By Alci Rengifo While most of the country remained distracted by the antics of the presidential election over the past few weeks and suddenly a bombing colored by implications of terrorism in New York, a very serious repeat of the darker side of American history took place in North Dakota. After discovering the details on July 26th, the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, with other Native American and social activist groups in solidarity, began a series of protests against plans by Dakota Access to build a massive, 1,172-mile oil pipeline through much of their sacred territory including Lake Oahe and the Missouri River. Among the various environmental hazards that would come with the pipeline, the most worrying for the Lakota Sioux and other local communities is the potential contamination of the Missouri, which serves as a prime source of water irrigation. The project, which according to Dakota Access, would cross another 209 rivers, was going to produce hefty profits for the En...

by Abel M. Salas The bicycle ride from the neighborhood bordering Hazard Park and the USC Health Sciences campus to Highland Park is grueling. A stack of 50 tabloid-sized, 28-page newsprint magazines packed into a worn canvas shoulder bag gets heavier than you might expect once you’ve crossed through Lincoln Heights and cut over the 110 Freeway on Pasadena Ave. to Figueroa and Avenue 39. From there, it’s an uphill climb all the way to Eagle Rock, and the prospect of my first real acupuncture session loses a bit of its luster. The restless, fitful few hours of slumber just before daybreak—and the optimistic decision to make the trip astride the seat of a used but sturdy 21-speed trail bike—bear down on me just as heavily as the midday sun. Recalling how I came by the two-wheeled transport, an early model issued by a UK-based performance bike maker, for a fraction of its original cost from the back of a pick-up does little to ease the unanticipated exertion.  Even ruminations...