October 27, 2016
LAWT News Service
Compton Mayor Aja Brown has announced that tennis legends and entrepreneurs Venus and Serena Williams will be returning to the city of Compton as honorees at the 2016 Healthy Compton Community Festival. Taking place on Saturday, Nov. 12 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the MLK Transit Center Plaza, the Healthy Compton Community Festival will feature free celebrity workouts, sports clinics, health screenings, cooking demos, giveaways and surprise guests. For more information and to register as a participant or a vendor, please visit www.comptoncity.org/2016hrcfestival.asp.
In a joint statement Venus and Serena Williams said, “We are so excited to return to Compton for Mayor Aja Brown’s Healthy Compton Community Festival. Compton will always be our home and we can’t wait to spend the day with the community at this inspiring event.”
"The Healthy Compton initiative is an ongoing effort to promote health and wellness in the Compton community,” said Brown. “I’m so excited to be able to welcome home Venus and Serena Williams back to Compton for this year’s festival. The Williams sisters are tennis superstars and champions on and off the court. They continue to be role models for millions of young people around the world and they got their start right here in Compton. The Healthy Compton Initiative is all about motivating Compton residents to lead healthier lives and be the best person they can while having fun and this year we have a spectacular event planned with the Williams sisters and other surprise guests.”
Brown’s Healthy Compton Initiative is a community-based comprehensive approach to educating, empowering, and equipping Compton residents to lead healthier lives through the experience of healthy outcomes. Mayor Brown, along with a host of health and wellness partners throughout the City of Compton and surrounding communities are focused on enabling residents to build healthy habits. The Initiative is a result of Mayor’s Brown’s leadership and a grassroots community effort with local residents, business owners and stakeholders working together over the past three years.
October 20, 2016
City News Service
Starting Monday, more cars will be added to accommodate growing ridership on Metro’s Expo Line, which has been embraced by commuters, beachgoers and fans attending USC and Rams football games at the Coliseum.
The light-rail line was extended from Culver City to Santa Monica in May, with trains currently arriving every 12 minutes. The line originates at the 7th Street/Metro Station in downtown Los Angeles.
The additional cars will bring the weekday wait times down to every six minutes until 8 p.m., after which trains will run every 20 minutes.
Weekend frequencies will be every 12 minutes until 9 p.m., when it becomes every 20 minutes.
“Since Metro opened the Expo Line last May, the demand for service from the public has been incredible,” Metro board Chair John Fasana said. “Now Metro is increasing the number of train cars used on the line to accommodate the many riders who have chosen to take transit instead of driving on the congested Westside.”
The Expo Line will go from nine trains with two cars each to 18 trains, each with two cars, which will increase capacity by about a third. Once more light rail vehicles become available, the 18 trains will be steadily upped to three cars each, according to Metro.
“For our Expo riders who have experienced our packed trains, this will be a welcome change,” said Metro CEO Phillip A. Washington. “This will be a great relief for thousands of Metro commuters and hopefully encourage new riders.”
October 13, 2016
LAWT News Service
The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) is encouraging the public to Go Metro to the 11th annual Taste of Soul on Saturday, October 15, from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. The festival will take place on Crenshaw Boulevard between Rodeo Road and Stocker Street, in the heart of the historic Crenshaw District. To avoid the hassle of driving and parking, festival-goers can take Metro Expo Line to the Expo/Crenshaw Station, which is a short walk from the festival.
“As the Taste of Soul family festival celebrates its 11th Anniversary, Metro has become part of the neighborhood with the Crenshaw/LAX Transit Project now under construction,” said Metro Board Chair and City of Duarte Councilmember John Fasana. “In just three years, this project will connect the communities of Crenshaw, Inglewood, Westchester and LAX.”
Free parking is available at the following Expo Line stations: Expo/Crenshaw (220 spaces), La Cienega/Jefferson (476 spaces) and Culver City (586 spaces). Parking for a $2 fee is available at Expo/Sepulveda (260 spaces), Expo/Bundy (217 spaces) and 17th St/SMC (67 spaces). For more information on parking and parking fees visit metro.net/parking.
“If you’re looking for a calm, enjoyable and stress-free trip to enjoy the preeminent street festival in South Los Angeles, there is simple one way to travel,” said Metro Board Member and Los Angeles County Supervisor and Metro Board Member Mark Ridley-Thomas. “And that will be to “Go Metro.”
Metro is building the $2.058-billion Crenshaw/LAX Transit Project that will connect the Crenshaw, Inglewood, Westchester and LAX communities along the 8.5-mile alignment with eight new stations; Crenshaw/Expo, Martin Luther King Jr., Leimert Park, Hyde Park, Fairview Heights, Downtown Inglewood, Westchester/Veterans, and Aviation/Century. A ninth station at Aviation Boulevard and 96th Street will allow transfers to a future automated people mover to be built by LAX that will connect to the airport’s terminals.
“Taste of Soul has become the quintessential L.A. family festival, where I will join all fellow Angelenos go to enjoy a Saturday of music and food and see friends and renew old friendships,” said Metro Board Member Jacquelyn Dupont-Walker. “The best way to get to the festival is traveling on Metro bus lines 40, 102, 210 and several other lines, or by the recently open Expo Line with is connection to Santa Monica. Bus Lines will be detoured from their normal routes but will get you close to the event.”
“Taste of Soul has become a traditional festival not only for the residents of Crenshaw, but for the rest of Los Angeles County that come out year after year to enjoy this unique event,” said Metro CEO Phillip A. Washington. “Metro is also here to stay and very soon will offer a transportation option to residents of the Crenshaw, Inglewood, Westchester and LAX communities when the Crenshaw/LAX light-rail when it opens for service in 2019.”
Metro and Walsh/Shea Corridor Constructors (WSCC) will have a booth at Taste of Soul on Crenshaw Boulevard between Rodeo Place and Coliseum Street. The booth will have information about the Crenshaw Line and other Metro projects and programs. The mobile Metro Experience Theatre will be showing rail safety videos along with safety presentations by Metro staff every 20 minutes. Metro will hold a drawing for three large prizes.
Metro staff will also be on hand to respond to questions regarding Metro Art, walking and biking projects, the Express Lanes on the 10 and 110 freeways, TAP cards and fares. Educational information on Measure M will also be available for the public.
Metro Bus Service Detours
Metro Bus lines that will be detoured during the Taste of Soul Festival included: the 40, 102, 105, 210, 710, and 740. Signs in English and Spanish will be posted at bus stop regarding the temporary route changes or check Metro’s Service Advisories at metro.net.
For more information on Crenshaw/LAX Transit Project go to metro.net/Crenshaw or join us on Facebook at facebook.com/ crenshawrail and on Twitter at twitter.com/crenshawrail or call the project hotline at (213) 922-2736.
October 06, 2016
By Brian W. Carter and Nicole Williams
Contributing Writers
On Saturday, October 15, the 11th annual Taste of Soul (TOS) will once again prove that it is undeniably the largest family festival in SoCal. For the past 10 years, TOS has shown that the residents of South Los Angeles are not the violent caricatures that popular media presents to the public. Presented by Bakewell Media, TOS was created for the community to come together and promote unity and brotherhood.
The festival has been attended by over 350,000 SoCal residents and out-of-state visitors, who come to have a great time with friends, neighbors and family. TOS affords the opportunity to vendors from all over Southern California to make the American Dream a reality. TOS has remained one of the most peaceful festivals in South L.A. with the added support of law enforcement, the Nation of Islam and emergency units.
TOS vendors have included established or notable eateries and restaurants that include Harold & Belles, The Kobbler King and BBQ Smokehouse just to name a few. This festival is a foodie’s paradise but it also offers attendees and visitors the opportunity to meet non-food vendors selling wares, ethnic merchandise and valuable information such as health services, job opportunities and education.
TOS also features some of the best entertainment thanks to faithful partners such as Radio Free 102.3 KJLH and 94.7 The WAVE. Both stages have featured classic and new R&B, funk, soul and jazz artists. McDonald’s will once again be sponsoring the Brenda Marsh Mitchell Gospel Stage in partnership with Holman United Methodist Church.
In 2012, StarQuest debuted at the 7th Annual TOS Festival, a creation of the Los Angeles Sentinel and Bakewell Media. Now it has become 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. This year, Hep C Hope is sponsoring the StarQuest stage. StarQuest has proven to be a reliable platform to launched local artists into mainstream entertainment.
TOS would like to thank the public aka TOS Nation for making the festival a success every year. Most of all, Bakewell Media, the Sentinel and the L.A. Watts Times would like to thank all of our returning sponsors and partners who believe in the beauty that is TOS. All of the supporters truly make this event “A Family Affair!”
Those sponsors and partners include: Chevy, L.A. County, city of L.A., Metro, McDonald’s, South Coast Air Quality Management District, Bank of America, Fox Audience Strategy, Wells Fargo, Walsh/Shea, Ivie, McNeill & Wyatt, Chase Bank, Metropolitan Water District, California Resources Corporation, SEIU Local 2015, Charles R. Drew University, US Bank, Walmart, Nielsen, Southern California Gas Company, Watts Health, UCLA, Comerica Bank, Easy Choice Health Plan, L.A. City Workforce Investment Board, Kaiser Permanente, Metro PCS, AT&T and Cedars-Sinai.
They would also like to extend a warm welcome to their new sponsors and partners, which include: Hep C Hope, PWA Los Angeles, Airbnb, USC, L.A. World Airports, Hyundai, Whole Foods, Uber, American Heart Association, CA Lottery, St. Vincent IPA, New York Life and UCLA Health.
For more information, visit www.tasteofsoulla.org. Please visit and like Taste of Soul on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Don’t forget to download the Taste of Soul mobile App for the up-to-date information, prizes, giveaways, vendor locations, food and entertainment throughout the day. Don’t forget to hashtag your experiences and positive thoughts on social media with #ItsAFamilyAffair #TasteofSoul and #TOS16.