Greater LA

Roller skating has become increasingly popular since the coronavirus pandemic. But African American skaters have been gracefully gliding around LA and cities nationwide for decades. They developed unique dance styles and new music scenes despite segregation and discrimination. New skaters are learning about the history they’re now a part of.

Six months into the pandemic, people are looking for masks that meet their personal styles and needs. Designers have come up with bedazzled coverings to printed logo masks. There’s also a latex face covering with a zipper over the mouth. These masks can cost hundreds of dollars each. Meanwhile, some people think designers are catering too much to vanity. In the end, what will it take to make mask-wearing more widespread?

Boyle Heights community gardeners are attempting to stop a cell phone tower from being built due to their 5G fears. “We're afraid that this radiation is going to add more damage to our community,” says Brenda Martinez, a parent, coach, and anti-5G activist. Martinez says she also wants to fight the tower because she was told it could displace the garden where she works.

For many years, visitors often thought of Hollywood as a place of glitz and glamour. But locals knew it as a seedy area. Then a big new mall opened at Hollywood and Highland in 2001, complete with white elephants on columns, a view of the Hollywood sign, and a new theater for the Oscars. Last year, investors DJM Capital and Gaw Capital bought Hollywood and Highland. They’re working with local design firm Gensler on a $100 million makeover of the complex, which they’ll rename as Ovation. They plan to break ground on the project later this year. 

One of LA’s largest homeless encampments was on a waterfront stretch of Beacon Street in San Pedro. For blocks, both sides of the street were lined with tents. But on Friday, the people living there had to pack all their things, fold their tents, and get out. This was the first major cleanup of an encampment in four months. Until last week, the city was following advice from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention not to move unhoused people during the pandemic unless it was into a safe indoor space. Then the City Council voted to resume sweeps in certain areas.

In Huntington Beach, a debate is brewing over the construction of a desalination plant, which would convert seawater to drinkable water. The process is extensive and expensive. The construction is controversial because of the cost and because of what all that salt and excess could do to the coastal ecosystem.

Olivia Moctezuma thinks she contracted COVID-19 at the Santa Paula DMV in early March. Shortly after, she was hospitalized, on a ventilator for 23 days, and unable to see her family for more than two months. She’s now back home, recovering, and sharing her story in hopes that it will prevent another family from going through what hers did.

The Perseverance rover is scheduled to blast off from Cape Canaveral, Florida on Thursday. The rover’s mission is to gather a sample of Mars’ soil, so scientists can begin to figure out whether the planet can sustain life for humans or extraterrestrials.

As of Monday, 615 people have died unhoused since the beginning of the year, and on average, three people die homeless in LA every day. That’s according to the county public health department. More people are living on the streets, and now COVID-19 has reduced access to services and resources.

With just under 100 days to go before the November election, state and county officials are trying to get residents ready to vote. There’s not just a new type of voting system, but a pandemic to deal with too. LA County’s Registrar Dean Logan talks about what’s in store for LA voters.