Coffee shop mural stirs up controversy in Altadena 

A mural on the side of a popular coffee shop in Altadena is causing a stir in the community, with some residents calling for it to be taken down.  The mural is on the side of Unincorporated Coffee Roasters on Lincoln Avenue in Altadena and was sanctioned by the owner. The muralist is a local Los Angeles artist who is known for his “chaotic and violent depictions of society.”  Opponents of the mural say that they talked to the town council and the county, who said they have no jurisdiction over the art as it stands right now.  Regardless, some community members are adamant that it be taken down.  “[This mural does] not belong in a Black community or a community of color,” said She’ She’ Yancy, who lives next door to the mural. “This is misplaced.”  Other community members don’t see any violent depictions in the artwork.  “I just see faces and hands, I don’t see anything violent about it,” a community member told KTLA’s Sara Welch.  Opponents of the mural have asked the coffee shop owner to take it down and have even

Tracks reopen after freight train derails in Mojave Desert

Train traffic resumed Tuesday afternoon on a stretch of track where 55 railcars and two locomotives derailed a day earlier in a remote area of Southern California’s Mojave Desert near Baker. There were no injuries when the freight train carrying iron ore went off the tracks Monday morning in the Mojave National Preserve, Union Pacific said. Crews worked around the clock to repair the tracks and traffic started moving again around 2 p.m. Tuesday, Union Pacific spokesperson Daryl Bjoraas said in emails to The Associated Press. Aerial photos show heaps of charred, mangled metal from the train derailment. March 27, 2023 (Viewer photo)Aerial photos show heaps of charred, mangled metal from the train derailment. March 27, 2023 (Viewer photo)Aerial photos show heaps of charred, mangled metal from the train derailment. March 27, 2023 (Viewer photo) The cause of the derailment remains under investigation. Bjorass said that iron ore, part of the steel-making process, spilled from the rail cars but is not a hazardous material. The derailment occurred near Kelso Depot, a historic railroad site developed in the early 1900s at the bottom of steep grade

Hawaiian hula teacher latest to appear on US quarter

A commemorative quarter honoring the late, legendary Hawaiian hula teacher rolled out on Monday. KTLA’s sister station KHON reports. Edith Kanakaʻole is one of five American women to be minted on new quarters this year as part of the American Women Quarters Program. Kanakaʻole was selected to be honored for her efforts in preserving Native Hawaiian knowledge, serving the Hawaiian community, and applying a new lens to academic science. “She was a renowned practitioner of, and an authority on, modern Hawaiian culture and language,” said Mint Director Ventris C. Gibson. “Edith Kanakaʻole believed that the oli, or Hawaiian chants, formed the basis of Hawaiian values and history.” U.S. Mint said that Kanakaʻole was a clear role model for all Americans. The portrait of Kanakaʻole was designed by U.S. Mint Artistic Infusion Program Designer Emily Damstra and sculpted by U.S. Mint Medallic Artist Renata Gordon. Kanakaʻole is designed with her hair and lei poʻo (head lei) morphing into the elements of a Hawaiian landscape. The U.S. Mint said this was done to symbolize Kanakaʻole’s efforts in preserving the natural land and traditional Hawaiian culture. The quarter design can be seen

Adnan Syed murder conviction reinstated

Maryland’s second-highest court reinstated the conviction and sentence of Adnan Syed, the man whose murder investigation and trial was the center of the hit podcast “Serial,” saying a lower court violated the rights of the victim’s family when it vacated his conviction last year. The Maryland appellate court ruled in a 2-1 decision that the circuit court that vacated Syed’s conviction did not give the family of Hae Min Lee, the teenage girl that Syed was previously convicted of killing, ample notice to appear at the hearing. It was unclear whether Syed would be ordered back to prison after the appellate court asked that a “new, legally compliant and transparent hearing” on the conviction take place. Syed was 17 when he was arrested for the killing of Lee, his ex-girlfriend, in 1999. He was sentenced to life in prison after his 2000 conviction. But supporters of Syed maintained his innocence and campaigned for his conviction to be overturned through the courts. His story later became the center of the blockbuster podcast “Serial,” hosted by investigative journalist Sarah Koenig. Syed has always maintained his innocence. A

Another Storm Moves Toward LA

Rain in downtown Los Angeles. Courtesy OnScene.TV Yet another storm system will push into the already saturated Southland Tuesday evening, with rain expected shortly after midnight and another wave arriving late Wednesday and into Thursday.National Weather Service forecasters said the rain will reach Los Angeles County sometime between midnight and 3 a.m.“This first band of rain will be steady but fairly short-lived, around six hours, and generally on the lighter side, mostly a tenth of an inch per hour or less, though locally up to a quarter-inch per hour in the foothills and mountains,” according to the NWS. After the first round of rain, the region will enjoy a break for about six to eight hours, followed by a “colder and more unstable portion” of the storm system that will arrive late Wednesday and stretch into Thursday morning.“This will be more showery in nature but with higher rain rates and possible thunderstorms,” according to the NWS. A winter storm warning will be in effect from 4 a.m. Wednesday until 2 p.m. Thursday in the eastern San Gabriel Mountains, with 6 to 12 inches of snow

Jury Deliberations Conclude without Verdict in Ridley-Thomas Trial

Jury deliberations concluded Tuesday without a verdict in the federal criminal trial of suspended L.A. City Councilman Mark Ridley-Thomas, who is accused of steering lucrative county contracts to USC’s school of social work in exchange for a slate of benefits for his son.The panel completed its second full day of deliberations Tuesday, working from 8 a.m. until about 2:30 p.m. The panel kept the same hours Monday, and were handed the case Friday, completing 4 1/2 hours.Jurors are expected to resume discussions at 8 a.m. Wednesday. In closing arguments last week, prosecutors said Ridley-Thomas, while serving as a county supervisor, “put his hand out” and accepted perks from USC for his son Sebastian, who needed media-friendly “landing spots” after resigning from the state Assembly in the midst of a brewing scandal.A defense lawyer strenuously denied the narrative, telling the jury in downtown Los Angeles that nothing Ridley-Thomas did was illegal.“This was a case about power, privilege and lies,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Lindsey Dotson said in her summation, describing the trial as dealing with “one of the most powerful politicians in Los Angeles who leveraged his