Morning Brief: Fireworks Victims, The Purple Tier, And Healing Soups

Good morning, L.A. It’s August 18.

On June 30, officers with the L.A. Police Department’s bomb squad attempted to detonate a cache of illegal fireworks on a residential street in South Los Angeles. The container holding some of the explosives blew up, injuring 17 people and causing severe damage to surrounding properties.

Now, residents whose homes were damaged or destroyed are insisting that the city fix their property immediately. My colleague Robert Garrova reports that they delivered their demands in a letter to L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti’s office this week.

“It’s really shameful that we have to come here to City Hall — more than six weeks after the explosion — to demand basic things,” said Ron Gochez, who helped organize the protest of more than two dozen people.

The debacle began when law enforcement officers discovered 32,000 pounds of fireworks in the South L.A. home of a 27-year-old man. In an effort, they said, to get rid of some of the more dangerous explosives, the bomb squad opted to perform the detonation on a neighborhood street.

The container that held the fireworks was only intended to be used for up to 25 pounds of explosives. But instead of weighing the contraband, LAPD officers eyeballed it, according to LAPD Chief Michel Moore, and guessed it weighed approximately 16 pounds.

The explosives placed inside the detonation vehicle, in fact, weighed more than 42 pounds.

The L.A. City Council instructed the City Attorney at the end of July to ensure that families affected by the blast were compensated for injuries and damages. Approximately 80 people are still displaced due to property damage, and have been waiting out repairs in a downtown L.A. hotel.

Keep reading for more on what’s happening in L.A., and stay safe out there.

What Else You Need To Know Today

• All but two of California’s 58 counties would now be in the most restrictive purple tier under the state’s abandoned blueprint for reopening during the pandemic.
• Children with COVID-19 now take up about half of Orange County's pediatric ICU beds.
• Both tenants and landlords in Long Beach can again apply for funds to pay back 100% of rent dating back to April 1, 2020.
• A federal lawsuit is seeking to halt or fundamentally change the ballot ahead of the Sept. 14 gubernatorial recall election.
• Are different COVID-19 testing and vaccination rules at different colleges leaving students vulnerable?
• SoCal activists are asking the government to take in a new wave of Afghani refugees.

Before You Go ... The World's Most Healing Soups, In L.A.

Bun bo hue (Photo by Tim Loc/LAist)

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To say that it’s been a rough 18 months would be, obviously, an understatement. As COVID-19 cases continue to rise fueled by the delta variant, perhaps you’re feeling the need for some healing.

That’s where these soups come into play. In this 2019 piece, LAist contributor Whitney Friedlander explores healing soups from around the world, and where to find them in L.A. They range from the South Indian dish rasam to the Vietnamese bún bò huế to Jewish matzo ball soup and more. Settle in and enjoy.