How To LA: City Of Vernon Remains Mostly Unfit For Habitation (And Other Headlines)

Continuing our exclusive investigation into a rendering plants in Vernon facility and years of putrid odor complaints, today we are taking a look at the city’s troubled history.

In Vernon, severe environmental issues persist

Vernon — located about five miles southeast of downtown L.A.,— is self-described as an “exclusively industrial” city. It’s also a city known for a series of high-profile corruption prosecutions that involved outsized pay and benefits for city officials and lawmakers. Twelve years ago those scandals almost led to the dismantling of the city, which even today has just over 200 residents. Now, Vernon is trying to grow its residential areas despite ongoing environmental issues.

Reporter Ted Rohrlich takes a deeper look at the changes in the city, which include its new expansion plan, and the troubles that led to those initiatives. Read the full story here.

Read the series:

• The investigation: Inside The Fight Over A Facility That Recycles Dead Animals In Southeast LA 
• How and why we reported this: The 2 Bus Rides That Spurred LAist’s Deep Dive Into Odor Issues In Vernon
• Compliance issues: LAist review finds companies violated sign rules

Resources: Smell Something Bad In Your Neighborhood? Here’s Where To Get Help

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(After you stop hitting snooze)

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Wait... one more thing

Welcome To The World of Dumplings!

Dumplings!

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Shardar Tarikul Islam/Unsplash

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It might be the change in weather and consistently writing about food on Fridays, but I’ve been thinking about dumplings lately. And as I was searching last weekend for good dumpling restaurants, I stumbled upon our very own round up and immediately bookmarked.

One of the places featured in the story is an Americana At Brand Memes favorite: Tawainese chain restaurant Din Tai Fung. While I’ve already tried Din Tai Fung, I’m excited to try the rest on this list! See the full list here.

Psst, if you want more food deals and things to do, here’s a list of the weekly events happening in SoCal.