One year ago, Congress defunded public media. Now that we're 100% community funded, please become a sustaining member or increase your existing membership today.
This is an archival story that predates current editorial management.
This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click here.
Found in LA: Goats in Downtown!
If you happened to see some serious goat-on-grass action Monday at 4th and Hill Streets in Downtown, your eyes were not deceiving you. There were, indeed, 100 goats put there deliberately--not as some Fraternity prank--to help clear the lot of overgrowth. LAist Featured Photos contributor Jonathan Alcorn (aka Sundogg) grabbed this great goat shot for us, and explains (via the LA Times):
Sep 09, 2008 - Los Angeles, California, USA - A herd of goats has been hired by the Los Angeles Community Redevelopment Agency to clear away thick weeds on a steep slope at the corner of 4th and Hill streets, next to the Angels Flight. Agency officials said the goats were cheaper and more environmentally friendly than a human brush clearing crew with gas powered weed whackers. Downtown office workers and other passersby gather to watch the goats eating on the slope.
It comes down to pure economics; renting the goats costs $3,000, whereas renting people would cost around $7, 500. The goats are expected to chow down on the hillside for ten days, but don't go near them--they are covered in poison oak (and surrounded by an electrified fence). Once the hillside is cleared it will become "the site of a third mixed-use California Plaza tower."
One year ago, Congress voted to defund public media, eliminating a critical $1.7 million from our budget every year going forward. But they couldn’t silence us, and we’re not going anywhere. LAist is now 100% community funded and that means we’re taking our future into our own hands and turning to you to keep local reporting strong.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
Senior Vice President News, Editor in Chief
