Ben Baeder
Articles
AT TASTE OF DOWNEY, THE POLITICS WERE SERVED UP PIPING HOT, TOO
The decidedly political flavor at Taste of Downey included the shirts and stickers of council candidate Alex Saab and a heated discussion between Councilmember Mario Guerra and Firemen's Association president Steve Davis
THE SLEEPY LAGOON MURDER TRIAL: WHO WERE THE DOWNEY BOYS?
DOWNEY — The 1943 Downey High School yearbook is full of smiling faces. The girls on the newspaper staff don horn-rimmed glasses. A few of the older boys sport narrow mustaches, a la Clarke Gable. And finally, there were straight-backed members of the Y-Clubs, which were groups of students assembled in association with the local [...]
FORMER BELL LEADER, DOWNEY COUNCIL HOPEFUL SPEAKS SOFTLY AND WEARS A THICK SKIN
DOWNEY — Salvador Franco knows politics are politics. It’s a lesson he learned when he served on the City Council in Bell Gardens, a city with notoriously rough politics known for its nearly constant recall campaigns. So he’s not surprised when he hears insults come his way from people in Downey who say he’s a [...]
IT’S THE FINAL CURTAIN FOR DOWNEY CIVIC LIGHT OPERA, AND THIS ONE COULD BE A TRAGEDY
DOWNEY – This season of the Downey Civic Light Opera will be the group’s last, executive director Marsha Moode said this week. And as the venerable institution closes its books, there’s drama unfolding between the city and the theater company. Moode, who has served as the executive director for 12 years, said she is ready [...]
RON THOMAS URGES DOWNEY CITY COUNCIL, POLICE TO MEET WITH NIDA FAMILY
DOWNEY – The father of Kelly Thomas on Tuesday called for Downey’s mayor and police chief to have a sit-down meeting with the family of Michael Nida. Ron Thomas, whose schizophrenic son was beaten to death July 10, 2011 by Fullerton Police officers, said Downey’s officials owed Nida’s family a face-to-face talk. He said he [...]
POLICE HUNT FOR SUSPECT WANTED FOR FATHER-DAUGHTER SHOOTING
DOWNEY – Police on Tuesday issued a wanted poster for a man they believe shot a 2-year-old girl and her 20-year-old father in front of a Telegraph Road apartment. Police believe Alexander Antonio Roberts, 22, was the person who fired the shots during an altercation on Friday. Police say Roberts left the scene after the [...]
CIVIL TRIAL DATE SET FOR KILLING OF MICHAEL NIDA, NEW LAWYER JOINS LEGAL TEAM
DOWNEY – A federal judge has set a trial date for what will likely be a multi-million-dollar civil case filed by the family of a man shot to death by Downey Police. The case of Michael Nida of South Gate will be heard in a Los Angeles federal courtroom May 7. Nida, a father of [...]
HOW MUCH WOULD CONTRACTING FIRE SERVICES COST DOWNEY?
DOWNEY – Contracting fire services to the county would likely cost between $14 million and $17 million dollars, according to studies and deals the county has with other cities. The last fiscal year, Downey paid $17.2 million to fully staff its department of four fire engines, one fire truck and two paramedics. The Downey Fireman’s [...]
DOWNEY FIREFIGHTERS TO CITY: RETHINK DISBANDING FIRE DEPARTMENT, CONTRACT WITH COUNTY
DOWNEY – The city’s fire union on Tuesday asked the City Council to consider disbanding the fire department and instead contract fire service to the county. Steve Davis, the president of the city’s firemen’s association, requested that Downey commission a feasibility study on going with county services. “We are asking for the City Council to [...]
AS THEY STEP INTO A WORLD OF TOUGH TIMES, DOWNEY HIGH GRADS WISH EACH OTHER … WELL … YOLO!
DOWNEY (Via DowneyBeat.com)—Facing skyrocketing tuition costs and the worst employment prospects in a generation—more than half of all university graduates are working jobs that don’t require college degrees—Downey High School’s Class of 2012 took a hedonistic perspective on the future: YOLO—You Only Live Once. The social media catchphrase was mentioned by several speakers during Thursday’s graduation ceremony [...]
FINALLY, A BANNER DAY FOR ALL DOWNEY’S MILITARY PERSONNEL
Call it no man left behind, civilian style. When the father of a U.S. Marine learned that 14 military members from Downey were not being honored by banners on city streets because there was no money to pay for them, he hustled up donations of nearly $3,000 in two days. Manny Rodriguez learned of the [...]
DOWNEY HIGH STUDENTS THROW SOMETHING EXTRA AT RELAY FOR LIFE
The first-ever Relay For Life flash mob at Downey High fell through because of school officials' fears that students might throw things at the dancers. They were right. One student did.
ROYBAL-ALLARD CHALLENGES HOMELAND SECURITY REPORT IN BEATING AND TASING OF HOGTIED MAN
Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard (D), who represents Downey in Congress, is among 16 members of the House of Representatives questioning the Department of Homeland Security about apparent contradictions between its account of a man’s severe beating and tazing by Border Patrol agents and a video uncovered by the PBS news program, “In The Know.” The man [...]
FAMILIES, DETECTIVES STILL SEEK TRUTH IN THREE TEENS’ 1984 STABBING DEATHS
More than a quarter-century after three South Gate teenagers died of wounds they received in a stabbing attack that occurred in the dry San Gabriel River during what was supposed to be a night of fun at Golf 'N' Stuff on the Norwalk-Downey border, the crimes remain unsolved---but the families and law enforcement continue searching for answers.
THEATRE FROM THE STREETS–AND THE HEART–DEBUTS IN DOWNEY
Urban Acts: New Plays From the Street will present four staged readings in donated spaces ranging from a restaurant to a barber shop beginning this weekend in Downey. Admission is free.
THE STORY OF REAL EASTER BUNNIES DOESN’T USUALLY HAVE A HOPPY ENDING
DOWNEY (Via DowneyBeat.com)—‘Tis the season for impulsive rabbit purchases. Due to the Easter holiday, a big colony of rabbits is up for adoption at the Los Angeles County animal shelter in Downey. Normally, the shelter has three or four rabbits; now it’s got 12. There are so many, the pound had to bring in extra rabbit [...]
THE PAYWALL BLUES: I JUST HIT MY LIMIT OF FREE STORIES ON THE LA TIMES
I knew this day would come. I just didn’t think it would come so soon. I hit my article limit on LATimes.com, and I can’t read more without forking over some cash. What a weird feeling I have. On one hand, I’m glad the Times is putting some value on the hard work of its [...]
DOWNEY IS STILL THE PLACE TO GO TO HAVE YOUR VEHICLE STOLEN
Downey’s car thieves, who built the city into a car-stealing capitol by riding away in 1,055 vehicles that weren’t theirs in 2011, apparently have no interest in relinquishing their notoriety. That’s the latest from DowneyBeat.com, where publisher Ben Baeder has been keeping tabs on stolen vehicles—well, the number of them stolen, if not the vehicles [...]
EVERYONE WANTED TO TALK TO THE GIRL IN THE SEMI-NUDE CALENDAR
Vanessa Melendez and her crew of money-raising crazies stole the show from the traditional giant scissors Wednesday at the grand opening of the Family Health Care Centers of Greater Los Angeles low-cost medical clinic in Downey. Everybody wanted to talk to the girl featured in the semi-nude calendar. Melendez and the Calendar Vixens presented the [...]
ERROR AT RANCHO LOS AMIGOS REHAB MAY COST LA COUNTY $3.1 MILLION
An error by staff members at world-renowned Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center may cost Los Angeles County taxpayers $3.1 million in an out-of-court settlement of a lawsuit. The County Board of Supervisors will decide whether or not to authorize the monster payout at its meeting Tuesday (Feb. 28). Robert Vasquez of Whittier was recovering from a [...]
CORONER CONFIRMS DOWNEY POLICE SHOT INNOCENT MAN IN THE BACK … TWICE
Michael Nida not only was unarmed, innocent and on a date with his wife on Oct 22 when a Downey Police Department officer killed him while investigating an ATM robbery---but the Los Angeles County Coroner has just revealed that the 31-year-old father of four was also shot in the back ... twice.
DOWNEY RISKS CITY LAND TRYING TO SAVE THE MEDICAL CENTER ON IT
DOWNEY—Taking a risk to rescue a medical facility with deep local roots, the City of Downey is putting up its stake in the Downey Regional Medical Center as collateral to help the bankrupt hospital get financing. Downey owns the hospital at 11500 Brookshire Ave. and leases it to an operating company. That company, Downey Regional [...]
FOR FIRST TIME IN ITS 54-YEAR HISTORY, DOWNEY LAYS OFF CITY STAFFERS
Since its incorporation in 1956, the City of Downey had never laid off a staff member for economic reasons ... until last week, when the California legislature's abolishment of redevelopment agencies cost two city employees their jobs.
‘HEY PUNK, I’M NOT GOING TO GET THREATENED ON A TRIP TO MAKE SOME COPIES!’
I didn't mean to see you tag that sign in the parking lot---so why did you ask me what I was looking at? I probably wouldn't have called the cops on you if you had let me go on my way. I don't live in Downey, but I'm not going to get threatened on a trip to make copies.
THE PEOPLE ARE NOT PLEASED: PROTEST COP KILLING OF UNARMED MAN
From small children on scooters to elderly anti-war activists, some 150 people marched more than two miles to Downey City Hall to protest the shooting death of an unarmed man, Michael Nida, by a Downey Police officer last fall.
DOWNEY SPACE CENTER SMITHSONIAN EXHIBIT OPEN THRU MID-APRIL
"Suited For Space," an exhibit borrowed from the Smithsonian Institution, opens at the Columbia Memorial Space Center on Feb. 1. The Center's focus on space flight and engineering is a perfect fit with the Smithsonian, which has a huge collection of space-and-flight related material.
VICTIM OF DOWNEY COPS ATTRACTING MORE VOICES FOR POLICE REFORM
DOWNEY (Via DowneyBeat.com)—A collection of anti-police activists and reformers from outside of Downey are slowly coalescing around the family of Michael Nida, a married father of four who was unarmed and on a date with his wife when he was shot and killed by Downeypolice Oct. 22. Nida’s family members and closest friends began speaking [...]
TRIBUTE OR NUISANCE? DOWNEY AND THE DILEMMA OF ROADSIDE MEMORIALS
Roadside memorials like the one in Downey dedicated to Michael Nida, the innocent and unarmed man shot to death by a Downey Police officer in October, present touchy dilemmas for cities, which are legally required to maintain public rights-of-way within their borders.
PRETTY GOOD, FOR HUMANS: WARREN HIGH ROBOTICS TEAM BEGINS WITH A WIN
During their first major tournament, one of three robotics teams from Warren High School in Downey has won top honors at a Las Vegas tournament and qualified for the world tournament. Warren’s Columbia 1 Team captured the Nevada Winter Championships on Dec. 3 and earned entry to the VEX Robotics High School World Championship in [...]
FAMILY OF MAN KILLED BY DOWNEY COPS WANTS CITY BUSINESS BOYCOTT
Via DowneyBeat.com: Family members of Michael Nida, who was shot to death by Downey police on Oct. 22 after twice running from them, are calling for a boycott of Downey businesses. Police said that on the night of the shooting they were looking for suspects of an armed robbery at a nearby ATM when they stopped Nida as he [...]
MICHAEL NIDA’S FAMILY CALLS FOR FEDERAL INVESTIGATION OF DOWNEY POLICE, FILES FINANCIAL CLAIMS
DOWNEY – While the family of the late Michael Nida—killed Oct. 22 by a Downey Police officer who claimed he matched the description of robbery suspects—called for a federal investigation into the Department, their attorney, Brian Claypool, filed a total of $15.1 million in claims against the City of Downey and said the family planned [...]
LAWSUIT CHARGES DOWNEY OFFICIALS CONSPIRED TO FORCE FORECLOSURE
DOWNEY (Via the Downey Beat)—Lamberto Colon, the former owner of a car dealership parcel, is suing the City of Downey for $4.1 million, claiming city officials conspired to force him into foreclosure by dragging their feet on several proposed developments at the site until they fell through. The 8-acre site at 9715 Firestone Blvd. is [...]
HUNDREDS HONOR LIFE OF INNOCENT MAN SHOT AND KILLED BY DOWNEY COP
SOUTH GATE (Via the Downey Beat)—On what would have been his 32nd birthday, more than 200 people gathered for a candlelight vigil Tuesday in front of the home in Hollydale where Michael Lee Nida was raised. They mostly reminisced about the many dimensions of their friend—the basketball coach, skateboarder, rap fan, drywaller, kick boxer, father and dedicated husband—but [...]
‘GREEN GARDENER-ECO-FRIENDLY-LANDSCAPING-ODD JOBS & KNIFE SHARPENING’
Steve Perez runs his gardening business without using power tools---even his mower is personally powered push kind---and travels his entire gardening route on a three-wheeled bicycle hitched to a trailer. He insists he hasn't gone crazy. He's gone green.
TEACHING SMALL-BUSINESS OWNERS ABOUT THEIR BIG BIDDING ADVANTAGE
A new program that gives small businesses a big advantage on bids for Los Angeles County contracts attracted more than 250 people to a workshop offered Thursday by Supervisor Don Knabe. It was the area’s first county workshop since the Board of Supervisors voted to increase the county’s small-business bid preference from 5 percent to 8 percent. [...]
