| Los Angeles County jails remain in crisis – Daily News |
| Few things could be worse than ending up in jail; few jobs tougher than guarding the incarcerated. They’re troubled, they’re in trouble, and many are mentally ill and/or addicted to drugs and alcohol, coming down.
As UCLA scholar Terence Keel told our investigative reporters Jason Henry, Tony Saavedra and Joe Nelson for their series “Death behind bars: Who’s dying in Southern California county jails — and why,” “There are very few other institutions that can mimic the stress and danger of a jail … The truth is that jails are violent, dangerous places, and they’ve always been.”
So while prisoners in our county jails are seldom healthy when they arrive there, and are not the easiest guests to care for, that doesn’t mean they deserve to die in custody. They have not been sentenced to capital punishment. And yet in our four contiguous counties, Los Angeles, Orange, San Bernardino and Riverside, 478 prisoners have died in jail in the last five years, one every five days on average. And here in Los Angeles County, state Attorney General Rob Bonta filed a lawsuit in September against the Sheriff’s Department for inhumane treatment of inmates. [Article] |
| by , Los Angeles Daily News. 2025-12-11 |
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| Hahn Hall of Administration shouldn't be razed -- here's why, group says - Los Angeles Times |
| Los Angeles County plunked down $200 million last year to buy the Gas Company Tower, calculating that moving to the posh downtown address was a steal compared with the $700 million it might cost to make its old headquarters earthquake-safe.
But the decision to leave the historic Kenneth Hahn Hall of Administration was based on a half-billion-dollar miscalculation, says a group of experts and politicians trying to save it.
The $700-million estimate was a massive exaggeration, as it relied on one of the most expensive methods of earthquake retrofitting, says developer and preservationist Dan Rosenfeld, who is leading the group.
When it presented the estimate for a retrofit, Public Works “didn’t just put their thumb on the scale” to show retrofitting was too costly, he said, “they jumped on it with both feet.”
The 10-story structure stretches a full city block and faces a landscaped park with fountains, pathways and a coffeehouse. It has been one of the main anchors of the city’s Civic Center of public buildings near City Hall since its completion in 1960.
Rosenfeld’s group of crusaders has been writing letters and lobbying behind the scenes to urge the county to reconsider its plans, which point to eventually razing the Hahn building. The cost of retrofitting it could be less than a sixth of the estimate the county is using, they say, so the building should be saved to use as offices and possibly housing.
The county doesn’t agree, acting Chief Executive Joseph Nicchitta said in a Wednesday letter to Rosenfeld and the other letter writers.
“The County considered a comprehensive range of seismic options,” not only the expensive ones, the letter said.
The $700-million estimate was “the result of a competitively procured process,” it said.
Even though county officials have started moving into their new offices in the Gas Company Tower, L.A. County Supervisor Janice Hahn says it isn’t too late to save the Late Moderne-style building.
Although the Kenneth Hahn Hall of Administration was renamed in 1992 in honor of Hahn’s father — the county’s longest-serving supervisor and a former Los Angeles City Council member — the supervisor says her campaign isn’t just about family legacy but also about saving money and protecting history and the environment.
“We should take another look at this now,” she said. [Article] |
| by , Los Angeles Times. 2025-12-11 |
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| Long Beach Transit suspends pilot program after ICE recruitment ad ran on 7 buses – Press Telegram |
| Long Beach Transit has suspended a pilot program featuring digital advertisements on their buses after U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement recruitment ads ran on several of their vehicles over the weekend.
A photo of an ICE recruitment ad, which showed a federal agent and the slogan, “Defend the homeland, join ICE today,” was posted to social media on Saturday, Dec. 6, and quickly gained traction online.
Long Beach Transit, the same day, posted a statement on its Instagram apologizing and promising to revamp its advertising policies in response to the situation.
“This is not a reflection of our values,” LBT’s statement said, “and we will update our advertising policies to ensure this never happens again.” [Article] |
| by , Long Beach Press Telegram. 2025-12-11 |
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| LA County sues oil companies for unplugged wells in Inglewood Oil Field | LAist |
| L.A. County has sued four oil companies operating, or who have operated, in the Inglewood Oil Field near Baldwin Hills and Ladera Heights, alleging they’ve failed to properly clean up hundreds of depleted and idle wells. [Article] |
| by , . 2025-12-11 |
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| LA County to bury over 2,000 unclaimed decedents in common grave – NBC Los Angeles |
| More than 2,300 people who died in Los Angeles County but whose bodies remain unclaimed will be laid to rest Thursday in a common grave during an interfaith ceremony in Boyle Heights that has taken place annually for well over a century. [Article] |
| by , KNBC Los Angeles. 2025-12-11 |
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| Humboldt County sees low flu rates for now, but Public Health expecting bad season |
| Flu rates are relatively low in Humboldt County. But the Public Health department is expecting an increased flu season, to pick up in the coming weeks.
“Based on what we’re seeing across the country, and based on what we believe the vaccination rates to be locally, we would expect another high year,” said Dr. Candy Stockton, Humboldt County Public Health Officer.
High rates of hospitalizations from influenza first in Australia and the United Kingdom, and now rates of infections monitored in other U.S. states, have led health experts to expect a serious season for the flu. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data for the last week of November found high rates of influenza-like symptoms in Colorado, New York and Louisiana hospitals.
Stockton said Humboldt County typically sees a delay of the virus arriving from other parts of the country. In previous seasons, the flu will hit California a week or two after the East Coast. Then, Humboldt County sees a further week or two delay after the spread into Southern California. [Article] |
| by , Eureka Times-Standard. 2025-12-11 |
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| ‘The Garbage Boyfriend of the World’ Is Tanking the YIMBY Dream |
| Pratt posted against the bill on Instagram on Aug. 12, with a video of gridlocked traffic trying to escape this year’s fires and a caption: “Call Newsom and tell him Palisades can’t have more density. Stop SB 79.”
The Los Angeles City Council voted 8-5 the following week to pass a resolution against it, with Bass on board. [Article] |
| by , . 2025-12-11 |
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| Chapman economist sees ‘no gangbuster year’ in 2026 – Daily News |
| Next year will be “no gangbuster year,” for the economy, according to one of Southern California’s leading economists, James Doti.
Last year, the president emeritus at Chapman University and its team of economists predicted the nation’s gross domestic product, used to measure economic health, would slow to 1.8% in 2025, down from 2.7% the previous year. Their latest prediction says 2026’s growth will edge upward to a modest 2%. [Article] |
| by , Los Angeles Daily News. 2025-12-11 |
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| L.A. traffic is getting better. That's not entirely a good thing - Los Angeles Times |
| Los Angeles has experienced more than its share of struggles in the last few years.
But when it comes to one of the things that drives residents crazy, there are signs of slight improvement.
New data show that the home of Carmageddon, the SigAlert and road rage has actually seen traffic congestion get a bit better.
Los Angeles was the 10th-most congested city in the world in 2025, according to the Global Traffic Scorecard from INRIX, a transportation analytics firm. That’s not exactly something to brag about, but L.A. was the eighth-most-congested in 2024. [Article] |
| by , Los Angeles Times. 2025-12-11 |
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| L.A. County Approves 130-Mile Greenway Plan for San Gabriel Valley ‹ ColoradoBoulevard.net |
| This approval signifies a major milestone in a long-awaited project aimed at revitalizing and improving mobility across the San Gabriel Valley by creating safer, greener spaces for walking, biking, and recreation. The initiative is designed to improve access to vital resources, such as transit, schools, jobs, and other key community destinations, while enhancing environmental resilience and stormwater management. [Article] |
| by , . 2025-12-11 |
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| Fighting new housing in LA will cost you more — but far short of the $22K fee some advocates want | LAist |
| In the city of Los Angeles, neighbors or homeowner groups who choose to fight approvals of new housing are required to pay a fee when filing an appeal.
Right now, that fee is $178 — about 1% of the amount the city says it costs to process the appeal. But that fee soon will go up. [Article] |
| by , . 2025-12-11 |
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| Could SoCal mountain lions get permanent protections? Wildlife officials to decide early next year | LAist |
| Southern California’s mountain lions could get permanent protections from state wildlife officials.
What happened: The California Fish and Game Commission on Thursday called for permanent protections for the big cats in the Santa Monica Mountains, San Gabriel, San Bernardino Mountains and other areas. The protections are warranted under the state’s Endangered Species Act, according to the commission. [Article] |
| by , . 2025-12-11 |
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| In Eaton fire, L.A. County lacked mapping tool used by other agencies - Los Angeles Times |
| When the Eaton fire broke out in the foothills near Altadena, the Los Angeles County Fire Department did not have access to a satellite-based fire-tracking program regularly used by other agencies, depriving officials of intelligence that could have been helpful in determining evacuations.
The National Guard’s FireGuard program, which analyzes images from military satellites to distribute real-time fire progression maps several times an hour, is considered particularly helpful to fire officials when aircraft can’t fly. But officials with the L.A. County Fire Department said they weren’t aware of the resource during the Eaton fire and therefore didn’t utilize FireGuard’s data or maps.
This may have left Altadena at a disadvantage. With all aircraft grounded within an hour of the Eaton fire’s start, fire officials lost significant situational awareness and were forced to rely almost exclusively on ground observations. That became increasingly difficult as night fell, smoke intensified and powerful winds pushed flames and embers farther and more rapidly into neighborhoods.
The county has faced months of criticism after The Times revealed in January that officials did not order evacuations for west Altadena until nine hours after the fire started. All but one of the 19 people who died in the Eaton fire were found in west Altadena, among them a 54-year-old woman whose family has claimed she died because of the delayed evacuation alerts. [Article] |
| by , Los Angeles Times. 2025-12-11 |
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| Opinion | Crime is down, but drugs still plague LA’s MacArthur Park |
| A year ago, vendors had set up shop across the street from MacArthur Park in Los Angeles. They were dealing drugs and stolen goods from underneath makeshift tables at their stands.
Langer’s, the neighborhood’s historic deli, was threatening to leave for good. And assaults in the area were on the rise.
Today crime is down in MacArthur Park, Langer’s is staying, and the drug vendors are gone — or at least displaced. [Article] |
| by , CalMatters. 2025-12-11 |
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| Midwest promises new life to LA family living in car: 'We're willing to give California up' | LAist |
| On the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, Wayne, his partner and son sift through their storage unit in Los Angeles.
Since they lost their apartment in June, they’ve kept the belongings of their old one-bedroom unit neatly stored in a 10-by-10-foot space — bins of clothing, a refrigerator, a mattress. Their 4-year-old, A, plays with a wooden activity cube, a familiar toy he hasn’t played with in a while. (We’re using Wayne’s first name and A’s first initial only to protect their family’s privacy.) [Article] |
| by , . 2025-12-11 |
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| Metro made Open Streets permanent but tied most funding to the Olympics and World Cup |
| Cyclists, rollerbladers and skaters across Los Angeles County can rejoice knowing Metro’s board of directors voted last week to make open street events permanent. The majority of funds for upcoming events, however, are tied solely to the 2026 World Cup and 2028 Olympics, raising concerns from some sustainable mobility advocates about equity and access for programs designed to connect the entire county. [Article] |
| by , . 2025-12-11 |
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| LAPD blows past state legal deadlines to report use of less-lethal weapons | LAist |
| Los Angeles police officers used more than 1,000 less-lethal munitions and wounded six protesters on June 8, according to a state-mandated report released by the department.
The protests continued, along with the LAPD’s use of crowd control munitions, but the department has missed the deadline for several reports required by state law. [Article] |
| by , . 2025-12-11 |
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| Mayberry Park to receive new playgrounds — The Norwalk Patriot |
| SOUTH WHITTIER – The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved a total playground replacement project for Amelia Mayberry Park, a 14-acre park located at 13201 East Meyer Road in unincorporated South Whittier.
The 2016 Parks Needs Assessment—led by the county's Department of Parks and Recreation in collaboration with community partners—deemed the areas served by Mayberry Park as having "moderate to high" park needs.
The playground at Mayberry Park has not been refurbished since 2003. [Article] |
| by , . 2025-12-11 |
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| LAUSD student released from immigration detention after four months | LAist |
| A Van Nuys high school senior in immigration detention since August has been released from federal custody.
Benjamin Marcelo Guerrero-Cruz, an 18-year-old, was detained while he walked the family dog on Aug. 8, less than a week before the start of his senior year of high school. [Article] |
| by , . 2025-12-11 |
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| City Earns $50 Million State Grant for Affordable Housing at Former Site of Parking Structure 3 - Santa Monica Next |
| The City of Santa Monica was awarded a $50 million grant from the state’s Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities Program, funded through the Cap-and-Trade program for EAH Housing’s “4th Street Project” in the city’s downtown.
The 4th Street project is a proposed mixed-use, mixed-income development at 1318 4th Street, just one block from the popular Third Street Promenade in Downtown Santa Monica. The development is being led by EAH Housing on a site previously used as a city parking structure. [Article] |
| by , . 2025-12-11 |
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