High-dollar diners looking to heed the call of the open road should head for the West Coast, where just in time for summer travel season, the culinary authorities at Michelin have curated a culinary map for hungry and deep-pocketed drivers hitting California’s iconic Highway 1. The paved road through paradise covers nearly 700 miles, winding … Read more
Californians hitting the road for the Fourth of July holiday will be forced to fork over nearly a dollar more for a gallon of gas than last Independence Day. As of Thursday, the average price of regular gas in the state stood at a whopping $5.40 per gallon — compared to just $4.57 a year … Read more
California’s massive new desert surf park has finally made its debut, with one surfing star hailing it as the “best wave pool in the world” after helping to test-drive the long-awaited attraction. DSRT Surf, the expansive new Palm Desert oasis set to open in late summer, recently threw its first super session, welcoming some of … Read more
Three Los Angeles County public schools are proving that poverty doesn’t have to dictate academic success. A new national report has identified five California public schools that are dramatically outperforming expectations when it comes to teaching children how to read — and three LA County schools that serve student populations where more than 90% of … Read more
The countdown is on for one of Southern California’s biggest new developments. OCVIBE, the sprawling 100-acre, $4 billion district rising around Anaheim’s Honda Center, has unveiled the first wave of restaurants, public spaces and attractions set to open over the next year — while also revealing an all-star lineup of chefs who will anchor its … Read more
Visitors heading to Irvine’s sprawling Great Park will soon have to pay to park as city leaders look for new ways to plug a growing budget hole. The Irvine City Council voted this week to end the park’s free parking perk, with hourly rates ranging from $2 to $4, and special event parking climbing as … Read more
One of Southern California’s infamous traffic choke points has gotten a high-tech facelift, but it might come with a little extra pain for starters. On Monday, the Riverside County Transportation Commission officially flipped the switch today on a new $33 million “smart freeway” pilot program along an eight-mile stretch of northbound Interstate 15 between Temecula … Read more
New details have finally come out on the newest outpost for cult-favorite In-N-Out Burger, and it’s landing smack-dab in the middle of a $1 billion mega project designed to dwarf Manhattan’s Central Park. The Irvine-based burger behemoth is planting its flag at the Great Park in Irvine, a sprawling 1,300-acre redevelopment of a former Marine … Read more
California’s battered wine industry is spiraling deeper into crisis as vineyard values across wine country plunge, buyers vanish, and experts warn the pain could drag on for years. At an AWG Wine Advisors conference in Santa Rosa on May 21, industry insiders called this downturn one of the toughest in decades. Vineyard owners are now … Read more
Surf City, USA… just without the ocean. Deep in the California desert, a massive new luxury surf park promising 1,000 artificial waves an hour is officially set to open next summer. DSRT Surf, a sprawling new surf resort in Palm Desert powered by Wavegarden Cove technology, announced it plans to launch in summer 2026 with … Read more
A Southern California Christian college has emerged as the Golden State’s most conservative college campus — landing inside a top 25 nationwide ranking for 2026. The Niche college rankings website placed Biola University at No. 24 overall, making it the highest-ranked California school on the list. The private evangelical university is about 25 miles southeast of Los … Read more
Listen closely to how some Californians talk and you’ll hear it. The T sound in words like “water” or “accent” can soften or disappear. “Water” becomes “wader.” “Mountain” turns into “moun-in.” Even “winter” can sound like “winner.” They are small changes. Easy to miss. But linguists say those subtle patterns are part of something bigger. … Read more
Surfer babes and bros in LA know it as the PCH. In sandy-chic Carmel, the realm Dirty Harry once ruled, it’s called the Big Sur Coast Highway. To Santa Crustaceans in Banana Slug country, it’s the Cabrillo Highway or — when they’re trolling, and they always are — Mission Street. Meanwhile, Mendocino’s clandestine Parnassian pot … Read more
A Los Angeles sandwich shop has been crowned the best in California — but fans of cold cuts should cover their eyes. Maciel’s Plant Butcher, which whips up vegan-only creations in Highland Park, was named tops in the Golden State and fifth-best in America, according to a recent ranking by Only In Your State. The … Read more
A viral social media video about a $25 McDonald’s “deal” recently sparked an online debate about California’s minimum wage increase. A TikTok user who posts videos under the username @shannon_montipaya shared the video on Mar. 27. She was in the drive-thru of a Southern California McDonald’s location when she saw a sign for a 40-piece Chicken McNugget meal deal, … Read more
Californians caught the sight of a lifetime when rare clouds recently illuminated the sky. Photographer Rain Hayes tweeted a photo on Dec. 16 of cobweb-looking wisps of clouds in the night sky in Oakland. “Strange bright cloud over Lake Merritt during the tail end of astronomical twilight this morning,” she wrote in her tweet. The … Read more
It sounds like something out of a Disney film, but the crazy moment a scuba diver was rescued by a group of “mermaids” was caught on camera. Pablo Avila was scuba diving off California’s Catalina Island when he suddenly lost consciousness in the water. His friends immediately sprung into action, swimming over to rescue him when … Read more