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Roundup: Oregon militants and archeological law, L.A.’s lousy planning initiative, backyard punk

An armed group has occupied the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon since Jan. 2. The bulldozing of a road and other activities may put the militants in violation of federal archeological law.

An armed group has occupied the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon since Jan. 2. The bulldozing of a road and other activities may put the militants in violation of federal archeological law.

(Keith Ridler / Associated Press)
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Oregon occupiers may be in violation of important archaeological laws. Islamic State militants destroy a historic monastery. Battle over a Picasso bust. Plus: Why the Neighborhood Integrity Initiative is bad for L.A., colorful images of Victorian Bunker Hill and designing downtown’s newest park. And don’t forget “The X-Files” fashion. Here’s the Roundup:

— Oregon militants occupying the Malheur National Wildlife may be in violation of a federal law that protects the site’s archaeological heritage.

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— Satellite photos reveal that Iraq’s oldest Christian monastery was destroyed by Islamic State militants: The stone walls of St. Elijah’s monastery, reports the Guardian, “have been literally pulverized.”

— Christine Macel, the chief curator of the Centre Pompidou in Paris, will head up the 2017 Venice Biennale.

— Tibbie Dunbar, the executive director of L.A.’s Architecture + Design Museum, is leaving after a 12-year term overseeing the museum. Glenn Adamson, the director of New York’s Museum of Arts and Design, is also stepping down.

— The fate of a pair of important murals by Dorothea Rockburne hang in the balance as the Manhattan office tower they are displayed in goes condo.

— An iconic sculpture by Pablo Picasso in the Museum of Modern Art’s “Picasso Sculpture” show is at the center of a legal battle over ownership.

— The Boston Globe’s Sebastian Smee has a pretty terrific story about a dramatic night at Black Mountain College involving Robert Rauschenberg and Cy Twombly.

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— Photographer Catherine Opie’s L.A. moment.

Mark Grotjahn’s hand-painted sign exchange. Wish I was in New York to see this.

— Amalia Ulman’s Instagram images are a Cindy Sherman-esque work of art. They are also a fine opportunity for the art press to show a pretty young woman in her underwear. Also: Could this series possibly play more on every last trope of Los Angeles?

— Awesome photos of random things: pagan ritual garb from Europe and Canada’s ice fishing huts.

Celebrants gather for the Saturday's grand opening of the Preservation Resource Center in Santa Monica, a historic shotgun house representative of domiciles in the area during the early 20th century.

Celebrants gather for the Saturday’s grand opening of the Preservation Resource Center in Santa Monica, a historic shotgun house representative of domiciles in the area during the early 20th century.

(Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

Santa Monica’s last unadulterated shotgun house and New York City’s Trash Museum.

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Incredible color pictures of L.A.’s Bunker Hill when it was still covered in Victorian buildings.

— How the wealthy have used the planning process to create islands of segregated wealth. (Boing Boing)

— And reasons why that Neighborhood Integrity Initiative would be bad for L.A. Among them: The ballot initiative maintains L.A.’s addiction to parking and limits density (in a city that is in the midst of a housing crisis). As I wrote back in August, onerous parking requirements are one of the reasons it is so difficult to build in this city.

Design proposals for a new park at 1st and Broadway in downtown L.A. (adjacent to Grand Park) with schematics from Mia Lehrer + Associates, AECOM, Brooks + Scarpa and Eric Owen Moss.

— How some of the art world’s most talked-about art projects are occurring outside of traditional art spaces.

— Speaking of scenes outside the mainstream: Angela Boatwright’s new doc, “Los Punks,” looks at the backyard punk scene of East and South L.A.

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— For “The X-Files” geeks: The meaning of Dana Scully’s wardrobe.

— Last Friday, I wrote that the Broad looked like Moby-Dick. Critic Ed Fuentes came through with some Photoshop that paints an even better picture. Hilarious.

Find me on Twitter @cmonstah.

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