The scenes, sightings and stories of 2011

JANUARY

• What does your old van say about your? | Photo by Orrin Anderson
• City to silence “bird repeller” after Echo Park neighbors start squawking
• Are Silver Lake burglars watching their weight?
• How much would you pay Silver Lake’s Five Dollar Guy to go away?
• Echo Park house undergoes stucco striptease
• Street sweepers steer clear of Silver Lake street

• I brake for Craftsman houses
• What will Highland Park (and the rest of us) do without Waltarrrrr?
• Where is Verdugo Village? Just look for the new signs

FEBRUARY

• Will Silver Lake dog owners obey this command? | Photo by Sandy Driscoll
• Slow down and watch out for mood swings while driving on L.A.’s “bipolar parkway”

• Lincoln Park Gateway restored to its former glory – but for how long?
• “This Old House” makes a final visit to Silver Lake
• Dog owners growling about off-leash tickets in Elysian Park
• Will this author’s next book be titled “The Carnitas of Echo Park”?
• A look into landslides reveals Sunset Boulevard’s rocky past
• Elysian Heights hawk as hood ornament

MARCH

• Maria the goose needs a new name
• A trip down memory lane via the Arroyo Seco Parkway
• 2010 Census reveals a decade of Echo Park demographic change
• What does Echo Park’s Citibank building have to do with Warren Zevon and Burrito King?
• What to do about Silver Lake’s tunnel of trouble
• Echo Park discount grocery store closes doors
• Victorian romance earns Angeleno Heights man a preservation award
• Who is going to clean up The Eagle Rock?

• Dancing fountains take center stage in Cypress Park

APRIL

• Flying high above El Sereno
• Maybe they should rename it the Silver Lake Lawn
• WTF?! FTW graffiti returns to Echo Park billboard
• The cost of living at Sunset & Alvarado: $3,295 a-month
• Silver Lake Meadow rules leave dog owners growling
• Will a decaying Silver Lake church find salvation as a boutique hotel?
• Trouble brewing as coffee house owner wants to serve beer & wine

• The must-have map for high-achieving Silver Lake parents & real estate agents
• Angeleno Heights home shows off historically-correct colors
• Would a pink pellet gun have avoided a Glassell Park tragedy?
• Police searching for clues and answers in the murder of a Silver Lake cyclist

MAY

• Silver Lake’s Olive Motel draws notoriety of a different kind
• Woman spends Mother’s Day searching for answers in murder of her son
• Police release witness account of fatal Echo Park shooting
• What’s more annoying? Echo Park church bells or the horn blower by the lake?
• Safety and sadness at Dodger Stadium
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• Then & Now: Highland Theatre & Franklin High Band | Photo from Virginia Neely Collection
• Thieves leave Elysian Valley bikers and walkers in the dark
• Cooking up a different approach to signage
• Will Mt. Washington’s mystery murals return as a memorial?
• A tower of tagging

• Echo Park Lake A Go-Go

JUNE

• Musicians union triggers discord at Mariachi Plaza
• Naked Bike Ride rolls into trouble in Echo Park

• Do Northeast L.A. house flippers need a new style?
• Eagle Rock coffee house owner fears food trucks & pot shops will drive merchants away
• And the winner of the Sunset Junction design competition is …
• Silver Lake map maker draws attention
• An Arizona town reaps the rewards of a ’70s rock classic written in Echo Park

• Elysian Park is ready for royalty
• A pesto bagel? I don’t think so
• A former symbol of Silver Lake cool reopens … in Sunland?

JULY

• Pop, pop, pop: Were those fire crackers or gunshots?

• A photographer’s focus on L.A. River bridges | Photo by Kevin Break
• Echo Park adjusts to life without a lake
• Silver Lake prepares to take a closer look at its homeless
• Jose “Crunchy” Espinosa is gone but his music lives on
• Soda lovers pour into Highland Park
• A cup of café perks up East L.A. political activism
• Who needs a Trader Joe’s? Indy supermarkets fill empty stores and parking lots across Northeast L.A.

• Mickey Mouse version of the Glendale-Hyperion bridge now under construction
• Boyle Heights church returns to normal after deadly standoff

AUGUST

• An Elysian Heights house without heat leaves some people cold
• Storefront Report: Will East L.A. diners develop a taste for urban chic?
• Sorry, a theater mogul did not sleep in this Eagle Rock mansion

• Name that beetle |Photo by Sandy Driscoll
• The dirty details of Echo Park Lake’s last clean up
• Police release drawing of Silver Lake road rage shooting suspect
• City says “No” to Sunset Junction festival
• The humble beginnings of Sunset Junction
• Tears and trauma follow Highland Park freeway crash

• Eagle Rock artist’s paintings ignite collector and police interest
• Mistaken hand signals may have contributed to fatal Silver Lake road rage shooting
• The end is near for Echo Park’s Smurf Village

SEPTEMBER

•  Echo Park Lake exposed | Photo by Darrell Kunitomi
• Storefront Report: It’s closing time for Silver Lake’s Coffee Table
• Drownings and despair fill the past of Echo Park Lake
• Silver Lake drivers discover that part of their driveways are no-parking zones
• Silver Lake council says “No” to “No Cruising” signs

• What will be found at the bottom of Echo Park Lake? A Bingo game offers some clues
• Echo Park gets ready to fill the Big Belly
• Echo Park woman gets her car back but she is not ready to celebrate
• Silver Lake gay landmark gets bulldozed
• Transformation underway at Boyle Heights landmark
• The Brown Widow leaves its mark on Montecito Heights

OCTOBER

• Who got high at the Eagle Rock Music Festival?
• The fat spider of Garvanza
• Eastside gentrification redraws the urban political map

• Angeleno Heights preservation pioneer leaves behind a colorful memory of the neighborhood’s past
• Proposed L.A. River bridge in Atwater receives $4 million pledge
• Heavy drinking lands more Occidental College students in hospital
• Former Highland Park pet shop turns into a hot property
• Silver Lake gay nightclub to throw one last party

NOVEMBER

• Cop returns to the scene of the crime to apologize
• Anybody want to pay $1,800 for a bike rack? Echo Park council is now taking orders

• Highland Park art project falls into foreclosure | Photo by Martha Benedict
• The cocaine, cars and Cartiers behind the FBI Atwater raid

DECEMBER

• Eastside gets wind whipped | Photo courtesy Azzouz Amirouche
• Victorian Modern: Echo Park couple embraced the past when they built a new home
• Will tearing down a handball court reduce Eagle Rock crime?
• Silver Lake “road diet” would trim traffic lanes instead of carbs
• Echo Park Laundry Cycle: Wash, rinse, dance – repeat

• Morning skies over Montecito Heights | Photo by Martha Benedict

The Eastsider thanks the readers, sponsors, friends and family members who provided support during 2011. Best wishes to all for 2012.