| In a milestone, crews place soil on wildlife crossing over 101 Freeway – Daily News |
| Crews put the first layers of soil on the surface of the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing over the 101 Freeway on Monday, March 31. Officials called it a milestone moment for the largest bridge of its kind in the world. [Article] |
| by , Los Angeles Daily News. 2025-04-01 |
| |
| L.A. County Supervisors OK the Grand Avenue Cultural District - Los Angeles Times |
| The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to create a Grand Avenue Cultural District to boost the visibility of the arts scene in a corridor of downtown that includes the Broad museum, Center Theatre Group, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Los Angeles Opera, REDCAT and the Colburn School.
The Music Center spearheaded the effort, and L.A. County Supervisor Hilda Solis, in whose district the Grand Avenue venues lie, was an early champion.
“We’re envisioning having an app and a website, so it’s one-stop shopping for somebody coming to town,” said Music Center President and Chief Executive Rachel Moore, adding that the cultural district will be a nonprofit with its own office and executive director. The group plans to offer packages for hotels, restaurants, shows and museums.
“I am hoping that by the time the Olympics come around, people will know who we are, and that we’re friendly and welcoming,” said Moore. “It will be an easy way to experience the arts in L.A. without having to cobble it together by yourself.”
The Grand Avenue Cultural District was “designed to promote greater public participation in the arts, stimulate economic growth, increase tourism, create workforce development opportunities, support the revitalization of DTLA and position the area as a global arts destination,” a news release said. [Article] |
| by , Los Angeles Times. 2025-04-01 |
| |
| Mixed-use affordable housing opens at 3016 N. Main St. in Lincoln Heights | Urbanize LA |
| On March 28, developer Decro Corporation marked the debut of The Brine, a new affordable housing complex in Lincoln Heights with a ribbon-cutting ceremony featuring County Supervisor Hilda Solis and Los Angeles City Councilmember Ysabel Jurado. [Article] |
| by , . 2025-04-01 |
| |
| Trump’s Department of Energy targets California and other blue states for budget cuts - Los Angeles Times |
| The Trump administration’s efforts to dismantle environmental protections and roll back nationwide progress toward clean energy disproportionately target California and other blue states, internal documents show.
As early as this week, the Department of Energy may pull funding from hundreds of projects — many of which were bolstered by President Biden’s bipartisan infrastructure law and are geared toward climate-friendly initiatives such as solar power, heat pumps, battery storage and renewable fuels, according to a leaked list reviewed by The Times.
The cuts could include as many as 262 projects in the DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, of which roughly 80% are based in states that did not go for Trump in the 2024 presidential election.
Also on the chopping block are nearly two dozen projects in the Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations, including a major national effort known as the Regional Clean Hydrogen Hubs (H2Hubs) Program, which aims to accelerate the development of hydrogen projects that can replace planet-warming fossil fuels. [Article] |
| by , Los Angeles Times. 2025-04-01 |
| |
| Where did LA’s homeless cash go? Who knows? – Press Telegram |
| California officials often blame a lack of funding for their failures to address the state’s multiple crises, yet an independent audit of Los Angeles’ spending of $2.3 billion in homeless services last year reinforces a point these pages often make: California governments fail to spend the money effectively. Officials can’t even tell taxpayers where the money went. As usual, the state’s pretty good and analyzing what went wrong after the fact. [Article] |
| by , Long Beach Press Telegram. 2025-04-01 |
| |
| Sofia Pereira, Jared Huffman address cuts to local health programs |
| Last week, the health officials within the Trump administration announced plans to abruptly end $11.4 billion in funds to local and state health agencies and programs — funds that had initially been allocated to combat COVID-19.
NBC first broke the news last Tuesday that funding, provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to be distributed to state and local health programs, would be rescinded.
“The COVID-19 pandemic is over, and HHS will no longer waste billions of taxpayer dollars responding to a non-existent pandemic that Americans moved on from years ago,” HHS Director of Communications Andrew Nixon said in a statement provided to NBC News. “HHS is prioritizing funding projects that will deliver on President Trump’s mandate to address our chronic disease epidemic and Make America Healthy Again.”
On Friday, Humboldt County’s Department of Health and Human Services confirmed that the cuts would affect the county. The county’s health department is facing more than $3 million in immediate cuts, according to county DHHS Public Information Specialist Christine Messinger. [Article] |
| by , Eureka Times-Standard. 2025-04-01 |
| |
| California sues over cuts to CDC infectious disease funding - Los Angeles Times |
| California and a coalition of other states sued the Trump administration Tuesday over its plans to cut billions of dollars in federal public health grants designed to make states more resilient to infectious disease, and accused the administration of overreaching its authority by clawing back funding already allocated by Congress.
The pullback in funding is a devastating hit to local health departments, many of whom are dealing with large and novel outbreaks ranging from COVID-19 to bird flu and measles. Agencies in California alone stand to lose nearly $1 billion.
“Congress explicitly authorized funding for the grants at issue to help keep our country healthy and protect us from future pandemics,” California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta said, and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. “cannot unilaterally do away with that critical federal funding.” [Article] |
| by , Los Angeles Times. 2025-04-01 |
| |
| Lake Forest Officials Approve Another Affordable Housing Project |
| Lake Forest officials are moving forward with a new affordable housing project for low-income residents as cities across California begin to file their annual housing reports to the state. [Article] |
| by , Voice of OC. 2025-04-01 |
| |
| Another Orange County City Cracks Down on Sober Living Homes |
| City leaders in Mission Viejo are pushing forward new rules for sober living homes, requiring a new permitting process and distance requirements for these transitional facilities.
Sober living homes — also called group homes — are meant to provide residential space for people with alcohol or drug addiction so they can stay clean and participate in a recovery program. [Article] |
| by , Voice of OC. 2025-04-01 |
| |
| White House abruptly fires career Justice Department prosecutors |
| WASHINGTON (AP) — The recent firings of career Justice Department lawyers by the White House is a sign of President Donald Trump’s tightening grip over the law enforcement agency known for its long tradition of political independence. [Article] |
| by , Los Angeles Daily News. 2025-04-01 |
| |
| County forms homeless agency, taking hundreds of millions from LAHSA - Los Angeles Times |
| The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors approved a plan to move hundreds of millions of dollars out of the region’s homeless services agency on Tuesday, despite warnings from L.A. Mayor Karen Bass about creating a “massive disruption” in the region’s fight against homelessness.
On a 4-0 vote, the supervisors signed off on the strategy to form a new county homelessness department with a budget that would almost immediately exceed $1 billion. By July 2026, the supervisors will move more than $300 million from Measure A, a half-percent sales tax, out of the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, or LAHSA, and into the new county agency.
More than 700 county workers will be transferred to the new agency by Jan. 1. Six months later, the new department will finish taking on hundreds more employees from LAHSA, a joint city-county agency that has been derided for years by City Council members, county supervisors and other officials.
County supervisors said the changes will give them more direct oversight, and ultimately, greater accountability, over the funds generated by the Measure A half-percent sales tax, which went into effect on Tuesday. That measure, which provides funding for an array of housing and homelessness services, served as a replacement for Measure H, a quarter-percent sales tax approved in 2017. [Article] |
| by , Los Angeles Times. 2025-04-01 |
| |
| Facing a budget deficit, LA County slashes funds for program that gets unhoused people jobs | LAist |
| The Los Angeles County homelessness budget approved last week included tens of millions in cuts to established services, including a 78% reduction in funding for the region’s main homeless workforce development program. [Article] |
| by , . 2025-04-01 |
| |
| Trump's tariffs have wider effects on manufacturing in Asia this time - Los Angeles Times |
| TAIPEI, Taiwan — The first time that President Trump imposed tariffs on Chinese goods in 2018, it set off a scramble among manufacturers who had long relied on China to start looking for other options. The aim was to spur U.S. manufacturing, reduce a trade imbalance and punish China for trade practices Trump said were unfair.
Now, in his second term, Trump has hiked taxes on steel and aluminum imports to 25% and levied new 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico imports, as well as an additional 10% tariff on Chinese goods. On March 24, he announced a 25% tariff on auto imports, and with his new plan for “reciprocal” tariffs to be announced Wednesday, other countries probably will be in his crosshairs as well.
After the 2018 levy, companies that produced their goods in China initially expanded into Asian countries such as Vietnam, Indonesia and India. But the current uncertainty surrounding trade policy has now turned planning into something of a guessing game that could reshape the landscape of global manufacturing.
The Times spoke with Robin Song, a China and Asia supply chain specialist with Kuehne+Nagel, a Swiss logistics company that advises clients on expanding their manufacturing operations, to ask about how companies operating in China might respond to the new tariffs. This conversation has been edited for length and clarity. [Article] |
| by , Los Angeles Times. 2025-04-01 |
| |
| Boiling Point: The rooftop solar debate that never ends |
| For the latest episode of the “Boiling Point” podcast, I invited two of the most prominent voices in California’s long-running rooftop solar debate to hash out their differences. The result helped explain why it’s so difficult to make faster progress on climate — even in the Golden State.
Brad Heavner, executive director of the California Solar & Storage Assn., slammed Gov. Gavin Newsom for letting his appointees slash solar incentives, saying the cuts had destroyed thousands of jobs and badly undermined the industry. Severin Borenstein, an energy economist at UC Berkeley, disagreed, saying the cuts hadn’t been so bad for rooftop solar, and were in fact necessary to help stem rising electricity rates for millions of Californians.
The conversation is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and YouTube. The back-and-forth got tense at times, and surprisingly personal. I tried to help Heavner and Borenstein find common ground. It didn’t work.
As much as anything, the discussion illustrated a phenomenon I touched on a few weeks ago, in a column titled “California’s rooftop solar infighting is a colossal waste of time.” There are a lot of people who care deeply about climate change who spend more time arguing bitterly with each other about the best policy responses than they do teaming up to fight the forces of darkness trying to keep us all hooked on fossil fuels.
Which is a shame, especially given how powerful the forces of darkness are these days. [Article] |
| by , Los Angeles Times. 2025-04-01 |
| |
| The 101 Freeway wildlife crossing gets its first 'living layer' — soil | LAist |
| The very first layers of soil were dropped onto the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing on Monday morning, marking another major milestone for what will become the world’s largest bridge of its kind.
Wildlife advocates, Caltrans officials and project partners hiked to the top of the construction site in Agoura Hills to throw handfuls of soil on the soon-to-be wildlife habitat over the busy 101 Freeway. [Article] |
| by , . 2025-04-01 |
| |
| LA County to strip hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars from homelessness agency | LAist |
| L.A. County will stop sending hundreds of millions in taxpayer money each year to the troubled agency charged with serving the unhoused — a stinging admission by elected officials that the region's longstanding approach to homelessness has failed. [Article] |
| by , . 2025-04-01 |
| |
| L.A. federal prosecutor axed amid Trump war on perceived legal enemies - Los Angeles Times |
| When the White House fired a federal prosecutor last week in Los Angeles, it could’ve been dismissed as an isolated case, with the administration targeting a one-time Democratic congressional candidate who had slammed President Trump on the campaign trail.
But in the days since, it’s become clear the dismissal is part of a broader campaign against Trump’s perceived enemies that has roiled the Justice Department and some of the nation’s highest-powered law firms.
Last Friday, the White House terminated Adam Schleifer, an assistant U.S. attorney on the corporate and securities fraud strike force who had been leading an investigation into a pro-Trump business executive. After The Times reported on the matter, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt issued a statement that said the Justice Department had eliminated at least 50 U.S. attorneys and deputies nationwide in the past few weeks. [Article] |
| by , Los Angeles Times. 2025-04-01 |
| |
| Residents Say Van Nuys Airport Is Making Them Sick |
| When Jarret Palmer moved to the Van Nuys neighborhood of Los Angeles four years ago, he thought he had found his dream home. But now, he’s regretting that decision.
The roar of planes from nearby Van Nuys Airport is relentless, he said, adding that he fears the pollution from one of the nation’s busiest general aviation hubs is harming his family. Three years ago, his daughter was born underweight and spent days in the neonatal intensive care unit, he said.
“It kind of makes you … wonder, … was I so determined to find a house for my child?” said Palmer, who has a 2-year-old child. He added, “Did I make the mistake of … not looking into the environment enough? … There’s definitely, like, a little bit of guilt there,” said Palmer, who also has a 2-year-old son. [Article] |
| by , . 2025-04-01 |
| |
| L.A. County supervisors to vote on creating their own homeless services agency - Los Angeles Times |
| To its supporters, the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority was just starting to hit its stride.
Last summer, the little-known but well-funded agency announced that homelessness had effectively leveled off across Los Angeles County after years of increases. Results for the city of Los Angeles were even more encouraging, with the number of “unsheltered” homeless — people living on the street — falling by more than 10%.
LAHSA’s top executives have promised to show more progress against the humanitarian crisis in the coming months, when the latest homelessness numbers are formally released.
But instead of drawing praise, the city-county homeless agency is under fire from multiple directions — and on the verge of being pulled apart.
On Tuesday, the L.A. County Board of Supervisors is scheduled to vote on a plan to move more than $300 million and hundreds of workers out of LAHSA and into a new county homelessness department. Officials in the cash-strapped city of L.A. recently began exploring a similar step.
Meanwhile, a federal judge has been savaging LAHSA. At a hearing last week, U.S. District Judge David O. Carter criticized LAHSA’s numbers as untrustworthy, assailed it over its financial controls and even denounced the location of its offices.
“I will never go into LAHSA’s office building again because it’s ostentatious,” said Carter, who oversees settlement agreements on the allocation of homeless services. [Article] |
| by , Los Angeles Times. 2025-04-01 |
| |
| County report says Malibu can’t justify it’s own school district - Santa Monica Daily Press |
| A newly released report has determined that the proposal to create a stand-alone Malibu Unified School District fails to meet eight of the nine state criteria required for establishing an independent school district in California. [Article] |
| by , . 2025-04-01 |
| |
