Will off-leash dog trails prevent fires?
Hello! Welcome to the Daily Digest, featuring the latest content from TheEastsiderLA.com. Ride sharing has become less convenient and more expensive. If you had been a regular user of Lyft, Uber and other ride sharing services, we would like to interview you and find out how you adapted. Reply to this newsletter to set up an interview or send an email to hello@TheEastsiderLA.com. Now, please read on for our Wednesday report. Submit it here.  Support Community News: Contribute today to The Eastsider  NEWS   Lincoln Heights: A big-rig loaded with bananas caught fire on the 5 Freeway near North Main, jamming up traffic and triggering a SigAlert. The Eastsider   Echo Park: Lancers Family Restaurant in Burbank is taking over Echo Park's Brite Spot. The Eastsider  THE LATEST  Send in the dogs  The city has been looking for ways to protect an important radio transmission tower atop a fire-prone hill in Elysian Park. A park advocacy group thinks it has a solution: off-leash dog trails. The Citizens' Committee to Save Elysian Park says creating off-leash dog trails on aptly named Radio Hill would attract more people and their pooches to the remote corner of the park. That in turn would create more "eyes and ears" to discourage illicit activity and prevent and report fires on the hill. Not only will this create an outdoor destination for local dog owners to explore, but we also believe a greater presence will help secure the radio towers and improve safety in the area, said Taylor Renee Haynes, the secretary for Citizens Committee. The committee has set up an online petition and The Eastsider created an online poll. More in The Eastsider  Making L.A. a better place  Sign up for The Eastsider's Daily Digest newsletter Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup. Error! There was an error processing your request. Three Eastside organizations were among the recipients of $1 million in grants intended to make L.A. a better place:   Las Fotos out of Boyle Heights won $50,000 to transform an outdoor space into an open-air gallery where young women can display photo essays about their neighborhoods.  In Glassell Park, People's Pottery Project was awarded $25,000 for its art therapy and jobs skills program that provides ceramics classes to formerly incarcerated women and trans people.  Commonwealth Nursery operates an 11-acre site in Griffith Park where it grows trees from locally-sourced seeds and trains youths in urban forestry. The $50,000 grant will be used to grow more trees suitable for a changing climate and planted in tree-poor neighborhoods. The Goldhirsh Foundation awarded grants to a total of 25 groups as part of its My LA2050 Grants Challenge. Local designer Lex Roman has created affordable, easy to use websites starting at $350. Use code EASTSIDER75 for $75 off. Text-only classified ads run for 3 consecutive days in the Morning and Evening editions of the Daily Digest.  $19.99 for up to 25 words or $34.99 for up to 50 words   Go here to submit your ad  CALENDAR   July 7: Grand Parks Portraits of Freedom: Building a Life in L.A.   July 8: Paper Mache Mask Making Workshop  Go here for details and more events  LOCAL NEWS NEEDS YOU  The Eastsider provides free access to its breaking news and neighborhood features, including extensive coverage of COVID-19, as a community service. To keep our stories available to all during these difficult times, we need your support. Go here to contribute.