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…]

Opponents to South LA oil drilling say AllenCo upgrades won’t be enough



Nalleli Cobo walks in her neighborhood near AllenCo | Esperanza Community Housing

Nalleli Cobo, part of the People Not Pozos campaign, walks in her neighborhood near AllenCo in November 2013. Click to view more photos. | Esperanza Community Housing

For months South L.A. community members complained of foul odors coming from their neighbor: AllenCo Energy Inc., an urban oil drilling site. After more than 200 complaints and a four-month investigation by the Environmental Protection Agency, the company agreed to spend $700,000 to improve their site. Yet the South L.A. community that has been opposing AllenCo’s operations says those upgrades still won’t mitigate the health consequences.

“They really shouldn’t be there at all,” said Ashley Kissinger, project manager for Esperanza Community Housing, which offers affordable housing properties as little as 25-feet away from AllenCo.

Last year Esperanza launched a campaign called People Not Pozos (People Not Oil Wells) to draw attention to community health concerns, including complaints of asthma, headaches and nosebleeds. Eventually the campaign helped bring about a temporary shut-down of AllenCo. [Read more…]

South LA corner stores turn full-service



Nelson Garcia welcomes visitors into his "converted" corner store. | Sinduja Rangarajan

Nelson Garcia welcomes visitors into his “converted” corner store. | Sinduja Rangarajan

When more than 100 children, teenagers and adults gathered on the corner of Vermont and 60th streets last March to enjoy a four-hour block party complete with face painting, booths offering food coupons and a live disc jockey encouraging people of all ages to dance by blasting R&B, rap and Latino music, onlookers may have assumed the occasion was a national holiday or neighborhood fundraiser. Instead, the festivities were meant to mark the re-opening of Alba Snacks & Services, one of South L.A.’s few grocery stores.

The approximately 51 square mile area of South Los Angeles is largely considered a “food desert” — a space where finding food that is both affordable and high-quality is difficult.

See also on Intersections: South LA creates healthy food options

The Alba re-opening was part of the Healthy Neighborhood Market Network and the Community Market Conversion Program, an initiative run by Los Angeles’s Food Policy Council, an independent multi-stakeholder entity of the Mayor’s Office. These dual programs, said Director of Policy and Innovation Clare Fox, aim to transform convenience stores in neighborhoods with limited food access to full-service grocery stores. [Read more…]

Facing off against pollution in South LA neighborhoods



Screenshot of the Southern California area on CalEnviroScreen. The dark blue portions indicate the most polluted areas. | CalEnviroScreen

Screenshot of the Southern California area on CalEnviroScreen. The dark blue portions indicate the most polluted areas. | CalEnviroScreen

Many California residents, particularly in metropolitan areas like Los Angeles, gripe about the smog that chokes the horizon. But some communities, including several in South Los Angeles, have it worse than others.

According to a recent report from the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, ethnic minorities comprise a large proportion of residents in California’s most polluted neighborhoods despite making up a relatively small percentage of the statewide population.

An online tool called the CalEnviroScreen depicts California’s pollution levels by the state’s more than 8,000 census tracts using a color scale. It shows immediate pollution levels as well as “potential vulnerability.” Launched in 2012, the tool has been updated several times since. Recent versions include an analysis of the relationship between race and the CalEnviroScreen scores. The data indicates that Latinos and African Americans are disproportionately affected.

[Read more…]

Allenco to pay for upgrades at South LA oil drilling site



Allenco | Emmanuel Martinez

A gate barricades the AllenCo oil drill site from the street. | Emmanuel Martinez

The Environmental Protection Agency announced an agreement with the Allenco Energy Inc. Friday that will cost the South L.A. oil production facility $700,000 for site improvements after it was found to be in violation of industry standards and receiving hundreds of residential complaints.

This deal is a result of an EPA investigation that uncovered several health and safety violations.

“When a company is operating in extremely close proximity to a neighboring community, it is essential that steps are taken to ensure the safety of the residents,” said Jared Blumenfeld, the EPA’s Regional Administrator for the Pacific Southwest division, in a statement. “Today’s order requires Allenco make the investments necessary to comply with the federal Clean Air and Clean Water Acts.”

Also see: City Council votes to halt oil drilling in South LA and throughout city, West Adams neighbors seek to oust oil productionAllenco addresses South LA oil field complaints [Read more…]

South LA creates healthy food options



South L.A. residents are growing vegetables in their backyards. They are converting their corner stores into healthy groceries. They are not waiting anymore for healthy options to come to them.

Click play for the stories of a South L.A. vegan and a corner store transformer:

Arriving at a recent community development meeting in a recreation center in South L.A., Agyei Graham peeked at the breakfast spread of bagels, yogurt and coffee, quietly found a standing room spot in a corner, pulled a red apple from the back pocket of his jeans and bit into it.

The 21-year-old has been a vegan for five months, which means he couldn’t have the yogurt. He could eat the bagels, but he’d have to forgo cream cheese. And he could only have coffee if he wanted it black.

He came prepared with an apple because he didn’t expect a small community meeting to offer vegan options. But he isn’t always prepared with contingency plans. There are days when Graham, who works as a locker room attendant at a swimming stadium, doesn’t have time to pack a meal. There are days when he comes home to an empty fridge because he didn’t find time to go to his favorite grocery store, Sprouts, which is six miles away in Culver City. [Read more…]

South LA gets a taste of Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution



The wellness and diabetes group from the Martin Luther King Jr. Outpatient Center has climbed on board to take part in celebrity chef Jamie Oliver’s food revolution.

The lesson today, “Fish Made Easy,” included a basic red sauce sautéed with garlic, olives, and basil baked over a white fish and served with what the cooks called “brilliant broccoli.”

Caroline Snow, one of the instructors giving free lessons to community members out of the Big Rig Mobile Teaching Kitchen parked on East 120th Street in front of the medical center, offered simple directions: “We’re using the canned tomatoes sauce here on the rig, but you can use fresh tomatoes and with the summer season coming and growing new gardens its great to pick your own tomatoes, puree them, and use that. Then we’re making the sauce, putting the fish with it and baking it for a few minutes.” [Read more…]

Community leaders seek healthcare funds for LA County’s uninsured



AffordableCareApril2014-ARNAs the enrollment period for the Affordable Care Act comes to an end, about one million people in Los Angeles County remain uninsured. Community groups and activist organizations are calling upon the Board of Supervisors to propose a plan for those still without healthcare.

Click play on an audio story from Annenberg Radio News to hear from those ineligible for Obamacare, as well as the voices of the people fighting on their behalf for another solution.

South LA loses trees in Crenshaw/LAX Metro line construction



Construction for the new metro rail line on Crenshaw blvd.

Construction for the new metro rail line on Crenshaw blvd.

The new 8.5 mile Crenshaw/LAX light rail line could change the look of South L.A. by bringing an influx of businesses and pedestrian traffic. It could change the South L.A. landscape in another way, too: By cutting down about 100 trees along a two mile stretch of Crenshaw Boulevard between Exposition and 48th street to make room for the train.

Romell Pace, a local who sells shirts at the corner of Crenshaw and Slauson Boulevards, said the trees need to stay.

“Once the trees are removed… it’s going to be slow on business,” he said. “I believe that the trees should stay there because they are landmarks.” [Read more…]

South LA clinic offers look at reform’s promise, limits



roh_logoThis blog post originally appeared at ReportingonHealth.org, an online community at the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism.

Anna Gorman, senior correspondent for Kaiser Health News, T.H.E. therapist Neil Martin, T.H.E. outreach manager MelbaDenise Donnell, and Dr. Derrick Butler, a physician at the clinic. | Ryan White

Anna Gorman, senior correspondent for Kaiser Health News, T.H.E. therapist Neil Martin, T.H.E. outreach manager MelbaDenise Donnell, and Dr. Derrick Butler, a physician at the clinic. | Ryan White

A visit to the To Help Everyone Health and Wellness Center in South Los Angeles offers a very different perspective on what health reform means at the ground level, at least compared to the typical media diet of enrollment updates and website glitches.

Many of the clinic’s predominantly poor, African-American patients are dealing with multiple chronic diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, and H.I.V. That’s on top of unusually high levels of mental health disorders, drug abuse, alcoholism, crushing poverty and unhealthy diets. Dr. Derrick Butler, responsible for managing many of the clinic’s toughest cases, affectionately referred to some of his patients as “train wrecks” when speaking to a group of journalists at the 2014 California Health Journalism Fellowship visiting the clinic recently. [Read more…]