Local Musician Ventures to Teach Musical Stars By Melina Paris, Editorial Assistant
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[See Guitars, p. 16] Musician Lanny Cordola poses with several of The MLK girls whom he has tutored in guitar. The girls are still stuck in Afghanistan. Photo courtesy of Cordola
New city program will respond to mental health crises p.2
Raffaello’s tradition continues at its new location p. 12
For the second time in a generation, a Democratic president has taken office Nasdaq — not you, not your families,” he said in his kick-off campaign speech near his in the midst of an economic catastrophe overseen by a Republican predecessor. hometown of Scranton, Pennsylvania. “If I’m fortunate enough to be elected president, Joe Biden, who was vice president last time, seems to have learned his lesson I’ll be laser-focused on working families, the middle-class families that I came from.” That promise is clearly reflected in the fully paid-for — it needs a big response, something on a 10-year $3.5 trillion Build Back Better plan, which makes generational scale — and almost everyone in the major investments in childcare, education, healthcare and Democratic Party agrees. But not quite. And two housing just to bring America in line with its international hold-out senators could spell disaster — not just competitors. Its climate agenda and broader environmental for Biden’s agenda, or the Democratic Party, but agenda will benefit families far beyond the 10-year timefor American democracy and the future of the frame. planet as well. If the plan doesn’t pass, climate The local impact would be dramatic, according to action appears doomed, and Donald Trump Harbor Area representatives. could well be re-elected in 2024, again with “The Build Back Better plan would make millions fewer votes. transformational investments in addressing the toxic air “It’s not sufficient to build back,” after the pollution from trucks and ports,” said Congresswoman pandemic, Biden said on the campaign trail, “We Nanette Barragán. “It would make it possible to replace have to build back better.” And he had a specific polluting trucks and cargo handling equipment with new focus in mind. “Throughout this [coronavirus] Congresswoman Nanette Barragán supports President Joe crisis, Donald Trump has been almost singularly Biden’s Build Back Better plan. Photo courtesy of Barragán’s zero-emissions technology. This would dramatically focused on the stock market — the Dow and website [See Build, p. 10] 1
October 14 - 27, 2021
Limited production value doesn’t prevent Angels in America from shining p. 11
By Paul Rosenberg, Senior Editor
Foul smell: Residents are fed up with county, city’s stalling p. 4
What ‘Build Back Better’ Could Mean
Real People, Real News, Really Effective
n 2014, following the reporting of a 2012 terrorist attack in Kabul, Afghanistan, Lanny Cordola, a Los Angeles musician and cofounder of Magdallan [a Christian metal supergroup] packed up his guitar and left for the country to see how he could help. He later returned to Afghanistan and engaged in youth work, teaching guitar to teenagers of the war-torn country. “The plan is to make this an entity where [the girls] can travel the world, play music, tell the story about their lives and the people of Afghanistan,” Cordola said. He calls these girls The Miraculous Love Kids. Cordola has been teaching them guitar and together with Cordola, the girls have recorded videos of them performing virtually alongside huge American musicians like Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys, Sammy Hagar, The Bangles, The GoGos, The Runaways, Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine, Australian singer Nick Cave and others. Cordola, who was born in Harbor City, gained much of his success in Hollywood in the mid 1980s to ’90s. The guitarist, songwriter and producer has also been a member of glam rock bands Giuffria and House of Lords. He spoke to Random Lengths News from Pakistan, to which he relocated on the very last day of the American pull out of troops from Afghanistan. He waited until he had to leave. His visa was about to expire. Now, he is trying to raise awareness and funds to get 12 particularly vulnerable girls with their families out