Christ The Good Shepherd Church

Percia Hutcherson remembers the day 28 years ago when she and her husband, having just moved with their children from Minnesota to a Crenshaw District neighborhood of Los Angeles, found a new "home" in a year-old church called Christ the Good Shepherd. As blacks settling into what was then the predominantly white Leimert Park neighborhood, Hutcherson said her family felt a little unsure about how well they would be accepted until they visited the 250-member Episcopal Church.

Percia Hutcherson remembers the day 28 years ago when she and her husband, having just moved with their children from Minnesota to a Crenshaw District neighborhood of Los Angeles, found a new "home" in a year-old church called Christ the Good Shepherd. As blacks settling into what was then the predominantly white Leimert Park neighborhood, Hutcherson said her family felt a little unsure about how well they would be accepted until they visited the 250-member Episcopal Church.

Because of the temporary closure of the Robinsons-May store in the Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza after the Jan. 17 earthquake, the nonprofit senior citizens organization OASIS is continuing its classes at other locations. OASIS, or Older Adult Services and Information Systems, had offices and conducted classes on the second level of the store. Director Cynthia Berry said that temporary venues have been lined up for classes in Spanish, dance, yoga, sewing, millinery and art.

One person died in a fire that forced the evacuation of 72 people from a 12-story retirement home in the Crenshaw district late Thursday, authorities said. An 81-year-old woman was hospitalized with unspecified injuries after the fire at Good Shepherd Manor retirement home in the 4400 block of South 11th Avenue, fire officials said. The identities of the two victims were not immediately available.

The Los Angeles Black College Tour program is seeking high school students who are interested in its tour next spring. The program is a ministry of Christ the Good Shepherd Episcopal Church, 3303 W. Vernon Ave. Students will tour 15 to 20 black colleges and medical schools in the South and on the East Coast, including Fisk University, Florida A & M, Hampton Institute, Morehouse College, Morgan State, North Carolina Central, Spelman College and Tuskegee Institute.

During a city-sponsored workshop on the future of Southwest Los Angeles, participants from the 8th District were told that their suggestions for improving the area may become part of the city's development plans. The city has been conducting the post-riot workshops the last three months, seeking advice about how to improve the neighborhoods bounded by the Santa Monica Freeway to the north, the city limit to the south, La Cienega Boulevard to the west and Arlington Avenue to the east.

The Robinsons-May in the Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza will celebrate its 46th anniversary in June with a splashier event than store officials had in mind, but one they say is long overdue. The store was forced to close its doors because of extensive damage from the Jan. 17 Northridge earthquake. Recently, a Robinsons-May official announced plans to reopen June 6, not only with structural improvements but new merchandise.

The Appointed Los Angeles City Charter Reform Commission will hold its second of seven neighborhood open houses today. Residents will have a chance to respond to the commission's recommendations through interactive display boards, view a seven-minute video presentation and offer their opinions and suggestions during a public comment session.

With its aging facades and long rows of empty parking spaces, the Santa Barbara Plaza doesn't appear to be much of a commercial prize. But in the last few years, especially since the April-May riots, the debate has heated up about how to improve the 20-acre shopping center. Speculation about the future of Santa Barbara Plaza heightened this fall, when City Councilman Mark Ridley-Thomas beat out Councilman Nate Holden for the plaza in a redistricting battle.

Like many teen-agers, Heather Johnson enjoys watching television, telephoning friends and shopping for clothes. But her favorite pastime seems more suited to an adult than a teen-ager--running a business single-handedly. Heather, a 14-year-old who is entering Westchester High School next month, is a member of Tomorrow's Entrepreneurs Today, a 3-year-old nonprofit organization that teaches youths 12 to 19 how to run a business and helps them establish and maintain ventures of their own.

With its aging facades and long rows of empty parking spaces, the Santa Barbara Plaza doesn't appear to be much of a commercial prize. But in the last few years, especially since the April-May riots, the debate has heated up over how to improve the 20-acre shopping center. Speculation about the future of Santa Barbara Plaza heightened this fall, when Councilman Mark Ridley-Thomas beat out Councilman Nate Holden for the plaza in a redistricting battle.