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The Latest Breaking News from Watts

In 1921, Simon Rodia, an Italian immigrant began building towers in his Los Angeles yard; 33 years later, his handmade creation included a tower more than 99 feet high

In 1921, Italian immigrant Sabato “Simon” Rodia began an ambitious project on his small property in Los Angeles. Working alone during nights and weekends, the railroad laborer and self-taught tile setter spent more than 33 years constructing what became Watts Towers. Rodia used steel, wire mesh, mortar and decorative materials…

The Economic Times

In 1921, Italian immigrant Simon Rodia began hand-building Los Angeles’s Watts Towers from steel, mortar and broken tile; 33 years later the construction had ended

Simon Rodia built the Watts Towers in Los Angeles over 33 years. He used steel, wire mesh, and mortar, embedding glass and shells. Rodia constructed the tallest tower to 99½ feet without welding or scaffolding. He left the property in 1954, and it later faced demolition threats. The Watts Towers…

The Times of India

Los Angeles City Council Votes 10-0 to Demand Emergency Investigation After Lead Found in Watts Drinking Water

The LA City Council voted 10-0 demanding emergency investigation after elevated lead was found in Watts drinking water. Five samples exceeded 15 ppb. DWP and HACLA under scrutiny.

Medical Daily

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LA Drinking Water Tests Positive for Lead, Cancer-Linked Chemicals — City Council Demands Emergency Investigation

In an unanimous 10-0 vote, the Los Angeles City Council has demanded an immediate investigation by the Department of Water and Power and the city's Housing Authority after samples of drinking water in the Watts neighborhood were found to contain elevated levels of lead.

Medical Daily

Flint Happened There. Now It's Los Angeles: The Ongoing Lead and Toxic Chemical Crisis in LA's Drinking Water

When residents of Watts, one of Los Angeles's most historically marginalized neighborhoods, learned that samples of their drinking water contained elevated levels of lead, it triggered a unanimous 10-0 vote by the Los Angeles City Council demanding an immediate investigation by the Department of Water and Power (LADWP) and the…

Medical Daily

Four sisters from LA’s Watts nurture families from the same blocks: ‘They stand in the gap’

The Sisters of Watts have served families for a decade, providing food, fitness, money and after-school programs

The Guardian - US

Charles Burnett on the never-ending battle of 'Killer of Sheep'

Charles Burnett has been living with “Killer of Sheep” for more than half a century

The Independent UK

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Lead found in tap water of Los Angeles community after residents raised alarm for years

Exclusive: researchers tested water across Watts and found lead, after people struggled to draw attention to ‘overarching neglect’

The Guardian - US

Gun violence is traumatizing LA’s youngest residents. Can a partnership between the police and community help?

South LA has the highest levels of gun violence in the county – local organizations want to address how that affects kids

The Guardian - US

Once a junkyard, this LA garden is a healing 'altar' for survivors of violent crime

LOS ANGELES -- Walking into the Survivors Healing Garden on 108th Street, just blocks from Watts Towers, Oya Sherrills radiates calm as she stops to pick up trash that has blown in from the Union Pacific railroad tracks nearby.

Los Angeles Times

Metal recycling plant owners charged for contaminating LA school grounds

After decades of complaints from staff and students at Jordan high school, Atlas Metals was hit with 22 felony counts

The Guardian - US

‘It was an out of body experience’: looking back at the Wattstax music festival

In 1972, the largely Black community of Watts came together for a giant music event from Stax Records, captured in a thrilling, re-released documentary

The Guardian - US

Medi-Cal leaves most patients behind

The Medi-Cal program aims to address health disparities in California, but it is riddled with issues

Salon

‘Separate and unequal’: Critics say Newsom’s pricey Medicaid reforms leave most patients behind

LOS ANGELES — It wasn’t exactly an emergency, but Michael Reed, a security guard who lives in Watts, had back pain and ran out of his blood pressure medication. Unsure where else to turn, he went to his local emergency room for a refill.

Tribune News Service

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Los Angeles Times

With libraries under threat, Literarian Award goes to Watts-raised super-librarian Tracie D. Hall

LOS ANGELES -- Tracie D. Hall has spent most of her professional life working in service to others: as a curator, a librarian, an advocate for digital literacy and equitable access — and currently as the executive director of the American Library Association.

Los Angeles Times

Fried chicken with vegan gombo? They make sense together in Keith Corbin's 'California Soul'

LOS ANGELES — Keith Corbin wasn't looking for a career as a chef when he went to work for Roy Choi and Daniel Patterson at their Watts neighborhood restaurant, Locol.

Los Angeles Times

Commentary: How 4 gangs in Watts brokered a historic peace treaty

A hidden history lies beneath the world where racism flattens lives by creating poverty and violence. Within this history, overlooked stories show that marginalized communities can achieve meaningful change as they seek to overcome years of neglect and discrimination. That’s what happened on the eve of the L.A. uprising 30…

Los Angeles Times

She lost one son to violence. Now she's fighting to keep her other two alive

LOS ANGELES — In Latasha Bracks' Watts living room, a cluttered shrine to her three sons and three daughters sits atop a waist-high pedestal near the front window.

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The Guardian - US

This high school is contaminated with lead. It blames the recycling plant next door

Generations of students at Jordan high in Los Angeles lived with extreme pollution nearby. Now, could things finally change?

Los Angeles Times

Fire at historic Los Angeles church under investigation

LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles fire investigators are trying to determine what sparked a blaze at a historic church over the weekend in the Watts neighborhood that charred the roof and interior of the nearly 100-year-old sanctuary.

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