Macarthur Park

Bus-only lanes that would operate during rush hour on busy Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles were approved Thursday, but a mile-long section of the proposed project was eliminated to ease the concerns of Westwood residents. The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority board voted unanimously to build the $31.5-million bus rapid transit project, which includes 7.7 miles of bus lanes on both sides of the street between South Park View Street, which borders MacArthur Park near downtown, and Centinela Avenue on the Westside.

Bus commuters along congested Wilshire Boulevard have long dreamed of barreling along in their own special lane, unimpeded by automobiles and other vehicles. Come Dec. 9, they could get their wish as the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority board considers a $31.5-million proposal to designate bus-only lanes during morning and evening rush hours along 8.7 miles of the busy boulevard, the region's most heavily used transit corridor. The Bus Riders Union and other proponents tout the Wilshire "bus rapid transit" project as a boon to public health and the environment that would improve the reliability of service, shorten transit times and encourage more drivers to get out of their cars and take the bus. But high-rise residents of Westwood's "condo canyon" are pushing to exempt a nearly mile-long stretch of Wilshire between Comstock and Selby avenues because, they contend, the bus-only lane would cause huge backups for motorists in an area where traffic already moves smoothly.

One week after the shooting death of Guatemalan day laborer Manuel Jamines, MacArthur Park was jumping Sunday, but not with protesters. It echoed instead with the sound of soccer players, fruit vendors and mariachi bands. The shooting, which occurred just blocks from the park, sparked days of angry protests and sporadic violence. By week's end the mood had cooled, or at least that was the case Sunday night during the conclusion of a 50-show summer concert series. However, even as Mariachi Reynas de Los Angeles serenaded families on the grass from Levitt Pavilion in honor of Mexican Independence Day on Thursday, the shooting wasn't far from some people's minds.

She poses for the camera in front of a boxy Dodge roadster, wearing a flapper-style hat, a fur stole and an uneasy smile. For weeks, detectives wondered about this mystery woman, believed to be the owner of a trunk discovered last month with the mummified remains of two babies inside. On Thursday, they identified the woman as Janet Mann Barrie, a Scottish-born nurse whose life story has only further deepened the intrigue. Of particular interest to detectives is her relationship with Dr. George Knapp, a dentist, and his wife, Mary, who lived in the MacArthur Park apartment building where the trunk was found.

Two 18th Street gang members convicted of an infant's murder almost three years ago near MacArthur Park and the attempted murder of a street vendor who refused to pay street "taxes" to the gang were sentenced Friday to life in prison. Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Larry Paul Fidler sentenced Juan Pablo Murillo, 34, who was second in command of the gang, to life without possibility of parole plus 114 years to life in prison, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Victor Avila. Guadalupe Torres Rangel, 42, an associate, also was sentenced to life without possibility of parole plus 107 years to life in prison.

They're pulling up stakes at Edward's Steak House. After 64 years of serving up sizzling beef with a dollop of nostalgia on the side, Ken Rausch will pull the last steaks off the grill Sunday night in El Monte. The sagging economy and changing tastes in the San Gabriel Valley are being blamed for the closure of his family's longtime restaurant. "Many of our customers are just barely hanging on themselves," Rausch said. "And the demographics here have changed. The big businesses that were around here when we opened — companies like Xerox — have been replaced by importers."

Javier Prado marks his turf with a plastic folding chair. Ramon Alvarez guards a concrete bench. Efren Castellanos, the one they call La Hormiga ("the Ant"), brazenly goes wherever he pleases. He should, he argues. He's been here the longest. "Just let them try and tell me something," he says. "I've earned my spot." The Polaroid photographers of MacArthur Park are old-timers, the last of a dying breed. They've been sparring under the palm trees now for nearly 40 years.

It was a battle of the old school versus the new — a cook-off that pitted some of the city's veteran vendors of tacos and bacon-wrapped hot dogs against a new guard of gourmet food trucks known for fashionable menus and for sharing their locations via Twitter. But after the last bite was swallowed at the first L.A. Vendy Awards this weekend, tradition triumphed when judges crowned Nina Garcia the queen of L.A.'s street food scene. Garcia, who has served up supple Mexico City-style quesadillas and pambazos on street corners in Boyle Heights for two decades, beat out street vendor newcomers like the Grilled Cheese Truck along with old favorites, like East L.A.'s Tacos el Galuzo.

We hear a fair amount about journalism's failure to cover local news, particularly in poor communities. So you would think that people would have welcomed coverage that a couple of earnest young outsiders promised to bring to MacArthur Park, west of downtown L.A. Instead, the reporter and photographer and their initial effort, a blog called The Entryway, have taken a heavy dose of contempt and derision, along with some praise. Veteran journalists and others who pose as the true voices of the people have all but told newcomers Devin Browne and Kara Mears to get out of town.

Salvador Lopez, a waiter at Langer's, has the routine down pat. After a hectic lunch shift serving sandwiches on rye at the pastrami mecca next to MacArthur Park, he negotiates a series of surface streets -- up Normandie, across Beverly -- to make his way into the Fairfax district. He beelines into the locker room of another renowned Jewish deli, shedding the signature Langer's bow tie for a tight-fitting black T-shirt that reads: I ♥ Canter's. Lopez is not a delicatessen double agent, funneling trade secrets on Russian dressing and blintzes.