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Bringing fresh food to an L.A. food desert, one produce box at a time

Jul 17, 2019
South Central resident Olympia Auset was sick of taking the bus two hours to buy fresh produce. So, she started selling fresh produce herself.
South LA resident Olympia Auset started a produce stand three years ago and now wants to expand into a physical store.
John F. Peters

Nancy Silverton is not an entrepreneur or a chef. She is a cook.

Jun 24, 2019
Restaurant entrepreneur Nancy Silverton on 30 years of La Brea Bakery.
Nancy Silverton founded La Brea Bakery in 1989.
Daisy Palacios/Marketplace

Rent strikes make a comeback in tight housing markets

Oct 1, 2018
In cities where a housing shortage is driving up rents, some residents are withholding theirs to protest poor conditions.
Striking Westlake tenants march through their neighborhood in late July.
Matt Tinoco/LAist

California bail industry grapples with fallout from a new law

Sep 27, 2018
Starting next year, a judge, not ability to pay bail, will decide who remains jailed in the state before trial.
Bail companies posted nearly $1.75 billion in surety bonds with the Superior Court of Los Angeles County from May 2016 to May 2017, a recent report found. Above, an employee at Gotham Bail Bonds near downtown Los Angeles walks to her desk.
Benjamin Gottlieb/Marketplace

First, LA welcomes subway body scanners. Next, a major city near you?

Sep 17, 2018
Questions loom about the new technology, like whether it has potential to keep travelers safe, or if it's just security theater.
Officers tested out the mobile units during a demonstration at Los Angeles Union Station. 
Sasa Woodruff/Marketplace

For public good, not for profit.

Los Angeles demands more accountability from its banks

Aug 13, 2018
Last month , LA took on predatory and high-pressure sales goals at major banks by tightening its responsible banking ordinance. Now, if a bank wants the city’s $17 million taxpayer-funded contracts, it must be transparent about sales goal tactics and employee compensation, and it can’t retaliate against whistleblowers who report suspected illegal bank activity. Bank reform advocates […]
A Wells Fargo sign is seen on the exterior of one of their bank branches on September 9, 2016 in Miami, Florida. 
Joe Raedle/Getty Images

California will be a battleground for the rent control debate this November

Jul 10, 2018
According to a poll, 60 percent of California voters favor limits on how much landlords can charge.
A "For Rent" sign is seen on a building Hollywood, California, May 11, 2016.
ROBYN BECK/AFP/Getty Images

Street vending may be legal in Los Angeles by summer's end

Jun 22, 2018
But one person's vending cart is a brick-and-mortar shop's competition.
A street vendor sells fruit in Los Angeles in 2017. It's the only major U.S. city where street vending is illegal.
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images