program engineers harder to seek out.âWe donât want the junior builders anymore,â mentioned Amr Awadallah, chief government of Vectara, a Palo Alto-based AI startup. âThe AI now can code higher than the common junior developer that comes out of the perfect colleges on the market.â
