How to put together a news package

Tee hee. Found this on www.marccooper.com

Small Businesses Hit Hard By The Recession - VIDEO | Neon Tommy

Love that Neon Tommy has an eye on the fundamentals of the American economy.

Small Businesses Hit Hard By The Recession - VIDEO | Neon Tommy

Amor a la patria

I'm a salad bowl of cultures - I remember an intercultural communication class that posed the question of whether the melting pot concept was inaccurate, and even, derogatory.

But days like today make me love the land that I call home, for the salad or soup of wonders it has to offer. In fact, the city offered me a delicious sandwich from the Grilled Cheese Truck yesterday. :)

In between a lame 2-minute Gold Line photo shoot and a city council meeting (and the beginning of an awesome new project I can't disclose yet), I found one of L.A.'s most inspirational spots.

If you ever have an extra half hour in downtown, please do yourself a favor and climb up to the 27th floor of City Hall. 

Dia de los vivos

While Guatemalan/Salvadoran Dia de los Muertos is a much-celebrated remembrance of the dead, not to mention a holiday (check out this Prensa Libre package), mom ventured out of her typical candles for her difuntos (deceased) to experience a Mexican/American version of the celebration with me. I think this is the beginning of a hybrid tradition of our own. :-)

I'm working on a story about the "underground" economy behind Latino holidays to show how commerce in the immigrant community is often unaccounted for. Help me out, what do you buy the most for Dia de los Muertos? Flowers? Pan dulce? What other Latino holidays come to mind? Do you celebrate modified versions of American holidays? Tamales instead of chumpe (turkey)? How do these holidays affect your spending habits?

Fashion in L.A.

LAEDC economist on fashion industry:

While fashion manufacturing jobs are unlikely to return to L.A., the design jobs and the "creative sector" are here to stay and they will keep fashion from fleeing L.A.

Also, celebrity-driven campaigns are L.A.'s "strong suit."  "Pricey jeans"-makers can afford to keep their operations, including some manufacturing, in the state, rather than "plain vanilla jeans" that are worn until holes are ripped into them. Holes in pricey jeans are actually a premium.

On the other hand, retailers like Forever 21 are thriving during the recession because they are seizing opportunities in the real estate market and catering to the "young woman" who "shops for fun." They are also maximizing their use of L.A.'s still-large production base, which is adapting to quick turnaround periods for companies that want fashion manufactured yesterday, put on their shelves today and restocked by tomorrow.

Shoring Up Cali

The California Department of General Services is getting about $2.33 billion for 11 office properties up and down the state. About $1.2 billion of that is going to the state general fund and it will allegedly prevent further statewide program cuts and tax increases, not counting what already was approved in the state budget.

Let's keep tabs!

Running on fumes

I'm SO AWAKE and well-versed on the Community Redevelopment Agency of Los Angeles right now! :)

Just finished writing some neighborhood council and CRA/LA reports for The Neighborhood News' October/November edition.

lush

Oreana Winery in Santa Barbara has Cupcake + Wine Pairing Saturdays!

I can only vouch for their normal tasting on Labor Day Monday but I highly recommend it.

Lists

Officially crossing the following off the NATGEO list below (as posted at the highly recommended L.A. County Fair's Wine Marketplace):

1. Handel's Homemade Ice Cream, US
2. Dr. Bob's handcrafted ice cream, CA (CPP!!)
3. Ron's Gourmet Ice Cream, Massachusetts
4. Berthillon, Paris (Droool)
5. Bim Bom *yet another reason to visit Cuba*
6. Coppella *yet another reason to visit Cuba*
7. Cold Stone Creamery, US
8. Crescent Ridge Dairy, Massachusetts
9. Vivoli Gelato, Florence
10. Haagen Daaz, U.S.

Train Riders: Expect Delays

Click here to check out my article for The Neighborhood News here

It only takes a quick glance down Exposition Boulevard to know the Expo Light Rail line is coming. But completion dates and final plans remain unclear and many of the details of the $862 million Phase 1 remain murky. Its estimated opening date has been pushed back for at least 50 weeks from May 2010 into late 2011

Looking Into A Murky Crystal Ball

"Rather than train journalists to dismiss their own experiences, what if we trained them to use those experiences to help them explain the news to their audience? Allow their humanity to shape their journalism?"

Excellent article. Please check it out - "Look At Me!"

Lawyer Returns to Practice, Finding Much Has Changed (Excerpt)

By Carla Pineda
Daily Journal Staff Writer

D. Stephen Antion left private practice
10 years ago for an in-house
job at Ridgestone Corp., the Los Angeles
investment group. He recently
returned to private practice to help
Katten Muchin Rosenman grow its
corporate business in Los Angeles.
What he found is a different world
than the one he left. Billing rates have
skyrocketed and the city’s key clients
have changed...

Slice of Life (and cake) : Mid-February

Food truck craze

Sigh. 

I will die obese, smiling and with chub dimples on my cheeks. I came to terms with it today after sampling a few things from a couple of food trucks at the debut of the Food Truck Lot on Alameda and 2nd St.

I'm happy for its apparent success and its location - in the area where I usually grab lunch and within walking distance of my job.

Maybe walking will help me digest. Might I add how difficult the gym was this evening after the deep fried goodness I gorged on earlier?

I'm planning on a food truck hiatus - after the big event this Saturday, of course.

Photos to come...