| Pasadena Now » County Supervisor Barger to Sit with Pasadena City Council for Special Mid-Week Meeting | Pasadena California, Hotels,CA Real Estate,Restaurants,City Guide... - Pasadena.com |
| The Pasadena City Council is scheduled to meet March 27 with District Five Los Angeles County Supervisor Katheryn Barger to parse through an agenda packed with some of the more controversial issues roiling local political waters.
Supervisor Barger meets in this fashion with the different cities in her District. Last year’s meeting resulted in Barger’s office issuing a formal announcement revealing key details of the County’s Devil’s Gate sediment removal project hours afterward.
“It is an annual event,” said Tony Bell, a spokesman for Barger. “The supervisor is really there to listen and learn what is important to the City. She can take it back to the County and we can work together on things.”
The agenda items are chosen by the host City and by its composition one can divine what issues are priorities, or matters of concern, for the City. [Article] |
| by , . 2019-03-25 |
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| MyFigueroa is everything wrong with L.A.’s alternative transit efforts - Los Angeles Times |
| A little over a year ago, I took a bike ride on a cool, pleasant evening in downtown Los Angeles. Traffic was calm and the bike lane I was riding in was freshly paved. I allowed myself to relax and enjoy the beauty of the night.
I should have known better.
Moments later, I was bloody and unconscious on the pavement. After crossing Cesar Chavez on my way to Chinatown, the smooth Main Street bike lane I was riding in unceremoniously ended without a signal. What followed was a stretch of road the city considers among the most poorly maintained in Los Angeles. Caught off guard, I couldn’t avoid a massive pothole and flew over my handlebars, face first onto the asphalt. At least I think that’s what happened. My helmet saved my life, or so the doctor said. I have no idea how long I lay blacked out in the road before a Good Samaritan helped me to the curb.
For bicyclists, walkers and, increasingly, scooter users, my story will hardly be surprising. Yes, L.A. has bike lanes and pedestrian “scrambles” and other “alternative transit infrastructure” designed to protect vulnerable road users. But the infrastructure is spotty, badly maintained and confusing for drivers and cyclists. It can be almost as dangerous as no infrastructure at all. [Article] |
| by , Los Angeles Times. 2019-03-25 |
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| L.A. spent 10 years and $20 million to redesign one street. Here's what we got - Los Angeles Times |
| New sections of protected bike lanes along Figueroa Street keep cyclists segregated from vehicle traffic — making portions of the street far safer and more pleasant for riders than traditional striped lanes.
An exclusive bus lane on Figueroa helps buses speed past traffic and stay on schedule, even during rush hour. Additionally, new, raised bus stop platforms provide riders with shelter from the elements, better lighting and signage, and allow more efficient rider pick-up and drop-off. [Article] |
| by , Los Angeles Times. 2019-03-25 |
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| Community colleges play vital role in local education | News | avpress.com |
| My colleague and friend Bill Warford’s recent column about the value of community colleges was a classic that should be shared with every high school student in this region.
Bill made the important point that today’s community colleges, especially in California, offer a valuable way to earn a degree at less cost and with the same outcome as going straight to a four-year college or university.
With the cost of education spiraling every year along with the additional expense of living away from home, community colleges are an excellent way to begin a higher education experience. [Article] |
| by , . 2019-03-25 |
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| Dockworkers battle plan to bring driverless trucks to the Port of Los Angeles - Los Angeles Times |
| A fierce struggle over automation has erupted at the Port of Los Angeles, as local union officials representing some 12,000 dockworkers demand that one of the world’s largest shipping firms abandon a plan to introduce driverless electric cargo trucks.
Shouting, whistling and jeering, more than 1,200 union members, local business owners and community activists packed a four-hour hearing Thursday before the Los Angeles Board of Harbor Commissioners. The board voted to postpone a construction permit for the automated system after an offer by Mayor Eric Garcetti to mediate the dispute.
“The decision before the board may have far-reaching impacts on the pace of automation at our port and could define how the port will compete and sustain jobs into the foreseeable future,” Garcetti wrote in a letter unveiled at the hearing.
The mayor called for a 28-day delay in deciding on the permit, adding that negotiations “should serve as the basis of a new task force to explore automation and its impacts on the future of the Port of Los Angeles and others across the state.” [Article] |
| by , Los Angeles Times. 2019-03-25 |
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| Income potential is a big selling point for L.A.’s millennial home buyer - Los Angeles Times |
| More than one-third of millennial buyers say it’s very important that their new home offer some way of generating income, according to Zillow.
In Los Angeles, millennials are getting more creative as they try to grapple with the area’s high cost of living and squeeze more out of their investments, especially the biggest one they’re likely to ever make: buying someplace to live. This includes pursuing less traditional paths such as buying multi-family housing or cramming into a smaller space today to get ahead tomorrow, real estate experts say.
Here are a few tips from agents on what millennial home buyers should expect when buying a property with income potential.
Checking into Airbnb
Tatiana Tensen, Sotheby’s International Realty: I am a millennial, and when I bought my first house, I made sure it had a guest unit for me to generate some income with Airbnb to offset my mortgage. [Article] |
| by , Los Angeles Times. 2019-03-25 |
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| Top lawyer in L.A. city attorney’s office quits amid questions about outside income - Los Angeles Times |
| A top lawyer in Los Angeles City Atty. Mike Feuer’s office who was helping oversee litigation regarding the 2013 Department of Water and Power billing debacle has resigned, the office said.
Chief Assistant City Atty. Thomas Peters stepped down Friday after The Times questioned Feuer’s office about outside income that Peters reported.
In city disclosure forms reviewed by The Times, Peters reported in 2017 that he received more than $100,000 in referral income from the law office of Anthony M. DeMarco. He also reported receiving two separate payments of between $10,000 and $100,000 from two law firms — Anthony M. DeMarco and Panish, Shea and Boyle — for referral fees in 2018. The city attorney’s office handled several lawsuits filed against the city by Panish, Shea and Boyle in recent years.
Referral fees are common in the legal world. Attorneys receive the fees for passing on a case to another attorney. Depending on how long a case is in court, the referring lawyer may be paid years after making the referral. [Article] |
| by , Los Angeles Times. 2019-03-25 |
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| ‘I'm really struggling’: Facing pay cuts, some ride-hailing drivers prepare to strike - Los Angeles Times |
| Frustrations are mounting among some Uber and Lyft drivers about wages and treatment. But because ride-hailing drivers are classified as independent contractors instead of employees, unionizing — a common way for discontented workers to bring about change — is something of a non-starter.
So in a parking lot outside Los Angeles International Airport, where Uber and Lyft drivers wait for ride requests, some ride-hailing workers are charting their own course.
It’s there that drivers are trying to recruit their colleagues to protest pay cuts by Uber last week that slashed per-mile pay from 80 cents to 60 cents in Los Angeles County and parts of Orange County. They are planning to strike Monday, refusing to drive for both Uber and Lyft in a move they hope will mark an early step in a broader push for higher wages.
It’s not the first attempt by drivers to stage a strike against Uber and Lyft — many of the same drivers organized a similar protest at LAX in 2017. The ride-hailing workers, this time led by a group called Rideshare Drivers United, say past strikes have lacked cohesive strategy and planning, ultimately leading to disparate demands and low attendance.
Part of the problem, they say, is that the drivers’ fight has long fixated on their classification as independent contractors — a battle that has so far proved fruitless. Though they would still prefer to be classified as employees, they hope they can unite a broader swath of the workforce by focusing first on pay. [Article] |
| by , Los Angeles Times. 2019-03-25 |
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| Fewer California youths are getting arrested. Consequences have gotten more serious for those who are arrested | CALmatters |
| It’s hard to believe how fast crime by youths has plunged.
In 2007, 237,000 Californians under age 18 were arrested for criminal offenses. In 2017, just 56,000, a decline of 76 percent over the decade. Yet within that sunny trend, a troubling one has emerged:
In 2007, just 43 percent of arrested youths wound up receiving formal dispositions (sentences or releases) by a juvenile or adult court, including 11 percent who were incarcerated.
In 2017, by contrast, 68 percent of arrested juveniles received court dispositions, and 19 percent were incarcerated. [Article] |
| by , CalMatters. 2019-03-25 |
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| California Has the Jobs but Not Enough Homes - WSJ |
| SAN FRANCISCO—California’s economy is adding jobs far faster than affordable places to live, forcing some employers to leave the state as they expand.
Companies that move from California have historically left behind its diverse industries, renowned public universities and balmy climate for states with lower taxes and lighter regulation. But now home prices and rents, higher on average than anywhere else in the country, have surged to the top of concerns for businesses and workers.
For employers, “we’re at a crisis stage,” said Rob Lapsley, president of the California Business Roundtable, an association of executives. Companies are struggling to recruit or promote from within as people turn down offers to come to California, Mr. Lapsley said. And with the types of jobs being taken out of the state, he added, “we’re not growing the strong middle class that we used to.”
Karen Holian, 44 years old, joined the startup Lottery.com when it was founded here in 2015. Though a San Francisco native, Ms. Holian, a marketing manager, was excited when the company last year moved to Austin, Texas, because she could finally plan to buy a home. [Article] |
| by , . 2019-03-25 |
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| Big backyards and pools are California’s past. Apartment buildings are its future - Los Angeles Times |
| You don’t need to be a Nobel physicist to figure the direction California must go to solve its acute housing shortage — up.
Stop expanding sideways and become more like New York City — and less like us.
Those words are painful to write for a native Californian who grew up on a small orange ranch in Ojai and worships wide-open spaces. But it’s inevitable.
The California ranch-house lifestyle — founded on sunshine and ample backyard space for a pool — has become increasingly unaffordable for middle-class families in urban areas where most jobs exist. Living space has tightened and become impossibly pricey for too many.
It was wonderful when our population was only 12 million in the 1950s and 22 million in the 1970s. But now we’re at 40 million and headed to 50 million by 2050.
For many, the economics of supply and demand are making the California Dream a nightmare. [Article] |
| by , Los Angeles Times. 2019-03-25 |
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| Newsom declares wildfire emergency, waives environmental rules to expedite projects - Los Angeles Times |
| Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency in California on Friday and waived environmental regulations to expedite nearly three dozen local forest management projects to protect communities from the deadly wildfires that have decimated regions up and down the state.
The governor’s action marks the latest effort by the state to offset the possibility of catastrophe after back-to-back years of savage wildfires that killed more than 100 people and burned nearly 2 million acres in total. The projects will cost a total of $35 million, which will be paid with forest management funds in the 2018-19 budget.
“The increasing wildfire risks we face as a state means we simply can’t wait until a fire starts in order to start deploying emergency resources,” Newsom said before making his announcement at a news conference in Lake County on Friday morning. “California needs sustained focus and immediate action in order to better protect our communities.” [Article] |
| by , Los Angeles Times. 2019-03-25 |
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| FEMA shared California wildfire victims’ personal data with outside vendor - Los Angeles Times |
| Millions of disaster victims — including thousands of those hit by California wildfires — had personally identifiable information put in jeopardy when they applied for housing relief with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, authorities said Friday.
The federal Office of Inspector General said the information was included in applications hurricane and wildfire victims submitted to FEMA’s Transitional Sheltering Assistance program and was passed onto vendors without some of it being removed.
“During our audit … we determined that FEMA violated the Privacy Act of 1974 and Department of Homeland Security policy by releasing [personally identifiable information] of 2.3 million survivors of Hurricane Harvey, Irma, and Maria and the California wildfires in 2017,” the March 15 memo stated. “Without corrective action, the disaster survivors involved in the privacy incident are at increased risk of identity theft and fraud.”
The information included applicants’ full names, last four digits of their Social Security numbers, home addresses, and bank account and routing numbers. [Article] |
| by , Los Angeles Times. 2019-03-25 |
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| First electric bus to travel Route 66 in California arrives in Pasadena. What a kick! – San Gabriel Valley Tribune |
| Route 66 epitomizes car culture, freedom and Sunday drives especially in the West.
What some don’t know is the famous, 2,278-mile road passing through eight states from Illinois to California ends in Santa Monica and includes historic Colorado Boulevard in Pasadena, the route taken by the world famous Rose Parade every Jan. 1.
Now you can add to the list of vehicles that ever rode the highway since it opened in 1926: A full-sized electric transit bus. This one picks up and drops off passengers in Pasadena.
Foothill Transit began running its 2600 series electric buses on Colorado, Arroyo Parkway (also part of Route 66) and on Foothill Boulevard in East Pasadena about a month ago. There was no fanfare. Only the silence of a battery-powered transit bus capable of carrying 40 people. [Article] |
| by , San Gabriel Valley Tribune. 2019-03-25 |
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| LAUSD’s punishing parcel tax proposal – Daily News |
| America’s most dysfunctional school district has stepped in it again. The Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), apparently coming to the shocking realization that there was no way they could pay for the horrible deal they just cut with the unions, has hurriedly placed on the ballot for June a new property tax that leaves no Los Angeles taxpayer unscathed.
That grassroots taxpayer interests would be opposed to the new levy is no surprise. But several business organizations, usually more tolerant of higher government spending — particularly for education — have had enough. Groups as diverse as the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce, the Valley Industry and Commerce Association (VICA) and the L.A. County Business Federation (BizFed) have all announced their opposition. None of these organizations is anti-education. In fact, all are pro-education as long as there is demonstrable improvement in the education product we are all paying for. On this score, LAUSD falls way short.
At the core of the broad-based opposition is the abject lack of long overdue reforms at LAUSD. [Article] |
| by , Los Angeles Daily News. 2019-03-25 |
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| Santana: OC State Lawmakers Jump Back Into The Fight For a Veterans Cemetery | Voice of OC |
| Democratic State Assemblywoman Sharon Quirk Silva is leading a bipartisan coalition of OC state lawmakers that want the state government to take over development of the veterans’ cemetery in Irvine.
Quirk Silva, along with five state assembly members from Orange County, late last week sent a joint letter to Irvine City Council members calling on them to essentially give the state ownership over a site in Irvine at the former Marine Air Base at El Toro slated for a Orange County veterans’ cemetery. [Article] |
| by , Voice of OC. 2019-03-25 |
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| 3 People In San Diego Fighting Superbug Infections After Surgeries In Tijuana | KPBS |
| Two people in San Diego County remain hospitalized and one person is under care at a nursing facility after contracting a potentially deadly superbug infection at a Tijuana hospital.
“Right now these patients are treatable, but we want to make sure no one else gets that infection,” said Eric McDonald, M.D., medical director of epidemiology for the county of San Diego. “All of the patients who were hospitalized in San Diego had their infections recognized early and were treated with the appropriate infection precautions.” [Article] |
| by , KPBS - San Diego. 2019-03-25 |
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| Leaks reveal white nationalists active at San Diego colleges - Los Angeles Times |
| A recent leak of more than 200,000 online chat logs from a white supremacist group reveals how local members are targeting students on San Diego college campuses and trying to project a respectable image even as the group’s members privately espouse Islamophobic, anti-Semitic and racist views.
The group, called Identity Evropa, is nationally known for helping organize the “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Va., where a protester was killed and dozens injured over two days of clashes.
More recently, the group made news because online whistleblowers began identifying Identity Evropa members, publishing their online chat messages and linking them with social media posts. In the last week, their efforts have led to official investigations of a Virginia school police officer and seven service members from various branches of the U.S. military.
A San Diego Union-Tribune review of the chat logs has revealed that a local branch of Identity Evropa has visited area colleges at least a dozen times since fall 2017, though fliers first appeared at San Diego State University the year before. The chat logs also refer to publicity and recruitment activities at Southern California colleges as recently as last month. [Article] |
| by , Los Angeles Times. 2019-03-25 |
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| CBP sends asylum seekers back to Mexico without required screening - The San Diego Union-Tribune |
| Customs and Border Protection officers have not consistently followed policies intended to protect Central American asylum seekers who are likely to be harmed in Mexico from returning there under the “Remain in Mexico” program, according to documents obtained by The San Diego Union-Tribune.
The program, known officially as Migrant Protection Protocols, sends certain migrants who ask for asylum at the southern border back to Mexico while they wait for their immigration court cases.
If migrants tell CBP officials that they are also afraid of going back to Mexico, CBP is supposed to send them for interviews with asylum officers who work under a separate agency, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, according to an agency memo. Those officials are specially trained to weigh a person’s story about fear of returning against specific legal standards and definitions. [Article] |
| by , San Diego Union-Tribune. 2019-03-25 |
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| Living on pennies with a million-dollar view: how car campers survive in beach parking lots - The San Diego Union-Tribune |
| A year ago, he was homeless. Today, he owns a residence that boasts a million-dollar view of the rolling Pacific.
Or at least it does for 22 hours a day. Between 2 and 4 a.m., the law requires this home — a rusting Ford Econoline van — to leave its usual spot in a public parking lot beside the sand dunes of Ocean Beach. During those two pre-dawn hours, it roams the surrounding residential streets.
Before sunrise, though, the van and its owner — Noodle, he calls himself — will return to the beach.
“I always come back,” said Noodle. “It’s beautiful here and you are on the ocean.”
There’s one more advantage: since February, Noodle’s seaside slumbers have been legal. San Diego City Council repealed an ordinance forbidding overnight stays in parked vehicles, despite the objections of local homeowners. [Article] |
| by , San Diego Union-Tribune. 2019-03-25 |
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