Scout, a.k.a. L.A.'s mold buster

Jacqueline Howard
| April 4, 2009 2:41 PM TrackBacks (0) Comments (0)
min lagenhet,scout[1]. website bilder 2007 057.JPGLOS ANGELES -- Los Angeles is home to one of the state's most popular mold-detection dogs: Scout. According to this owner, Yvonne Sjostrand, the 3-year-old Jack Russell is the first mold-sniffing dog to work in L.A. County.

"When I started there were no dog-certified handlers," she says. "I was the first one. This was like spring 2006." 

Most dogs are trained to detect dangers such as bombs or drugs, but Sjostrand trains Scout to detect 250 different scents of mold, including the most toxic: black mold. He's become such an expert that when the mold-fighting duo are called to someone's home, Sjostrand says he can often detect where mold may be hiding walls, crevices, floorboards or ceilings, within minutes.

"He puts his nose up and then goes straight to it," she says.

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Visualization: Grocery Store Disparity

Jacqueline Howard
| April 2, 2009 3:30 PM TrackBacks (0) Comments (0)
Above you can view the disparity between socioeconomic groups in L.A. and their access to healthy foods in their communities.
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California Prepares for Marriage Decision

Jacqueline Howard
| March 7, 2009 4:44 PM TrackBacks (0) Comments (0)

LOS ANGELES - Hundreds of same-sex marriage supporters gathered for a candlelight vigil at El Pueblo De Los Angeles State Historic Park on the eve of a California Supreme Court hearing to address the constitutionality of Proposition 8.
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The Eastsiders Remembered

Jacqueline Howard
| February 23, 2009 10:54 PM TrackBacks (0) Comments (0)
Remembering Black History in Los Angeles:

African American History Los Angeles on Dipity.


LOS ANGELES - Historian and retired Los Angeles Superior Court Judge William Beverly, Jr. hosted a screening of the documentary film The Eastsiders, which he wrote, researched and directed, at AC Bilbrew Library in Watts on Saturday.

The movie documents the lives of African Americans who lived their childhood along the Central Avenue corridor in L.A. from the 1920s to 1965. During this time, the area was a thriving commercial center, filled with businesses, churches, homes and was considered a jazz mecca of its day.

In the The Eastsiders, eight former residents of the Central Avenue corridor tell their stories of what life was like as an "Eastsider." Many members in the audience often responded with gasps as they, too, remembered their days growing up as "Eastsiders." You can hear from these audience members and Beverly, himself, in the following video clip.

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Powerful storms give L.A. a wet President's Day

Jacqueline Howard
| February 16, 2009 2:55 PM TrackBacks (0) Comments (0)

EDITEDstorm over head.jpgParts of L.A. are shut down today, not only because of the President's Day holiday, but a severe winter storm has also caused heavy rainfall, flooding and mud slides across the county.

The California Highway Patrol and local officials have reported dozens of traffic accidents in Southern California, including one that caused officers to close lanes on the 405 Freeway at Getty Center Drive.
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Supervisor speaks to public about the economy

Jacqueline Howard
| February 2, 2009 9:16 PM TrackBacks (0) Comments (0)
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Los Angeles County 2nd District Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas spoke with residents Saturday morning about the current condition of the local economy.

He told the crowd of about 1,200 that social services are diminishing across the county as a result of budget negotiations and dwindling tax revenue.

He added that these members of the community, and others, should hold the government accountable.

"Government is designed to be responsive to the needs of the people that it represents but that does not happen unless the people cause government to respond," Ridley-Thomas said.
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Change Over Generations

Jacqueline Howard
| December 16, 2008 1:31 PM TrackBacks (0) Comments (0)

My family is composed of four generations: those whose parents lived as slaves, those from the Jim Crow south, those who were birthed out of the civil rights movement, and finally, my generation, those who see the 2008 presidential election as our coming of age. Here's a look at my family as they prepare for inauguration day: