Week in review: Mayor Bass pledges to make 'A New L.A.'

Inside Mayor Bass' first budget, a great big guide to Disneyland and more. ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ [Los Angeles Times] [Essential California Newsletter] April 22, 2023 [View in browser]( [Click to view images]( Angeles Mayor Karen Bass delivers her State of the City address at Los Angeles City Hall. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times) By Kevinisha Walker Good morning, and welcome to the [Essential California newsletter](. It is Saturday, April 22. Here’s a look at the top stories of the last week Mayor Bass seeks $250-million expansion of the city’s homelessness program in her first State of the City speech. Mayor Karen Bass announced a [dramatic expansion of her signature program]( to move homeless people indoors, while also pledging to create “a new L.A.” According to [documents]( released by Bass’ office, the money is [distributed]( across 31 departments, including funding for the Police Department and homeless services. The Great Big Highly Specific Guide to Disneyland. From the best rides to tasty food to unexpected tricks, here’s what to [add to your itinerary](. - You can get to Disneyland from L.A. [without a car](. Here’s how one family did it. - Everywhere you absolutely have to [eat]( at Disneyland and California Adventure. - What ex-cast members [wish you knew]( about Disneyland. Coachella 2023: A Weekend 2 guide to surviving without Frank Ocean’s help. Frank Ocean announced this week that [he will not perform]( his headlining set on Sunday due to a leg injury. But one thing is clear for those still [making the trip into Indio]( this weekend: The show must go on! - The [best fashion]( at Coachella 2023 - I ate the [best food]( at Coachella. Here’s what to eat if you’re going to Weekend 2 Former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan died at 92. The take-charge venture capitalist who as mayor shepherded Los Angeles’ rebound from the 1992 riots [died at his Brentwood home](. He was the last Republican mayor of what became a liberal city. A terrifying rampage ended with a teen’s death at Westlake High School. In the span of an hour Tuesday afternoon, law enforcement officials say, a 24-year-old Westlake High School alumnus [went on a deadly rampage]( across southern Ventura County, killing a 15-year-old, injuring five and endangering several others. The week in photos ADVERTISEMENT [See the photos behind this week’s biggest stories](. McCarthy leveraged his majority in debt ceiling negotiations; long COVID upends a musician’s life; and a terrifying rampage ends a young life. [Maeve Secor processes a Nashville warbler caught in a net on a ridge-line known as Bear Divide to study migratory birds]( Maeve Secor processes a Nashville warbler caught in a net on a ridge-line known as Bear Divide to study migratory birds (Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times) Free online games Get our free daily crossword puzzle, sudoku, word search and arcade games in our game center at [latimes.com/games](. This exclusive island town might be California’s biggest violator of the state’s affordable housing law. Coronado is arguably [the most flagrant resister]( of [a state affordable housing law]( designed to give housekeepers and others, from teachers to nurses, a chance at an apartment in places that would otherwise be out of their reach. $62,000 and three years later: Long COVID continues to upend this California couple’s lives. Courtney Garvin, 37, contracted COVID-19 three years ago and now has [long COVID](. She and her partner say their [world has shrunk](. Column: Older drivers have road rage over DMV test questions. Some would prefer driving test. In response to Steve Lopez’s [column]( about driver’s license renewals for people 70 and older, a lot of people said it would be more useful, past a certain age, [to require driving, rather than written, tests](. ADVERTISEMENT This dirt parking lot in the San Gabriel Mountains is a magnet for migrating birds. Exactly why the area attracts as many as 13,000 tanagers, orioles, buntings, grosbeaks and warblers on a single day is [not entirely understood](. A proposed 50-story skyscraper in this San Francisco neighborhood would stick out. The skyscraper would become [the tallest building in the Outer Sunset neighborhood]( and change its makeup. The last overnight train between L.A. and S.F. ran in 1968. A startup wants to bring it back. The [luxury overnight train]( could soon provide a new way to travel between San Francisco and L.A., if [Dreamstar Lines Inc.]( can get its plans approved by California rail lines. California’s shortage of diverse teachers is hurting students, educators say. Studies show that teachers of color serve as mentors and role models and [increase the academic outcomes]( of students of similar backgrounds. Enjoying this newsletter? Your support helps us deliver the news that matters most. [Become a Times subscriber.]( ICYMI, here are this week’s great reads Avoid squishing wildflowers by soaring over the superbloom. At $90 to $160 a person, the experience is more expensive than parking your car and wading through flowers, but it’s also [much kinder to these fragile native plants](. I asked people at Coachella how much money they make — and if their ticket was worth it. From no income to $210,000 a year, The Times’ Julia Carmel talked to festival-goers who [spent a lot of money on Coachella](. The (un)holy gospel of Suga Free. The canonized pimp-slash-rapper was once described by Snoop Dogg as “my only competition.” After half a century of hard living — near-death experiences, struggles with substance abuse, multiple incarcerations, the shady travails of the record business, the constant stresses of the world’s oldest profession — [Suga Free has learned to value simplicity](. Today’s week-in-review newsletter was curated by Laura Blasey. Please let us know what we can do to make this newsletter more useful to you. Send comments, complaints and ideas to essentialcalifornia@latimes.com. ADVERTISEMENT Thank you for reading the Los Angeles Times Essential California newsletter. Invite your friends, relatives, coworkers to sign up [here](. Not a subscriber? Get unlimited digital access to latimes.com. [Subscribe here](. [Los Angeles Times] Copyright © 2023, Los Angeles Times 2300 E. 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