His ability to cross barriers also allowed him to enter thousands of homes each Saturday morning which open the door for various cultures to find a commonality. Music is art form that everyone can relate to, knowing this he was able to impact people from across the world.

Soyinka Rinki said “ Mr. Cornelius had no idea the impact he would have in American society, beyond America he has gone to other country, what he has brought to this society a more full flavored Africa-American.”

BIill Rosendahl represents District 11, which currently encompasses the west side, including LAX.  His colleague, Bernard Parks, represents District 8, which includes Crenshaw and Leimert Park over to USC.

At a news conference, both councilmen criticized the proposal that would let Rosendahl keep LAX but would give Westchester to Parks.

“How dare they take people away from the issues that matter so
much to them? It’s an insult to democracy at its best,” Rosendahl said.

Councilman Parks was quick to criticize what he calls closed-door meetings where the maps were drawn.

“We were asked well before the commission was created whether we
want Westchester and the airport. And we said, ‘no, it doesn’t fit our community.’
How are people in City Hall talking about maps before the commission was
created, and who’s creating maps outside of the commission?” he said.

Rosendahl drafted a petition against the redistricting proposal that has garnered more than 2,000 signatures.

One Westchester resident, William Roberts, says the plan would break up a community with similar interests.  He says LAX and nearby Loyola Marymount University affect Westchester residents like him.

“We share the burdens and benefits of LAX, we share the burdens and benefits
of having students in our community who rent from homeowners here,” he said.  “When
there are problems, we want to go to one councilperson and have them worked
out that way instead of having an opposing situation where you have two city
council people representing the same area.”

Calls placed to the Office of Redistricting were not immediately returned.

The Department of Cultural Affairs is partnering with the Convention and Visitors Bureau and has support from Wells Fargo and other sponsoring businesses. The Discover the Arts campaign is a way to stimulate visitor numbers during a historically dry season.

Olga Garay English is the executive director of the Department of Cultural Affairs.

“January is the slowest month of the year because everybody is broke from the holidays. So people don’t spend a lot. They don’t have a lot of extra income to spend on going to museums or shows.”

That’s where the Discover the Arts campaign, now in its fourth year, comes in.

Will-dog Abers, a bassist for the LA-based band Ozomalti, was there with his bandmates offering a lively performance at the kick-off event.

“We grew up going to museums and being part of public arts. That’s the only reason we’re a band.”

The campaign aims to ensure kids have better access to the arts, but also to draw tourists to the city. Arts institutions hope L.A. will become known not just for Hollywood, but as a mecca for sculpture, painting, music, plays, and interactive exhibits. 

Photo c/o flickr user tcd123usa

“With the patients, it was some negative results; either from treatment or not having the correct staff and doubling up patients and you’ve had some where there have been some deaths,” Fitzhugh said.

When these issues arise, Fitzhugh says the hospital tends to blame the nurses first.

“Most of the time, the blame always comes back on the nurses, no matter what and most of these nurses can say and agree to that,” Fitzhugh. “So myself, I’ll fight.”

Licensed clinical social worker Gary Becker says understaffing hurts patients and nursing staff, but it benefits those at the top.

“The less staff we have, there’s more profit at the end of the month, at the end of the year, for the folks who run the organization,” Becker said. “The folks who run the organization are the administrators and the full time partners. The partners are the full time physicians. They get bonuses on top of bonuses, they get early retirement.”

Vice President of Communications for Kaiser Diana Halper says the hospital not only meets but exceeds all nursing standards.

Halper says Kaiser is upset about the strikes today and believes the best way to resolve issues is at the bargaining table.

However, Laneta Fitzhugh says workers are frequently waiting to be included in on these negotiations.

“Did we get an invitation to the meeting, to make that decision to be a part of it? No. And that’s a problem,” Fitzhugh said.

For now, the nurses say they will continue pressuring Kaiser until changes are made.

According to L-A-P-D, on June 15, the transient approached Lee’s vehicle on the off ramp of the 101 freeway at Vermont Avenue.

The man asked the yogurt mogul for money and the defendant became enraged by a sexually explicit tattoo on the man’s arm, according to police.

Lee, a boxer-turned-architect, allegedly left his car and hit the transient with a tire iron, breaking his arm and injuring his head.

Both the defense and prosecutor declined to talk to the media after the arraignment.

Lee is expected back in court on March 5 when a preliminary hearing is expected to be scheduled.

Some came to the courthouse steps from Occupy LA, pitching two tents in the spirit of the downtown protest. Advocates, including several children and many parents, brought signs: “Children are also the 99%,” “DCFS, give us back our children” and “Community Heals: open children’s court” among their messages.

They say the courts that split up children and their families need to be accountable to the public. Right now, these cases aren’t seen by anyone but the people present - and according to protestor May Hampton, that means courts aren’t really seeking kids’ best interests.

“A lot of the public is not aware of what goes on, just like I wasn’t aware,” Hampton said. See, some of the children aren’t getting the help that they need. So they’re crying out. They’re calling to you, they’re calling to me. They’re calling all over the United States, maybe all over the world.”

Hampton wants people to see cases like hers. She helped her longtime friend Brittany care for her daughter from, literally, the day she was born. Brittany died last year. Her daughter took Hampton’s last name and began living with her full time. But the court barred Hamilton from the trial that sent the child to distant cousins in San Francisco.

Then, last month, Hampton lost her visiting rights. She still writes letters to her would-be daughter, but she’s not sure they’ll ever see each other again.

“I don’t have the words to express how we feel,” Hampton said. “I was shocked, because I thought Children’s Services was one of the best things, that they were there to protect children. But I see different.”

Judge Michael Nash, who presides over the county’s children’s courts, has already proposed a blanket order to open hearings.

Critics say opening courts isn’t the way to ensure accountability. After kids have already suffered, making their stories public will only traumatize them further.

The Department of Children and Family Services has not taken an official position on opening these courts.

Ingrid Newkirk is the founder of PETA.

“Vegetarianism is a great idea for your own arteries, for the animals who don’t want to go to the slaughter house, and because eating meat and dairy takes such a toll on the earth. And so we want to have a commemorative stamp. I hope everybody will get involved and just give vegetarianism a try.”

Newkirk says the effort has so far been well received.

“People love the stamps...they’re going like hot cakes.”

Celebrity Pamela Anderson attended the collection’s unveiling. She says she is an animal lover and enjoys being a vegetarian.

“I was happy to be on a stamp. I’m just happy to be here and happy to be associated with PETA and anything they ask me to do, I’m just happy to do it.”

Also attending was Bob Barker, the host of the popular TV show, “The Price is Right.” Barker, who is now 88, says he attributes his good health to vegetarianism.

“I could never, never in the world, I don’t believe, have done that show until I was 83 had I not been a vegetarian...I’m flattered that PETA would include me when they’re trying to spread the word about vegetarianism. I certainly believe in it. I’m a walking example of it, and what it can do for you. I mean the fact that I’m on my feet talking to you at my age is quite remarkable.”

So if you’re all about the animals or all about the celebrities, you’ll probably like PETA’s new stamp collection. But you won’t find them at the post office - they’re only available through PETA and for a limited time.

Karla Robinson, Annenberg Radio News.

Councilmember Bernard Parks said right now, redistricting is his most important business. The new maps could shape city politics for years to come.

“These boundaries will be in place for the 2013 election, and in that election, you have the mayor, the controller, the city attorney and 7 council districts,” Parks said. “So these are the things that are going on, and that’s why it’s so important”

The maps will take into account population, neighborhoods, and established boundaries like freeways or the river. They also must comply with the Federal Voting Rights Act, which prevents racial discrimination.

Running the process is a 21-member commission appointed by council members and other city officials. The commission will send a plan for new districts to the council by March.

Tunua Thrash, the commissioner for the 8th district, said the new boundaries are still undecided.

“There’s going to be movement across the city somewhere, at some point, at some time,” she said. “It’s just not clear in what direction.”

Thrash said her priority is keeping the 8th a viable, diverse district.

“I think personally the worst thing we can do in the city of Los Angeles is create districts that don’t have resources, that don’t have economic bases, that don’t have certain infrastructure in place, certain institutions.”

She cited USC and the Leimert Park and Baldwin Hills neighborhoods as examples.

The 8th District will hold its first hearing at the Expo Center on December 12.

Before dawn he was up, lighting bonfires for the people already in line for his turkey giveaway.

He’s been doing this for 23 years, but this year the need was the worst he’s ever seen.

His volunteers have been working nonstop for the last few days.

“...We had to make up 20,000 boxes, 20,000 turkeys...And it gets bigger and bigger and bigger.”

Jodie Fallon’s a volunteer with the Jackson Limousine Dinner Giveaway.

She said last year it pulled in ten thousand people, tops.

Last week, Jackson was worried the donations would fall far short of the need.

But corporate and private donors stepped up to help.

Now he’s emptying two mac-trucks full of frozen turkey.

Since four in the morning, Fallon’s been…

“...Packing and packing and we’re still packing right now...I just had to get a break. I snuck out....but it’s a really good event and it helps a lot of people. See how many people out here?”

One of these people is Dee Brown. I met her when she was getting her friend to help her cut in front of people who’d been waiting in line since last night.

“Are people going to be okay with that? I hope so, I’m just going to slide in and pretend like I was part of the picture”

If you can’t tell by the lack of line etiquette, she’s new here.

She used to work in a hospital but got laid off. Her income’s all dried up.

And finding herself in line for food? It’s…

“Humbling, very humbling.”

She says her unemployment check hardly covers the rent. And everywhere, prices are rising.

“Well times are hard. You know, inflation goes up… Everything went up. You know, just a bag of potato chips is five dollars...But I didn’t notice that until I got laid off. And so when they offer things out here for the community, you know at the time I didn’t need it, but now since I’m laid off, I’m out here just like everybody else.”

Which is exactly why Jackson feels he has to return every year, Turkeys and groceries in hand, the Santa of Thanksgiving.

“The most important thing is to look out for toxics and plastic hazards. And choking hazards continue to be one of the biggest risks for children,” said Austin Price is with CALPIRG

Two of the main hazards on CALPIRG’s list are related to toxins… For instance, toys that have phthalates, a component in plastics, can affect children’s development and reproductive systems. Also, lead is still found in toys.

One of the most common dangers is choking on small pieces. Jeffrey Upperman is director of the Children’s Hospital trauma center. The hospital performs a lot of airway obstruction surgeries.

“The parents who are shopping for toys need to understand that they need to buy toys that are age appropriate. They need to read the labels and they need to make sure that if they’re picking up a bike, make sure to pick up a helmet first,” Upperman said.

The fourth main hazard is noisy toys like play cell phones that can cause hearing loss. Three years ago, congress passed the consumer product safety improvement act. It requires manufacturers to test toys for toxins and lead. Austin Price urges Congress to continue funding the commission that is enforcing stricter regulations.

“So we’ve seen...over two hundred thousand recalls for lead toys just in the past year. So there are safer toys in the marketplace now than when we started this 26 years ago but there’s still hazards out there parents need to know about,” Price said.

Although those toys with noise or small pieces may look like a blast, they may create more harm than fun.

Karla Robinson, Annenberg Radio News.

I asked Monica Valerio, a employee at norm reeves Honda in Cerritos what is special about a natural gas car.

“Depending on how you drive, you can get up to about a 250 mile range and it’s a lot cheaper to fill up depending on where you go exactly. I’ve heard people say they spend between 12 and 17 dollars to fill up their tank.”

With a fuel economy of 48 miles per gallon, it blows past the competitors like the 2012 Toyota Camry in highway driving with 35 miles per gallon. Its drawback is that it can only be filled at a CNG (Civic Natural Gas) station and most drivers have no idea where they are. 

When I asked some passerby what they thought about the natural gas civic, their reactions were not positive.

Among the responses I received:

“I have no idea where to buy natural gas.”

“I know a company who used to convert cars from gas to natural gas and they just didn’t go very far so I wouldn’t be interested in this.”

“Probably not i don’t know enough about it and i want an electric car.”

“Uh I’d have to really understand the availability of it. I don’t know enough about it.”

“Oh I’m totally interested in it that’s why I’m looking at it. Then make sure there are enough rebates to make it worth your while.”

The cost of a Honda Civic is about $29,000 compared to the Toyota Prius which starts at about $23,500.

Another concern was about the size of the trunk.

“It’s exactly like a Honda Civic. The only main difference is, well besides it’s a natural gas vehicle, is that the trunk is way smaller to have the propane tank.”

From the reaction so far at the auto show, Honda is going to have to do a lot more to market its new Civic – either that or create more CNG stations.

Captain David Carlisle believes these security measures will ensure that students act responsibly before the game during the tailgates on and around campus.

And students are doing their part, as well.
Members of the Trojan Knights such as Chris Yoshonis have taken on the responsibility of guarding a duct-taped Tommy Trojan which has been a target for rival students.

And the constant presence of the Knight’s has even relieved the DPS of additional patrols on campus.

Esteban, manning the counter for Senor Corn, says there are fewer customers lately.  He chuckled, “Some people might either be lazy, or because of the protesters—but, yeah, we’re missing a lot of city personnel—they’re not coming out as often to buy as before.”
You might think the protesters would be buying food from the handily-located farmers’ market, but Esteban said business was down about 50 per cent.

Jimmy Cha drove in from Fresno to sell his delicious-looking greens and vegetables at Yang’s Best Produce.  He says his business is down, too, because of confusion over just where the market had moved to:  “It’s a different area, and they moved us around, like, three or four spaces, so the regulars don’t know where we’re at.”

The merchants have been told they probably won’t be able to get their original spots behind City Hall back for a while.  The Los Angeles Police Department is drawing up plans for a timeline for removal of the protest encampment.  The exact date isn’t yet known, but probably won’t be for a few months at best.  After that, Cha said, the farmers’ market still wouldn’t be able to move back in until until the grass grows back, which will take another couple of months.

You can read the full report here:

You can read Wilson’s article here:

“We’re hoping to match what we did if not expand it by a ton or two.”

L.A. Live is important to this event because, according to Regan, they are hoping to create one standard waste approach.

“By next year we hope that as a landmark you can see full scale public recycling at every venue here. We find this is a great educational point where we can bring out our business leaders and show them the community’s excitement around recycling.”

More good news. According to the Natural Resources Defense Council, recycling will create an estimated 1.5 million jobs by 2030. Regan says these materials are sold to China which recycles them to build refrigerators, TV’s, washing machines, and personal computers and it creates jobs.

“There’s existing jobs around the more labor intensive sorting and then there’s the new technology piece and how do we take plastic cups from a beer cup and turn it into a new product. Those are job opportunities.”

If you want to drop off your old electronics, America Recycles Day will be held until 7pm today at 800 West Olympic Boulevard. 

The people of District 9 are at arms over a plot of land that could fit in the Coliseum.

It’s a classic environment versus jobs fight over the land where the old South Central Farm used to sit.

On one side, the families who were promised a park, one green spot to play and breathe in a city of smog and concrete.

On the other, families and a city desperate for jobs and the millions of dollars this factory would mean.

Pro-park people feel their council member Jan Perry has gone around their back and sold one of LA’s only green spaces.

Bernette Serrano pointed directly at Perry when she spoke in front of the council.

“That was a promise you had made to the community and so you need to make sure you fulfill that promise and stop breaking them.”

To them, Perry’s a politician who’s folded to corporate greed.

But for every person who came to shout down the deal, there were at least two more people in favor of it.

In a speech that brought most of the room to their feet, the president of what was once the community garden spoke in favor of Perry.

“The majority of the gardeners that are here are supporting Ms. Jan Perry.”

To them, jobs trump a park any day.

The session exploded with a screaming match between a mother, child in arms, and the sergeant at arms trying to quiet her.

It was so noisy that all the people were forced out of the room.

Once in the hallway, everyone was still talking about it.

Serrano and other pro-park people feel they’ve lost the case. But if that’s so, the city still has to file an environmental report before it can build.

“And hopefully there, that’s where we can hit them good.They’re going to realize they can’t really do this even if they want to”

In the long political process, there’s always another chance to intervene. 

But last night there was more tension than usual.

About 100 protesters marched through downtown la after watching the break up of the New York camp in Zuccotti Park. Police remained on tactical alert for the duration of the demonstration.

Meanwhile five “occupy” protesters were charged with crimes including lewd conduct, battery, and assault with a deadly weapon following a march through Downtown Los Angeles.

The Los Angeles Police Department has been in talks with protesters to create a timeline to close down the city encampment.

LAPD chief Charlie Beck decline to discuss the details of the plan, but he told the L.A. Times he believes the negotiations will take weeks.

Joel Greenfield has been designated as one of the peacekeepers in the Occupy L.A. Movement.

He hopes there will continue to be a positive relationship between the protesters and the police.

“They’re really fine with us. Even during the march when they were holding their batons yesterday they had their thumbs turned up.”

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villariagosa repeated today that Occupy L.A. has to end some time soon.

And protesters appear to accept that the end may be near.

Icon Venue Group and Gensler Architects presented their newest renderings of Farmers Field.

Tim Romani is the President and CEO of ICON, the project’s development manager:

“Special energy” or “lighter than air/take flight”

The rendering plops the new stadium just south of the Staples Center, in the current West Hall of the Los Angeles Convention Center. A full-size football field sits about 40 feet below street level, enveloped by 72 thousand seats. A deployable roof opens like massive glassy wings over each side of the stadium.

Gensler Architects created the field’s concept design. Ron Turner heads the firm’s sports practice—and he wants the stadium to host everything from NCAA tournaments to trade conventions.

“Beyond an NFL stadium”

The project is moving into schematic design now, seeking materials and preparing its environmental impact report. Icon is even working with the city to make it carbon-neutral, or close to it.

But ultimately, Romani said, they’re in it for the fans.

“What fans want”

They hope to break ground in 2013 and open Farmers Field in time for the 2016 NFL season—though they haven’t yet secured a team for the city.

Icon confirmed that talks with the NFL are ongoing.

About 20 activists boarded buses around 4 p.m. to raise awareness among riders that the company that runs DASH also operates in the Palestinian occupied territories.

“We believe when people…realize that the money they’re paying in taxes to the City of LA is being used to support corporations like this one that is profiting from racism and apartheid in Palestine, that people will raise their voices and tell the city of LA that they no longer want that kind of contract to happen,” said Garrick Ruiz, a volunteer with Boycott Divestment Sanctions-LA.

The activists were acting in solidarity with a protest that took place in the occupied territories earlier in the day. Six Palestinians, calling themselves “freedom riders” in the tradition of civil rights protesters of the American South, boarded a bus used by Israeli settlers. They were arrested at a check point before the bus entered Jerusalem.

No law prevents Palestinians from using Israeli public transportation, but protesters argue the bus lines are effectively segregated. Palestinians cannot enter Jewish-only settlements and must have a permit to enter Jerusalem. Israel defends the restrictions to prevent suicide bombers and other attackers from entering the city.

Estee Chandler, Los Angeles organizer for Jewish voice for peace, compares the situation in Palestine to the apartheid in South Africa. “Once the world became aware of what was going on down there,” she said about South Africa, “they used the nonviolent tools of boycotts, divestment, and sanctions, which is the same thing that Palestinian civil society has asked the world to do. The Arab Spring and the quest of justice that’s spreading is no different than the Palestinian quest for justice.”

The United Nations Security Council announced last week that it was divided on Palestine’s bid for statehood. Palestine would not have the requisite nine votes in the Security Council, though the United States pledged to veto the bid if it came to a vote.

Palestine has the support of the UN General Assembly, but a vote there would make Palestine an “observer state” rather than a full member.

Israel and most Jewish organization contend that the bid for statehood at the UN isolates Israel while not changing the reality on the ground for Palestinians.

Chandler, an Israeli American, sees the bus action as a small step in the process of peace. “What the Torah teaches us is actually to do onto others as we would have done onto ourselves,” she said. “I know that if I want my dream to come true that [Israelis] can live in a place with security and peace, the only way that they can achieve that is by providing justice and security and peace to Palestinians as well.”

Peace talks are set to resume in December, but the settlements in the occupied territories remain a huge stumbling block.

In the same way, net neutrality says you should be able to visit any legal website you want whenever you want. And one site shouldn’t cost more to visit than another.  Big telecommunications companies which carry broadband, like Verizon, AT&T, and Comcast, own and operate the wires that bring the Internet into your home or business and also provide content.  These companies want to be able to charge “tiered fees” for sites that use a lot of data, for instance, sites that stream movies or download music.  They also want to be able to slow down access speeds at will, in order to manage traffic— they say this would ensure quality of service, keeping the lanes “open”, so to speak.

Free Press, a national media reform group, says that killing Net Neutrality would have stifled the innovation that’s made the Internet a disruptive and lucrative economic machine.  It would be too easy to throttle off sites that offer services, like Skype, that compete with the big telcos’ offerings.  It would also make it harder for small businesses and individuals to get to sites that cost more, leaving access in the hands of those with deeper pockets.  Craig Aaron, president of Free Press said he was “glad the Senate didn’t listen to the unfounded fears that were being pushed by the opponents of Net Neutrality, claiming...some new kind of government gatekeeper was going to be created.” Net Neutrality, he says, prevents the big telcos from becoming the gatekeepers

Texas Representative Kay Bailey Hutchison, a Republican, was the primary sponsor of the defeated bill, which she said would protect Internet users from excessive government interference.

Free Press’s Craig Aaron cautioned that the fight to protect Net Neutrality was far from over, despite today’s vote.  Verizon has filed a lawsuit which claims that the FCC has no authority to regulate the Internet.  Aaron expects other lawsuits regarding both the spirit and the letter of Internet regulations to follow.

You’ll be surprised that this is a revolution.

This is according to Heidi Sulzdorf, a leader who was there from the start. 

“...I was upset that there was nothing going on in Los Angeles...so I was following twitter live...”

She was at a panel talk on the movement Monday, flanked by academics and community leaders.

And to understand just how big she is to Occupy LA, let’s rewind to
Summer right when Spain is blowing up in protest. She’s at home, trolling the Net and sees this post for a solidarity protest on Olvera Street. She’s pumped and heads out.

But, as you can hear on Youtube…

...the protest she finds, isn’t exactly Tahrir Square. 

She goes home upset. Logs on, and…

“Saw someone else who was in Los Angeles who was frustrated that nothing
was happening here. And she had posted a URL to a ‘TinyChatroom’.”

TinyChatroom’s a web site conversation between multiple web cams all at
the same time…

“And there were probably twenty or thirty of us there the first night. We
were really excited and...so we had two general assemblies in virtual space
in TinyChat.”

But their boiling anger was silent on the web.

“...So we ditched that and the first night we met was the 21st of
September.”

This is what’s important.

As much as she relied on Reddit, Twitter, TinyChat, Facebook, Flickr and
Youtube to connect up, nothing connects people more than meeting face to
face.

And so they did.

“I think we spent ten days meeting every single night talking about what
we were going to do, how we were going to start our occupation. And from
there we made the decision to occupy October 1st at City Hall, did some
outreach and got on the ground.”

Tomorrow, Day 40. The Occupation.

But about a third of this public clinic’s funding comes from Medi-Cal, California’s division of federal aid program Medicaid - and the White House just approved California’s plan to cut funding for Medi-Cal, which allows poor and disabled Californians to see doctors regularly, by 10 percent in the 2012 budget.

Furthermore, the Congressional “Super-committee,” which convened this summer to reduce the federal deficit, is scouring Medicaid for potential cuts.

Louise McCarthy is the CEO and President of the Community Clinic Association of Los Angeles County, which comprises 47 members. Together they operate more than 140 clinics like Eisner. Together, they serve about a million patients every year. A third of those patients rely on Med-Cal. 

Ellen Kaster, Annenberg Radio News.

Today, many of the Occupy Oakland supporters are criticizing those who provoked the violence.

Here in Los Angeles, there have been no signs of this tension.  All was quiet at City Hall today, except for the sound of helicopters hovering overhead.  It’s unknown whether these were police, news, or traffic ‘copters.

One Occupy LAer thought that the Oakland protesters’ outrage at the violent police response is justified:  “Oakland has a real right to be upset—about the city, about how they [police] behaved...whatever happened was escalated by the police.” This, protester, a former Marine, declined to give his name.

Occupy LA organizer Magda Rad said, “I haven’t really looked at their website.  I’ve been looking at their Twitter and their Facebook, and I was watching the livestream until three in the morning last night, watching what was happening there, so—I mean, it’s like watching a war in action.”

The memory of the police shooting of Oscar Grant at an Oakland subway station almost two years ago hovers over the Oakland events.  Ironically, here in LA, the Rodney King riots have influenced police behavior in a completely different way, by making the police more sensitive to the public effects of their responses to protests.  Says Rad, “As far as I’m concerned, it’s a love-fest with the LAPD for the time being, and we’re grateful for that.” Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has ordered the police to protect, not criminalize, protesters.

Occupy LAers are aware that that accord could end.  They say they’re prepared, and that if violence does break out, it won’t be because they’ve provoked it.  According to the unnamed protester above, Occupy LA is the only Occupy movement that worked with local city government before starting the live-in protest.  This may have contributed to the tolerance shown by the city to the protesters so far, although protesters may be asked to move soon to preserve the grass, which is rapidly dying off.  Organizers are working on a plan for sustainable plantings that would allow them to remain and greenery to be returned to City Hall.

Occupy LA remains committed to a peaceful protest, and is hopeful that Oakland-style confrontations won’t be necessary here.

“You go back to colonial and revolutionary times, that’s what you get.  It’s civil activism,” he said.  “If it weren’t for civil activism, we wouldn’t have a revolution.  Whatever you think about Occupy LA it’s relatively tame compared to many other demonstrations and protest movements we’ve had before.”

Now is the time when we find out the type of movement Occupy will become.

“This is at a point now where it could get very messy.  It could get violent, it could turn into a riot, it could turn into Oakland,” he said.

Law enforcement walks a delicate line in this process.  They must allow protestors to express themselves, but they also need to preserve peace.

“This is a damned if you do, damned if you don’t thing.  If the police intervene, that gets people riled up and so it escalates the risk of violence or spreads the protests, ‘see what the police are doing to us?’” said Shapiro.  “If the police do absolutely nothing, its by design.  It’s not like they haven’t heard about this. It’s very difficult to say which course is going to cause an unfortunate escalation or an appropriate de-escalation.”

Shapiro says that in order to understand the police’s position, you need to know the First amendment.  Basically, the city can’t stop the protest because of the content of their message, but they can regulate where, when and how they protest.

“That will affect speech, but it’s not directed at speech and it will be tested on a constitutional standard of minimal rationality,” he said. “If it just barely makes sense, it’s good enough.”

Last week, Mayor Antonio Villargosa said that the Occupy LAers can not stay on the lawn of city hall indefinitely, citing damages to the grounds and sanitation issues.  Shapiro doesn’t think it is
censorship.

“I don’t think the Mayor cares what their viewpoint is, as a matter of fact, I don’t think the mayor knows what their viewpoint is,” he said.  “They could be told to go.  There is nothing intrinsically violative of the first amendment.”

The Occupy movement’s next move could crystallize the future of the movement, decide if they will peter out, or stay at the risk of confrontation with authorities.

Only twenty-five percent of California’s fourth graders received proficiency in reading. Math scores were a bit higher, around thirty-four percent. A quarter of eighth graders were proficient in both math and reading. The 2011 scores were about the same as two years ago.

Some educators think the tests don’t account for English learners. They argue that the sample size is too small to show California’s progress. Hawaii was the only state to increase its score over the past two years. About three and a half percent in math and two and a half percent in reading.

Overall scores in every other state have improved by an average of one point for both grades since 2009.

Smitha Bondade, Annenberg Radio News. 

Bacca’s at the receiving end of some pretty intense questioning regarding...everything.

From big things, like the quality of his crew…

“...These are individuals who went through a training program, sworn to uphold the law and they’re like, the first ones who break the law...” says Supervisor Michael Antonovich.

To the things you’d never consider, like using heavy-duty flashlights as a deadly weapon…

“No head strikes, head strikes are forbidden,” repeats Sheriff Baca.

Why now for all of these issues?

Before the year’s over Baca’s crew will be investigated for unnecessary force… in several jails.

The new cameras they’re installing all over the county facilities are not just for monitoring the inmates. They’re for monitoring the cops, too.

This is a reaction to recent reports of deputies fighting inmates longer than they had to in order to get even with them.

What’s more, the Board suspects that communications officers right under Baca are keeping information like this as low-profile as possible.

“Reports have been submitted...before they get to your door step, someone spikes them, whether it’s deliberately or it’s just the bureaucratic maze go in...” says Antonovich.

And the Board’s tired of it.

It’s poured millions into new security measures for the jails. And with months surveillance camera installation seemingly wasted, they’re ready to see some results.

“We’re not going to get anymore reports of those cameras not working, correct?” (Supervisor Gloria Molina)
“No. They’re working, Supervisor.” (Victor Rampulla, with Sheriff Baca)

After all the cameras are installed, and after the investigation wraps up and the proper consequeces are carried out, Baca still has ground to recover.

The tense exchange today showed a Board that’s been disappointed, time and again, by an over-promising police force.

“You have to understand you’ve told me this before, so I don’t want assurances.” (Molina)

For the next few months, whether on the streets or in the boardroom, Baca’s under some pretty heavy fire. 

The Day of the Dead is at least a two-day affair. According to the holiday’s tradition, souls of deceased children returned to earth today, and they’ll be joined by families’ other ancestors overnight.

But at the South LA marketplace Mercado la Paloma, this year’s festival is much bigger than its Mexican roots.

Celebrations, art and food are bringing people from all kinds of backgrounds together, said Gilberto Cetina. He owns Chichen Itza, a restaurant within in the Mercado.

“White people, Asian people, Indian people, Latin people… it’s really a multicultural event. it doesn’t matter where you’re from, or if you sing in English or Spanish.”

This year, Gilberto is serving a special tamale pie called Mucbil Pollo. It’s what families in the Yucatan region of Mexico used to leave with their ancestors’ bodies while their souls waited for the afterlife. They still leave it on their altars. And people love it.

“The Mayans had a tradition to leave a corn on the mouth of the body, to feed the body. And now that corn dog is a little bit more sophisticated, and it’s a tamale pie.”

Visitors have plenty to see, too. Altars for families’ ancestors line the walls, and each one uses different fabric, pictures and relics based on what their ancestors loved.

Damon Turner is the Mercado’s Arts and Cultural Program Director. He helped set up the altars and a festival this past weekend. As a kid, his family didn’t even celebrate Halloween.

But Dia de los Muertos is special, he thinks, because it recognizes such common ground: family and death.

“I think the idea of Dia de los Muertos is really like celebrating that which is taboo, typically, in America, which is death. It’s looking at death as a place of strength, a place where we can build community with each other - and, yeah, have some good food while we’re doing it.”

Dia de los Muertos ends tomorrow - but Gilberto’s tamale pie will be back at the Mercado la Paloma next year.

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa believes the train would benefit the growing population.

“We cannot simply move the people and goods that our population has without forward thinking options. We’re 38 million people right now, we’re expected to be 60 million by 2050. What are we going to do to move those people?”

The high speed rail authority would like to begin the 22 year project by starting construction in Fresno.

San Francisco Mayor Edwin Lee believes the train would reduce carbon emissions and freeway congestion.

“You know in the Bay Area, commuters-we lose about 115,000 hours a day just sitting in congestion. And that’s an annual economic cost that totals 2.6 billion dollars of wasted money just sitting right there on our freeways.”

Funding for the system is unclear as the authority only has about 9 billion dollars in state bonds.

Opponents of the plan believe the cost of the train is too high.

Commercial railroads and farmers also believe the train would compromise safety and violate property rights.

Marqueece Harris-Dawson is the president of community coalition.

“Typically community members are left out of this process. We are trying to insert ourselves and make it clear that we have opinions about it. We want to and expect to be heard...our kids only get one shot at this education to that’s important to us.”

Parents at the rally said they want to have a bigger role in the process. Felicia Jones is a parent of a LAUSD graduate.

“Parents need to be heard in this matter. For so long this has been a union and district issue but really parents are the ones who are ultimately impacted, students are impacted. And we want our voice heard. We want them to know what we care about as they negotiate.”

Jones says the campaign wants the contract to provide educators and administrators with more flexibility. She believes this will allow teachers to reach their full potential and offer better education.

The United Teachers of L.A. says it welcomes parent’s involvement. However, one point of contention with “Don’t Hold Us Back” is teacher seniority. The campaign calls for an end to the “last hired, first fired” rule. Harris-Dawson says it forces schools that frequently hire inexperienced teachers to bear the brunt of lay offs. The union firmly stands behind the policy and supports tenure for educators.

“Don’t Hold Us Back” also wants to include an objective, fair teacher evaluation system to reward teachers doing well and help those who aren’t.

Karla Robinson, Annenberg Radio News.

Peter Sanders from the Mayor’s office says Villaragosa recognizes the protesters first amendment right. But, he says, the occupiers have been ignoring the posted rules of the lawn, specifically the curfew. The lawn is a city park and people are not supposed to be in parks between 10:30 pm and 5 am. Officials have been looking the other way on the curfew violation, but Sanders says other problems cropped up. “They have damaged things like the irrigation system, there is graffiti and vandalism on the property,” said Sanders. “Some of these things are getting a little bit worse and it’s time for them to look for alternatives to protest. And there is also some health and safety concerns that the Mayor has.”

Up to this point, the city, police and occupiers have prided themselves on communicating with each other. “We’re keeping an open dialogue between ourselves, the police department, the protesters,” Sanders said. “Hopefully they’ll agree to move on to another location to lawfully continue their protest and then we’ll be able to get in at some point to estimate the extent of the damage of the lawns and reopen the area to the public.” Jacob Hay from Good Jobs LA, one of the protest groups on city hall’s lawn, says he thinks the city and protesters will be able to reach an agreement.

“They mayor’s office and a lot of city council members have been supportive of the Occupy LA movement,” said Hay. “Hopefully this can be done in a collaborative way an doesn’t have to get to any confrontational point.”

The mayor hasn’t set a time table and no decisions have been made. Sanders says the city is asking for input from city departments on a course of action.

But Lopez isn’t a farmer - and neither are many of the vendors on this concrete walkway, which they rent for eight hours each week. Lopez makes and sells vegan lunches. There’s also a clothing vendor, a tamale station and even the hum of a creperie.

An ordinance approved at Tuesday’s Planning and Land Use Management meeting will allow farmers markets on private property in residential neighborhoods. Currently, they’re limited to commercial space, and occasionally church and school parking lots in residential zones.

But the new farmers markets must be “certified,” said City Planner Tom Rothmann.

“Again, certified markets only sell what they grow. They don’t have prepared foods or craft items there. These are not glorified swap meets in any way.”

Lopez thinks the variety of entrepreneurs makes the farmers market at Hoover and Jefferson so unique.

“For me, being a farmer’s market is being different. We offer different food in the market, and it becomes a farmers market, not a traditional one only for fruits and vegetables. We are a more complete farmers market.”

Even new residential markets’ competitors welcome them. Chase Mosley has run the market on Jefferson for two years, and she’s not afraid of losing customers to neighborhood sales. Instead, she thinks the more food encourages people to walk, meet their neighbors and buy local, the better - especially in low-income neighborhoods where fresh food is either scarce or expensive.

“There’s some neighborhoods where more high-end grocery stores don’t go. Lower-income areas. And so those people don’t really have the option to get organic food or to try varieties of vegetables or fruits. That’s not to say that people in lower-income areas don’t want those foods. They just don’t have access to them.”

Rothmann says the new ordinance will encourage farmers to sell fresh produce in these “food deserts:”

“We’re really just trying to open up some of our food deserts in the city, to have fresh fruits and vegetables coming into our neighborhoods that are really hurting for food - healthy, good, clean food.”

If the new law works, home-grown businesses may start springing up all over Los Angeles.

The city established nonprofit day to acknowledge the industry and provide encouragement through these tough times.

Jacqueline Hamilton is the executive director of a small nonprofit organization called the Education Consortium of Central Los Angeles. ECCLA works to provide enriched educational experiences to K through 12 students.

Like many non-profits, ECCLA was hit by the economic recession.

“Well everything’s coming down to what measurable results you can provide...so we’re having to look at our funding model and trying to seek new supporters for the work that we do. The tightened economy has made it really difficult for us.”

At a news conference this morning, the mayor said nonprofit day is intended to encourage volunteer participation and donation. He noted that even as funding has decreased, the need for non-profits’ services has increased.

Hamilton commends the city’s efforts.

“I think LA city leaders recognize the important role that non-profit organizations play in meeting a wide range of civic needs. I welcome this raising the profile of non-profits by having a non-profit day...anything that calls attention to the important work done by the third sector, the non-profit sector of the economy is very helpful.”

In a similar effort, the Annenberg Foundation is hosting an event tonight in downtown la, highlighting the importance of non-profits. Ten organizations will give speed pitches in a competition to win a hundred thousand dollars in prizes.

Karla Robinson, Annenberg Radio News.

“The union is now helping drive business to the car wash by telling people this is the only union car wash around.”

Osmer hopes bonus car wash won’t be the only union shop in town for long. The Clean Car Wash Campaign is helping workers organize at other LA-area car washes as well.

Corwin earned the honorific during a career that spanned nearly eight decades as a broadcasting pioneer. His radio dramas captured America’s history and character in singularly eloquent writing.

“He was the greatest writer in radio,” said Joe Saltzman, one of his colleagues at USC. “I once asked him how he developed this unique style of writing, and he said he learned how to write by reading the Bible, where he believed all literature began, and the plays of William Shakespeare. And the thing about Corwin is, you could recognize his writing with just a single sentence.”

Saltzman remembered Corwin as both a brilliant writer and a loyal friend.

“He died at 101,” Saltzman said. “Everyone says, ‘Wow, what a great, full life,’ but for me, he died too young. A couple of us were talking about Norman and we laughed because he really didn’t die the way he wanted to. He often told us how he wanted his obituary to read, and it would go something like this: ‘Norman Corwin was shot and killed today by a jealous husband. He was 126.’ And that’s how he wanted to be remembered. We’ll all miss him. He used language in a way that was so eloquent, so funny, so precise, it was just a pleasure to listen to him talk about anything and everything. And he wrote this wonderful radio play, On a Note of Triumph, when World War II ended. It was certainly the most listened-to drama in radio history. If you were an American, you were listening to that broadcast in 1945. There were so many memorable sentences in that poem. I just remember one that said, ‘That man, unto his fellow man, shall be a friend forever.’ Oh, my, he was a great friend. When he was your friend, he was your friend forever.”

Tuesday host, Tiffany Marie Brannon spoke with executive director of fish-wise, Tobias Aguirre, to hear more.

Homework is mandatory, and they get help if they need it. But once its done there’s sports, games and art.

The study found that students in the program did better academically in middle school, performed better on standardized tests, and were more likely to take algebra in eighth grade.

Catherine stringer is the vice president of communications and public affairs for LA’s Best.

“This is very exciting for us because our program only serves elementary school so we’re finding that the effect of the program in elementary school outlasts the program and continues with students as they get into middle school.”

Stringer said after-school programs provide a better environment. And these programs should be available to everyone.

“All children deserve this kind of enrichment, not just those whose families can afford it.”

Denise Huang is a senior research associate at cresst and she was the project director for the LA’s Best study. She said the program’s effects continued through high school.

“Over the years we find that the la best participants have lower crime rate committed when we look at them into their high school years and they have lower dropout rate.”

Huang said the decrease in crime lowered the public cost for juvenile delinquency facilities. So much so, that every dollar invested in the program meant a two dollar return in lower crime expenses. 

But rose’s triumph was short-lived. Her brother who had contributed to covering household expenses recently died. When she was two weeks late on paying her mortgage to one west bank, they refused to take the money.

She and one west bank spent over two years going back and forth with paperwork and loan modifications. They foreclosed on her in March and her eviction notice arrived in September. She refused to budge.

“My stance was i was going to stay here and wait for the sheriff to show up because i refused to leave my home.”

SEIU -the Service Employee International Union local 1000 offers foreclosure prevention workshops to prevent a situation like rose’s from happening. The classes discuss the policies and laws concerning foreclosures and loan modifications.

Claudia Gambaro who is a state employee and works at the SEIU local 1000 was laid off in February of 2009. She too, faced foreclosure but learned through the non-profit organization hope against hope now how to hold onto her home.

“So like so many people I had to make a decision whether to walk away from the home which I did not want to do and end up with foreclosure or stay and fight and try to make it which I decided to do.

She now encourages people to take these classes so that she can help others.

Rose was able to re-negotiate with one west bank and Fannie Mae.

“They were finally speaking to me and they worked out a loan modification where I could keep the home and start making my payments which is what I basically wanted to do since day 1.”

Rose has advice for those in her situation---do not walk away from your home but fight for it.

Two minutes later, the ground will finally stop shaking, and the mayor will proceed to carry out earthquake emergency procedures, checking for anyone in the office with injuries and accessing their emergency supply kit.

There’s just one thing - it’s all make-believe.

Today, the mayor urged Los Angeles to take part in the Great California ShakeOut. He asked everyone to simulate an earthquake in an effort to learn, plan, and practice preparedness.

“Rarely do we take the time to face the reality of the greatest natural disaster our region will face in a lifetime,” he said.

The mayor, along with 8 million other Californians, will participate in Thursday’s drill, making it the largest earthquake drill in world history.

It may seem like a dramatic production, but the mayor said he strongly believes that the simulation is important.

“It’s not a question of if an earthquake will happen, but rather when an earthquake will happen,” he said. “A large earthquake is one of the largest looming threats over Southern California.”

The city is asking people to create an emergency disaster plan with their families, build an emergency supply kit, and practice what they will do when an earthquake strikes.

First responders will be coordinating their own emergency response plan.

Earthquake specialist Dr. Lucy Jones believes this teamwork is an essential part of the drill’s goal.

“We’re all in this together, and the more that each one of us individually is ready for the earthquake, the better off our overall community will be,” she said. “The earthquake really is inevitable, but the disaster is not.”

Dr. Jones and the mayor encourage everyone to take part this Thursday, October 20, at 10:20 a.m.

Last month, during the 3 p.m. - 7 p.m. show, the hosts gave out the phone number of a spokesman for CHIRLA, Jorge-Mario Cabrera, on air, exhorting their listeners to call in opposition to the DREAM Act, which CHIRLA supports.  The number was also posted on the show’s website.  (The number was gained from a press release from CHIRLA.) Within minutes of the number’s announcement, Cabrera’s phone was inundated with over 300 voice-mails, saying things like, “Rot in hell”, “Get out of this country”, “wetback”, and other things that can’t be printed here.

While the hosts claim that they never urged their supporters to use violent or hate-laced language, CHIRLA and other groups find the pattern disturbing.  Supporters of the show say that the hosts aim their barbs only at illegal immigrants, but David Ybarra, who was at the protest, said that the language on the show does not make that distinction clear:  “...the racial overtones that they use are completely wrong, and...someone needs to put a stop to it—how they say it and what they say.”

As a result of the uproar, Ralph’s, Von’s, AT&T, and Verizon have withdrawn their advertising from the show.  Protest organizers expect more advertisers will follow suit, for fear of losing their large Latino customer base.

Maria Rodriguez of CHIRLA says the group wants accountability and good journalism:  “Be responsible with your journalism.  Be responsible with what you’re doing.”

Organizers say they will continue to press for the removal of the hosts and expect to be successful.

Producers for “The John and Ken Show” were unavailable for comment.

“It was really started to give the community a chance to come together and celebrate being a community. It was about enjoyment, respect, community pride, and that’s really how it came about.”

What started as a basic street festival has now reached epic proportions. Tucker says Taste of Soul could even set a world record on Saturday.

“This year we’re going for the Guinness Book of Records for the world’s largest line dance. So it’s gonna be the world’s largest cupid shuffle.”

And at the heart of all the dancing, eating, and shopping, the free event is a huge economic stimulator.

http://www.americanselect.org

But there’s a growing anger against the protest itself, and it’s coming from the people from whom you’d least expect it.

“And the worst part about all that is that everyday I’m questioning, What am I doing here?’”

That’s Evelyn Roberts. She’s in her twenties and working a job and here, on three separate action committees.

She got three hours of sleep last night and is tearful with stress.

She’s been marching, yelling, and camping with Occupy L.A. for more than a week and she’s way passed the honeymoon.

“I wasn’t expecting this to be easy, but having never been through this experience before, I had no idea how hard it was going to be.”

To get to the root of her troubles, we have to get to the root of Occupy’s philosophy:

“No singular individual is allowed to be in charge of anything. No one is in charge. It’s all committees, it’s all consensus groups”

That’s Bryan Parsons. He’s the caretaker of the pop-up library at the protest and is optimistic about the no-leader’s approach.

“Well, what’s happening is, as this experiment seems to be working, it’s flourishing. All across the country. Every single city at this point is experiencing growth.”

To Roberts, though, growth isn’t worth a thing if the people joining the cause aren’t pulling their weight: you know, picking up trash, speaking at meetings.

And the key thing here is the experiment Parsons is talking about. Occupy L.A. is trying to show the U.S. that Americans without a government—or leader—won’t explode into anarchy, that everyone can be equal.

But Roberts, who feels stepped on, is caught between what she wants and what she’s getting out of the movement.

“By now, everyone should have an equal workload and it’s definitely not worked out that way. There are a lot of people, you know, riding on our backs.”

She’s not the only one who feels this. As I was leaving I passed a committee hashing out who was supposed to do what in camp. It was messy and loud and democratic.

But this is a protest trying to rework how America operates. What did you expect?

Baca responded last week by meeting with inmates, collecting their concerns and beginning an internal investigation to look into their allegations.

But Peter Eliasberg of the Southern California ACLU says Baca’s latest investigation is nothing but a “PR effort” to cover up years of verbal harassment, beatings and tazings.

“All of these things add up to not only a pattern of abuse but also a pattern of investigation that even Inspector Clusoe wouldn’t do, they were so poorly done - and designed not to get at the truth.”

On the contrary, Baca says he hasn’t looked into deputies on this scale because, for years, he simply didn’t know about physical abuse or unsanitary living conditions. He didn’t even know how badly inmates needed soap or extra blankets.

“I’m willing to learn the lessons. I’m willing to engage my department’s deputies so that they can learn the lessons. And the lessons aren’t learned just by training and policy and supervision.”

If Baca is trying to preserve political support, he’s popular in South Los Angeles, promised Dr. Sandra Moore. She chairs both Concerned Citizens for Fair Policing and the Citizens Advisory Board in South LA and hosted a press conference in Watts today.

“I just want the community to know, he’s not resigning. we won’t allow it. he’s not going anywhere. But we’re gonna work with him side by side. The ACLU can have the same opportunity.”

The ACLU has demanded Baca’s resignation, but this panel of about a dozen neighborhood organizations pledged unflinching support for the Sheriff.

This summer, the task force solved 50 murders, 85 percent of them gang-related. They included the Christmas Day shooting of Kashmier James ,who was killed in front of her 3-year-old daughter, and the killing later that week of Taburi Watson a 14-year-old boy riding his bicycle.

LAPD Deputy Chief Pat Gannon said the program helped bring closure to families who otherwise might never find answers.

“The homicide detectives, they do what they do, they get out at all hours of the night, they pull their hair out trying to find witnesses and people to cooperate in investigations, and they do it for the families,” he said. “The bond that they actually have with these families is actually unbelievable. But there’s a lot more work to be done.”

That work includes nearly 1,000 more unsolved homicides, some dating back to 1978. South Los Angeles remains far from safe, as a deadly shooting Tuesday at Algin Sutton Park on Hoover Street illustrated.

But Beck, and Stephen Martinez, the assistant director of the FBI in Los Angeles, worry that the program might not be renewed for another year. It relies on hundreds of thousands of dollars in federal funds to pay FBI agents and allow LAPD officers to work overtime, as well as to support an effort to digitize years of records.

“It is a sad but true statement to say that our ability to solve crime is often hampered by lack of funds,” Beck said. “When we can get federal funds, and we can get federal support, we can make a lot of progress, as has been evidenced by this task force.”

Gannon said the LAPD could use the help.

“The work goes on,” he said.  “With the resources, without the resources, we seem to get the job done. But having the FBI really puts a jump-start, a kick-start into some of the cases that may have fallen behind.”

Beck said he’s hoping for a decision on the funding within the next six months, so that the program could be re-instated for next summer.

Though it may sound frivolous, there is serious message behind the storybook tale. It is part of Jumpstart’s “Read for the Record” campaign and it calls for an end to early education achievement gap.

Jumpstarts’ Senior Program Director Atalaya Sergi says that the campaign is an opportunity to share with a national audience ways to address disparities in early childhood education such as, “the importance of literacy and not only reading with children but spending time in conversation and building their literacy skills.”

According to Jumpstart, low-income kids, such as many areas in South LA, are at risk of school failure before they start kindergarten.Jumpstart anticipates reading to 2 million children today.

Since 2006, Jumpstart has read with more than 5 million children and raised $6.2 million.

The march started with a rally at California Plaza, then snaked its way through the skyscrapers and food plazas in the financial heart of LA.

The marchers stopped at the intersection of 7th and Figueroa streets, in front of both a Bank of America branch and a Chase Bank office in the Ernst and Young plaza.

The marchers were young and old; black, white, Hispanic, Asian; students, grandparents, homeowners, young families. All were upset with the irresponsibility of financial organizations.

Barbara Gustafson joined the protest after she saw a lack of cooperation from banks.

“It’s game playing and you don’t get the same person to talk to,” she said. “They don’t want to work with you because it behooves them to foreclose. I am not an activist by nature – I’ve been forced to do this.”

A police spokesperson estimated that 1,000 people turned up for the protest, which mirrors the Occupy LA protests of the last week.

James McDade works in the financial services industry, but said he supports the protesters.

“It’s democracy at work,” he said. “People have the right to express their opposition to ideas, and I think it’s great.”

The march was a coalition of groups including ACCE, the SEIU, and various faith-based groups.

Some inmates in California state prisons are now on a hunger strike to protest living conditions at the Pelican Bay State and other facilities.

Dolores Canales is the mother of a prisoner at Pelican Bay.

“What’s heartbreaking is never being able to hug him. The only time he’s ever making eye contact is when he gets a visit. Some of these men go long periods of time without getting a visit.”

Canales’ son John is taking part in the hunger strike and she worries about his health.

“This could be very serious where they do start dying or becoming seriously ill but they feel that it’s their only alternative. It’s their only hope.”

Dorsey Nunn is the Executive Director of the Legal Services for Prisoners with Children.

“When you start holding people in- we think that constitutes torture when you start holding people for years, that is a real problem in the state of California.”

This is not the first time prisoners have protested their solitary confinement. Last July there was a 20-day hunger strike at Pelican Bay. It ended when the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation agreed to negotiate.

But many prisoners say they did not notice any significant changes which triggered the current hunger strike.

“It’s unequivocally unacceptable for this to be going on in any city or state in the world and it’s happening in the state of California- this torture needs to be ended.”

Prisoners and their supporters are hoping that this time around the state will make improvements.

Today, Kazaam is part of a protest asking the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors to confirm that private stores can sell raw and unpasteurized food products.

He believes raw food, even dairy and poultry, is healthier before being cooked. “In our case, [raw food] is the non-modernized food untainted by processing, chemical treatment or packaging - cleanliness, they call it. We consume this on a daily basis. We eat raw meat, spoiled meat, and we’re as healthy as ever.”

The California Department of Food and Agriculture confirmed that it is legal to sell raw milk in the state, but stores doing so must have licenses and sell only to members, not the public.

But protesters want that in writing from the Board of Supervisors. They’re worried because health compliance authorities shut down a Venice health food store called Rawesome ("raw" and “awesome") August 3.

The store owner and two employees of Healthy Family Farms, one of its suppliers, were arrested on charges of unlawful production and sale of unpasteurized milk. Prosecutors allege that the companies lacked the permits they needed.

The District Attorney’s office declined to comment before testimony begins.

Raw food may indeed be a question of choice, not of safety, said Doctor Gregory Stevens, who teaches health policy at USC’s Keck School of Medicine.

“Foods are probably less safe if they’re not pasteurized and sold in their natural state - but I think people’s willingness to take that risk might vary. So the question is, to what degree do we allow people to take that risk with their own bodies? If you’re willing to take the risk, it does seem that there should be ways for people to opt out.”

Furthermore, people regularly consume raw foods that threaten their safety, prompting outbreaks of listeria from cantaloupe consumption and E. Coli from beef and lettuce, Stevens said.

Kazaam isn’t worried about safety, either. He agrees that food should be a choice: if he defines healthy food differently than the FDA, he should be allowed to consume it freely.

“I’m not telling you not to [consume] whatever legal substances that technically can kill you. Alcohol eats up your liver. Go for it. I’m not going to get in your way. In the meantime, could I have some healthy milk?”

The three people arrested in the Rawesome case start preliminary hearings Thursday.

“There are many ways to describe CicLAvia. But I would say it’s the biggest block party there is....with bicycles.”

That was Eric Elcaras, a volunteer coordinator for CicLAvia. He’s glad to see that participation is not limited to cyclists

“ You probably have skates, rollerblades, probably have a dog you like to walk and now you can do it in a different way ‘cause now you’re going to be walking in the middle of the street. It’s turning the streets into a park. Anything you can do at the park, you can do in the streets now. “

In addition to contributing to the Los Angeles economy, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa believes that the event will highlight the city’s dependency on cars.

“This isn’t just about the economic impact, though we believe there is one. Look, we gotta get out of our single passenger automobile. This city is absolutely addicted to getting in their car and going two blocks to the market. We gotta get out of our car once in a while and we gotta promote that in this town.”

This is the third time CicLAvia will be held in the Los Angeles area. The last CicLAviaheld in April attracted an estimated one hundred thousand participants. The event originated over thirty years ago in Colombia in response to city congestion and pollution.

The coffee giant’s charity grew out of the community after another local Starbucks was closed. Chris Strudwick-Turner, vice president of marketing and communications at the Urban League, says the closure sparked a conversation between the community and Starbucks.

“To [Starbucks CEO] Howard Schultz’ credit, he listened,” Strudwick-Turner say. “The decision was not reversed to reopen the store [but they did] really come in in a positive big way in the community to say, we hear you. What are the needs? How can I help?”

Starbucks wasn’t immune from criticism when it closed 600 stores a few years ago. Some complained that the closures were made in neighborhoods that most needed the boost from business.

The Crenshaw Boulevard Starbucks is one of a handful of locations in South LA. In other neighborhoods, the coffee shop can be found every few blocks.

Still, Strudwick-Turner says Schultz has shown a personal commitment to Crenshaw. “I think that Mr. Schultz really has a game plan about creating jobs,” she says. “The genuineness about the needs of this community is not in question.”

The announcement of the profit-sharing initiative comes a day after Schultz announced the new “Create Jobs for USA” initiative, which will help small business secure loans. Schultz has also urged other business leaders to step up hiring.

“The focus will be on how can this store and how can Starbucks better serve park mesa heights and be a part of the community and not just be in the community,” Strudwick-Turner says. “If other corporations...do the same thing, it could be a real win-win for the community.”

The Urban League plans to use the funds for education and youth programming at Crenshaw High School. Strudwick-turner hopes the profit sharing initiative will be the beginning of partnership. 

Amazon announced its new e-reader Wednesday, the touchscreen Kindle Fire tablet.

The Kindle Fire will run a modified version of Google’s Android operating system and offer a 7-inch multitouch display with 8gbs of memory all powered by a dual-core processor.

What does this mean? It’s fast. Fast enough, in fact, to compete with the heavy hitters in the tablet market, according to analysts.

Amazon made the smart move of introducing its new device a week before the highly anticipated revealing of the iPhone 5 on Oct. 4.

What’s more, Amazon comes into the tablet market with a very competitive price for the Kindle Fire at $199.

Part of the reason for the low price is because Amazon hopes consumers will buy into the Amazon Marketplace ecosystem. As an added incentive, the Kindle Fire will come with a 30-day trial of the Amazon Prime service offering users access to Amazon’s streaming media content.

So if you’re in the market for a tablet, the Kindle Fire offers bang for buck.

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One study found that women who drink four cups of coffee a day are 20 percent less likely to become depressed. With steaming latte in hand, coffee-shop customer Emma said. “It might be worth it” to add one more cup to her day if it means one step closer to the pursuit of happiness. 

For coffee lovers everywhere, it is no surprise that a cup of joe makes the day a whole lot brighter.

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At the news conference for the bill signing, governor Jerry Brown talked about the millions of Californians who are unemployed. He said SB-292 will create new jobs and get residents back to work.

“We’re going to remove some regulations, speed things up; we’re going to protect the environment but we’re also going to do it in a practical way,” he said. “Because there are too damn many regulations, let’s be clear about that.”

John Perez, the speaker of the California Assembly, said Farmer’s Field will have a significant impact on unemployment.

“This project will create 23,000 new jobs, which will benefit California as a whole,” he said. “And at a time when our state still has the second highest rate of unemployment in the nation, we need to be doing everything possible to create new jobs here in California.”

Some remain skeptical about the stadium’s lasting employment projections and others are concerned about increased traffic.

But now all AEG and the city of LA need is an NFL team to play in the new stadium.