Police looking for help to find suspect in South LA shooting

October 14, 2011 By Leave a Comment


From the LAPD Police Blog

Los Angeles:  The LAPD is asking the public’s help in providing any information about the shooting and murder of a 32-year-old man in South Los Angeles.

On October 11, 2011, at approximately 8:50 a.m., a 32 year-old male Hispanic, was shot and killed at the corner of 106th St and Wilmington Ave while standing on the corner, near other local residents. The suspects are described as two males, both armed with handguns. This murder is the latest act of violence in an ongoing gang feud between two rival violent street gangs.

Since the beginning of September, this small area containing the two gangs has seen a dangerous spike in violent crimes. This includes yesterday’s murder, two attempt murders, five incidents with people sustaining multiple gunshot wounds and three shootings into inhabited homes. While the area may house a number of violent criminal street gang members, it is also considered home to a large number of innocent citizens who live in constant fear of being victims to this gang violence. Detectives are asking for the public’s help in apprehending these suspects.

Anyone with information is urged to call LAPD Southeast Area at 213-972-7901, during business hours.  During non-business hours or on weekends, calls should be directed to 1-877-LAPD-24-7 (1-877-527-3247).  Anyone wishing to remain anonymous should call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (1-800-222-8477).  Tipsters may also contact Crime Stoppers by texting to phone number 274637 (C-R-I-M-E-S on most keypads) with a cell phone.  All text messages should begin with the letters “LAPD.” Tipsters may also go to LAPDOnline.org, click on “webtips” and follow the prompts.

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Yvonne Burke endorses Jan Perry for mayor

October 3, 2011 By Leave a Comment


News Release, October 3, 2011

Los Angeles, CA—Jan Perry today received the endorsement of former County Supervisor, Yvonne Burke (2nd District), in Perry’s campaign to be Mayor of Los Angeles.

In her statement, Burke spoke about Perry’s record as a champion for women and families: “I am supporting Jan Perry because she is a true leader for the women of Los Angeles. If elected, she will make history by breaking through one more glass ceiling by becoming the first woman to serve as Mayor of Los Angeles.”

“Jan has a long record of fighting to provide opportunities for all women. She championed the Downtown Women’s Center project which has led to safe housing, support services, and job development to help women reclaim their lives. I am proud to endorse Jan Perry for Mayor of Los Angeles,” Burke added.

“Supervisor Burke has been a pioneer for women and has dedicated her life to serving the people of California and Los Angeles,” said Perry. “It is an honor to have the support of a leader who has opened the doors for me and so many other women.”
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Full closures on 710 fwy for 10 weekends

July 29, 2011 By Leave a Comment


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Multi-racial coalition urges redistricting commission not to segregate community

July 22, 2011 By Leave a Comment


MULTI-RACIAL COALITION OF COMMUNITY LEADERS URGES REDISTRICTING COMMISSION TO “KEEP US TOGETHER!”
Leaders Call On the Commission to Rise Above Racial Segregation

LOS ANGELES – Much of the discussion following this year’s redistricting process has focused on racial divisions, but at least one multi-racial coalition of leaders – located in the 33rd Congressional District – is demanding that the Redistricting Commission promote diversity, not segregation.  “Our community has a 30-year history of coming together across racial lines to find solutions for our common challenges,” exclaimed Gloria Walton, Executive Director of S.C.O.P.E “Latinos, Whites, Asian Pacific Americans, and African-Americans, have worked together for over a generation to elect progressive leaders who meet our needs.  Breaking this district up along color-lines would take our country and community in the wrong direction.”

WHAT: Unity Press Conference to Promote Diverse Congressional Districts
WHO: Leaders from Community Organizations – Korean Resource Center, S.C.O.P.E., CHIRLA, The Honorable Diane Watson, and other diverse community organizations & leaders from across the 33rd Congressional District
WHERE: Los Angeles Center for Enriched Studies (LACES) – 5931 West 18th St, Los Angeles, CA 90035 – A high-achieving school that represents the success & diversity of the 33rd Congressional District
WHEN: Monday, July 25, 10:00 A.M.

Indeed, the 33rd Congressional District is one of the most diverse districts in the State – it is one of only four in California that has at least 10% representation from across four racial groups.  The District’s boundaries stretch from Culver City in the West, through Mid-Wilshire to parts of Koreatown in the East, and South through Baldwin Hills to capture chunks of South L.A.  The current Representative for the district, Karen Bass, is African-American, as have been the previous two congressmembers – the Honorable Diane Watson and Julian Dixon.

“What we have in this district represents California.” said Dae Joong Yoon, Executive Director of the Korean Resource Center “Asian Pacific Americans are a part of the 33rd District and we share common concerns that cross racial lines, issues like public safety, access to quality health care, effective transportation, and the desire for more green space and public parks.  We would be sorely disappointed if the Commission decides to separate us from our neighbors.”

The coalition of leaders say they were spurred to speak-up by map “visualizations” released by the Redistricting Commission that propose radically shifting the make-up of their district.

“I don’t know what they’re thinking.” said Daniel Henrickson, a business owner from Culver City “If you look at some of their maps, supposedly I have more in common with white people 20 miles to the North in Topanga Canyon, than my African American neighbors two miles to the East in Baldwin Hills.  They must only be looking at skin color.  I thought we had moved passed that type of thinking, but some people seem bent on bringing us back to the 1950’s.”

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Community Coalition partners with Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution to fight childhood obesity

July 21, 2011 By Leave a Comment


COMMUNITY COALITION PARTNERS WITH JAMIE OLIVER’S FOOD REVOLUTION TO TEACH SOUTH LA YOUTH HEALTHY LIVING, COOKING

WHAT: Community Coalition is one of several local organizations partnering with Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution to teach African American and Latino youth how to cook and eat healthy this summer.

WHEN: The next class is this Friday from 12 to 2 p.m. at Challengers Boys and Girls Club [5029 S. Vermont Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90037]. The sessions will last for five weeks.

WHY: The goal of Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution is to fight childhood obesity and help make communities healthier by teaching people – both kids and adults – how to cook and prepare healthy food. A mobile truck kitchen is stationed at the Challenger Boys and Girls Club where youth from various South LA organizations, including Community Coalition, L.A. Urban League, the Brotherhood Crusade, West Angeles Community Development Corporation and the Challenger Boys and Girls Club Summer Camp, are participating in classes and demonstrations on healthy cooking and living

“I like the classes because it’s really fun eating. We made pancakes – but we learned the good way to make pancakes,” said Joshua Ham, 16, a junior at Manual Arts Senior High School. Joshua is one of 10 members from Community Coalition’s youth program South Central Youth Empowered Through Action, participating in the Food Revolution program. “If you don’t know how to cook it’s good to learn – to know what you’re putting into your body. And it’s good to have homemade food so you know exactly what you’re eating and how much you’re eating.”

“This program shows that South LA parents, youth and residents in general want to be healthier and that in fact that there is great demand for healthier food options in South LA,” says Coalition President and CEO, Marqueece Harris-Dawson. “As an organization that has been working to improve the overall health and safety in South LA for the past 20 years, we want to support every opportunity to make it easier for people to live healthier lives – whether its through individual education such as programs like this or changing public policy and environmental conditions, such as reducing the overconcentration of liquor stores and increasing access to grocery markets in our community.”

So far, they’ve learned how to read nutrition facts found on labels of boxes like cereal to know how many calories and fat they consume and how many servings they should have a day. The cooking classes are led by chef-instructors that focus on hands-on, step-by-step cooking.  “They’re really patient with you and teach you steps to make healthy and good food,” said Ham.
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El Camino College Boundary Review Committee Schedules its First Meeting

July 20, 2011 By Leave a Comment


N   E   W   S
El Camino College |  Public Relations & Marketing Department
16007 Crenshaw Blvd., Torrance, CA 90506
Contact: Ann M. Garten, Director, Community Relations
Telephone: (310) 660-3406 | E-Mail: agarten[at]elcamino.edu

For Immediate Release                                                             July 19, 2011

El Camino College Boundary Review Committee Schedules its First Meeting

The recently appointed El Camino Community College District Boundary Review Committee (BRC) will hold its inaugural meeting on July 21, 2011, at 3:30 p.m. in the El Camino College Board Room, 16007 Crenshaw Boulevard, Torrance.

The committee comprises at least one member from each of the El Camino Community College District’s (ECCCD) five trustee areas. Members include: John Edward Alter, a Torrance attorney; Heidi Ann Koch Ashcraft, CFO of Ashcraft Design, Torrance and former member of the Torrance Unified School District; Marché L. Boose, a business development and client relations manager from Inglewood; Nilo Michelin, history teacher and member of the Hawthorne School District Board of Trustees; Nathan M. Mintz, an engineer from Redondo Beach; Steve Napolitano, a former mayor of Manhattan Beach and representative for Supervisor Knabe in the South Bay; and El Segundo publicist Susan W. Truax, a board member of the El Segundo Education Foundation and former El Camino College Bond Oversight Committee member for Measure E.

The El Camino Community College District, along with many other public agencies and school districts in California, has begun a public process to review and modify its elected trustee area boundaries. This process includes utilizing 2010 census data to review current trustee areas to ensure they are representative of the District’s constituents.

In fall 2010, the ECCCD Board of Trustees initiated discussions on the process required to modify trustee area boundaries and change from “at large” to “trustee area” elections.

Currently, trustees in the El Camino Community College District must live in the trustee area they represent, however residents of the ECCCD vote for trustee candidates “at large;” that is, voters cast their vote for all candidates on the ballot. When voting by “trustee area,” residents would only vote for candidates who reside in their trustee area.

The BRC will schedule public hearings in the fall, with plans to present a recommendation to the ECCCD Board of Trustees in 2012.

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Crenshaw Subway Coalition calls for emergency meeting; preparing to sue MTA

July 18, 2011 By Leave a Comment


EMERGENCY MEETING:

PREPARING TO SUE MTA

Crenshaw Subway Coalition Community Meeting

Today Monday, July 18 6:30 – 8:30 PM
US Bank Community Room on Crenshaw/Slauson
5760 Crenshaw Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90016

MTA is Trying to Speed Up the Game Clock stopwatch(Forgive the incredibly short notice, but we are in part responding to MTA’s unprecedented attempt to vote to approve the project 7 weeks sooner than legally permissible.)

Attendees of our June 30th meeting were first informed of two elements of our multi-faceted strategy to win the battle with MTA for an underground Leimert Park Village station and subway on Crenshaw Blvd:

1. Holding our elected officials from Congress down to City Council and the Mayor accountable for delivering more of our tax dollars to the Crenshaw-LAW project to fund the Leimert Park Village station and subway in Park Mesa Heights

2. Suing Metro in court for violating environmental and civil rights laws

At tonight’s community meeting we will further explain the legal basis for a lawsuit, in particular the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) that MTA is violating.

The importance of tonight’s meeting increased a few days ago when it was revealed that MTA is attempting to “speed up the game clock” and approve the project at their August 4 board meeting as opposed to their September 22 board meeting. (After MTA approves the project, the window of opportunity to file a CEQA lawsuit is JUST 30 DAYS.)

In our review of every other transit study of similar nature over the past decade, MTA provided a 30 day public review period and multiple community meetings after the final project document was released to provide citizens an opportunity to, at the very least, go on the record to express their concerns.  There are even federal requirements for a 30 day public review period.  And yet as of this morning, just 17 days from August 4, MTA still has not released the final project document for review.  They haven’t even given it to the elected officials or fellow public agencies!

This is just the latest greatest display of disrespect of our community and egregious violation by MTA and partially why we believe that a legal challenge is key to our victory.  It will make MTA more likely to concede the Leimert Park Village station and Park Mesa Heights tunnel.  As was clear in the lead up to the May 26th MTA board vote.  MTA has the money to build the project the way the community desires, they just currently lack the will.  Simply, MTA’s draft document is legally flawed, the basis for Metro staff, Mayor Villaraigosa and wanna-be Mayor Zev Yaroslavsky’s opposition to the Leimert Park Village station and Park Mesa Heights tunnel is flawed, and if MTA had conducted a proper environmental study both designs would be in the project.

There will be more to come after tonight’s meeting, but for now, please hear our urgent appeal for generous donations so that we can fund a legal challenge.  Lawyers are interested, but because this type of law is a true specialty – there will be costs.

The leaders of the Crenshaw Subway Coalition and Fix Expo Campaign have adopted as a policy to only ask the community for financial support when we need it – and now is that time.

As has become clear both in our fight with MTA on the Expo Line crossing at Dorsey High School and in other project fights with MTA by other communities, the agency/board does not begin taking communities seriously until lawyers get involved.

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Community Meetings Scheduled for July to Discuss Ways To Build Safe Communities for Young Children

July 14, 2011 By Leave a Comment


Los Angeles – Best Start, a First 5 LA effort, has scheduled three new July community partnership meetings in the South Los Angeles area to continue working on ways to improve communities for families and children 0 – 5 years old.

The first of the three will be held for the West Athens community and is scheduled for Monday, July 18, from 5:30 pm to 8:00 pm, at the First New Christian Fellowship, 1555 W. 108th Street, L.A. 90047.

The second, for the Watts-Willowbrook community is scheduled for Tuesday, July 19, from 5:30 pm to 8:00 pm, at Verbum Dei High School, 11100 S. Central Avenue, L.A. 90059. The third meeting will be held Thursday, July 21, from 5:30 pm to 8:00 pm in Compton at the Compton Unified School District, 501 S. Sante Fe Avenue, Compton 90221.

A light dinner will be provided at all meetings and reservations are requested. For July 18, please respond to Aimee Loya Owens, Program Officer, 213.482.7560 or aloya[at]first5la.org. For July 19, please contact Tina Chinakarn, Program Officer, 213.482.7521 or TCinakarn[at]first5la.org.

For Compton, please respond to Amy Williams Banfield, Program Officer, 213.482.7542 or http://www.beststart.org/compton-eastcompton.

Note that childcare, translation services and transportation are available upon request only.

Community members, especially parents, are asked to identify community strengths, needs and resources that help support young children and their families. Best Start brings together parents and other community members to help strengthen neighborhoods. Parents, educators, faith-based groups, businesses, health professionals and others will work together to ensure that children are born healthy, maintain a health weight, are safe from abuse and neglect and are ready for kindergarten.

First 5 LA is dedicating resources to support the development and implementation of community strengthening plans in South Los Angeles – Compton/East Compton, Broadway –Manchester, West Athens and Watts-Willowbrook, as well as other communities throughout Los Angeles County – Central Long Beach, East Los Angeles, El Monte and South El Monte, Lancaster, Metro LA, Pacoima, Palmdale, Panorama City, Southeast Cities (Bell, Cudahy, Bell Gardens and Maywood) and Wilmington.

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South LA organization offering low-cost summer camp

June 16, 2011 By Leave a Comment


Children ages 8-13 can have fun this summer while fine tuning their math and language arts skills at the Al Wooten Jr. Heritage Center youth center at 9106 S. Western Ave. in Los Angeles. The Wooten Center Summer Fun Camp will be held July 5 to August 26 with a full-day program Monday-Friday from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. The cost is $45 per week, per child.  Family discounts are available for $40 per week, per child for households with three or more children enrolled in the camp. The registration fee is $30 per household.

Weekly field trips to sites including World on Wheels, The California Science Center, Aquarium of the Pacific, Leo Carillo State Park and Knott’s Berry Farm are included at no additional cost. Other weekly activities will include math games, athletics, math, language arts, computer and science labs,and classes on college preparation and gang prevention. A free lunch is available daily at St. Andrews Park.

“As the Wooten Center is a nonprofit, we are allowed to assist our community by offering a quality program at a low weekly rate,” said Vanessa Rojo, program director of education. “Children will not only have fun this summer but will also receive the extra help they need to prepare themselves for the next academic school year.”

To register, call Vanessa Rojo at 323-756-7203, extension 29, or email summer[at]wootencenter.org. For more information, visit the center’s Web site

Click here to download a flyer about the camp.

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El Camino summer classes to begin

June 16, 2011 By Leave a Comment


imageRegistration is underway now at El Camino College for six-week and eight-week summer sessions, which begin June 20. 

At a time when some California community colleges have already cut summer sessions completely due to budget cuts, two sessions are available at El Camino College, featuring day and evening classes. Course offerings range from transferable general education classes to career technical education and basic skills classes. Online courses are also available.

Many students welcome the summer session as an opportunity to take needed classes in a relatively short period of time. In addition, a growing number of students like Morgan Andersen are enrolling in El Camino College summer courses to take advantage of the $26 per unit fees. A fee increase of $36 per unit begins Fall 2011.

“I registered for a Spanish class and a history class – I figured I could take care of two general ed classes at a lower price this summer, before the fall increases,” said Torrance resident Morgan Andersen, an ECC English major who plans to transfer to a university in Fall 2012.

“Last summer I took a math class. I like the summer session, I can take care of classes quickly and still have time to work and make vacation plans. I also liked how the class went at a faster pace. When you are there every day for two or three hours, you learn more material and it sticks with you.”

Students may register online at any time – just go to www.elcamino.edu and click on MyECC. Financial Aid is available for qualifying students. View the class schedule here.

El Camino College is located at 16007 Crenshaw Boulevard, near Torrance. For more information, go to www.elcamino.edu or call 1-866-ELCAMINO

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