Results tagged “eastla”

Considering the lines at Union Station yesterday, you would think there was a new death-defying adrenaline-inducing roller coster. That's not even close, but the excitement was just as intense, if not a lot more.

Tomorrow, politicians and the media will test out the new 6-mile Gold Line Eastside Extension, but not before Metro's in-house media, former LA Times reporter Steve Hymon and transit blogger Fred Dennstedt, took a ride. In a post, they shared notes with the public.

Metro this morning finally announced the long-awaited opening of the Gold Line's Eastside Extension between downtown Los Angeles to East L.A. After the traditional inaugural ride with government officials and media in tow the day before, the six-mile line will be open to the public with free rides on Sunday, November 15th.

If Metro's regional connector project is built, passengers will be able to commute between Pasadena and Long Beach without transferring from the Gold Line to the Red Line, then the Blue Line. Likewise, those traveling between East LA and Culver City (and maybe someday Santa Monica) will be able to skip a similar transfer process. That means faster travel times and more accessibility car-free.

Thousands across Los Angeles are without power today, according to the L.A. Department of Water and Power. Some 20,000 customers in the greater South Los Angeles area are affected. In portions of Studio City and North Hollywood, about 1,100 customers are without power. Outages have always been reported in East Los Angeles, Mid City, and Woodland Hills. The department has increased the amount of crews working on power restoration.

If you see the Gold Line running through the Eastside and East L.A. on a regular basis next week, don't think you can hop on board at the nearest station. Metro officials announced today that pre-revenue light rail train testing will begin Sunday, lasting at least a month before opening to the public.

June 3, 1943 marked the start of just over a week of violence on the streets of Los Angeles that would come to be known as the Zoot Suit Riots. You may have hummed along to the old Cherry Poppin' Daddies song of the same name, but do you know the story?

You've got the original Eastside--LA city neighborhoods east of the LA River including unincorporated East LA--and you've got the newish Eastside--Silver Lake, Los Feliz, Echo Park--battling it out for their title. Tomorrow in the LA Times a feature, which is already posted online, dives into the issue head on:

An investigation launched last fall into an East Los Angeles drug operation netted 48 arrests of gang members during raids yesterday morning conducted at 38 different locations, the Press-Telegram is reporting. The raid, according to Sheriff Lee Baca "put a heroin ring out of business."

   

Today for the first time, a light rail train ran the tracks on the soon-to-open Gold Line eastside extension that goes from Union Station to East LA. It was part of a slow moving clearance test to evaluate how doors measure up to station platforms and to make sure trains pass by equipment and through tunnels safely. The last streetcar ran on First Street just after midnight on March 31, 1963, Metro says. The new extension of the Gold Line should open this Summer, most likely the end of June.

Next year could be the year that East L.A. gets on the map.

A peaceful protest march aimed at expressing opposition to the passage of Prop 8 is scheduled for tomorrow afternoon in East Los Angeles. The "Marcha Somos Familia: We are Family" event has been organized by Lambda Legal, and will begin at 10 a.m. at the corner of N. Soto St. and E. Cesar Chavez Ave in the city of Los Angeles and will stop 2.6 miles way at Belvedere Park in unincorporated East Los Angeles. According to their press release, the march's "purpose is not only to publicly express [their] disapproval of all forms of constitutional discrimination but to encourage dialogue and love among the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and heterosexual friends and family members. The march is a first for the predominantly Latino community living in the East Los Angeles area."

President-elect Barack Obama has asked local congresswoman Hilda Solis, the Democrat who represents the 32nd District, which includes parts of Los Angeles, East LA and the cities of Azusa, Baldwin Park, Covina, Duarte, El Monte, Irwindale, Monterey Park, Rosemead, South El Monte, and West Covina. Now speculation has begun regarding who will take her place.

Since for many Angelenos, Christmastime is Tamale-time, our local Fox station recently asked on-air for viewers to let them know where the best tamales in town can be found. They put together a segment covering what emerged as the top four: South El Monte's El Mano Market, and Juanito's, La Indiana, and Liliana's--all in East L.A. For most, it's the quality of the ingredients that makes one tamale top another, while for many, it's the pursuit of the elusive bite that echoes something from a time gone by. Maybe they're the ones sold by your neighborhood "Tamale Man" (or woman), or maybe they're the ones you make with your family. So did the Fox viewers get it right? Are those really the best tamales in town?

Hello, East LA. "Construction of the Metro Gold Line extension to East Los Angeles that began in July 2004 is 90 percent complete and still within budget and on schedule for the grand opening in the summer of 2009," says Metro today in a press release (emphasis added).

       

Some of the many wonderful submissions from our LAist Featured Photos contributors on Flickr...

Imagine a day when the Gold Line Eastside Extension to East LA and the Expo Line to Culver City are completed (2009 and 2010, respectively). But if you're traveling from Culver City to Little Tokyo, you'll have to take the Expo Line to the Red Line to the Gold Line. Headache, right? That's what Metro's Regional Connector project is seeking to fix. One possible goal, as the conceptual graphic above shows, is to have travelers commute between Pasadena and Long Beach or East LA and Culver City with no transfer.

LA Update, a daily weekday update on what's going on at City Hall (aired on Channel 35) reported today a common fact still needing to be addressed: healthy grocery stores are harder to come by in lower income parts of the city. "A newly released report urges Los Angeles city leaders to encourage major grocery chains to open the same quality stores in low income communities. The Alliance for Healthy and Responsible Grocery Stores report found, unlike on the Westside, residents in East and South Los Angeles and parts of the San Fernando Valley have to drive several miles for low-cost healthy food. In what maybe a sign of some progress, Councilmember Jan Perry helped break ground last week on a new mixed use development project on Central Avenue that will include a Fresh and Easy supermarket."

It's a rather dubious honor: The first taco truck to be cited for violating the County's new mobile food vendors' parking laws.

       

Today, Metro announced that the Gold Line East Extension is 80% completed. But don't think that means you'll be riding into Little Tokyo and out to East LA by the end of this summer. Metro has always conceded that project will by done by the end of 2009, yet construction is now almost six months ahead of time. That means it could open in the summer of '09 if all goes well with the remaining 20%. Keep your fingers crossed.

Thursday

C. Thi Nguyen, senior editor of Chow Digest at chowhound.com and a UCLA Grad Student opines in opposition to the County's move to put harsher regulations on Taco Trucks. It appeared in today's edition of the LA Times' The Guide:

One person was killed last night following a fight at a house party held last night in East L.A. on the 1400 block of Downey Street.

Yes, as reported in various LA Newspaper Group dailies, there is an East L.A. Taqueros Union. And they are going to fight a law that the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted "yes" on Tuesday -- taco trucks have to move every 60 minutes or face $1000 fines or jail time.

A fire starting in a one story commercial building around 5:45 p.m. this evening added to this afternoon's rush hour traffic, with both 6th and 7th Street bridges closed and traffic being diverted to side streets. The Los Angeles Fire Department responded to the building at 2285 E. Jesse St. that was engulfed in a "heavy" fire that caused one of the three arch truss roofs to fail.

There are over 4,000 taco trucks in Los Angeles County and those that do business in the unincorporated part of East Los Angeles are engaged in a "little war," according to Gloria Molina in the LA Times.

Morning headlines today have not been an exemplary one for public safety, both accident and crime-wise. The big ticket item was the eastbound 10 Freeway being closed in Covina after a 4:45 a.m. accident between a van and motorcycle that left the two-wheeler dead. All lanes were closed and one was reported open at 7 a.m. Also in Norwalk, a five-car crash caused three soundbound lanes on the 605 to be closed shortly before 8 a.m. There were several injuries, but none warranting transport to the hospital.

This one is a little hard to wrap your mind around. A taxi driver transporting two women to the Ramona Gardens housing project in East LA ended up in a situation when he stopped to drop them off. Daily News explains:

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Which side of the Gold Line tracks do you live on? Southsiders (below the 10) better be representing because Northsiders are fighting hard for their piece of the cake too.