Volunteers collected pledge ballots from attendees. | Anna-Cat Brigida
There are more than 8500 homeless young people in Los Angeles County. One of the highest concentrations of homeless under the age of 24 is South L.A. The South L.A. Homeless Transition Age Youth plans to take these kids off the streets and improve their lives.
This story originally aired on Annenberg Radio News.
Intersection’s Nonprofit Spotlight series profiles South L.A. organizations that are propelling positive change in South L.A. Here we look at Esperanza Community Housing Corporation — a 25-year-old group helping people to create communities for themselves where they can thrive.
Mercado la Paloma | www.mercadolapaloma.com
What is Esperanza Community Housing’s purpose?
Esperanza seeks to create opportunities for community residents’ growth, security, participation, recognition, and ownership through developing and preserving affordable housing, promoting accessible health care, stimulating involvement in arts and culture, ensuring quality education, pursuing economic development, and advocating for progressive public policy.
When was Esperanza Community Housing founded? 1990
Which areas does Esperanza Community Housing serve? Figueroa Corridor
What services does Esperanza Community Housing provide? The organization provides a variety of programs around the core program areas of affordable, housing, health, economic development, environmental justice, and arts and culture. [Read more…]
The hotel worker wage vote tally — three council members dissented. | LAANE Facebook
Hotel operators speak out: Hotel operators believe that a wage increase to $15.37 would hurt the industry. (Daily News)
See also: City Council favors raising minimum wage for hotel workers
Domestic violence increases:While other crime rates in Los Angeles have decreased in recent years, domestic violence rates have increased. (L.A. Sentinel)
2 dead in accidental shooting: A man at a South L.A. party accidentally shot his friend and then shot himself. (CBS)
Suspected gunman arrested: LAPD caught two suspects after a chase that resulted in a crash in South L.A. on Wednesday afternoon. (ABC)
Serial killer claims innocence: Serial killer Samuel Little, convicted for killing three South L.A. women in the 1980s, claims he is not guilty. (L.A. Times)
Crenshaw principal denies union teachers targeted in firings: Crenshaw High principal testified on Thursday in hearing about former teachers who allege they were not rehired because of their union activity when the school was reorganized. (L.A. Times)
CHP settles with woman beaten on camera: Marlene Pinnock will receive a $1.5 million in a settlement with California Highway Patrol for being beaten by the side of the freeway by an officer. (L.A. Wave)
Suspected DUI driver fatally strikes pedestrian: A 45-year-old man was killed on Sunday morning on Vernon Ave. east of Central Ave. by a suspected drunk driver. (CBS)
Mark Ridley-Thomas finds the sex trafficking of minors the most horrific human trafficking crime. | Daina Beth Solomon
Los Angeles will soon see several dozen new billboards and posters across the city featuring digits outlined in bright teal – a hotline for human trafficking victims to get help. Human trafficking, while long associated with foreign countries, is a reality in the United States, and victims can include men and women of all ages.
Sex trafficking in particular has plagued Los Angeles, with young girls forced into prostitution by men who are often affiliated with gangs. Several main drags in South L.A., Hollywood and the Valley are some of the top pick-up spots on the West Coast.
In South L.A., the women walk past the liquor shops, storefront churches and schools lining Figueroa and Western, often wearing lingerie and mini skirts and high heels. In the dark of the night, they are some of the only people out and about.
County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas representing South L.A. said it’s “egregious” for so many minors to be trapped in such work.
“The problem is, to some extent a hidden one, a hidden one in plain sight,” he told Intersections.
He and other officials believe increasing public awareness is essential. They hope the billboards remind victims that they have options to escape.
The Vernon Library, courtesy USC Libraries.
“Open to all” reads a grand inscription above the doorway to the Vernon Public Library in South L.A., circa 1950. Two women stand in front, dwarfed by tall Greek columns.
The library’s grandeur has since faded. But the building still stands in its original location, possibly dating back to 1920 when Central Avenue was the city’s hot corridor for jazz music.
The front facade of the Vernon Library in a photo from sometime between 1920 and 1950.
The vote tally — three people dissenting. | Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy/ Facebook
South L.A. residents working in the hotel industry might see their hourly wages rise by just over a half beginning next summer.
The Los Angeles City Council took a vote on the issue Wednesday, with 12 out of 15 council members agreeing to raise the minimum wage to $15.37 per hour for workers employed in the city’s largest hotels. The minimum wage is currently $9 per hour.
Council members Bernard Parks, Mitchell Englander and Paul Krekorian dissented. Because the city council did not reach a unanimous decision, it will revisit the issue next week for a final vote. The city council must reach a unanimous decision during next week’s vote for the higher minimum wage to take effect. [Read more…]
An airport checkpoint. | Ben Popken (Flickr Creative Commons)
Ex-TSA officer sentenced: A South L.A. native who worked at the Los Angeles International Airport as a TSA screener was sentenced to 80 months in federal prison for involvement in a drug smuggling scheme. (Daily Breeze)
Sheriff’s deputies test body cameras: Deputies in San Gabriel Valley and parts of South L.A. are starting a 6-month pilot program to test body cameras in a move to increase trust in the police force. (Modesto Bee)
Passerby finds injured man: A passerby found a man on the street in South L.A. with gunshot wounds. (KTLA)
Police car hits truck: Two officers responding to a report of an armed man near USC collided with a pickup truck. (NBC)
Injured dog returns home: Gordo, a dog struck by a van last week in a police chase through South L.A., returned home on Tuesday. (NBC)
Bernard Parks | Stephanie Monte
Bernard Parks losing influence?: The once political powerhouse now struggles to gain support in City Hall. (L.A. Times)
See also: South LA councilman Bernard Parks reflects on 50 years of public service
Father stabs 6-year-old son: Friends and neighbors mourn the loss of Nathan Sanchez, who lived in the Florence-Firestone neighborhood in South L.A. (L.A. Times)
City Year kicks off: Mayor Eric Garcetti and LAUSD Superintendent John Deasy welcomed new City Year volunteers, many of whom will mentor South L.A. students. (L.A. School Report)
Construction begins on USC retail and housing center: USC has broken ground on its $650 million “campus village.” (KPCC)
See also: New USC Village breaks ground.
Neighborhood Justice Program aids minor offenders: A new program will change the criminal justice system so small misdemeanors will not appear on criminal records. (The Los Angeles Register)
City Hall to vote on hotel worker wages: Lawmakers will vote as soon as Wednesday to raise wages for hotel workers to $15.37. South L.A.’s District 9 councilman Curren Price supports the measure. (LA Times)
Day passes have risen by two dollars. | Amanda Scurlock/Neon Tommy
The Los Angeles Metro increased the fares for its one-way, weekly and monthly passes last week. A one-way pass went from $1.50 to $1.75, a day pass rose by two dollars while the weekly increased by five dollars. The monthly pass has now reached the triple digits, according to a news release on Metro’s website. In exchange for raising prices, Metro will give riders two hours of free transfer rides for one-way travel if they use Tap cards.
“We have some of the lowest fares in the country, even with the change,” said Dave Sotero, a spokesman for Metro.
In order to raise the fees, Metro conducted several public hearings before presenting the recommendation to the board of directors. The public transportation company raised the fees in order to gain revenue.
The majority of the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, including Los Angeles County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas and Mayor Eric Garcetti, approved of the increase, which effects both buses and rail lines.
“We currently get about 26 percent of our revenue from the fare box,” said Sotero. Part of that money will go to the operating deficit. Metro needs funding to maintain 2,228 buses and 87 miles of rail within the county, according to Sotero.
“As we continue to expand the transit system and make transit more useful for more Angelenos, our operating costs increase accordingly,” he said.
Click to hear the opinions of South L.A. bus-goers:
However, Metro has long needed to persevere through deficits according to Lisa Schweitzer, Associate Professor of the Price School of Public Policy at USC.
“They’re always scrambling for revenue,” she said. “Raising fares can be a dangerous thing to do.”
Eric Romann, an organizer at the Bus Rider’s Union believes the raise will have a negative impact on working class people.
“It will hit hard for people who are earning less money,” he said.
The fee hikes could encourage people to opt out of taking the bus, he added, which could boost street congestion, he added.
“It’s essentially discouraging people from using mass transit.”
Sotero, however, predicts that even people who stop taking the bus due to the cost increase will eventually gravitate back to Metro.
“I anticipate a dip in ridership for about six months,” he said. “Ridership has traditionally come back normal after a six month period.”
See also from Intersections: Bus Riders Union superhero El Pasajero protests proposed fare increase
This article was originally published on Neon Tommy. Reach Staff Reporter Amanda Scurlock here. Follow her on Twitter here.
Jesus Vargas and Luis Moctezuma recently said goodbye to South Los Angeles and hello to college — far off at Syracuse University in New York. Both had learned digital skills through classes at South L.A.’s TxT (formerly URBAN TxT), a nonprofit that works with inner-city boys to develop tomorrow’s technology leaders, and hope to one day bring change to their communities. To do that, they’re first going across the country. (And now rooting for the Syracuse Orange football team instead of cardinal-and-gold USC Trojans.) Check back for updates from Vargas and Moctezuma’s journal chronicling the challenges and rewards of attending college far from home.
Oscar Menjivar, in orange, accompanied Jesus and Luis to get settled at Syracuse.
Jesus: The closer I got to college, the more people wanted to talk about it. Everyone wanted to know if I was ready, excited or nervous. My generic response was, “Yes, I’m excited.” But the truth is that I wasn’t really thinking about school. When I graduated from high school I felt as if I had just taken a deep breath after completing a tedious task; the last thing I wanted to think about was the next step of my educational journey. [Read more…]
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