Dog struck in South LA, new mental illness program + disabled student denied parking

September 19, 2014 By Leave a Comment


Photo by David Smith (Flickr Creative Commons)

Photo by David Smith (Flickr Creative Commons)

Dog struck: A stolen white van hit and injured a dog while speeding during a car chase from 77th Place and Central Avenue to Manchester Avenue and Central Avenue, reports KTLA.

Mental illness program: After two LAPD officers fatally shot South L.A. native Ezell Ford, a new program would favor treatment over jail time according to the LA Times.

Parking for a hearse?: A mortuary student who drives a 1996 Cadillac hearse is battling for the right to a parking space in her apartment complex, according to ABC.

6-year-old stabbed: NBC reported the fatal stabbing of a 6-year-old Thursday morning.

Central American child Refugees: Central American refugees, many residing in South L.A., are seeking asylum, reports Vice.

Seree’s Coffee Shop: This coffee shop in South L.A. evokes nostalgia for customers, according to the LA Eater.

 

Filed Under: In the news Tagged With: , , ,

Trader Joe’s scouting out first South LA store

September 19, 2014 By Leave a Comment


Trader Joe's | Rebecca

Trader Joe’s | Rebecca

In 1967, the first Trader Joe’s opened in Pasadena. The supermarket chain began selling its organic pretzels and “Two Buck-Chuck” wine among other groceries outside of California in the 1990s and grew to operate more than 400 stores nationwide.

Now, for the first time, Trader Joe’s is coming to South L.A.

The store has committed to opening a location at the forthcoming USC Village, located on Hoover and 31st streets near the Figueroa Corridor, according to USC University Communications.

Many residents who live in the area are rejoicing. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Business, Health, More on Intersections Tagged With: , , , ,

#TBT South LA: Jefferson High, 1938

September 18, 2014 By Leave a Comment


Jefferson High 1938

A Jefferson High Yearbook from 1938 photographed at the Southern California Library | Daina Beth Solomon

When Jefferson High School opened in 1916, South Los Angeles was beginning to reflect the diversity of people immigrating to Los Angeles from around the country and the world. By 1938, a single page in the yearbook listed names as diverse as “Satoshi Suzuki,” “Dora Mae Ten,” “Esperanza Garza” and “Marcellus Reed.” The faces staring up — some serious, some smiling — come from Black, Latino, Asian and White backgrounds.

While diversity in the city as a whole has continued increasing, South L.A. in some areas has become more homogenous. These days, the neighborhood surrounding Jefferson is 91 percent Hispanic, 7 percent Black and 1 percent Asian, according to the 2012 American Community Survey. Now that will be a different kind of yearbook.


View Larger Map

This yearbook resides in the archives of the Southern California Library. 

Got a historical photo from South L.A.? Email it to [email protected] to be featured in the next “Throwback Thursday South L.A.”

Filed Under: More on Intersections Tagged With: , , ,

New USC Village breaks ground

September 18, 2014 By Leave a Comment


Community members, student leaders, trustees and local politicians break ground with USC president Max Nikias. | Phoenix Tso/Neon Tommy

Community members, student leaders, trustees and local politicians break ground with USC president Max Nikias. | Phoenix Tso/Neon Tommy

Nearly 950 members of the USC community gathered Monday morning in 90-degree weather to celebrate the groundbreaking of the new USC Village, a project that aims to raise USC’s reputation around the world.

“There will be no one to catch up to,” said USC president C.L. Max Nikias about the appeal of specific project features to incoming students. These features include the 2700 beds to be added by 2017, and the retail space that will open up and about the McCarthy Honors College, which Trustee Kathleen Leavey McCarthy donated $30 million to build for incoming merit scholarship students. “Everyone will want to go where the action is.”

In the days leading up to the groundbreaking, admissions officials were excitedly anticipating how to market these features to next year’s freshmen. During the ceremony, President Nikias spoke of how USC was committed to transforming from a commuter university to a residential one, like “other preeminent universities.”

“This is special for us,” said Timothy Brunold, USC Dean of Admissions, in a phone interview in the days leading up to the groundbreaking. “The students we’re currently recruiting will be able to use it.”  [Read more…]

Filed Under: Business, More on Intersections, University Park Tagged With: , , ,

Political outsider, community insider aims for District 8 seat

September 18, 2014 By Leave a Comment


Marqueece Harris Dawson | Matthew Tinoco

Marqueece Harris-Dawson greets South L.A. residents to announce his candidacy. | Matthew Tinoco

The idea was to prevent kids from seeing pictures glorifying tobacco when they were at school. Marqueece Harris-Dawson was only just learning about the nuances of community organizing when his bosses told him to go to then assembly-member Herb Wesson’s office, and make the case to remove tobacco advertisements from public buses that are routed past schools.

He entered Wesson’s office and gave his pitch. Wesson thought it was a great idea, and he soon delivered to the Metro Board a motion proposing all ads for tobacco products be banned from public buses. It passed.

That was more than fifteen years ago. Now Harris-Dawson hopes to bring his talents to the L.A. City Council. He announced his candidacy on Saturday morning to a packed church in Baldwin Hills. [Read more…]

Filed Under: More on Intersections, Politics Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Metro awarded $22 million, South LA car crash + Frank Gehry designs for Watts

September 17, 2014 By Leave a Comment


Metro's Expo Line | Intersections

Metro’s Expo Line | Intersections

Metro grant: Metro received $22 million in federal grants to improve stations in downtown and South L.A. Almost half of this amount, $10.25 million, will make the Willowbrooks/Rosa Parks station safer and quicker according to NBC.

Alleged DUI crash: Pasadena Star News reports that an alleged drunk driver triggered a four-car crash in South L.A. on Saturday.

Frank Gehry building: Renowned architect Frank Gehry will design a new space for Watt’s social service organization Children’s Institute Inc. according to KPCC.

Woman testifies: A woman who was allegedly beaten for feeding stray cats in South L.A. testified on Friday according to ABC.

West Adams cemetery: Annual Living History Tour at West Adams Cemetary showcases South L.A.’s history on September 27, reports KPCC.

Modern Gentlemen: Young South L.A. men question what it means to be the be a 21st century gentleman. Listen to the whole story on NPR.

 

Filed Under: In the news Tagged With: , , ,

South LA alley to become park, RV fire spreads + hearing on anti-union bias in Crenshaw

September 12, 2014 By Leave a Comment


 

The project spearheaded by City Plants LA aims to help beautify a stretch of Broadway in South L.A.'s Council District 9 by planting more than one hundred trees. Program manager Thalia Uribe said a prettier street can help boost community pride, encouraging residents to not litter.

A littered street in South LA. | Daina Beth Solomon

LA Magazine: District 9 Councilman Curren Price and the Trust for Public Land hope to turn an alleyway into green space between 51st and 52nd Street west of Avalon Boulevard.

NBC: A fire that began in an RV parking lot spread to a South L.A. residence on Wednesday morning.

LA Times: Hearings begin for 12 teachers who allege they were not offered their jobs at Crenshaw High School because of their union activism.

Los Angeles Wave: Do murders in South L.A. really go unnoticed? This columnist doesn’t think so.

Filed Under: In the news Tagged With: , , ,

The Father of Leimert Park, or the Octopus

September 12, 2014 By Leave a Comment


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Caldwell at a community meeting at Leimert Park | Sinduja Rangarajan

Ben Caldwell stopped in the middle of 43rd Street in Leimert Park, bent down, lunged forward, clicked a photograph and disappeared into the crowded street within seconds.

Something on the other side of the road had caught his attention.

This article was also published on KCET Departures, an online documentary series mapping LA neighborhoods through interactive portraits.

Perhaps it was the colorful quilted skirts swaying in the breeze in a makeshift clothing store, one of the many stands set up during Leimert Park’s monthly art walk. Perhaps it was the kids playing jump rope across the street. Or maybe it was one of the drummers tapping furiously in the drum circle by the fountain.

Caldwell never leaves home without his Canon DSLR camera, whether he’s going to a community meeting, a high-end innovation event at a private school or simply strolling across the familiar Leimert Park streets.

 “He documents everything, knowing things will have more value in the future,” said his daughter, Dara Marama Caldwell-Ross. “The value is not just monetary, it’s symbolic.”

Caldwell captures the world around him from behind the camera, but moves so quickly and quietly that he’s almost invisible. His customary faded black t-shirt and loose jeans don’t help him stand out either. But this low-profile artist is the tour de force of Leimert Park, a constant in this ever-changing community.

“He won’t like it if I say this, but he is like the father of Leimert Park,” said Maria Elena Cruz, an artist and teacher.

He calls himself an “octopus” with every tentacle working on a different assignment. In the last 33 years, he’s been a filmmaker, entrepreneur, ethnographer, documentarian, educator and community activist.  [Read more…]

Filed Under: Arts, Culture, More on Intersections, Neighborhood Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,

New South LA medical services, artist discusses Leimert Park exhibit + three wounded in party bus shooting

September 11, 2014 By Leave a Comment


 

Photo by Christopher Ryan (Flickr Creative Commons_

Photo by Christopher Ryan (Flickr Creative Commons_

WEHOville: AIDS Project Los Angeles expands their coverage of the LGBT and HIV-positive community in South L.A.

KPCC: L.A. artist Kenturah Davis successfully weaves her words into art in her exhibit at Papillion Art in Leimert Park.

LA Times: Three wounded in a party bus shooting late Sunday night near the 9700 block of South Broadway.

Filed Under: In the news, Uncategorized Tagged With: , , ,

Encore for South LA’s Dunbar Hotel

September 10, 2014 By Leave a Comment


Heidi Duckler Dance Theatre helps revive a historic jazz landmark on Central Avenue.

Dunbar-Slider

Marisa Labog and Joe Schenck rehearse on the balcony in the lobby of Dunbar Village. | Christina Campodonico

 

By day, a “For Lease” sign hangs in the window of the Dunbar Hotel’s empty storefront on Central Avenue, but on Saturday night this barren room came to life as dancers from the Heidi Duckler Dance Theatre kicked up dust from the concrete floor, grabbed onto the room’s barred windows and clung to its steel columns, captivating a crowd of dance-lovers and community leaders who descended upon the historic South Los Angeles landmark to see “Dancing at Dunbar.”

Hours earlier, at 5 p.m., the troupe previewed its choreography for a handful of residents living at Dunbar Village, the affordable housing development on site with the Dunbar Hotel.

An air of easy comfort pervaded the lobby. Some audience members relaxed in large leather armchairs, nibbling on fruit and cookies. Others milled in and out of the lobby with their bikes and grocery bags, pausing briefly to look up at dancers Marisa Labor and Joe Schenck as they wrapped themselves around columns and bannisters on the second-level balcony overhead. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Arts, More on Intersections Tagged With: , , , , , , ,
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