Grab your study tools, my L.A. City Council District 6 friends, because tomorrow is the last day to vote in the special election. I have all the things you need to know before you go to the polls.
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Why is there a special election?
First things first. Back in October, former Councilmember and Council President Nury Martinez resigned after facing intense pressure due to a leaked tape that captured her and other city official leaders making racist and derogatory comments. Ever since then, her District 6 has had non-voting caretakers. There are usually elections every two years for councilmembers.
Tomorrow, San Fernando Valley residents will vote for someone to replace her.
The candidates
The next person in the District 6 seat will represent 260,000 residents in the city of L.A. They will be one of 15 councilmembers who will be in charge of introducing and passing laws, approving Mayor Karen Bass’ yearly budget and carrying out orders.
There are seven candidates on the ballot and four who are write-ins. Here’s the lowdown on each candidate.
How to vote
If you live in District 6, you should have received a mail-in ballot by now. If you do mail it in, make sure it’s postmarked on or by April 4. You can also turn in your ballot at any vote center by 8 p.m. on April 4. Here are other options. Not sure if you live in District 6? Find out here.
As always, stay happy and healthy, folks. There’s more news below — just keep reading.
(After you stop hitting snooze)
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THREE — Legacy Blue Checks Still Exist After April 1.
It feels like one helluva April Fool’s joke after I and several others noticed that many verified, credible Twitter accounts still had their blue checks after Elon Musk’s scheduled date to eliminate them. While the legacy blue checks still appeared next to the names of individual and organizations’ accounts, there were two major differences: Legacy verified accounts have a tab that is indistinguishable from any random person who paid for Twitter Blue, and the New York Times’ main account doesn’t have a check mark anymore.
TWO — The 2023 NCAA Championship Brings A Few Firsts
Even though it’s no longer March, the madness for college basketball is still in the air.
The San Diego State University Aztecs men’s team defeated the Florida Atlantic Owls during their Final Four tournament game this past weekend by one point, on a buzzer-beater. As stated last week, this is the first time a Mountain West team has been this close to the NCAA Championship trophy. They will face the UConn Huskies today in the national championship game. Could there be an upset awaiting UConn?
OK, enough with the men. Let’s talk about who was REALLY trending on Twitter this weekend: the women. The Louisiana State University Tigers became the national champions over the Iowa Hawkeyes yesterday 102 to 85, making it the first women’s national title in the program’s history. Here’s more info on the electrifying game.
But the win wasn’t the only thing people were talking about. If you were on Twitter at the time of the game, you probably saw trending hashtags such as “NO CLASS”, “You can’t see me” and “taunting.” Some Twitter users shared their harsh remarks towards LSU Tigers forward Angel Reese when she taunted NCAA Women’s basketball Player of the Year, Iowa guard Caitlin Clark. But some people pointed out racial bias because Clark had done a similar move during the tournament as well but did not receive negative remarks the way Reese did. Reese said, “I don’t take disrespect lightly … I was in my bag. I was in the moment.” Here’s more context.
ONE — Friends is Trending, But Let’s Chat About Making Friends In L.A.
Yes, if you’ve been on Twitter lately, you’d see that Jennifer Aniston went viral after her explanation as to why she believes that a new generation finds Friends “offensive." She received a lot of backlash from Living Single fans who found the critique misplaced. As people pointed out, Living Single came out before Friends. This isn’t the first time that a Friends cast member was placed in hot water due to their thoughts on criticism about the lack of diversity on the New York City-based show. Let’s get back to L.A. I’ve been seeing a lot of folks on social media talk about how hard it is to make friends in such a sprawling, glitzy place like L.A. Well, here at LAist, we have a list of sports groups to check out that are great for making friends. Maybe you enjoy getting brunch with strangers more. Check out this Los Angeles Times’ article about Bestie Brunch.
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