Carmen Oriana made one long trip to get to the U.S., and she covers a shorter distance to get to work Downtown every day. Oriana works at the newsstand near the northwest corner of 7th Street and Broadway, offering newspapers and magazines to passersby. She came to the U.S. from her hometown of Zacapa, Guatemala, in 1999, and now lives in Long Beach. Oriana rides the Metro Blue Line to the newsstand on the edge of the Jewelry District, where she has become a familiar and friendly face to merchants and workers. She says she likes the job because she enjoys talking with her customers—and she adds that any job is a good job these days. Oriana says he also likes working in Los Angeles because she has two sisters—Melba and Noemi—who live nearby. A third sister, Amparro, lives in Miami. The Blue Line doesn’t go that far, but the Garment & Citizen hopes that the four sisters will be able to get together for a reunion sometime soon.
Local Hero - 08/28/2009
Sarice Brudet traces her ancestry to Holland, Indonesia, and the South American country of Surinam, and she lives in Germa ... [ Full Story ]
Local Heroes - 08/14/2009
Enrique Martinez gives Dr. Fredy Perez his full attention as part of an eye exam during the National Night Out on August 4 ... [ Full Story ]
Local Heroes - 07/31/2009
Frank and Laura Chu have plenty of friends Downtown. That’s because they treat all of the customers who dine at Chu’s Kitc ... [ Full Story ]
Local Hero - 07/24/2009
High-ranking public servants have been known to seek a somewhat slower pace after spending four years in key positions for ... [ Full Story ]
Local Heroes - 07/10/2009
Sandy Sakamoto is chairperson of the board of the Japanese American Cultural & Community Center on the 200 block of S. San ... [ Full Story ]
Local Hero - 07/03/2009
The recession has a lot of folks looking for new careers, but Hector Diaz is sticking with the same one he’s had for a lon ... [ Full Story ]
Local Hero - 06/26/2009
Pedro Lobos works in shipping for Raj Manufacturing at 850 S. Broadway, and he’s putting in plenty of hours these days bec ... [ Full Story ]
Local Hero - 06/19/2009
This is General Jeff, a resident of the Skid Row district of Downtown, where he stirs things up and manages to get things ... [ Full Story ]
Local Hero - 06/05/2009
Rickie Shaw is a regular on the 800 block of S. Broadway, where he often has lunch at the counter of a diner called—approp ... [ Full Story ]
Local Hero - 06/05/2009
The laundromat in the little shopping center at Echo Park Avenue and Montana Street has no name—its sign just says LAUDROM ... [ Full Story ]
The Los Angeles Garment & Citizen is the community newspaper for Downtown Los Angeles and surrounding neighborhoods, including the Arts District, Chinatown, Echo Park, Little Tokyo, Pico-Union, Silver Lake and Westlake.The Garment & Citizen reaches more than 20,000 readers weekly, an audience that spans the demographic makeup of the city and serves as the leading edge of statewide and national trends.
