Feeling ‘Unsafe And Constantly On Edge’ Over Pollutants At School (And Other Headlines)

During the school day, when students go outside to play sports, they should just smell the fresh air. They shouldn’t have to worry about anything but having fun.

Feeling "unsafe and constantly on edge"

But at Jordan High School in Watts, hazardous waste from just a couple minutes away has long cast a shadow over the school yard. Students have complained for years about pollutants from a nearby metals recycling plant nearby, including the threat of scrap metal “raining down” on campus.

Students like recent graduate Genesis Cruz have been trying to bring attention to the issue. They have had protests to raise awareness. Now, Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón has charged S&W Atlas Iron and Metal Corp. with 21 felonies for illegally dumping toxic waste at Jordan High.

My colleague Robert Garrova wrote about the charges and how dangerous the pollution is for the students that attend the South L.A. school. At a news conference on Wednesday, Gascón stated that ”more than 500 young students attend class and routinely breathe in dust with lead, chromium and other toxic materials.”

Read Robert’s story to learn more about how the company responded and what happens next.

There’s more news below — just keep reading.

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(After you stop hitting snooze)

• LAPD Chief Michel Moore told LAist's Air Talk on Wednesday that he supports a crackdown on street racing. He’s backing a state Assembly bill, AB74, that would criminalize people for knowingly attending a street racing or sideshow event, and give law enforcement the power to seize vehicles deemed a "public nuisance."
• Over the weekend, two lifeguard towers painted with Progress Pride Flag colors were vandalized with anti-Semitic and anti-LGBTQ+ remarks on Will Rogers State Beach in Pacific Palisades. As my colleague Caitlin Hernández reports, the stretch of beach where the towers are located is unofficially known as Ginger Rogers Beach, and has historically served as a safe space for L.A.’s LGBTQ+ community.
• ICYMI: Organizers of the 2023 Leimert Park Juneteenth Festival issued a statement on Instagram about ending Monday’s festival early due to safety concerns. They stated that they are still looking into “reported incidents” and are working with the authorities. Jazmine Sullivan, the main headliner for the event, posted a statement that her performance had been canceled. 
• Following a proposal to restrict children’s access to public library sources that could contain sexually explicit content,  the Huntington Beach City Council voted 4-3 on Wednesday to study how a restriction would work. The American Library Association has flagged the increasing efforts to censor libraries in recent years — a 0.75% increase in challenges compared to 2021.
• On Wednesday morning, the Writers Guild of America (WGA) held a march at Pan Pacific Park with the support of SAG-AFTRA, IATSE, the Directors Guild of America and the Teamsters. The WGA’s strike is now in its eighth week after its 20,000 members left their jobs on May 2. (CBS Los Angeles)
• Since the pandemic, California’s community college enrollment fell to a 30-year low. But students 50 years and older left at the highest rates. Now, community colleges are trying to bring older students back through targeted outreach, including looking to farmworkers.
• Researchers from Stanford University and Oakland-based nonprofit PSE Health Energy found that gas stoves expose people to about the same cancer risk as breathing secondhand cigarette smoke. Everyone of the 87 homes with gas stoves across California and Colorado they tested released a detectable amount of benzene, a carcinogenic compound that has no safe level of exposure. (Los Angeles Times) 
• It’s officially summer time, my friend, and there’s a ton of events this weekend that you should check out. If you want to see some dogs compete in a surfing competition, attend the Purina Pro Plan Incredible Dog Challenge at Huntington Beach State Park. If you love dancing to your favorite hip hop songs, participate in Dance DTLA lessons at The Music Center’s Jerry Moss Plaza tomorrow night. Or show up in your best 1950s Hill Valley ‘fit or 1980s look and go Back to the Future with Ben Schwartz as he gives a live script reading of the film at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts.

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Wait! One more thing...

Eat and enjoy a drag show

Amor Hex performs at Noches de Aay Tu Drag Brunch in Santa Ana, CA.

(

Veronica Lechuga

/

LAist

)

When I think of drag shows, I usually think of queens strutting their best looks down the runway. But if you didn’t know it by now, drag is just more than catwalks. Frank Rojas reminds us that it is an art form that has shifted and changed throughout the years. And there are a lot of places throughout Los Angeles to check out drag in all its forms.

In today’s LAist story, Frank takes us inside three places where you can eat and enjoy drag in various ways: Redline, HiDef Brewing and the Noches De Ay Tú brunch.

When it comes to putting on a show for newcomers, drag performer Natasha Hundreds says this: “I just want to invite people that have never been to a drag show to attend one,” said Natasha Hundreds, whose real name is Raul Pacheco. “There's a lot of rhetoric and there's one literally every single night of the week in L.A.. So just attend one with an open mind so you can be a part of the art form and be a little bit better informed on what it is.”

Read more here.