Articles for East Los Angeles

Richard Alatorre, pioneering Eastside politician, dies at 81
4 months, 1 week ago

Richard Alatorre, pioneering Eastside politician, dies at 81

LA Times  

Richard Alatorre addresses fellow Los Angeles City Council members in 1986. “A lot of us considered Alatorre to be a vato who made good,” said Jaime Regalado, professor emeritus of political science at Cal State L.A. Alatorre frequently spoke at Regalado’s classes and was more than happy to take questions from students who thought he was a vendido — a …

Political City Latino California Los Angeles Los Angeles
Column: California wants to mandate folic acid in tortillas to help babies. Why that’s bad
7 months ago

Column: California wants to mandate folic acid in tortillas to help babies. Why that’s bad

LA Times  

Enrique Rodriguez, CEO for La Princesita Tortilleria, talks about the issue of having to add folic acid to corn tortillas at his store in East Los Angeles. But focusing on masa products, he said, “really spoke to our office to find a culturally appropriate way to ingest folic acid.” Rodriguez, 40, said he supports Arambula’s “idea and overall intent.” But …

Health Taste California Acid Corn Masa East Los Angeles
Column: The dream of East L.A. as its own city rises again — along with doubters
7 months, 3 weeks ago

Column: The dream of East L.A. as its own city rises again — along with doubters

LA Times  

The Whittier Boulevard arch has become a prop in competing visions of cityhood for East Los Angeles 1931. Solis said she had a right to know about it, since “I’m technically the mayor for the area.” She also made the weird argument that East L.A. simply isn’t solid enough for cityhood. That’s our Mexican American passion, to be able to …

Community City Los East Residents Study Torres
A ‘cold-blooded killer’ called Smiley haunted L.A. for 14 years. How he finally faced justice
8 months ago

A ‘cold-blooded killer’ called Smiley haunted L.A. for 14 years. How he finally faced justice

LA Times  

Jose Luis Saenz — in a dark blue shirt, second from right, flanked by two Mexican Federal Police officers — is escorted onto an Alaska Airlines flight to Los Angeles. “Open the door.” A photo presented in court as evidence shows where Jose Saenz killed his girlfriend in his grandmother’s house on Ferris Street in East Los Angeles. “He has …

Court Los Angeles East Fbi Told His Friends Village
It’s not just ‘hang loose.’ Lawmakers look to make the friendly ‘shaka’ Hawaii’s official gesture
9 months, 1 week ago

It’s not just ‘hang loose.’ Lawmakers look to make the friendly ‘shaka’ Hawaii’s official gesture

Associated Press  

KANEOHE, Hawaii — A pinky and thumb extended with the remaining fingers curled down: That’s the “shaka” in Hawaii. Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Those from beach or rural communities tend not to shake their shakas. Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X …

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Ex-undersheriff admits to having alleged deputy gang tattoo — then getting rid of it
9 months, 2 weeks ago

Ex-undersheriff admits to having alleged deputy gang tattoo — then getting rid of it

LA Times  

It was a Caveman, and it was on his ankle. After more than two years of resisting subpoenas to testify about deputy gangs within the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, this week former Undersheriff Tim Murakami admitted under oath that he once sported a tattoo representing the Cavemen, a controversial subgroup affiliated with the East Los Angeles station. “He is …

Tattoo Gang Los Los Angeles Kennedy East Station
Activist Maria Teresa Griffin, who proved her mettle in fight against East L.A. prison, dies
10 months ago

Activist Maria Teresa Griffin, who proved her mettle in fight against East L.A. prison, dies

LA Times  

Maria Teresa Griffin, left, at her niece Jenika McMurray’s wedding in Maui in September 2022. It can be difficult to locate Maria Teresa Griffin’s name in historical archives or newspaper clippings documenting revitalization or social justice efforts throughout Los Angeles’ Eastside. Griffin eventually became a founding member and longtime treasurer of the group that symbolized Eastside resistance to the prison …

Prison Los Angeles East Griffin Terry Maria Boyle Heights
4 southeast L.A. County victims were part of ‘random murder spree’; 2 suspects arrested
10 months, 1 week ago

4 southeast L.A. County victims were part of ‘random murder spree’; 2 suspects arrested

LA Times  

A woman lights a candle at a memorial outside Ellen Ochoa Learning Center, where a 14-year-old boy was killed in Cudahy. Parada was one of four people shot and killed in southeast Los Angeles County Sunday night and Monday morning in a “random murder spree,” the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said after announcing the arrest of two suspects. Andrew …

Law Enforcement School Man Los Angeles Los Angeles County
More arrests after brazen flash mob robbery at East L.A. Nike
1 year, 3 months ago

More arrests after brazen flash mob robbery at East L.A. Nike

LA Times  

Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies cracking down on flash mob robberies arrested 10 more people after a two-day undercover investigation of a recent heist at the Nike Community Store in East Los Angeles, officials announced this weekend. Just days before her announcement, video captured a group of thieves around 5:30 p.m. Aug. 13 walking out of the Nike store in …

Nike East Los Angeles
Suspected serial sexual predator captured in Mexico after at least 8 L.A.-area attacks
1 year, 4 months ago

Suspected serial sexual predator captured in Mexico after at least 8 L.A.-area attacks

LA Times  

A 21-year-old man wanted in connection with an attempted murder and a series of violent sexual assaults in East L.A. and other parts of Los Angeles was behind bars Wednesday. Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said Garcia fled to Mexico and was found in Tijuana by the Pacific Southwest Regional Fugitive Task Force on Tuesday at about 4:30 p.m. …

Assault Mexico Los Angeles Los Angeles East Woman
After 40 years, Boyle Heights priest still irks politicians and fights for his flock
1 year, 6 months ago

After 40 years, Boyle Heights priest still irks politicians and fights for his flock

LA Times  

John Moretta, pastor of Resurrection Catholic Church in Boyle Heights, completed his 40th year at the parish this spring and 55 years overall as a Roman Catholic priest. The archdiocese received a complaint alleging that the priest had fomented “a lynch mob mentality.” Los Angeles City Councilmember Kevin de León, who was singled out by many speakers even though he …

Community Social Justice Church Los Angeles Los Angeles Priest
State officials ‘vow to do better’ on Exide lead cleanup. Some residents aren’t satisfied
1 year, 10 months ago

State officials ‘vow to do better’ on Exide lead cleanup. Some residents aren’t satisfied

LA Times  

Guadalupe Valdovinos spreads a mineral to absorb toxic elements in her backyard in East Los Angeles in December. DTSC Director Meredith Williams said department scientists could not comment on USC’s findings “until we see … the full results and methods used in the study.” Only then, she added, could officials “determine where there are problems that we need to resolve.” …

Community Work California Officials Lead Residents Usc
California’s biggest environmental cleanup leaves lead contamination and frustration
1 year, 10 months ago

California’s biggest environmental cleanup leaves lead contamination and frustration

LA Times  

California’s largest and most expensive environmental cleanup has failed to properly remove lead pollution from some homes and neighborhoods near a notorious battery recycler in southeast Los Angeles County, leaving residents at continued risk, a Times investigation shows. He called the state’s oversight of Exide and the cleanup “disgraceful.” Los Angeles County Supervisors Hilda Solis and Janice Hahn, who represent …

Homes Environmental Cleanup California State Angeles Los Angeles
A new General Hospital: Turning an iconic L.A. landmark into homeless housing
2 years ago

A new General Hospital: Turning an iconic L.A. landmark into homeless housing

LA Times  

The room is a marvel of architectural oddities. The old emergency room at Los Angeles County General Hospital, an iconic Art Deco building in Boyle Heights that has largely been closed for two decades. When all is done, the two “villages” will cover about 35 acres, stretching from Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center — General Hospital’s replacement — on the …

Housing General Building Care Homeless Hospital California
California community college enrollment plummets to 30-year low
2 years, 1 month ago

California community college enrollment plummets to 30-year low

LA Times  

Angel Lozano, center, a former student at East Los Angeles College, meets with screenwriters at Cerveceria Del Pueblo in Pasadena. Now they “no longer want something that looks like the education they received before.” A survey of former California community college students found that one third haven’t re-enrolled because they prioritized work, and 22% prioritized taking care of family or …

Community Higher Education Students Student Work California Fall
Overwhelming demand for online classes is reshaping California’s community colleges
2 years, 2 months ago

Overwhelming demand for online classes is reshaping California’s community colleges

LA Times  

Steven Gallegos, student body president at East Los Angeles College, is one of many students who are choosing to stick with online classes despite community college campuses being fully open. “It may never go back to what it was before the pandemic,” said Daniel Payares-Montoya, a research associate at the Public Policy Institute of California who has studied enrollment in …

Community Online California Fall Los Angeles Los Angeles
Killings, robberies, extortion. California can’t stop its booming illegal cannabis stores
2 years, 3 months ago

Killings, robberies, extortion. California can’t stop its booming illegal cannabis stores

LA Times  

An illegal cannabis dispensary on East Cesar Chavez Avenue in East Los Angeles. Investigators for the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department say there are 25 to 30 illegal dispensaries operating in the East Los Angeles area, including this one on Whittier Boulevard. “I don’t see it slowing down,” said one security guard at an illegal dispensary that has been raided four …

California Los Angeles Los Angeles East Shop Court Records
Column: Sleepy Lagoon, the Zoot Suit riots and the lonely grave in East L.A. that history has forgotten
2 years, 4 months ago

Column: Sleepy Lagoon, the Zoot Suit riots and the lonely grave in East L.A. that history has forgotten

LA Times  

The grave of Jose Diaz, a 22-year-old man whose murder in 1942 led to the Zoot Suit riots but who has essentially been forgotten today, at Calvary Cemetery in East Los Angeles. I pulled up on my phone a 2020 story by my colleague Carolina A. Miranda about a proposed monument to the Sleepy Lagoon trial and Zoot Suit riots …

Los Angeles Los Angeles Suit No One Diaz Grave
Francisco González, Los Lobos founding member and guitar-string pioneer, dead at 68
2 years, 8 months ago

Francisco González, Los Lobos founding member and guitar-string pioneer, dead at 68

LA Times  

In 1975, KCET aired a half-hour concert featuring a hot new local band. “We feel it’s our obligation to spread our culture to the other people who don’t know about it,” said the musician, 22-year-old Francisco González, in a voice-over. He alternates between harp and mandolin, and ends the show with a quip that became the slogan of Los Lobos: …

Music Mexico Los East Son His Wife González
Postpartum depression on the rise, especially for women of color, during COVID-19 pandemic
3 years, 5 months ago

Postpartum depression on the rise, especially for women of color, during COVID-19 pandemic

LA Times  

When Altagracia Mejía learned she was going to be a mother, happiness flooded her heart. The report also states that: “Black and Latina women experience the highest percentage of depressive symptoms of all racial/ethnic groups during both the prenatal and postpartum periods.” According to the CDPH: “Disparities are particularly evident for prenatal symptoms of depression, which are twice as common …

Health Women Pandemic Depression Postpartum Depression Birth Health Insurance
Testimony contradicts Sheriff Villanueva’s claims about handling of Banditos
3 years, 5 months ago

Testimony contradicts Sheriff Villanueva’s claims about handling of Banditos

LA Times  

Eight L.A. County sheriff’s deputies allege in a lawsuit that they were routinely harassed by a gang of deputies at the department’s East L.A. station who have matching tattoos. Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva has repeatedly touted what he says was his first act in office in December 2018: removing the captain of East L.A. station, where a group …

Lawsuit Angeles Los Angeles East County Station Miller
Mother of 3 children found dead in East L.A. is arrested on suspicion of murder
3 years, 5 months ago

Mother of 3 children found dead in East L.A. is arrested on suspicion of murder

LA Times  

Law enforcement personnel work the crime scene where three children were found dead Monday at a home on South Ferris Avenue in East Los Angeles. The mother of three children found dead in an East Los Angeles home has been arrested on suspicion of murder and is being held on $2-million bail, officials of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department …

Children Los Angeles Dead Her Sister Three Children Chico
Ultimate Glory: An oral history of Julio César Chávez versus Oscar De La Hoya
3 years, 6 months ago

Ultimate Glory: An oral history of Julio César Chávez versus Oscar De La Hoya

LA Times  

On June 7, 1996, Julio César Chávez faced Oscar De La Hoya. But more than a fight between a once-great boxer versus another with expectations of greatness, Chávez versus De La Hoya symbolized something more in the United States’ Mexican community. :: Part 5: The Fight Oscar De La Hoya punches WBC super lightweight champion Julio César Chávez into the …

Olympics Barcelona Boxing New York Mexico Los Angeles Wbc
Sesshu Foster and Arturo Romo have the antidote for the erasure of East L.A.
3 years, 6 months ago

Sesshu Foster and Arturo Romo have the antidote for the erasure of East L.A.

LA Times  

This story is part of L.A. — We. Real and imagined Eastsiders fill Foster’s many books, from the novel “Atomik Aztex” to his latest poetry volume, “City of the Future.” Sesshu Foster, left, and Arturo Romo. SF: My aunt and uncle met at the Fellowship House by Evergreen Cemetery, and that’s why I ended up in East L.A. After the …

History Los Angeles East Book Think Know Foster