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.
—East Hollywood: The latest abbreviated term that small business owners are using to attempt to gentrify an L.A. neighborhood is "Eaho," short for East Hollywood. At least, that is what L.A. Magazine claims in their recent article listing five spots ranging from a natural wine bar, an art gallery, and a vintage clothes shop. However, locals, like Citizen Robot on Twitter, are not having it. [LA Magazine]
—Manhattan Beach: The owners of Bruce's Beach, the Manhattan Beach property that was seized from a Black couple by eminent domain in the 1920's before being given back to their heirs last year, will sell it back to L.A. County for $20 million. A plaque offering a factually accurate account of the property's history will be installed at the top, while Senator Steven Bradford looks to it as a model of reparations that government can follow across the country. [CBS]
—The Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles was the victim of a ransomware attack on Tuesday. The criminals stole 15 terabytes of data and are threatening to publish it on January 12 if their demands are not met. The amount of the ransom has not been disclosed. [NBC]
—Westlake: LAPD reports that, on January 2, its officers shot and killed a suspect in his forties. The report claims the officers were responding to an apartment on South Witmer Street when a man in his 40s refused to comply with their orders. Allegedly, he armed himself with a knife after 15 minutes, at which point non-lethal weapons were used, causing the suspect to drop the weapon before re-arming himself. The man was then shot and was later declared dead on the scene. [LAPD]
—The number of websites funded by political partisans, which pretend to be independent local news sites, almost outnumbers the number of daily newspapers in the U.S. Referred to as "pink slime" sites, there have been 1,202 sites identified, compared to the 1,230 daily newspapers still out there, which are disappearing at a rate of two per week. [NewsGuardTech]
—Instead of dropping the ball at midnight on New Year's Eve, the city of Tuscon drops a taco. While this is undoubtedly the world we wish to live in, our excitement is tempered by the fact that it bears the logo of a fast-food restaurant. [Drunk People Doing Things]
