Central City East/Skid Row Heights : Downtown Los Angeles

I have been watching the goings on at blogging.la over the who is the Grinch of 2009. But i have been personally watching what it is doing to a dear friend of mine who was nominated and I know that there are many people who don't remember why he has the positions he has in the Downtown Community. I have been given gifts that others don't have and these gifts are those that many in skid row do not have ;some grasp of how the Universe operates and how the laws of the Universe balance out the equations. Many times we are victims of abuse and when I was Ill there was a sick old man who wanted to try and molest me and because it happened in skid row there was no justice..I watch as a person tries to get justice through the purview of public opinion and I see that it is just making her look crazier and crazier. She accuses my friend of having a " political machine" and I just couldn't stop laughing at the thought because there is no power machinations going on. But I kn...

I wonder now , now that I no longer live in skid row if having lot's of facial hair was just my way at a defense mechanism...as I continue to read he diatribe and see the many photos of myself over at that libel blog , I wonder if the reason for all of my facial hair has to do with people like Jaime Green who chose to attack the physically and mentally ill in skid row was the reason to have the beard etc. I wonder if all of that facial hair was just a way to send a message to those around to stay away/ Many people send messages and signs by using sunglasses or facial expressions if they don't want to be bothered. I wonder.... I am so glad and feel good about standing my ground...the messages at that blog are getting to the point of if I don't stop what I am doing by alerting people about him , that there is cause for a successful libel suit..hmmmm... I can tell that the quote about the response was just a faked quote...he sent me an e-mail letter from a fake attorney year...

Ah , yes !!! With the introduction by a sociopath I suppose this is the segway to introduce something I will be doing soon and that is continuing to get this weight off. I may be starting a blog soon on how I will accomplish the next goal of getting ripped and buff... God has seen fit to allow me to live outside of skid row and as a result of weight loss surgery have a new tool to get into shape...the WLS surgery seems to have cured the type II diabetes..and I will report on that Early next month...as I lose weight I am starting to see that options in my life are changing... I read and see the sad things that people do to themselves to continue to live ins skid row... others have done nothing to deserve it...but I see I have a chance at a new life and it is getting great.... It was a combination social service providers and residents in skid row who have helped me to achieve this much...the last time I was bluffed by that same fellow to try and keep me quiet... I have learned that thi...

Bill Gates also speaks about why Education will save America

Don Garza - Downtown Los Angeles Well , oh well... Nestle Volunteers are everywhere .... all year I was seeing Nestle Company volunteers all over skid row, not to mention this past Christmas season... On Christmas Eve , after my little jaunt hanging out at the Los Angeles Mission, I went over to bug Andy Bales out at the Union Rescue Mission .. as I walked up to him to bug him and harass and all out annoy him while I was fired up on Mountain Dew Blue from the Los Angeles Mission festivities, you couldn't help but see the blue shirts of the Nestle Corporation. This year someone donated money to buy steaks for the Union Rescue Mission for Christmas Eve , there were over 1800 steaks that were grilled that day. Andy told me that they had started at 11 am and I arrived around 1 :30 pm to find them in their full grilling form ..and being wired up on Mountain Dew I couldn't stop talking. I see these guys everywhere all year. They are at the Midnight Mission and other places in skid...

Don Garza - Downtown Los Angeles I spent Christmas Eve at the Los Angeles Mission today to see what was going on at the Christmas Eve Celebration. To start this post it must be said that the line is getting longer . I missed Thanksgiving this year , but others told me that the line was even longer. Suffice to say that the folks in the line were moved along through the event quickly , but what was poignant , even for a 10 Year skid row veteran such as myself ,was the long line of not bussed in families. Yes, these people were not bussed in and to me this portends that more families are suffering around this great city if they made their way to the Los Angeles Misson ..I could see that many were not there to eat as a result of coming down to shop in the Toy District and the wholesale district of downtown. It was distressing to see the line now extended onto 5th street . More families with children .. not bussed in...hmmmm..on Christmas Eve? Something is up.. The ten years I was li...

Don Garza-Downtown Los Angeles For those who may not be aware, Jeff Page , also known as General Jeff, will be appearing 0n CNN sometime near Christmas on a story that was done specifically about Jeff Page and his role as the Skid Row Resident Representative on the Downtown Los Angeles Neighborhood Council. In the short amount of time he has been living in skid row General Jeff has accomplished much to make the neighborhood a better place. Just a short note for those out there who are projecting their own feelings onto me and how I should feel about all of this because you may operate that way... I am not jealous nor envious nor resentful. You see , I had my opportunity to run for that seat that I helped to create during the foundation process of the Downtown Los Angeles Neighborhood Council. At that time skid row residents were not participating in the larger arena of community building within Downtown. I felt it was important that I work with the larger Downtown Community to create ...

Downtown Los Angeles This photo was taken at the Appreciation Dinner for the 30n3 Basketball leaugue.. I was an honoree and as you can see I went in a pair of shorts. I have lost over 75 lbs since the beginning of August. So I am searching for clothes all of the time..from a size 47 pants to a 40 and hopefully next week a size 38...

Jaime Green registered Sex offender ingratiating himself with City Hall to try and get close to unsuspecting young men and boys. One of my biggest thing I am proud of was exposing this sociopath and having him removed from the Downtown Los Angeles Neighborhood Council. It is shameful that the Los Angeles City Council can be bamboozeled into believing that registered sex offender Jaime Green , who has lured many a young man and boy to the Southern Hotel, operated by SRO Housing Corporation, in skid row for sexual favors by using Marijauna as part of his arsenal in predatory behavior , is present at city hall to champion the cause of those who need medical marijuana to alleviate their suffering. Jaime Green is a registered sex offender with the LAPD Central Station. Jaime Green has not moved from skid row for all his life simply because in a neighborhood outside of skid row he would have to notify those in the neighborhood about his proclivities. As I watch the proceedings of the City Co...

Don Garza - Donwntown Los Angeles Charlie Back was sworn in today as the Police Chief of Los Angeles. The LA Downtown News has the story as well as the photos. It doesn't look like there was a big crowd. I didn't even go. I should have but I have been staying in doors as of late. Anyway, congratulations to Chief Charlie Beck. Charlie Beck replaces outgoing Chief Bratton and seems to have been a favorite of most everyone to fill the big shoes left by Chief William Bratton.

Don Garza - Downtown Los Angeles This is an e-mail that was sent to me by General Jeff. Aparently a woman was dragged underneath a car for quite a ways in skid row. December 3, 2009 O.G., For your information, I was out in the community last night and at apprx. 1-1:30 a.m. an older limousine was traveling westbound on 5th street where I was updating our constituents on our latest efforts in front of the L.A. Mission. To me, it appeared as though the car was dragging a good size piece of cardboard or some type of debris that was preventing it from traveling faster down the road. I tried to get the attention of the driver and alert him/her that something was under the front of the car. They continued west down 5th and as they passed Central Division they were pulled over by LAPD officers. The limo didn't stop until it was closer to Los Angeles street. I could see the squad cars filing out of Central and soon blocked off the entire street. I thought nothing more of it and continued my...

This guy is not a crackpot , but he understands that humans must evolve to survive. He is a gift and it is great to know that we can have hope for the future instead of despair. Will Artificial Intelligence become conscious in 25 years? It is amazing.

Don Garza - Downtown Los Angeles With the likes of Dick Van Dyke and Anthony Hopkins the homeless of skid row were treated like they are every year to a wonderful sit down meal of Turkey , dressing , and all of the trimmings. This year many were thankful for the opportunity to be there as well as get a hot meal on Thanksgiving day. Dick Van Dyke and Senior Lead officer Skid Row Deon Joseph Dick Van Dyke , Anthony Hopkins , Barry Liss , Councilwoman Jan Perry Tim Leiweke , Greg Townsend , and Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa "What our guests really get out of this event is to get a chance to see the greater community serving them, caring about them and helping them understand that they may feel forgotten but they're not," said Orlando Ward, Midnight Mission.

DON GARZA- Downtown Los Angeles Skid Row can be a blessng or a curse. This CNN story covers the blessing. It took 10 years for my blessing to happen thanks to the help of the Midnight Mission . This young gentleman stayed at the Union Rescue Mission. He never gave up. We should never give up and never look down and keep our heads held high.

I am always reminded that I am a true Texan and we never give up nor give in when right and freedom are our cause...

The non-profits are getting ready to begin their Holiday Season. As Always the Midnight Mission hosts their Thanksgiving Street fair on the actual Thanksgiving day . The festivities bring out lot's of music, esp the Music of the Midnight Mission all volunteer blues band. The Music fills the streets on 6th Street between San Julian Street and San Pedro. This year will be Thursday November 26Th . The Los Angeles Mission will have their Thanksgiving festival on 5Th street between Wall Street and San Pedro on November 25Th . The Union Rescue Mission will have their Thanksgiving Street Fair on Saturday November 21st . The Fred Jordan Mission will also be having their Thanksgiving on the Street on November 26Th . It will be held between Crocker and Gladys on 5Th street. I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday season!!!

Have I given up my skid row citizenship? I don't know, but it is strange to be living in a part of the community that isn't full of crime and folks sleeping on the streets, no smell of weed intermixed with the smell of crack cocaine. No feeling that the criminals will get me , no one walking by me and saying threatening things only I can hear related to my work with the LAPD and the non-profits. It is also quite interesting to know that I had to put these fears , these thoughts of seeing human beings suffering, into the far recesses of my mind everyday I was in skid row. To think that this is a traumatic experience , I can assure you living in skid row everyday is a traumatic experience , thus, now I dread having to go there and all I have to do is get the rest of my belongings. Skid Row is as raw as it gets. The naked human condition. The predators , both sexual and drug enslavers , are everywhere. I mean , where else can you live and a person goes around showing you a nu...

If you walk around Los Angeles and ask folks what they think about the Downtown News , a lot of responses will be that they are nothing but a promotional rag to the highest bidder , yet these past couple of weeks we have seen Ryan Vaillancourt do actual Journal ism in the stories he has submitted and published about the skid row 30n3 basketball league. It is amazing to see that the howls from downtown residents about actual reporting on what is going on downtown other than the promotional stories about those who pay for advertising in the Downtown News is coming to pass. I am just glad we are seeing the reemergence of a downtown staple becoming a real place to read stories about downtown and not just the politically correct tied to advertiser stories. Ryan has my utmost respect ... keep them coming... we want to read stories about life in Downtown and not just who has the best new residential building... He also has qualified himself for an actual Los Angeles Town Crier Ambassador of...

It is a good feeling to have when one accomplishes a mission. This morning I saw the fruits of my labor as I looked at the Installation of drupal on a linux ubuntu and xammp stack. It is so awesome to have that feeling. There was another part to this project that hasn't happened yet , but it will happen. The Midnight Mission now has it's have it's library data base on GNU licensed software so no one has to worry about software infringement. And the stack is on it's own semi- server so it doesn't have to be connected to the Midnight Mission's IT network. The Library will have it's own network eventually , but for now the most important thing is to have a database where books can easily be entered and kept track of and as a result easily put back on the shelves. I am looking forward to the best part of the project and I can't reveal what that is yet. But I can say it will be a surprise to the open source community. I love doing this and I am so glad t...

For your edification Fire Station 9 in Skid Row is now transmitting their weatherbug data to those online. Get a weatherbug widget from Weather bug and stay informed on all the weather in skid row. Just click on the widget on the right sidebar of this blog to find out how to get a widget for your site .

SRO Housing Corporation is the entity that will be getting the Huntington Hotel. Contrary to other sources of Misinformation , for those who do not yet know , the Huntington Hotel will be managed by SRO Housing Corporation. Drug sales and crime continues to be rampant within SRO Housing Corporation Hotels, these include the Yankee Hotel , the Southern Hotel. But the most activity can be found on Main Street between 5 th Street and 6 th Street at the Leonide , which, of course , is operated by SRO Housing Corporation. When will downtown's business viable streets not be inundated with drug dealers , prostitutes , and other forms of crime. There is no accountability at SRO Housing Corporation . Thus , now we are spreading skid row to main street instead of making a change. Sources have said that the CRA questioned SRO Housing Corporation and it's policy towards it's tenants when it erroneously claimed that air conditioning was not allowed in the hotels in 2007 right befo...

"The people here need a hand , but not a heavy hand." - Carmen Trutanich walks in skid row It was a warm evening and the end of a long , hot month with people all over the streets of skid row gathering near the Midnight Mission to get ready for their evening ritual. The usual suspects gathered in front of the brown facade of the front gateway leading into the Midnight Mission. We were all waiting for the person that was mentioned who would make the walk skid row walk tonight . Suddenly , someone pointed in the direction of 6th and San Julian. There was a contingency of City Attorney's and LAPD Commissioner's and also Carmen Trutanich. Carmen Turtanich is the New Los Angeles City Attorney. Many are wondering what will happen on his watch. Will he cave in to to the ACLU , will he do the overkill when it comes to enforcement? Below, in his own words, as he is interviewed by Eric Richardson from blogdowntown.com , we hear that he is no dummy and he is pragmatic and ...

The skid row neighborhood walks continue and this month was no exception. Today was an expectation of the presence of Carmen Trutanich. He didn't make it today. But the rest of the crew was there. It was a nice walk as Officer Deon Joseph was out educating those who had come to walk this time. What most people don't know is that Councilmember Huizar made two walks this year , unless there were more that I missed because I missed a couple the beginning of the year. But he has also been making his presence known at the walks. Things have changed a lot in skid row.

Embedded video from CNN Video

Per Lange of Lange Sales in scandanavia bringing sales coaching to midnight mission Residents at the Midnight Mission in Downtown Los Angeles Skid Row had the opportunity to learn from one of Scandinavia's best selling and marketing coaches in the industry of sales. I was one of those that was allowed to attend the 5 day seminar on the various selling techniques that make for professional and qualified sales professionals. Per Lange of Lange Sales was the presenter of the 5 day seminar. Residents and employees of the Midnight Mission sat through an intensive class from 9 am until 1pm the whole 5 days as they interacted with one of the best coaches in sales in Europe and around the world. It was very exciting to learn the techniques that make for high level sales year round instead of the roller coaster that many expect through the year. Just after the first two days I was able to use the first techniques and had success. Then it was on to the psychology of selling and the wond...

Well , folks , once again Tommy Pastrami has excelled again. Those true texans out there looking for brisket that melts in your mouth and is used in a french dip sandwich need to head on over To Tommy Pastrami. I got here at around 7 pm and the community get together was still happening and is happening until 9 pm tonite. COme on out. There is plenty of Pastrami and rye bread. Tommy himself is here and he gave me a taste of the brisket... Guys and Gals it melts in your mouth. You will leave satisfied and there is talk of a Pastrami Sandwich eating contest in the future. It is just right. Finally ,real food in Downtown Los Angeles . NO fluff , reasonable prices , great people and a huge space which has wifi... We are blessed. Keep on the lookout for information on the Downtown Tommy Pastrami pastrami sandwich eating contest... Stay Tuned.

Angels flocked to Downtown Los Angeles on Monday and Tuesday. Regardless of what all of the "mess" that was put out to the world about Michael Jackson , his music transformed the hearts of millions around the world...How could anyone not know this. This man had been tormented by the press and quite possibly the people around him...Yet, here we were in Downtown Los Angeles paying our respects to a person who brought much joy into the lives of many. Connected by the one thing that transcends every barrier ; music. I wasn't planning on attending the signing of the huge poster in the middle of Staples Center , but at the last I did indeed go and while I waited in the line you could fill the wonderful positive energy that permeated the place. This wasn't sadness , this was joy and a celebration of a life that made a difference in the world. At home there were tears at the prospects of allegations that possibly a doctor became a predator and dispensed medications that wer...

Well , folks , because of the referral over at blogdowntown I went to Tommy Pastrami and had a real Philly Cheese steak. Like the sign says as you walk in, "it is all about the meat", and, yes, folks, being a true texan and now the official Town Crier of Los Angeles, I have to say it is awesome. The Philly Cheese Steak had the meat all together...the fat melted in the sandwich and not in your mouth, in other words the meat was meat and not a lot of fat.... I would recommend this place. I did also order a lite pastrami on Rye and ,yes, it was lite, being a diabetic , this is the way to go when one is hungry for some meat, like a pastrami sandwich....between Botegga Louie and Tommy Pastrami my East Coast palate is being well taken care of downtown... The other wonderful thing about this place is that it is clean.... it is larger inside than what it looks like from the outside... a good place to go and there is free wifi.

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As a child i remember being at a skating rink.....roller skating. There was a huge screen on one of the turnaround walls and videos-music videos were being shown on the screen. A huge roar went up as Michael Jackson's Thriller video was shown and many children stoppped to watch the video. This was a mostly white hick town in east Texas and color did not stop the white folks from being fans. Michael Jackson helped to create a better and closer world. I know that many of his songs have touched me and have helped me in my life. You will be missed.

to learn more go to: The ASHÉ Foundation Partners with TMM On June 24th, Hollywood icons and athletes, Tom Arnold, Kenny Lattimore, Brandon Fobbs, Howard Hewett, Essence Atkins, Claudia Wells, Jonathan Bennett, Teddy Riley, Niecy Nash, Antonio Cromartie, Harry Smith, Ananda Lewis, Saxophonist Mark Allen Fenton will perform, and others will join The ASHÉ Foundation as they wash the feet and place clean white socks and adequate shoes on the displaced and disadvantage men in the courtyard of The Midnight Mission located at 601 South San Pedro Street, Los Angeles, from 1:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. Clergy leaders, Pastor Barry Lyons of Living Waters of the San Fernando Valley, Pastor Charles Humphrey of Hope’s House Ministries and Rev. John W. Miller of Community Lutheran Church of Los Angeles along with several members of their church, will also be on site to lend a hand to this day of service. "Homelessness has always been my number one platform,” says ASHÉ Executive Director Dion Fearon....

Sitting in the dining room it is hard not to be at awe with the grand diversity found at the Midnight Mission in Downtown Los Angeles . The Midnight Mission provides many services for people. Many people sit and eat and talk about their sobriety and about how they are getting their lives together. It has been very impressive to see the amount of gay men who are in the program. This month the Midnight Mission highlights one of these men on the front page of their website. Not to say there isn't the feeling of homophobia when one is in skid row. It is every where, but the tolerance that is fostered at the midnight mission is being accomplished. Lindsey , who is on the front page of the Midnight Mission website, is an example of what can happen when we take into account the different lives that are affected by the kindness of strangers. Lindsey and many like him at the Midnight Mission give me strength and the courage to continue to support this oasis for the disenfranchised in a par...

You have probably heard of edars- everybody deserves a roof- for homeless people. IS this the every neighborhood council deserves an office-encdao-because of the city cutting their budgets. Russell Brown and Russell Chan and other neighborhood council board members from DLANC pushing the portable office?

I am still getting hit with verbal attacks from so called grass roots organizations in skid row for my support of the larger well funded organizations. All I have to say is these people do not have the wherewithal to help those people such as women and children in skid row with housing, food, clothing and work training and employment. It is important to understand that when one is truly an advocate you advocate responsibly and understand that there are other organizations that provide the services that are needed. Recently one of these community organizers has attacked the Mission. For the Midnight Mission to take me inside their organization is a big risk for them. I have had the nerve to point the finger at Anita Nelson for her negligence and abusive treatment of her tenants at SRO Housing Corporation and as a result was given a 30 day notice as a form of retaliation . The Midnight Mission knows very well that if I would take on my own landlord there isn't any reason I wo...

Apparently the downtown news will not honor the last time I asked them to remove me from their subscription list. You know their weekly updates by e-mail...... So today I clicked the unsubscribe link and a new window opens up and I get to their home page. And one wonders why the Downtown News is not a trusted source of information in the downtown community. They can't even get this right. When I first unsubscribed a while back I was under the impression I would not be receiving anymore information from them. Alas, is this the only way they can make vistor hits at their site....by having you click the unsubscribe buttton, have a window open up saying it doesn't work and, then a new window opens up to their front page? Geez!!!! Stop pissing me off!!! LADOWNTOWNNEWS>>>> I said I don't want to hear from you anymore... can't you honor that??

No one knows what made St. Vibiana a martyr and a saint. And there are no written records of the reason she was a martyr and saint. According to a blogger , st vibiana was the saint of the nobodies and everybody... Wasn't that true for Lesley Taplin also? Who was she? She is an enigma. She is nobody and everybody. Her feast is celebrated only by us here in Los Angeles. Because we don’t know the details of her life, in one way it is difficult to ascribe to her particular virtues we can imitate. Yet in another way. this makes it easier for us to identify with her. All we know about her is that she was a martyr. And that is enough. She stands for all of us, the insignificant ones who will never be written about in history books. We follow Jesus as best we can, in ways unknown to others. Yet we too can be like Vibiana, faithful disciples of the Lord. Our lives may not be widely known, but they are known to God, who has called us each by name from before the beginning of time. When we...

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I wonder sometimes why people are so insecure that they have to throw their weight around to prove to themselves that they have worht. It has been interesting observing such a person and person's where I am living at as they continue to express those personality disorders that they have as a result of their addictive personalities. Power and control seem to be a theme in their personalities. If they feel that they can not control a situation or someone they will do everything in their power to remove that threat to their ego... Just the other day someone tried to get my goat..... it was interesting as it was a set up. He was ready with his cell phone and as he yelled and screamed and hollered at me in the dining room that he was in control and I should do what he said , he knew that I wasn't going to back down from him.. thus one of the people serving the food , who was in his case management , he made sure to tell him that he could not feed me.... to show to everyone that he ...

The LA Downtown news seems to be getting a lot of it's articles from Blogdowntown and other blogs online..It seems to me that it is just a plain waste of time to even go to their new website... SO I have cancelled my email update and removed the ladowntownnews from of my favorites in my browser.... Blogdowntown is the only news source I need to read anyway for downtown news and happenings.....

I think that is something that will be coming up shortly and real soon.. Why not??? Let's all make our donations to a community online newspaper that is objective and fair in their reporting.... enough said...

As we watch as the new film ; The Soloist, is released, I am very well aware of the tragedy of mental illness. I am one who wound up at such a young age at around 21 having to deal with Major Depression and to make things worse hypothyroidism. The hypothyroidism made the depression even worse and made me lethargic and I was tortured at every level because of my decrease in physical abilities the rest of my time in the Marine Corps. After we came home from desert storm I was confronted with my family berating me as a murderer, particularly my Uncle and my Aunti.. I had called from a forward area where 2nd marine division had established a chow hall ,and it seemed I would miss the main assault into Kuwait so I let my family know this, unfortunately for me I did make the main assault and did go through the breeches in the mine fields with my unit. When we came home from that war... I was even letting my Uncle know that I was about get get all of my tuition paid for by the State of Texas...