Sahra Sulaiman

"David!" I yelled, gesturing at City Planning's David Somers to come over and listen to what the residents playing cards in their yard were saying about the need for a stoplight at the intersection outside their front gate.

As Damien announced yesterday, over the next weeks and months, I will be expanding my beat territory to include Boyle Heights.

While Central Ave. celebrates a ground-breaking ceremony for a new Northgate supermarket today, residents in another part of South L.A. will gather to protest the closing of yet another Ralph's.

I had just passed the liquor store near Avalon and Manchester in South L.A. when a large man who was slinging dope and chilling with a few other guys apparently decided that he was in the mood to make nice with a lady.

I was excited to be able to attend the 10th Annual City Lites Inner City Sports and Wellness Fair this year. I had sat in on a few of the monthly event-planning meetings held in the run-up to last year's fair and had been impressed by the number of services City Lites was able to bring together and the dedication of organizers and volunteers to creating a healthy and fun environment for kids and their parents. I also applaud the effort to  make healthy activities -- including a bike and walking tour -- an integral part of the festivities.

As an NPR junkie, I have long been aware that the natural gas industry has been a sponsor of their programming for several years.

Projecting as best he could above the intense ambient noise that surrounds a heavily-trafficked freeway and metro station, curator Gamal Palmer, introduced the Watts Village Theater Company's (WVTC) performance of "Under the 105" by invoking this year's theme of "Home."

There's a cool new group on the move in South L.A. called the Mobility Advisory Committee.

"We've all stopped and wondered, 'What kind of poop is this?'" a man said of the surprises the 4th Ave. pedestrian bridge sometimes holds for residents of Jefferson Park and Arlington Heights.

Stop any cyclist in South L.A. and ask them their thoughts on bike-to-work day and I can almost guarantee you'll get a snort, a dismissive hand wave, and an, "Aw, man, I do this every day!"