Category Archives: La Crisis

The Little Burglars of Lincoln Heights, 1906

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Not the little boys from Lincoln Heights but a reasonable representation

There have always been “juvenile delinquents” on the Eastside. As the years have gone by, perhaps the ethnicity of the children has changed but the acts are the same. Kids get bored, they experiment, they are curious, they want things and figure out various ways to acquire the articles they seek. A phenomenon common to all humans. Sadly for these little burglars, their names and addresses were printed in the Los Angeles Times for all to see. Worse, the newspaper mocked their common predicament by stating: “This is the saddest time of their lives.”

THREE SMALL BURGLARS.
They All Ran Off With Pocket Knives and This Is the Saddest Time of Their Lives.
Los Angeles Times, May 24, 1906

Three small boys, none of them over thirteen years of age were charged with burglarizing the Griffin-avenue schoolhouse. The three lads have made a full confession. They are Miles and Earl Vaughan, aged 13 and 10 years who live with their parents at No. 248 at South Gates street. Their father is a switchman with Southern Pacific.
The third and smallest member of the trio is Eddie Crist, aged 9. He lives with his parents at No.516 South Gates Street. His father is a carpenter. The boys were arrested and taken to the East Side Police Station and later removed to the Detention Home.
According to the story the three lads tell, they were playing in the yard of the schoolhouse Tuesday morning It was a holiday, owing to the Fiesta parade, and no one was in the building. They pushed on the door of the building and the lock gave way.
Once inside they made a thorough search through the rooms and say they took a number of pocket knives and fountain pens. Little Eddie Crist says he only took one pocket knife. The other boys admit taking several and some fountain pens. Their only excuse is that they wanted the articles. The lads will have to face a charge of burglary in the Juvenile Court.

Article courtesy of the Los Angeles Times, all grammar and punctuation are from the original story.

No Rush Hour Turns on Soto/1st street

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Part of me feels bad that I didn’t do this post the first day I noticed these new traffic signs last year. A bigger part of me could care less about people getting tickets for not paying attention to road signs. Now, another part of me started feeling like ok, maybe I should say something about the new “no left/right turn” during rush hour signs. And now another part of me is hungry, there’s just no winning. Continue reading →

Free Bike Mechanics Workshop

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This Saturday come to Corazon del Pueblo and pick up on some useful skills for your bike, such as basic maintenance and mechanics. Presented by Bici Digna, this workshop will help riders both new and experienced familiarize themselves with some of the basic steps to maintain a working and safe bike. This includes things like being able to adjust your brakes, gears, wheels, tires, how to fix a flat etc. For most experienced rides, skills like these are biking common sense, but as more and more riders are taking to the streets, there are those who may be intimidated and unfamiliar with the workings of their bikes. I know a few people who still haven’t grasped how to fix flat tires and it’s ok, we all gotta start some where right ? This will be the first of what will hopefully be one of many workshops on bike mechanics and how to ride on the streets safely that Bici Digna and City of Lights will be coordinating in the East Side.

What’s on Your San Marcos?

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For those of you who do not know someone on the eastside, more than likely you have never seen a plush, faux-mink blanket from Korea called a San Marcos. These blankets come in the most garish colors and eye-hurting mural prints such as wolves, elephants, Statue of Liberty, cheetahs, Raiders logo, Elvis, Scarface, pandas, zebras stripes, American Flag, Tupac, y La Virgen to name some.  One blanket can take up a whole closet when stored—but they are the warmest, snuggliest and cozy luxury on cold winter nights.
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La Crisis: Tamalada On A Budget

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Why throw away money when you don’t have to? This here is my little contribution to helping you save maybe a dollar or two while you gather your ingredients for your tamalada, gleaned from my gathering of ingredients earlier today.

First up, Maiz blanco, base for your own nixtamal. For some stupid reason, my local Big Saver stopped carrying this item in the bulk bin, now they just have a few small bags at $1.99 a lb. Outrageous! I head over to El Mercadito where you can usually find everything at a good rate, but it turned out they were selling their maiz at $3 a lb! Now that is straight out gouging, knowing that people are going to be stopping by for their ingredients. Boo, Hiss! Chale, I ain’t having none of it. I drove down the block to El Super on Brooklyn and Lorena were the same maiz was being sold for $1.29 a lb. Now that’s a bit more reasonable.

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Hearing Youth Voices: Annenberg partners with La Opinión in Boyle Heights

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There are moments in my life in which I wish I was still considered an “at risk youth” or just “youth” for that matter. Back when I was in school, I wasn’t introduced to any kind of after school programs, internships, opportunities or anything extra curricular like that, that would help me do better in school and go straight to college or a profession. The closest I got was D.A.R.E. Is that program still in schools ?  Any who, I’m passing on some information that will hopefully reach the intended audience. Please forward this to any teachers, teachers aid, principals, students, parents or siblings who would know someone who would want to be a part of this on going project here in Boyle Heights. It’s safe to say that I’ll be there of course since there will be free food. But that’s beside the point, which is to save the youth from whatever social problems and ills that are affecting our communities by giving them the opportunities some of us never had. To mentor them and all that jazz, cause you know, kids are the future.

¡Tu Opinión Cuenta! Let Us Hear Your Voice!
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Random’s Rundown: Puro Pinche Pari

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Except for my horrible farmers tan, I love summer. Hot days, cold drinks, long evening bike rides through Los Angelestitlan. The electricity in the air, waiting to spark a blaze of social upheaval. You can literally feel it in the air. Social unrest, riots waiting to happen. Not too worry though, we all need to relax and have a good time every once in a while, por que si no, it get’s ugly. So even though the week isn’t over, the weekend is already getting started.

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Libros Schmibros

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When I first met David Kipen, I had no idea who he was, except that he was “that Jewish guy that moved across the street” from Corazon del Pueblo a while back. Before I knew it, people that had talked and met him told me about his idea for opening a book store in the empty space on the corner of Cummings. I loved the idea of a non-corporate book store in Boyle Heights and when I finally met David around the way, he told me his plans, which is to create his newly rented space into a book-sharing store, so to speak.

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