Welcome to L.A. TACO’s daily news briefs, where we bring our loyal members, readers, and supporters the latest headlines about Los Angeles politics and culture. Stay informed and look closely.
—Joe Rogan is being criticized for saying, "Maybe you should just go shoot the homeless people" on his podcast when discussing L.A. [HuffPo]
—A man shot by police in Leimert Park on Monday night was not holding a gun or weapon but some kind of black tool or car part, despite what was said by an initial report. [Eric Leonard/Twitter]
—Zach Lasry, the 32-year-old son of a billionaire hedge fund manager, has his eyes on gentrifying the fuck out of East Hollywood's "Melrose Hill" neighborhood. [THR]
—West Hollywood is increasingly gaining a reputation for street fights as its bars spill open with partiers. [WeHo Times]
—Rafael Agustin, a writer for Jane the Virgin, has a new book recounting his journey from Ecuador as an undocumented child with no English-speaking proficiency to a UCLA grad, sought-after writer, and CEO of the Latino Film Institute. [EdSource]
—L.A. Street Names is building a database of the names, stories, and people behind many of our city's streets. [LSN]
—Exploring the "slow environmental violence" affecting the Latino-majority L.A. community of Wilmington, which is surrounded by five oil refineries, 400 industrial sites, and the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. [Witness LA]
—Carmageddon is coming to the San Gabriel Valley today, with a stretch of the Westbound 210 freeway shut down through Sunday. [LAT/Instagram]
—Legendary Jamaican dancehall deejay Merciless was found dead at 51 in a Kingston motel room on Tuesday evening. [Jamaica Observer]
—Comedian Jak Knight, known for his work on "Big Mouth," died by suicide in Los Angeles last week at the age of 28. [Yahoo!]
—A transformer exploded at the Hoover Dam yesterday in Nevada, but it did not affect the power supply that goes to California, Nevada, and Arizona. [CBS]
—Seventeen Democratic lawmakers from Congress were arrested for blocking a street in Washington, D.C., while standing up for U.S. women's reproductive choices, including three Representatives from California, as well as Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib, and Alexandria Ocasio Cortez. [Business Standard]
—Meanwhile, protestors have temporarily killed plans for an on-campus Planned Parenthood location at John Glenn High School in Norwalk. [Whittier Daily News]
—Headline of the week: "How A Karen Caused a Disaster At A Taco Bell Drive Thru." [Mashed]
—Two of a Delta flight's tires blew as it descended into LAX yesterday. [ABC]
—Homebuyers are reportedly "fleeing" Los Angeles for San Diego because it's all so damned expensive. [NBC]
—L.A. police detained over a dozen people Downtown last night over reports of a possible kidnapping at a commercial building. [KTLA]
—How the sudden appearance of an LAPD helicopter may have made a tense situation worse, leading to the 2021 police shooting death of 53-year-old Samuel Soto in Pico Union. [LAT]
