The LA Podcast

Tag "Black Lives Matter"

Rick Jacobs Shows How Cops Control LA Officials


by Scott Frazier
October 25, 2020

This summer, as residents of the City of Los Angeles found themselves caught in the middle of the deadly economic reopening pushed by Kathryn Barger, the Republican head of the County Board of Supervisors, I called Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti the “unhittable object.” As he had done at so many points during his now nearly two-decade-long tenancy in City Hall, Garcetti had put his best foot backward, reopening gyms, bars, and other businesses in Los Angeles, despite, by all appearances, never thinking it was a good idea to do so.

The Mayor’s obsequiousness to the county in allowing businesses to briefly reopen had real costs, both in lives lost and in businesses disrupted if not destroyed. Nonetheless, the mayor had a simple rationalization for his inaction: once Governor Newsom had acceded to Supervisor Barger’s reopening request, there was “no public health benefit” to the city maintaining more protective standards than the county. The whole issue was, in his opinion, out […]

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August 3, 2020 Episode 132

Who threw a law enforcement party at a Hollywood bar? What is a “Community Safety Partnership Bureau” and why does LAPD want to start one? Does any LA law enforcement department not have gangs? Did City Council vote to resume sweeps? Did you feel the earthquake? Why was Karen Bass talking about Scientology?

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Exclusive: LA Times all-staff email


by Hayes Davenport
June 6, 2020

On June 5, Los Angeles Times executive editor Norman Pearlstine sent an all-staff email announcing reforms, acknowledging the LA Times’ failures “addressing concerns of people of color in the newsroom,” and “focusing on a white subscriber base even as the city became majority non-white.”

The email was shared with LA Podcast by LA Times employees who asked to remain anonymous.

NEWS: LA Times exec editor Norman Pearlstine sends all-staff email announcing reforms, acknowledging LAT's failures "addressing concerns of people of color in the newsroom" and "focusing on a white subscriber base even as the city became majority non-white." (con't next post) pic.twitter.com/zNBut834VM— LA Podcast (@thelapod) June 5, 2020

Dear Colleagues,

This has been an extraordinary week during an extraordinary year. Thousands of Americans have taken to the streets during a pandemic to protest longstanding racial injustice, prompted by the deaths of George Floyd in Minnesota and Breonna Taylor in Kentucky. These incidents are the latest in a terrible legacy of state violence against black […]

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March 9, 2020 Episode 108

Election Day wrap-up: how did the new voting system go, and what were the results? The decision not to cancel the LA Marathon due to the threat of coronavirus. And a local nonprofit struggling in its goal to become an affordable housing provider.

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February 11, 2019 Episode 51

City Hall is infested with rats! One of the biggest construction projects in downtown LA has stopped work! The city dropped all charges against Melina Abdullah! And we’re joined by KPCC/LAist’s KYLE STOKES to talk about the school board race for LAUSD District 5.

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May 14, 2018 Episode 7

LEAKED: the list of three finalists for LAPD Chief. Scott and Hayes talk about the choices and a not-great day Chief Beck had this week. Then: RUDY ESPINOZA from Leadership for Urban Renewal Network (LURN) talks about the fight to legalize street vending in LA, the only major American city with no permitting process for vendors.

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