Author: The Argonaut

By Gary Walker An officer-involved shooting near a homeless encampment around the Mar Vista-Culver City border resulted in the the death of a man police say was armed. The early afternoon shooting on Jan. 11 was the third such incident that has occurred near the homeless camp under the 405 Freeway, and the first to involve a police officer. “The suspect appears to be a transient. However, we are not sure what area he frequented,” said Los Angeles Police Capt. Steve Embrich of the LAPD’s Pacific Division. The shooting is being investigated by the department’s Force Investigation Division, which...

Sidewalk Talk offers moments of human connection that heal the speaker and teach the listener By Meri Hilalian “Hi, would you like to be listened to today?” asks Traci Ruble, founder of the volunteer-led community listening project Sidewalk Talk. Rooted in the idea that developing people’s capacity for listening and expanding opportunities for others to be heard builds healthier communities, participants hit the streets in teams to sit face-to-face with anyone willing to share their story — or speak whatever’s on their mind, really — one heartfelt conversation at a time. Last summer I joined Ruble, a San Francisco-based...

Hahn joins call on Newsom to consider practicality of closing Playa del Rey natural gas storage facility By Gary Walker Local and state environmental watchdogs have used the aftermath of the Oct. 23, 2015 natural gas explosion at Aliso Canyon’s underground gas storage facility near Porter Ranch as a cautionary tale of what can happen at other gas storage facilities, including the 58-year-old Southern California Gas Co. Playa del Rey site. Now, armed with Gov. Gavin Newsom’s support for closing down Aliso Canyon, advocates for decommissioning the Playa del Rey facility have been given renewed hope. Tudor Popescu, a...