Congress has cut federal funding for public media — a $3.4 million loss for LAist. We count on readers like you to protect our nonprofit newsroom. Become a monthly member and sustain local journalism.
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.
Just Put Down the Knife - We're All Your Friends Here
()
The city seems to have gone completely mad. From a 16 year-old shot in Northridge to a 70 year-old stabbed to death in Hollywood, Sunday was just another day in what is starting to feel like an out-of-control crime wave.
In just the last few months, a man stabbed people in a movie theater while they watched a horror movie, a woman stabbed her own mother, and a man dressed as a skeleton terrorized North Hollywood before being shot while robbing an Auto Zone with a butcher knife. It's no longer safe to pick lemons in your own yard, go to school, drive the freeways, attend a concert, or even to be exonerated and let out of jail.
Things are no better behind the Orange curtain either, where people are going berserk in malls and packing dead women in dry ice. A Yorba Linda Man missed official Kill Your Family Day by just a few weeks. Women and children were gunned down in the quiet neighborhood of Baldwin Park, and even the traditionally mellow South Bay was harboring drugs, guns and major creepiness.
Support for LAist comes from
To add to the madness, There was a tragic shootout in Winnetka, and another LAPD shootout in Glassell Park
The Santa Anas aren't blowing, we aren't in the midst of a heat wave, and they're putting tranquilizers in our water, so WTF? What is making everyone so damn stabby?
Perhaps some of the crimes may be related to to brewing gang wars. But not neccessarily, according to Police Chief William Bratton, who is quoted by AP as saying:
Los Angeles has recorded 74 homicides this year [now 75], a 27 percent increase from the same time last year. Still, Bratton said overall crime is down, as are gang-related homicides - from 28 last year to 22 so far this year.
The LAPD reports that out of 16 homicides in the San Fernando Valley this year, only two are believed to be gang related.
But even factoring in gang violence, there is something more going on here. Gangs don't make men snap and kill their families, or dress up like a skeleton and then go rob Auto Zone with a butcher knife. At least not any gang that wasn't in The Warriors.
Support for LAist comes from
As affordable housing becomes a limited resource, many news reports blame the recent outbreak of violence on Hispanics moving into traditionally black neighborhoods. But housing is a limited resource everywhere in Los Angeles, not just in lower-income areas. Despite falling housing prices, affordable housing is hard to come by all over the city. Our water is tainted, our freeways are at a standstill, and we had to move daylight savings time up in order to conserve electricity.
Perhaps Los Angeles has reached maximum capacity. Like rats in a cage, maybe we are going to become more and more violent as the population increases. It's nature's way of thinning the herd.
Photo by the Illustrious Entitled13 via Flickr
As Editor-in-Chief of our newsroom, I’m extremely proud of the work our top-notch journalists are doing here at LAist. We’re doing more hard-hitting watchdog journalism than ever before — powerful reporting on the economy, elections, climate and the homelessness crisis that is making a difference in your lives. At the same time, it’s never been more difficult to maintain a paywall-free, independent news source that informs, inspires, and engages everyone.
Simply put, we cannot do this essential work without your help. Federal funding for public media has been clawed back by Congress and that means LAist has lost $3.4 million in federal funding over the next two years. So we’re asking for your help. LAist has been there for you and we’re asking you to be here for us.
We rely on donations from readers like you to stay independent, which keeps our nonprofit newsroom strong and accountable to you.
No matter where you stand on the political spectrum, press freedom is at the core of keeping our nation free and fair. And as the landscape of free press changes, LAist will remain a voice you know and trust, but the amount of reader support we receive will help determine how strong of a newsroom we are going forward to cover the important news from our community.
Please take action today to support your trusted source for local news with a donation that makes sense for your budget.
Thank you for your generous support and believing in independent news.
Chip in now to fund your local journalism
(
LAist
)
Trending on LAist
-
After rising for years, the number of residential installations in the city of Los Angeles began to drop in 2023. The city isn’t subject to recent changes in state incentives, but other factors may be contributing to the decline. -
The L.A. City Council approved the venue change Wednesday, which organizers say will save $12 million in infrastructure costs.
-
Taxes on the sale of some newer apartment buildings would be lowered under a plan by Sacramento lawmakers to partially rein in city Measure ULA.
-
The union representing the restaurant's workers announced Tuesday that The Pantry will welcome back patrons after suddenly shutting down six months ago.
-
If approved, the more than 62-acre project would include 50 housing lots and a marina less than a mile from Jackie and Shadow's famous nest overlooking the lake.
-
The U.S. Supreme Court lifted limits on immigration sweeps in Southern California, overturning a lower court ruling that prohibited agents from stopping people based on their appearance.
Best of LAist