Morning Brief: Illegal Fireworks, Safe Streets, Why 'Sunset Boulevard' Strikes A Nerve

Good morning, L.A. It’s June 30.

As always, try to stay happy and healthy, folks. There’s more news below the fold.

In recent years, on every Fourth of July, the night sky above Los Angeles erupts with the colorful sparks (and loud booms) of fireworks. Everywhere. For hours. In a lot of instances, it's just regular folks setting these things off in the streets, or in backyards. But the thing is, it's illegal in the city of L.A..

Most of us know this, yet the fireworks keep going off. This year authorities are really trying to clamp down across the county. Earlier this week, 14,000 pounds of illegal fireworks were seized in Azusa and, here in L.A., City Attorney Mike Feuer says his focus has been on online marketplaces, like Craigslist and Meta. He says he’s issued cease and desist letters. “We clearly can't stop every single instance of illegal fireworks coming into Los Angeles,” Feuer says. “But we can take creative steps like grappling with the online sale of fireworks that I'm hopeful will reduce the use of them this year.”

The city is also offering to buy back illegal fireworks. People can turn them in for gift cards that can be used for gas or groceries. The buyback is from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday at Brand Park in Mission Hills.

Last year, an attempt to detonate a stash of illegal fireworks went terribly wrong. The explosion injured 17 people and damaged homes in the South LA neighborhood. We will dig into that story in more detail tomorrow, but this is how resident Jose Becerra remembers it: “It moved the floor, the walls, everything. And I see a lot of glass, a lot of shiny things going everywhere.”

Some experts say the past two years in the pandemic have been among the worst for fireworks safety.

Chris Nevil is the Public Information Officer at MySafe:LA, an organization that works with LAFD to create awareness around fireworks safety. Nevil says the pandemic was a huge setback to their efforts, which often involve going to schools and spaces like local YMCAs to educate children. “Now we're coming out of it, hopefully,” says Nevil. “We're back to banging hard on this message. We'll see what this year looks like. We're not naive, but we think that we've made a difference.”

In the meantime, if you’re still looking to get your fireworks fix, the LAFD has a list of legal fireworks shows to choose from.

— Anandita Bhalerao contributed reporting for this newsletter

One clarification from yesterday’s newsletter. In the note about the Griffith Park road closures, we should have specified that only a section of Griffith Park Drive is closed — from Travel Town to Mt. Hollywood Drive.

As always, try to stay happy and healthy, folks. There’s more news below the fold.

What Else You Need To Know Today

• The Los Angeles City Council aims to make safe streets a priority. After failing to curb traffic collisions in the city when it pledged to do so seven years ago (it's only gotten worse here and across the U.S.), the Council voted Wednesday on a measure that may force L.A. to stick to its original plans. 
• Reported hate crimes in California hit the highest level in 20 years, according to the state’s Department of Justice. To combat the increase, state Attorney General Rob Bonta says he has created a new position of hate crime coordinator that will work with state and local law enforcement.
• Lawmakers just may extend the life of the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant - the last one in the state. A bill is currently being considered in the legislature. 
• After more than two years of COVID-19, the appearance of monkeypox might just be a little too much to process. Here’s what you need to know. 
• After 53 people were found dead in a sweltering tractor-trailer in San Antonio, here’s what you need to know about the smuggling of migrants.
• Job cuts are happening. Here’s who’s hurting so far.

Before You Go ... And The Oscar Goes To…The Academy Museum Podcast

“I am big! It's the pictures that have gotten small.” - Norma Desmond

If you love the movies, you gotta check out The Academy Museum Podcast from LAist Studios. Host Jacqueline Stewart, the chief artistic and programming officer of the museum, digs into some of the most iconic moments from Oscar ceremonies over the years.

The new episode drops TODAY and it’s all about old Hollywood. Stewart goes back to 1951 when two films that most captured the complexities of show business and its impact on women — All About Eve and Sunset Boulevard — went head to head. Actresses Laura Dern, Matt Severson, director of the Academy’s Margaret Herrick Library, weigh in.