Streetsblog Los Angeles

Our response to this denial of public information from Metro:

Back at the end of January, a special needs woman was struck in the face by a Deputy with the Los Angeles Sheriffs Department on board a Metro Bus.  The end of the incident, after the Sheriffs approached the woman, was caught on a cell phone camera by a man who claims the Sheriffs tried to intimidate him to turn over the footage.  Video of the incident was turned over to NBC4 and was reported on throughout the world.

But the account of the citizen journalist and woman who was struck, that the Sheriffs boarded the bus was disputed by the deputies and some of the other riders on the bus that reported that the woman was the aggressor.  With only the hand-held video and a “he-said, she-said” version of events, we asked Metro to release the video of the incident, from the moment the Sheriffs stepped on the bus, to Streetsblog.  The request was denied by the media relations department who pointed us to the public records department.  A formal public records request was submitted, but we were denied again.

Read more…

Photo: Pop Sugar

To celebrate the launch of our community page and columnist for Santa Monica, the Library Alehouse is sponsoring another day long fundraiser for Los Angeles Streetsblog on Tuesday, March 27.  Just like the event they held for us last year, all you have to do is show up and eat (or drink) anytime between 11 and 11 and 10% of the proceeds will go to the Streetsblog coffers to support our new writer in Santa Monica.

Donors are already contributing to our auction, CICLE, the LACBC, and New Belgium Brewing to name a few, but we’re going to wait a little longer to announce all the donations that are making up our raffle.  If you or an organization that you’re a part of want to help us out with the auction, drop me a line at damien @ streetsblog . org.

But in the meantime, mark the calendar and we’ll see you there.

One of my favorite love poems of all times was written by the inestimable lover, Roger Rabbit.  To quote:

How Do I Love Thee?
Let Me Count the Ways …
A Thousand and One,
A Thousand and Two,
A Thousand and…

At this point Eddie cuts him off, if memory serves, by strangling him.   Too bad, I was on pins and needles waiting to here how that line ended.

But in the spirit of Mr.Rabbit and Valentine’s Day, I’m asking Streetsblog readers to leave a Valentine’s note for Streetsblog in the comments section, on Facebook, or @lastreetsblog on twitter.  The most creative writer will win a free Streetsblog tote bag.

Happy Valentine’s Day.

P.S. – For those not feeling the creative spark, you could always show your love by clicking here and making a donation.  Don’t forget to check “Los Angeles” for where your donation should go.  Unlike other expressions love, this one is tax-deductible.

Just like the last week of the year is a great time to look back, the first week of the New Year is a great week to look forward.  Without further adieu, here are the things we expect to happen in the next 362 days.  As always, we break it down month-by-month.

January – Metro places the final environmental documents for the regional connector out for public comment.  Eli Broad does not submit any comments.

February – Nearing LASB’s 4th Birthday, we launch our first expansion project.  Readership doubles in the first month and triples by the end of the year.

March - In an effort to reach the Mayor’s promise of 40 miles of new bike projects in the 2011 fiscal year, the LADOT buys the rights to several miles of protected bike lanes already on the ground in Long Beach.

April – Due to an April Fool’s Joke gone awry, Stephen Box replaces Jose Huizar on the Metro Board of Directors for a month.

Fearless prediction: Sometime in 2012 Phase I of the Expo Line will open.

May – Responding to criticism that “Metro Board Members don’t ride Metro transit service,” Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky answers that, “I’ve been taking the Expo Line downtown for six weeks.”  This serves as the first credible announcement of when the Expo Line opens.

June – The Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition sets records at the River Ride after announcing Richard Hammond will serve as ride marshal.

July – Carmageddon II turns out to be as big a bust as Carmageddon I with two major differences.  This time there’s some corporate sponsorship of a “Flight V Bike” race and  I don’t get to go on television and be right right right.

August –  The Los Angeles Dodgers finally get a new owner who immediately ponies up money for free regular bus service to Dodger games and a study of building a separated bike and bus lane with direct access to the stadium.

September – After a spectacular crash at the intersection of Wilbur and Myra Avenue in the Valley, the City closes Wilbur Avenue to car traffic in Northridge.  Residents of Porter Ranch begin the drive for construction of a flyover.

October – In an effort to outshine Los Angeles on the day of CicLAvia VI, the City of Santa Monica closes its entire city to cars for an entire day.

November – Governor Jerry Brown decides to go for a bike ride and after he looses control of his bicycle because of a car passing him to closely begins a campaign for mandatory helmet wearing for cyclists of all ages.

December – The Obama “Transition Team” selects Antonio Villaraigosa to replace Ray LaHood as Secretary of Transportation.  The outgoing Mayor takes Jaime De La Vega and Borja Leon with him.  Interim Mayor Herb Wesson promotes John Fisher to serve as General Manager of LADOT.

I just bring up NFSR so that I can use my pictures of these signs.

Friends,

For the first time ever, last week we took a breather to collect our breath and do some planning for 2012.  Even though the week between Christmas and the New Year is supposed to be a slow one, we saw a lot of news break last week and our work cut out for us in the early week of 2012.  Coming later this week:

• An update of how, if at all, the FTA’s approval of environmental documents for the Crenshaw/LAX corridor changes the debate between Metro and the Crenshaw Subway Coalition going forward.
• A look at the Southern California Association of Government’s pedestrian plan for the next couple of decades.
• An update on Neighbors for Smart Rail’s appeal of a decision to toss their lawsuit against Expo Phase II.
• A strong preference for bike lanes in a poll asking residents their opinion of a Slausson Street redesign in South L.A.
• A quick case study of how a toll road plan behind the Orange Curtain is a case study in how road planning just moves forward, roadblocks be dammed.

One of the benefits of using this format is that you can tell me what, if anything, I’m missing.  If there’s a big story from the end of 2011 or the start of 2012 I’ll do my best to do some research and get back to you.  Maybe we’ll do a story, maybe it will just be a reply in the comments section.  Either way, leave your thoughts and questions below.

I’m pleased to announce that thanks to an outpouring of support these past two weeks, Streetsblog and Streetfilms are more than halfway to our goal of raising $25,000 by the end of the year. If you haven’t given yet and you value the high-impact reporting and videos that we produce day in and day out, help put us over the top. As the headline suggests, we have another great item to give to a lucky donor this week.

Before I get to that, congratulations to the winner of last week’s prize: Long-time Streetsblog reader Marc Agger will be taking home a Zero Tweed bag from Rickshaw Bags.

This week’s prize comes courtesy of Levi’s. Make a one-time or monthly gift by Friday at midnight and you could win a jacket and jeans from Levi’s new Commuter line, designed specifically for cyclists.

The jeans

The jacket

I have the Commuter jacket and it’s great for riding in the spring or fall, even in the rain.

Thanks again to all our dedicated supporters. If you haven’t donated yet, please pitch in and help make 2012 a great year for livable streets coverage.

Friends,

Let’s be honest.  Without the support of Streetsblog’s readers, there would not be a Los Angeles Streetsblog.

The generous support of Mark Gorton launched the website, and the generous support of the David Bohnett Foundation, California Endowment and our monthly advertisers Flying Pigeon Los Angeles and GEK-Law allowed us to keep up our outstanding reporting, but half of our budget comes from reader donations.  And as the 2011 calendar year draws to a close, I’m asking for your support one more time.

The Streetsblogs in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Capitol Hill, the Streetsblog Network and Streetfilms (NYC and worldwide) have a goal of raising $25,000 between now and December 31.  Help Los Angeles represent by making a donation of $50, $100, $250 or more today.  Some of you have already donated — last week’s fundraiser was a complete success! – but we need one more push to get over the hump for the rest of the year.  When you make your gift, be sure to select “Los Angeles” in the “Direct Your Donation…” drop down menu to your donation helps us expand our coverage locally.

2011 was a landmark year for transportation reform in Los Angeles.  Instead of “playing defense” against the Car Culture Warriors or local NIMBY group, advocates were finally able to go on offense boldly making the case for new bike projects, better transit projects and a bus system that works for users of all income levels.  In some cases, the local blowback against LADOT proposed projects were that the project wasn’t progressive enough.

But we also learned that change is hard, and the proponents of the gridlocked status-quo are everywhere and in many cases they are better funded than our side.  The words “bike lobby” have started to appear in publications as a smear against advocates fighting for safer streets and the places where misinformation has been used to battle against a transit improvement are almost too numerous to list.  As Los Angeles struggles to free itself from a car-clogged future, the need for a clear voice for change is never greater than it is right now.

But if that’s not enough motivation to consider donating today, here’s another reason to help us out right now: bribery.  For every $5 donated, we will add a ticket to our raffle pool of end of the year goodies.  Included in our raffle are a signed “Caution, Pass With Care” poster from 2010, LACBC River Ride Jersies from 2010 and 2011, new Streetsblog bags and t-shirts and a copy of “Car Free Travel Guide to Los Angeles.” In addition, the national Streetsblog movement is offering a chance to win some pretty hot rickshaw bags from Rickshaw Bagworks for the back of your bike.

Of course, every donation made to any of the Streetsblogs and Streetfilms is 100% tax deductible. Make your donation today, and when you do, select “Los Angeles” in the drop down menu. Your donation will be spent on projects right here in the Southland.

Thanks for reading and for all your support,
Damien

There’s still some loose ends to tie up for tonight’s End of the Year Party, starting  at 6:30 at Earl’s Gourmet Grub, 12226 Venice Boulevard between Grand View Boulevard and Ocean View Avenue, so unless there is major breaking news, L.A. Streetsblog won’t have new stories until tomorrow.

Suggested donation is $25, but everything is on a sliding scale. For more information, check out the “top ten reasons” to party with Streetsblog we published earlier or sign up for the event on Facebook.

With all of the news surrounding the location change, we’ve neglected to thank our sponsors in our last posts.

The Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition is donating jersies, socks and a year membership to our auction and deserve a huge round of thanks.  CICLE, CicLAvia and Clif Bar have also thrown some great items into the mix for another fun set of prizes.

Thanks again!

On the food side of things, the event will be catered by Earl’s Gourmet Grub.  If you like beer, another 120 bottles of New Belgium Brewing’s finest were donated by the most bicycle friendly brewing company in the world.

And of course we’ll have entertainment with a Streetfilm provided by Social | Impact Consulting, LLC and an awards ceremony honoring the rest of the Streetsblog team and our Streetsie winners.

See you tonight, we’ll be partying from 6:30 until 9:30.

Don’t forget, this Thursday is our first ever End of the Year Party, celebrating the year that was and looking forward to the year that will be. As we announced yesterday, due to a last-minute change, we’ll be holding the event at a new location, not the church where we held our re-launch party in 2010.

The party begins at 6:30 at Earl’s Gourmet Grub, 12226 Venice Boulevard between Grand View Boulevard and Ocean View Avenue (or between Inglewood and Centinella for those using larger streets.)

Suggested donation is $25, but everything is on a sliding scale. For more information, check out the “top ten reasons” to party with Streetsblog we published earlier or sign up for the event on Facebook.  You might have noticed that the Streetsblogs are holding an end of the year fundraising drive, if you use that link you can donate ahead of time, but make sure that you specify that you want your donation to go to Los Angeles.

While Streetsblog has prospered, the City of Los Angeles has begun to move towards livability itself.  In the past year, ground broke on Expo Phase II in Santa Monica, the Gold Line Foothill Extension continued into the suburbs, Los Angeles embraced a Bus Only Lanes proposal for Downtown to Beverly Hills and a portion of the Westside, and implementation of the surprisingly-progressive Bike Plan has begun.  We’ve been there to cover it all, and we’ll be there into next year as debate on the Crenshaw Line and Westside Subway stays hot, new Bus Only Lane plans move forward, the City continues to figure out how to do bike planning and other stories break around the city.

But for a couple hours this Thursday, let’s celebrate how far we’ve come, and how much farther we’re going to go.  Join L.A. Streetsblog, our Streetsie Award winners Colin Bogart, Sunyoung Yang, Rye Baerg, Dana Gabbard and Brigham Yen (what’s-his-name is going to be in Asia) and many of the people that make Livable Streets advocacy so successful and so fun.  We’ll have food, New Belgium Beer, wine, non-alcoholic drinks and the premier of our Spanish Language Streetfilms by Social | Impact Consulting, LLC.

In an attempt to find new ways for Juan and Sirinya Matute to donate money to Streetsblog, we’re proud to announce a restocked L.A. Streetsblog store just in time for the busiest online shopping day of the year. To visit our online store, click here.  I do the shipping by priority mail, and will make sure you get your order before any major holiday if you order soon.

Spokesmodel

Replacing the dark gray shirts (dubbed by S.S. Sam Taylor the “grayshirts”) that debuted in August of 2010 are a lighter colored shirt (which I dub “the silvershirt.”) Prices remain the same for a t-shirt and with the proud and bright orange L.A. Streetsblog logo. Each t-shirt is $20.

We also have something new to offer, Streetsblog shoulder bags! These orange bags have the logo in black and are sized to be a perfect bag to take to work or class. These bags sell online for $10 each. The bags are cloth bags, made of similar material as a lot of the cloth grocery store bags.

Of course, all prices include shipping and handling. If you want to get the items at a discount, you should come to our December 8th End of the Year Party. Disoucnted schwag is reason #2 why you should join us.  For up to date party information, join us on Facebook.