A big old traffic jam for nothing! Sheesh!From www.nbc4.tv:
NBC 4
Protests Close Streets Near Federal Building
POSTED: 8:42 am PST November 2, 2005UPDATED: 4:50 pm PST November 2, 2005
LOS ANGELES -- An anti-administration group called on Los Angeles adults and children to skip work or school Wednesday as a mark of protest on the anniversary of President George W. Bush's election to a second term.In Los Angeles, gatherings were scheduled along Wilshire Boulevard, from downtown to the ocean, beginning at noon, according to the group.
At 3:45 p.m., a rally and march are scheduled outside the federal building in Westwood, Lee said.
Drivers should expect street closures around the Federal Building in Westwood Wednesday afternoon and evening as demonstrators participate in a nationwide protest against the Bush administration.
Veteran Avenue between Wilshire Boulevard and Ohio Avenue were to be closed to traffic from noon to 10:30 p.m., according to the Los Angeles Police Department.
From 6 to 9:30 p.m., the following streets will be closed to traffic:
-- Wilshire Boulevard between Sepulveda and Westwood boulevards;
-- Westwood between Wilshire Boulevard and LeConte Avenue;
-- LeConte Avenue between Wilshire Boulevard and Gayley Avenue;
-- Gayley Avenue between LeConte Avenue and Wilshire Boulevard; and
-- Veteran Avenue between Wilshire Boulevard and LeConte Avenue.The following on- and off-ramps from the San Diego (405) Freeway will be closed from 6 to 9 p.m.:
-- northbound 405 to eastbound Wilshire Boulevard off-ramp;
-- eastbound Wilshire Boulevard to northbound 405 on ramp at Sepulveda Boulevard; and
-- westbound Wilshire Boulevard to northbound 405 on ramp at Sepulveda Boulevard.Students Walk Out Of Schools
More than 800 Los Angeles Unified students walked out of their high schools Wednesday as part of a nationwide protest against the administration.
Adults accompanied groups of students "in all cases" as they left from 10 high schools -- Los Angeles High, Van Nuys High, Downtown Business Magnet, Francisco Bravo Medical Magnet, Marshall High, Hamilton High, Fairfax High, Orthopaedic Hospital Medical Magnet, Lincoln High and Belmont High, said Dan Isaacs, the district's chief operating officer.
"Our issue... was safety, and I think we fulfilled our mission, frankly," Isaacs said.
The groups varied in size from 10 to 250, he said. The district sent staff, school police and youth relations personnel to walk with the teenagers and made buses available to take the students back to school when they got tired.
Some students may have splintered off from their groups, but Isaacs said he expected the majority either returned to campus or went home for the day, which was relatively free of incidents.
Van Nuys High was temporarily placed on lockdown after a group of 20 to 25 students left around 11:10 a.m. for the protest, said LAUSD spokeswoman Ellen Morgan.
The principal called for the lockdown "for the safety of the remainder of the students," Morgan said.
She said the principal reported that after the group of students left school, other teens were running around the campus "causing a disturbance."
The lockdown was lifted around lunchtime, Isaacs said.
She denied students at Reseda High were prevented from joining the protest.
"About 50 kids were thinking about walking out, but, coincidentally, LAPD were bringing some truants back to the school, so when the kids saw LAPD they turned around and went back to their classes."
She added, "There weren't any incidents that we're aware of."
One of the protest's organizers, Edith Lagos, of the New York-based The World Can't Wait-Drive Out the Bush Regime, claimed police prevented students at Van Nuys High and Reseda High from joining the event.
The group asked Los Angeles adults and children to skip work or school -- the anniversary of President Bush's re-election -- and gather along Wilshire Boulevard.
Copyright 2005 by NBC4.tv. City News Service contributed to this report. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
