Los Angeles Touring

The U.S. Justice Department announced last week it’s investigating allegations of abuse by Catholic priests in Pennsylvania.

The news follows an explosive state grand jury report showing widespread coverup of the cases by church officials. One practice: move pedophile priests from place to place. In Southern California, that’s meant known abusers were routinely reassigned to work in L.A.’s immigrant communities. 

After allegations surfaced against Carlos Rene Rodriguez in Los Angeles, he was moved to the farmworker community of Santa Paula, where he was asked to minister to Spanish-speaking families in the Archdiocese of L.A.'s Office of Family Life.

There, he molested a number of boys, including Manuel Barragan and his brother, who say they were longtime Catholics who built their lives around the church. 

Welcome to Curbed Comparisons, where we explore what you can rent or buy for a certain dollar amount in various LA ’hoods. We’ve found five rentals within $100 of today’s price, $3,400. Vote for your favorite below.

Historic Core

This nearly 1,300-square-foot penthouse loft in the landmarked Bartlett Lofts sets the bar high. Fourteen-foot-high ceilings, plentiful industrial windows, exposed brick walls, a private terrace, in-unit laundry, and two parking spaces are just some of the amenities that come with the apartment. It rents for $3,300.

Mid-City

What a charming little duplex! The upstairs two-bedroom unit has a shared yard, hardwood floors, in-unit laundry and a dishwasher. The pet-friendly apartment comes with two parking spaces. It rents for $3,500.

Santa Monica

Less than a mile from the beach, this two-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment has hardwood floors, new in-unit washer and dryer, and parking in a private garage. The kitchen and bathroom have both been recently redone. The 1,000-square-foot apartment rents for $3,500.

Beverly Grove

Right on Fairfax, this newer-build one-bedroom apartment comes with high-end bells and whistles: open floor plan, stainless steel appliances, Caesarstone counters, top-of-the-line appliances, in-unit laundry, and custom kitchen cabinets. To top it all off, there’s parking. The apartment rents for $3,405.

Studio City

This painfully pretty one-bedroom Spanish Colonial Revival-style bungalow sits on a corner lot with a front lawn and mature trees. Exposed wood beams criss-cross the living room, which holds a wood-burning fireplace built-ins, and large vintage windows. The wood floors, hand-painted tiles, and plaster walls are all original to the house, built in 1938. It rents for $3,500.

In January 2018, the Greater Los Angeles Homeless Count counted an estimated 31,516 people experiencing homelessness on any given night in the city of Los Angeles. Those numbers are down slightly from the year before, but it’s still a daunting statistic for a city that is home to the largest unsheltered population in the country.

Thanks to the passage of Measures H and HHH, the city has more tools than ever to tackle the crisis, and there are finally some signs that efforts to house LA’s most vulnerable residents might be working. Earlier this year, Mayor Eric Garcetti announced A Bridge to Home, an effort to build emergency shelters in each council district, and issued an executive directive to fast-track their construction.

To help monitor the city's progress, the United Way launched the Everyone In campaign, where Angelenos can advocate for new housing solutions in their neighborhoods, and urge elected officials to address the problem. Councilmembers each made a pledge to create 222 new supportive housing units in their districts, and loosened restrictions to speed up their delivery. Several of these projects have already broken ground.

We asked experts and local homelessness advocates what else Angelenos can do. Their answers and solutions are below.

1. Volunteer

Many Angelenos have made serving food at a shelter or kitchen part of their holiday season traditions. But homeless organizations need year-round support, including a wide range of ongoing, lesser-known skills like tutoring, resume-editing, and child care.

Many Skid Row shelters, including the Downtown Women’s Center and Los Angeles Mission have new volunteer orientations every month. You can even sign up for “group serve” events where you’ll volunteer as a team with friends or coworkers. Or check out opportunities on Volunteer Match, which are located all over the city.

2. Build an ADU to house someone

After the state relaxed local ordinances that make it easier for homeowners to build an accessory dwelling unit (ADU) or granny shack on their properties, applications skyrocketed.

Now LA County has launched a pilot program where qualifying homeowners can receive up to $75,000 in funding—as well as a streamlined permitting process—to construct ADUs if they rent the units to formerly homeless individuals. The prefab company Cover built a new tool so homeowners can see what size ADU is allowed on their property.

State Sen. Bob Wieckowski, who sponsored the original ADU bill, is working on more legislation to help clear hurdles for property owners. “The power should go to the homeowner, not the government, if they want to help with the housing crisis,” he told Curbed. “We should let them chip in.”

3. Donate in-kind goods

Many local homeless organizations accept donations, both monetary and in-kind. “Unrestricted general funds go directly to the women we serve, and donating is a quick, simple way to make a big impact,” says Ana Velouise of the Downtown Women’s Center. But the center needs in-kind goods, too.

“We’re always in need of clean socks and underwear, sleeping bags, and travel-sized toiletries,” says Velouise.

Check out the center’s Amazon wish list for an quick way to purchase additional items that can be shipped directly to the center. Most missions and shelters have similar lists to make donating easy.

4. Advocate for affordable housing

Voters have approved several ballot measures to give money to more homelessness solutions, but there are still roadblocks in the way. Your participation in public meetings could help sway lawmakers to change city policies.

“It is crucial for residents who support [building] more homes to turn out to hearings and to contact decision makers about proposed housing developments,” says Mark Vallianatos of Abundant Housing. “Otherwise only NIMBY voices will be heard.” Sign up for Abundant Housing’s weekly action alert to find out where you can advocate for new homes.

Currently there are groups working to block the opening of emergency shelters, also known as bridge housing. Find out where shelters are being proposed in your council district, and contact your councilmember to find out how to show your support for these projects.

5. Sign up for the Homeless Count

“The annual Homeless Count doesn’t just give us an accurate picture of how many people we can help, it gives us the information we need to find and fund real, supportive solutions,” says Elise Buik, CEO of United Way of Greater Los Angeles. “We need everyone in to get everyone into homes and the Homeless Count volunteers are key to achieving that goal.”

With reporting centers all over the county, you can sign up for a location near you each January. Beyond helping the city learn where to target its efforts, it’s a good way to get to know your neighbors and serve your community.

6. Take a walking tour of Skid Row

With almost 60,000 residents, LA’s homeless community could be its own city. Thinking about it that way can help Angelenos cope with the crisis, says Adam Murray, executive director of Inner City Law Center.

In a Los Angeles Times op-ed, Murray vividly describes the demographics of “Homeless City,” which includes about 5,000 local children. Inner City Law Center offers a real-life way to understand the scope of homelessness in LA with walking tours through Skid Row, led by local residents.

“If we stop for a moment and consider what is around us, we see what will make Homeless City a smaller and healthier place: more affordable housing, higher incomes, more healthcare and social services and earlier interventions,” Murray writes.

The monthly walking tours take place at 10 a.m. on Fridays. Sign up here for details.

7. Just say “hello”

“It sounds simple and that you may not be making a difference, but when you make eye contact with someone who is often ignored, someone who has been struggling to maintain their dignity, you are telling them that in that moment you see them,” says Jackie Vorhauer of Skid Row Housing Trust, which provides permanent supportive housing for 2,000 people in 26 buildings throughout LA County.

“They are not invisible. So say hello. It may help them hang on to tomorrow when an opportunity for housing presents itself,” says Vorhauer.

It’s rare that a film and television costume designer makes the leap to developing her own fashion line. But Janie Bryant’s immense passion for crafting clothing has led her to achieve such a feat. The Emmy-winner has lent her stylistic vision to Mad Men, Deadwood and the recent series The Romanoffs and has joined forces with brands like Black Halo, Unique Vintage, Maidenform and Banana Republic. Now she has launched JXB, a line of clothing offering an extended size range from 12 to 24.

Serving as a celebration of curvy women, the pieces were inspired by the Mad Men costumes worn by Christina Hendricks’s character Joan Holloway.

“I’ve had so many women say to me, ‘I want to look like Joan. When are you going to make beautiful clothes for us?’ I just heard that over and over again,” she tells FashionUnited. “Those are the women who really inspired me because they are used to not having a lot of choices. Every woman deserves to feel beautiful and to have luxury that’s accessible. It was really important to me to create this line for them.”

“What I love about my work as a costume designer is that I get to create a whole entire world through the clothing,” she adds. “I always say that my superpower is going back in time but that really is creating a whole fantasy, creating a whole world through costume design. Which, is also based on a character and specific to a character and how I visualize that through the clothing.”

Yet working on her own creations has proven to be a freeing process, without the constraints of time period or being tasked with representing a character.

“With JXB, I wanted to create a collection that was super modern, flirty, feminine, figure-defining – so the intentions are completely different when I’m costume designing for a show,” she adds. “It’s different parts of the brain.”

The JXB by Janie Bryant collection focuses largely on denim, Mongolian cashmere and real leather. As part of the launch, model and activist Marquita Pring is headlining a campaign for the pieces.

While the two-year process of developing JXB called for determination, Bryant found the work far less taxing.

“Costume design is very challenging. It’s probably one of the most difficult things I’ve ever done in my life,” she shares. “We can have hundreds and hundreds of costumes that also needed to be fitted in costumes head to toe. There can be hundreds of costumes that have to be created just for one episode or one movie. It’s a massive thing.”

She adds, “Creating a collection is different in the way that – you’re creating garments for production but it’s not creating hundreds and hundreds of pieces at one time. It’s men women children of all ages, all shapes and sizes.”

Prior to creating looks for the screen, Bryant studied fashion design at American College of Applied Arts and later worked in both Paris and New York. Yet it was her work on the popular ‘60s set drama that ultimately led success in the design world.

“With the popularity of Mad Men and me being able to design all these collaborations and be able to work with all these fashion companies is such a unique thing,” she shares. “I don’t think most costume designers want to be fashion designers and vice versa. I just happened to love both. I’ve been lucky enough to do both. I’ve wanted to have my own collection, my own brand for a long time and now it’s finally happening. It’s so exciting.”

Photos courtesy of the brand


Source: https://fashionunited.com/news/fashion/mad-men-costume-designer-aims-to-make-every-woman-feel-beautiful-with-size-inclusive-line/2018112724760

Roth, a biologist who specializes in canine and equine cognition, said her group’s past research with German shepherds has found that play and similar affectionate interactions are the key factor in tamping down dogs’ anxieties. Exercise and access to green spaces are great, she said, but “if we just interact with the dog in a positive way, we do give the dog what it wants. Have fun with your dog.”

Dodgers pitcher Hyun-Jin Ryu was the only one of seven eligible players to accept his $17.9 million qualifying offer. Bryce Harper, A.J. Pollock, Craig Kimbrel, Patrick Corbin, Yasmani Grandal, and Dallas Keuchel each rejected his, officially making them free agents. Teams that had their QO’s rejected will recoup a draft pick once the player signs elsewhere.

That Harper rejected his QO comes as no surprise, as he is expected to strike perhaps the largest free agent contract in baseball history. Though the free agent market has been less lucrative lately than in previous years, the combination of Harper’s elite talent and his age — he’s only 26 years old — makes him a primary target for more than a handful of teams. Harper reportedly turned down a 10-year, $300 million contract extension offer from the Nationals, so that would seem to be a baseline.

It is also not surprising that Kimbrel, 30, turned down his QO from the Red Sox. Despite a so-so showing during a championship run, Kimbrel is still young and talented enough to land another lucrative contract on the free agent market.

Keuchel bet on himself in turning down the Astros’ QO. He’s been solid since winning the AL Cy Young Award in 2015, owning a 3.77 ERA across 83 starts over the last three seasons. However, he turns 31 years old at the beginning of 2019, and his already mediocre strikeout rate declined even further this past season, so there may be some skepticism about his ability to perform over the course of a multi-year deal. Keuchel will still get one eventually, but his market may be slower to develop.

Pollock, soon 31 as well, will be the outfielder most coveted once Harper is off the market. When he’s healthy, he’s a dynamic five-tool player. However, Pollock hasn’t played in more than 113 games in a season since 2015, so that may be a red flag. Pollock ended 2018 batting .257/.316/.484 with 21 home runs, 65 RBI, 61 runs scored, and 13 stolen bases in 460 plate appearances while playing above-average defense according to various defensive metrics.

Grandal, 30, could’ve gone either way with his QO, but ultimately chose to decline. He had a disappointing postseason, both offensively and defensively. Given how humans are prone to recency bias, it stood to reason that his October performance could have hurt his market. The catching position, however, is rather weak and Grandal stands out in a market that is otherwise focused on Marlins catcher J.T. Realmuto. Grandal did swat 24 home runs with an .815 OPS in 140 games for the Dodgers this past season.

Corbin, 29, was the most obvious QO decline after Harper. The lefty is coming off of a career year, finishing with a 3.15 ERA and a 246/48 K/BB ratio in exactly 200 innings. Corbin is the best free agent pitcher on the market this offseason. The Yankees have been seriously linked with Corbin even before the season ended.

Ryu likely chose to accept his QO because of his age and injury history. It would have been a gamble to pursue a multi-year deal. He did, however, make 15 starts during the regular season to the tune of a 1.97 ERA with 89 strikeouts and 15 walks in 82 1/3 innings. Those are great numbers. And most clubs would have been smart enough to look beyond his 5.21 ERA in the postseason, which has more to do with a leaky bullpen than his own personal failings. Still, it’s hard to fault Ryu for playing it safe and taking the guaranteed $17.9 million for one year.

The Los Feliz area is home to some of Los Angeles’ best bars and restaurants, but how well do you know the bartenders who help keep the party going? This month the Ledger sat down with Jack Mcloughlin, self-described “chatty bartender” at The Semi-Tropic, to discuss his career and favorite drink.

Where are you from?

I’m from Virginia. Shenandoah Valley, about an hour west of D.C. I moved out here about ten years ago.

What brought you out here?

I moved out here to act. I moved out here with a girl and I was done with college and wasn’t sure if I wanted to go to law school. Everyone in my family is a lawyer, but I decided I didn’t want to be like everyone else.

Any notable acting roles?

When I first moved out here, I was doing improv at Upright Citizens Brigade and I did a lot of commercials. That’s a weird experience because you go into a room where there are twenty versions of you, all waiting to shill out for McDonald’s if you’re lucky. It was good to get rejected a bunch, but it took a toll on me. I just did some voice over work for a cartoon and we’ll see if that comes out.

How’d you get into bartending?

Initially through loving beer. The thing I like about beer is it’s a super democratic beverage—pretty much everyone could afford the most expensive beer verses a nice glass of wine or the nicest glass of scotch.

The Semi-Tropic just got its liquor license, no?

We were initially doing just beer and wine here, but just got our liquor license in June. I’ve been here since they opened, it’s my first bartending gig and it an interesting way to jump the queue and help create a place. When I interviewed it was still a construction site. When they first opened, they didn’t even have a beer and wine license, it was just coffee during the day. But we’ve made it a good neighborhood spot. For me, I’ve been working on making the vibe we had with beer and wine transition to a full liquor license because people can get more rowdy when you have a full bar.

What’s one of the funniest, weirdest, most interesting things you’ve seen on the job?

We’ve had a lot of things. Recently, we had sort of an impromptu wedding reception. Nobody knew it was going to happen. A friend of mine was having her birthday party here. She had a friend bring in lasers that shined her name on the wall and there were dancers. But, people kept coming in asking if this was where the wedding reception was. We would up having a big birthday party and a wedding reception. The bride and her party were sitting on this couch under this bright laser sign that spelled out the girl’s name. It was a great time, I think the bride actually knew the birthday girl, so it was fine, but we were all thinking “Who decides to have their wedding reception at a bar but doesn’t tell the bar?”

Bars are a weird place to work; they’re a place where people get progressively looser and more intoxicated. I’m just trying to guide people on a pleasant evening; I want people to have a good night and a good morning without a hangover. So I’ll offer water or say “Hey, let’s talk a little.” I don’t know if I want to do this forever, but I’m content making drinks and talking to people, which is a really nice aspect. It’s nice to chew the fat with people about what they’re reading or how their love life’s going.

What is one of your favorite drinks, what do you like about it and how do we make it?

I love a simple drink, like a Daiquiri, Margarita or Gimlet. I love to play around with that. Like, I’ve been playing around with gin and a little Thai basil, cucumber, lime and simple syrup. They just go together so well. With a lot of cocktails, you want to give people something different, but familiar. Lately at home, I’ve been working on a Plantation Pineapple Old Fashioned. I’m using Plantation Pineapple Rum, which is so good. It’s great because they get the pineapple flavor from putting husks in the rum and letting it sit. You’re getting a naturally occurring flavor; it’s not like Absolut Citron. So, it’s that with three big dashes of bitters and some simple syrup. It’s a slightly sweeter version of an Old Fashioned and has some great herbal notes.

Plantation Pineapple Old Fashioned

3 dashes Angostura Bitters

¼ oz Simple Syrup

2 oz Plantation Pineapple Rum

Pour over a big ice cube in an Old Fashioned glass.

In fairly rapid turnaround, Kumquat Coffee opened its doors in Highland Park on November 24. After taking over the troubled location of The Juice, the owners took less than a month to convert the 800 square foot space into a light and airy spot for caffeinated drinking, and laptop lingering. And all slightly east of the bustle of York Boulevard in Highland Park.

The large front windows are ideal for laptop warriors watching LA life go by. In comparison to the adjacent Cafe de Leche and Collage Coffee, Kumquat’s foot traffic isn’t quite there yet. Owners Scott Sohn and AJ Kim simply want to complement the area and provide another option on York.

Their gathered experience brings a solid cup, as they measure every single espresso shot. Sohn is former GM of Document Coffee Bar in Koreatown, and Kim is former general manager of Reborn Coffee. “The bar was designed and organized for a barista. We’ve carefully considered what would be best for making coffee. We’re not just making the same coffee everyday.”

Kumquat’s coffee beans are sourced from The Roastery in San Francisco, but the partners plan to roast their own in the coming months. Kim and Sohn will provide Mr. Holmes Bakehouse goods in the coming weeks, and since there’s a new playground next door, they’re working on a kids menu.

Kim and Sohn hope to stand out with subtle and elegant touches. They chose tea from makers like Red Blossom, Rishi, Hankook Tea, and Esteemed Tea Collective, which specializes in oolong. They installed a beautiful FAEMA E61 Jubilee espresso machine, wooden tables, hip music choices with a non-distracting volume, and single-origin chocolates for mochas.

The four-stool bar overlooks the coffee prep area, where the partners will ultimately serve a coffee omakase menu. “Want to make the bar into an omakase section with a specialty menu,” says Kim. “We’ll provide a mini coffee course. It’ll be a place to share our passion about coffee and tea.”

The cafe is directly across the street from the forthcoming Hinterhof biergarten. Both mark the start of a recent wave of York Boulevard expanding slightly eastward near Avenue 50. Hours are 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily, except Tuesday, when it’ll be closed.

Kumquat Coffee. 4936 York Blvd, Los Angeles, CA

The Los Angeles Lakers have signed veteran center Tyson Chandler, the team announced Tuesday.

Terms of the deal were not released by the Lakers.

Chandler became a free agent after receiving a buyout from the Phoenix Suns and was free to sign with any team after clearing waivers. The Lakers were expected to sign Chandler, who will add some much-needed depth to the team's group of centers.

Chandler moves to the Lakers after playing in Phoenix for the past four seasons. Los Angeles is the center's seventh franchise in 18 career seasons. Chandler was named an All-Star with the New York Knicks in 2012-13 and won an NBA championship with the Dallas Mavericks in 2010-11.

During a bench role with the Suns this year, Chandler averaged 3.7 points per game in 12.7 minutes.