People

For years, residents surrounding the Slauson Avenue Corridor between La Brea and Angeles Vista have argued that the sad looking street needs an upgrade.  What form that upgrade takes is up to debate, some residents want the street changed to allow more cars to move through the corridor while most others want to see the four lane road improved to allow for a better environment for all users.

For months, the idea of "privacy screens" has been bandied about at meetings of the Expo Construction Authority Board of Directors but few took the idea that anyone would place large screens on top of the soundwalls adjacent to the line seriously.  However, at last week's meeting of the Expo Board of Directors, Board Member and newly-minted L.A. City Council President Herb Wesson seemed to take the idea very seriously.

Earlier today, the L.A. County Board of Supervisors quickly and unanimously passed a motion by Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky urging for progressive changes to the L.A. County Draft Bike Plan.  The L.A. County Bike Plan addresses the "unincorporated" parts of L.A. County (those without a municipal government) such as Marina del Rey.

Picture this.  One day one of the most important political figures in the city stands in front of a major Downtown attraction and announces that train service to this attraction will be increased dramatically in the coming weeks.  The next day, a major political figure, flanked by an up-and-coming political star and the City Council President, stands with the head of the local automotive dealer lobbying group and announces a political proposal to end business taxes for car dealerships.

Visitors to Griffith Park over the last year have noted that there is some major construction going on near the Silver Lake Resevoir.  In order to protect Angelenos from any future plans to poison the water, the federal government is ordering that all open air resevoirs be taken offline and replaced with below ground ones.  That edict is creating constrcution projects in parks across the country, but in in Griffith Park it might alwo seal off parts of the park to bicyclists.

Councliman Bernard Parks has been making news recently for his proposal to hand over the maintenance costs, and liability issues, for the city's crumbling sidewalks to the people owning the house adjacent to the sidewalk.  Simply, people that own a house are responsible for the repair of the sidewalk in front of their house.  If someone trips and is hurt it is the home owner's liability.

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Yesterday, the White House announced that the Crenshaw Light Rail Line is one of fourteen projects nationwide selected to be part of an expedited federal review so that construction could proceed more quickly.  This announcement was met with praise from Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Senator Barbara Boxer and County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas.  Ridley-Thomas even went so far as to ponder whether accelerating construction could lead to enough funds becoming available to construct the Leimert Park Station that has been environmentally cleared but not funded.