School Board vote on Tuesday, South L.A. pollution near LAX + new Martin Luther King, Jr. Outpatient Center



School board members | www.laschoolboard.org

LAUSD school board members | www.laschoolboard.org

LA Times: On Tuesday voters will choose the new school board member representing a vast swath of South L.A. The winner will replace Margueritte LaMotte.

LA Times: The California Housing Partnership Corp. has released a report calling for 500,000 additional housing units for L.A. County’s poorest residents.

Long Beach Press Telegram: Residents in South L.A. and other areas east of the Los Angeles International Airport could be inhaling hazardous levels of fine particulates that could lead to health issues such as inflammation, blocked arteries, asthma and heart conditions.

KPCC: The new Martin Luther King, Jr. Outpatient Center had its grand opening this week and will be operating by mid-June. It’s one of several new buildings and services replacing the troubled King/Drew Medical Center.

Los Angeles Wave [OPINION]: The L.A. County Office of Education could be taking steps to close the Wisdom Academy for Young Scientists.

CBSLA: The students at Maya Angelou Community High School voted to name their campus after this literary legend two years ago, and now pay tribute to her legacy.

Global Post: Dr Dre is on his way to becoming hip hop’s richest man, says Forbes. After selling Beats Electronics to Apple, his net worth is expected to shoot up from about $550 million to between $700 million and $800 million.

USC News: Students from South L.A.’s Augustus Hawkins high school visited USC for a day of math-based games led by USC mathematics professors.

Best Start L.A.: Construction of a new park is underway at Avalon and Gage in South L.A. It will measure about a third of an acre.

PR Web [Press Release]: The Special Needs Network gala raised half of its funds for Joe Patton Academy Camp, which it calls “the only free summer inclusion camp in South Los Angeles for kids with autism and related disabilities and their siblings, benefiting more than 300 local children.”

LAUSD avoids South LA parent trigger, School Board race updates + Mercado la Paloma’s creative placemaking



Mercado la Paloma | www.mercadolapaloma.com

Mercado la Paloma | www.mercadolapaloma.com

Hechinger Report: The L.A. Unified School District is agreeing to discus parent demands at South L.A.’s West Athens Elementary School to avoid a hostile parent-trigger petition campaign.

LA Weekly:  “L.A. School Board Race May Actually Be Riveting” as candidates vie for Margueritte LaMotte’s seat representing a vast swath of South L.A.

See previously on Intersections: School board postpones decision on Marguerite Poindexter LaMotte’s vacant seat

KPCC: South L.A.’s Mercado la Paloma is in the spotlight as an example of “creative placemaking.” KPCC hosts a forum about sites like these on May 27.

City Watch: The history of the struggle to bring cable to South L.A., and a vote for net neutrality.

See previously on Intersections: The battle to bring cable to South L.A.

 

South LA’s $1 house, Metro fare hikes + Compton mayor Aja Brown a “political rising star”



The $1-a-month house | KCET (video screenshot)

The $1-a-month house | KCET (video screenshot)

KCET: The house for rent at $1-a-month — yes, you read that right, $1 — in South L.A. Read more and watch a video.

LA Weekly: As Metro considers bus fare hikes, low-income riders are speaking out. At one protest, student and South L.A. native Tekoah Flory said mayor Eric Garcetti “stabbed us in the back.”

Washington Post: Compton mayor Aja Brown is named one of “top 40 political rising stars who are under 40 years old.”

KPCC: AirTalk’s Larry Mantle checks in with councilman Jose Huizar about plans for legalizing street vending in L.A.

Streetsblog LA: Streetsblog writer Sahra Sulaiman is a finalist for “Best Online Journalist of the Year.”

Business Wire [Press Release]: Kaiser Permanente gives South L.A.’s MLK Jr. Community Hospital $2 million to expand its maternity services.

South LA krump dancer, LAUSD teacher jail + Watts Girl Scouts



Krump dancer Krucial from the documentary "Stand" | facebook.com/standmovie

Krump dancer Krucial from the documentary “Stand” | facebook.com/standmovie

USC News: A South LA krump dancer (and USC student) has her story told in a documentary called “Stand.”

The Nation: Crenshaw High choir teacher Iris Stevenson doesn’t belong in the “gulag of administrative detention known as ‘teacher jail.’

LA Times: Two years ago the LAPD, city housing authority and Grape Street Elementary School teamed up to create a Watts Girl Scout troop, which now counts close to 80 cookie-selling members.

RH Reality Check: A woman from South L.A. remembers her family feeling “shamed” for receiving welfare aid, and advocates for repealing the Maximum Family Grant.

USC News: Nelson Mandela appeared at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in 1990; now a commemorative plaque at the Court of Honor bears his name.

KPCC: Michelle Obama’s “Turnaround Arts” program will be offered at 10 of California’s lowest-performing schools, including Warren Lane Elementary in Inglewood and Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary in Compton.

100 trees spruce up Broadway in South LA



A tree grows on Broadway | Daina Beth Solomon

A tree grows on Broadway | Daina Beth Solomon

Politicians and community members have made a concerted effort over the past few months to clear away trash and debris from South L.A. streets. Meanwhile, they are also working to give something back in its place — trees. The organization City Plants L.A. (formerly Million Trees L.A.) partners with the city, nonprofits, community groups, businesses and residents to plant trees in barren areas — often low-income, underserved communities with limited park space. The group’s aim is to create comfortable shady areas, combat pollution, provide fruit and simply bring natural beauty to blighted streets. In April, City Plants took its project to the blocks between Slauson and 69th St. on Broadway in the Ninth District, where it planted more than 100 trees.

Flip through the slideshow below to view photos from the planting. (Roll over each image for the caption.) 

[Read more…]

HIV in South LA, Ron Finley profile + Tijuana-style tacos



Felipa Mayo cooks on the street in South L.A. | Daina Beth Solomon

Felipa Mayo cooks on the street in South L.A. | Daina Beth Solomon

A roundup of recent news stories about South Los Angeles:

KCET: Rudy Espinoza writes that street vendors can bring healthy food to South L.A. (See from Intersections: South LA street cooks could soon go legit)

LA Weekly:  In South L.A., Young Gay Black Men are Mired in Old Taboos — and HIV

KCET: Going green, the South L.A. way

The New Yorker: How Magic Johnson fought the AIDS epidemic

LA Weekly: A profile of Ron Finley, South L.A.’s “guerilla gardener”

LA Weekly: A profile of Gia Medley, “First-Generation Spitter” from South L.A.

LA Times: Food critic Jonathan Gold visits Tacos Los Poblanos in South L.A.

Environmental Protection Agency [Press Release]: The EPA has awarded the Los Angeles Conservation Corps $200,000 to continue providing “job training and skills to unemployed and economically-disadvantaged residents of South Los Angeles.”

Activists call for May Day worker reforms



Maria Elena Durazo announces the 2014 May Day March in Downtown L.A. | Daina Beth Solomon

Maria Elena Durazo announces the 2014 May Day March in Downtown L.A. | Daina Beth Solomon

Cries of “¡Sí se puede!” and “Yes, we can!” filled the air at Cesar Chavez Avenue and Broadway in downtown Los Angeles earlier this month as a crowd of a couple of dozen activists and workers demanded minimum wage increases and the passage of immigration reform.

“We’re uniting the issues of workers and their right to living wages and the right of immigrants to be in this country in a way that they are treated with respect,” said Maria Elena Durazo from the L.A. County Federation of Labor.

She also announced the new route for the annual Workers’ Day march on May 1. It will begin at Cesar Chavez and Broadway, concluding at the Metropolitan Detention Center about one half-mile away.  [Read more…]

Q&A: SAJE’s South LA loteria



SAJEloteria-row

What images come to mind when you think of South L.A.? That’s the question Strategic Actions for a Just Economy took on for its “SAJE Loteria South LA Style” project – a creation of 55 hand-drawn images assembled as a game set to sell as a fundraiser for the South L.A.-based organization.

Some of the artworks are on display at Nature’s Brew Café in West Adams through the end of May. SAJE is hosting a reception to celebrate the project on Sunday from 7 to 10 p.m.

We spoke with Teresa Eilers from SAJE to learn about the inspiration behind the project. [Read more…]

South LA street cooks could soon go legit



Felipa Mayo cooks tacos each weekend outside her home on Compton Boulevard. | Daina Beth Solomon

Felipa Mayo cooks tacos each weekend outside her home on Compton Boulevard. Scroll down for a photo slideshow featuring other street cooks and street foods. | Daina Beth Solomon

Felipa Mayo starts her job the same way each weekend. She heads out to the sidewalk of her stucco bungalow on Compton Boulevard and checks to make sure there are no cops around.

Then she pulls a white toque over her brown hair bun, sets up a few folding tables in the driveway and unpacks the contraband she’s so worried about getting busted for selling: Tacos.

The corn tortillas served with chicken, beef or goat could get Mayo in trouble with the law.

The hundred other weekend vendors on this bustling stretch of Compton Boulevard in South Los Angeles -– some selling quesadillas, burritos and pupusas, others hawking merchandise ranging from electronics to underwear – operate with caution too. [Read more…]

Artist Ramiro Gomez: Painting LA’s ‘invisible’ workers



Artist Ramiro Gomez creates paintings of L.A.’s gardeners and janitors, nannies and housekeepers — the fleet of workers who keep some of the city’s most upscale households running smoothly. Many live in low-income neighborhoods like South L.A. and make daily commutes to the far-flung affluent neighborhoods of West Hollywood and Beverly Hills. Without showing even the expressions on their faces, Gomez’s art highlights their painstaking efforts as well as their quiet dignity.

You can view some of Gomez’s latest works, including magazine-based paintings and David Hockney-inspired canvases, at the Charlie James Gallery in Chinatown through Saturday, March 8.

[Read more…]