Hello, and welcome to this week’s collection of top stories by Los Angeles Times photographers.
::
His future coach found Dennis Kasumba working in a slaughterhouse. The boy lost his parents at a young age and lived in poverty and despair. Now, as a young man, he has found purpose in pursuing his dream of becoming Uganda’s first Major League Baseball player. His trainer and family are using TikTok to get him there.
Dennis Kasumba, left, shovels cow dung to earn money for his grandmother and children. At right, a player runs barefoot in the base in Guyaza, Uganda
(Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times)
With aspirations to become a professional diving athlete, Dennis Kasumba took a break from batting practice. Kasumba exercises twice a day and sometimes eats just one meal a day.
(Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times)
::
Is the $55,000 payment enough to leave a rent-controlled apartment? A community of cheap renters say no to such an offer of money for keys. As the rental market in Los Angeles soars, such sums still keep many working families out of affordable housing.
Pedro Villegas lives with his family in an apartment on Vin Scully Avenue. Residents of nearby complexes near Dodger Stadium received offers from developers to exchange keys for cash, but they declined.
(Christina House / Los Angeles Times)
Emiliano Rodriguez-Donantonio, 5, hangs upside down from a bunk bed while her uncle Salvador Donantonio works at the computer in the living room of their family’s Los Angeles home.
(Christina House / Los Angeles Times)
Elvira Rincon has lived in her apartment near Dodger Stadium for more than three decades, raising her children and now grandchildren.
(Christina House / Los Angeles Times)
::
After 15 years of silence, negotiations between the leaders of the Writers Guild of America and the Union of Film and Television Producers have reached an impasse, causing a WGA . strike. On Tuesday, writers picked up scavenging signs and headed to the sidewalk in front of all the big movies and TV shows. film studio in LA and New York to claim higher pay from streaming and improving working conditions. Watch scene in the strike and find out how it is possible break Hollywood. The current writers’ strike is just the latest in Hollywood. Since the 1950s, the writers went on strike eight times.
Prominent Writers Guild of America workers stand guard outside Sunset Bronson Studios in Hollywood. Yes, Cheech Manohar, a writer and actor, goes on strike with other members of the Writers Guild of America outside NBCUniversal Studios in Universal City.
(Mel Melcon/Los Angeles Times)
A billboard for a Netflix show hangs from a building overlooking members of the Writers Guild of America walking on a fence in front of Bronson Sunset Studios in Hollywood, where Netflix rents office and production space.
(Brian van der Brug/Los Angeles Times)
WGA members marched out in front of Paramount Studios in Hollywood on the first day of Tuesday’s strike.
(Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times)
::
Most California colleges do not provide rape kits on campus and students are demanding better access to care, lobbying politicians and put pressure on university administrators to create more measures to address sexual violence on campus. A new sexual assault forensics site at UC Irvine is a potential model for better systemic access.
UCLA Georgia students Lavery Van Parijs, left, and Julianne Lempert want all colleges to offer forensic examinations of sexual assault.
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)
Nurse Malinda Wheeler at the UC Irvine forensics site demonstrates a special lamp used to identify bodily fluids in sexual assault investigations.
(Christina House / Los Angeles Times)
::
Last Saturday marked the start of a new salmon fishing season. Even though snow record render some favorite areas inaccessible, anglers appear before sunrise in the Eastern Sierra to mark their position.
Bill Waters caught his second salmon of the morning in Bishop as the sun rose over the White Mountains.
(Brian van der Brug/Los Angeles Times)
An angler drops her line on an ice-free body of water Saturday at the exit of Lake Convict.
(Brian van der Brug/Los Angeles Times)
::
Family, friends and Los Angeles police officers gathered at the LAPD’s Wall of Honor downtown on Wednesday to honorable celebration 239 officers died in the line of duty.
Officers, family and friends gathered with roses in hand at a ceremony honoring the 239 LAPD officers who died in the line of duty outside police headquarters Wednesday.
(Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)
Claudi Membreno, center, and Jose Arroyos, second from left, parents of the fallen Officer Fernando Arroyos, at the ceremony.
(Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)
::
Who is Coachella? While the final notes of the popular music festival are still ringing in the ears of concertgoers, the festival grounds – Indio’s Empire Polo Club – are filled with music. Last weekend, thousands of fans attended the event Country Music Festival Stagecoachconsidered “country music’s biggest party”.
Tyler Black of San Diego stands atop his RV holding the American flag high while friends cool off in their annual Stagecoach camp pool at the start of Indio’s three-day country music festival.
(Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)
Country music fans dance at the K-Frog & KSON Dance Party in the Dome at Stagecoach 2023.
(Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)
On the left, fans watch Melissa Etheridge perform as the sun sets on the first day of the Stagecoach festival. Yes, an audience member watches Parker McCollum perform on the final day of the three-day event at the Empire Polo Club in Indio.
(Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)
Teenage girls ride electric bikes through Stagecoach campground on Saturday.
(Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)
::
And finally, a chance to enjoy a moment of peace, with this couple enjoying the warm, fragrant breezes while hiking along the winding path through the lush hills of Chino State Park. Hills.
A couple walks past a windmill to see California poppies, black poppies and other wildflowers in full bloom at Chino Hills State Park.
(Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)
::
