Frank Stoltze
I came to L.A. as a very young reporter on New Year’s Day, 1991. Two months later, four LAPD officers were caught on videotape beating Rodney King. A year later, the night before the riots/rebellion broke out, I was in the Nickerson Gardens housing project in Watts at an extraordinary rally of rival gangs that had brokered a truce.
Today, I cover Civics and Democracy in L.A. As we face perhaps the greatest threat to democracy since the Civil War, I seek to engage with communities and examine the hurdles to becoming involved in the political process. I cover the various social and political movements seeking to improve the lives of Angelenos. I also cover anti-democratic forces.
And after all these years, I still need to figure out the best donut shop in L.A. The best torta. The best (not fanciest) coffee. Best of all I get to meet the smartest, most interesting people and bring their voices to you.
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The Board of Supervisors puts the brakes on a plan to increase the cost of a marriage license from $91 to $176. -
Brian Williams called in the bomb threat during a stressful meeting he wanted to get out of, prosecutors say. -
LA City Controller Kenneth Mejia has made six recommendations the Charter Reform Commission. They would ultimately need voter approval. -
The music mogul Sean Diddy Combs was convicted transporting women for prostitution and to participate in drug-fueled sex marathons. -
Price got dizzy at a groundbreaking for the L.A. Convention Center expansion project where Mayor Karen Bass came to his aid before paramedics took him to a hospital. -
Maurice Hastings, 72, was convicted of committing sexual assault and murder in Inglewood in 1983. He was sentenced to life in prison without parole, but DNA testing led to his exoneration decades later. -
The approval came amid major warnings that the project would take away funding from basic city service like police and sidewalk repair. -
The board approved a motion asking the Sheriff's Department to enact a policy prohibiting it from sharing license plate data with federal immigration authorities -
Officials cited rising operational costs and other factors for the increase. -
The measure would change congressional boundaries in California so that five Republican seats likely would flip to Democratic.
