Recuperative Care Center aims to aid homeless in South L.A.



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The MLK Recuperative Care Center, open to patients starting Jan. 5, is housed in a former dormitory for Charles Drew University medical students. | Marc Trotz, LA County Department of Health Services

Next month the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services plans to open a recuperative care facility adjacent to the Martin Luther King Community Hospital. The facility will treat homeless patients who have been discharged from the hospital or the nearby county-owned Martin Luther King Jr. Outpatient Center.

“If you’re homeless and you’ve been discharged from the hospital you often don’t have anyone to treat your wounds, change the dressings or help you manage with a broken leg,” said Marc Trotz, director of DHS’ Housing for Health program. “You can’t deal with these conditions properly if you are living on the streets.”

The MLK Recuperative Care Center, which will begin accepting patients Jan. 5, will be housed on the hospital campus, in a former dormitory for Charles Drew University medical students. The center will have 50 rooms and 100 patient beds, making it the county’s largest facility of its kind.
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L.A. Clippers and City Year invest $3 million in Watts’ elementary schools



Mayor Eric Garcetti leading the City Year Corps pledge with its Los Angeles members behind him.

Mayor Eric Garcetti leads the City Year Corps pledge. | Photo by Malina Brown

The City Year Los Angeles Corps, whose members spend 11 months teaching in schools within high-poverty communities, marked the beginning of service for its new members by lining up the usual roster: fresh-faced young Corps members, their families and city officials.

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New name game: South LA or SOLA?



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What’s in a name? More than a decade ago Los Angeles officials decreed that the area south of the 10 freeway would no longer be referred to in official documents as South Central. Instead, to end the stigma of crime and violence associated with the area, officials rebranded it “South L.A.” but the area may soon see another name change.

District 8 Councilman Barnard Parks introduced a proposal last week to abbreviate South L.A. to “SOLA.” The proposed change is indicative of a larger trend at promoting city nicknames: West Hollywood has been embraced as WeHo, and Downtown has taken on the moniker DTLA for locals.

Read the original City Council file on changing “South Central” to South L.A.” in 2002.

As far as South L.A. residents? “They see these other communities reinvigorated by these contemporary names,” Parks told the L.A. Times. “And they wonder, at times, why their community is lagging behind.” [Read more…]

LA pledges $1 billion to smooth its sidewalks



A cracked sidewalk in South L.A. is hazardous to pedestrians. | Kate Guarino

A cracked sidewalk in South L.A. is hazardous to pedestrians. | Kate Guarino

Los Angeles will spend more than $1 billion over the next 30 years to repair disrupted sidewalks, curb ramps, crosswalks, pedestrian crossings and other walkways, according to city officials.

The allocation of funds comes as part of a settlement announced Wednesday in a class action suit against the city. The suit alleged that crumbling sidewalks made it difficult for people in wheelchairs and those with mobility disabilities to access public walkways, thus violating the Americans with Disabilities Act.

“This $1.4 billion settlement is the largest disability access class action settlement in U.S. history,” said attorney Guy Wallace, representing the plaintiffs, in a statement. [Read more…]

District 8 candidates eye economic growth for South LA



Leimert Park is one of the areas included in District 8. | Intersections

Leimert Park is one of the areas included in District 8. | Intersections

Council District 8 in South L.A. — which includes Baldwin Hills, Crenshaw, Leimert Park and West Adams — is the site of what many residents feel is an important council race that could set the tone for future economic growth in the area.

Current councilman Bernard Parks cannot run again because of term limits. After 12 years in office, the former Los Angeles Police Department Chief is stepping down after having earned a reputation for fiscal conservatism and fighting labor unions even if it meant losing City Hall allies. On a local level, Parks made strides to improve quality of life issues, such as launching a partnership with the Los Angeles Neighborhood Initiative to repair more than 100 sidewalks.  [Read more…]

District 10 councilman Herb Wesson aims for another term



Herb Wesson speaks at a campaign event. | Kate Guarino

Herb Wesson speaks at a campaign event. | Kate Guarino

Correction Appended

The residents of District 10, a portion of which spans South Los Angeles, will vote for a new councilmember on March 3. Intersections interviewed the candidates ahead of the elections.

Standing among crowds of people chatting at his campaign rally, the man wearing black jeans, a collared shirt and grey oxford flats appears to be just another District 10 resident. In some ways City Council President Herb Wesson is just that, he said. Wesson has lived in the district for more years than he can count, and has represented the area since the beginning of his career in public service.

“I’m a very, very ordinary person who’s been selected to do extraordinary work,” he said.

As he prepared for the March 3 elections on a recent afternoon, Wesson said his inspiration for his work is never far from his mind. During much of his time at the historically black Lincoln University in Pennsylvania in the 1970s, Wesson said he did not know what he wanted to do. (He did not graduate from Lincoln until 1999 because an illness in his family prevented him from finishing his senior year.) But, that changed the day he heard Congressman Ron Dellums speak.

“When he spoke about civil rights and human rights and building coalitions at that moment that’s when I decided I wanted to be a public servant,” Wesson said, recalling the California Democrat’s speech at a fraternity sponsored event. [Read more…]

Mayor Eric Garcetti tours South LA’s District 9



Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti speaks to journalists at Powerfest South LA. Garcetti said he wants Los Angeles to register more people for health care than anywhere else in the US. Photo by Katherine Davis.

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti speaks to journalists at Powerfest South LA in 2013. | Katherine Davis

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and Councilman Curren Price toured businesses and met with residents of South L.A.’s 9th District last week as part of the mayor’s efforts to examine how districts around the city tackle issues such as homelessness, employment, youth empowerment and community beautification.

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Ezell Ford shot three times at close range in South LA



Ferguson protesters reach the site where Ezell Ford was killed last August. | Daina Beth Solomon

Ferguson protesters reach the site where Ezell Ford was killed last August. | Daina Beth Solomon

An unarmed, 25-year-old Black man killed by police last summer in South L.A. was shot three times at close range, according to an autopsy report released today.

Ezell Ford was hit on his right side, back and right arm, according to the medical examiner. The doctor wrote in the report that a muzzle imprint on Ford’s back suggested close contact with officers, which correspondents with their version of events.

Ford was walking home on West 65th Street near Broadway on Aug. 11 when two Los Angeles Police Department officers approached him, according to a police statement. [Read more…]

100 South LA sidewalks fixed, 400 more to go



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Video courtesy of Annenberg TV News

Councilman Bernard Parks and the Los Angeles Neighborhood Initiative broke ground on the city’s 100th sidewalk repair yesterday as part of a project to improve South L.A.’s District Eight, calling on repairman to tear out the old pavement with shovels and drills.

The initiative’s executive director Veronica Hahni said the partnership had succeeded at “improving the quality of life for South Los Angeles residents by removing invasive tree roots and replacing these uplifted sidewalks.”

The repair also marked an important milestone for 84-year-old South L.A. resident Geneva James, who has lived at the corner of St. Andrews Place and 48th Street for more than 40 years, according to the L.A. Times. For many of those years, the broken-up, uneven sidewalk impeded her ability to leave the house, James’ grandson said at the event.

“I am glad I live to see it,” James said. “I will be able to come out and worry about not falling.” [Read more…]

LAUSD superintendent’s South LA legacy



John Deasy speaks at a City Year event in 2013. | City Year

John Deasy speaks at a City Year event in 2013. | City Year

High school seniors in the Los Angeles Unified School District graduating in 2015 have attended school under five different superintendents since they began kindergarten in 2001. That statistic punctuates the departure of Superintendent John Deasy, who resigned last month following a three-and-a-half-year term that included both peak performances and steep pitfalls in the district.

As the door closes on Deasy’s high-profile leadership as LAUSD superintendent, Intersections explored how Deasy’s work influenced the experience of students in South L.A.—home to some of the district’s lowest performing schools.

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