| Acton: Ordinance draws concerns | Local News | avpress.com |
| ACTON — A draft ordinance to amend Title 22 of the Los Angeles County planning and zoning code in regard to interim and supportive housing drew concerns from Acton community members about the lack of services in the community to assist those experiencing homelessness, as well as the potential for increased crime. [Article] |
| by , . 2019-09-18 |
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| East LA Sheriff's Deputies File Suit Claiming Harassment, Violence By 'Banditos' Clique: LAist |
| In an unprecedented lawsuit, eight Los Angeles County Sheriff's deputies Wednesday accused a group of their colleagues at the department's East L.A. station of being members of a secret "criminal gang" that violates their civil rights with a campaign of harassment and physical attacks.
The lawsuit describes in detail how members of the "Banditos" clique allegedly control station operations. [Article] |
| by , . 2019-09-18 |
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| Is the San Gabriel Valley’s water at risk due to homeless camps along the San Gabriel Riverbed? – San Gabriel Valley Tribune |
| A report that the homeless living along the San Gabriel Riverbed may have contaminated the water supply has city and water officials scrambling to spread the message that the water in the east San Gabriel Valley is safe to drink, officials said.
An NBC 4 report titled, “Homeless Camps in San Gabriel Valley Threaten Water Supply,” implied cities in the San Gabriel Valley, including Azusa, get their water right from the river, but that’s not the case, said Ken Manning, executive director of the San Gabriel Basin Water Quality Authority. [Article] |
| by , San Gabriel Valley Tribune. 2019-09-18 |
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| L.A. County files brief to overturn Boise case on homelessness - Los Angeles Times |
| The Board of Supervisors has decided to throw its political weight behind an effort to overturn a court decision that has allowed homeless people to bed down overnight on sidewalks across California and the West.
On Tuesday, the supervisors voted to direct lawyers for Los Angeles County to draft an amicus brief, urging the U.S. Supreme Court to take up a challenge to Martin vs. City of Boise. The case, decided by the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals last September, found that arresting or otherwise punishing homeless people for sleeping on the sidewalk when there are not enough shelter beds or housing was unconstitutional.
Supervisor Kathryn Barger, who authored the county’s motion, said the ruling had “tied our hands” and made serving homeless people more difficult. [Article] |
| by , Los Angeles Times. 2019-09-18 |
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| L.A. County to pay $3 million after deputies mistakenly kill teen - Los Angeles Times |
| Armando Garcia was spending time with friends in Palmdale one summer morning when Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies showed up in response to a complaint over loud music.
During the 2017 encounter, officials said, a pit bull charged at the deputies and they opened fire. A bullet ricocheted off the ground or a hard object and fatally struck the 17-year-old Garcia in the chest.
Now Los Angeles County will pay $3 million to Garcia’s family as part of a settlement in a wrongful death lawsuit Garcia’s mother, Roberta Alcantar, filed after the shooting. [Article] |
| by , Los Angeles Times. 2019-09-18 |
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| Hopes for a new investigation into Mitrice Richardson case end in disappointment - Los Angeles Times |
| Friends of Mitrice Richardson started Tuesday with high hopes of a new investigation, as they marked the 10th anniversary of the 24-year-old’s mysterious disappearance from the Malibu/Lost Hills Sheriff’s Station in Calabasas on Sept. 17, 2009.
After years of suspicion that the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department had covered up what really happened to Richardson, and a lawsuit that ended in a $900,000 settlement with the county, Sheriff Alex Villanueva had come to a memorial service at the New Testament Church in Los Angeles on Sept. 7 saying he wanted to “pursue the truth and get to the bottom of what happened” after Richardson was released in the middle of the night with no phone, car or money. [Article] |
| by , Los Angeles Times. 2019-09-18 |
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| Stores sell supplies for fake, maybe dangerous, cannabis vapes - Los Angeles Times |
| A short walk from police headquarters in the heart of downtown Los Angeles, a cluster of bustling shops are openly selling packaging and hardware that can be used to produce counterfeit marijuana vapes that have infected California’s cannabis market.
Bootleggers eager to profit off unsuspecting consumers are mimicking popular, legal vape brands, pairing replica packaging churned out in Chinese factories with untested, possibly dangerous cannabis oil produced in the state’s vast underground market.
The result: authentic-looking vape cartridges sold by unlicensed dispensaries and delivery services, along with rogue websites. [Article] |
| by , Los Angeles Times. 2019-09-18 |
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| Glendale officials abandon plans to expand Scholl Canyon Landfill - Los Angeles Times |
| Glendale officials have abandoned plans to expand operations at the Scholl Canyon Landfill in southeast Glendale after at least four years of consideration.
After internal discussions, city officials notified the Los Angeles County sanitation districts in May 2018 that Glendale was no longer looking to increase the size of the 535-acre facility, Glendale city spokeswoman Eliza Papazian said in an email.
“We intended to explore other options,” Papazian said in the email when asked why the plans were withdrawn last year. [Article] |
| by , Los Angeles Times. 2019-09-18 |
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| Valley councilman opposes Chatsworth homeless housing - Los Angeles Times |
| No new apartments for homeless people have been built in the northwestern San Fernando Valley, even with more than a billion dollars approved by taxpayers for new housing flowing to the city of Los Angeles.
Former Councilman Mitchell Englander, who previously represented the district, said the reason was simple: No one was trying to build such housing here, in neighborhoods such as Chatsworth, Granada Hills and Porter Ranch.
Now newly elected councilman John Lee is faced with a rare proposal to build homeless housing using Proposition HHH dollars — the first in this district to head to members of the City Council for approval. And he has come out against it, saying he opposes the plan as now proposed. [Article] |
| by , Los Angeles Times. 2019-09-18 |
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| Is Trump trying to make this historic building a homeless shelter? Locals are 'baffled' - Los Angeles Times |
| A week after hearing about federal officials swinging through a vacant office building close to Los Angeles International Airport, Hawthorne City Manager Arnold Shadbehr is still confused.
Shadbehr hasn’t heard from the federal government or anyone else — other than reporters — about the visit to study homelessness in California. The Washington Post last week reported that officials with the administration of President Trump had “secretly” toured the one-time Federal Aviation Administration facility in Hawthorne as part of discussions about turning it into a government-run homeless shelter.
The glassy building at 15000 Aviation Blvd. is in the process of being sold to a commercial developer and is listed in the National Register of Historic Places, raising even more questions about why the Trump delegation supposedly chose it. [Article] |
| by , Los Angeles Times. 2019-09-18 |
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| Trump to revoke California's authority over car emissions - Los Angeles Times |
| WASHINGTON — President Trump is expected Wednesday to revoke a decades-old rule that empowers California to set tougher car emissions standards than those required by the federal government — putting the state and the administration on a path to years of fighting in court.
The move, which has been in the works for much of the last three years, would overturn the foundation for California’s role as an environmental leader in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and improving air quality. By revoking a special waiver the state has relied on for years to set its own standards, the administration will be saying that no state can impose more ambitious pollution controls than those adopted by the federal government.
The Environmental Protection Agency, which will formally make the announcement, had no official comment on the plan, which is expected to be announced while Trump is in California for a campaign fundraising trip. [Article] |
| by , Los Angeles Times. 2019-09-18 |
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| Airbnb pledges $25 million to combat California housing crisis - Los Angeles Times |
| Home rental company Airbnb says it will invest $25 million toward affordable housing and other community needs, the latest plan by tech firms to ease a housing crisis their rapid growth has helped exacerbate.
Airbnb said the money would be split between Los Angeles County and the San Francisco Bay Area, the state’s largest urban centers, where residents are grappling with sky-high housing costs and a surge in homelessness. In addition to the preservation or creation of below-market rental housing, Airbnb said it would direct funding toward promoting homeownership for low- to moderate-income households, financing “meaningful infrastructure initiatives” through municipal bonds and supporting small businesses through loans.
“These investments have the potential to generate solid returns for our company and make communities stronger,” Airbnb Chief Executive Brian Chesky said in a statement. [Article] |
| by , Los Angeles Times. 2019-09-18 |
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| Coastal Cleanup Day Set to Exceed Expectations - Newport Beach News |
| Armed with reusable bags and buckets, thousands of local residents will participate in the world’s largest trash cleanup event this weekend.
Orange County will join others from across the state for California’s 35th annual Coastal Cleanup Day on Saturday from 9 a.m. to noon. [Article] |
| by , . 2019-09-18 |
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| State challenges Mission Viejo’s plan to change to cumulative voting for its 2020 council election – Orange County Register |
| The office of the California Secretary of State is objecting to Mission Viejo’s proposal to use cumulative voting for its 2020 municipal election, saying state law requires the legislature to first authorize the plan.
Mission Viejo City Attorney Bill Curley said he believes state statutes already allow cities to adopt the voting method in which citizens receive the same number of votes as seats in a race and can allocate them between candidates how they choose, including casting multiple votes for a single candidate. [Article] |
| by , Orange County Register. 2019-09-18 |
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| Planning Commission recommends adding 32 buildings to list of historic properties in National City - The San Diego Union-Tribune |
| National City’s Planning Commission agreed last week to recommend adding 29 buildings to the city’s list of historic properties.
The designation creates a layer of review should the owner of a property on the list want to demolish or significantly remodel the structure. The intent is to preserve the historic value of the properties. [Article] |
| by , San Diego Union-Tribune. 2019-09-18 |
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| East County needs to make streets safer for pedestrians, bike riders, group says - The San Diego Union-Tribune |
| A report released Tuesday by a group that keeps tabs on transportation in San Diego County shows some of the most dangerous streets for pedestrians and bicyclists in East County.
The report by the nonprofit Circulate San Diego offers broad recommendations for El Cajon, La Mesa, Santee and Lemon Grove to curb collisions involving automobiles that injure or kill pedestrians and bicyclists.
The report says that from 2008-2018 there were 1,710 bike or pedestrian collisions in the four East County cities, including 71 fatal collisions. [Article] |
| by , San Diego Union-Tribune. 2019-09-18 |
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| San Diego Border Patrol announces 43 percent drop in arrests from May to August - The San Diego Union-Tribune |
| The number of people caught trying to cross the U.S.-Mexico border illegally fell 43 percent — from 5,884 to 3,326 — from May to August in the San Diego area, according to San Diego Sector Chief Patrol Agent Douglas Harrison.
Harrison said the latest figures indicate cooperation with Mexico and new stricter federal immigration measures, instituted by the Trump administration, are helping reduce the flow of border-crossers.
“Stemming the flow of illegal immigration from other countries ensures that fewer and fewer people are starting the inherently dangerous journey to the U.S.,” said Harrison. “Also, (it means) fewer people are inclined to trust the criminal organizations to smuggle them into the U.S.” [Article] |
| by , San Diego Union-Tribune. 2019-09-18 |
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| Referendum seeks to overturn ban on sales of dogs, cats and rabbits - The San Diego Union-Tribune |
| The owner of a pet store in National City has put forward a referendum in an attempt to overturn an ordinance that bans stores from selling dogs, cats and rabbits.
Paid signature gatherers last week started collecting signatures at spots across the South Bay city, including supermarkets such as Walmart and El Super.
National City Puppy owner David Salinas said the referendum seeks to overturn the ordinance enacted by the City Council two weeks ago. [Article] |
| by , San Diego Union-Tribune. 2019-09-18 |
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| Bids opened for Oceanside aquatics center - The San Diego Union-Tribune |
| PCL Construction, an international company with an office in San Diego, has submitted the low bid of $19,868,000 to build Oceanside’s long-awaited El Corazon Aquatics Center.
Plans call for a 56-meter competition pool with diving boards, spectator seating, locker rooms and family changing rooms, a warm-water pool for lessons and therapy, a splash pad for children, a classroom, offices, shade structure and concession areas.
Two other pre-qualified bids were received: $20,638,473 from California Commercial Pools, Inc. of Glendora; and $20,77,702 from Hensel Phelps Construction, also a national company with an office in San Diego. [Article] |
| by , San Diego Union-Tribune. 2019-09-18 |
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| Sidewalk vendors worry proposed rules could upend their businesses - The San Diego Union-Tribune |
| Sidewalk food vendors are closely following a proposed ordinance that would limit the time and locations they operate in the city of San Diego.
Vendors say they are not against the city adopting an ordinance; however, they say some of the proposed rules are too restrictive and they worry it will eliminate business opportunities.
The Sidewalk Vendor Ordinance would prevent street vendors from setting up in the tourist-heavy areas of Balboa Park, the boardwalks of Mission Beach and La Jolla Shores, and streets in the Gaslamp Quarter. It also would restrict the areas surrounding Petco Park and the convention center on event days. [Article] |
| by , San Diego Union-Tribune. 2019-09-18 |
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