Welcome to L.A. TACO’s daily news briefs, where we bring our loyal members, readers, and supporters the latest headlines about Los Angeles politics and culture. Stay informed and look closely.
—DTLA: A union for LAPD officers says they will ask a judge to take down Watch the Watchers, a website that includes the photos of all sworn LAPD officers, including undercover officers. A representative for their union told Kate Cagle of Spectrum News One that individual officers should have been able to challenge the release of documents in court. The union is also suing to have the KillerCops.com website taken down, which is a website allegedly putting a bounty on LAPD officers' heads. [Kate Cagle/Twitter]
—Southern California: Another storm is on track to hit Southern California. Forecasters say the front part of the storm will move in late Tuesday evening into early Wednesday. A colder and more unstable part of the storm will move in Wednesday night. The storm is looking to be generally weaker than past storms of this winter, except for a slight chance of thunderstorms late Wednesday and early Thursday. Rainfall amounts could be around a half-inch to an inch across the coast and valleys and two to 5 inches of snow between four thousand and six thousand feet and five to 10 inches above six thousand feet. The peak winds will be 20 to 40 miles per hour. [City News Services]
—Echo Park: On Monday morning a section of fence surrounding Echo Park Lake finally came down. It’s been two years since the fence was erected during a late night operation that drew hundreds of cops and resulted in dozens of arrests. On Tuesday morning, workers began removing fencing on the westside of the park. [David Zahniser/Twitter]
—South Central: Dear Mama and Emma's Meat Market came together to organize a series of cooking demos for people in the community to learn how to make healthy meals with fresh produce. [@YumYumFeast/IG]
—Chinatown: Pop superstars Mariah Carey and Megan Thee Stallion will headline this year's LA Pride in the Park in June, organizers announced Tuesday. Megan Thee Stallion will perform on June 9 and Carey on June 10 at Los Angeles State Historic Park, just north of Chinatown between the Harbor (110) Freeway and the Los Angeles River. [City News Services]
—DTLA: Jury deliberations resumed Tuesday 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 social work school in exchange for a slate of benefits for his son. The panel completed its first full day of deliberations on Monday, working from 8 a.m. until about 2:30 p.m. and sending two notes to the judge. In the first note, the panel asked for a read back of testimony by defense expert witness Ann Ravel, a former chair of the Federal Election Commission, who testified that a $100,000 money transfer from Ridley-Thomas to USC, then to United Ways of California and finally to the politician's son's nonprofit -- a string of transactions alleged by prosecutors to be an illegal attempt to disguise the money's origins -- was entirely legal. The jury also asked for clarification of the meaning of acting "corruptly" in regard to allegations of honest services mail and wire fraud against Ridley-Thomas. [City News Services]
—Three men died within L.A. County jails in a nine-day period. The youngest victim was 29 years old and was held on misdemeanor charges of check fraud and theft. In total, seven people have died this year behind bars. Compared to 11 people this same time last year. Although deaths are down, experts caution that the jails are still overcrowded and people of color, particularly Black inmates, are disproportionately dying in L.A. County jails. [LAT]
—A new podcast from LAist Studios and VICE looks at the underground party scene of the early 2,000s and the "brutal death" of a 14-year-old that has gone unsolved. [LAist]
