viewfromaloft

Photo Op For All of L.A.

That Hollywood Hills brushfire started by two teenagers from Illinois playing with fireworks (and later 'fessed up about it) was well covered this afternoon.  LATimes reports:

The fire seemed to transfix parts of Los Angeles.

On Ventura, Sunset and Hollywood boulevards, people walked outside stores and apartments to watch the plumes of dark smoke. Many snapped photos, some of which were quickly placed on various photo-sharing websites. Traffic on several freeways and streets slowed as people dealt with smoke and just kept their eyes on the fire.

"It's quite bizarre," said Tida Sripanich, 20, a photography student who was shooting the fire from a nearby park. "We never thought we'd see a wildfire in this part of town."

• The first photo on flickr, though it's not time stamped, seems to be from Wildbell.
• LAist filed in with a Google Map and a few pics then moved on.
• AtWater Newbie has a good headline: "Smoke Over AtWater, Fire in the Sky
• BloggingLA stays on the scene since the first post at 12:59 by Culver City's Caryn Coleman, David Markland happened to be with LAFD's Brian Humphrey at USC. eecue goes back to his fave LA spot by the 6th Street bridge.
• CurbedLA stayed faithful updating their post, until hunger set in.
• Daily News:

ADD SHORT TRIP: The two teens are back home in Illinois after being arrested, and then released to their parents.

Top: Smoke over downtown L.A. as seen from top of City Hall (3:15 p.m.)  After the jump, another one from City Hall looking toward the Hollywood Hills (3:12 p.m.) and one more looking down 8th Street, 1/2 block west of Broadway. (2:38 p.m.) Photos: View From a Loft

Si, Sí, Mi Space

More Pep Rally than Protest: Students from Manual Arts High School race across Spring Street to join the student walkout that gathered at City Hall this morning.  . .  The college, high school, and some middle school demonstrators from East Los Angeles, Lincoln Heights and Boyle Heights averaged around 250 as one group would leave and another arrive. At one point the crowd swelled to just under 400.

Holiday

"We need to help students and parents cherish and preserve the ethnic and cultural diversity that nourishes and strengthens this community - and this nation."

Cesar E. Chavez

Today's California State holiday has a few closures, including county, state offices and courts. City Hall and most libraries are open. Mail will be delivered, and public transportation is running.

Walking in LA: On Saturday, March 31, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and Councilmember Jose Huizar are host the 9th Annual Cesar E Chavez Walk at 8 a.m. that ends with a festival at Olvera Street. The Black Eyed Peas are scheduled to perform. While you are there: Joe Bravo Tortilla Art at Olvera Street's Mexican Cultural Institute and The Chicano Art Collection at the Pico House. Plus: Last week, the Mayor introduced  Robert L. Andrade as the new General Manager of El Pueblo Historic Monument.

On the other side of the 101: If you are going downtown Saturday morning, you may want to plan ahead. March 31 is opening day for the 6th Annual Cherry Blossom Festival that is using Little Tokyo as a site for the first time. It may bring added traffic on Alameda on Saturday. The festival also runs  on Sunday, April 1,

Changing Face of Downtown

LATimes staffer Cara Mia DiMassa asks "Has downtown L.A. finally arrived?" Even with a residential population at 30,000, battles for air rights to encourage further development, cafes opening at a fast clip, the true measurement of civilization is having parking that won't gouge you. And a Ralphs.

Pictured: 'Anti-gentrification' art that didn't make it past 24 hours in the Arts District. Photo: View From a Loft

Dodger Talk

Call it an e-terview: LAist editor Tony Pierce does an email interview with ESPN's Eric Neel about his project, Blue Heaven. This slide show essay on Dodgertown using recent work from photographer Gary Bogdon and historic photos is a warm look at the Florida spring training site that will be sent to the showers in two years.

Dot Dot Dash for March 29, 2007

A little of this and a little of that  in this weeks  Dot Dot Dash as seen in the Garment & Citizen. You can read last week's column after the jump:

Paper Trail

All Aboard: Times staff writer Chris Lee, gives an overview of L.A.'s Metro's public art. For Chinatown's Gold Line, Lee writes:

Both Chavez Ravine and Chung King Road's pagoda roofs and fluttering paper lanterns are clearly visible from the open-air 33-foot-high platform of the Gold Line's Chinatown station. But then, the red, gold and green station is no slouch in the pagoda department, boasting its own curving pagoda-style roof on the passenger platform — a tribute to the Chinese workers who helped build America's railroads in the 1800s.

At the station, artist Chusien Chang created four benches meant to reflect the changing face of Chinatown's community. But the station's must-see holding is the artist's granite "I Ching" dial. Sixteen feet in diameter, the piece (titled "The Wheels of Change") contains a magnetic compass radiating 64 hexagrams, detailing what the "I Ching" (a 3,000-year-old Chinese philosophical text) puts forth as the 64 states of the human condition.

Metro offers tours on the first Saturday and Sunday of each month.

No comment from Board: The LA Times is unable to get a comment from the Tribune board regarding the 11th hour written offer by Eli Broad and Ron Burkle: $34 a share.

Crime Notice

From the files of LAPD's Kris Werner, Senior Lead Officer for the Arts District:
There is a car burglar working the heart of the Arts District. At this time, there is no information on the suspect. LAPD needs your help in finding this person(s) before he/she breaks into another vehicle. If you have any information,  I mean ANY info, please let me know, A.S.A.P.

Details after the jump:

Signs of LA

LACityNerd has a list of neighborhood signs and is making a call to action to photo document all 178 of them. An Arts District sign has already beensent from here to his flickr set. This one is now added, since his list contains both "Arts District" (the official name) and "Artist District" (almost the official name).

Would have been a shame to have the Nerd get stuck on 177 signs documented, and this was the one missing.

Two Views

The streets of LA do look empty, and I call it "Blight Flight". Two of the players recently spoke up:

Ramona Ripston, executive director for the ACLU, had a commentary that appeared in the LA Times (March 12) that stated in part:  "Police are also detaining homeless people for minor infractions such as jaywalking or sitting on the sidewalk, then using those pretexts as a basis to search them"

Some say aggressive policing is working. Today, skid row's streets are strangely empty, as if hundreds of people who just months ago crowded the area's alleys every night have disappeared. Where have they gone? Some are in jail where they belong. A handful are in pretrial diversion programs where they can get the help they need. The vast majority have likely moved — to Hollywood, the Valley or Venice. These places have fewer services that the homeless need. When this crackdown ends, they'll be back.

LAPD Captain Andrew Smith's rebuttal was first posted on LAPD'.org and now the LA Times (March 27) that in part reads:

Want to find out the truth about skid row? Want to see if our officers are trampling on the civil rights of homeless people? Come down and see for yourself. And don't take my word for how the homeless are being treated; ask them yourself. Or ask one of the 400 courageous men and women working Central Division about the human suffering they see every day.

We are proud of skid row police officers. We will continue to provide training in dealing with the troubled and troublesome population on skid row. Do we need more money for housing, for supportive services and mental health care? Of course. Yet, until such resources are available, it is the job of the police to make the skid row area safe for the most vulnerable members of our community, giving them the opportunity to recover from their addictions in a supportive environment.

With the change in Downtown's demographics, and Skid Row being under the watch of this guy, I don't think the numbers are going to swell back up soon. Beyond the shouting we can start listening to the people who need, and who will accept help.

Pictured:  LAPD Captain Andrew Smith