Reporting from Orange County – When Mark West heard about a protest happening near the Orange County Civic Center, it struck his curiosity. He was informed of the Occupy Orange County demonstration when police officers knocked on the window of the truck he lives out of in the Santa Ana Civic Center parking lot. West...
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Reporting from Orange County – Jim Arambula was sitting at the bus stop at the Fullerton Transportation Center when two men in suits came up to him. The men identified themselves as officials from the Orange County District Attorney’s office. They proceeded to question him about Kelly Thomas. Thomas was a 37-year-old schizophrenic homeless...
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Those with homes, as well as a few without, slept outside last night to raise awareness of, what critics say is, a growing movement to criminalize the homeless in Venice. Advocates say the city is attempting to remove a destitute population from the beachside community through various parking ordinances, such as disallowing overnight parking,...
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Health inspectors, accompanied by police, issued a notice of violation to volunteers from the Los Angeles Catholic Worker and ordered them to stop feeding the homeless on Friday, April 8. Martha Lewis, a community member of the LA Catholic Worker, said they were warned on April 6 to cease their feeding operations on Skid...
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Typically a conference on homelessness and poverty would only focus on gentrification, police abuse, public housing or tenants’ rights, but there is a recession and a new issue must also be addressed: foreclosures. This weekend, the Los Angeles Housing and Hunger Crisis Conference was held to provide a venue for groups to share information...
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Themes of empowerment and social responsibility permeated a community picnic in Skid Row on Thursday, Sept. 30. The event was both a festival and a protest against the alleged rise in citations against charities distributing food to the homeless in downtown. Groups from the Los Angeles Community Action Network (LA CAN), Los Angles Catholic...
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Members of the Los Angeles Community Action Network and the Los Angeles Police Department met yesterday to try and settle differences over an ongoing issue for food providers on Skid Row. According to police, food providers hand out food that is often not prepared and distributed according to health codes, leave trash behind and...
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Which has priority when distributing food to the homeless: need or law? Two groups based in downtown Los Angeles are actively debating just that. On one end of the issue exists the non-profit and volunteer-driven organizations devoted to providing food to any in need, whatever the method. At the other end exist government officials,...
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Due to a perceived rise in law enforcement by the Los Angeles Police Department and Department of Public Health, members from a variety of human rights and homeless empowerment organizations joined together to discuss ways to defend, as they put it, their “right to share food.” Members from Los Angeles Community Action Network (LA CAN), Los...
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On a typically hot July afternoon, Michael Hubman arrives at Gladys Park in his navy blue Volvo. He breaks out six gallon-sized jugs of water in a small crate and places it on a foldable cart. Before he can finish unpacking, many recognize him with a call: “Hey, water man!” Hubman can’t get the...
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