Long chronological scroll of articles:

CD14 Guide: Nadine Diaz

Nadine Diaz is a healthcare professional and college teacher who lives in Boyle Heights, and wants to serve on the LA City Council.

Impacted by Exide? You can now report your complaints online

Over 4,980 properties have been cleaned up within the 1.7-mile radius of the Exide recycling plant in Vernon, after the now-closed facility contaminated miles of Southeast LA with lead.  Now, residents with complaints and comments about the clean-up can submit their feedback online.  An online public feedback system created for folks to report issues and…

Will the City help Chinatown tenants? Emails show officials dragging their feet

CHINATOWN — When tenants of a large Chinatown apartment complex found out in 2018 that the covenant keeping their rents affordable would soon expire, they called on the city to help them fight enormous rent increases. Four years later, Los Angeles City Council committed to exploring a purchase of the building to keep tenants housed.…

Burbank is a city of renters. It’s looking to expand tenant protections in 2024.

BURBANK – Burbank is looking to revisit and strengthen the Tenant Protection Urgency Ordinance passed in 2023 after residents critiqued the city ordinance as too weak. Tenants mostly have taken issue with the way the ordinance deals with substantial remodel just cause evictions. This type of evictions was first introduced in the state Tenant Protection…

Smogland Radio: Renter’s Hotline — Don’t underestimate seniors

This week, we’ve got the second edition of Renter’s Hotline, our tenant advice segment. This time, Dominique called in about an issue that her dad is having at his apartment building in Paramount, where the landlord keeps raising the rent on Dominique’s father and other tenants with housing vouchers. She got advice from lawyer Gina…

Pussy Riot brings punk opera protest to Echo Park

ECHO PARK — Onstage at the Echo, Maria “Masha” Alyokhina stands with her back to the audience. Images of a Russian penal colony flash on a large screen as she holds a plastic water bottle over her head, then pours the bottle’s contents onto herself — then another bottle, then another.  Alongside Alyokhina, a co-founder…

Emails show Traci Park removed toilets, showers, and handwashing stations across district

Since taking office, LA City Councilmember Traci Park has removed hygiene programs — including toilets, handwashing stations, and showers — for unhoused people across the Westside of Los Angeles.  Park, who ran on a platform of clearing encampments, represents District 11, which in-part includes Brentwood, Mar Vista, Ladera, Venice, and Playa Vista. According to emails…

Smogland Radio: A little journey across Los Angeles… together.

This week, six scenes from all over Los Angeles (okay, including one in Joshua Tree). Footage of a neighborhood council meeting, obtained through a public records request. An unusual guard animal in El Sereno. A renowned musician at the Día de los Muertos celebration on Olvera Street. Two different stargazing trips — one successful, one…

Smogland Radio: Every day you’re holding your breath

This week, we’re spending the show with two Los Angeles-area organizers on the fight for Palestinians in the wake of Israel’s relentless bombing campaign that has now killed more than 11,000 Gazans. Noa Kattler-Kupetz grew up in the conservative Jewish movement in Los Angeles, but now organizes with IfNotNow and is calling for a ceasefire…

Angelenos are protesting the violence in Gaza. Here are some upcoming events

On October 7, Hamas militants broke through the barrier that surrounds Gaza and killed more than 1400 Israelis, kidnapping more than 200 others, according to Israeli officials. In response, the Israeli government began an unprecedented attack on Gaza, bombarding them from the sky and later beginning a ground invasion. According to the Health Ministry in…

Smogland Radio: There’s no place like home

This week, we’re spending the entire show with the residents of one encampment on the edge of Culver City. When they learned they were facing a sweep designed to displace them, the residents of the encampment decided to fight to stay there. They’d formed a community on Jasmine Avenue. And they felt safe on that…