Central-Alameda, Los Angeles
Central-Alameda is a 2.18 square miles square mile neighborhood within the South Los Angeles region of Los Angeles, California. According to the Mapping L. A. project of the Los Angeles Times, Central-Alameda, which measure 2.18 square miles, is bounded on the north and northeast by Downtown L. A. on the east by the city of Vernon, on the south by Huntington Park and Florence-Firestone, on the west by Historic South Central and South Park. The street boundaries are north, Washington Boulevard. Central-Alameda encompasses the area of the neighborhood traditionally known as Nevin. According to the U. S. census, the neighborhood's population in 2000 was 40,947, which amounted to 18,760 people per square mile, among the highest densities for the city of Los Angeles and among the highest densities for the county. In 2008 the L. A. Department of City Planning estimated the population at 43,638; the average household size was 4.3 people, considered high for the county. Renters occupied 70.2% of the housing units and owners inhabited the rest, 29.8%.
There were 1,980 families headed by single parents, 26.3% of the total, considered high for both the city and the county. The median age was 22, "young for the city and young for the county." The percentages of residents aged 10 through 34 were among the county's highest. The percentages of never married men and women were among the county's highest. Just 444 people, 1.8% of the neighborhood population, were veterans, low for both the city and the county. The Los Angeles Times considered the neighborhood "not diverse," with Latinos measuring 84.6% of the population, blacks 13.3%, whites 1% and Asians 0.7%. The median household income of $31,559 was low for the county; as part of the city government, the neighborhood is represented by the Central-Alameda Neighborhood Council. In education, just 2.8% of the residents 25 and older had a four-year degree, considered low when compared to the city and the county as a whole. Seventy-five percent of residents in that age range had failed to complete high school, the highest percentage of any Los Angeles City neighborhood.
Jefferson High School is situated within Central-Alameda at Hooper streets. City recreation facilities include: Central Recreation Center, Naomi Avenue at East 22nd Street Ross Snyder Recreation Center, 41st Street Central Avenue Jazz Park, Central Avenue at 42nd Place Fred Roberts Park and Recreation Center, Long Beach Avenue between East 46th Street and East 48th Place Latham Park, Latham Street at East 53rd Street Slauson Recreation Center, 53rd Street at Compton Avenue Augustus F. Hawkins Natural Park and Compton avenues Central-Alameda real-estate overview Central-Alameda crime map and statistics
Chesterfield Square, Los Angeles
Chesterfield Square is a 0.63-square-mile neighborhood in Los Angeles, located within the South Los Angeles region. It contains its namesake park, along with the Van Ness Recreation Center; the neighborhood is a mix of low-density commercial and residential development with characteristic bungalow houses. Chesterfield Square was once known as the site of the worst incident of gang violence in L. A. history, in which 5 people were left dead in a gang-related mass murder titled "54th St. Massacre." The neighborhood has bounced back through redevelopment. The Chesterfield Square neighborhood touches Vermont Square on the north, Harvard Park on the east, Manchester Square on the south, Hyde Park on the west, it is bounded by West 54th Street on the north, Western Avenue on the east, Florence Avenue on the south and South Van Ness Boulevard on the west. It is notable within the city for the low percentage of its 6,000+ residents born outside the United States, for being in first place for the number of violent crimes committed of areas of Los Angeles and for the fact that the percentage of veterans who served during World War II and the Korean War is among the county's highest.
A total of 6,062 people lived in Chesterfield Square's 0.63 square miles, according to the 2000 U. S. census—averaging 9,571 people per square mile, about the average population density for both the city and the county. The median age was 31, about average for the city and the county, but the percentages of residents aged 10 or younger or 11 to 18 were among the county's highest. There were 406 families headed by single parents. Within the neighborhood, African Americans made up 58.6% of the population—considered a high percentage for the county—while Latinos were 36.9%. Other ethnicities were White, 1.5%. Mexico and El Salvador were the most common places of birth for the 23.4% of the residents who were born abroad, considered to be a low percentage of foreign-born when compared with the city as a whole. The median household income in 2008 dollars was $37,737, considered low for both the city and county; the percentage of households earning $20,000 or less was high, compared to the county at large.
The average household size of three people was about average. Renters occupied 49.4% of the housing units, homeowners occupied the rest. The 2000 census counted 298 veterans, of whom 164 served in World War II or the Korean War, a percentage, among the county's highest; these are the ten neighborhoods in Los Angeles County with the largest percentage of black residents:View Park-Windsor Hills, California, 86.5% Gramercy Park, Los Angeles, 86.4% Leimert Park, Los Angeles, 79.6% Manchester Square, Los Angeles, 78.6% Baldwin Hills/Crenshaw, Los Angeles, 71.3% Ladera Heights, California, 71% Hyde Park, Los Angeles, 66% Chesterfield Square, Los Angeles, 58.6% West Rancho Dominguez, California, 57.6% Westmont, California, 57.5% Only 6% of Chesterfield Square residents 25 and older held a four-year degree, a low percentage for both the city and the county. The schools that serve the boundaries of Chesterfield Square are: Testimonial Christian, 5701 South Western Avenue Horace Mann Junior High School, 7001 South Saint Andrews Place Marie Fegan Schools, Inc. 2061 West Slauson Avenue Citizen Learning Academy, private, 6715 South Western Avenue Cleophas Oliver Learning Academy, private, 1902 West Florence Boulevard Chesterfield Square Park, 1950 West 54th StreetFacility Features: Children's Play Area, Picnic Tables Van Ness Recreation Center, 5720 2nd AvenueFacility Features: Baseball Diamond, Basketball Courts, Children's Play Area, Football Field, Picnic Tables, Soccer Field, Tennis Courts, Indoor Gym, Outdoor Fitness Equipment.
Earl C. Gay, Los Angeles City Council member, 1933–45 Dash Minibus route of Los Angeles Department of Transportation Interactive map of Chesterfield Square Chesterfield Square crime map and statistics
Maxine Waters
Maxine Moore Waters is an American politician serving as the U. S. Representative for California's 43rd congressional district since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, Waters is in her 15th term in the House, having served since 1991, she represented the state's 29th district and 35th district. She is the most senior of the twelve black women serving in Congress. Before becoming a U. S. Representative, Waters served in the California State Assembly, to which she was first elected in 1976; as an Assemblywoman, she advocated divestment from South Africa's apartheid regime. In Congress, she had been an outspoken opponent of the Iraq War and of Republican Presidents George H. W. Bush, George W. Bush and Donald Trump. Waters was born in 1938 in St. Louis, the daughter of Remus Carr and Velma Lee; the fifth out of thirteen children, Waters was raised by her single mother once her father left the family when Maxine was two. She graduated from Vashon High School in St. Louis, Missouri before moving with her family to Los Angeles, California in 1961.
She worked in a garment factory and as a telephone operator before being hired as an assistant teacher with the Head Start program in Watts in 1966. Waters enrolled at Los Angeles State College, where she received a bachelor's degree in sociology in 1971. In 1973, Waters went to work as chief deputy to City Councilman David S. Cunningham, Jr. was entered the California State Assembly in 1976. While in the Assembly, she worked for the divestment of state pension funds from any businesses active in South Africa, a country operating under the policy of apartheid, helped pass legislation within the guidelines of the divestment campaign's Sullivan Principles, she ascended to the position of Democratic Caucus Chair for the Assembly. Upon the retirement of Augustus F. Hawkins in 1990, Waters was elected to the United States House of Representatives for California's 29th congressional district with over 79% of the popular vote, she has been reelected from this district, renumbered as the 35th District in 1992 and as the 43rd in 2012, with at least 70 percent of the vote.
Waters has represented large parts of south-central Los Angeles and the Los Angeles coastal communities of Westchester and Playa Del Rey, as well as the cities of Torrance, Hawthorne and Lawndale. On July 29, 1994, Waters came to public attention when she interrupted a speech by Peter King; the presiding officer, Carrie Meek, classed her behavior as "unruly and turbulent", threatened to have the Sergeant at Arms present her with the Mace of the House of Representatives. As of 2017, this is the most recent instance of the mace being employed for a disciplinary purpose. Waters was suspended from the House for the rest of the day; the conflict with King stemmed from the previous day, when they had both been present at a House Banking Committee hearing on the Whitewater controversy. Waters felt King's questioning of Maggie Williams was too harsh, they subsequently exchanged hostile words. Waters was chair of the Congressional Black Caucus from 1997 to 1998. In 2005 Waters testified at the U. S. House Committee on Education and the Workforce hearings on "Enforcement of Federal Anti-Fraud Laws in For-Profit Education", highlighting the American College of Medical Technology as a "problem school" in her district.
In 2006 she was involved in the debate over King Drew Medical Center. She criticized media coverage of the hospital and in 2006 Waters asked the Federal Communications Commission to deny a waiver of the cross ownership ban, hence license renewal for KTLA-TV, a station the Los Angeles Times owned, she said, "The Los Angeles Times has had an inordinate effect on public opinion and has used it to harm the local community in specific instances." She requested that the FCC force the paper to either sell its station or risk losing that station's broadcast rights. According to Broadcasting & Cable, the challenges raised "the specter of costly legal battles to defend station holdings... At a minimum, defending against one would cost tens of thousands of dollars in lawyers' fees and delay license renewal about three months". Waters' petition was unsuccessful; as a Democratic representative in Congress, Waters was a superdelegate to the 2008 Democratic National Convention. She endorsed Democratic U. S. Senator Hillary Clinton for the party's nomination in late January 2008, granting the New York Senator nationally recognized support that some suggested would "make big waves."
Waters switched her endorsement to U. S. Senator Barack Obama when his lead in the pledged delegate count became insurmountable on the final day of primary voting. In 2009 Waters had a confrontation with fellow Democratic congressman Dave Obey over an earmark in the United States House Committee on Appropriations; the funding request was for a public school employment training center in Los Angeles, named after her. In 2011, Waters voted against the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012, related to a controversial provision that allows the government and the military to detain American citizens and others indefinitely without trial. With the retirement of Barney Frank in 2012, Waters became the ranking member of the House Financial Services Committee. On July 24, 2013, Waters voted in favor of Amendment 100 included in H. R. 2397 Department of Defense Appropriations Act of 2014. The amendment targeted domestic surveillance activities that of the National Secu
Florence Avenue
Florence Avenue is a major east–west street in central Los Angeles County and South Los Angeles, in Southern California. It is bounded in the east by Mills Road at Janine Drive in Whittier. At Telegraph Road, it changes to Florence. West of La Cienega Boulevard, it swerves into Aviation Boulevard, a north–south street, in the City of Inglewood. Florence Avenue runs through the cities of Inglewood, Los Angeles, Huntington Park, Bell Gardens, Santa Fe Springs, unincorporated Los Angeles County bordering the City of Whittier. Florence Avenue crosses under Harbor Freeway, Long Beach Freeway, San Gabriel River Freeway, Santa Ana Freeway. An unconnected portion of Florence Avenue is located in La Habra and has similar west-east coordinates to the main Florence Avenue. Metro Local Lines: 111 and 120 run through Florence Avenue; the Metro Blue Line light rail serves the Florence station, at the intersection of Graham Avenue and Florence Avenue in the unincorporated community of Florence. The under construction Crenshaw/LAX Line will have 3 new light rail metro rail stations on Florence Avenue, the Fairview Heights Metro station at West Boulevard in the Hyde Park district, the Downtown Inglewood Metro station at La Brea Avenue in Downtown Inglewood and the Westchester/Veterans Metro station at Hindry Avenue near the border adjacent to the Westchester neighborhood of Los Angeles.
The roadway was known as Redondo Boulevard westward from West Boulevard at the Inglewood-Los Angeles city boundary. Land developer George E. Longan in 1927 established a new business center on Redondo Boulevard near Hillcrest Avenue, Inglewood, a Spanish stucco structure "in harmony with the nearby Inglewood Woman's Club."In 1931 West Boulevard was extended south to Florence Avenue and intersected Redondo Boulevard at the latter's easterly end. In 1934, the Los Angeles Times noted that "Florence Avenue runs into Redondo Boulevard." East-west Redondo Boulevard turned north-south to traverse between Redondo Beach. The intersection of Florence and Normandie is noted for an incident during the 1992 riots in Los Angeles when several men pulled driver Reginald Denny from his truck and beat him in the intersection
Los Angeles Unified School District
The Los Angeles Unified School District is the largest public school system in the U. S. state of California and the 2nd largest public school district in the United States. Only the New York City Department of Education has a larger student population. During the 2016–2017 school year, LAUSD served around 734,641 students, including 107,142 students at independent charter schools and 69,867 adult students. During the same school year, it had 33,635 other employees, it is the second largest employer in Los Angeles County, after the county government. The total school district operating budget for 2016–2017 is $7.59 billion. The school district consists of Los Angeles and all or portions of several adjoining Southern California cities. LAUSD has its own police force, the Los Angeles School Police Department, established in 1948 to provide police services for LAUSD schools; the LAUSD enrolls a third of the preschoolers in Los Angeles County, operates as many buses as the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
The LAUSD school construction program rivals the Big Dig in terms of expenditures, LAUSD cafeterias serve about 500,000 meals a day, rivaling the output of local McDonald's restaurants. The LAUSD has been criticized in the past for crowded schools with large class sizes, high drop-out and expulsion rates, low academic performance in many schools, poor maintenance and incompetent administration. In 2007, LAUSD's dropout rate was 26 percent for grades 9 through 12, but more there are signs that the district is showing improvement, both in terms of dropout and graduation rates. An ambitious renovation program intended to help ease the overcrowded conditions has been completed; as part of its school-construction project, LAUSD opened two high schools in 2005 and four high schools in 2006. Los Angeles Unified School District is governed by a seven-member Board of Education, which appoints a superintendent, who runs the daily operations of the district. Members of the board are elected directly by voters from separate districts that encompass communities that the LAUSD serves.
The district's current superintendent is Austin Beutner. The district's former superintendents are Ramon Cortines; the Board of Education selected King for superintendent in January 2016. Vivian Ekchian became acting superintendent until the Board election of Beutner in May 2018. Cortines was appointed acting superintendent after the school board decided to buy out the contract of David L. Brewer III, a former Navy Vice-Admiral who served as head of the Navy's Education and Training Division and was in charge of the SeaLift Command. From 2001 until his retirement in October 2006, the district was led by former Governor of Colorado and Democratic Party chairman Roy Romer; the six current members of Board of Education include George McKenna, Board President Monica Garcia, Scott Schmerelson, Board Vice President Nick Melvoin, Kelly Fitzpatrick-Gonez, Richard Vladovic. District 5 is vacant following the resignation of Dr. Ref Rodriguez in July 2018. In the March 2015 Los Angeles City Council and School Board elections, voters approved Charter Amendment 2, which allows the Los Angeles Unified School District Board of Education to change their election dates to even-numbered years.
It will take effect with the March 2020 Primary election and the runoff in November 2020. Every LAUSD household or residential area is zoned to an elementary school, a middle school and a high school, in one of the eight local school districts; each local school district is run by an area superintendent and is headquartered within the district. The Los Angeles Unified School District was once composed of two separate districts: the Los Angeles City School District, formed on September 19, 1853, the Los Angeles City High School District, formed in 1890; the latter provided 9–12 educational services, while the former did so for K-8. On July 1, 1961 the Los Angeles City School District and the Los Angeles City High School District merged, forming the Los Angeles Unified School District. On January 31, 1957, a DC7B crashed into the schoolyard of Pacoima Junior High School in Pacoima in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles, California following a midair collision with a US military plane, resulting in the deaths of the four crew members aboard the DC-7B, the pilot of the Scorpion jet, two students on the ground, a third died three days later.
Additionally seventy-eight students suffered injuries which ranged from minor to life-threatening. The annexation left the Topanga School District and the Las Virgenes Union School District as separate remnants of the high school district; the high school district changed its name to the West County Union High School District. LAUSD annexed the Topanga district on July 1, 1962. Since the Las Virgenes Union School District had the same boundary as the remaining West County Union High School District, on July 1, 1962 West County ceased to exist. In 1963, a lawsuit, Crawford v. Board of Ed. of Los Angeles was filed to end segregation in the district. The California Supreme Court required the district to come up with a plan in 1977; the board returned to court with what the court of appeal years would describe as "one of if not the most drastic plan of mandatory student reassignment in the nation." A desegregation busing plan was developed to be implemented in the 1978 school year. Two lawsuits to stop the enforced busing plan, both title
South Park, Los Angeles
South Park is a 1.41 square miles neighborhood within the South Los Angeles region of Los Angeles, California. According to the Mapping L. A. project of the Los Angeles Times, South Park is bordered by Historic South Central on the north, Central-Alameda on the east, Florence on the south and Vermont-Slauson and Vermont Square on the west. The neighborhood's street boundaries are given as East Vernon Avenue on the north, Central Avenue on the east, Slauson Avenue on the south and the Harbor Freeway on the west. According to Mapping L. A. a total of 30,496 people lived in South Park's 1.41 square miles, as measured by the 2000 U. S. census—averaging 21,638 people per square mile. Population was estimated at 32,851 in 2008; the median age was 23. The percentages of residents aged birth to 34 were among the county's highest. Latinos made up 78.6% of the population, with African Americans at 19.2%, white 1%, Asian 0.1%, other 1%. Mexico and El Salvador were the most common places of birth for the 49.4% of the residents who were born abroad.
The $29,518 median household income in 2008 dollars was considered low for the county. The percentage of households earning $20,000 or less was high, compared to the county at large; the average household size of 3.9 people was high for the city. Renters occupied 72.3% of the housing units, homeowners occupied the rest. In 2000 there were 1,607 families headed by single parents, or 27.9%. The percentages of never-married women and never-married men. In 2000 there were 3 % of the population; the neighborhood's only recreation facility, South Park, at 345 East 51st Street, was established on a 20-acre plot purchased from "the Boetcher estate" in 1900, after its planting with orange and walnut trees, it was said to "compare favorably with any of the city's older beauty spots." It fronted on South Park Avenue, now Avalon Boulevard. The water well and pump house developed at that time are still in existence; the park features a baseball diamond, basketball courts, children's play area, picnic tables, seasonal pool and tennis courts.
The schools within South Park's boundaries are: George Washington Carver Middle School, LAUSD, 4410 McKinley Avenue Synergy Kinetic Academy, LAUSD charter middle school, 1420 East Adams Boulevard Los Angeles Academy Middle School, LAUSD, 644 East 56th Street Celerity Dyad Charter School, LAUSD elementary, 4501 South Wadsworth Avenue Forty-Ninth Street Elementary School, LAUSD, 750 East 49th Street Aurora Elementary School, LAUSD, 1050 East 52nd Place Main Street Elementary School, LAUSD, 129 East 53rd Street Alliance College Ready Middle Academy #12 Alliance Patti & Peter Neuwirth Leadership Academy Synergy Quantum Academy High School Comments about living in South Park South Park crime map and statistics
1992 Los Angeles riots
The 1992 Los Angeles riots were a series of riots and civil disturbances that occurred in Los Angeles County in April and May of 1992. Unrest began in South Central Los Angeles on April 29, after a trial jury acquitted four officers of the Los Angeles Police Department for usage of excessive force in the arrest and beating of Rodney King, videotaped and viewed in TV broadcasts; the rioting spread throughout the Los Angeles metropolitan area, as thousands of people rioted over a six-day period following the announcement of the verdict. Widespread looting, assault and murder occurred during the riots, estimates of property damage were over $1 billion. With local police overwhelmed in controlling the situation, Governor of California Pete Wilson sent in the California Army National Guard, President George H. W. Bush deployed the 7th Infantry Division and the 1st Marine Division. Order and peace were restored throughout L. A. County, but 63 people were killed, with more than 12,000 arrests. LAPD Chief of Police Daryl Gates, who had announced his resignation by the time of the riots, was attributed with much of the blame.
On the evening of March 3, 1991, Rodney King and two passengers were driving west on the Foothill Freeway through the Lake View Terrace neighborhood of Los Angeles. The California Highway Patrol attempted to initiate a traffic stop. A high-speed pursuit ensued with speeds estimated at up to 115 mph, along freeways and through residential neighborhoods; when King stopped, CHP Officer Timothy Singer and CHP Officer Melanie Singer, arrested him and two other occupants of the car. After the two passengers were placed in the patrol car, five white Los Angeles Police Department officers – Stacey Koon, Laurence Powell, Timothy Wind, Theodore Briseno, Rolando Solano – surrounded King, who came out of the car last, they tasered him, struck him dozens of times with side-handled batons, tackled him to the ground before handcuffing him. Sergeant Koon testified at trial that King resisted arrest, that he believed King was under the influence of PCP at the time of the arrest, which caused him to be aggressive and violent toward the officers.
Video footage of the arrest showed that King attempted to get up each time he was struck, that the police made no attempt to cuff him until he lay still. A subsequent test of King for the presence of PCP in his body at the time of the arrest was negative. Unknown to the police and King, the incident was captured on a camcorder by local civilian George Holliday from his nearby apartment; the tape was 12 minutes long. While the tape was presented during trial, some clips of the incident were not released to the public. In a interview, on parole for a robbery conviction and had past convictions for assault and robbery, said that he had not surrendered earlier because he was driving while intoxicated under the influence of alcohol, which he knew violated the terms of his parole; the footage of King being beaten by police became an instant focus of media attention and a rallying point for activists in Los Angeles and around the United States. Coverage was extensive during the first two weeks after the incident: the Los Angeles Times published forty-three articles about it, The New York Times published seventeen articles, the Chicago Tribune published eleven articles.
Eight stories appeared including a sixty-minute special on Primetime Live. Upon watching the tape of the beating, LAPD chief of police Daryl Gates said: "I stared at the screen in disbelief. I played the one-minute-50-second tape again. Again and again, until I had viewed it 25 times, and still I could not believe. To see my officers engage in what appeared to be excessive use of force criminally excessive, to see them beat a man with their batons 56 times, to see a sergeant on the scene who did nothing to seize control, was something I never dreamed I would witness." Before the release of the Rodney King tape, minority community leaders in Los Angeles had complained about harassment and excessive use of force by LAPD officers. An independent commission formed after the release of the tape concluded that a "significant number" of LAPD officers "repetitively use excessive force against the public and persistently ignore the written guidelines of the department regarding force," and that bias related to race and sexual orientation were contributing factors in use of excessive force.
The commission's report called for the replacement of both Chief Daryl Gates and the civilian Police Commission. The Los Angeles County District Attorney subsequently charged four police officers, including one sergeant, with assault and use of excessive force. Due to the extensive media coverage of the arrest, the trial received a change of venue from Los Angeles County to Simi Valley in neighboring Ventura County; the jury was composed of nine white people, one bi-racial male, one Latino, one Asian American. The prosecutor, Terry White, was black. On April 29, 1992, the seventh day of jury deliberations, the jury acquitted all four officers of assault and acquitted three of the four of using excessive force; the jury could not agree on a verdict for the fourth officer charged with using excessive force. The verdicts were based in part on the first three seconds of a blurry, 13-second segment of the videotape that, according to journalist Lou Cannon, had not been aired by television news stations in their broadcasts.
The first two seconds of videotape, contrary to the claims made by the accused officers, show King attempting to flee past Laurence Powell. During the next one minute and 19 seco
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