Latest news with #Jurado
Yahoo
09-05-2025
- Yahoo
Man faces more than 15 years in prison after chainsaw rampage destroys $350,000 worth of trees: 'Profoundly disturbing'
A man is facing several charges after being accused of illegally cutting down several trees in the Los Angeles area, per The Washington Times. According to a press release from the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office, Samuel Patrick Groft used a chainsaw to chop down eight trees in downtown L.A. Police say that surveillance footage revealed the alleged suspect, who was spotted wearing all black and riding a BMX-style bike. Groft has been charged with eight felony counts of vandalism that caused nearly $350,000 worth of damage. If found guilty, he faces more than 15 years in state prison. Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman emphasized the significance of the alleged crimes. "What took years to grow only took minutes to destroy," Hochman said in the press release. "Trees not only provide shade and comfort but nourish those who live and work in our communities," he added. "Selfish and senseless acts that strip away a vital piece of our ecosystem are profoundly disturbing and my office will prosecute anyone who engages in such criminal conduct to the fullest extent of the law." For residents who live in urban areas, trees can improve air quality, reduce heat and help manage stormwater. In addition, trees can also offer numerous health benefits. It has long been noted that trees can potentially boost mental health and even lead to cardiovascular improvements. During a press conference on April 24, Los Angeles Councilmember Ysabel Jurado admonished the destruction of the trees. "Over the weekend, downtown L.A. suffered from an unconscionable act of vandalism when someone cut down several trees in the public right-of-way," Jurado said. "For many of our downtown L.A. residents, the public right-of-way is their front yard, it is their backyard. So the loss of these trees is personal," Jurado added. Jurado then explained that the city would quickly act to replace two trees for every one that had been cut down. "No one could have foreseen this random act of violence. But here's the thing about downtown L.A. and this community: It's resilient, it's dynamic, and it's ever-evolving," Jurado said. "And this is not the first time the community here in downtown L.A. has put their hands together to fix the problems and make their own solutions." Do you think the government should ban gas-powered lawn tools? No way Definitely Only certain tools I don't know Click your choice to see results and speak your mind. Join our free newsletter for good news and useful tips, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet.
CBS News
02-05-2025
- General
- CBS News
Community leaders in Boyle Heights break ground on East 6th Street Green Corridor Project construction
Community leaders in Boyle Heights celebrated the start of construction on the East 6th Street Green Corridor Project Friday morning. Los Angeles City Councilmember Ysabel Jurado, who represents the 14th District, was joined by members of the Bureau of Engineering and Sanitation and Environment to break ground on the project. Community leaders in Boyle Heights break ground on East 6th Street Green Corridor Project KCAL News The project is aimed at capturing, treating and infiltrating stormwater runoff from a 23-acre drainage area, according to Sanitation and Environment. "This project isn't just about stormwater capture; the city sees this opportunity to create urban green pathways to the iconic Hollenbeck Park, further improving this beloved community," Jurado said. The 6th Street Green Corridor Project is funded through the LA County Safe Clean Water Program, also known as Measure W, which was approved in 2018. Deputy City Engineer Alfred Mata said that when voters approved the measure, it sent a powerful message about the importance of investing in clean water to help build resilient communities. "Once completed, this project will improve the water quality of stormwater runoff before it reaches the LA River, increase the amount of green space and shade in the community, support native landscaping and biodiversity and also enhance walkability and safety for our students and families here in this community," Mata said. The proposed idea for the project includes planting new trees, bioswales and curb bump-outs at intersections along East 6th Street in Boyle Heights, the project website said.
Los Angeles Times
29-03-2025
- Politics
- Los Angeles Times
L.A.'s Filipino Americans help fuel new trend in election wins
Good morning, and welcome to L.A. on the Record — our City Hall newsletter. It's Dakota Smith, with an assist from Julia Wick, giving you the latest on city and county government. At L.A. City Councilmember Ysabel Jurado's swearing-in last month, the national anthem of the Philippines played, and traditional Filipino dancers performed. Jurado is part of the latest group of Filipino Americans making political history in California. Three years ago, L.A. City Controller Kenneth Mejia became the first Asian and first Filipino American to hold citywide office. Then Jurado thumped incumbent Kevin de León to win a downtown and Eastside seat and become the first Filipino American on the City Council. Also in November, Jessica Caloza won a state Assembly seat representing a northern L.A. County district stretching from Glendale to East L.A. She is the third Filipino American — and first female — to serve in the Assembly after Rob Bonta, who is now California's first Filipino American attorney general, and Todd Gloria. And in Northern California, Christopher Cabaldon became the first Filipino American state senator. More than 1.6 million Filipino Americans live in California, with about 1 million in Southern California. They are Los Angeles' largest Asian American community, with many residents in the eastern San Fernando Valley and the city's Eastside. But Filipino Americans are vastly underrepresented in the state Legislature and in local elected offices. Cabaldon, who worked in the state Assembly and served as West Sacramento mayor, cited Bonta's milestones and a few other breakthrough moments but said that long-term gains have remained elusive. 'One of the things that's really encouraging about this round is that it's so broad-based: Different places, different narratives and different ages,' Cabaldon said. 'It really feels like we laid a foundation for the long term.' 'To see a Filipino American in both houses? That's history,' said Melissa Ramos, an Artesia city councilmember, of Caloza and Cabaldon. Bonta, on the other hand, sees the wins as reflective of the candidates' strong campaigns and the powerful coalitions they built, rather than a turning point. 'I don't know if there's anything magic about this particular moment,' he said. Experts credited the political gains to several factors, including more Filipino Americans working in government and at nonprofits on issues important to the community. At the same time, Filipino American leaders in business and civic life have successfully built coalitions with other communities, allowing candidates to break through, especially in areas where Filipinos are far from the majority, said Cabaldon. One hurdle to organizing Filipino Americans is that residents are spread out across the state. In L.A. County, most cities and neighborhoods have some Filipino American residents, but few have a concentration larger than 10%, according to voter data. At the same time, newer immigrants may be distrustful of politics because of rampant government corruption in the Philippines. 'A lot of people just don't think their vote counts,' said Aquilina Soriano-Versoza, executive director of the Pilipino Workers Center in Los Angeles. Caloza, who worked for L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti and the Obama administration, was born in Quezon City in the Philippines. Her family moved to Eagle Rock when she was a child, and she learned English from a 'Hooked on Phonics' program. Jurado was born in Highland Park and worked as a tenant rights attorney before joining the council. She told The Times that she wanted her swearing-in ceremony to showcase indigenous Filipino culture from her father's hometown of Iligan. Those at the ceremony included Cerritos politician Mark Pulido, a mentor to many Filipino Americans, Mayor Karen Bass and others. Jurado joins two other Asian American councilmembers, John Lee and Nithya Raman. Jurado described her and Caloza's victories as a tipping point 'not only for Filipinos, but also for women to be seen as leaders.' Both Colaza and Jurado told The Times that they plan to focus on workers rights and housing, citing those issues as important to Filipino Americans and other groups. Filipino Americans make up the biggest percentage of foreign-born caregivers in the state. Soriano-Versoza said she often sees them in precarious housing situations, either lacking leases because they are live-in workers or struggling to pay rent. Soriano-Versoza said both Colaza and Jurado are plugged into the Filipino American community and understand residents' needs. 'It means a lot for immigrants to see themselves in the government here,' she said. Pilipino Workers Center has been raising and distributing funds to Filipino Americans affected by the recent fires, said Soriano-Versoza. Jurado told The Times that her campaign sent mailers in Tagalog to the council district's Filipino American-registered voters, who number about 4,500. The district stretches from Eagle Rock to Boyle Heights and includes parts of downtown L.A. The Pilipino Workers Center's political arm held a get-out-the-vote event in November for Jurado and Caloza at Oinkster, an Eagle Rock burger restaurant run by brothers Fred and Max Guerrero. The event featured an antique Jeepney — a traditional open-air vehicle used in the Philippines — and ube shakes. The Guerrero brothers refer to themselves as Filipino Mestizo, or 'mixed' because of their Spanish lineage, said Fred Guerrero, who added that he is not particularly political. 'The overarching thing for us is community ... in our backyard, in our neighborhood,' he said. Meanwhile, Cerritos made its own history this week, electing an all-Asian American City Council. Councilmembers voted to install Frank Aurelio Yokoyama, a Filipino American, as mayor. Another Filipino American, Lynda P. Johnson, was elected mayor pro tem. Pulido, who had previously served as the city's mayor, was also elected to the council and sworn in by Bonta. —ZIP IT: City Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson unveiled a plan to ban the N-word and the C-word at council meetings, arguing that hate speech is discouraging people from coming to speak. But 1st Amendment experts are dubious that the prohibition would survive a legal challenge. —SHOW US THE TEXTS: Mayor Karen Bass' texts in the first hours of the Palisades fire show how anxious she was to get back to L.A from Ghana. Meanwhile, The Times sued the city this week, accusing officials of withholding the mayor's text messages and other public records related to the Palisades fire, including the LAFD's response to the fire. —NEIGH ON L.A.: Both the city's ad hoc committee on the 2028 Olympic Games and the full council gave its approval this week to several venue changes, including shifting equestrian events from the Valley to Temecula. Still, City Councilmember Tim McOsker wants sailing to be in San Pedro, not Long Beach. City analysts are asking that LA28, the private group that is organizing and paying for the Games, spell out the financial impact of the shuffle. In a bit of irony, City Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martínez, who recently joined the ad hoc committee, is a former member of NOlympics, an anti-Games group. We caught up with Soto-Martínez briefly this week, and he expressed concern over the Games' potential cost overruns in light of the city's budget problems. (LA28 is paying for the multibillion-dollar event, but the city is responsible for covering the first $270 million in overruns.) 'The last thing we need is another massive hole in our budget that we're going to have to pay for somehow,' he said. 'It's a huge concern.' —TAKING A STAND: Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas (D-Hollister) and most of the Democrats in the California Assembly are leaving billionaire Elon Musk's X platform, saying it's become a toxic stew full of attacks and falsehoods. Politico reported that Assembly Majority Leader Cecilia Aguiar-Curry referenced the L.A. fires when announcing her departure from X. 'It broke my heart to see people reject federal assistance because of disinformation on X,' she said. —CD2 MOVES: Karo Torossian, a longtime presence at the council horseshoe, has left city government after 15 years with Council District 2. Torossian served as former Council President Paul Krekorian's chief of staff before joining Councilmember Adrin Nazarian's staff. No word yet on where he'll land. —NEW GIG: Former L.A. City Councilmember Mike Bonin was named executive director of the Pat Brown Institute for Public Affairs at Cal State L.A. —THE HGTV GUIDE TO REBUILDING: 'Property Brothers' co-host Jonathan Scott has put together a guide for wildfire survivors looking to rebuild. The fires were personal for Scott — his fiancée Zooey Deschanel's childhood home in the Palisades burned.
Los Angeles Times
05-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
The nominated looks that moved us to gasps, tears and cheers
Demi Moore and Margaret Qualley went through horrific transformations while playing two sides of the same woman in 'The Substance.' Karla Sofía Gascón alone plays two incarnations of the same person — cartel boss Manitas and the title character after gender-affirming surgery in 'Emilia Pérez.' Cynthia Erivo is the green-skinned Elphaba in 'Wicked'; Bill Skarsgård is the clawed vampire Count Orlok in Robert Eggers' 'Nosferatu'; and Sebastian Stan struggles to find his inner goodness as a man with neurofibromatosis in 'A Different Man.' Five distinct films with a key commonality: All the character looks were created by this year's hair and makeup Oscar nominees. The Envelope reached out to those teams to find out just what went into these creations. Mike Marino, makeup designerDavid Presto, prosthetic makeup artistCrystal Jurado, prosthetic makeup artist Proudest momentMarino: The proudest moment was right after the first makeup test. We got to see Sebastian look in the mirror and start acting in the makeup. I knew then that it was going to work. Jurado: To see it all work so well on the big screen was a real delight. It could have so easily looked like a big stiff mask, but instead, the makeup truly made Sebastian look like a man with neurofibromatosis. Being able to accurately represent people who have this condition is so very important. Hardest lookMarino: The main makeup for Edward (Stan), since he is wearing full-face prosthetics and little pieces around the neck. The difficulty each day with the look was the constant change of his skin conditions. Some days were clean, and then some days he was scabby and flaking. Presto: Edward's look was the most difficult makeup I've ever been a part of — it took three of us, every day, to complete. What made it more arduous was our working [space]. There was no makeup trailer. Every day we had to lug our gear to each location in New York City and set up. At the end of the day, we would clean up Sebastian, pack our kits and be ready to do it all over again the next day. Jurado: Definitely the day where Edward starts ripping his face off. The softness and weight of the appliances made application extremely difficult, but it was so rewarding to see how successful the look was that we achieved. Best solution to a problemPresto: During the scene when Edward starts peeling his face in the mirror, we had to create a system for quick resets for each take. After brainstorming and testing, we used a special mix that included Methocel. This helped keep the rest time down to a minimum while still preserving the makeup. Jurado: Sebastian has very thick hair, and because the appliance had to lay over part of his hair, which the wig sits on and combs into his natural hair, it was challenging to get his hair to lay super flat with hair product alone. We ended up using Opsite tape on top of his hair to press it down even further. This process also allowed us to use Pax paint over the Opsite to even further hide his natural hairline. What would you do differently if you had to do it all again?Marino: I wouldn't change anything. I believe when a makeup is created and filmed, it is meant to be. When a character's makeup is created, it's alive, with flaws and all. Emmanuel Janvier, co-head of hairstylingJulia Floch-Carbonel, co-head of makeupJean-Christophe Spadaccini, SFX makeup artist Proudest momentJanvier: When we created the character of Manitas. The first time the final look was achieved, and we saw Karla's satisfaction and how quickly she embraced the character ... it was a great moment of joy. Floch-Carbonel: Emilia's transformation was a team process, guided by artistic director Virginie Montel and director Jacques Audiard. The main challenge was to transform Karla Sofía Gascón's features to help her portray pretransition Emilia as Manitas, the intimidating head of a drug cartel, and post-transition Emilia, the loving and generous woman. Besides the technical challenges, my fear was that the Manitas research and makeup testing process would hurt Karla psychologically and throw her [back] to the past, but she was really helpful, centered and happy with the result. Manitas was so far from Karla that she could be composed and embrace Manitas in her body language, voice and even her way of walking. It was amazing to see and a relief for me and probably my proudest moment. Spadaccini: I read that some people thought that two different actors were playing Manitas and Emilia. That was a compliment I was really proud of. Hardest lookJanvier: Bringing the characters back to something simpler, more understated and more tough. We tried many short-hair wigs but quickly fell into clichés — like a 1970s Mexican cartel leader in the style of Pablo Escobar. Yet we needed something that was simply present. For Emilia, it was about achieving a natural femininity, something maternal, without overplaying the transformation. Floch-Carbonel: Manitas was the hardest look to create. Jacques said he wanted a scary Manitas, a 'chimera' — a ghostlike existence — but the makeup had to remain realistic and believable. The reality is that Karla Sofía Gascón is a very sexy, beautiful woman with magnificent full lips and feline eyes, and we had to play around that. We still needed Manitas' 'scary' side while some of Karla's feminine features remained, so we found inspiration in places like Mickey Rourke's character in 'The Wrestler' — the type who fought with bare hands but also kept a certain coquetry and ornamental (tattoo, long hair, thin eyebrows, metal teeth, tanning), so her beautiful full lips could fit in this character. I added a beard, teeth, shadows, texture and tattoos in order to distort Karla's natural features and emphasize masculine features via prosthetics. Spadaccini: On the base of the prosthetic nose and cheeks for Manitas, I added imperfections like damaged skin or a scar, which made his face look more realistic. Traci Loader, makeup designerSuzanne Stokes-Munton, hair designer Proudest moment Loader: Seeing everything come together on set for the first time — the makeup, hair, costumes, lighting, sets and the performances all aligning perfectly. Hardest look Loader: One of the toughest challenges was designing the makeup, particularly for Ellen (Lily-Rose Depp). Her looks had to subtly reflect the toll of her experiences throughout the film, both physically and emotionally, without being overdone. The goal was to keep the makeup grounded in realism while still contributing to the film's tone. Stokes-Munton: Robert initially requested the 'V' parting for the Ellen character. I felt it would be distracting — 'gilding the lily' (if you'll pardon the pun), and probably better suited to the Anna character. A wig was made for Emma Corrin (as Anna) by my crew's on-site wig department, closely overseen by Robert's precise eye for detail. The application had its challenges as Emma has very thick, dark, short hair; but Ivana Nemcova nailed it! Lily got the 'V' at the back, so all requests were accommodated. Best solution to a problemLoader: One challenge we faced was seeing the shine from the glue when we hand-laid facial hair or used lace pieces. We mixed Pros-Aide (a water-based medical-grade adhesive) and TS100 (a clear matting agent), which solved the issue. What would you do differently?Loader: If I could do it all again, I think I would have pushed more during preproduction to test out different designs for some characters. While I'm proud of how everything turned out, you never know what else you can come up with. Pierre Olivier Persin, special makeup effects designerStéphanie Guillon, key makeup artist Proudest momentPersin: The first day we had Gollum [what they called the last stage of aging for Moore's Elisabeth Sparkle] on set in her full-body prosthetic makeup. That's the only makeup we didn't have the time to test before the shoot. We tested the head, of course, but not the full body. Hardest look:Persin: Monstro [the final merging of the two bodies], without a The evolution of the look on Demi when she went from her room to the bathroom to change [before a date] and violently remove the makeup, because it has to start proportioned in the beginning, and each time she sees herself in a mirror, it is degrading slowly and slowly until she is completely out of proportion and she removes it. And for Demi to not hurt herself, my teammate Lucky Nguyen and I were preparing the removing pad with product in it to make it easy and not too hard on the skin. What would you do differently?Persin: I wish we had a bit more time to build Monstro and the Blob, to fine-tune the jiggling motion when they I would be more precise and detailed in the execution of the beautiful look of Demi and Margaret. Frances Hannon, hair, makeup and prosthetics designerLaura Blount, crowd hair / makeup supervisorSarah Nuth, key hair stylist / makeup artist Proudest momentBlount: Seeing all the Emerald City looks come together on set, it felt like you were back in the golden era of Hollywood. Hardest lookBlount: Building some of the more statuesque wigs with cages and creating hair origami to add to them. Nuth: Translating the inspiration of Madame Morrible's magical power of weather control and cloud formations into a hairstyle for Michelle Yeoh. Best solution to a problemHannon: Discovering the neon drops that brought Elphaba's skin to life. Blount: Spraying the structural wigs with acrylic polyurethane to keep them in place during the high-energy choreography. Nuth: Wet-setting hair into shapes and building wire structures to create hairstyles. This avoided the need for too many heated tools that can affect the color of the white and blond wigs. What would you do differently? Nuth: I would have spent more time soaking up this once-in-a-lifetime job and movie.
