In 2012, StarQuest debuted at the 7th Annual TOS Festival, a creation of the Los Angeles Sentinel and Bakewell Media. Now it is the premier talent competition of the South L.A. area. This year, TOS’ StarQuest web auditions were a hit with two talented artists being chosen to compete in the singing competiton on the StarQuest Stage at TOS. J Laconn was the 2016 Starquest Adult Winner. He showcased his dazzling vocal stylings on the 94.7 The Wave Stage. Chloe Roston was the StarQuest4kids 2016 Winner. Roston performed on the KJLH Stage.
The Sobering Center, located at 640 S. Maple Street in downtown Los Angeles, will be open 24 hours a day, with the capacity to house and stabilize about 50 people at any given time. It will serve predominantly homeless intoxicated individuals who might otherwise be picked up by law enforcement for petty crimes and/or those who might otherwise be transported by first responders to a hospital emergency room for inebriation. The sobering center is expected to accommodate about 8,000 visits a year by roughly 2,000 individuals. Once they have sobered up, they would be linked to substance abuse treatments, housing and other services. The county partnered with Exodus Recovery Inc. to provide mental health and substance abuse disorder services on site.
Harold and Belle’s reopened ready for customers with a renovated building after an eight month long renovation. Ryan and Jessica Legaux are the third generation to operate the business. Since 1969, the family-owned eatery has provided the heart of the South Los Angeles community with the southern New Orleans style cuisine. The new company includes not only the restaurant, but their catering and concession divisions. Harolds and Belles now features new light fixtures, seating, a new bar area and fresh new ceiling giving the restaurant a refreshed feelings. Harold and Belle’s is located at 2920 W Jefferson Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90018. For more info call (323) 735-9023 or visit haroldandbellesrestaurant.com.
Maverick’s Flat celebrated their 50th anniversary this year. Founded by John R. Daniels, the famous local hotspot opened in 1966 bringing quality, notable entertainment to the Black community. Big names have performed at the local night spot the likes of the Temptations, Barry White, Four Tops, Stevie Wonder, Diana Ross and many, many more. The 50th anniversary celebration was hosted by Howard Hewitt, model and actress, Kathleen Bradley.
Isaiah Cooper, a student of CUSD’s Thurgood Marshall Independent Study home-schooling program, took flight from Tomorrow’s Aeronautical Museum (TAM) at the Compton/Woodley Airport became the youngest African-American to fly an airplane around the continental United States in July. Cooper, 16 at the time of his flight, landed at Compton airport 13 days after departing on his bid to become the youngest African-American pilot to fly around the continental U.S. He plans to next year become the youngest pilot to fly solo around the Earth.
In September, Crystal Beacham, a homeless single mother of two young boys, received a referral for permanent housing at the Housing Authority of the County of Los Angeles’ (HACoLA) South Scattered Sites. Through the collaborative efforts of HACoLA and the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA), Beacham was leased into a two-bedroom public housing unit in October. Beacham had been one of Los Angeles County’s 47,000 homeless residents since 2015. HACoLA has historically given priority to homeless families, veterans, and victims of domestic violence seeking placement in public housing. In July, HACoLA’s Public Housing Program implemented a new initiative as an additional means of addressing the area’s homeless crisis. As South Scattered Sites Public Housing units become available, they are now offered to a homeless family first.
Felicia Sparks, a resident of Gardena and the Manager of the Food 4 Less store at 1820 West Slauson Avenue in the South Los Angeles community of Chesterfield Park was honored with the 2016 Food 4 Less/Kroger Community Service Award earlier this year. Sparks, a 20-year Food 4 Less associate, earned the prestigious award in recognition of her work with the charitable organization, DIVAS With a Purpose, which she founded to improve the lives of South Los Angeles residents.
In March of this year, the California Science Center Foundation announced the route for the external tank (ET-94). It traveled from the Michoud Assembly Facility through the Panama Canal by barge to Los Angeles, then on through city streets, pulled by a truck on dollies, to its final destination near the California Science Center’s Samuel Oschin Pavilion. Larger and longer than Endeavour, the ET was the Orbiter’s massive “gas tank” and contained the propellants used by the Space Shuttle Main Engines (though ET-94 is empty). Although the external fuel tank was never used, it was constructed with the intention of being launched along with of one of the many shuttles before the program was disbanded with the landing of Atlantis on July 21, 2011. It was the last flight-ready external tank left from the program. For more information on the California Science Center’s Space Shuttle Endeavor exhibit, go to CaliforniaScienceCenter.org.
