By Bill Hendrickson
The drive to gain recognition for Highland Park’s pivotal role in the Chicano Art Movement of the 1970s is entering a critical phase — and you can help ensure that the neighborhood gets the recognition it deserves. You can make a difference. Read how and why here.
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By Carolyn Caswell, MFT, M. Msc.
This is the continuing Story of a whole new Civilization being born right here, right now, on Earth; Read on please.
From the horses’ mouths: We post here the video of the U.S. Attorney and FBI discussing the arrest of L.A. City Councilmember Jose Huizar.
Continue ReadingBy T. A. Hendrickson
A brick was hurled through the “Black Lives Matter” sign painted on the glass storefront of L.A. Road Thrift Store on Eagle Rock Boulevard in Glassell Park.
Surveillance footage shows the vandalism occurring at 12:30 a.m. by a person wearing a bandana mask and driving a blue Prius, said Matt Troyer, the store manager.
Photos by T. A. Hendrickson Here are seven images from the new Black Lives Matter mural on the walls of Oxy Arts on York Boulevard in Highland Park. Central mural signed by Lucia Sano, Eagle Rock High School (ERHS) Class of ‘2023, and students from ERHS, Franklin High and Occidental College.
Continue ReadingBy Lani Tunzi
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Rock the Boulevard, a public/private effort to transform Eagle Rock Boulevard into a safer, more beautiful thoroughfare, has been unable to secure the public grant money needed to move forward as originally planned.
There were high hopes for the project last year. Launch money was raised from City Council District 14 ($23,000), Occidental College ($13,500), the Eagle Rock Neighborhood Council ($2,500) and The Eagle Rock Association improvement group (an unspecified amount)
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Wildfires can occur anytime, not only in the typical wildfire season of mid-summer to early autumn. Northeast Los Angeles is at high risk: The Boulevard Sentinel recently reported on data showing that nearly half of the buildings in Eagle Rock are in a very severe hazard zone; in Highland Park, 40% of the buildings are in a very serve hazard zone. In Mount Washington, all of the buildings are in a very severe hazard zone.
Continue ReadingJackie Goldberg, a veteran local politician, won a decisive victory on May 14 over Heather Repenning, a former city commissioner, for the Board District 5 (BD 5) seat on the Los Angeles School Board, which includes Northeast Los Angeles. The task now before Goldberg, who was endorsed by the L.A. teachers union, is to find the money to deliver on her promise of smaller class sizes and more counselors, nurses and teachers aides.
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A settlement has been reached in a long running case that set Forever 21 and Arroyo Vista Family Health Foundation against the Lincoln Heights Chamber of Commerce (COC).
The case involved donations made in 2011-2013 by Forever 21 and the Arroyo Vista foundation to a scholarship fund established by the Lincoln Heights COC. The money raised, about $30,000 in all, was supposed to go to college-bound students from Abraham Lincoln High School in Lincoln Heights, but as far as everyone could tell, no scholarships were ever awarded.
Continue ReadingVielka McFarlane, who founded the Celerity network of charter schools located in Eagle Rock and other parts of Los Angeles, was sentenced on May 20 to 30 months in prison for misspending public education money on luxuries for herself, including first-class plane travel, fine dining and high-end shopping.
McFarlane pleaded guilty in January to one count of conspiracy to misappropriate and embezzle public money. The plea followed an investigation, starting in 2012, by the inspector general of L.A. Unified School District and federal authorities.
An intraparty feud among local Democratic groups has come to a can’t-please-everyone kind of resolution.
The dispute began in late January, when Democrats in State Assembly District 51, which includes Northeast Los Angeles, voted to select 14 delegates to the California Democratic Party convention in Sacramento from May 31 to June 2.
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Action on Senate Bill 50 (SB 50) — a measure to address the state’s housing crisis by rewriting local zoning codes — was put off until 2020 by the state Senate Appropriations Committee on May 16. The delay undercuts the Senate Housing Committee and the Senate Governance and Finance Committee, which passed the bill in April. The bill would let apartment complexes be built in areas deemed “job rich” or “transit rich” and would permit fourplexes in neighborhoods zoned for single-family homes.
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Applause and tears of joy erupted at a School Board meeting on May 21, when Austin Beutner, Superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), announced that the district’s elementary school libraries would be fully funded for the 2019-2020 school year. The announcement reversed an earlier decision by LAUSD that would have cut library funding.
Continue ReadingRamona Sierra, 90, and Suzanna Bermudez, 65, are bracing for eviction from their rent-controlled bungalows at 4542-4544 Eagle Rock Boulevard in Eagle Rock. Sierra has lived in her bungalow for 40 years. Bermudez and her husband, who are both disabled, have lived in the bungalow three doors down from Sierra for seven years.
This particular eviction story starts in 2017 when . . . . . . . . .
The Metro Board of Directors recently advanced a plan that would put bus rapid transit (BRT) lanes on Colorado Boulevard in Eagle Rock.
Under the plan, the Colorado Boulevard corridor would be one segment of an 18-mile BRT line connecting North Hollywood and Pasadena (NoHo-Pasadena). Various routes were considered for the line, including one that would use the 134 Freeway to traverse Eagle Rock, thus bypassing Colorado Boulevard. But Metro staff determined that a route along surface streets would attract more riders and provide better connections than a freeway-based route. The Metro Board accepted the staff’s finding and on May 23, voted to begin a draft environmental review
Continue ReadingThe high school graduates of 2019 in Northeast Los Angeles have earned the pomp and circumstance that surrounds Graduation Day.
The highlights are in our story . . . . . . .
Ramona Sierra, 90, and Suzanna Bermudez, 65 and disabled, are on the verge of being evicted from their rent-controlled bungalow homes at 4524 Eagle Rock Boulevard in Eagle Rock. Ramona has lived in her bungalow for 40 years; Suzanna for seven. Neither wants to move, much less out of Eagle Rock. But the owner, Randy Stevenson of Allegro Capital Partners, LLC, plans to renovate and sell their homes and the other three bungalows on the property.
Continue ReadingSpring Sports for local high schools are finished – lots of awards victories and less. Read the highlights here on BoulevardSentinel.com.
Continue ReadingWhen filmmaker Samantha Bode learned that a 338-mile aqueduct brings water into Los Angeles, she decided impulsively to see it for herself by walking its entire length – from the Cascades in Sylmar at the southern terminus of the aqueduct to Mono Lake, 338 miles to the north. The result is a documentary film, The Longest Straw – a close-up look at the environmental impacts of what it takes to keep L.A. alive.
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Limai Academy is a new private K-12 school in Eagle Rock that combines the standard American curriculum with curriculum from around the world, including an emphasis on Latin, Spanish and Mandarin Chinese alongside art, music, math and science. “Limai” stands for Leadership, Innovation, Motivation, Academics and Independence. The Limai 2019 summer camp is $95/week plus $20/week for extended hours. Annual tuition for the 2019/2020 academic year, when Limai will offer instruction for kindergarten through 9th grade, ranges from $8,900 to $11,500, depending on grade level.
For more information about summer camp and the 2019/2020 school year, call 323-507-2345 or visit the school and meet Principal Turner.
Continue ReadingPicks from the people who bring you the Boulevard Sentinel
The problems of the world are also local problems. Here are several ways in and near NELA to learn more about the issues and work toward solutions. We list ways for both children and adults. They include courses exhibits and programs by the Audubon Center, Eagle Rock Library, The Wall Las Memorias Project and the Museum of Social Justice.
Continue ReadingThe Editor’s Notebook contains fun things to do, important things to know, ways to get involved and events to put on your calendar.
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