Macarthur Park

Our hair smells of lemon zest. Our mayor looks like Bert Convy. Welcome to Los Angeles, the big shopping mall by the sea. No refunds. No exchanges. If you happen to be in town for some football, you're in luck. On Friday, we'll all squeeze -- kinda cozy like -- into the big stadium for a game pitting some flu-colored team from the Great Northwest against a bunch of hicks from the heartland. Don't get me wrong, we love you yokels. Full of heart, the heartland. To me, the only way you could make the heartland more appealing would be to wrap it in bacon, which you could, of course, and still have plenty left over for a nice pork pie the next day -- yum. So, welcome, welcome, welcome . . . pull up a starlet, make yourselves at home.

The prayer in Spanish sounded like one from an ordinary Catholic Mass. But the man who led it wore a coyote-skin headdress and called himself the last of 13 generations of brujos -- witch doctors -- in his family. FOR THE RECORD: Santa Muerte: An article in Monday's Section A about followers of the sect of Santa Muerte misspelled the last name of Rick Nahmias, a photographer who has documented the movement, as Nahmais. — The name the worshipers invoked was not that of the Virgin Mary but of Santa Muerte, or "Holy Death," a Mexican folk saint linked to narcotics trafficking, a kind of female grim reaper with a skull for a face.

A historic MacArthur Park theater could become the permanent new home of the performance trio Culture Clash under an ambitious city plan to bring more cultural amenities to the heavily Latino urban neighborhood. Under a proposal spearheaded by the Community Redevelopment Agency of the city of Los Angeles (CRA/LA), the Westlake Theatre, which was built in 1926 and currently is used for a swap meet, would be converted into a multi-use entertainment space for live theater, film screenings, musical performances and community and social events.

Re "Officers won't be charged in melee," Oct. 31, and "DWP workers get pay raises, but not police," Oct. 31 So prosecutors will not file criminal charges against the LAPD officers involved in the 2007 May Day melee at MacArthur Park because of "insufficient evidence." After seeing the videos of that "incident" many times, apparently former Chief William Bratton and the L.A. County district attorney's office are from the "who are you going to believe -- me or your lying eyes?" school of investigation.

The Los Angeles County district attorney's office will not file criminal charges against any of the LAPD officers who discharged rubberized bullets and wielded batons during the 2007 May Day melee at MacArthur Park, officials announced Friday. After a lengthy review, prosecutors said there is insufficient evidence to prove that any of the 30 officers who were investigated violated the law when using force, although some might have used "questionable tactics." The melee, which occurred at the conclusion of a pro- immigration rally and received national attention, resulted from poor police training, leadership and communication, prosecutors said.

None of the Los Angeles police officers accused of using excessive force on demonstrators and journalists at a 2007 May Day gathering at MacArthur Park will be fired, officials said Tuesday. Police Chief William J. Bratton had sought to punish 11 officers and called for the termination of four others by sending them to disciplinary panels for their involvement in the melee, which has cost the city $13 million in legal settlements.

A 23-year-old woman died and three others were critically injured early Sunday when their car sped down Wilshire Boulevard and slammed into a historic statue of a Los Angeles Times publisher at MacArthur Park. The vehicle hit the base of an 8-foot bronze statue of Gen. Harrison Gray Otis, a Civil War veteran who bought part ownership of The Times in 1882 and was its publisher for 35 years. Authorities identified the dead woman as Dranov Khaliunaa of Los Angeles. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

Tony Flamenco has taken his share of risks when he ends a day at the office with a game of chess at MacArthur Park. Over six years, he's been shaken down and forced to pay $10 "rent" to gang members, witnessed a stabbing and an assault, and seen the everyday transactions of gamblers and drug dealers who linger near South Park View and West 7th streets. But the 50-year-old accountant from San Dimas has continued to ignore his wife's warnings to stay away from the park.

Re "Cartels snatch coyote trade," March 23 As the human-trafficking outreach coordinator for the Salvation Army's Southern California division working to make the statement that humanity is not for sale, I see the anguish of human-trafficking victims daily. And Angelenos may be shocked to learn that human trafficking takes place in their own backyards. Every day, I come into direct contact with victims of smuggling who have become further victimized when they can't pay off their debts -- from street vendors at MacArthur Park to day laborers outside Home Depot.