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Boyle Heights Beat
With a little green paint, and a lot of hard work, these kids shine in ‘Shrek The Musical Jr.’
It’s 5 p.m. on a recent Friday and actors inside Casa 0101 Theater in Boyle Heights greet each as they go back and forth between crowded dressing rooms and empty theater seats. An ogre slathered in green paint chases after Peter Pan while Pinocchio slips into costume. Backstage, assistants...
‘Where are they going to go?’: Homeless advocates, L.A. leaders call out Newsom’s order to clear encampments
When Gov. Gavin Newsom issued an executive order on Thursday directing state agencies to clear homeless encampments across California, Raquel Roman’s first thought was, “Where are they going to go?”. Roman, executive director of Proyecto Pastoral, which operates the Guadalupe Homeless Project in Boyle Heights, said encampment sweeps...
Kamala Harris is working to energize voters. Will young Latinos buy in?
Within hours of President Joe Biden dropping his bid for reelection and endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris, the Internet went to work. Countless memes and videos of Harris laughing or dancing to fan-made edits sprouted across platforms like TikTok and X, seemingly showcasing initial support from the perpetually online and one of the fastest-growing voter demographics in the country: Generation Z. Since then, the Harris campaign has embraced the memes, and even overhauled her HQ account on X adopting Charli XCX’s viral “brat” theme.
L.A. County’s courts are struggling to recover after a cyberattack. What to do if you have a court date
L.A. County’s courts reopened Tuesday, but some court functions remain limited. People are being warned to expect delays and appear in person for some departments, including for family, probate, and traffic cases. Alphonse Provinziano, a senior trial attorney at Provinziano & Associates in Beverly Hills that focuses exclusively on...
Cyberattack shuts down LA County courts for another day. Here’s where things stand
A cyber attack on L.A. County’s courts has crippled the nation’s largest trial system for at least another day — despite work all weekend to fix the damage. Court officials reiterated Monday morning that they are “working diligently to get the Court’s network systems back up and running.”
Exide contamination is top concern at community meeting on environmental justice
With pastries and cups of cafe de olla in hand, nearly three-dozen Boyle Heights community members took their seats at the Boyle Heights Beat office Saturday morning to learn more about some of the biggest environmental stressors affecting their daily lives on the Eastside. In partnership with Self Help Graphics...
L.A. agrees to lift restrictions on street vendors and cancel fines to settle lawsuit
Thousands of street vendors can now sell their food and merchandise outside of Dodger Stadium, the Hollywood Walk of Fame and other popular destinations around Los Angeles without fear of being ticketed or harassed by law enforcement. Attorneys representing vendors announced Friday that a settlement has been reached in a...
Local leaders praise Biden’s career as he drops bid for reelection
President Biden announced Sunday that he is dropping out of the presidential race, following a growing number of elected Democrats calling on him to give up the 2024 ticket. Biden endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris to replace him as the Democratic presidential nominee. “It has been the greatest honor of...
‘It’s super impactful.’ Eastside residents attend first-ever farmers market in City Terrace
Dahlia Orellana cooled down with aguas frescas as she walked through rows of food and produce vendors on a hot Thursday afternoon in City Terrace. She was with her husband and young son, and ran into neighbors along the way. Orellana was among the Eastside residents who on July 18...
After years of uncertainty, Exide is now eligible to become a Superfund site
A year after government officials gathered in Boyle Heights to call for an expedited Exide cleanup, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has determined that the former Vernon battery plant, and areas around it, are eligible to become a Superfund site. The designation would free up federal resources and expertise to...
Get out and about on the Eastside (7/19-7/24)
Hola Boyle Heights! Your community reporter, Alex Medina, is here to share some happenings in and around the neighborhood to get you out and about!. July is a special month for me because it’s when I joined the Beat in 2015. Oh, how time flies. It also means we’re getting close to the one year anniversary of our Happenings in the Heights newsletter, and next year, we’re going to be celebrating our organization’s quinceañera. This program means a lot to me, and I hope we’ve been able to have a positive impact in your life in one way or another. Por y para la comunidad, siempre.
Bus stops in Boyle Heights will soon get new and improved shelters
Boyle Heights will be among the first Los Angeles neighborhoods to receive upgraded bus shelters as part of a program to improve transit infrastructure across the city. The Department of Public Works will install a total of 3,000 shelters over the course of at least two years, as part of the StreetsLA’s Sidewalk and Transit Amenities Program (STAP). Each shelter will come with real-time bus arrival displays, seating, trash cans and extended canopies for shade. Many of the structures will include advertising displays that will also show city and community messaging.
After latest homeless count, officials cheered progress. But for many unhoused Latinos little has changed
Los Angeles officials cheered a small but significant victory recently: a 10% drop in the number of unhoused people sleeping outdoors in the city of L.A. Overall, the count in the city shows total homelessness dropped 2%, though officials said that’s within the margin of error. This result from...
Free air purifiers available for Boyle Heights and East L.A. residents
Free in-home air purifiers are now available for qualifying Eastside residents as part of the South Coast Air Quality Management District’s residential air filtration program. The program is open to residents of Boyle Heights, East Los Angeles, Eastern Coachella Valley and some areas on the west side of Commerce.
5 must-see art shows in Boyle Heights, plus one in SELA
In Boyle Heights, stepping into a gallery isn’t a must to witness some of the best art the city has to offer. New and historic murals, installations and graffiti art adorn the streets in this neighborhood. The art scene here thrives on walls indoors too. If you’re looking for...
Above average temperatures linger in Boyle Heights. Here’s how residents are staying cool
The doors and windows at the Lou Costello Senior Center were wide open Thursday morning, promoting cross ventilation to nearly 40 seniors inside. The center’s air conditioner was down due to some copper components being stolen, according to the center’s director, Raul Lozano. But with hot dogs and hamburgers in hand, many of the seniors were eager to grab cups of ice-cold agua frescas to cool off during lunch.
Get out and about on the Eastside (7/12-7/14)
Hola Boyle Heights! Your community reporter, Alex Medina, is here to share some happenings in and around the neighborhood to get you out and about!. It’s good to be back! I hope you’re all doing well and getting through this summer’s heat wave. Taking care of your mental well-being in whatever way works best for you is just as important. It’s also a message the Mindful Gardeners from Griffith Middle School have been spreading sharing valuable mental health resources for the East L.A. community since 2020. You can read more about this student-led organization in this article by yours truly.
How East L.A. middle school students use gardening to spread mental health awareness
As a student at Griffith STEAM Magnet Middle School, Emma Oceguera saw how her classmates had increased stress, anxiety and depression at the start of the pandemic. That’s when she and fellow students came together in the fall of 2020 to form a group focused on addressing those mental health issues. With a lack of green spaces in the neighborhood, they decided to incorporate gardening into the project.
For one East L.A. couple, Biden’s new order for undocumented spouses could be life-changing
After their engagement last year, Guadalupe, 21, and Ivan Anguiano, 20, discussed their wedding date for months. “We wanted to get married in February, but then we said March, and then we said May, and I was like, ‘Let’s just do June’. I just literally opened the calendar and said this date works,” Guadalupe said.
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Boyle Heights Beat offers a unique brand of community journalism, built around neighborhood meetings that youth reporters lead each quarter to solicit ideas and hear concerns.
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