🎨 Arts & crafts, bird flu, and minimum wage.

Welcome to your weekly Valley update! Today is Thursday, January 2, 2024.

In this week’s NoHo Nick:

• 🐦️ Bird flu

• 🎄 Christmas tree recycling

• 🍻 Beer and wine

• 🖼️ Arts and crafts

Happy New Year! I hope 2025 brings you health, prosperity, and great food.

Thanks for the support in 2024. 💌 

Here are my favorite emails you sent me last year:

Here’s what’s happening this week:

LA News

♻️ Recycle Your Christmas Tree: LA County offers free collection and recycling of real Christmas trees throughout most of January. Remove all decorations and place your tree in your green waste bin or on the curb for pickup. (LA Public Works) Or, you could leave it until March and decorate it for St. Patrick’s Day.

🎉 Valley Cultural Foundation Turns 50. Watch out for more great Valley cultural events in 2025. The community organization celebrates five decades of free concerts, movies, and community events in the SFV. (Valley Cultural)

💵 California Minimum Wage Rises for 2025: Starting Jan. 1, the state’s minimum wage increased to $16.50 per hour. (CA Department of Industrial Relations) “If I could pay you less, I would. But it’s against the law.”

🚸 New Parking Laws in WeHo: Starting January 1, 2025, parking within 20 feet of a crosswalk or 15 feet of a curb extension in West Hollywood will get you a ticket. The law improves visibility to reduce pedestrian accidents. (Patch) Walking to West Hollywood from the Valley might be faster than driving around looking for parking.

Valley Weekend Weather

Food and Drinks

🍺 New Beer and Wine at Aroma Cafe (Studio City): Aroma Cafe, known for its cozy patio, pastries, and breakfast menu, has expanded its drink menu to include beer and wine! Unwind with a glass of wine after work, or kick off the weekend with a mimosa.

🐾 Freeze-Dried Dog Treats (Woodland Hills): Treat your pup with Ginger’s Bark Bites, an organic single-ingredient dog treat company. (For example, sweet potato treats are made with only sweet potatoes). They’re doing a pop-up at the next Woodland Hills Farmer’s Market on January 11. Perfect for dog training or on top of a food bowl.

🥓 Leo & Lily (Woodland Hills): Mediterranean-inspired breakfast and lunch. Fresh, organic ingredients, hormone-free meat, local produce, and sustainable seafood. Try their breakfast burrito with three eggs, fried potatoes, cheddar cheese, turkey bacon, avocado, and homemade salsa.

Things to Do

❄️ Kidspace Museum Winter Fun (Pasadena): You and your kids can feel merry for winter for a few more days. The 4th annual Winter Frolic features trike rides through a giant gingerbread house, building ice forts, dressing a snowman family, and more! Plus, a “sock skating rink.” Until January 5, 2024.

🥐 Maker Market (North Hollywood): Start your year with delicious pastries from La Rochelle Bakery. Shop local small businesses at Just Buy the Thing. Explore new vendors and find unique items at this vibrant pop-up market. Saturday, January 11 & Sunday, January 12, 2025, from 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM.

🤝 MLK 2025 Volunteer Festival (Downtown LA): Celebrate Dr. King’s legacy with volunteer opportunities in health equity, food security, and more. Enjoy live music and shop from minority-owned businesses. Free. Monday, January 20, 2025, 12:30 PM – 3:30 PM.

🎨 Arts & Crafts Classes at Pacoima Beautiful (Pacoima): Two-hour crafting class at Casa Esperanza. Learn new skills and take on crafts that emphasize reusing materials. Open to everyone. Get creative while helping the environment. Hosted by Pacoima Beautiful, an environmental justice non-profit. Free. Every Tuesday from 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM.

🍺 Beer Exchange (North Hollywood): Join beer enthusiasts for a fun night of sharing and discovering new brews at Brews Brothers. Bring 1-3 of your favorite bottled beers to share with new friends. New and unique flavors are encouraged. The price includes one draught beer, too. $20. Tuesday, January 21, 2025, at 7:00 PM.

📚 Vroman’s Bookmark Contest (Pasadena): Calling all K-3rd and 4th-6th graders. Enter Vroman’s Bookstore’s Annual Bookmark Contest by designing a bookmark representing the theme of books and reading. The winning artists will receive a $50 gift card, 50 bookmarks for their class, and the chance to feature their designs in the store. The deadline is January 24, 2025.

Bird Flu TL;DR

Here’s what you should know about bird flu.

“Most people don't need to be worried about the virus, at least for now.”

• "H5 avian influenza,” or bird flu, is primarily a bird virus but has also started infecting people.

• Poultry workers and animals are most at risk of getting infected.

• About 60 people have caught the virus so far (CDC).

• Pet owners with outdoor cats should prevent their cats from interacting with wild birds or raw meat.

• People and pets should reduce exposure to wildlife.

“Why are eggs so expensive?”

• People buy more eggs during the holidays due to baking (and eggnog).

• California mandates that all eggs are from cage-free hens.

• Bird flu has primarily impacted cage-free chickens in California.

• Millions of chickens have gotten sick this year, lowering egg supply.

Sources: LAist, CDC, NerdWallet

Local Photo Spotlight

At Highland Park Bowl, LA's oldest bowling alley, the menu features roasted Brussels sprouts with black pepper pancetta and crispy onions.

Cute Home Alert

🏡 Fully remodeled 2/1 (Glendale). Modern living with a cozy touch. Minutes from The Americana at Brand. Bright living room, sleek kitchen with stainless steel appliances, quartz countertops, and double doors leading to a deck and backyard. Spacious bedrooms, a shiplap-accented master, tankless water heater, and smart home upgrades. $820,000

Random

💿️ Popular electronic group Massive Attack declined to perform at Coachella because of the environmental impact. “It’s a golf resort built on a desert, run on a sprinkler system, using public water supplies. Mental.” (Pitchfork)

🛍️ Watch this 2024 financial breakdown of a local flea market vendor. He made about $30,000 in revenue.

Trivia

❓️ This San Fernando Valley neighborhood was called “Lankershim" in 1896 and renamed to its current name in 1927. What neighborhood is it?

Last week’s question: What is the highest-grossing film of the “Fast and Furious” franchise?

Answer: Fast and Furious 7 generated $1.5 billion in revenue. That’s almost 7x more than Fast and Furious: Tokyo Drift. It’s 2x more than Fast X, the most recent film.

Thanks for reading, and see you next week!

PS I’m thinking of running for “dog mayor” one day. My platform? Banning fireworks, turning every park into a dog park, and offering free peanut butter at Ralphs.

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