Youth Los Angeles County

A majority of teenagers in Los Angeles County say they don't believe there is any risk in trying the drug methamphetamine once or twice. That's one of the unsettling findings of a survey to be released today by the Partnership for a Drug-Free America at a Universal City hotel. The study's results spurred a new anti-methamphetamine advertising campaign aimed at teenagers. Teenagers' use of methamphetamine, also known as speed, is not high.

"Racism and intolerance are not just one culture against another, one people against another. We all do it. It doesn't matter what the culture is, what the religion." Writer-director Jose Guillermo Garcia doesn't see change coming easily, but he's not a cynic: Garcia, who works with troubled teenagers, has made it his mission to help young people see beyond prejudices and ostracism.

Juvenile arrests and gang-related deaths have decreased in the county, but poverty is affecting more children than ever, the local United Way said Monday. In a "state of the county" report, the United Way of Greater Los Angeles said that youths in the county, the nation's most populous with more than 9.2 million residents, are likelier to be victims than perpetrators. It said gang-related deaths, which peaked at 800 in 1992, fell to 719 in 1993--down 10% and the first decline in 10 years.

A majority of teenagers in Los Angeles County say they don't believe there is any risk in trying the drug methamphetamine once or twice. That's one of the unsettling findings of a survey to be released today by the Partnership for a Drug-Free America at a Universal City hotel. The study's results spurred a new anti-methamphetamine advertising campaign aimed at teenagers. Teenagers' use of methamphetamine, also known as speed, is not high.

Within the old marketplaces of the Near East, where blood feuds are as ancient as the tribes that fight them, there is a custom called "market peace." It dictates that the market is neutral ground; weapons are left outside. To violate the market peace in traditional societies, says a man who has studied it, "is considered outrageous." And yet in Los Angeles, the modern urban marketplace--the mall--has not fully reached that accommodation.

A 10 p.m.-to-sunrise curfew for minors has gone into effect in unincorporated areas of Los Angeles County. The district attorney's office is studying the curfew--aimed at curtailing gang activity--to determine its effectiveness.

Fifteen teen-agers left Inglewood for South Korea on Wednesday on a mission intended to promote understanding between Koreans and inner-city Americans. The trip follows a visit by 13 Korean teen-agers to Inglewood last summer, after the Los Angeles riots bared deep antagonism between immigrant shopkeepers and neighborhood residents. The American youths are spending eight days as guests of the city of Kyongju, sampling everything from kimchi to Buddhist temples and Confucian philosophy.

"Racism and intolerance are not just one culture against another, one people against another. We all do it. It doesn't matter what the culture is, what the religion." Writer-director Jose Guillermo Garcia doesn't see change coming easily, but he's not a cynic: Garcia, who works with troubled teenagers, has made it his mission to help young people see beyond prejudices and ostracism.

The county's top prosecutor and other elected officials shared a podium with youthful offenders Friday to oppose state budget cuts that could cripple the state's youth camp system, particularly in Los Angeles County. The hearing, held at Camp Karl Holton, a juvenile probation camp in the Angeles National Forest north of San Fernando, was called by Assemblywoman Paula L. Boland (R-Granada Hills) in response to Gov.

Play Ball: A group of young television and film actors will hit the diamond Sunday to benefit homeless youth in Los Angeles County. The players include Chad Lowe, Rob Lowe, Dana Barron, Kellie Martin, Scott Weinger, Doug Savant, Jamie Walters, Lou Diamond Phillips, Alfonso Ribeiro and Kristy Swanson. The baseball game starts at 2 p.m. at Birmingham High School in Van Nuys. Tickets for adults are $10 and for children are $5.

Juvenile arrests and gang-related deaths have decreased in the county, but poverty is affecting more children than ever, the local United Way said Monday. In a "state of the county" report, the United Way of Greater Los Angeles said that youths in the county, the nation's most populous with more than 9.2 million residents, are likelier to be victims than perpetrators. It said gang-related deaths, which peaked at 800 in 1992, fell to 719 in 1993--down 10% and the first decline in 10 years.

Fifteen teen-agers left Inglewood for South Korea on Wednesday on a mission intended to promote understanding between Koreans and inner-city Americans. The trip follows a visit by 13 Korean teen-agers to Inglewood last summer, after the Los Angeles riots bared deep antagonism between immigrant shopkeepers and neighborhood residents. The American youths are spending eight days as guests of the city of Kyongju, sampling everything from kimchi to Buddhist temples and Confucian philosophy.

Within the old marketplaces of the Near East, where blood feuds are as ancient as the tribes that fight them, there is a custom called "market peace." It dictates that the market is neutral ground; weapons are left outside. To violate the market peace in traditional societies, says a man who has studied it, "is considered outrageous." And yet in Los Angeles, the modern urban marketplace--the mall--has not fully reached that accommodation.

A 10 p.m.-to-sunrise curfew for minors has gone into effect in unincorporated areas of Los Angeles County. The district attorney's office is studying the curfew--aimed at curtailing gang activity--to determine its effectiveness.

A cement truck swerved to avoid a collision with a car Friday and overturned onto another auto, crushing to death a 17-year-old Palmdale youth, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department reported. Thomas Anthony Medrano was pronounced dead at the scene, Deputy Cory Kennedy said. The driver of the car that darted into the path of the cement truck was blamed for the accident, but that driver fled, Kennedy said. Investigators have of no description of the driver or the car, he said.

How gratifying it was to read about how unreliable one Mr. Jim Hill can be. Our group, the United Peace Officers Against Crime, put on a banquet at the Bonaventure last Sept. 23 to raise scholarship money for youth in Los Angeles County. Mr. Hill agreed to be the master of ceremonies and was given an itinerary a couple of days before. Well, he didn't show, and didn't even have the decent courtesy to telephone. He later said he got the date confused. Either Mr. Hill should just stop committing himself to community events or get a calendar and mark the dates he has committed to. TONY CAMPBELL L.A. County Deputy Sheriff Walnut Hills