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Morning Briefing: Zeroing In On Rent
A banner advertising rooms for rent hangs on the fire escape of an apartment complex in Koreatown. (Chava Sanchez/LAist)
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Saturday was August 1, the fifth due date for rent since stay-at-home orders were issued in March. To mark the occasion, protesters gathered outside Mayor Eric Garcetti’s home to demand that he cancel rent for Angenelos who are out of work because of the pandemic.
Speaking to Josie Huang, Nicole Donanian-Blandón, with the People's City Council and the L.A. Tenants Union, said activists are concerned not only about missed rent payments and evictions, but about predatory practices by local landlords.
“We have some tenants that still get harassed by their landlords, forcing them to sign contracts to hand over their stimulus checks … which is all illegal,” she said. “But a lot of these laws that have come out, they've been very confusing, so people don't really understand what their rights are.”
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The effort also coincides with the end of federal unemployment benefits, which many Angelenos have been relying on to stay afloat.
Keep reading for more on what’s happening in L.A. today, and stay safe out there.
Coming Up Today, August 3
City boosters sold Southern California as an outdoor paradise, waiting to be explored. That enthusiasm for the outdoors led to the "great hiking era," which ran from roughly the 1880s to the 1930s. Hadley Meares has the story.
The graphic novel Lizard In A Zoot Suit takes a metaphorical look at the 1940s Zoot Suit Riots, when members of the military beat up young Mexican Americans in a series of race-driven attacks. It adds the surreal aspect of a magical lizard character, turning the real world history into a fable, reports Mike Roe.
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In today's episode of the LAist Studios podcast, California City, host Emily Guerin tells the story of Ken Donney, an attorney who came closer than anyone to stopping the fraudulent land sales in the desert outpost. Ken helped thousands of people get their money back in California City, but then 18 years later he committed a horrible crime.
Go forest bathing, find out how xenophobia smells, watch a documentary on young gun control activists, and more. Christine N. Ziemba has this week’s best online and IRL events.
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The Past 24 Hours In LA
Cancel Rent: Hundreds of protesters gathered outside Mayor Garcetti's home Saturday afternoon to call for the cancellation of rent during the pandemic.
Coronavirus Updates: L.A. County public health officials have confirmed 23 new deaths and 1,476 new cases of the coronavirus, with 68% of the deaths occurring in people under the age of 50.
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Wildfire Season: The Apple Fire (formerly called the Cherry Fire) as of Sunday afternoon had burned more than 20,500 acres in Riverside County with no containment. The coronavirus is drastically – and dangerously – limiting the places where fire evacuees can find shelter.
And On The National Stage…: President Donald Trump repeated a false distinction between "absentee" and "mail-in" voting that threatens to sow confusion and undermine confidence in this fall's election results.
Photo Of The Day
The Los Angeles Lakers took a knee before the team's Saturday game against the Toronto Raptors.
(Photo by Ashley Landis - Pool/Getty Images)
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