Green Dot Gets Greener
Green Dot Public Schools, a company that operates 10 charter high schools in Los Angeles, received a $1.8 million grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation this week. According to Green Dot, the money will go toward supporting five new charter schools, called the Animo High Schools, which opened this year.
The grant comes one day after Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a law that will grant Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa more control over LAUSD. The mayor has been supportive of charter schools like those run by Green Dot as one method of shrinking mega schools that serve thousands of students into smaller institutions, which some say have produced higher graduation rates and higher test scores. (by Staff)
Wal-Mart Gets Bigger
Wal-Mart celebrated the grand opening of its Rosemead Supercenter last weekend amid a flurry of neighborhood tension. The grand opening was also a chance for the chain to celebrate a unique victory: The Supercenter, just 12 miles east of downtown Los Angeles, is the first one in L.A. Basin to squeak by community opposition.
Attempts to open Supercenters, which combine Wal-Mart’s normal operations with a discount supermarket, have been thwarted repeatedly in Inglewood and Los Angeles. Opponents of the retail chain say that the Supercenters would drag down prevailing wages in low-income neighborhoods, especially among unionized workers at other grocery stores. Two local politicians who backed the Supercenter faced a recall on Tuesday, Sept. 18, for their support. Both defeated recall attempts with financial help from Wal-Mart. (by Staff)
Two-Wheel Procession
Members of the Los Angeles cycling community, including participants in the popular, monthly Midnight Ridazz, held a vigil Wednesday night for Ilia Pankin, 23, who was killed in an apparent hit and run Monday night. Cyclists from all over the city congregated at the intersection of Santa Monica and Wilshire boulevards, where he was hit Monday, for the candlelit vigil. According to the Midnight Ridazz Web site, the group hoped the vigil would raise bicycle awareness and aid police in finding any leads or witnesses to the incident.
On Tuesday, Sept. 18, the driver of the vehicle believed to have hit Pankin turned himself in to Beverly Hills police. (by Staff)
Rough Times
Tensions flared between the staff of the Los Angeles Times and its owners at the Tribune Co. based in Chicago this week. Three hundred plus staffers signed a letter to Tribune reiterating their support for Editor in Chief Dean Baquet and Publisher Jeff Johnson. The two had publicly opposed Tribune’s threats of cutting hundreds of more jobs at the Times, agreeing with civic leaders who sent a letter last week encouraging the company to invest more, not less, in the paper’s coverage or else sell to interested local parties.
The Tribune board met Thursday evening to discuss the future of the Times. (by Staff)