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The Thorn West is a state and local news roundup compiled by members of DSA-LA. Our goal is to provide a weekly update on the latest developments in state and local politics, and to track the issues that are most important to our membership.
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Issue No. 69 - July 23, 2021
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- Coronavirus has been surging in Los Angeles County, with new cases having doubled in 10 days. This week the CDC moved LA County into the “high” community transmission category.
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- UFCW 770 released a statement after a member was shot and killed while working at a Rite Aid. Their statement contains several specific demands for greater worker safety. This is the second time this month a union worker in Los Angeles has been killed at their workplace.
- Rideshare Drivers United organized a statewide strike of Uber and Lyft drivers this Wednesday for the right to unionize and for passage of the PRO Act… A march organized by Unite Here! Local 11 scored a significant legislative victory as the West Hollywood City Council passed an ordinance 4–1 granting hotel workers the right of recall and retention… The unionization effort by workers at Donut Friend has taken another big step… The Hollywood Reporter spoke with several charming DSA-LA members in their profile of DSA Hollywood Labor!
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- Independent journalist Jasmyne Cannick has been providing daily coverage of the trial of Ed Buck since day one (and has been covering the case since long before that). Buck is the Los Angeles Democratic Party donor being tried for supplying methamphetamines to two Black men who died in his apartment, in two separate incidents. Today saw closing arguments, and jury deliberation begins next week.
- Knock-LA provides context for the Ed Buck trial in its in-depth investigation of Stonewall Democratic Club, an influential LGBTQ+ advocacy group of which Buck was a member, which has a long history of both enabling abuse among its leadership and retaliating against critics.
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- California environmental health officials took a big step toward regulating two “forever chemicals” found in well waters that serve nearly 16 million Californians.
- Gov. Gavin Newsom directed the powerful Air Resources Board this month to evaluate strategies for achieving carbon neutrality by 2035, a decade ahead of California’s current goal.
- Pacific Gas and Electric Co. said Wednesday that it wants to bury 10,000 miles of its power lines shortly after it disclosed that its electric infrastructure may have sparked the Dixie fire, which would be the second large wildfire PG&E is responsible for in as many years.
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Police Violence and Community Resistance
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- Seventeen new defendants have been identified as associates of the "Banditos" deputy gang in an ongoing lawsuit against the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department.
- CA-43 Representative Maxine Waters recently joined a growing number of elected officials in calling for a federal investigation into the “Executioners,” a deputy gang reported to operate out of the Compton sheriff’s station. Read Waters’s full letter here.
- In a press conference this week, LAPD Chief Michel Moore admitted that the botched fireworks detonation which took place on June 30 was the result of human error. Instead of using a scale to measure the explosive devices before detonating them, LAPD technicians “estimated” the weight of the explosives. This gross miscalculation resulted in numerous destroyed homes and 17 people injured. The city will provide $2,000 in cash assistance each to 26 households impacted by LAPD's detonation. Community members have also started a GoFundMe to provide additional aid to the victims of the explosion.
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- In the past year, Downtown Crenshaw has twice successfully blocked the sale of South Los Angeles’ landmark Crenshaw Mall to outside developers, while supporting the Crenshaw community’s bid to purchase the mall for community use. With yet another outside developer closing on a sale this week, they are again asking for support in opposition: toolkit here.
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