Street Improvements
The Eastside Access Improvement Project broke ground Thursday on First Street in Boyle Heights promising new decorative sidewalks, 180 trees, street lighting as well as other improvements totaling $12 million. The First Street Arts and Streetscape Project focuses on improving pedestrian and bicycle access in and around the Metro Eastside Goldline route in Boyle Heights. For more details on the Eastside Access Project see our coverage here.
Senior Veteran Housing
Construction of the first housing project for senior veterans in Boyle Heights began this week. The Beswick Senior Apartments will include 32 housing units available to low-income senior veterans over the age of 62. The project is a partnership between East LA Community Corporation and New Directions for Veterans, a nonprofit that provides social services for veterans. The apartments are expected to be completed in 2014.
New Community Garden at Hollenbeck MS
With the help of a grant from Enrich L.A., students from Hollenbeck Middle School began a new gardening project within their school this week. The purpose of the garden is to teach kids to take control of their health through the construction of the garden. However, according to la.streetsblog.org the project was met with retaliation from parents who do not approve, expressing concern for their children’s studies. Parents have also disapproved of their children doing “hard labor.”
ipads Confiscated at Roosevelt High School
LAUSD-issued iPads were confiscated Friday at Roosevelt High School after students hacked their way around security controls. It took only one week for 300 students to hack into unauthorized sites such as Facebook and Youtube, according to the L.A. Times. Boyle Heights Beat youth reporter Brizette Castellanos explains students simply found a way to access the internet when they noticed access was blocked once they left the campus. “I thought iPads would be pointless if I couldn’t access the internet from home,” said Castellanos. All iPads, even those that were not hacked, were collected at Roosevelt, and students were told they would be returned to them as soon as possible. Roosevelt students were amongst the first to receive the iPads as part of the first phase of a district-wide rollout.
