Happy Anniversary, Eagle Rock!

Eagle Rock Valley Historical Society President Eric Warren looks back 89 years, when Eagle Rock became part of Los Angeles.

Friday, May 18, marked the 89th anniversary of Eagle Rock’s annexation in 1923 to the City of Los Angeles. Okay—the number 89 isn’t exactly auspicious. But it’s a milestone worth commemorating. After all, the City’s extraordinary problems occasionally unleash a nostalgia in some Eagle Rock circles for the time when the community managed its own affairs. Patch asked Eagle Rock Valley Historical Society President Eric Warren to reflect on Eagle Rock’s momentous merger with what might be called “Mother Los Angeles.” Here are his responses to the questions we posed: Patch: Why did Eagle Rock decide to merge with Los Angeles in 1923—and was there more to the merger than an insufficient supply of water in the growing neighborhood? Warren: In …

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710 Freeway Open House in Eagle Rock Thursday: Reminder

Six public forums through May 24 to discuss the proposed extension of the Long Beach freeway will be the public’s last chance to influence Metro’s and Caltrans’ decision.

The second of six public forums scheduled in Northeast L.A. and the San Gabriel Valley to discuss a set of alternatives to a 4.5-mile underground extension of the 710 freeway proposed by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and Caltrans will be held today, Thursday, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. in the auditorium of Eagle Rock Elementary School. Opponents of the proposed extension argue that although there are many documented reasons for not extending the 710 any further into Los Angeles, Metro and Caltrans have already begun an Environmental Impact Report, the initial stages of which are the only chance for the public to formally register their opposition and hope that Northeast L.A. does not become what Eagle Rock resident and longtime anti…

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VIDEO: Jan Perry Calls L.A. 'Fragile'

See Los Angeles City Council member and mayoral candidate Jan Perry in conversation before a live audience at Cal-State Northridge.

(If video window doesn't appear, refresh the page.) Los Angeles City Council member Jan Perry cruised through a list of issues at Cal State Northridge Tuesday in the second of the "Talking About Los Angeles" series of interviews with mayoral candidates. Moderator Christine Essel, the CEO for the Los Angeles Community Redevelopment Agency, started off the event by saying that she had known Perry for 20 years. Questioned by Essel, Perry touched on redevelopment, jobs, housing, transit, education, pensions and the city's budget deficit. Patch is a co-sponsor of the series, which was organized by the Southwest Voter Registration Education Project, a Latino voter participation organization; and Cerrell Associates, a Los Angeles political …

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Susan R

8:15 am on Friday, May 18, 2012

Looks like a bunch of empty seats. I don't think anyone even attended.   more ›

Jan Perry for L.A. Mayor? See Her Questioned Today on a Live Video

The city councilwoman will be the second mayoral candidate interviewed in the Talking About Los Angeles series. Questions from Patch readers will be presented to Perry.

A series of conversations with Los Angeles mayoral candidates continues Tuesday evening with an interview of Councilwoman Jan Perry that will be shown via a live video stream you can watch on this Patch site. The interview, the second in the "Talking About Los Angeles" series, begins at 5:30 p.m. before an audience in The Grand Salon of California State University, Northridge, 18111 Nordhoff St. (See attached PDF map.) If you would like to attend the event, you can register on the Talking About Los Angeles website. The moderator for the event will be Christine Essel, the CEO for Los Angeles’ Community Redevelopment Agency. She’s a former senior vice president of government and community affairs for Paramount Pictures and had been an …

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Richard Core

3:10 pm on Friday, May 11, 2012

We have reached the end of the period for taking questions. Thank you to all who participated. I'll present selected questions to Councilwoman Perry on Tuesday at Cal-State Northridge.   more ›

Metro Invites Public Participation in Open Houses Starting This Week

Six community forums are scheduled May 14-24, including one in Eagle Rock.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority and Caltrans are scheduled to hold community forums this week through May 24 to facilitate a public discussion about various “alternative concepts” to the proposed extension of the 710 freeway into the Los Angeles area. The forums, which are part of the so-called “Alternative Analysis phase of the SR-710 Study,” according to the Metro website, are aimed at “bridging the gap” in this freeway from Long Beach. The idea is to relieve congestion and enhance traffic mobility, particularly that of cargo-laden trucks from the Long Beach port, in the study area. The alternative concepts, two of which are graphically represented in the attached images, include: • Bus Rapid Transit • Light Rail Transit • …

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Janet Alvarado Dodson

10:00 pm on Monday, May 14, 2012

If only that these discussions were really about reducing congestion and pollution. Where are the many existing proposals to move freight to the inland port in the high desert to meet the national trucking fleets for distribution to the rest of the continent? Heavy electric rail to move freight onto elevated existing rights of way, light rail for commuters to Long Beach, and “low-build” …   more ›

D.A. Race: Times Endorses Del Toro Prosecutor's Rival

Bobby Grace, who prosecuted LAFD Capt. David Del Toro for murder, brings 'insight and passion' but lacks leadership experience: L.A. Times.

Lopez Praises Obama for ‘Casting Aside Fear’ and Supporting Gay Marriage

The openly gay aspirant to the California Assembly says the president has officially shown his ‘full support for the full humanity’ of thousands of LGBT people in the 51st Assembly District.

President Obama’s historic endorsement Wednesday of gay marriage—a first by any U.S. president—has been hailed as a courageous “American value” by Luis Lopez, one of the four frontrunners in the race for California’s 51st Assembly District elections. Lopez, who is openly gay and lives in Eagle Rock, participated in an April 25 ‘'Meet the Candidates” forum at the Center for the Arts. He e-mailed Patch the following message in response to Obama’s support for same-sex couples: “I am immensely proud of our President today for making official his support for marriage equality. Casting aside fear and standing clearly on principle, President Obama has stated his full support for the full humanity of me and thousands of LGBT people in my district…

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Jimmy Gomez Gears up to Seek Your Vote (Video)

The Democratic Party’s officially sanctioned candidate for the 51st Assembly District elections renews his appeal to voters as the June 5 primaries draw near.

Roughly two weeks after the four Democrats in the race for the 51st Assembly District, squared off in a ‘'Meet the Candidates” forum in Eagle Rock, the campaign for one of the frontrunners, Jimmy Gomez, has posted a video on YouTube. The clip, shot at Gomez’s campaign office on Figueroa Street in Highland Park, essentially highlighting the same “Vote for me—I’m your candidate” talking points that Gomez, political director for the United Nurses Association of California, underscored at the Center for the Arts on the night of April 25.

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Susan R

8:18 am on Thursday, May 10, 2012

Chavez is a career politican, Oscar has good ideas (but I don't think he will win), Lopez is on the Planning committee (is that who brought in all the condos?) I think Jimmy Gomez is the only clear choice. I do not agree with his politics but he is the only clear choice.   more ›

Family Reasons: Why Austin Beutner Dropped Out of the Mayor's Race

The investment banker cites family responsibilities as his reason for pulling out of the mayoral race.