LOS ANGELES, California - Familias que habitan en el edificio de apartamentos ubicado en el 3750 de la Avenida Glendon, en el distrito 5 de Los Ángeles denunciaron que los administradores de la compañía Maxim Management Realty Group, LLC, nueva propietaria del inmueble los han estado hostigando desde hace seis meses, con el presunto objetivo de efectuar arreglos para desalojarlos definitivamente.

A ritmo de tambores y megáfonos. los frustrados residentes gritaron: “¡A dondequiera que vayamos, la gente quiere saber quiénes somos! ¡Así se lo contamos: ¡Somos los vecinos poderosos! ¡Luchando por la justicia y contra los desalojos!”

El 17 de abril, varias familias del el 3750 en la Avenida Glendon recibieron una noticia de desalojo en un periodo de 60 días.

Cartas de la firma de abogados Dennis P. Block y Asociados, de Burbank, notifican que el dueño del edificio deseaba terminar sus contratos de mes a mes y les informa que tienen derecho a tarifas de reubicación por $24,650.

LOS ANGELES, California - As Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month was celebrated last May, Ysabel Jurado’s campaign for Los Angeles City Council District 14 (CD-14) received a week-long celebration highlighting endorsements from prominent AAPI community leaders and elected officials.

During AAPI month, her campaign staff announced a series of AAPI Community Leaders and Elected Official Endorsements for her in honor of AAPI Heritage Month, with Jurado being a recognized AAPI community leader.

They acknowledged her presence in the community due to her active involvement in issues affecting her constituents.

Kicking off the commemorative week was the endorsement from the Asian Democrats of Los Angeles County (ADLAC), a steadfast advocate for AAPI representation and empowerment in the political landscape.

The ADLAC’s endorsement reaffirms the growing momentum behind Jurado’s candidacy and underscores the pivotal role of AAPI voices in shaping the future of Los Angeles.

OAKLAND, Calif. - Tenants who spent weeks without electricity or hot water after a fire damaged their East Oakland apartment building are now suing their landlord and property manager.

While electricity has mostly been restored since the Jan. 5 basement blaze in the San Antonio neighborhood property, four units are still being powered by a loud generator, and renters say they incurred large expenses during the weeks when their fridges and lights weren’t working.

“All families deserve to have dignity, health, and safety in their homes,” said Jackie Zaneri, managing attorney with Movement Legal, speaking outside of the 26th Avenue building at a press conference Wednesday.

The lawsuit alleges landlords Victor and Amy Louie and the Oakland-based management company Selborne Properties violated several city and state tenant laws on habitability and relocation assistance. It describes numerous concerns with conditions in the building, both resulting from the fire and preexisting, including mold, broken fixtures, and cockroaches.

LOS ANGELES, CA - Trouble at the small apartment on Vernon Avenue had been brewing for months by the time things came to a head this spring.

For Kevin Diaz Lopez, his housing problems began around October. That’s when his brother and two nephews moved out from the one-bedroom South Los Angeles apartment they all shared, moving to be closer to work in the Long Beach area.

That left Diaz, who works in a packing warehouse, stuck with $1,600 monthly in rent. By January, he was falling behind.

No rental agreement
Diaz says he promised the manager he’d pay within a few days. But he says when he came home one day, he’d been locked out. Some of his things were sitting outside. A neighbor called police, along with a tenant rights group, and Diaz was allowed back in.

But the message he got from the manager was this: “That I was not on the (rental) contract,” Diaz said in Spanish, “and I could not be here.”

ANTIOCH, California - Some people in Antioch are worried about losing an important transit option and are fighting back against a plan to close the Antioch-Pittsburg Amtrak station.

"The last time it came it was like here and gone," said April Hill, carrying her friends suitcase to the Antioch train platform.

Hill has come by the Amtrak station to send a visiting friend back home towards the San Joaquin Valley. She knows it probably won't be long before Antioch says farewell to its downtown train station.

The plan is to open another stop to the east in downtown Oakley, and when that is open the Antioch stop will be decommissioned. Hill says it has already been scaled back to the bare minimum.

"Yeah, they have gotten rid of the benches and ticketing kiosk," Hill explained. " I mean it wasn't, like, really nice before, but now it's even emptier."

ANTIOCH, California - Community advocates have rallied at the Antioch Amtrak train station calling for officials to reverse their decision to close it.

The San Joaquin Joint Powers Authority, the body that oversees intercity passenger rail service, voted in March 2023 to close the train station amid concerns of vandalism, safety issues, fare evasion and unhoused individuals using the area for shelter. When the new station in Oakley opens in August 2025, the Antioch station is simultaneously set to close.

S.L. Floyd, housing board commissioner for the city of Pittsburg, showed his support during the rally, noting that many of his city’s residents also depend on Amtrak, which connects Antioch to not only workplace destinations in the west but also locations throughout the nation.

“This is a much-needed measure because we’re encouraging people to get out of their cars to take public transportation,” Floyd said. “Even though they’re building a new station in Oakley, we still need the resources and the public support here because many people cannot afford a personal automobile, so they really lean on public transportation.”

ANTIOCH, CA - Community members this week had a few choice words for Amtrak, which they chanted again and again: “Don’t drop our stop! Don’t drop our stop!”

With Antioch’s downtown train platform slated to close next year in favor of an Oakley stop, a group of residents and activists on Wednesday afternoon urged leaders to do whatever it takes to keep it open.

“This is really important to us because our community relies on this transportation to get to and from everywhere,” Tachina Garrett, Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment Action chair, told the dozens gathered near the platform. “This is not a low-income problem. This is a problem for the community; this train services veterans, senior citizens, students, youth and working families.”