Latest news with #Angelenos
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
The Dodgers had been silent as Trump's immigration crackdown roiled LA. Then federal agents arrived outside their parking lot
As one of the City of Angels' first major professional sports teams, the Dodgers are a cornerstone of Southern California culture. Their interlocking LA logo is as iconic as the Hollywood sign, recognized around the world and worn as a symbol of pride by millions of Angelenos. In times of crisis, teams like the Dodgers are usually a rallying point – a unifying force in moments of struggle. But over the last few weeks, as major protests popped up in Los Angeles in response to increased immigration raids by the Trump administration in the Southern California area, the Dodgers became a target of local ire. It was a tough demotion from being the subject of local adoration just months ago during a World Series championship parade. On June 6, raids outside a Home Depot and an apparel warehouse in Los Angeles set off days of protests and, on some nights, clashes between demonstrators and law enforcement. President Donald Trump on June 7 deployed National Guard troops to the city to 'temporarily protect ICE' – the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement – 'and other United States Government personnel who are performing Federal functions' and to protect federal property, according to a memo – overriding California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who called the move a 'brazen abuse of power.' Families have been split, people were arrested by plain-clothes agents wearing masks and hats and Trump and his administration reveled in the chance to clash with Democratic politicians. As fear spread throughout Los Angeles, many of the city's institutions spoke up to defend the undocumented immigrants and asylum seekers who were being picked up by the federal government. But not the Dodgers. The team – whose stadium itself is part of the long story of the Latino experience in Los Angeles, given that the land on which it sits was once home to a Mexican-American neighborhood that fought for years against being displaced – was publicly quiet about the tension gripping its city. That silence infuriated many members of the fanbase, who felt abandoned by their team. 'I just feel like the organization, as a whole, needed to say something. The fanbase is predominantly Latinos, and we have been supporting them forever,' said Amanda Carrera, a Dodgers fan who was demonstrating outside of Dodger Stadium on Thursday. A few dozen people were also protesting as the Dodgers played the San Diego Padres. They shouted to keep 'ICE out of LA' and 'ICE out of Dodger Stadium.' Many expressed anger toward the Dodger organization for remaining silent on the issue plaguing a core part of their fanbase. 'And so why should we keep supporting them if they don't support us?' Carrera asked. 'And, as heartbreaking as it sounds, it's like we love our team so much and it just feels like they don't love us.' It was against that backdrop that federal law enforcement arrived just outside the vast Dodger Stadium parking lot on Thursday. Reports began to circulate that federal agents were present at the stadium outside downtown LA, sparking concerns that the Trump administration's immigration crackdown was coming to the home of the World Series champions hours before a game against the San Diego Padres. Protesters rushed to the area and began chanting anti-ICE slogans at the federal agents. In the team's telling, agents from ICE arrived at Dodger Stadium and asked for permission to access the parking lots. The Dodgers said no. The Trump administration's version of what happened is quite different. US Customs and Border Protection vehicles were in a parking lot on the grounds, and one of them had a car malfunction that caused them to stay longer, according to an official who maintained there were no operations related to the MLB franchise. There has been an influx of CBP agents in the Los Angeles area on the heels of the protests against Trump's immigration enforcement agenda. The Department of Homeland Security surged agency personnel to the region, including border agents, to respond to those protests and many have remained in the area. 'This had nothing to do with the Dodgers. CBP vehicles were in the stadium parking lot very briefly, unrelated to any operation or enforcement,' Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement. The ICE account on X even called out the Dodgers directly, saying their post was false. 'We were never there,' the post read. No matter the agency or their purpose, the appearance of federal agents at Dodger Stadium is enough to create a high-profile event, given the atmosphere that is gripping Los Angeles. Some businesses have been closing early, with more customers staying home. As the school year wound down, some students wept openly in class, worried about the future of their families. Relatives stayed away from graduation ceremonies, while some nannies chose to stay close to their employers' homes, only taking the children around the block instead of public parks. Rumors of where ICE will be or how they'll be meeting the White House's demands for more arrests have been rife, not just in LA but around the country. With the FIFA Club World Cup attracting soccer fans to stadiums throughout the US, there have been worries that federal agents could target people coming to the games. So, when reports of federal agents being outside Dodger Stadium began to circulate on Thursday, protesters flocked to the team's complex just outside of downtown Los Angeles. Images from the parking lot outside the stadium showed a line of police blocking protesters from being near the large group of unmarked federal law enforcement vehicles that had gathered in the stadium's expansive concrete apron. With the White House expecting ICE to arrest 3,000 people per day and Los Angeles-area officials telling the public that they don't have any idea where federal agents will pop up next, the entire area is on edge. Carerra said she's organizing a protest later this week and she hears mixed things about whether people actually want to be in public. 'The community has voted to protest. They want to come out and do it, but I think that there is the other half that's scared,' she said. 'It's scary when you see images and videos of people being kidnapped. You know, I mean, ICE agents, unmarked vehicles, masks covering their face. … We don't even know who to trust. We don't know, like, are these actually, actual agents or not, you know? So, there's a lot of fear. It's horrible. It's so just heartbreaking.' That tension meant many fans lashed out at the Dodgers for not having done more to express support for their fans, many of whom are Latino. The replies to the Dodgers' X account were full of fans demanding the team say something condemning the federal government's actions or – at the very least – express support for the immigrant community in LA. Al Aguilar, who was standing outside Dodger Stadium with a sign that read 'Los Doyers Silent? Silent' on Thursday afternoon, said the team's history in LA should make it more understanding of the pressure on the community. He said the Dodgers buying the Chavez Ravine land at a discounted price and the eviction of the final families remaining on the land came with the stipulation that the stadium would be used for the community. He said Latinos largely stayed away from the team until Fernandomania – the debut of Dodger legend Fernando Valenzuela and his subsequent success – in 1981 made fans for life. That history isn't forgotten today, he said. 'Nothing was said. They were silent about the issues going on, not even taking sides. They could say, 'We believe in equal rights, constitutional rights, due process,' without taking sides, just those things, but they didn't say anything,' Aguilar told CNN. He added, 'With the amount of Latin American players that they have, with the community being behind them all these years, being (forgiven) – if you were thrown out of your houses and dragged out for a sports franchise that interrupted the community, you might have feelings about that.' When singer Nezza performed the National Anthem ahead of a game last weekend, as 'No Kings' protests were taking place around the nation and LA was enduring another weekend of protests, she decided to do so in Spanish. What sparked more outrage against the Dodgers was the fact that she said a Dodgers employee specifically asked her not to. 'I didn't really see an issue with it and I wanted people to know that I'm with them and I'm standing by them,' Nezza told CNN on Tuesday. An unidentified person, who Nezza says is a Dodgers employee, can be heard on a video saying to the singer, 'We are going to do the song in English today, so I'm not sure if that wasn't relayed.' Following her performance, the Dodgers employee – who she would not name – called Nezza's manager almost immediately and told them to never call or email them again, and that their client was not welcome back, according to the singer. The Dodgers have said publicly that there are 'no consequences or hard feelings' regarding her performance and that she is not banned from – and welcome to return to – the stadium. Nezza, whose parents are both immigrants, said she hasn't been contacted by the team and doesn't plan on attending the stadium again. 'I don't feel welcome to come back,' she said. Carerra said that attitude from the team confused and angered many fans. 'That's kind of what's been the confusion because they have spoken out against or regarding other social issues before,' she told CNN. 'They've made statements before about things, and so, you know, the fact that it's taking them this long is just, it's very confusing, and it hurts.' That frustration with the organization could ease among fans after Thursday's confrontation with the Trump administration. The back and forth with the administration came on the same day that the team was expected to release a statement on how it plans to support immigrants in the Los Angeles area affected by the immigration crackdown. Gary Lee, the founder of said silence is the Dodgers' 'default position' on the immigration crackdown, but the plan for an announcement by the team on how it plans to assist immigrants in the area was a relief. 'The Dodgers have arguably been more culturally influential to the city of Los Angeles' than other sports franchises, Lee said, 'so there seems to be more responsibility to the community on their shoulders than any other franchise, including the Lakers.' But after Thursday's incident with federal agents, the planned announcement didn't materialize. For some fans, the damage is done regardless of what the team says. Carerra told CNN that the amount of public pressure on the Dodgers has her questioning the team in ways she never would have before. Even if the Dodgers made a strong statement of support or really threw federal agents off Dodger Stadium property on Thursday, she's now wondering if it's all a public relations move. 'It's like, can we even trust them? Like, can we trust them up to this point that what they're doing isn't just to kind of, you know, protect themselves, and that sucks. I hate that it has to get to this point,' she said. CORRECTION: This story has been corrected to note that the Dodgers were not the first major professional sports team in Los Angeles.
Los Angeles Times
6 hours ago
- Politics
- Los Angeles Times
New immigration crackdown sparks fear among public transit riders. Ridership has dropped up to 15%
Reports of federal agents detaining commuters sitting at a bus stop in Pasadena this week have heightened concerns about immigration officials targeting public transportation — a key aspect of city life — in their efforts to carry out deportations across Southern California. For the thousands of Angelenos, many of whom are Latino and rely on the city's vast network of buses and trains to go about their daily lives, the incident in Pasadena has brought a new level of fear and uncertainty for public transportation riders. After June 6, when immigration agents launched a campaign in Los Angeles to find and capture undocumented immigrants, some residents have started to go underground, staying away from work, school, churches and other public venues for fear of being swept up in a raid. Now, as many attempt to resume their daily routines, buses and trains have become yet another place to fear. There has been a 10% to 15% decline in bus and rail ridership since immigration enforcement activities began, according to Metro officials. 'The way that ICE is going about these sweeps is terrifying people,' Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn said in a statement on Wednesday. 'This isn't right. The fear they are spreading is doing profound harm in our communities.' While rumors have swirled online about immigration officials' presence at bus stops and along rail lines for weeks, the most visible example happened early Wednesday when a group of masked immigration officers approached two men sitting at a bus stop outside the Winchell's Donut House on Los Robles Avenue in Pasadena. After a brief conversation, an officer is seen on video handcuffing one of the men. Officials said a total of six Pasadena residents were detained. The bus stop for Route 662, roughly a block away from an elementary school, is near several Latino businesses in an area of the city known for Mexican eateries. Workers in the area frequently grab coffee and breakfast at the doughnut shop before heading to work. The incident was witnessed and videotaped by several people in the area. Another video of the incident showed a witness bending down behind an unmarked vehicle — reportedly belonging to federal agents — trying to get a photo of the license plate. The footage shows a masked man exit the driver's side and rush toward the back of the vehicle, pointing a gun at the witness who retreated quickly to the sidewalk. 'Leave our city!' one resident screamed at the masked man. As other witnesses started to approach the vehicle with their phones out, the driver activated the car's lights and siren and sped off. While the early morning sweep was just one of several that immigration officials carried out in Pasadena on Wednesday, the arrests and viral video drew vocal criticism. 'This is lawlessness,' state Sen. Sasha Renée Pérez (D-Alhambra) said of the raid in a video statement on X. 'This is completely inappropriate. This is an incredibly dangerous way to operate. Somebody is going to get seriously hurt ...' Rep. Judy Chu (D-Monterey Park), whose district includes Pasadena, called the situation 'outrageous.' 'These raids in my district are absolutely vile. Masked and armed like a militia, they're terrorizing families and destroying any sense of safety in our communities. This is not law enforcement it's a gross abuse of power, and I will not stand for it,' Chu wrote in a statement. Pasadena public information officer Lisa Derderian said city officials are still trying to determine who got out of the unmarked car and pointed the gun since a search of the license plate by the city came up empty and no identification could be seen in footage. The situation prompted the city to increase its law enforcement presence outside schools and around bus stops, she said. 'We have an obligation to protect our community. Obviously, we don't want too heavy of a presence to look like we are coordinating or interfering with any federal enforcement. But again, we do have an obligation to protect,' Derderian said. Many rail and bus riders use public transit out of necessity and may not have access to alternative transportation, said Michael Schneider of the Streets for All advocacy group. A 2023 Metro survey showed that more than 60% of bus riders and roughly 50% of rail riders are Latinx/Hispanic. And nearly 90% of bus riders and more than 70% of rail riders' annual household income is less than $50,000. 'For most people that ride Metro … the household income is extremely low,' Schneider said. 'They are riding the bus because that is the way they get to and from work, and that's the way they get around. They don't have a car at home, they don't have another option.' Metro has been working to build back public trust and grow ridership following a spate of violence on bus and trains in recent years. Employees and regulars at Union Station said on Thursday that they have noticed a slight downturn in foot traffic in recent weeks. 'There's less passengers than normal,' said Johnathan Aros, a security guard at the station. 'I wouldn't say it's significant, but it's different.' Hahn, who also serves as the Metro board chair, asked Metro staff on Wednesday to report back to the board about the agency's protocols if immigration agents board a bus or a train. Earlier this year, as immigration enforcement grew across the country, Hahn directed Metro staff to partner with L.A. County's Office of Immigration Affairs and amplify ongoing 'Know Your Rights' campaigns to support immigrant riders and inform them of their protections when dealing with law enforcement. 'Now more than ever, it is essential that our public transit system serves as a safe and inclusive space for everyone,' Hahn wrote in a letter to Metro Chief Executive Stephanie Wiggins. 'Sharing critical information and campaigns that educate our riders about their rights, specifically in relation to ICE and law enforcement interactions, is a powerful tool that could help alleviate the anxiety that many of our immigrant communities are experiencing.' On Thursday morning, as the Metro bus cruised over the L.A. River toward downtown — where widespread protests and immigration raids erupted earlier this month — riders wearing various retail and food service uniforms sat silently staring straight ahead. A quiet tension on the nearly full bus was palpable. A Boyle Heights woman riding the bus said she's grown more weary of public transportation since the raids began, but like many others she's left with few options to get to work. 'Some people are scared, but they have to work,' said the woman, who asked that she not be identified because she's concerned she'll be targeted by immigration officials. 'There's work no matter what.' Yomara Oxlha, who works at a general store in Boyle Heights across from a bus stop, said a quiet distrust of public services had spread in the community. 'I've seen videos of bus drivers saying that ICE is inside [buses],' Oxlha said. 'Let's say if I'm an immigrant, and [ICE] goes inside supermarkets, they go inside the buses, the trains and they go inside stores … I wouldn't feel comfortable going out at all.' Oxlha said Boyle Heights has been quiet since the raids began on June 6. Now, left with few alternatives to support their families, many have started to fearfully resume their schedules. Sophia, a Boyle's Height resident, waited patiently on Thursday at the bus stop she has taken nearly every day for years. The woman, who declined to provide her last name out of fear she could be targeted by immigration officials, told The Times in Spanish that she's become more acutely aware of her surroundings. For nearly a week, Sophia hesitated to leave her home and her family has lived in a constant state of uncertainty. But now, she must finally get back to her normal schedule, she said. 'The fear of going out to look for a dream is now a nightmare,' Sophia said in Spanish. 'It's very sad this is all happening.' Staff writer Rong-Gong Lin II contributed to this report.
San Francisco Chronicle
17 hours ago
- Politics
- San Francisco Chronicle
What should you do when ICE comes to the ballpark? Bay Area teams are already preparing
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents went knocking on the door of the Los Angeles Dodgers, and they might soon be coming to a ballpark or stadium near you. Bay Area sports teams are quietly — very quietly — bracing for the increasing probability that ICE will show up and knock down the invisible wall that shields sports from real-world political turmoil and fear. The eyes of the sports world are now on the Dodgers, who are facing what might be called a courage check. They might have to choose between cooperating with ICE as it zeroes in on Los Angeles in its mass-deportation campaign, and siding with their fans and fellow Angelenos. Thursday, the Dodgers reportedly denied entrance to a Dodger Stadium parking lot to ICE vehicles. Coincidentally or not, ICE tried to move into the lot on the day the Dodgers were going to announce team plans to assist local immigrant communities affected by recent ICE raids. The Dodgers are walking a tightrope. In April, the team ignored pleas and protests of many by visiting the White House, to be honored as World Series champions. It was just weeks after President Donald Trump's Department of Defense removed a tribute to Dodgers great Jackie Robinson — a veteran as well as a sports trailblazer — from its website. Trump had already ordered the deportation of one million undocumented immigrants per year. About 47% of Los Angeles residents are Latino, and the Dodgers claim that more than 40% of their fans are Latino. The Dodgers were also criticized for not taking a public stand against recent ICE raids in Los Angeles, and they drew more fire for reportedly telling last Saturday's pregame national anthem singer that she could not sing the anthem in Spanish. She did so anyway, and said the team was irate, which the Dodgers deny. While the Dodgers team has long been seen as the on-field enemy by Bay Area sports fans, local teams and restaurant owners in Northern California worry that they might soon be sharing the Dodgers' pain. 'Those (ICE) people are so vindictive, so belligerent, they're going to single someone out,' said one long-time Bay Area restaurant owner. 'They'd love to show off in San Francisco.' One Bay Area pro sports team earlier this year sent a memo to its game-crew supervisors, detailing how employees should react in the event of an ICE raid, summarizing the rights of employees and outlining the legal limits of ICE agents' actions. It's not unusual for a sports team to issue instructions on emergency procedures and personal rights. Live-shooter training, for instance, has become standard. What is unusual is for multiple team executives to ask — plead, actually — that their team name not be used in a news report about ICE raids, for fear of the team becoming a target of the increasingly aggressive raids and roundups. 'We don't want somebody back there (ICE headquarters in Washington D.C.) seeing our name and saying, 'Hey, let's visit those guys,'' an executive for one Bay Area team said with genuine concern. 'We don't want to get in their crosshairs.' Many see ICE using fear as a tool in its efforts to meet Trump's reported deportation quota of about 3,000 per day. In response to Trump's recent demand to increase arrests in cities run by elected Democrats, the Chronicle sent a query to ICE asking if detention and deportation efforts would increase in San Francisco. This is the email response, attributable to Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin: 'The President has been incredibly clear. There will be no safe spaces for industries who harbor violent criminals or purposely try to undermine ICE's efforts. Worksite enforcement remains a cornerstone of our efforts to safe guard (sic) public safety, national security and economic stability. These operations target illegal employment networks that undermine American workers, destabilize labor markets and expose critical infrastructure to exploitation.' The statement, a boilerplate response also sent to other news organizations, has an element of irony. The president himself seems incredibly un clear on his own deportation strategy. He recently said that ICE would no longer target agriculture and hospitality industry sites. Two days later he urged ICE to intensify its raids in all sectors. The fear and the confusion are real. The Chronicle reached out to several pro sports teams in the Bay Area (and one in Los Angeles) and to some San Francisco restaurants, asking if they have alerted their employees to their rights and procedures in the event of an ICE visit. The only on-the-record response was from the Oakland Coliseum and Arena. 'We try to make sure that the people we hire are here legally,' said Henry Gardner, executive director of the Oakland-Alameda Coliseum Joint Powers Authority Commission, which oversees both venues. 'It's not a perfect system. But we don't want our staff to be intimidated, so we do have protocols in place for how they should behave and how our senior managers should behave should (ICE) show up.' No other team spokesperson or restaurant owner would speak on the record. 'We don't want to put a target on our back,' said one team's representative. 'Please leave us out of this' story, a restaurant owner pleaded. 'I don't trust those crazy (ICE) people.' It's not that teams and businesses fear being punished for hiring undocumented immigrants. All claim that their employees and their vendors' employees are vetted and in compliance with U.S. work rules. The problem is that many of the ICE raids appear to have been indiscriminate, with agents rounding up workers now and asking questions later, while employing tactics of questionable legality, morality and use of force. The service workforce in California has a high percentage of Latino workers. Trump has an ongoing and escalating feud with this state and its governor. Trump has also threatened to withhold federal funding to California over the state's refusal to ban transgender athletes from competing in girls' and women's sports. Such economic threats have been a staple of this White House, and it's not hard to envision a team's perceived refusal to cooperate being used as reason to punish the team economically or legally. Trump's border czar, Tom Homan, recently said of anyone suspected of aiding undocumented immigrants or shielding them from ICE, 'When they cross the line of harboring and concealing, that's a felony.' That 'line,' however, often defies clear definition. A week ago last Friday, David Huerta, president of Service Employees International Union California, which has 3,200 members working at sports venues in the state, was arrested at the Los Angeles protests and charged with felony obstruction. 'It's scary as hell to think that they (ICE agents) could just come in here and do what they're going to do,' said an usher for a San Francisco sports team. 'I'd say more than half the people I work with … are just targets for (ICE). It's horrifying. I have a lot of friends who work in immigrant communities, and they've been saying a lot of people are just staying home, they're not going to work, they're so afraid.' Even the athletes might not be immune. As ICE targets undocumented people from Central and South America, the San Francisco Giants have five players from the Dominican Republic and one from Venezuela on their roster. Latino players make up a large segment of the rosters of Bay Area pro soccer teams. The Chronicle obtained the ICE memo that one local team distributed to its game-day workforce supervisors earlier this year, shortly after Trump took office. The two-page memo, titled 'Workplace Guidance for Handling Potential ICE Interactions,' seems carefully worded, perhaps to avoid the appearance of being antagonistic or obstructionist. The memo's first item is, 'Stay Calm and Professional' if ICE agents arrive in or near the venue. Other items drill down on the legal rights of employees, immigrants or otherwise, and explain the limits of ICE powers. Among memo items: • 'Do Not Provide Access Without a Warrant' • 'Do not bring an employee to ICE or direct them to an exit.' • 'What to Do if ICE is Waiting Outside' • 'Do Not Consent to a Search — ICE agents may ask to search your belongings. You have the right to refuse unless they have a warrant.' The various labor unions whose workers service stadiums and arenas have been working to inform and protect their members since Trump took office. 'Our union contract protects workers from ICE raids by obligating the employer to demand a warrant before allowing any searches in the workplace or of I-9 documents (verifying employment eligibility), and our members know their rights,' said Yulisa Elenes, vice president of the Unite Here Local 2, which represents food service workers at Oracle Park, the Oakland Coliseum/Arena, and other venues. 'We're currently in contract negotiations with Aramark, and given the climate of fear about workplace raids, we're negotiating for even stronger protections.' Last February, Huerta told the Chronicle, 'We do know-your-rights training and make available legal counseling. … We're considering (requesting) legislation that would obligate employers to post and make available know-your-rights information, so workers feel a sense that they are protected, whether they're at work or at home.' But the concept of protection becomes increasingly nebulous with every new account of commando-style raids by heavily-armed ICE agents wearing masks, showing no ID, asking no questions and making workers disappear. A San Francisco restaurant owner told this story: 'We ran out of ice the other night. I called for more, and I told our hostess to alert the kitchen staff when the delivery arrived. It got here, the hostess popped her head into the kitchen and shouted, 'The ice is here!' 'Everyone disappeared. One guy was hiding on top of the walk-in refrigerator, three of them were in a closet.' The restaurant owner told the story without so much as a smile. He knows he might soon face his own courage check.
Los Angeles Times
2 days ago
- General
- Los Angeles Times
He donated the land that became Griffith Park. Then he shot his wife
Surely you are familiar with the sprawling, rugged glory of Los Angeles' Griffith Park. But do you know about the park's benefactor and namesake, Griffith J. Griffith? The philanthropist and felon endowed L.A. with what was then the largest urban park in the world and still remains a jewel of the city. He also shot his wife in the face. She survived; he served two years at San Quentin; they divorced. We'll get to that. But first, let's rewind back to December 1896. Los Angeles was a city with great ambitions — a rapidly exploding boomtown that was still in the process of leaving its rancho past behind. Col. Griffith J. Griffith and his wife Tina were the talk of the town, often spotted at theater openings or the opera. She was from a prominent society family. He was a formerly penniless Welsh immigrant who'd made his fortune in mining and other ventures. Our paper described Griffith as 'part visionary and part blowhard.' One acquaintance dubbed him as 'midget egomaniac,' another as a 'roly-poly pompous little fellow.' He was, by all accounts, bizarre. His business card just read: 'G.J. Griffith, capitalist.' He insisted on being called 'Colonel,' though his military title was thought to be entirely phony. On December 16, 1896, Tina and Griffith donated more than 3,000 acres of hilly splendor to be used as an L.A. public park. The massive, city-altering gift was several times larger than New York's Central Park. 'It must be made a place of rest and relaxation for the masses, a resort for the rank and file, for the plain people,' Griffith demanded at the time. Griffith was grandiose and eccentric, but he also believed in shaping the fledgling city, according to Mike Eberts, a historian and author of 'Griffith Park: A Centennial History.' 'He was a fellow who wanted to be loved. He wanted to be seen as a great leader. He was also, in his own way, and for his time, something of an idealist,' Eberts said. Some believed that Griffith's mighty bequest was also angled, in part, to dodge taxes. But for generations of Angelenos who've savored the park, such details are — like Griffith's military title — mere semantics. The initial gift brought him great acclaim locally. Here's how our paper put it in 1898: 'No need to ask 'Who is G.J. Griffith?' The individuality of the man has impressed itself so deeply and favorably on this community that his name is even as a 'household word.'' While thought to be in a delusional — and potentially drunken — stupor in a room at Santa Monica's Arcadia Hotel, Griffith shot his wife in the face in 1903. She lost an eye but lived. Our paper breathlessly covered the ensuing trial, which ended with Griffith taking a short trip to San Quentin. A few years after his release, Griffith (now divorced, according to Eberts) appeared at City Hall once again bearing gifts just before Christmas and hoping to rehabilitate his tarnished image. 'I wish to pay my debt of duty in this way to the community in which I have prospered,' Griffith reportedly told the mayor and City Council as he offered a significant sum of money to build Griffith Observatory. They accepted, though our paper reported that other citizens and public officials angrily protested the decision. One prominent community member suggested that the 'bribe' would send an egregious message to the city's youth: 'Are you prepared to say to them that if a man is a millionaire he can commit a crime and then with his wealth bribe the community to receive him back into fellowship?' The city's parks commission eventually rejected Griffith's gift, our paper reported, and it wasn't until after his death in 1919 that it was accepted as a bequest in his will. The observatory celebrated its 90th birthday this year. For Eberts, the takeaway is simple: 'You don't have to be a perfect person to do a great thing.' Today's great photo is from Times photographer Myung J. Chun, outside the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, which is set to open next year. Kevinisha Walker, multiplatform editorAndrew Campa, Sunday writerKarim Doumar, head of newsletters How can we make this newsletter more useful? Send comments to essentialcalifornia@ Check our top stories, topics and the latest articles on
Los Angeles Times
2 days ago
- Politics
- Los Angeles Times
Metro scrambles to find funding for massive bus fleet that is the heart of its Olympics plans
In a sprawling county where transit lines are sometimes miles apart, transit leaders' plans for the 2028 Olympics and Paralympics rely on a robust fleet of buses to get people to and from venues and avoid a traffic meltdown. The plan hinges on a $2-billion ask of the Trump administration to lease 2,700 buses to join Metro's fleet of roughly 2,400, traveling on a network of designated lanes to get from venue to venue. But with roughly three years to go until opening day, the plan faces several challenges over funding and time. The federal government has yet to respond to the city's request. And Metro's commitment to lease clean energy buses could pose supply problems and challenges around charging infrastructure. Operators would also need to be trained under state regulations and provided housing through the Games. 'Three years might seem like a lot of time to many of us, but in municipal time, three years is like the blink of an eye. That's our greatest challenge.' said Daniel Rodman, a member of the city of L.A.'s office of major events, at a recent UCLA transit forum. 'Father Time is coming.' The Games will be scattered in places across the region including Alamitos Beach in Long Beach, the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, the L.A. Coliseum and Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles and outside the county in Anaheim and all the way to northern San Diego County. Official watch parties and fan gatherings will also occur throughout the metropolis. Since these and many of the venues aren't directly accessible by rail, the bus system will be key to the city's push for 'transit first' — a motto that city leaders have adopted since Mayor Karen Bass' previous messaging around a 'car-free Olympics.' Outside the bus system, several transit projects in the works are expected to ease some of the traffic burden, including the extension for the Metro D Line, also known as the Purple Line, which Metro has slated for completion before the Olympics, and the opening of the automated people mover train at Los Angeles International Airport, which will offer an alternative to driving to the airport. There are also proposals for water taxi use from San Pedro to Long Beach, where multiple events will be held, to offer an alternative to the Vincent Thomas and Long Beach International Gateway bridges. The big question is whether enough people in a famously auto-bound city will be willing to take public transit. Leaders believe that tourists are likely to take advantage of the system, and hope more Angelenos will too. 'All of our international visitors know how to ride public transportation — it's second nature for our people coming from other countries,' county Supervisor and Metro board Chair Janice Hahn said at a recent UCLA forum, pointing to the Paris Olympics and the city's long use of public transit. 'It's the Angelenos that we're still trying to attract. So I'm thinking the legacy will be a good experience on a bus or a train that could translate after the Olympics to people riding Metro.' Los Angeles leaders warned of major traffic jams ahead of the 1984 Olympics. Then-Councilmember Pat Russell advised residents to leave the city and take a vacation, and many Angelenos rented out their homes to visitors. Fears loomed that if the city couldn't nail down a transit plan, the experience would be a disaster and spectators would encounter a fate similar to the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, N.Y., where thousands of people were stranded in below-freezing temperatures after the shuttle bus system became overloaded, according to Times archival reports. 'Of all the problems we're faced with these Olympics Games, transportation is the surest and most inevitable mess unless we get the cooperation and support of people to adjust their use of their personal vehicles,' Capt. Ken Rude, the head of California Highway Patrol's Olympic planning unit, told The Times a year before the 1984 Games. Months earlier, he warned that traffic jams could be so bad that people would be forced to abandon their cars on freeways. In the end, catastrophe was avoided. The plan 40 years ago was similar to today's — build a robust bus system to shuttle Olympics fans, athletes and leaders throughout the county. Traffic was manageable, whether due to transit plans that relied on an additional 550 buses to assist a fleet of 2,200, temporarily turned some streets one-way and limited deliveries to certain hours, or an exodus of residents as people left the area ahead of the Games, in part due to the dire predictions of complete gridlock. But fast-forward, Los Angeles' population has grown from nearly 8 million in 1984 to 9.7 million today, and the region is expecting millions more spectators than it did during the last Games. Estimates for the overall number of expected visitors are still vague, but planners have anticipated as many as 9 million more ticket holders than in the 1984 Olympics. 'There's a mountain to be moved and if you move it one year, it's a lot harder than in three years,' said Juane Matute, deputy director of UCLA Institute of Transportation Studies. 'The buses are hard enough to get, but all of these policy and regulatory changes may be hard as well.' Metro has received leasing commitments for roughly 650 buses so far. Vehicles aside, it will take time to get bus operators properly trained, tested and certified to operate public transit in the state, Matute said. An estimated 6,000 additional bus operators would be needed to drive people throughout the Games. Metro has said that those operators are expected to be provided through transit agencies loaning the buses. In the latest state budget proposal, $17.6 million from the state's highway fund would go toward Olympics and Paralympics planning, including Metro's Games Route Network, which would designate a series of roads for travel by athletes, media members, officials, the International Olympics Committee, spectators and workers. But city and Metro leaders have continued to raise concerns over the funding gap, especially since the additional buses and priority lanes network in 2028 won't be a permanent fixture to Los Angeles. Olympics planners, on the other hand, are confident that transportation will be successful. 'L.A. has invested unto itself a lot in infrastructure here and transportation infrastructure — far more than it did in '84,' LA28 Chair Casey Wasserman said after a three-day visit from the International Olympic Committee. 'We feel very confident that it'll be a different version of the success we had in '84 in terms of ingress and egress and access and experience when it comes to transportation.' Times staff writer Thuc Nhi Nguyen contributed to this report.
