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The Week in Weeklies
By week's end, LA is regularly littered with a handful of free rags. Combined, these publications put the
Tribune Company's Spring Street operation
LA Times to shame as far as reporting on the dozens of municipalities that make up this metropolis of more than 12 million people. LAist reads the weeklies so you don't have to. If there's anything we missed, let us know, or better yet drop it in the comments section below.
We begin this week in the South Bay, where Beachcomber publisher Jay Beeler writes about his night in jail after being denied access to witness a major fire at Galaxy Towers in spite of his press credentials and CA Penal Code exemption 409.5(d). Beeler will plead not guilty on April 12 and he invites other media representatives to join him in a class-action lawsuit against the "shameful, unlawful LBPD practice" of ignoring the rights of the press.
OC Weekly: R. Scott Moxley digs up some stanky dirt and finds that poseur moralist and Jack Abramoff buddy Rep. Dana Rohranacher (CA-46th) has taken campaign contributions from porn kingpins.
Gustavo "Ask a Mexican" Arellano inks an inspiring feature on Jesse Flores, who immigrated from Jalisco to La Habra when he was 7 and later discovered -- and mentored -- should-be Hall of Fame pitcher Bert Blyleven.
Paul Brennan blogs from a state of shock on the 91:
The toll for traveling eastward on the Express Lanes will be hitting a new high from 4-5pm on Fridays– $9.50– starting this afternoon. Those heading westward (ho!) will hit their new peak price– $4.05– during 7-8am hour from Monday to Thursday. If you can delay your commute till the dark hours between 10pm and 5am, you can still travel the 10 miles of the 91 for the bargain basement price of $1.15.
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We're downtown and valley-bound after the jump.
CityBeat: LAist contributor Nikki Bazar talks to novelist Jonathan Lethem about his latest, LA-based book You Don't Love Me Yet and his new, Free Culture / Open Source -inspired Promiscuous Materials project.
Downtown News: The downtown rental market is hot. DT News' Kathryn Maese checks out the stoic Eastern Columbia. Also, the Central City Association honors 10 notable Angelenos.
LA Weekly: Nikki Finke was all over the Tribune sale last week in her Deadline Hollywood Daily blog. Finke scooped the major papers on Sam Zell's friendship with Malibu neighbor David Geffen, in this blog post, and suggests a 50/50 split on the LAT with DG as managing publisher. Finke analyzes the deal further here and here. Her Weekly column on the Trib deal is here.
Burbank Leader: A tighter smoking ban goes into effect in mid-May, barring smoking in outdoor dining areas and many public spaces in Burbank.
Al Borde: Gustavo Arellano drops in some mad Spanglish with his contribution to this Spanish-language weekly's list of "200 Momentos del Latin Alternative." And lest we forget, Al Borde reminds us of next weekend's Long Beach Grand Prix. Tecate will launch their "Tecate Light" brand at this yearly fiesta of "autos, chicas, cerveza, y mucho rock." Here's to hoping that this hip bi-weekly starts updating their Web site more regularly.
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Right now, LAist has lost $1.7M in annual funding due to Congress clawing back money already approved. The support we receive from readers like you will determine how fully our newsroom can continue informing, serving, and strengthening Southern California.
If this story helped you today, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
Your tax-deductible donation keeps LAist independent and accessible to everyone.
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