|
|
| OC sober living operator convicted in ‘body broker’ kickback scheme – Orange County Register | | A Los Angeles man has been found guilty of paying illegal kickbacks for patient referrals to his addiction treatment facilities in Orange County, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Friday, Sept. 14.
Casey Mahoney, 48, was convicted in Los Angeles federal court on Wednesday of one count of conspiracy, seven counts of illegal remunerations for patient referrals, and three counts of money laundering, according to the DOJ. [Article] | | by , Orange County Register. 2024-09-13 | | | | LA Times Today: Can chess games and toilet paper change prison culture? Inside San Quentin’s big experiment - Los Angeles Times | | San Quentin is California’s oldest state prison and housed some of the most notorious inmates over the years including Charles Manson and Richard Ramirez, the “Night Stalker”. Last year, Governor Gavin Newsom announced sweeping changes to re-envision prison life starting at San Quentin.
L.A. Times staff writer Hannah Wiley went inside the infamous walls to get a firsthand look. [Article] | | by , Los Angeles Times. 2024-09-13 | | | | Long Beach to host an open house on an updated Homelessness Strategic Plan | | Long Beach is set to host an open house for the city’s Homelessness Strategic Plan Update Initative later this month.
The event, from 4 to 6 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 26, will be a partnership between the city’s Office of Homeless Strategy and Partnerships and the Department of Health and Human Services, and will be an opportunity for the community to collaborate on the five-year strategic plan on housing insecurity in Long Beach.
The results of this year’s homeless count, released in May, revealed a 2.1% decline compared to 2023 — Long Beach’s first reduction in the unhoused population in nearly a decade. [Article] | | by , Long Beach Press Telegram. 2024-09-13 | | | | Will we let mpox spread, repeating public health failures? - Los Angeles Times | | Mpox (formerly known as monkeypox) is back in the news. As of early September, the World Health Organization has reported more than 5,000 laboratory-confirmed cases this year. Given the well-documented shortcomings of mpox surveillance, these numbers underestimate the true magnitude of the disease burden.
The highest number of cases are in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and the current outbreak has expanded to several other countries in Africa. The first case outside that continent appeared in Sweden, in a patient who returned from Africa; it’s only a matter of time before a case shows up in the United States, although the extent of a potential U.S. outbreak is uncertain.
To combat the spread of mpox, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization have declared a public health emergency. How the world, and the U.S., responds to this latest flare-up will test whether we are at all better prepared to confront global public health emergencies since the COVID-19 pandemic. [Article] | | by , Los Angeles Times. 2024-09-13 | | | | Here’s how many more extreme heat days local areas have compared to last decade – Daily News | | A look at hot weather trends in Southern California and what prediction models tell us.
Projections to 2100
A new tool created by Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of Colorado Boulder and the Geospatial Innovation Facility at the University of California Berkeley explores the projected changes in annual average maximum temperature, minimum temperature and precipitation.You can find it at cal-adapt.org/tool/annual-averages. [Article] | | by , Los Angeles Daily News. 2024-09-13 | | | | Wildfires have plagued California for years. How often is arson to blame? | LAist | | San Bernardino County authorities announced this week that a 34-year-old man had been arrested and accused of igniting the Line Fire, which has burned more than 37,000 acres in San Bernardino County. [Article] | | by , . 2024-09-13 | | | | Bird flu outbreaks are rising among California dairy herds - Los Angeles Times | | The number of California dairy herds reported to have outbreaks of H5N1 bird flu has grown to eight.
Officials have refused to disclose the locations of the infected herds, but have said they are in close proximity somewhere in California’s Central Valley — an 18,000-square-mile expanse that is roughly the size of Vermont and New Hampshire combined.
They say they are still investigating the source of the virus, but at a news conference Thursday, federal officials said genetic sequencing from the first three outbreaks suggests the strain is similar to that seen in other states. They say it does not appear to have been caused by wild birds or animals.
“This is the same virus that we’ve detected in herds since the beginning of the emergence of H5N1 in dairy cows,” said Eric Deeble, deputy under secretary for marketing and regulatory programs at the United States Department of Agriculture. “Sequencing of the samples from the additional five premises will likely be completed later this week or over the weekend.” [Article] | | by , Los Angeles Times. 2024-09-13 | | | | The proposal to end homelessness in Los Angeles for $20 billion - Los Angeles Times | | To end homelessness, Los Angeles would need to more than double its projected spending over the next decade, a draft city analysis says.
The proposal would fund tens of thousands of new supportive and affordable housing units. There’s no timeline for its formal release.
It would cost $20.4 billion to end homelessness in Los Angeles in a decade, a price tag requiring local, state and federal governments to more than double their spending on the problem, according to a draft budget analysis from city housing officials.
The money would produce 36,000 permanent housing units for homeless residents with chronic health needs and build or subsidize 25,000 additional apartments for very low-income residents. The proposal assumes the city maintains nearly 17,000 beds in shelters and other interim housing locations through 2029 before ramping down.
If implemented, the analysis projects homelessness to decline annually before reaching what’s known as “functional zero” by the end of 2032. That means episodes of homelessness are rare and brief and anyone who needs a shelter bed — the city and private missions and other providers would maintain 6,000 per the analysis — can access one.
There are about 45,000 people who are homeless in the city of Los Angeles, 29,000 of whom are unsheltered, according to the most recent point-in-time count of the homeless population.
There’s no timeline for the formal release of the analysis, said Ann Sewill, the Housing Department’s general manager. The Times obtained a draft version, written in January, through a public records request. The draft provides a comprehensive look at spending needs. It delineates funding from the city, county, state and federal governments, projects the new homes that would be created and estimates what the sheltered and unsheltered homeless population would be, all on an annual basis.
“The purpose was to provide a thorough, detailed, data driven analysis of the housing resources, needs, and housing gap, and determine what mix of investments could close the gap over 10 years,” Sewill wrote in notes to a draft presentation on the proposal. [Article] | | by , Los Angeles Times. 2024-09-13 | | | | Gas stoves may soon come with a tobacco-style health warning label in California | LAist | | The next time you shop for a cooking stove, the gas versions might show a health warning label similar to those on tobacco products. [Article] | | by , . 2024-09-13 | | | | How to turn carbon from a climate threat into an asset - Los Angeles Times | | Over the last two decades, my mother has devoted herself to creating a small homestead farm in upstate New York. I’ve had a front-row seat to the tribulations and glories of raising a large flock of chickens, starting an orchard and cultivating an expansive vegetable garden. Up with the sun, endlessly shoveling poop, endlessly weeding, endlessly trying to outwit pests and predators, endlessly praying for rain but not too much at once. (Clearly, growing food is hard enough without also having to deal with climate change, with the changes in seasons and extreme weather it brings.)
Not exactly a chill retirement for my mom, but certainly a gratifying one. She is enamored with the concept of climate victory gardens, of growing your own food as an act of pro-Earth patriotism. It’s amazing how much food you can grow on a single acre. We have (in my biased opinion) the world’s most beautiful chickens gallivanting among fruit and shade trees, eating bugs and comfrey and our leftovers and whatever vegetables they can pilfer from the raised beds, fertilizing the soil with their feces and laying perfect eggs.
Like many, I descend from farmers and fishermen when you go back a few generations. Back to when food was real, local and fresh by default, when there was no need for the term “organic.” Today, instead of diverse crops and animals, integrated and nourishing each other and the soil with flourishing microbiota, we have a high-pesticide, long-distance, ultra-processed, mostly monoculture scenario. This is unhealthy for us and for ecosystems. Nutrients in some vegetables are up to 30% lower compared to the 1950s. (You have to eat three times as much broccoli to get the same amount of calcium!) The ocean side of things has headed in a similar direction, with overfishing and aquaculture that destroy habitats and have horrific records of human rights abuses.
This is in part a cultural issue. Compared with people in other rich countries, people in the U.S. spend the least on food as a percentage of income and the most on healthcare. We expect food at bargain-basement prices and subsidize all the wrong things, like fossil fuels and corn ethanol, while growers are in a race to the bottom of pricing to the detriment of farmworkers, eaters and biodiversity alike.
Globally, research indicates that the food system is the source of 33% of greenhouse gas emissions. We are told it has to be this way in order to feed the estimated 8 billion people on the planet. But clearly, there is ample room for improvement.
Soil, the backbone of farming, is a magnificent substrate that can absorb gigatons of carbon from the atmosphere — but only if it’s alive, webbed with roots and teeming with microorganisms. To restore our agricultural soils, we need to reembrace use of regenerative organic practices. That includes keeping roots in the ground, always — never bare and prone to erosion — by reducing tilling, and planting cover crops and perennials. We need to grow a greater diversity of crops, rotate those crops, use compost to replenish the nutrients in the soil and eliminate fossil-fuel-intensive chemical pesticides and fertilizers. [Article] | | by , Los Angeles Times. 2024-09-13 | | | | Pillows, blankets can be signs of illegal camping in Santa Monica - Los Angeles Times | | A narrowly divided Santa Monica City Council voted this week to remove a section of its anti-camping ordinance that allowed people experiencing homelessness to use pillows, blankets and bedrolls while sleeping outdoors.
In a 4-3 vote, the council reversed a step taken in 2022 to comply with a federal appeals court ruling that declared it unconstitutional to bar people from “protect[ing] themselves from the elements when there is no shelter space available.” The Supreme Court overturned that ruling three months ago.
The council majority also directed administrative, housing and law enforcement staff to look at how other municipalities are addressing homeless encampments. The amended ordinance, which is expected to be formally adopted later this month, is slated to go into effect in mid-October.
Although Santa Monica does not prohibit sleeping on public property, it does prohibit camping. The amendment means that Santa Monica police officers will have more discretion about what constitutes camping on public property and therefore more leeway when issuing citations or making arrests. [Article] | | by , Los Angeles Times. 2024-09-13 | | | | Hearings on City of Industry battery-recycling plant could sway decision on draft operating permit – Daily News | | A lead-acid battery recycling plant operating in City of Industry cited over the years for releasing toxic emissions in the air and violating laws for handling hazardous waste will be the focus of a public hearing in Hacienda Heights on Saturday, Sept. 14 held by the state Department of Toxic Substances Control.
Ecobat Resources California, Inc., formerly operated as Quemetco, Inc., which recovers lead from spent lead-acid vehicle batteries — a hazardous waste — in late 2022 settled a lawsuit from the Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) for 29 violations of hazardous waste laws and other violations by agreeing to a $2.3 million settlement. [Article] | | by , Los Angeles Daily News. 2024-09-13 | | | | Opinion: One way to help seniors combat housing insecurity and loneliness - Los Angeles Times | | In the midst of L.A.’s housing crisis, one fact should be ringing alarm bells: Seniors are estimated to be the fastest-growing segment of California’s homeless population. The average monthly Social Security benefit of $1,907 doesn’t cover the typical monthly rent of a one-bedroom apartment in Los Angeles. As America’s population ages and the cost of living continues to rise, the challenges faced by seniors on fixed incomes will likely worsen.
This issue hits close to home for me. Professionally, I spend much of my time with seniors who fear losing their homes. Personally, as I watch my own parents and grandparents age, I worry about how we will manage their expenses in the future. In Los Angeles, the median monthly cost of residing at an assisted living facility or nursing home exceeds $5,000 and $10,000, respectively. Seniors contemplating moving into one of these facilities worry about draining savings they intended to use for medical costs or to pass down to family members. But for those prone to falls or other health emergencies, remaining alone in their homes can be dangerous.
One solution is shared housing programs that pair senior homeowners with compatible roommates. In addition to making vacant rooms in single-family homes available to those seeking affordable housing, this type of system offers a variety of other benefits including added income for homeowners and companionship to offset loneliness (which is associated with increased risk of dementia). They also allow seniors to maintain independence as they age.
The team I work with recently matched a renter in her 70s who was dealing with isolation because of limited walkability in her neighborhood. She had mobility challenges and didn’t own a car, so she couldn’t run errands on her own. We connected her with another senior in her 70s, a homeowner struggling to cover living expenses. The match provided the tenant with affordable rent and brought her closer to essential amenities, and it gave the homeowner additional income, a mutually beneficial arrangement that helped each achieve housing stability and some independence.
Policymakers working on the housing crisis should seriously consider increasing investment in the shared housing model. In Los Angeles, one possible source of funding is money collected from Measure ULA, a real estate transfer tax on properties valued at $5 million or more that passed in 2022. This measure has generated more than $200 million since taking effect in April 2023, some of which could be used for shared housing programs. [Article] | | by , Los Angeles Times. 2024-09-13 | | | | PFAS filtered from drinking water in Orange County, Calif. : Shots - Health News : NPR | | Yorba Linda is a small, sunny city southeast of Los Angeles. It’s perhaps best known for being the birthplace of President Richard Nixon.
But in the past few years, Yorba Linda has picked up another distinction: It’s home to the nation’s largest per- and polyfluoroalkyl (PFAS) water treatment plant of its kind, according to the city. [Article] | | by , . 2024-09-13 | | | | City Brings Back Successful E-Bike Rebate Program – Pasadena Now | | The City has brought back its e-bike rebate program following a successful pilot last year. The initiative offers Pasadena Water and Power residential electric customers up to $1,000 to purchase new e-bikes from local shops. [Article] | | by , . 2024-09-13 | | | | In Montana, 911 Calls Reveal Impact of Heat Waves on Rural Seniors - California Healthline | | Missoula is one of Montana’s largest cities but is surrounded by rural mountain communities where cattle ranching is king. Despite the latitude and altitude, in recent years this region has experienced punishing summer heat waves. [Article] | | by , California Healthline. 2024-09-13 | | | | Shasta County Will Receive Almost $40 Million in Opioid Settlement Funds. Supervisor Crye Says an Ad Hoc Committee Should Consider Fund Use. – Shasta Scout | | Last Tuesday, September 10, the Shasta County Board of Supervisors approved a proclamation designating September as “recovery month.” At the County’s invitation, select community members shared personal stories of their own sobriety journeys, underscoring the devastation that substance use disorder has had locally.
“The only reason I share my experience is to bring hope to a community riddled with addiction,” one member of the public told the Board. [Article] | | by , . 2024-09-13 | | | | Column: We already have a world-class transportation network. The buses just need to come more often. | | Long Beach recently announced an extension of the free micro-transit shuttle program that has been operating in Belmont Shore and the Downtown area for almost two years now.
With roughly $6.4 million, the service will expand to connect the two locations, offering free rides throughout the city’s coastal neighborhoods that you can hail on the Circuit app.
But the program that was intended to reduce car trips is not going to scale up to meet the transportation needs of the whole city. [Article] | | by , . 2024-09-13 | | | | How Heritage's philosophy of zero waste cooking led to its Michelin Green Star | LAist | | How many ways can you cook an onion? Sure, you can chop and saute it… but how about roasting its skin until it turns black and then pulverizing it until it turns into a powder to be used as a seasoning? [Article] | | by , . 2024-09-13 | | | | Long Beach expands its micro-transit shuttle program in downtown, Belmont Shore area | | Long Beach’s micro-transit shuttle program, which operates in the downtown and Belmont Shore areas, has been extended and expanded in order to serve more residents.
The City Council approved the three-year contract of about $6.4 million with Circuit Transit Inc. this week. The decision also sparked a conversation about improving Long Beach’s public transportation systems ahead of the city being a host for the 2028 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Currently, the program operates six five-passenger, all-electric shuttles within two separate service areas – downtown to Fourth Street’s Retro Row, and Belmont Shore to Alamitos Bay Landing – where people can ride for free using a ride-share app. [Article] | | by , Long Beach Press Telegram. 2024-09-13 | | |
| Showing matches 1 through 20 | |
|
|
|
|
|
