East Los Angeles

The Huntington Library this week debuted an unusual collection: The work was created on the streets of East Los Angeles and the artists have yet to graduate from high school. More than 100 photographic portraits of students from Esteban E. Torres High School will be featured on a 1,000-foot fence covering the construction of the Huntington Library's Education and Visitor Center. Three of the five academies on the Torres campus partnered with the Huntington as part of its "2nd Campus" program, which aims to use the institution's collections as a way for schools to increase awareness of the range of career paths in the arts, humanities and botanical science.

A man suspected of firing at deputies Saturday night in East Los Angeles before barricading himself inside a nearby home was in custody Sunday morning, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. Deputies were sent to the 6000 block of 6th Street on Saturday night in response to a call reporting child abuse. When they arrived, shortly before 10 p.m., the man immediately fired on them, authorities said. No deputies were struck by the gunfire. Deputies returned fire and the shooter fled, according to the Sheriff's Department. The man fired again at deputies as he ran toward the 600 block of South School Avenue, where he barricaded himself inside a home, but he ultimately left the building and surrendered, the department said.

A man suspected of firing at deputies Saturday night in East Los Angeles before barricading himself inside a nearby home was in custody Sunday morning, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. Deputies were sent to the 6000 block of 6th Street on Saturday night in response to a call reporting child abuse. When they arrived, shortly before 10 p.m., the man immediately fired on them, authorities said. No deputies were struck by the gunfire. Deputies returned fire and the shooter fled, according to the Sheriff's Department. The man fired again at deputies as he ran toward the 600 block of South School Avenue, where he barricaded himself inside a home, but he ultimately left the building and surrendered, the department said.

A doctor has been indicted on federal drug trafficking charges for allegedly turning his East Los Angeles and San Gabriel clinics into lucrative mills where he doled out prescriptions for powerful painkillers and other widely abused medications in exchange for cash. Dr. Andrew S. Sun, 78, of La Mirada, surrendered to federal authorities and was expected to be arraigned Thursday. Sun faces 24 counts of prescribing Vicodin, Xanax, a cough syrup with codeine known on the street as "Purple Drank" and other dangerous narcotics to undercover agents who had no medical need for the drugs.

The class of 1940 at Garfield High School in East Los Angeles will hold a 50-year reunion Oct. 14 at 5 p.m. at the Whittier Hilton. The cost is $40. Graduates may phone (818) 993-1809 or (714) 968-4871).

Jeff Cummins scored 22 points as Cypress defeated East Los Angeles, 81-49, in the first round of the Riverside College Holiday men's basketball tournament Tuesday. Cypress (8-2) took a 41-21 lead at the half. Gil Gonzales scored 14 points and Matt Kenney 12 for the Chargers.

The East Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce is holding its general membership meeting Wednesday at Tamayo Restaurant, 5300 E. Olympic Blvd. Keynote speaker Sylvia Ruiz will address the issue of affirmative action. A reception will begin at 11:30 a.m. with lunch at noon. Information and reservations: (213) 266-6774 or 569-6149.

Well, it seems that something funny happened on the way to the "Decade of the Hispanic." A prison gets dumped on East Los Angeles with the help (if not outright plotting) of our Hispanic "leaders for the future." I'm speaking of the Richard Alatorre-Richard Polanco clique that has swooped over the Eastside in a true carpetbag tradition that threatens to divide my community as no right-winger could ever hope to. The sad part is that this exercise of power is "punishment" for another Hispanic leader, and a woman, Assemblywoman Gloria Molina.

The Los Angeles Conservation Corps, which employs youths in environmental jobs and helps keep them in school, opened an office in East Los Angeles last week. So far, 25 youths have been hired for mostly part-time jobs that include planting trees, cleaning parks, painting out graffiti and painting murals, said program manager Bruce Saito. Eventually, the center at 4216 E. Hammel St. will employ 50 youths, he said.

The Latino Family Preservation Program, an effort started by the county Department of Children's Services to keep families intact and out of the foster care system, needs donations of Christmas toys, food and money for its third annual Christmas party. The party will be held Dec. 21 at the program's offices, 2501 Davidson Drive. Food baskets, toys and a visit from Santa Claus will be provided for 400 children in the program.

A concrete support for a Metro Gold Line bridge that spans the 101 Freeway in downtown Los Angeles has "visible cracks" and will be repaired, transportation officials told The Times on Monday. The damage is cosmetic and does not put Gold Line passengers at risk, said Bryan Pennington, the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority's executive director of engineering and construction. He added that drivers on the 101 Freeway and any nearby pedestrians do not need to worry about falling debris.

Roberto Gil de Montes is truly a citizen of the world. The 62-year-old artist -- whose first solo show in nearly 10 years opens at Bergamot Station's Lora Schlesinger Gallery on Saturday -- was born in Guadalajara, Mexico, and as a teenager, his family lived in East Los Angeles. He's spent the last nine years living in the small beach town of Nayarit and in Echo Park, where he still keeps a home, while also traveling extensively throughout India and Europe for inspiration, he said.

A California Highway Patrol officer was injured Thursday during a pursuit that began in Downey and ended in East Los Angeles, officials said. Around 1 a.m. the Downey Police Department requested assistance from the CHP after a call about a residential burglary resulted in a pursuit, CHP Lt. Paul Medeiros told KTLA-TV . CHP officers pursued the Ford Econoline van on the 605 and 5 freeways and side streets for about an hour, Medeiros said. A crash occurred on Paramount Boulevard, nearing Slauson Avenue in Pico Rivera, when a CHP officer swerved to avoid hitting a third party not connected with the chase, Medeiros said.

Under fire for a shortage of Latino sign-ups for Obamacare, the state's health insurance exchange is looking for a booster shot from a well-established Southern California clinic chain. One recent weekday, Maria de Lourdes Martinez sat at a cubicle inside an AltaMed enrollment office in East Los Angeles browsing through the health plans available under the Affordable Care Act. Martinez, 49, of Rosemead, came to this strip-mall storefront across from a Starbucks because she'd brought her grandmother to an AltaMed clinic before.

A couple who allegedly used a fake pipe bomb to commit a bank robbery in East Los Angeles in 2012 have been found guilty, the U.S. attorney's office said Monday. [For the record, 8:02 p.m. PDT, Monday, March 17, 2014: A previous version of this post incorrectly cited the Los Angeles County district attorney's office as the prosecuting agency. ] Former East Los Angeles Bank of America assistant manager Aurora Barrera and her boyfriend, Ray Vega, were found guilty of conspiracy to commit robbery and bank robbery.

Local transportation officials Thursday are to accept a $670-million federal grant for a downtown rail project designed to seamlessly connect three of Los Angeles County's furthest-reaching light-rail lines. When the Downtown Regional Connector opens, slated for 2020, the Metro Blue, Gold and Expo lines will all run between the 7th/Metro stop and Union Station. Passengers will be able to travel from Long Beach to Pasadena, or East Los Angeles to Santa Monica, without changing trains.

Wearing orange T-shirts and white hard hats, 10 men dug a trench in a driveway of Estrada Courts last week in what is being hailed as the first effort to hire residents to maintain and improve the city's aging housing projects. Most of the workers, making as much as $18 an hour including workers' compensation benefits, competed with 40 other applicants to replace the housing project's water and sewer system. They say they are now the envy of their friends.

A self-proclaimed homeless gang member convicted of murdering two car salesmen and two other men within a seven-month period in East Los Angeles was sentenced to death Friday. A Los Angeles jury convicted Angel Mendoza, 39, in October of four counts of murder, three counts of possession of a firearm by a felon and multiple special allegations. The death penalty was recommended by the jury and affirmed by Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Ronald Coen. A parole officer who completed the pre-sentencing investigation said Mendoza showed no remorse for the killings and remained troubled by mental illness.

Continuing to carve out a niche with original programming, online video service Hulu has stepped up its output of in-house productions and co-productions. On Wednesday, the service unveiled its slate of original shows for 2014, which includes four programs new to Hulu and six returning projects. Hulu's popular teen drama, "East Los High," which revolves around a fictional group of high school students in East Los Angeles, is scheduled to return this summer for Season 2.  FULL COVERAGE: Winter TV preview Hulu said it has ordered 12 new episodes of the English-language series, which features an all-Latino cast and explores such real-life issues as teen pregnancy.