This Week on Off-Ramp; Underground Woman; Underground Woman - Part 2; Underground Woman - Part 3; What's Up Doc-san?; New Model for Health Care?; Hand over the money, please...; Fresh 'n' Easy; Crowd Pleaser; Roses and Lemon; The Fields Are Alive with Flowers; Letters
This Week on Off-Ramp
John goes underground into LA's largest sewer. And no, we didn't find this alligator there.
Underground Woman
Anna Sklar, the author of "Brown Acres, an Intimate History of the Los Angeles Sewers" takes John Rabe underground into the longest sewer line in the country.
Underground Woman - Part 2
John and Anna Sklar on the early days of LA's sewers.
Underground Woman - Part 3
John and Anna Sklar on the fight for clean beaches in 1985.
Artists & fans raising money for Stan Sakai, creator of iconic rabbit samurai Usagi Yojimbo
Since 1984, Pasadena artist Stan Sakai has been drawing "Usagi Yojimbo," a comic book about the adventures of a rabbit samurai. His work has drawn countless awards, international acclaim and sales, and even this Off-Ramp audio profile by Charles Solomon.
But Sakai is still an independent artist and is now faced with paying medical bills for his wife Sharon, who has a brain tumor.
The good news is he's not alone in the fight: his colleagues from the worlds of comics and animation have been raising money, including the release of "The Sakai Project" by Dark Horse, with dozens of artists contributing their take on the rabbit hero.
All proceeds from the sales go to the Sakai's, and it was so popular at Comic Con that it sold out ... twice!
There are two events in LA where you can buy the book and get it signed by many of the artists it features, and help Stan and Sharon.
- Saturday, August 2, at the Frank & Son Collectible Show in City of Industry, from 10:30am - 5pm. Some artists who'll be there: Jeff Keane (Family Circus), Ricardo Delgado, Rubèn Procopio, Steven E. Gordon, Wil Panganiban, Mark Dos Santos, Brad Rader, Mike Kunkel, Jonathan Marks, Stephen Silver, Stan Sakai, Scott Shaw!, Tone Rodriguez, Aidan Casserly, Benton Jew, Anson Jew, Chad Frye.
- Saturday, August 16, Meltdown Comics on Sunset Blvd, time and artists TBA.
New Model for Health Care?
The Sun Valley neighborhood of Los Angeles became the home of the largest school-based health care clinic in the state. Queena Kim went to the opening.
Hand over the money, please...
KPCC's Frank Stoltze bring us this story of a former bank robber and heroin addict Steve Estroza.
Fresh 'n' Easy
Business reporter Mark Lacter gives John Rabe the skinny on the grocery chain Fresh 'n' Easy. The store's niche is to limit choice. Lacter says that the business model isn't very successful.
Crowd Pleaser
Commentator Hank Rosenfeld muses on the significance of the record-setting attendance at last Saturday's game at the Coliseum.
Roses and Lemon
John Rabe attends an annual ceremony that rewards and punishes the best and worst of downtown LA.
The Fields Are Alive with Flowers
Artist Lauren Bon tells John Rabe why she planted wildflowers at the Not A Cornfield site in downtown Los Angeles.
Letters
Last week Nick Roman told us about the historic Dodger v. Red Sox game at the coliseum. A reader wrote in to say, he got a fact wrong.