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L.A. Focus Newspaper •

Edison Pulls Out of Altadena Town Hall, Sparking Backlash From KBLA, Residents - L.A. Focus Newspaper

ALTADENA — A town hall meant to address wildfire recovery in Altadena has instead escalated into a public confrontation between Southern California Edison and KBLA Talk 1580 — and deepened tensions with residents who say they still feel unheard nearly a year after losing their homes.

      Just 72 hours before the Nov. 6 event, Edison informed KBLA that it would no longer participate. The last-minute withdrawal blindsided organizers and residents who saw the forum as a rare chance to question c...

MLK Parade organizer weighs next steps – Los Angeles Wave Newspaper Group

Adrian Dove, longtime organizer of Los Angeles’s Kingdom Day Parade, stands with Mayor Karen Bass during a 2024 event. Dove is still angry over losing the permit to the 2026 parade, but had dropped plans to hold a counter event or disrupt the parade itself.


Courtesy photo


Adrian Dove says he will petition city officials over parade decision





By Stephen Oduntan


Contributing Writer


SOUTH LOS ANGELES — The longtime organizer of the Kingdom Day Parade says he will petition city off...

9th District preparing for political shift  – Los Angeles Wave Newspaper Group

Jose Ugarte





Jorge Nuño





By Stephen Oduntan


Contributing Writer


SOUTH LOS ANGELES — A quiet but consequential transition is underway in the 9th City Council District as Councilman Curren Price prepares for his last year in office, forced out by City Charter-mandated term limits.


Price has endorsed his longtime aide, José Ugarte, to replace him in next June’s primary election. 


The endorsement hasn’t quieted critics. Rival candidate Jorge Nuño argues that next year’s race...

New coalition tackles racial wealth gap – Los Angeles Wave Newspaper Group

Black leaders seek to build pipelines for small businesses





Sarah R. Harris, president and CEO of the Black Business Association, speaks at the launch of the Greater Los Angeles Black Leaders Collective Oct. 22. The collective hopes to close racial wealth gaps, strengthen community power and shape how billions of dollars in economic growth will be shared.


Courtesy photo







By Stephen Oduntan


Contributing Writer


CRENSHAW — The room inside Chase Bank’s Crenshaw Community Cen...
Invisible People •

The System Sending Homeless Patients Back Into Crisis

The woman wasn’t discharged so much as shuffled through a system that had nowhere to put her. A survivor of human trafficking in her late 30s, she had finished a short hospital stay but needed long-term mental-health treatment.The hospital social worker told Hannah Laflin, a licensed alcohol and drug counselor with a master’s in health care administration, that there were no appropriate placements available.“I don’t feel comfortable dropping her off at a homeless shelter,” the social worker said...
L.A. Focus Newspaper •

CalFresh Delays to Hit 1.5 million L.A. County Residents Amid Federal Shutdown - L.A. Focus Newspaper

Los Angeles County officials warned Sunday that CalFresh benefits will be delayed for November, a shutdown-driven disruption that could affect 1.5 million residents and ripple through small grocers and farmers markets across the region.

      “This is going to be a stressful time,” Supervisor Holly J. Mitchell said during her monthly “Sipping My Tea” livestream. “CalFresh benefits will be delayed for the month of November due to the federal government shutdown.”

      CalFresh depends on feder...
Invisible People •

Can Denser Housing Near Transit Solve California’s Affordability Crisis?

With Gov. Gavin Newsom’s signature, California moved to rewrite how neighborhoods grow: SB 79 legalizes mid-rise apartments near major transit stops, overriding single-family zoning in key corridors. Backers say it will unlock more affordable homes, reduce emissions, and connect people to jobs and services, while critics warn that it could sideline local planning and fuel displacement unless safeguards are in place.Newsom’s action marks one of the state’s most sweeping housing measures in decade...
Invisible People •

Documents Reveal Fatal Pattern Of Patient Dumping At Los Angeles General Hospital

On a chilly December afternoon in 2024, staff at a small Skid Row harm-reduction center watched in disbelief as one of their longtime participants, a probate-conserved woman named Jamie Louise Kreitzburg, was released from Los Angeles General Medical Center. Her conservator had begged doctors not to discharge her, warning she was too impaired to survive on her own. Advocates stood by the phone, calling frantically to stop it. But by the time they reached the charge nurse, Jamie was gone.“She has...

Lone Black member of police panel steps down  – Los Angeles Wave Newspaper Group

Commissioner Erroll Southers, far left, leaves the Los Angeles Police Commission meeting after it was cut short following 45 minutes of public comment on Oct. 7. Southers has submitted his resignation, effective Oct. 21.


Photo by Stephen Oduntan





By Stephen Oduntan


Contributing Writer


LOS ANGELES — Erroll Southers, a former FBI agent and longtime public safety official whose reappointment to the Los Angeles Police Commission triggered months of vocal opposition, has resigned from...

Parade organizer fighting to retain event – Los Angeles Wave Newspaper Group

Attorney Benjamin Crump served as grand marshal of this year’s Kingdom Day Parade. Parade organizer Adrian Dove says he will fight to retain control of the parade.


Photo by Viola Gray


Adrian Dove says he will fight to maintain parade





By Stephen Oduntan


Contributing Writer


LOS ANGELES — The longtime organizer of the city’s parade honoring Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday says he will petition city officials to overturn a decision to give the parade permit to a rival vendor....

Appointee set to face council vote Oct. 3 – Los Angeles Wave Newspaper Group

Members of the Los Angeles Board of Police Commissioners listen to public comment during a meeting Sept. 30 at LAPD headquarters in downtown Los Angeles. Officers stood along the walls as residents criticized the panel and Mayor Karen Bass’ bid to reappoint Commissioner Erroll Southers.


Photo by Stephen Oduntan





By Stephen Oduntan


Contributing Writer


LOS ANGELES — The City Council could vote as early as Oct. 3 to reappoint Erroll Southers to another term on the Police Commission....
Invisible People •

'Just Kill Them': Why Brian Kilmeade’s Words Endanger Unhoused Lives

When Fox & Friends co-host Brian Kilmeade said unhoused people with mental illness should “just be killed,” the backlash was swift. He later apologized, calling his words “extremely callous.” But for people living on the street and those who work alongside them, words like these leave lasting damage.Advocates say rhetoric like Kilmeade’s is more than offensive; it’s dangerous. The National Homelessness Law Center condemned his remarks, warning that violent language “normalizes brutality” and inc...

Kingdom Day Parade embroiled in controversy – Los Angeles Wave Newspaper Group

Police Commission denies permit for longtime organizer







Adrian Dove waves to the crowd during the annual Kingdom Day Parade in the pre-Covid era. The longtime parade organizer says he is being squeezed out of running the annual parade for the coming year cecause of a tachnicality in the application process.File photo





By Stephen Oduntan


Contributing Writer


SOUTH LOS ANGELES — The leadership of the upcoming Kingdom Day Parade became embroiled in controversy this week after t...
Invisible People •

A Lifeline For LA’s Homeless Mothers

In the heart of Hollywood, just blocks from the Walk of Fame, a new building is rising with a quieter, more urgent purpose. Behind its modest walls will be 27 small rooms—each one private, each one locking—set aside for pregnant and postpartum women who otherwise might be sleeping in their cars, on sidewalks, or in encampments with newborns at their sides.This is the promise of a new $9.3 million project from Aviva Family & Children’s Services and DignityMoves, a nonprofit developer pioneering m...

L.A. Academy classes lacking Black recruits – Los Angeles Wave Newspaper Group

Los Angeles Police Department officers stand watch in Los Angeles as City Hall moves to speed up hiring, a push that comes as recent academy classes graduated without a single Black recruit.


Photo by Stephen Oduntan


By Stephen Oduntan


Contributing Writer


LOS ANGELES — Two consecutive Los Angeles Police Academy classes have graduated without a single Black recruit, raising new questions about who is entering — and finishing — the city’s police pipeline at a time when City Hall is raci...

Dulan’s owner struggling to stay afloat – Los Angeles Wave Newspaper Group

Owner Greg Dulan, left, speaks with a staff member inside the kitchen at Dulan’s on Crenshaw, a family-owned soul food restaurant facing a balloon loan deadline. Dulan’s has been a cultural anchor in South Los Angeles for more than three decades.


Photo by Stephen Oduntan





By Stephen OduntanContributing Writer


CRENSHAW — On a recent afternoon inside Dulan’s on Crenshaw Boulevard, the phones never stopped ringing. Owner Greg Dulan juggled calls from suppliers, customers, and reporters,...

‘War on garbage’ declared on South L.A. neighborhoods  – Los Angeles Wave Newspaper Group

Urban Policy Roundtable President Earl Ofari Hutchinson stands near a South L.A. underpass Sept. 2 where tents and bulky items line the sidewalk. Hutchinson has declared ‘war on garbage’ in South L.A.


Courtesy photo





By Stephen Oduntan Contributing Writer


SOUTH LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles Urban Policy Roundtable President Earl Ofari Hutchinson staged a small “garbage dump” display outside the city’s sanitation offices at 1149 S. Broadway Sept. 2, calling for an emergency “war on garbag...
Invisible People •

How One Man Beat Caltrans In Small Claims Court

Patrick Hogan woke to the sound of voices—sharp, urgent, and close. Flashlights tore through the darkness.“Turn those damn things down,” he called out. No one did.It was just after 6 a.m. on October 24, 2023. Caltrans crews had arrived with California Highway Patrol officers to clear the encampment. Hogan’s tent was the first in their path.Most people ran—fearing not just arrest, but the domino effect of a ticket they couldn’t pay, a missed court date, a warrant, a jail stay. Running meant losin...

South L.A. could lose last Black council seat as Price’s Latino deputy emerges in 9th District – Los Angeles Wave Newspaper Group

LOS ANGELES — The 9th Council District on the Los Angeles City Council has been represented by a Black elected official for more than 60 years. That could change as early as next year.


Councilman Curren Price is termed out of office in 2026 and his longtime aide, José Ugarte, has emerged as the early frontrunner in the race to succeed him. Ugarte, who is Latino, raised more than $211,000 during the most recent campaign finance reporting period, according to filings with the Los Angeles City E...

Inglewood hair stylists seek equity in beauty supply access – Los Angeles Wave Newspaper Group

INGLEWOOD — Cyndrea Mathews spent years greeting customers by name as they walked into her sunlit salon near the edge of Culver City and Inglewood. On any given Saturday, the space pulsed with energy — laughter bouncing off the mirrors, toddlers twisting in booster seats and the scent of peppermint oil wafting from a diffuser by the window.


It wasn’t just a salon. It was a sanctuary. A place where Black women could see themselves reflected — literally and figuratively — with care.But by the t...
Invisible People •

California’s New Housing Agency Aims To Streamline Development—But Will It Deliver?

In a move intended to overhaul how California tackles its twin crises of homelessness and housing supply, Governor Gavin Newsom created a new cabinet-level Housing and Homelessness Agency earlier this year. The initiative, part of a broader reorganization plan announced in January, aims to consolidate fragmented housing efforts under one roof. For nonprofit developers and service providers who have long been burdened by red tape, the restructuring offers cautious hope—but also some unresolved qu...

Watts residents demand answers as $850,000 pollution settlement sits idle – Los Angeles Wave Newspaper Group

WATTS — In 2023, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office secured a $2 million settlement from Atlas Iron & Metal, a metal recycling yard cited for hazardous waste violations. 


The funds were divided three ways: $1 million for the Los Angeles Unified School District as restitution, roughly $200,000 in fines and penalties, and $850,000 earmarked for agencies and community groups to mitigate pollution or improve the quality of life in Watts. 


That final portion, according to the dis...

Leimert Park draws record Black Lives Matter crowd, spotlights Wakiesha’s Law – Los Angeles Wave Newspaper Group

LEIMERT PARK — Twelve years after Black Lives Matter was born, Los Angeles remains at the center of its most enduring demand: that Black families deserve justice — and that Black mothers will not be silenced.


From July 11-13, Black Lives Matter-L.A. hosted a weekend meeting at the Center for Black Power, with workshops, reflections and strategy sessions. For those gathered, the anniversary wasn’t just a memorial. It was a political checkpoint — and a reminder that there is still work that nee...
L.A. Focus Newspaper •

“No Justice, No Silence: BLM Marks 12 Years of Organizing Beyond the Headlines” - L.A. Focus Newspaper

Twelve years ago, a hashtag became a movement. On July 11, 2025, that movement gathered in South Los Angeles at the Center for Black Power, a community space purchased with chapter-based donations, now home to Black Lives Matter–Los Angeles. In a packed room on 43rd Place, mothers, organizers, and survivors came together not only to commemorate, but to testify.

      “Even when the cameras turn away,” said Dr. Melina Abdullah, co-founder of BLM-LA, “the work continues.”

      The room was sacr...
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