Marina Watanabe

1 week ago | lataco.com | Marina Watanabe

As the ongoing demonstrations against ICE raids continue, the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD)’s use of police horses for crowd control is being called into question. Over the past two weeks alone, dozens of videos have been shared of mounted officers on horseback trampling protesters and riding horses through fireworks and clouds of tear gas.

2 weeks ago | lataco.com | Marina Watanabe

Makeup has long been used as an art form to make political statements, but can it also be used to thwart police surveillance technology? In light of the ongoing protests against ICE raids, social media users across YouTube, TikTok, and Twitter have been sharing makeup tutorials designed with the intention of camouflaging protesters against facial recognition technology.

1 month ago | lataco.com | Marina Watanabe

Rejoice, Angelenos, can finally go back to therapy!If you are one of the 4.9 million Kaiser Permanente members in Southern California who have been unable to see your regular therapist since mental health workers began striking in October 2024, the good news is that the strike is finally over. The open-ended strike that stretched on for a brutal six-and-a-half months became the longest strike by mental health workers in U.S. history.

Jun 5, 2024 | lataco.com | Marina Watanabe

Metro announced a new pilot program last month to crack down on fare evasion, and it’s already receiving some backlash. 
Last week, Metro started requiring riders leaving the North Hollywood station to scan their Tap cards a second time to exit the system. Usually, Metro riders tap once to pay their fare when they enter the station and then can exit out of any gate without scanning their TAP cards again. Metro claims the additional step will help fight fare evasion and decrease crime.

May 31, 2024 | lataco.com | Marina Watanabe

Los Angeles isn’t particularly known for its Brazilian food despite boasting the largest Brazilian-American population on the West Coast. On the Westside, Culver City and Palms serve as an unofficial “Little Brazil,” a nickname from the mid-80s and 90s when a string of Brazilian-owned restaurants began popping up along Venice Boulevard. The South Bay, including parts of Torrance, Lawndale, and Redondo Beach, is also home to a small but thriving Brazilian population.