Author: The Argonaut

Students and neighbors worry they’ll lose the pool at Venice High School By Julia Escobar and Gary WalkerPhotos by Jason Ryan (@JasonRyanPhoto) Venice High School athlete Zora Hollie swims in the aging campus pool, which needs extensive repairs Shared by student athletes and city residents alike, the indoor pool at Venice High School is showing every bit of its nearly 60 years. There’s a hole in the roof over the lifeguard tower, and when it rains there are leaks all over the building. Metal stairways into the water are roped off with bright yellow caution tape. The scoreboard is...

LAUSD seeks $2.3 million from four Westside schools that took space from traditional campuses but missed enrollment targets By Gary Walker Advocates for traditional public schools in Los Angeles have long complained of losing student enrollment and related financial resources to public charter schools, with neighborhood campuses often forced to give up underutilized classrooms and other facilities in order to house charter schools. After a sudden policy shift by LAUSD, however, charters that took space from traditional schools but didn’t reach the enrollment targets for which the district allocated that space are being forced to reimburse their host schools...

By Joe Piasecki Not being able to cast a ballot on Election Day or missing the voter registration deadline are no longer plausible excuses to forego your civic duty. As part of an overhaul of Los Angeles County election protocol, voters have 11 days to cast a ballot for the March 3 Primary Election at any one of a plethora of early voting centers opening Saturday morning and operating through Election Day. Those who need to file voter registration papers or change registration details such as address or party affiliation can do so on-site, with new computerized voting terminals...

Playa Vista smoking cessation clinic tailors program to e-cigarette users trying to quit By Gary Walker Cedars-Sinai pharmacist Ching Chow is tailoring smoking cessation classes to help people hooked on vaping Photo Courtesy of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center Vaping — the use of electronic cigarettes for tobacco and marijuana consumption — is up 135% among teenagers in Los Angeles County over the past two years, according to the American Lung Association, fueling a public health crisis facing doctors and government officials. The shift in how people smoke is also impacting how people quit. Cedars-Sinai Medical Group clinical pharmacist Ching Chow...