WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW THIS WEEK (10/16/2023)

This Week in LA
Written By Chandler Sterling

Good morning Angelenos!

I hope you had an excellent weekend. Maybe you walked, biked, or skated the streets of Downtown LA during CicLaVia (I’m stoked for similar ArroyoFest coming up on Oct 29.)

Maybe you hit up the haunted hayride, or checked out one of the other Halloween events in LA.

Either way, there’s a lot that happened over the weekend, and a lot more happening this week.

Here are some of the top stories this week in Los Angeles that you should know about, with my analysis following:

The California Food Safety Act - Taste the Rainbromate

The fact that titanium dioxide is still allowed in our food, despite being banned in the European Union, is unfortunately not surprising.

While I’m happy to hear that the additives Red Dye 3, Brominated vegetable oil, and potassium bromate are banned, it’s disappointing to know that they did not go far enough (how is Yellow 5 still legal??).

In fact, the original text of the bill would have banned titanium dioxide, but they had to remove that language in order to pass the bill.

Skittles was on the chopping block due to containing potassium bromate, but now it won’t be banned, so you can continue to “taste the rainbromate”

The CFSA doesn’t go into effect until 2027, but at least you can enjoy your Peeps and Red Velvet Cake for a few more years.

SPEED CAMERAS COMING TO CALIFORNIA

Southern Californians need to be aware that the state will be implementing a program to deploy a series of speed cameras in Los Angeles, Long Beach, and Glendale (among other cities in NorCal).

We’ve already seen the epic failure that was red light cameras. In 2014 the California Supreme Court declared them unconstitutional.

I’m suprised to see Sacramento take a stab at a variation on this with ‘speed cameras.’

The faster you drive the more furious you’ll be (at the steep fine) because citations will be priced according to your speed.

A concerning issue will be if someone loans their car to a friend or family member, and that person gets busted speeding.

Can the government prove beyond a reasonable doubt that it was you who was driving, or does it even matter?

If it’s your vehicle are you responsible for it’s speed, even if you’re not driving?

I will be filing public records requests with each city in order to map out exactly where these speed cameras are.

Hopefully they aren’t just placed in low-income POC neighborhoods.

METRO FINALLY DEPLOYS RESTROOMS (AT ONLY 3 STATIONS)

The Throne cube at Norwalk Station

Finally! You can take a leak when riding the Metro…as long as you’re at one of the 3 stations that have them.

Metro partnered with a start-up named Throne to deploy these portable toilet cubes.

While it’s nice that riders will be able to take a dookie somewhere other than the sidewalk, there are some issues with these portable toilets that need to be addressed:

  • There’s only room for one person at a time. I imagine the lines will get long at busy transit times.

  • The toilets require a mobile phone to be unlocked - this keeps out the most vulnerable among us, and we should be making public infrastructure inclusive to everyone

  • Toilets will only be accessible from 6am to 9pm - late night riders are out of luck

  • You have 10 minutes to do your business before the doors open and expose you to the public. A row of stalls would be more humane, allowing anyone to take as long as they need

  • A private company is profiting from this contract. Wouldn’t it be cheaper to just have regular restroom facilities and adequately fund Metro’s maintenance and cleaning crews?

Providing ‘free’ facilities is a nice thought, but Metro should be funding more facilities designed for everyone to access, with no strings attached.

Chandler Sterling
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WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW THIS WEEK (10/23/2023)