A summary of significant actions affecting Central...

A summary of significant actions affecting Central Los Angeles in the past week.

CITY COUNCIL

* A NEW ROOM: Approved spending $100,000 to expand the Aliso Pico Multipurpose Center at 1501 East 1st St. in Boyle Heights. The money will be used to replace a room that was declared unsafe and demolished in May. The city-owned facility provides recreational, educational and tutorial programs to youths and senior citizens.

* GANG EXPERT: Approved spending $25,000 to hire gang expert Gus Frias to help develop gang intervention programs in the 1st Council District that includes Westlake, Pico-Union, MacArthur Park and Lincoln Heights.

* BENEFIT RUN: Mark Ridley-Thomas has requested that Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard in the Exposition Park area be closed Nov. 8 from 6 to 11 a.m. for the 10th annual Minnie Riperton 5K/10K run and Family Walk. The event, sponsored by the American Cancer Society, is named for the singer, who died of cancer.

* STREET CLOSURE: Joan Milke Flores requested that Grandee Avenue between 99th Street and Century Boulevard be closed Nov. 13 from 5:30 to 10 p.m. for a fund-raising event for the Watts Friendship Sports League. The league is a nonprofit organization that provides educational and recreational services to youths in the Watts area.

* TRAFFIC SIGNAL: Flores introduced a proposal to have a traffic signal installed at Success Avenue and Century Boulevard near Will Rogers Memorial Park in Watts. Flores said the signal was needed because of numerous traffic accidents there.

RECREATION AND PARK COMMISSIONERS

* MacARTHUR PARK: Approved a request for a $500,000 grant from the state to compensate for environmental problems created by transit projects. The money will be use for irrigation and landscaping at the park near the ongoing Metro Rail project.

HOW THEY VOTED

How representatives voted on selected issues.

* REWARD: Approved a $25,000 reward for information about who killed Artents Dominic Owens during a robbery near 27th Street and Vermont Avenue on July 25. Passed: 11-0. Voting yes: Richard Alatorre, Mike Hernandez, Mark Ridley-Thomas and Rita Walters. Flores was absent.

* HIV/AIDS GRANT: Approved accepting a $41,978 grant from Los Angeles County to provide education and medical treatment for Skid Row residents with HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis. Passed: 11-0. Voting yes: Alatorre, Hernandez, Ridley-Thomas and Walters. Flores was absent.