The Na’vi oceanic clan who live on Pandora’s reefs will push out Mike, Sulley and the other Monsters Inc. scare factory workers to make room for a new Avatar themed land that will take over an underused back corner of Disney California Adventure.

Disneyland will transform a portion of the Hollywood Backlot area in DCA’s Hollywood Land into an Avatar destination experience at the Anaheim theme park as part of the $1.9 billion DisneylandForward expansion project.

Work will begin on the Avatar themed land transformation in early 2026 when the Monsters Inc. Mike & Sulley to the Rescue dark ride closes to make way for construction.

Walt Disney Imagineering remains in the early stages of development on the Avatar project which is not expected to debut until 2028 or 2029.

DCA’s new Avatar themed land will be based on the second film “The Way of Water” from 2022, the third film “Fire and Ash” coming in 2025 and other upcoming movies in the franchise.

“Just as ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ introduced places on Pandora we’ve never seen before, we are taking our guests to a whole new location,” Imagineering Portfolio Executive Creative Producer Emo O’Brien said during a media event at Disney California Adventure.

ALSO SEE: Disneyland plans to build new Coco ride in Pixar Pier

New concept art depicts visitors wandering through the water-centric land dominated by a towering ribbed rockwork wall with a cascading waterfall and cave-like tunnels. A trio of 30-foot-tall peacock-like plants with purple-tipped palm fronds will accent the land. A translucent Metkayina outrigger canoe with seashells decorating the bow can be seen in the foreground next to an emerald green body of water.

So far, Disney has only discussed a single new attraction for DCA’s Avatar land that promises action and thrills on the wide-open seas of Pandora. The innovative boat ride will take riders on a journey through a Pandoran rainforest glowing in luminescent blues,…

Read the full article here

The post Disneyland to begin Avatar land construction in 2026 appeared first on The LA Monitor.

Read the full article here

The post Thunderstorms trigger lightning, hail and flood warnings around Southern California appeared first on The LA Monitor.

If you’re kicking off your summer vacation on the coast, be warned of rip currents and other hazards this week.

A tropical storm brought big waves to the coast on Monday, with upwards of 6-foot surf along some stretches of the shore. Hazardous conditions are expected to run through Tuesday before trending downward later this week.

“We’re kicking this summer off with a busy start,” said Adam Yacenda, battalion chief for the Newport Beach Marine Safety Department. “We’re seeing waves this time of year that we haven’t seen in a few years.”

Lifeguards have been busy since Memorial Day weekend, when a summer swell hit as big crowds were flocking to the beach, with water temperatures warming and luring people into the strong surf.  That weekend, Newport Beach lifeguards made some 200 rescues.

The National Weather Service put out a beach hazard statement about the elevated surf, which started Sunday, warning caution primarily at south and southwest facing beaches along San Diego and Orange County, as well as Los Angeles coastal regions.

“A beach hazards statement is issued when threats such as rip currents and other hazards are possible,” NWS officials said. “Caution should be used when in or near the water.”

NWS meteorologist Kyle Wheeler said the waves are from tropical system Alvin, which formed last week to the south.

“It just now made it into our area,” he said. “The tropical system also produced some muggy conditions.”

Wheeler said it is the first storm of the year from the Eastern Pacific.

“The long-period swell produces those rolling waves surfers enjoy, which may tempt them to get out there more — but they need to be aware there’s rip currents,” he said.

San Clemente beaches had red flags flying on lifeguard towers to warn beachgoers of the hazards.

Yacenda said lifeguards are not yet fully staffed, so people should always swim near an open lifeguard tower and know their limits.

Rip currents pose a danger not just…

Read the full article here

The post Strong surf, rip currents at some beaches as new swell comes ashore appeared first on The LA Monitor.

Read the full article here

The post Status Update: Planet Fitness opens free summer memberships for teens appeared first on The LA Monitor.

Not so long ago, Lillian Kahan would’ve been an oddity.

She’s 104 years old (“104 and a half,” she corrects), and, until recently, a life of such length was a statistical quirk, rare enough to warrant news coverage or scientific research or at least a cupcake at the local senior center.

These days that’s only half true. Kahan’s age still makes news, and scientists increasingly are interested in people like her. She still gets the odd cupcake.

But the attention isn’t coming because she’s so uncommon. It’s because she’s not.

In fact, being a Kahan – living to 100 and beyond – might be a glimpse of the future.

“Being this old is fun,” Kahan said. “I recommend it.”

Welcome to Ageville

The number of centenarians worldwide has more than doubled over the past 25 years and demographers at the United Nations project that the 100-something crowd will quadruple by mid-century. Today, the biggest centenarian populations are in Japan (146,000) and the United States (108,000). But, soon, countries like China and India, where the overall populations are huge but the aging curve is only now starting to trend upward, will have even bigger 100-something age bubbles. By 2054, nearly 4 million people around the world will be 100 or older.

The trend is expected to be even more pronounced locally. The state projects that from now until 2050, the ranks of centenarians will jump more than fivefold in each of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties.

Of course, centenarians are just the tip of a bigger demographic spear.

Populations are aging up in most advanced economies, at a rate never before seen in human history. In many countries, older people already outnumber children or they’re expected to in the near future. Aging demographics are reshaping everything from retirement plans and immigration patterns to diaper sales and popular ideals about beauty.

Like many aspects of the aging boom, the rise of centenarians is a mixed…

Read the full article here

The post Aging Boom’s next stage: Rise of the 100-somethings appeared first on The LA Monitor.

Rep. Young Kim won’t vote for a budget bill with a state and local tax deduction cap of $30,000.

That’s the number Kim and other Republicans from high-tax states say has been floated as an offer as the powerful House Ways and Means Committee continues work shaping major parts of President Donald Trump’s budget proposal, including the modification of tax provisions.

But they say the proposed $30,000 figure for the tax deduction cap, commonly referred to as SALT, is still too low and would not get their support.

Kim called the $30,000 proposal a “non-starter” and a “slap in the face to the hardworking taxpayers in her district.”

“I’ve become one of the saltiest members of Congress,” she said during a roundtable with small business owners at the Yorba Linda Public Library on Friday, May 9.

Kim and a group of other Republicans from high-tax states — including New York and New Jersey — are complicating House Republican leadership’s efforts to push through the budget bill through the House by Memorial Day, actively campaigning for a SALT cap deduction increase.

Kim said she’d prefer a SALT cap set at $62,000 for individuals. That wouldn’t fully restore deductions for married couples, she said, but that would be a “reasonable offer.”

But when asked what figure she’d be willing to accept if lawmakers couldn’t agree on her proposal of $62,000, Kim said she didn’t have a number. That $62,000 cap, she said, would reflect what works best for her district, and the proposed $30,000 is too low to get her support.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Louisiana, told Politico the $30,000 figure was just a number floated. “It’s still an ongoing discussion among…

Read the full article here

The post Rep. Young Kim rejects SALT cap proposal of $30,000, calling it a ‘slap in the face’ appeared first on The LA Monitor.

Read the full article here

The post Any day is a good day for tacos appeared first on The LA Monitor.

Read the full article here

The post Chihuahua mix Pearl’s friendly, joyful outlook is infectious appeared first on The LA Monitor.

Read the full article here

The post German shepherd Karma is a friendly, social girl appeared first on The LA Monitor.

The U.S. Department of Justice announced this week it is terminating hundreds of federal grants, a move that will impact several Southern California organizations providing victim services and working to prevent crime in local communities.

According to Reuters, the Justice Department is cutting 365 grants totaling $811 million that were awarded to organizations across the country. The Washington Post reported that the Justice Department cited concerns about inadequate vetting processes under the previous administration as the reason for the cancellations.

The cuts span a wide range of programs, including services for domestic violence survivors, trauma centers, crisis hotlines, police training and mental health, juvenile justice initiatives, human trafficking prevention, and hate crime reporting efforts, according to Reuters. Grants supporting criminal justice research were also among those terminated.

A list of targeted programs published by Reuters shows that dozens of organizations across California will be affected, including several in Los Angeles.

One of them is St. John’s Community Health, which is poised to lose $400,000 in funding, President and CEO Jim Mangia said.

“This is a very important grant to hate-crime victims,” Mangia said. “It allowed us to provide case management, care coordination and direct legal services to hate crime victims.”

Mangia said the funding loss is especially concerning given the recent rise in hate crimes. According to the Los Angeles County Commission on Human Relations, reported hate crimes increased by 45% from 2022 to 2023, reaching 1,350 incidents—the highest number recorded since the agency began tracking data in 1980.

St. John’s plans to take legal action in an attempt to have the grant reinstated, Mangia said, and remains hopeful for a positive outcome.

The Urban Peace Institute, based in Los Angeles, is also bracing for major losses. Executive Director Fernando Rejón said programs supported by the…

Read the full article here

The post Justice Department to cut hundreds of grants, many impacting Southern California victim services, crime prevention programs appeared first on The LA Monitor.