Los Angeles Downtown News 04-18-22

Gang Alternatives

April 18, 2022 I VOL. 51 I #16

Program paints a brighter future for LA communities

Sheltering the Homeless LA Mission CEO speaks on city settlement

+ Benny Boy Brewing

Eye on Education April 25, 2022

FROMPRESCHOOL PRESCHOOL TO FROM TO POSTGRAD POSTGRAD

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APRIL 18, 2022

OPINION

Adventures in fitness with Sarah Holguin

By Ellen Snortland LA Downtown News Columnist have a fitness crush on Sarah Holguin, my trainer — what a peach! I now actually look forward to working out, and that, my friends, is a miracle. My prior relationship with fitness training was akin to having someone pull out my fingernails, one by one, with electrified pliers. So why now? And why with Sarah?

“I’m concerned about your cholesterol level,” my doctor said.

“What? I’ve always had perfect cholesterol readings!” I said.

“Well, your HDL level and total score are too high now. You need to bring it down.”

That was months ago, and I have finally adopted the food and exercise regimens designed to address my pandemic indulgences. Can you relate?

Yes, I have my vices. I am intimate with at least two of the Seven Deadly Sins: pride, greed, wrath, envy, lust, gluttony and sloth. The vices of gluttony and sloth go hand in hand. I participated in gluttony — overeating, which contributed to sloth or laziness — resulting in an enthusiastic expansion of my ass. My rear end weighs everything down. My bottom threatens to not only hijack my pants but the entire block we live on. And when I got to the point where nothing fit, I knew it was time to address vices six and seven.

Enter Sarah Holguin. Actually, we entered her space: The WellRock on Lake Avenue in Altadena. I’d driven by The WellRock for months and wondered if it was a crystal and mineral place for healing.

I finally found thewellrock.com and discovered that it’s a gym: our very own local brick-and-mortar, ma-and-pa gym! The locale was an enormous motivator because my sloth won’t allow me to attend a gym that’s more than 3 minutes from my

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house. The WellRock is 2.5 minutes away, or 15 minutes if I walk there.

My husband, Ken, and I met Sarah, and we immediately liked her. She is extraordinarily fit, has a great sense of humor, and doesn’t make us feel inferior for being so out of shape. I’ve been around trainers who, even though they profess to take me as I am, are dripping with self-righteousness for the condition they are in. Ooh, I so want to smack those showoffs. I digress.

Sarah wasn’t always a fitness freak. She “converted” to fitness organically. She initially had her now-husband as a trainer.

They became friends and then a married couple. Sarah had enough of corporate America and yearned to do meaningful work. Voilá! They created their own gym, which is as distinctive as they are.

Sarah has a unique yet familiar story.

She is the daughter of immigrants. Her parents met at a refugee camp in Thailand, having fled the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia. Both of Sarah’s grandfathers were murdered by that brutal regime.

Sarah’s family is what actually makes America great, as we are a country of immigrants. I’m sorry, but I don’t have any tolerance for xenophobia. It’s a cliché and still true: unless you belong to one of the 500-plus Indigenous nations across the U.S. portion of North America, you are an immigrant. I imagine if you’ve read this far, you’re well aware of that. And even the Indigenous people of the U.S. were migrants at some point in ancient history, walking across the land bridge from Asia to North America.

Sarah grew up translating and interpreting for her parents. That’s also an old story and very American. Immigrants — just like my forebears — often settle in communities that already have their lan-

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guage group living there. My Norwegian for decades — OK, years… OK, months foremothers and fathers went to North — but now Sarah will assist me in disapDakota because they could speak to peo- pearing my midriff doughnut. She’s still involved with doughnuts, just the deleting ple who spoke their tongue.

This is true whether one is going to of them rather than the selling of them.

We’ll undoubtedly see Ukrainian and a rural or urban area. The Upper Plains states are lousy with islands of nationali- Russian refugees soon. Open your arms, ty groups, primarily Northern European, because it’s a good bet they will be some with an occasional smattering of “oddball” of the best citizens we could ever hope refugees. For instance, James Abourezk, a for. Sarah is from one such family and a popular senator from South Dakota, was prime example of the immigration part the son of a Lebanese couple who mi- of the American dream. Cambodian, Norgrated to start a store at one of the res- wegian, Ukrainian, Nigerian… nationality ervations in South Dakota. Jewish fami- is now practically irrelevant. Welcoming lies would occasionally migrate to places them is a good exercise in building a great EXECUTIVE EDITOR: Christina Fuoco-Karasinski without a Jewish community, drawn by nation.

STAFF WRITERS: Andrew Checchia, Andres De Ocampo, Julia Shapero Ellen opportunity.CONTRIBUTING WRITERS: Sara Edwards, Kamala Kirk Snortland has gotten a little verklempt while writing this column for Sarah’s parents went toArman San Bernardino ART DIRECTORS: Olivares, Stephanie Torres STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER: Luis Chavez County to join a thriving Cambodian com- decade, and teaches creative writing. She CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS: Myriam Santos munity. Sarah told me, “Next time you’re can be reached at ellen@beautybitesbeast.

ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES: Catherine Holloway, Michael Lamb in a doughnut shop anywhereSue inLaris LA Coun- com. Her award-winning film, “Beauty Bites FOUNDER EMERITUS: ty, it’s likely owned and run by Cambodi- Beast,” is once again available for download ans.” One of her first jobs was in a dough- or streaming at vimeo.com/ondemand/ nut shop. Me? I haven’t had a doughnut beautybitesbeast.

EXECUTIVE EDITOR: Christina Fuoco-Karasinski DEPUTY EDITOR: Luke Netzley CONTRIBUTING WRITERS: Bliss Bowen, Laura Latzko, Jeff Moeller, Ellen Snortland STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER: Chris Mortenson ART DIRECTORS: Arman Olivares, Stephanie Torres ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES: Catherine Holloway (213) 308-2261 Michael Lamb (213) 453-3548 FOUNDER EMERITUS: Sue Laris

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Covered NEWS California will help

Juan C. Torres and Vernon Willis shake hands in South Central Los Angels after cleaning up gang graffiti.

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Gang Alternatives Program paints a brighter future for LA communities

By Laura Latzko LA Downtown News Contributing Writer ang violence, graffiti, and youth involvement in gangs continue to be major issues in Los Angeles. The Gang Alternatives Program (GAP) helps to address these concerns in different ways.

The organization, which started in 1986, focuses on graffiti abatement and prevention as well as community beautification in local areas such as Boyle Heights, Compton, Downtown LA, Carson, Harbor City, Hacienda Heights, Gardena, Harbor Gateway, Hawaiian Gardens, Lynwood, Rowland Heights, San Pedro, South LA, Watts, Whittier and Wilmington. GAP also supports youth summer employment opportunities, after-school programs, youth gang prevention, and court-mandated education classes for parents and teens. They are contracted through the city and county of Los Angeles.

In 2018 and 2019, the company was able to remove over 6.8 million square feet of graffiti from over 77,000 locations and clean up more than 146,000 pounds of trash.

Thanks to efforts like these, state Sen. Steven C. Bradford (District 35) named GAP a California Nonprofit of the Year in 2021.

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To boldly go Juan Torres, GAP’s executive director, CEO and chief learning officer, said the graffiti abatement program started with Wilming-

ton and San Pedro and has expanded over the years to different parts of Los Angeles.

Around 27 crews are working around the city and county each day. It can be a daunting task: Some walls need to be painted three to four times a week, and a few are painted multiple times a day. When there are political protests and major sports wins, there can be an increase in graffiti, necessitating that the company send out more employees.

There’s an element of danger involved as well.

“Some gang members do get upset about it,” Torres explained. “We’ve been threatened, kicked out and chased out of areas. There are areas where we go in with a police escort on a weekly basis.”

Nevertheless, GAP’s team is a committed one, with employees that have worked with the nonprofit for 10 years or longer. Torres himself has been with the organization for more than 20 years.

“We have a group of dedicated individuals who believe in what we do. They have been here for a long time, and they want to give back,” Torres said.

Graffiti abatement employees receive training on how to deal with gang member opposition. In addition, in areas where there have been murders, GAP will work with law enforcement and the city of Los Angeles to come up with solutions for graffiti removal.

It can be challenging when graffiti and can-

dles have been put up for a gang member who has died.

Torres pointed out that while the job itself is not overly complicated, it can be challenging because of the situations in which employees find themselves.

“You have to go into these tough neighborhoods, into the alley. Sometimes you will be removing graffiti, and one guy will be whistling, and the next thing you know, eyes are on you doing your job. It can be intimidating. Or a car pulls up to you, and they are just stopped there, looking at you, and you don’t know what their intentions are. We have been blessed to have no significant issues,” Torres said, adding that confrontations have become less frequent over the years.

“We have been around for 30 years now in these areas. A lot of these individuals know who we are and what we are about,” Torres said.

Sometimes, gang members are thankful when GAP crews remove rival gang member graffiti — which can help to ease tensions and prevent violent confrontations between gangs. And longtime employees of the nonprofit often get to know people in local communities, who feel safer with the graffiti gone in their areas.

“A majority of the time, people in the community are very happy and glad we are removing it. It does create intimidation in the community and a sense of insecurity,” Torres said. “The majority of people are happy we are around. We get a lot of positive compliments on a daily basis.”

A community need During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, GAP employees were considered essential workers and continued to do graffiti abatement. There was an increase in graffiti during this time, and the company had to stagger schedules, require masks and social distance to adhere to COVID-19 guidelines.

Another complication: Company expenses have been going up because of higher gas prices. With fuel price hikes, supply and paint costs have also increased. Torres said fundraisers and paint donations help GAP because the organization is on a fixed budget.

“It helps us tremendously to reduce the cost of paint. We can use some of those funds on gas,” Torres explained.

Recently, Tnemec Company Inc., a paint manufacturer with a location in Compton, donated 885 gallons of orange, gray and bluish-green paint to the program. Vernon Willis, manager at Tnemec’s Compton distribution center, said his company likes to give back to programs that are serving the community, especially youth, and that graffiti re-

moval, after-school and education programs are important for young people.

“They give them something positive to do and something nice and clean to come to. … That’s the only way that we are going to change this gang mentality that a lot of these young kids are subjected to,” Willis said.

“I grew up here in LA. I understand all of the struggles and the problems that they are dealing with with the gangs. It’s so easy for them to recruit the young kids. If they don’t have anything to do, they are subject to that.

With the after-school programs and even with them painting over the stuff, beautifying stuff, it gives them something positive to look forward to and to see.”

GAP’s programs have a similar purpose of providing youth and families with safer communities and alternative options to gangs.

As part of GAP’s summer job training and development program, teens 15 to 18 do trash pickup, weed abatement and alley cleanup. They also receive professional development and life-skills training.

In addition, GAP runs an education program for fourth and sixth grade students aimed at preventing youth from joining gangs. It teaches them what gangs are, what they do, how they are joined and what happens after someone joins a gang, such as involvement with drugs and other illegal activities. The program emphasizes the importance of positive alternatives to gangs, such as extracurricular activities.

Torres said that it can be difficult to steer some young people away from gangs because they often have such a strong presence in their neighborhoods and in their families’ lives.

“There are always some kids that are still going to join because that’s all they know.

Their parents party in a gang. Everybody in the neighborhood is in a gang,” Torres said.

While there are kids that they aren’t able to help, GAP has discouraged a large number of young people from joining gangs.

Torres is one of the program’s success stories. As a kid, he went through GAP’s youth education program in the late 1980s and early 1990s. During that time, gangs were growing in LA. Torres said that as a kid, he lived in a neighborhood with a heavy gang presence.

There was temptation to join a gang, but he steered away from it.

“I had general knowledge of what would happen. … That’s one of the factors that led me to stay away from it, besides my parents,” Torres said.

To learn more about the Gang Alternatives Program, call 888-293-9323 or go to gangfree.org.

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APRIL 18, 2022

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Covered NEWS California will help LA Mission CEO Troy Vaughn speaks on city settlement

By Luke Netzley LA Downtown News Deputy Editor iven the dramatic increase in homelessness across the city, Los Angeles has become home to one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world.

Homelessness has become a central discussion point and core to the missions of lawmakers and politicians throughout LA, and on April 1 city officials agreed to provide shelter for 60% of the homeless population in each of the city’s 15 council districts as part of a settlement that would spell the end of the LA Alliance for Human Rights’ federal lawsuit.

The LA Alliance for Human Rights is a coalition of stakeholders dedicated to bringing LA’s homelessness to functional zero, including through means of litigation. In 2019, the group pursued a lawsuit to require both the city and county to strengthen their response to the worsening crisis.

City officials estimate that it would cost over $2.4 billion to construct new housing units and build up to 16,000 beds in order to fulfill the settlement’s requirements for combating LA’s homelessness.

“The lawsuit was really to bring awareness to disparities that were happening within the community, particularly the unhoused community,” Troy Vaughn said.

“The lawsuit was intended to raise an issue to a surface where it would not only not garner our attention but action.”

Though Vaughn is not a part of the lawsuit, he has been working at ground zero of the crisis as CEO of LA Mission, a nonprofit, faith-based organization that has been serving the immediate and longterm needs of LA’s homeless community for over 81 years. The mission offers a wide array of care, not only linking people to starter housing but to long-term housing as well. By providing multiple housing options and wedding a stabilizing component with options for more traditional, permanent housing, LA Mission’s model invites each person into their own process of transformation that addresses their own personal needs, especially those who might not be ready to live on their own in an apartment after living on the street.

“We focus on the model that saved my life and that’s saving hundreds and thousands of other people’s lives, and that is a full continuum that is built on a stabilization model, a skill development mod-

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el, a workforce model and a family reunification model,” Vaughn explained. “There needs to be a balanced attention to it all.”

Through his work at LA Mission, Vaughn has seen a diverse collective of individuals come through the mission’s doors, from those looking to be reengaged in the community after prison to families who have lost everything due to the pandemic’s financial toll. He has witnessed firsthand the journey to recovery, and it’s a path he knows all too well.

After years of serving in the Marine Corps, Vaughn learned that his father had died from a drug overdose. To cope with his emotional trauma, Vaughn turned to controlled substances and later cocaine until he found himself living on the streets of Skid Row, where he remained for seven years. Through intense rehabilitation, he was able to rebuild his life and turn his suffering into service.

“I’m a product of a continuum,” Vaughn said. “Stabilization is a critical component to helping a person find out how to live again. That model has always worked, and it will work now.”

Vaughn now hopes that the LA Alliance for Human Rights lawsuit will raise awareness around homelessness and the measures that have worked to combat it in the past to inform the decisions of the future.

According to Vaughn, the majority of the individuals living on the street, particularly on Skid Row, suffer from mental illness or substance abuse, and effectively addressing LA’s homelessness will take several different strategies.

“One of the driving forces in homelessness going up is that we’re not looking at a multi-pronged approach and we’re continuing to have conversations as if one size fits all, and that’s not going to work,” Vaughn said. “We can’t just build beds without infrastructure to wrap around that. We don’t just need housing. We need an economy that supports that housing.

We need a workforce and commerce that surrounds the housing. We need to build community and sustain community.”

In addition to raising awareness, the LA Alliance for Human Rights also wants to create a platform where accountability can be held on multiple sides, including LA County, which has pushed back against the settlement and claimed that the lawsuit has no merit. Vaughn insists that the county’s support is imperative to enacting meaningful change and believes that

After spending seven years living on the streets of Skid Row and rebuilding his life through rehabilitation, Troy Vaughn became the CEO of LA Mission and has dedicated himself to helping LA’s homeless community.

LA Mission/Submitted

it is up to every organization, business and community across LA to work together toward functional zero.

“We need every voice at the table to solve this issue,” Vaughn said. “It’s a shame that we even had to resort to a lawsuit, but when we don’t have movement and when those dollars aren’t moving, which voters voted for, then you create the opening for people to say, ‘I need to use a different mechanism to get those funds to move.’

A lawsuit is one way to do it, and we can’t say that it’s without merit unless things are moving.”

Vaughn has called upon members of

the community to get involved not only through LA Mission but by engaging with county officials and putting a heightened sense of responsibility on the incoming mayor of LA to address homelessness.

“The conversation is always going to be about restoring dignity to the unhoused community so they don’t feel entrapped,” Vaughn said. “We have to treat everybody with dignity and respect and involve them in their own process of transformation. If we do that, then we can get there.”

To learn more about the LA Alliance for Human Rights lawsuit and the city’s settlement, visit la-alliance.org.

LA Alliance for Human Rights la-alliance.org

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APRIL 18, 2022

ARTS & CULTURE

Guitarist John 5 ready for a ‘full-blown tour’

By Christina Fuoco-Karasinski LA Downtown News Executive Editor ohn 5 spent the pandemic playing guitar and writing songs. Now that he’s ready to embark on a solo tour, the renowned axman couldn’t be happier.

“I cannot wait,” said John 5, born John Lowery in Michigan. “I’m dying. I’ve done individual shows, but I’m very, very, very excited about doing a full-blown tour. Everybody’s really excited.

“During the pandemic, I just played a lot of guitar, like I always do. I did things everybody else did. I made lemonade out of lemons.”

The LA-area resident’s band — John 5 and the Creatures — will perform at Goldfield Trading Post in Roseville on Thursday, April 21, and Garden Grove Amphitheater in Garden Grove on Friday, April 22. Joining John 5 on stage are bassist Ian Ross and drummer Alex Mercado.

“Everybody’s very excited, and ticket sales are really good,” John 5 said. “I just have that feeling that this is going to be a wonderful, wonderful, wonderful tour.”

John 5, with the help of the Creatures, released his 10th solo album, “Sinner,” in October.

“Writing the album was challenging because, during the lockdown, I had so much time on my hands,” John 5 said.

“I would write the song and I would rehearse it, rehearse it, rehearse it. I wanted to play everything live with no overdubs, no start and stop. I started at the very top of the song and played all the way to the beginning.

John 5 and the Creatures will perform at Goldfield Trading If I messed up, I would start over again. It was a cool way Post and Garden Grove Amphitheatre this week. to do it. I had so much time on my hands.”

Submitted John 5 and the Creatures will carry on their tradition of releasing live albums. The band will record each show for inclusion on “Sinner Live.” Fans can prepare to hear songs from “Sinner,” other solo records, and a medley of John 5’s favorite tracks.

“We’re going to do Foo Fighters, Iron Maiden, Van Halen, Led Zeppelin, AC/DC, ZZ Top, Europe, Metallica, Van Halen again, Megadeth, ‘Detroit Rock City’ by Kiss, Rob Zombie, Van Halen again, Rage Against the Machine and Pantera.”

“Detroit Rock City” is an ode to his home state as well as his collection of Kiss memorabilia, which is featured on the Instagram account @knightsinsatanservice.

The nationwide tour is no easy feat for John 5.

“Oh, boy, do we rehearse,” John 5 said with a laugh about pre-tour routines.

“We rehearse like crazy. There is so much going on, so many notes, so many this and so many that. We really get it down pat. Everybody is recording the shows nowadays on their phones, so we make them as great as possible.

“I actually support recording shows on their phones. I look at it as if you can’t get to the show, if you’re sick or don’t have the money, you can still watch it.”

John 5 has a big year ahead of him. Rob Zombie will embark on the “Freaks on Parade” tour with Mudvayne, Static-X and Powerman 5000 in the summer. After that, John 5 and the Creatures will head to Europe.

“It’s going to be great,” he said. “It’s going to be a fun 2022. As long as I have a guitar in my hand, I’m OK. I get to play with my favorite toy for a living.”

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John 5 and the Creatures w/The Haxans, Cardboard Ringo and Eyes Eternal WHEN: 6 p.m. Thursday, April 21 WHERE: Goldfield Trading Post, 238 Vernon Street, Roseville COST: Tickets start at $25 in advance INFO: goldfieldtradingpost.com John 5 and the Creatures WHEN: 5:30 p.m. Friday, April 22 WHERE: Garden Amphitheatre, 12762 Main Street, Garden Grove COST: $22.50 in advance INFO: gardenamp.com

APRIL 18, 2022

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ARTS & CULTURE

New shows on tap at Microsoft Theater, Crypto.com Arena

By Christina Fuoco-Karasinski LA Downtown News Executive Editor he Microsoft Theater and Crypto.com Arena are hosting a slew of shows in the next couple of months, proving concerts are back.

For tickets to shows, visit cryptoarena.com or microsofttheater.com.

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Female-fronted Tuareg rock ensemble Les Filles de Illighadad will make their LA debut at Zebulon on April 19 and April 20.

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Submitted

Female-fronted Les Filles de Illighadad make their LA debut

By Bliss Bowen LA Downtown News Contributing Writer ike millions of others, I turned to music for solace and communal connection during the height of the pandemic, seeking release from deepening isolation. Music from West Africa has long occupied a healthy chunk of real estate in my personal library, so it’s no surprise that much of what I listened to originated with Tuareg artists from Mali and Niger. Living in remote villages and outposts, they frequently address issues of isolation, dislocation and community in their percussive songs, and their trance-like rhythms delivered a kind of transportive healing over many a late night.

Among the groups whose music spoke to me from desert-bound seclusion across the globe was Les Filles de Illighadad (“The Girls of Illighadad”), a boundary-pushing ensemble from central Niger. Founded in 2016 by Fatou Seidi Ghali, Les Filles is noteworthy for being fronted by women, including some of the only female guitarists in Niger. Ghali, a nimble musician who taught herself to play on her older brother’s guitar, was joined by percussionist/vocalist Alamnou Akrouni on the band’s self-titled debut, but its sound has since expanded with guitarist/ percussionist Amaria Hamadalher as well as rhythm guitarist Abdoulaye Madassane — Ghali’s cousin, rhythm guitarist for Tuareg songwriter/musician Mdou Moctar and the lone male member of Les Filles de Illighadad. Les Filles makes its Los Angeles debut Monday, April 18, and Tuesday, April 19, at Zebulon in Silver Lake.

The trajectory from the self-titled 2016 debut through 2017’s “Eghass Malan” and last year’s “At Pioneer Works” (all issued by Portland, Oregon-based indie label Sahel Sounds), is one of personal and cultural evolution. The gentle acoustic guitar patterns of “Les Filles de Illigihadad” expresses the band’s music’s roots in tende, West African folk music played by women on a tambour drum constructed from mortar, pestle and goat skin — traditionally the only instrument played by women in matrilineal Tuareg society. The addition of electric guitar on subsequent releases forthrightly declares these musicians as equally rooted in the modern desert blues rock that has been popularized around the world by male Tuareg electric guitarists and bands such as Bombino, Etran Finatawa, Mdou Moctar and the legendary Tinariwen. More has been made of how Jimi Hendrix’s guitar influenced Tuareg bands than of how tende informs desert rock; if the merging of Western rock with tende rhythms represents its own version of “Will the Circle Be Unbroken,” credit is due Les Filles de Illighadad for shining a long overdue light on the music’s fraught history and true roots.

That may explain the progressively more joyful sound of Les Filles’ music. The fluid melodies and call-and-response choruses heard throughout “At Pioneer Works,” recorded in October 2019 at a performance space in Brooklyn, express a cultural heritage accustomed to forging connections through music despite adversity. The band collegially recharges Finatawa’s “Surbajo” and builds toward an ecstatic celebration with guitar, drum, hand-claps and voices during “Chakalan.” To hear the players urge each other on and support each other during the epic “Telilit” is to experience discovery triumphing over loss and community dissolving isolation.

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Les Filles de Illighadad WHEN: 8 p.m. Monday, April 18, and Tuesday, April 19 WHERE: Zebulon, 2478 Fletcher Drive, Los Angeles (Silver Lake) COST: $18.54 INFO: 323-663-6927, lesfillesdeillighadad.bandcamp.com, zebulon.la

Microsoft Theater Cirque Ovo: through May 1 Netflix is a Joke Festival: “Cobra Kai”: Thursday, May 5 Kem and Kenny “Babyface” Edmonds: Thursday, May 14 Pedro Fernandez: Wednesday, May 20 Dragon Ball Symphonic Adventure: Thursday, May 21 Alejandra Guzman and Paulina Rubio: Friday, May 22 Volver Juntas: Saturday, June 4 Gerardo Ortiz: Saturday, July 9 Funk ‘N Soul Fest: Saturday, July 16 Bud Light Seltzer Sessions with Teo Gonzalez and Rogelio Ramos: Saturday, Aug. 6 Russell Peters: Saturday, Aug. 13 Salt N Pepa, Bell Biv DeVoe and Ginuwine: Saturday, Oct. 1

Prince Royce: Friday, Oct. 7 Intocable: Saturday, Oct. 8 Camilo: Friday, Oct. 14 Crypto.com Arena Krush Groove: Saturday, April 30 Ricardo Arjona: Sunday, May 1 Kevin Hart Netflix Comedy Special: Friday, May 6 Eric Church: Saturday, May 7 New Kids on the Block: Wednesday, May 27 Pancho Barraza: Saturday, June 18 Nick Cannon Presents: MTV “Wild ‘N Out”: Sunday, June 26 Bronco: Friday, July 22 Miel San Marcos: Saturday, July 23 Maverick City Music x Kirk Franklin: Sunday, July 24 James Taylor: Thursday, July 28 The Lumineers: Friday, July 29 Shawn Mendes: Friday, Sept. 10, to Saturday, Sept. 10 Morgan Wallen: Saturday, Sept. 24, and Sunday, Sept. 24 Roger Waters: Tuesday, Sept. 27, and Wednesday, Sept. 28 Pep Aguilar: Friday, Oct. 14, and Saturday, Oct. 15 Wisin Y Yandel: Saturday, Nov. 26

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APRIL 18, 2022

ARTS AND CULTURE

Country’s top public arts high school hosts gala

By Luke Netzley LA Downtown News Deputy Editor ounded over four decades ago on the campus of California State University, Los Angeles, the LA County High School for the Arts has become one of the country’s highest-ranked arts high schools.

Students have gone on to play integral roles in art and entertainment industry.

On April 28, LACHSA will hold its fifth annual Future Artists Gala to showcase the work of its students through music, theater, cinematic arts, dance and visual arts performances. The gala will be hosted by renowned LACHSA alumni Taran Killam and Andrew Chappelle at The Novo in LA Live, and every dollar raised through the event will go to support the school’s tuition-free arts programming.

“It’s a fun-filled night when our students perform,” said Melina Kanakaredes, LACHSA alumni parent, foundation board member and gala producer.

“Everybody gets a chance to see the caliber of talent that exists in these 13- to 18-year-olds. Sometimes I pinch myself.

I’ve been working with the kids, and it’s just so inspiring to me to watch them.”

Kanakaredes came across LACHSA when looking for an arts school for her youngest daughter. After attending sev-

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eral of the school’s productions, she was impressed by the ambition and quality of the performances, which included musicals and film festivals. Her daughter auditioned for the school and was accepted, then Kanakaredes joined the board.

During her time with LACHSA, Kanakaredes has seen students come from every part of Los Angeles County with a diversity of backgrounds and artistic interests.

“We have an incredible and diverse group of artists, and a lot of these kids come from two hours away,” Kanakaredes explained.

Each morning she would drive her daughter an hour to school, where she would attend her standard academic classes from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. before undertaking her art-specific studies. The school’s conservatory experience allows students to learn a breadth of disciplines, from cinematic arts to dance to theater, and engage in cross-disciplinary collaborations.

For instance, as a music major Kanakaredes’ daughter could partake in the theater department’s musicals or score the cinematic art department’s films.

“She got an incredible experience all the way across the board,” Kanakaredes said. “That’s how it is with all our kids. If

On April 28, the LA County High School for the Arts will hold its fifth annual Future Artists Gala in The Novo at LA Live to showcase the work and performances of its students and raise money to support its tuitionfree arts programming.

LACHSA/Submitted

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Ranked as the No. 1 Arts High School in the Country by Niche.com, LACHSA offers a specialized program combining college-preparatory academic instruction and conservatory-style training in the visual and performing arts.

LACHSA/Submitted

you’re a visual artist, you might make the poster or the set design for somebody’s movie. It’s interactive and gives these artists an opportunity to grow and learn from all the departments, and then they go on to become my colleagues.”

Despite the outbreak of COVID-19, Kanakaredes’ daughter was still able to capitalize on the opportunities that come from being an LACHSA student.

She enjoyed several performances at the Hollywood Bowl and even performed at the Monterey Jazz Festival.

According to Kanakaredes, the graduating class of 2021, with approximately 130 students across all departments, received more than $7.5 million in scholarships to colleges across the country, a testament to the public school’s quality of education.

“These galas are the majority of what we do to raise for the conservatory element to the program, which is what makes us so special,” Kanakaredes ex-

plained. “It’s around $3,500 per kid to pay for this conservatory that the Foundation of LACHSA raised by grants and grassroots fundraisers like the one we’re having April 28.”

By raising money to fund the conservatory-style education for its students, LACHSA has been able to connect students with professional teaching artists and produce talents such as Phoebe Bridgers, HAIM, Josh Groban, Angel Blue, Jenna Elfman and Kehinde Wiley, a diverse array of artists that have gone on to achieve success in their respective disciplines.

“The arts are so integral into creating great, well-rounded human beings aware of their surroundings, socially engaged, and wanting to make change through their art or just emulate what people are going through,” Kanakaredes said. “We have this incredible diamond of a school that is the feeder to so many industries, not just the arts.”

Future Artists Gala WHEN: 6:30 p.m. Thursday, April 28 WHERE: The Novo at LA Live, 800 W. Olympic Boulevard, Los Angeles, and Zoom COST: $125, general admission INFO: lachsagala22.org

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APRIL 18, 2022

BUSINESS

Benny Boy, LA’s first brewery and cider house, opens in Lincoln Heights

By Luke Netzley LA Downtown News Deputy Editor ounded on the industrial edges of the city as the first combined brewery and cider house in Los Angeles, Benny Boy Brewing has opened its doors to the Lincoln Heights neighborhood.

Owners Ben Farber and Chelsey Rosetter have long been fascinated by the brewing world, honing their craft for over a decade. After taking a beer tour across Belgium six years ago, the husband-wife duo decided to bring their research of centuries-old brewing and fermentation techniques back home with them to California.

“We’re so excited to be open, to welcome summer in and be a new destination brewery and cidery,” Rosetter said. “Our mission from the beginning with the beer garden was that we want it to feel like your backyard and then to bring together people who would normally go to a winery and who would normally go to a brewery and bring them into one spot.”

Benny Boy Brewing is home to a 3,200-square-foot brewery decorated with a mural by local street artist Shandu One and a 55-foot tank bar that’s connected to a 1,200-square-foot cider house through a landscaped, urban beer and cider garden.

Farber and Rosetter wanted to combine the traditional atmosphere of an outdoor beer garden with a tasting room, where guests can sample Benny Boy’s natural beverages poured directly from the tank.

Food vendor partnerships bring in a diverse set of classics, from wood-fired pizzas and handmade tacos to dumplings.

“It’s a great central spot to just come and relax,” Rosetter said. “The whole point is that we make a great elevated product, but we don’t want to be pretentious about it. Beer is fun, and beer is for everyone. This is a drink that you can enjoy at a dinner, or you can have it in a cup at a party or to reward yourself for a hard day of work.”

Farber and Rosetter adopted a brewing style unique to the region, informed by over five years of research and development alongside an immersive apprenticeship in Belgium to wed old-world methods with modern equipment. In place of ad-

F

Benny Boy Brewing is the first combined brewery and cidery in Los Angeles and opened its doors to the Lincoln Heights neighborhood on March 26.

Kat Hanegraaf/Submitted

ditives, Benny Boy only brews with whole flower hops (as opposed to processed pellet hops) and uses natural carbonation instead of the artificial carbonation common in most large-scale breweries. The idea is to craft European-inspired beverages with an added Californian flair, a formula that has been wildly embraced by the community.

“It’s basically like making beer a couple hundred years ago,” Rosetter said. “We’re harking back to this cleaner beer, and we feel like this is the way that craft beer is headed. People want to know what’s going into their beverages. They want to know how it was made and what the ingredients are. We’re super pleased with the flavor and the result of how it makes people feel.”

Benny Boy’s menu includes a medley of craft ciders; natural wines in partnership with Pali Wine Co.; and beers, particularly the Backyard Basil, a 5.0% ABV Saison brewed with fresh basil and Belgian yeast, and the Desert Champagne, a 4.6% ABV Gose brewed with fresh prickly pear, sage and desert salt served in a flute. Benny Boy is also known for its Dry Cider, a 7.8% ABV Single Variety Newton Pippin made entirely from raw apple juice straight from the orchard.

Farber and Rosetter are also collaborating with The Spirit Guild distillery in LA to produce pommeau, a 17% ABV French aperitif made with apple brandy and premium apple juice blended and barrel-aged for three years.

By creating a brewing model that breaks the typical mold of using automation, processed ingredients and additives to produce beers and ciders, Benny Boy has been able to deliver a popular natural product to the community of Lincoln Heights as well as a place of gathering to reconnect with old friends and meet new ones.

“I think we have an opportunity with our big space to host some really fun events, so I’m looking forward to celebrating holidays at Benny Boy, hosting people’s parties and getting more groups in there to enjoy the space,” Rosetter said.

Benny Boy Brewing bennyboybrewing.com

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Public Media Release for Food Service Management Company Notice is hereby given that sealed proposals will be received

by Downtown Value School at 680 Wilshire Place, Suite 315, Los Angeles, CA 90005 until 3:00 p.m. on April 28, 2022 for a Food Service Management Company. Proposals will be for Central City Value High School, Downtown Value School, Everest Value School and University Preparatory Value High School. Proposal information can also be viewed at http:// www.valueschools.com/ourpages/auto/2022/4/6/3790951649 1660643956/Downtown%20Value%20School%20RFP.pdf Submit your proposal in a sealed envelope addressed to the Nutrition Program, Downtown Value School, 680 Wilshire Place, Suite 315, Los Angeles, CA 90005 on April 28, 2022 by 3:00 pm, proposals will be opened on Tuesday, May 17, 2022 at 10:00 am. Downtown Value School reserves the right to reject any or all proposals and to waive any informalities in proposals.

Anchored by a spacious beer and cider garden, Benny Boy transports guests to the great urban outdoors for an open-air craft beverage experience.

Kat Hanegraaf/Submitted

Husband-wife duo Ben Farber and Chelsey Rosetter spent more than five years researching centuries-old brewing and fermentation techniques throughout Europe in preparation for the launch of Benny Boy Brewing.

Kevinie Woo/Submitted

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Covered SPORTSCalifornia will help

Sparks fired up for 2022 with Cambage, Burrell

By Jeff Moeller LA Downtown News Contributing Writer his season the Sparks look to earn their league-leading 21st playoff appearance, they will have a longer journey than ever to reach their goal, and they have a new All-Star player to rely on.

Soak all of that in for a minute.

In a league that boasts a dozen franchises in 12 different states, the Los Angeles entry has made more postseason visits than anybody else since the WNBA tipped off in the summer of 1997 with the Sparks hosting the New York Liberty at The Forum in Inglewood. A crowd of 14,284 was on hand. Sparks guard Penny Toler, a future Hall of Famer, scored the first basket in WNBA history.

This season history is to be made, as the WNBA will play a longer 36game regular season prior to launching a new playoff format abolishing single-elimination rounds. The threetime WNBA Champions are again led

by MVP, Champion, and Women’s National Basketball Players Association President Nneka Ogwumike. During the off-season, the club also made a big acquisition by adding Elizabeth Cambage, among others, via free agency.

“It’s always been my dream to wear the purple and gold and play in LA,” Cambage said in a statement. “This is an incredible opportunity to compete for a championship. … I’m ready to pour everything I have into this team and the legendary Sparks fans.”

At 6-foot-8, Cambage stands six inches taller than club general manager/ head coach Derek Fisher, who played in the NBA for 18 seasons — including 915 regular season games with the Lakers, with whom he won five championship rings.

Said Fisher, now in his fourth season with the Sparks: “The Sparks organization is ecstatic to partner with a dynamic person and player in Liz Cambage, who will elevate the franchise on and off the court. At her best, Liz is the most dominant women’s basketball player in the world.”

Cambage is joining a loaded front court, where she will be counted on to help carry the scoring load alongside the sister act of Nneka and Chiney Ogwumike. Last year with Vegas, the England-born (she claims Australian citizenship) Cambage averaged 14.2 points and 8.2 rebounds. She has av-

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eraged as many as 23 points in a WNBA campaign and still holds the league single-game scoring mark with her 53-point performance against the Liberty in 2018.

Cambage is lauded for efficient scoring and her ability to stretch the floor and make good passes. On the defensive end, she has a strong reputation for rebounding and protecting the rim.

But she is not the only new addition to this edition of the Sparks. The arrivals of Chennedy Carter, Jordin Canada, Katie Lou Samuelson, and the No. 9 pick in this year’s WNBA Draft — Rae Burrell out of the University of Tennessee — have the organization brimming with confidence.

“Rae Burrell is a player we’ve been scouting for several years,” Fisher said on Draft Day. “Her length, versatility, and ability to play multiple positions will be valuable for us as we continue to build our roster.

The goal of that new-look roster? A return to hoops glory. “The addition of Liz, along with our other off-season moves,” Fisher said, “puts us in a position to compete for a WNBA championship.”

Despite their impressive historical pedigree, the Sparks went 12-20 last season and missed the playoffs for just the fifth time in the franchise’s 25-year history.

The road ahead, however, will not be easy. In addition to a longer WNBA season here in 2022, the team will be tested early via travel. The Sparks open the season with a four-game road trip, tipping off against the reigning champion Chicago Sky on May 6. The Sparks play just one home game (versus rival Minnesota in their home opener on Tuesday, May 17, at 7:30 p.m.) at Crypto. com Arena in their first seven contests, and they do not have a multiple-game homestand until hosting two games on June 21 and June 23, respectively.

Those games — Nos. 15 and 16 on the schedule — also mark the first consecutive games in the same building for the Sparks.

Another interesting number is what Cambage, a center, would wear with her new team. She has worn No. 8 throughout her WNBA career, but DeLisha Milton-Jones, one of the greatest players in WNBA history (she was announced a few months ago as a candidate for induction into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame), wore the num-

Elizabeth Cambage has worn No. 8 throughout her WNBA career but chose No. 1 with her new team.

Submitted

ber in her 11 seasons with Los Angeles, which included two WNBA titles. Cambage chose No. 1.

The Sparks and their fans are hungry for a fourth championship. Los Angeles won WNBA titles in 2001, 2002 and 2016. In 2022 the top eight teams will face off in a bracket consisting of a best-of-three First Round and best-offive Semifinals and Finals.

Other ’22 schedule highlights include the Sparks playing eight teams three times apiece, with four games slat-

ed against the 2021 runner-up Phoenix Mercury, the Dallas Wings and the Vegas Aces, Cambage’s former team.

Also, relatively new to WNBA followers, the first home game and first road game against each conference opponent counts toward the Second Annual Commissioners Cup. But first things first. And what is “first” is May 6 at Chicago, where a team in 2022 looking for much more than their 21st playoff berth will face the 2021 champs.

APRIL 18, 2022

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GET UP TO $9,000

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The Federal and California Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) are refundable tax credits that puts back money into the pockets of workers to help pay for everyday expenses!

To find out if you qualify for the Federal and California EITC, visit:

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@toma_eitc TOMA is a program funded by the Office of Minority Health to help low-income communities learn about the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC).

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