🌱 Black Diamond Visits L.A. + Project Roomkey Runs Out Of Rooms

Hey, neighbors, and happy National Winnie the Pooh Day! Sylvia here with your brand-new issue of the Los Angeles Daily.

A 555.55-carat black diamond is visiting L.A. Also, the no-camping ordinance collides with a lack of hotel rooms. Finally, a man was found dead near the Leeward Bay Marina.

First, today's weather:

Mainly cloudy. High: 64 Low: 53.

Here are the top five stories in Los Angeles today:

1. The Enigma is a 555.55-carat black diamond that will be auctioned off at Sotheby’s in February. However, journalists in Los Angeles will have a chance to look at it more closely between Monday and Wednesday next week. This diamond is said to have extraterrestrial origins and may sell for close to $7 million. Sotheby’s will accept cryptocurrency. (Barron’s, AP)
2. Los Angeles has run out of FEMA-funded Project Roomkey hotel rooms for individuals experiencing homelessness, we learned Monday. This means that “the city only had congregate beds available” but no individual housing options. At the same time, the City now has a new “anti-camping ordinance.” With “918 people experiencing homelessness testing positive for COVID-19” in the first week of the year, dispersing them is a bad idea, the CDC says. It is now “up to individual councilmembers in their respective districts” to decide on a course of action. (Spectrum News 1)
3. Authorities found a dead man “in the water near the Leeward Bay Marina in Wilmington” on Sunday afternoon. The LAFD believes him to be around 60 years old. The man was seen alive an hour before. (KTLA)
4. We learned Sunday that there was a break-in at the L.A. home of actress Lori Loughlin and fashion designer Mossimo Giannulli. There’s no information how the burglars entered the home. The family was out at the time and a housekeeper discovered the burglary. (NBC)
5. Local developer Redcar Properties has big plans for the industrial buildings at 1635-1639 North Main Street. The finished project could bring “140,000 square feet of offices and 10,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space in a campus-like setting” to the location. If all goes as planned, the project will start up in the fall and finish up in 2024. The property is near the L.A. State Historic Park. (Urbanize)

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Today in Los Angeles:

• Morning Meditation at the Angel City Zen Center (7 AM)
• COVID-19 Vaccines at the Veterans Administration Medical Center West (8 AM)
• California African American Museum presents Sanford Biggers: Codeswitch (10 AM to 5 PM)
• Los Angeles County Museum of Art presents Legacies of Exchange: Chinese Contemporary Art from the Yuz Foundation (11 AM to 6 PM)
• Industry Tuesday at Byblos Mediterranean Restaurant and Hookah Bar (10 PM)

From my notebook:

• A West Athens neighbor has about 6 bags of clothes they want to sell. The prices are very cheap. The clothes are in great condition and everything is washed. (Nextdoor)
• Another West Athens neighbor found a Boxer or pit bull. He's brown and either 1 or 2 years old. Is it yours? (Nextdoor)
• A concerned Baldwin Vista neighbor had brown tinged water this evening. Anyone else having brown tinged water today? If so, does anyone know the cause? (Nextdoor)
• Our Hazard Park neighbor is looking for an Indian cook to make weekly meals. They are able to pick up the food. (Nextdoor)

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Events:

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• Divorce & the Home: Real Estate & Mortgage – Vesta, Pasadena, CA Hub (January 21)
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• Topanga Vintage Market at Pierce College (January 23)
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• Which Divorce Process is Right for Me? – Vesta Beverly Hills/South Bay Hub (January 28)
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Alrighty, you're all good for today. I'll catch up with you bright and early tomorrow morning with another update!

— Sylvia Cochran

About me: Sylvia Cochran works out of sunny Southern California and has been freelance writing full-time since 2005. She loves dogs, cats, books, plays Best Fiends (don't judge), embraces social justice, and tries to live out Micah 6:8.