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Tu Ciudad puts Carlos Mencia on the cover and at the top of its second list of 25 Angelenos We Love. What they meant to say is 25 local Latinos they love. Some of the others with Mencia on the list are "Ask a Mexican" columnist Gustavo Arellano, actresses Paula Miranda. Sara Ramirez and Elizabeth Rodriguez, lawyer-turned DJ Joe Escalante, choreographer Doriana Sanchez, chica lit author Michele Serros, restaurateur Adolfo Suaya and Youth Radio journalist Cassandra Gonzalez. The piece that will be talked about, however, is Dennis Romero's reconstruction of a tragic night in East L.A. — where "the best and worst of Latino culture: a family who cared deeply for its children, and a gang environment where parents fail to keep their kids away from a dead-end lifestyle" collided.
Los Angeles magazine leads with an ethnic food theme — "the best ethnic restaurants on the planet are right here " — including a Jesse Katz piece on taco trucks. Dave Gardetta also goes inside the Magic Castle, editor Kit Rachlis offers a tribute to friend and rock writer Paul Nelson, and LA Observed contributor Mark Lacter examines the vanishing L.A. middle class and how we're unexpectedly doing OK without them. In a bit of crossover, author Josh Kun has a piece in Los Angeles on the tangled tale of the Gustav Klimt portraits that found their way from Austria to LACMA this year, and in Tu Ciudad on Colombian alt-rockers Aterciopelados. Neither mag is online.