18 most

read shared retweeted

stories of 2018

By JUSTIN CHANG

After watching “A Quiet Place,” the alien-invasion thriller from actor and writer-director John Krasinski, film critic Justin Chang writes that he couldn’t recall the last time he found himself caring as intently for the characters in a horror picture.

By CINDY CHANG and CHRISTOPHER GOFFARD

A wind-driven brush fire in Laguna Beach scorched 120 acres and threatened hundreds of nearby homes, but a mandatory evacuation order was eventually lifted.

By AMINA KHAN

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is an accumulation of junk that has collected in the waters between California and Hawaii. In March, scientists who performed an aerial survey announced that the floating mass of about 79,000 metric tons of plastic is up to 16 times larger than previously thought.

By HANNAH FRY and ALENE TCHEKMEDYIAN

A gunman’s bloody rampage through Bakersfield left six people dead, including the shooter. The violent sequence of events may have been triggered by a love triangle involving the gunman, his estranged wife and a coworker, a stunned witness said.

By MELISSA CHADBURN and CAROLYN KELLOGG

It’s a harder question to answer than you might think. Anna March first appeared around 2011. Before that, she was known by different names in different cities. The Times found four: Anna March, Delaney Anderson, Nancy Kruse and Nancy Lott.

By ALENE TCHEKMEDYIAN and PALOMA ESQUIVEL

After Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf alerted residents in advance of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement raid in Northern California, the White House announced that the Department of Justice would review her actions.

By ROBIN ABCARIAN

Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh denied the claims of sexual assault. But after listening to every word uttered by his accuser, Christine Blasey Ford, and Kavanaugh's rebuttal, columnist Robin Abcarian writes that she had no choice but to conclude Ford is credible and Kavanaugh is not.

By JOSEPH SERNA, JAMES QUEALLY and ALENE TCHEKMEDYIAN

The Mendocino Complex fire became the largest wildfire in modern California history in August, scorching more than 283,000 acres and frustrating firefighters as it leapt across natural and man-made barriers in Lake County.

By Yvonne Villarreal

As the leading man of an epic love story, in this case Jamie Fraser in Starz's “Outlander,” Sam Heughan has more than shown viewers his romantic side. But to live a life apart from his destined love required the actor to channel grief rather than romance.

By Rong-Gong Lin II

The San Andreas long has been the fault many Californians feared most. But research released in April showed that a much less well-known fault, running under the heart of the East Bay, poses a greater danger.

By Jenny Jarvie

Bill Cosby was sentenced to state prison after he was convicted on three counts of aggravated indecent assault for drugging and molesting Andrea Constand, a former university basketball official, at his home in 2004. He was the first celebrity of the #MeToo era to be locked up.

By DAVID LAZARUS

The myriad problems with the U.S. healthcare system aren’t the fault of any one person. But every so often, an industry executive spouts something so wrong-headed, it shines a helpful light on what we’re up against, columnist David Lazarus writes.

By BILL PLASCHKE

The Lakers are watching Kawhi Leonard because they’re a team without a superstar. Leonard is watching because he's a superstar apparently without a team. Sounds like a perfect fit, columnist Bill Plaschke writes.

By RICHARD WINTON, ANH DO, JAVIER PANZAR and JOSEPH SERNA

An explosion ripped through an Aliso Viejo day spa, killing the business owner and injuring two customers. Authorities said the blast did not appear to have been the result of an accident.

By RYAN MENEZES

As votes continued to be tallied into late November, we kept an eye on what California contests were undecided, and how results changed over time.

By Los Angeles Times Staff

In California’s primary, we followed three main story lines: how the GOP fared in the race for governor, the impending ‘blue wave’ for Democrats come November, and how Sen. Dianne Feinstein fared against her challengers.

By Los Angeles Times Staff

For the 2018 midterms, we looked at key races in the U.S. House and Senate, updating as election night continued and seats flipped. In California, we tallied local races from the new governor to the State Supreme Court.

By COLLEEN SHALBY and ANDREA ROBERSON

In 2018, more than 270 women ran for Congress and governor, shattering records. We tracked the winners live on election night.