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I doubt many people would find it “beyond staggering” for a hip-hop band from an odd, hyperlocal background that wants to attract a global left-leaning youth-culture audience to say bad things about Israel.

And that is one of the most useful aspects of a hyperlocal government during a crisis: it can provide a central spot for questions, information and updates, said Raphael Sonenshein, executive director of the Haynes Foundation, which supports research on governance and democracy in the L.A. region.

Over the next few days they’ll be adding 6,000 cubic yards of specially manufactured soil to cover the crossing, a mix of sand, silt and clay inoculated with a bit of compost and hyperlocal mycorrhizal fungi, carefully designed and tested to mimic the biological makeup of native soils around the site.

Bianca D’Amico, an artist who helped organize the December event — her son attended the preschool on Christmas Tree Lane that burned down — is proud of the hyperlocal market they created together in the former gas station, which amazingly survived, on Lincoln Avenue.

Those hyperlocal outlets will work in partnership with CalMatters, a nonprofit newsroom that focuses on explaining California politics and policy, and LAist, part of the Southern California Public Radio group, to deliver enhanced regional accountability journalism that fills news gaps.