Hi friends. I have really exciting news.
Iโve been offered a spot with a full ride and a graduate assistantship in the Fall 2024 Masterโs in investigative reporting program at Arizona State Universityโs Cronkite school. I start in August. I will still be a Dodgers girl. ๐๐งก
BREAKING: I am in Monterey Park where there are reports of at least ten people shot at a Lunar New Year event. Very little info and Iโm still headed to the primary scene. Monterey Park PD & Alhambra PD are on scene. More soon.
DEVELOPING: A UCLA philosophy professor has threatened a shooting at the school. Students have posted in the UCLA subreddit saying that professors in the dept are reaching out to students letting them know about the threats, but the school has not sent out a mass notice.
Iโm at the Kamala Harris rally in Glendale, Arizona today, where Iโve been talking to young voters (and experiencing my first presidential campaign event). Chappell Roan blasting on the speakers, with people doing the Hot to Go dance in the audience. Very high energy.
โNobody is covering thisโ
Is nobody covering it, or do you not care about local journalists?
My family has been reading the Citizen Times since I was 5 years old. They will stay after every single national reporter leaves. Follow them.
BREAKING: Councilmembers have introduced a motion to censure Nury Martinez, Kevin de Leรณn, and Gil Cedillo, and demand their resignation. The motion has been handed out in the meeting & sent out as a press release, but is not even on the council's file management website yet.
BREAKING: Embattled L.A. City Council member Kevin de Leon has apparently shown up at today's meeting, per
@PplsCityCouncil
, and the live broadcast feed has been cut. I'm told it's absolute mayhem inside the chambers.
BREAKING: The California State University system - the largest in the nation and my alma mater - will require students, faculty, and staff returning to campus this fall to be vaccinated against COVID-19. CSU joins the UC system in requiring the vax.
I just spoke to a National Weather Service forecaster who said that none of her colleagues - all literal meteorologists who study weather all the time - could remember the last time a winter storm system this bad hit SoCal. So like, I'd charge your devices and stuff tonight.
BREAKING: I am at Saint Anthonyโs Church in Chinatown, where roughly 40 migrants have arrived after a 30-hr bus ride without food or water. They were sent by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to send a message to major cities about immigration at the Texas/Mexico border. More coming.
A group of anti-maskers did maskless shopping today at a Ralphโs and the Westfield Century City Mall. They got into some verbal altercations w/ store employees and there were a couple of physical altercations as well. Here, they tried to push open the doors of a Steve Madden.
BREAKING: L.A. City Council has voted unanimously to pass a motion to write up an ordinance that would require a COVID-19 vaccine to enter most public spaces after a lengthy discussion and several public comments about the motion.
This is one of the emails sent out to students, obtained on Reddit. I am working on obtaining more. The professor is named Matthew Harris. His YouTube channel has over 300 videos, some of them making overt references to shootings at Columbine and a Vegas music festival.
One of the more intense moments was when a woman who said sheโs a doctor shouted at the anti-maskers from behind a makeshift barricade. โMy mother is in the hospital with COVID,โ she said. โPeople die. Thatโs life. Your fatherโs not special,โ an anti-masker replies.
Hey yโall, Iโm back at Garcettiโs. About a hundred people have gathered here to protest the Stay At Home order. Iโve covered multiple protests like this here and this is the biggest turnout Iโve seen, by far.
THE JOURNALISTS ARE THERE!!!! They might not have cell service to post on social media, so you might have to (gasp) read a newspaper or turn on a local news channel!
Begging people asking for where the news is on any situation to google the local newspaper for the area.
@asheville
is Asheville
@theobserver
is Charlotte
@newsobserver
is Raleigh
@knoxnews
is Knoxville
Support local news
tea: we rly spent our childhoods making fun of two very talented, driven, ambitious young women because they were too overeager, too passionate, too into their work. why is it so lame to be super into what you do??? why is passion weird?????
At the Ralphโs, one anti-masker told a shopper he didnโt need a mask because he tested negative and called the shopper a โmask Nazi.โ The shopper told the anti-masker โyouโre harassing us w/your fucking germs.โ
Confirmed
@ACatWithNews
is being held at Van Nuys Jail and being charged with misdemeanor conspiracy to commit burglary after reporting on a sit-in this AM at UCLA where 30+ people were suddenly arrested. Journalists should not go to jail for doing their jobs.
BREAKING: L.A. City Council has voted 13-1 to draft an ordinance to "limit protests within 300 feet of a target's home," aiming at quelling protests at the homes of elected officials. Councilmembers cited recent protests at Nury Martinez' and Barbara Ferrer's homes.
There were LAPD officers present throughout the event but they mostly did not intervene aside from a couple of very brief altercations. They told me they didnโt want to escalate things.
Numerous sources who go to or work at UCLA have told me the school has not reached out to them in any official capacity, but the UCLA student body president posted these on Instagram. This is a developing story and I am working on obtaining more information.
BREAKING: Nury Martinez has resigned from her seat as the councilwoman for CD6. She had previously only resigned from her seat as city council president. Just weeks before the election, this is now a massive shake-up for the L.A. political landscape.
I check the L.A. County COVID-19 outbreak page every day - there are outbreaks at workplaces countywide. The Delta, JetBlue, & American Airlines terminals, have an outbreak of nearly 100 people combined. The LAX FedEx has an outbreak of nearly 50 people.
I've lived in LA for 4 years now, my car got impounded for the first time today. It's going to cost $310 to get it back from a lot half a mile away for parking a few inches in one of somebody's two driveways. Does anybody know how much $ the city makes from impounding cars?
Officials from the city & immigrant advocacy groups are speaking to reporters. There are 42 migrants who arrived in LA today. Officials not sure how old they are, where many of them are from, how old the kids are โ & they arenโt sure what they were told in order to get on buses.
This isn't the normal news I post, but y'all need to strap in because this is a saga.
I got some info & pics from a source a couple weeks ago showing ~30 UCLA students (mostly w/o masks) loading into a party bus near UCLA student housing. I began investigating that info. ๐งต
Big breaker coming down from L.A. County requiring masks indoors once again due to a large increase in COVID-19 cases. I know everybody's all over this right now but the VERY IMPORTANT context is that *all* of the cases in county hospitals yesterday were unvaccinated people.
I am at City Hall trying to get into the council chambers. Itโs already a contentious scene with LAPD talking to legal observers in the lobby. Was denied media entry without an LAPD press pass even w/ my KABC ID. Several people are gathered outside. More soon.
UCLA Police Department is aware of a concerning email and posting sent to some members of the UCLA community today and actively engaged with out-of-state law enforcement and federal agencies. We will keep the community informed as we learn more.
They went to several other stores but many stores closed their doors to prevent them from entering. They lined up at this storeโs doors and one of the anti-maskers called the employee standing inside a โbig dumb white c*nt.โ
BREAKING: Enormous crowd of several hundred people gathered in
#MontereyPark
for a vigil at City Hall to honor the victims of the mass shooting. The entire area is shut down. Follow this thread for updates.
After they arrived at the mall, they went inside the Bloomingdaleโs, where they chanted โno more masksโ and argued with several shoppers and employees.
@_ClaraHarter
There are about 100 LAPD officers on the quad now. They just keep coming out of Haines. Itโs astounding. I have stayed in the middle bc Iโm genuinely unsure if Iโd be able to re-enter this area. It is so tense.
Just got current COVID-19 case numbers for LAPD. 150 LAPD employees are at home self-isolating due to COVID exposure, a total of 3,120 employees have tested positive. For reference, LAPD employs about 12,000 people, so that's roughly 20% of the entire agency.
SCOOP ๐งต : Just days before the now-infamous recordings featuring CD14 council member Kevin de Leรณn were released, he planned to break ground on a new tiny home village @ an old Bureau of Sanitation lot in Boyle Heights. A press conference scheduled for Monday has been canceled.
Mitch O'Farrell, who is presiding as president of the council in Martinez's absence, is calling for the resignation of the 3 councilmembers involved in the recordings. "They need to consider what is best for the city," O'Farrell says to a rare cheer from the crowd.
Here is my story from this evening, special thanks to
@tbray
and
@christinam_love
. This is an important story that will continue to develop in the days to come.
For those who aren't keeping track: tomorrow is the first City Council mtg since the wild videos of the fight between KDL and Jason Reedy came out, the last mtg of the year, the first mtg with newly elected councilmembers present, and the first mtg since Cedillo's essay. Jeez.
SCOOP: Nearly a dozen LAUSD Special Education programs will abruptly close after this year or have closed recently. I'm told by teachers + parents that the district cited declining enrollment, but the tests used to place students in SpEd programs have a major COVID backlog. ๐งต
NEW: I've been working on a story about
@CrosswalksLA
, who have told me they were attempting to paint a crosswalk when
@LADOTofficial
called the LAPD. The members trying to paint the crosswalk each received a $250 fine. Before this, they had received no pushback from the city.
Hi ๐ I'm on weather duty again today. Stay inside today, man. The freeways are flooded. The roads are slick and cars are crashing everywhere. At least 1,000 people just in the city of L.A. are without power. It's a day for video games and hot beverages and books, not driving!!
BREAKING: LAPD has removed nearly every protestor from the council chambers after public comment ended and the council attempted to begin voting. Very intense scene as LAPD walked them out of the chambers.
DEVELOPING: I have spoken with an employee at this Starbucks who was unknowingly exposed to COVID by one of their coworkers. COVID-positive employees have been asked to continue working if they are asymptomatic. This comes as Starbucks ends its employee vax & testing mandates.
So it looks like the Starbucks in West Hollywood has a COVID breakout and the store is staying open w/o very many precautions. These companies will demand they stay open even if it means sacrificing the health of their employees & guests.
Someone sent us this message earlier:
Today, anti-vaccination protesters marched to Dodger Stadium, which is currently serving as one of the largest vaccination sites in the nation. LAFD and CORE temporarily closed the gates & paused vaccinations. A long line of cars built up.
๐จ ATTN ๐จ Starbucks employees in LA - do you work at one of the six locations closing or know someone who does? I'm interested in speaking with you for a possible
@KnockDotLA
story. You can remain anonymous. DM me to get in touch and take care of yourself.
I am in Echo Park, where 100+ people are gathered to protest the upcoming displacement of the unhoused community that lives here. Rumors have been flying for months that the city of L.A. will forcibly remove the people who live here and close the park for โcleaning.โ
BREAKING: LASD says ten people have now died in Monterey Park and at least ten others were transported in ranging conditions. No suspect is in custody. There is no description of the suspect, and no known motive. The Lunar New Year event happening here later today is cancelled.
However hard youโre vibing right now, I guarantee you are not vibing as hard as this bear sitting in someoneโs pool in San Dimas with a crowd of police cars waiting in the street โจ๐ป
We are waiting on a potential press conference. Lots of reporters are here but we have received very little info from police on site. There isnโt any clear official number of fatalities or victims. We will bring you info as soon as we can responsibly and truthfully do so.
Iโm in West LA outside the Israeli consulate, where several hundred people have taken the streets to protest the Israeli-Palestinian war. This was organized by Palestine-focused group Palestinian Youth Movement. The crowd is continuing to grow.
BREAKING: I am in Burbank, where the son of the owner of Tinhorn Flats has broken the padlock that the city put on the door after the bar repeatedly did not obey COVID-19 restrictions and health shutdowns. They say they are opening for business soon.
BREAKING: Sources say some of the LAPD officers at Mayor Garcetti's this morning were a special protective unit assigned after the mayor received credible threats. LAPD would not say who the threats came from. The mayor's home has been the site of both BLM and "reopen" protests.
Iโm in Venice, where several restaurants have opened for outdoor dining. L.A County shut down outdoor dining on Dec. 11 but police have said they wonโt do anything about restaurants like this - businesses are not their targets.
watching
@BusyTonightTV
is so comforting and empowering and when i thought about that i was just like....i guess that's what happens when you let a woman have a show on late night tv? wow who fucking knew
Hey โ Iโm here at UCLA, where several hundred people have set up a Gaza solidarity encampment outside Royce Hall. Itโs a very different scene here after 93 people were arrested at USC yesterday. Thereโs virtually no cops on site โ some security. More soon.
I cannot help but think that this happened in part because of the incredibly brave work
@cerisecastle
did to document the history of deputy gangs. The function of journalism is to dismantle systems that abuse people.
The LA County Sheriff's Dept just announced a new anti-deputy gang policy that prohibits "being members of a law enforcement gang" or a hate group...but I'll save my breaking news banner for the day it gets enforced.
BREAKING: L.A. City Council has voted unanimously in favor of an ordinance that would mandate all city employees to get vaccinated against COVID-19. They voted after almost an hour of discussion.
I stopped by Eagle Rock, where BLM-LA and a hodgepodge of other activist groups have set up camp outside Kevin de Leรณnโs home. They say theyโll be here till he resigns, and if you remember, today he said that will not be happening.
BREAKING: The Los Angeles Police Protective League - one of the largest and most powerful police unions in the US - is proposing that LAPD stops responding to a list of 28 calls, instead allowing unarmed responders to take care of them. More soon.
Hi friends ๐ I have some really exciting news!! Starting mid-January I'm joining the amazing crime & public safety team at Southern California News Group. I will also be leaving my beloved home
@ABC7
, which is very sad. I am so excited and nervous. More info soon!! โค๏ธ โจ ๐
One of my favorite things about being a journalist in LA is that I constantly see parts of the city Iโd never otherwise come across. Today Iโm at Evergreen Cemetery, the oldest cemetery in L.A. Thereโs a section for Japanese pioneers and, oddly enough, one for carnival workers.
My last day at
@ABC7
is tomorrow and I am starting at
@SoCalNewsGroup
on Monday (will put out my new contact info when I have it). I have some parting thoughts on working in corporate broadcast news as a gen z-er girl who came up in news in 2020. ๐งต
BREAKING: The same day a student at Grant High School in Van Nuys was shot, an Instagram story showing a person with a gun in their lap with the caption "who's next?" geotagged w/ the school's location circulated among students. I'm told many students stayed home today.
BREAKING THIS AM: Over 2,000 Echo Park residents are without power for what some are telling me is the third night in a row as temps stay in the high 70s overnight & many older apartments in the area have no A/C. If you're in Echo Park waiting for power to return - reach out.
City of Quartz, a really essential reading on housing and public space in LA, talks about how itโs often those in power who control how a public space is defined. I think that theory is a big component in how the city has closed & reopened the park.
Iโm just gonna say it: if you are a journalist and your rights are being infringed on, you CAN and SHOULD make a stink about it. We have every right to be at these scenes, especially in LA where we are afforded that right by the municipal code. Raise hell.
I got into words with USC administrators on site who wouldn't answer questions and wouldn't identify themselves. They came back and scolded me, said they were with Media Relations and called my news director to report me
I went down to Echo Park to do a little bit more reporting on how things are looking after the March removal of the community that lived here. Here are a few things I saw and noticed.
INBOX: The city of Long Beach has established a "field command post" to address homelessness for the next three weeks staffed by various departments including LBPD, LBFD, health dept, etc. Press release quietly mentions that it will not provide any direct homelessness services.
Hi guys! Iโm in Echo Park, where a group of Trump supporters are marching to LA Co. Public Health Director Barbara Ferrerโs home to protest the lockdown.
If you're an employee at this Starbucks (or any workplace w/ a COVID outbreak) please feel free to DM me (or any journo!!). Reporters want to cover these stories but it's difficult w/o someone reaching out to us. We can protect you & make sure the right ppl are held accountable.
So it looks like the Starbucks in West Hollywood has a COVID breakout and the store is staying open w/o very many precautions. These companies will demand they stay open even if it means sacrificing the health of their employees & guests.
Someone sent us this message earlier:
HAPPENING NOW: Mitch O'Farrell is holding a press conference w/ Curren Price, Paul Krekorian, & others to call for Kevin de Leรณn & Gil Cedillo to resign. Bob Blumenfield says Nury Martinez needs to "get the help she needs."
Thereโs a through line Iโve noticed in talking to city officials and people who are glad the park has been cleared - a sense of control. Itโs something we talked about in my cultural geography classes. The idea is that spaces are only public so far as we can control them.
Hi all itโs been a while bc there are some logistical issues. Private security is trying to prevent reporters from leaving the quad and getting back in because UCLA PD โchangedโ their rules about press passes. No one has been able to tell us exactly the problem.
After eight months of work, my public records reporting into the LASD K-9 unit is out. More coming. Iโd love to know what else you want to learn about the unit.
Rosa Ramirez let the LASD into her home and was promptly attacked by a police dog that was loose on the property. Now, she has lost use of her dominant hand and is suing LASD.
Hi, all - I'm working on a story about
@CrosswalksLA
, the mysterious group painting crosswalks at intersections in LA that did not have them before, for
@KnockDotLA
. Have you tried to improve your streets through LADOT and failed? Drop me a line โ๏ธ
@_ClaraHarter
This is the scene as we approach 9:30. โThis is a peaceful protest. We are unarmed,โ protesters chant. Reporters have no clue who is in charge. Everyone is tense and tired. Itโs unclear when or if anything will change.
Conditions are *bad* in Lake Arrowhead. Residents are posting photos of snow piled high, asking for help getting down the mountain, asking when the plows will run again. One resident told me that some seniors cannot open their doors, and that many can't turn gas meters off.
Huge applause for AZ Sen. Mark Kelly and his wife Gabby Giffords as they walk on stage. Kelly was one of the potential picks for Harrisโ VP. Arena is packed with people.
My Monterey Park coverage is wrapped for tonight. Man, what a crazy first two weeks in my new role. Thanks everybody for being so patient and welcoming in such a rough time. I love you forever LA.
Notably, the safer at home order starts tonight. Iโm at Mayor Garcettiโs house, where I got a tip that anti-maskers are gathered to protest the lockdown.
@_ClaraHarter
After several hours of a standstill, many more LAPD officers moved into the quad. Someone used pepper spray. Iโm not sure what the next few minutes will bring but the air here has changed significantly. Reporters still not being allowed to move freely.
Shouts erupt from the audience as the council takes roll call. KDL is marked as present even though he is not on the floor. Three people have been removed so far. LAPD took out handcuffs while asking one man to leave.
One of my sources in Lake Arrowhead sent this to me -- "SEND PLOWS" written in the snow in Crestline as residents continue to run low on food/critical supplies. We're hearing about collapsed roofs, people w/o medications, and long waits to talk to local agencies on the phone.
I am at the UCLA quad, where things have been very tense all day after school law enforcement has asked protesters to leave and a large group of counter protesters has thrown fireworks. Both groups are facing off with lots of media & some cops nearby.
William Gude, a critic of the LAPD who spends many days and nights filming police in Hollywood as a form of watchdog accountability, has been arrested today during an incident where he was filming. He has recently become more known and prominent among media & LE.
They are waving flash lights at the sky and chanting โwe do not consent.โ I see a few LAPD vehicles but basically no officers OTG. They are all right outside the mayorโs house - they are supposed to be across the street. It is a vastly different scene than this morning.