No Kings in Pasadena, CA State Parks system's big birthday, Altadena park and soccer — Saturday Edition

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Today on the LA Report, another wave of no-kings protests sweep the country, including Southern

California, and later a group of soccer players has been meeting for years at an Al-Tedina Park.

They say their matches have helped them recover from the Eaton Fire, but LA County has told them

to stop playing there. I think it's ridiculous and I'm going to keep playing here until they

kick me off. It's Saturday, March 28th. I'm Josie Wong. That's coming up on the weekend edition

of the LA Report from LAest89.3. But first, here's the latest news. A third wave of no-kings

protests is taking place around the country today. More than 50 rallies planned for the LA area

alone. Arthaneal Martinez is at the no-kings protests in Pasadena. I would say the scene here is

both boisterous and serious. The plaza at Pasadena City College is filling up right now with

plenty of protesters bringing their signs. There's also live music and tons of people honking their

horns. Here I'm going to talk to a protest right now. My name is Tatiana Becker and I'm actually

originally from Pasadena. I'm back for a week to visit family. I live in London, England now.

What are you doing? I'm good today. I thought it was really important in my time here to show my

support to everybody that's come out against what the Donald Trump regime is doing, especially things

like taking away rights from trans people and sending people to ICE detention. Country is not one

that I recognize and I remain an American voter and American taxpayer. This is the land of the

immigrants. This is the land of the opportunity and we need to take our country back. That's Tatiana Becker,

a no-kings protestor in Pasadena speaking to Arthaneal Martinez. The largest protest

of the region is expected to start at two in downtown LA by City Hall. In anticipation,

cow trans crews set up safety barriers by several on and off ramps along the 101 downtown.

For a list of protest locations, check out laist.com. In Azusa, the police department has retained

outside investigators to look into the death of a man whose body was found inside a patrol vehicle

parked in front of the station. Azusa, please, chief Rocky Renwick, said in a statement yesterday

that the unlocked vehicle was awaiting maintenance when the body was discovered on Thursday.

The chief said to ensure an independent review the department had retained the investigative firm,

the JL Group. Southern California gas prices are climbing fast and the average could top $6

a gallon in the next few days. That's according to the automobile club of Southern California.

Prices rising a month into the U.S. Israeli War with Iran. The current average for the LA

Long Beach area is $5.97. Auto Club spokesperson Candace Red said in a statement that gas prices

are following a similar pattern to the spike scene in the first month after Russia invaded Ukraine

in February 2022. Did you know the California State Park System turns 100 next year?

Stephanie Campbell is program manager for the State Park System. People think of California State

Park as coastlines and redwoods but you know it's also 32 acres in Chinatown in the middle of

downtown Los Angeles at Los Angeles State Historic Park. It's Baldwin Hill scenic overlook 58 acres

and Los Angeles Culver City. California has the largest state park system in the country 280

parks in all. This weekend high school seniors in need of free prom attire are invited to stop by

the Paseo in Pasadena from 10 to 4. The event is hosted by Pasadena nonprofit Jazzy Jam for

empowerment. Jacqueline Snell is executive director. She says giving people the space to look for what

they want takes a load off their shoulders. Students are excited about it because they don't

want their parents to worry about having to come up with that or even if you can afford it to do

it just having the time to go and do it because of all that's going on with being this place because

teens can also pick up free makeup, ties and shoes. Those interested are being asked to RSVP ahead

of time find out how on leist.com. Coming up how a group of Altadena fire survivors are fighting

for their right to place soccer at a local park more after this break.

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You're listening to the weekend edition of the LA Report. I'm Josie Huang.

It's been more than a year now since the Eaton Fire devastated Altadena,

destroying more than 9,000 structures and taking 19 lives. A group of about a dozen

fire survivors were excited to get back to something they've been doing together for years.

Pick up soccer matches at Loma Altapark. But as Robert Grova reports, what they found was a ball

field battle they weren't expecting. It's a sweltering Sunday afternoon here at Loma Altap.

The park is a buzz with life. There are kids playing on a large jungle gym and parents sitting

and talking in the grass. The park is just a bubble of normalcy though. All around are the

stark reminders of the fire that tore through Altadena, rose and rose of flattened and dusty lots,

melted gates and charred trees. I'm here to catch up with a group of Altadena's who say they've

been meeting here for the past eight years. As the time approaches, they appear from different

corners of a grass field. Empty save for a few signs that read, this field is designated for

baseball and softball only. But this group that includes several dads tells me they've bonded

playing soccer here. Finding these guys in this game was really sort of what brought me into

the Altadena community. This is kind of my backyard. I came here with my son and so you know how happy

I was to bring my kids back here. It got me through a couple of hard times already before the fire.

That was Graham Fortier, a Patrick Conner and Michael Azoreski. All of their families lost

their homes in the Eden fire. Bryce Nicholson's family's home was spared. One of his children was

just two months old when the family had to evacuate. There's something kind of symbolic and hopeful

about coming to your only park left and talking about where people are at with their rebuilds

or what's going on at the local school district or just to make fart jokes. The group tells me

they were excited to get back to their weekly tradition last summer, months after the fire was

extinguished. But in December, they say an LA County sheriff's deputy told them they couldn't play

soccer on the field anymore. They were shocked. Fortier tells me they feel like the goalposts have

been moving on them as far as justification from LA County. They say officials have cited

reasons including grass mutilation, needing a permit and that uses ultimately up to the park

director's discretion. We don't agree with the position they're taking at all to tell us that we

can't play. Again, we've been playing in eight years at our park, our only park that been burned

down. You know, I think it's ridiculous and I'm going to keep playing here until they kick me off.

In an emailed statement, LA County Parks said baseball fields are for the exclusive use of baseball,

softball and youth sports. They are not soccer fields, the county said. The county also said that

organized group use requires a permit. But because their informal gathering is only a dozen or so

players, Patrick Conner and others don't think that rule applies. You can't accommodate 14 families,

most of which whose house is burnt down. The group says they have a meeting with supervisor

Catherine Barger's office next week to discuss their situation. In the meantime, they've circulated

an online petition that has over 1100 signatures. Nicholson says he's digging his heels in because he

wants a better explanation from the county. Because this is a good space for people that don't often

have many spaces and the community that has been through so much, why can't they just meet up at a

park and play a game like they have for a long time. Conner says it's painful to be turned away

and he says he feels like it's intervening in his healing, his recovery from the fire.

People ask me how you doing. I'm not doing that great. For me personally, dude, I have to say this.

I had like serious insomnia after the fire. And I had a psychologist and I got on some meds and

I had a counselor and the thing that was really good for me was exercise and being with the fire victims.

After speaking with me, Conner and several others in the group were cited by the Sheriff's

Department for playing soccer on the field. Robert Garova, LAS News.

Read Robert's Story on LAS.com

Thanks for listening to the weekend edition of the LA Report. The Weekend LA Report is hosted

by me, Josie Huang, and produced by Danielle Martinez. Our engineer this week is Hazmi Pejolson.

The podcast is edited by Fiona In. Catherine Mailhouse is the director of content development.

Join us back here tomorrow. You can read more at LAS.com and listen live on the LAS.com or on the radio

at 89.3 FM.

LAS Studios operates within the homelands of the Gabrieleño Tongva people. We recognize the painful

history of displacement, settler colonialism, and a racer of the people, their language and their

sovereignty. Visit LAS.com slash land for more information. We encourage you to get curious

about the land on which you live and work. This week on Imperfect Paradise, a budget deficit,

no one is excited to lay off anyone. A superintendent under investigation,

alluming strike.

Just a few of the major challenges the LA Unified School District is up against.

The consequences for the District's 400,000 students, their families, teachers, and staff.

Listen to Imperfect Paradise, a weekly news magazine from LAS, wherever you get podcasts.