🌱 LAPD Ready For SoFi Crowds + Is L.A. Trying To Hide Homeless?

Happy Sunday, neighbors, and happy National Croissant Day! Let's get you all caught up to start today off on an informed note. And, if you’re traveling this week, fuel up at G&M at 7960 Santa Monica Boulevard, where gas costs $4.29 a gallon.

Even though there were 1,300 LBPD members off work with COVID earlier, the department is ready to take on Super Bowl crowds. Also, are there cleanups going on around SoFi to hide the city’s homelessness problem? Finally, Joe Buscaino wants to cut the salaries of elected officials.

First, today's weather:

Mostly sunny and pleasant. High: 72 Low: 47.

Here are the top five stories today in Los Angeles:

1. The LAPD wants you to know that it’s ready to meet any public safety challenges during Super Bowl LVI. In its Friday news release, the PD explained that it had “bolstered deployments across the entire city with hundreds of additional officers in uniform as well as specialized assignments.” This reassurance comes in the aftermath of reports that earlier this month, COVID cases at the PD led to “more than 1,300 of its members being off work.” (@LAPDHQ)
2. Is the city trying to clean up the area around SoFi Stadium ahead of the tourists coming to town? Street cleanups dismantling homeless encampments on sidewalks have been taking place in Inglewood. “Caltrans said the cleanups were nothing out of the ordinary, and not in response to the Super Bowl,” we learned Friday. Olvera Street got a cleanup, too. However, encampments are under overpasses of the 10 and “garbage is just about everywhere.” (NBC)
3. Los Angeles City Councilman Joe Buscaino, a candidate for L.A. mayor, introduced a ballot measure that would ban homeless encampments, prioritize the development of emergency shelters, and reduce “the salaries of elected officials who failed to meet those goals.” The measure was handed to the L.A. City Clerk and City Attorney on Friday, where it’ll undergo review. If approved, Buscaino can mobilize signature gatherers to “collect the required 65,000 signatures to place it on the November ballot.” (ABC)
4. Topgolf is planning an expansion into El Segundo and Ontario. To get a buzz among golfing aficionados going, it hosted a pop-up at Dodger Stadium. (There are still tickets available for today!) “The Dodger Stadium pop-up has its 26 bays set up on the loge level, with “Toptracer” cameras positioned around the stadium, measuring the distance of balls hit.” (LA Weekly, MLB)
5. Frieze Los Angeles’ free public art exhibit is on permanent hold. This art installation was supposed to open in a Beverly Hills park concurrently with the Art Fair. However, “COVID-related shipping delays and labor shortages” have created problems. There aren’t enough works of art. Frieze Los Angeles itself will still take place on February 17 in a tent next to the Beverly Hilton. There will be 12 works of art. (DucheTridao)

Today in Los Angeles:

• Citywide Aquatics Lifeguard Certification at the EXPO Center/John C. Argue Swim Stadium (7 AM to 5 PM)
• Historic Downtown Farmer's Market at 211 West 5th Street (9 AM to 3 PM)
• Hike Day With The Free People Movement Club at The Shops at Sportsmen’s Lodge (10 AM to 11:30 AM)
• Los Angeles Philharmonic plays Mendelssohn and Beethoven at Walt Disney Concert Hall (2 PM to 6 PM)
• Sounds Of The Ocean (an immersive experience to connect with marine life) at Wisdome LA (7 PM to 9 PM)

From my notebook:

• The LA County Museum of Art discusses Huang Yong Ping's "Dan Xian: The Doomsday" (1997). These oversized tea bowls appear at first to bear the motifs of historical Chinese porcelains. (Instagram)
• The Los Angeles Fire Department is answering questions. Why are there no Red Flag Warnings today? (Facebook)
• An Old Vermont Square neighbor is looking for soccer team recommendations in the area. (Nextdoor)
• Our Hollywood South Fountain neighbor is looking for advice from pet owners with pet insurance. (Nextdoor)
• A West Adams Avenues neighbor wants recommendations for an instructor to do in-person drumming lessons for a child. (Nextdoor)

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Events:

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You're all caught up for today. I'll see you back in your inbox tomorrow with a new 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.