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Los Angeles Public Library map librarian Peter Hauge clutches a fistful of maps of South Africa as he adds them to the Central Library's map collection.The Los Angeles Public Library system has received a massive donation of maps, which its map librarian says has probably increased the entire collection by 30% to 40%.
The new additions include thousands of maps from almost every country in the world as well as every state and almost every county in the United States.: The donation comes from a man named Bill Hunt who was the founder of a now defunct map distribution company called Map Link. Hunt is a prolific traveler and map collector and wanted to offload his collection.: The maps will be sorted and added to the Central Library collection over the next year. It will take time to catalog and index them, but many are available for public view now.The Los Angeles Public Library system is known for more than just books. You can check out tools and computers. And it even has a recording studio. They’ve got fire insurance maps spanning Los Angeles; old maps detailing curiosities like an alligator farm or an ostrich farm in L.A. County; copies of the Ord Survey, the first formal land survey of the city from 1849. A recent donation has added thousands of maps from the region and all over the world to the collection.The new addition came from the collection of Bill Hunt, the founder of the now defunct Santa Barbara-based map distributor Hunt is also an avid collector and traveler. His collection, consisting of hundreds of boxes of well preserved and carefully catalogued maps, took up an entire storage space in Ventura. Hunt got in touch with the Los Angeles Public Library in November to offload some of his collection. The library brought them in starting in January.“It was said that John Feathers’ collection doubled our map collection,” LAPL’s map librarian Peter Hauge said. “I would say this Map Link donation probably boosted us again by another 30 or 40%. It is absolutely massive.”Many of the new maps will be housed in the history and genealogy department of the Central Library, located on lower level four. There they’ll be accessible to all Angelenos, no library card required for viewing.Hauge said the donation, global in scope, helps to fill out the library’s own collection. For example, the library now has 12 new maps from different time periods and regions of Senegal, building on its much smaller, previous collection. “That was really the most exciting part of it,” Hauge said. “The quality and the scope of the maps I think is what made it so much more important and valuable.” The donations span pretty much every country in the world and just about every type of map you can think of. “ This collection has folded maps, travel maps, street guides from the entire United States, just about every county, from every state in the country,” Hauge said. Many of the new maps are already available for the public to access. However, Hauge said it'll take at least a year before the entire trove is added to the collection, and even longer for them to be properly cataloged and indexed. These maps are lenses to the world and the past. Hauge said people come to the map library for all sorts of reasons. Some are writers looking to accurately describe what the transportation system was like in Los Angeles. Others are residents looking for the history of their neighborhoods and how they developed.From top to bottom, Christian Rasmussen driving the yellow Indy car and Graham Rahal driving the green and white car prepare to go head to head at The Pike Outlets for the Thunder Thursday event where Indy cars race against each other in Long Beach on April 16, 2026.The annual Grand Prix of Long Beach, known as the longest-running major street race in North America, iS underway this weekend.The marquee IndyCar race is Sunday, when drivers go 90 laps around a nearly 2-mile street course that whips around Long beach landmarks.Crowds packed into the Pike Outlets in downtown Long Beach on Thursday evening for the free motocross and car show that marks the beginning of Grand Prix weekend every year: Thunder Thursday. Stunt motorcyclist rides in the air for the Thunder Thursday event by The Pike Outlets, Long Beach on April 16, 2026.Already, the area has transformed into 1.97 miles of track that, on Sunday, will belong to the world’s best IndyCar racers as about 200,000 fans watch them during the 51st annual Grand Prix. Marcus Ericsson driving the purple and black indy car races against Rinus Veekay driving blue and white car race on Shoreline Drive, Long Beach on April 16, 2026On Thursday night, families, fans and revelers got a taste of the high-energy fun with motocross stunt shows, exhibition races, classic car displays and pit crew competitions. Audiences took their phones to record the final race for the Thunder Thursday event on Shoreline Drive by The Pike Outlets, in Long Beach, April 16, 2026 Photo by Justin EnriquezAdrian Gallegos volunteers his time to help pack up vinyl records at Planet Books in Long Beach on Wednesday, April 15, 2026. The used bookstore will be moving to a new location.Lifesize cutouts of Deputy Ringo Starr next to the defunct bathroom, Freddy Krueger standing over the entrance, delicate china guarded by the Incredible Hulk‚ and 150 tons of books and magazines. It is moving day at Planet Books, the 4,000-square-foot warehouse of used tomes, toys, life-size posters and delicate antiquities, and all of it must leave. Store owner James Rappaport and manager Argyl Houser have spent the first half of the month packing, consolidating and bidding goodbye to the warehouse they have worked in since 2020. They must have it all out by the end of the month. Around them, boxes line the narrow aisles, taped tight and labeled by genre. Some glass cases are emptied of their knick-knacks, some walls naked of their posters. Public radio, KJazz 88.1, remains on as usual, though Rappaport said the queue has been nonstop rock and blues.It’s a swift change from months ago, when the two were told they needed to vacate by the end of April,“I couldn’t find anything within a thirty-mile radius that was under two dollars ,” Rappaport said. Approaching the store’s 30th anniversary, the two are set to celebrate in a new location, a former furniture store turned sound studio at 1819 Redondo Ave. — the second time the bookstore has moved since it opened in 1998. The new place is larger — by about 600 square feet — and twice the cost to rent. It’ll also be a year-long sublease before they can lease it on their own. But it’s a needed move, one that offers the opportunity to organize, consolidate and rebuild their vision of a bookstore that the two have talked about for years but never had the momentum to act on.Planet Books is looking for volunteers to help with this move. If you’re reading this and jazzed about the idea, James and Argyle said to either call the store at 985-3154 or simply stop by at 1855 Freeman Ave. any day this month between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. “It’s a huge amount of work, but it’s also an opportunity to make the store just the way we wanted … an opportunity to really make the store shine,” Houser said. The two plan to downsize a tenth of their stock through donations to nearby schools, shelters and prisons. They’re giving away half of their hardcover mysteries, at least half of their small paperbacks and looking to downsize their knick-knacks. Rappaport is also selling his treasured vinyl collection. “It’s been in the back for years, and I’ve finally decided I’ve got to start selling my things, getting too old to save everything,” Rappaport said. The new store, they envision, will have art books in the front; specialty vintage will rest in the back left and leatherbound classics will have the windowed area to the right. Their rarest tomes, currently spread across five locations in the store, will be consolidated and put in a glass display. They want better seating and wider aisles, envisioning a trendy establishment where customers can sit at tables and couches and sip cappuccinos or listen to live music — preferably jazz or blues — and enjoy poetry readings or book signings. It’s a bittersweet move and a goodbye to a long chapter of the bookstore’s history. But with change comes the relief of certainty, a fresh start and finally, two new toilets that actually work.If you're enjoying this article, you'll love our daily newsletter, The LA Report. Each weekday, catch up on the 5 most pressing stories to start your morning in 3 minutes or less.More than 600 goats are munching through brush in Pasadena’s Arroyo Seco as part of a pilot program that aims to reduce wildfire risk ahead of peak season.The Arroyo, home to the Rose Bowl, sits in a high fire severity zone and can act as a wind corridor, letting fire spread quickly.Using goats to clear fire fuel is an ancient land management strategy that has caught on in recent years around the country. The nonprofit One Arroyo is raising funds to help cover the $85,000 to hire the goats.Recent rains have led to the proliferation of invasive species that will dry out into “flash fuels” by summer. The effort also comes as Pasadena look for more proactive fire strategies after the Eaton Fire.After six to eight weeks, the quality of the goats' work will be clear and lead to discussions as to whether their brush clearing can be a long-term solution for the city.On the steep, brush-covered slopes of the Arroyo Seco, home to the Rose Bowl, a new kind of wildfire defense has arrived — on cloven hooves. Starting this morning, more than 600 goats are being deployed across roughly 100 acres to help kick off Earth Day celebrations in the city. Over the next six to eight weeks, they’ll reduce fire risk by munching through invasive vegetation like mustard that can quickly turn into dangerous fuel.with city backing, combines an ancient technique with urgency around climate change, which the Eaton Fire that devastated parts of Pasadena bordering Altadena has only heightened. “It’s become more evident that we need to do everything that we can to make sure that we’re adding wildfire resiliency to the way we manage this place,” said Daniel Rossman, executive director of the foundation. The Arroyo sits within a high-severity fire zone, according to state maps, and acts as a natural corridor for wind, meaning a fire could spread rapidly if conditions align, Rossman said.Pasadena is the latest Southern California city where goats are eating the fuel load, joining Arcadia, Glendale and Santa Clarita. Unlike traditional brush clearance methods, which often rely on gas-powered equipment, goats offer a low-emissions alternative. “You don’t need fossil fuels to run goats,” Rossman said. “They run on their own fuel, which is the brush that they eat.”“The goats can go to places that are very difficult for humans to get to with heavy equipment,” Rossman said. “Also, as they go up those hills, they're not degrading them as an adult would by stepping on them with just two feet.”, will graze day and night in the Arroyo, watched over by a herding dog and a herder who will live in a trailer on-site. “The goats do not have a strong labor union,” Rossman said, tongue firmly in cheek. “They work 24 hours a day. But on the other hand, they take naps whenever they feel like it.”Just be aware that there will be temporary electric fencing set up to keep the goats from wandering into nearby homes and businesses. And don’t try to pet the goats. “These goats are generally grumpy,” Rossman said. The animals that can stand humans will be at a petting zoo in Saturday’s Earth Day event by the Rose Bowl's Aquatic Center.The hope is that the goat grazers will demonstrate success so that city officials may adopt the effort long-term.Rossman said the first test is to see how well goats clear the invasive species and make room for the native plants. “We want to get to that sweet spot where they chew things down and that then allows these perennial natives that stay green year-round to come back and compete,” Rossman said. The timing of the goat deployment close to the last of the winter rains was intentional. Rossman said rain spurs rapid plant growth, especially invasive species that then dry out and turn into “flash fuels” by summer. Removing that growth before peak fire season, he said, is key to protecting an “environmental treasure” that even more locals have turned to since the Eaton Fire. “Many people who maybe used to hike Eaton Canyon are coming to the Arroyo and enjoying this place to connect with nature and to connect with themselves and restore,” Rossman said.Southern California is known for having some great national parks, but we have a very tiny one that may take the crown. Like Yosemite, it has the iconic sign, a trail and native plants. Unlike Yosemite it’s 0.05 acres, contains fairies and a gravel river. Long Beach’s Bixby Knolls National Park may be fake, but it has mighty aspirations.The area is full of Easter eggs if you look hard enough. It has small animal figures wedged into corners, bigfoot’s footprint and even a fake hawk overlooking the park from above.The idea came from Blair Cohn, the executive director of the Bixby Knolls Business Improvement Association, as a way to bring joy and give back to the community during the pandemic.Tucked away in Bixby Knolls, a neighborhood in Long Beach, you’ll find the iconic parks service sign, a trail and native plants. The fact that the trail takes 15 seconds to walk and you can also find fairies and bigfoot’s footprint gives a clue to what this 0.05 acre park actually is — an injection of whimsy, if technically fake.I was given a guided tour by Blair Cohn, executive director of the Bixby Knolls Business Improvement Association, who’s the mastermind behind this make-believe spot. He said the National Park Service hasn’t reached out about their tongue-in-cheek name, but it’s a tribute to them that takes inspiration from Portland.“Somebody in their backyard had a tiny little sign and they made it their own little national park,” Cohn recalled. “We said, OK, well let’s take it up.” The origin of the park started before it opened in 2021. Businesses were struggling because of the pandemic. The association cut programs and was doing what it could to help local shops. But it was facing an uncertain future. Planning for the worst, Cohn said they wanted to go out with a bang, so they looked at landscaping they could do to help people get back outside. They picked an abandoned lot at Roosevelt Road and Long Beach Boulevard, right near a business corridor. “ We said we’ll do one last thing for the neighborhood and let’s create something fun in this corner,” he said. They got the city on board and some funding. But they wanted to do it in a fun and cheeky way, which is when they came up with the tiny, fake National Park idea.From left to right: Rusty B. and Blair Cohn explain what creatures are in the Bixby Knolls park on April 6.“ There’s so much bad news,” he said. “But our combat daily is to do things like this, always sprinkle in a little bit of sarcasm, a little bit of BS into the mix because we all could use a laugh and be lighthearted.”During my visit, there was an unexpected visitor: The officially-unofficial park ranger of Bixby Knolls “National” Park, Rusty B. As with all the foolery here, he’s not a real park ranger but played the role quite well with an Australian accent . Rusty gave me a tour of all the sites you can see in the tiny park, which include Matilija poppies and other native plants. He pointed out how the park’s largest inhabitants, a wolf and “ woowoo” bear, sit still to hunt for prey. These totally aren’t statues . We also crossed a bridge over a “raging river” of dry gravel. Near the park’s mountain range mural, you’ll catch some other surprises. “ We’ve got some mushrooms and we’ve got a couple of leprechauns hanging out there,” Rusty said. “It’s completely native.” And watch out as you walk. A fake trap is on the ground that’s there to capture big rodents that come from Anaheim, according to Rusty. Bigfoot’s footprints are also immortalized on the grounds, who was supposedly spotted in the neighborhood around 1918.Donut Rock sells “Bixby Bear Claws” and donut rocks . There’s also the big blue “Finger Pointe” within eye-shot of the park, which is where they get their printing done, and the Bixby Knolls “National” Park shuttle . You could explore this area for a while and likely find something new each time, like a light pole giraffe or moose head, but don’t worry about getting lost. The park has a map sign with information about all of the tiniest “national” park’s best features.
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