Week two: Broxton brewhouse, NWWNC campaign, strike announcement, abortion bill veto

This Week in the News serves as the Quad’s space for reflection on current events at and around UCLA. Every week, Daily Bruin staffers will analyze some of the most significant stories to keep readers up to speed.

It’s week two of fall quarter and the news cycle is already running at about a mile a minute. We’ve got a trendy new brewhouse to spice up the food scene in Westwood, as well as a new announcement from the folks at the North Westwood Neighborhood Council. Here are the Quad’s top picks for this week’s big stories.

Restaurant review: Broxton capitalizes on golden hopportunity with flavorful drinks, comfort food

It’s no secret that Westwood isn’t particularly well-renowned for its food culture. That could be changing though, with the addition of a new brewhouse and restaurant opening in the Janss Investment Company Building between Broxton Avenue and Westwood Boulevard.

Broxton opened up its doors to the public Sunday – the Bruin’s Ruhi Shah gave the restaurant a 4 Bruin Paw rating in a review, noting that the restaurant features an abundance of Southwestern-inspired food for vegans and meat-eaters alike. While she wrote that the brewhouse’s biscuits were relatively bland, Shah gave high praise to the restaurant’s “The Big Mohawk,” a creative vegan cheeseburger.

Broxton takes up the space previously occupied by Yamato, a Japanese restaurant that closed down in 2016 after nine years of business. It’s not the only trendy restaurant that’s recently opened up in Westwood, either – back in June an American-style bistro named Fellow opened up on Glendon Avenue. And according to Eater Los Angeles, a French-Californian restaurant should be opening up next year, not too far from Fellow.

The same coalition that spearheaded the North Westwood Neighborhood Council’s creation announced its slate of candidates Wednesday.

Westwood Forward first came to the scene in November 2017, when the group of student leaders proposed to create the NWNNC in an effort to amplify students’ voices. At the time, the Westwood Neighborhood Council was the only council to oversee the Westwood area, however the NWWNC was eventually approved, now overseeing UCLA and its immediate vicinity.

Now, the group has announced a slate of candidates who are aiming to further manifest their initial goals, such as eliminating certain regulations that have made building housing and opening student-friendly businesses in the area around campus notoriously difficult.

If you were here last school year, you likely remember the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 3299’s three-day strike in May, after the union failed to reach a contract agreement with the UC.

On Thursday, the AFSCME announced that its members have voted to authorize yet another strike. The union announced Friday the strike will take place Oct. 23 to Oct. 25.

Gov. Brown vetoes bill to introduce medication abortion pills to state campuses

Gov. Jerry Brown has been pretty quick to lay down the bright red stamp as of late.

This week, The Bruin reported on Brown’s veto of a bill that would guarantee students at the University of California and California State University systems access to medication abortions in student health centers. This is just one in a string of recent vetoes from Brown. The Bruin also reported on an earlier veto from Brown on a bill that would have imposed quotas for mental health professionals employed on university campuses.

While these vetoes might be somewhat surprising coming from a left-leaning governor, not all of his decisions were so out of character. Not only did Brown sign one of the strongest pro-net neutrality bills in the nation, but he also signed bills aiming to address gun violence and increase the number of women serving as company directors.