Residents of a Los Angeles neighborhood are speaking out after the department of water and power began taking down whimsical pieces of scrap metal art attached to power poles, claiming they are a safety hazard for workers.  

Artist Lori Powers began putting up the colorful designs in her Mar Vista neighborhood in 2017, and then really ramped up production during the pandemic.  

Powers told KTLA’s Jennifer McGraw that she’s baffled by the sudden call from officials at the L.A. Department of Water and Power to have them removed.  

“Hopefully, somebody will let me know because this is crazy,” she said. “Another reason that I did it is because this is a fast thoroughfare, and I wanted to slow down cars.”  

Members of the tight-knit community say that they are outraged that DWP wants to remove the playful artwork that brings happiness to the neighborhood.  

“When I walk the streets, when I run the streets, they put a smile on my face,” neighbor Paul Von Blum told KTLA. “Everybody I’ve spoken to has precisely the same reaction.”  

Neighbor Aaron Thompson said the artwork brings character to the community and believes that it’s especially nice for the children who live there.  

Now, the neighborhood is putting up a fight, even confronting workers as they began removing them.  

“We want to see them stay,” another neighbor told KTLA. “Over the years, we’ve developed a relationship with all of the artwork, specific pieces, specific locations over time. So, we’re very supportive.”  

The fight over the artwork has even reached city hall, with L.A. City Councilmember Traci Park joining the fray and allowing Powers’ work to remain in place while she tries to work on a solution with DWP officials.  

Weeks removed from Governor Gavin Newsom’s directive to remove unauthorized homeless encampments from the streets of California, one city is set to begin a teardown of tents this week.

Speaking to KTLA’s Annie Rose Ramos, Long Beach Mayor Rex Richardson said the city didn’t want to rush the actions, but now’s the time to act.

“We fully understand how sensitive this is for our residents and also the urgency of some of the chronic encampments, so we took our time,” Richardson said.

Long Beach has waited a little less than a month to dismantle encampments following the July 25 executive order from Newsom that encourages local governments to address the homelessness problem, giving them guidelines on processes that include clearing encampments and aiding the unhoused population with alternative options.

In the weeks since, Newsom himself has expressed deep frustration at the lack of action in removing encampments from some local governments, even after his executive order. The Democratic Governor has threatened to withhold funds from cities that fails to remove encampments.

“We need local government to step up. This is a crisis,” Newsom told reporters on Aug. 8. “The state’s unprecedented billions of dollars of support? I’m not interested in providing that support and not seeing the results. I’m a taxpayer, not just the governor. It’s not complicated. We’ll send that money to counties that are producing results.”

Newsom’s push against homeless encampments comes after a recent Supreme Court ruling that allowed governments to criminalize “public camping,” or sleeping on streets and sidewalks.

In a memo released last week, Long Beach officials detailed their intention to comply with the order, saying that unhoused people may be cited or arrested for refusing to leave encampments.

Critics of the recent push against encampments have raised ethics concerns regarding the treatment of California’s unhoused population, saying the criminalization of homelessness could create more problems than it solves.

“If the only crime you are arresting or citing someone for is just existing in public space, that’s criminalization [of homelessness],” said John Ralphing of Human Rights Watch.

Long Beach officials say that people experiencing homelessness won’t be arrested or cited outright without committing any other crimes in the process, but instead will be offered outreach programs first. The city does, however, intend to tear down tents in public spaces.

Detectives are investigating after a 19-year-old who was assaulted in Koreatown died from a head injury.

The victim was identified as Joon Hee Han, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.

Family members said Han was attacked in late July in the 700 block of South Harvard Boulevard. He fell down and injured his head during the violent altercation.

He remained hospitalized in a coma and earlier this week, police announced Han had died from his injuries.

A motive remains unclear as investigators work to piece together the events leading up to the assault.

“West Bureau Homicide detectives are actively pursuing additional evidence, witness statements, and other information pertaining to the incident that might help us to determine what occurred,” authorities said.

No suspect description was released as the case remains under investigation.

Anyone with information on the incident is asked to call LAPD’s West Bureau Homicide at 213-382-9470.