| Angelenos have a chance to help shape LA’s future housing and density plans – Daily News |
| Everyone agrees that Los Angeles needs more housing. But questions about the size or type of housing that should be allowed in different neighborhoods, including affordable housing, continue to be debated in earnest.
Such questions are expected to surface again tonight, July 25, when the city of L.A.’s planning department hosts a virtual public hearing to discuss draft ordinances that would pave the way for the city to build hundreds of thousands more housing units over the next several years.. [Article] |
| by , Los Angeles Daily News. 2024-07-25 |
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| New Sylmar development is half apartments, half storage facility – Daily News |
| A new mixed-use development is coming to Sylmar with a surprising twist: the 193,000-square-foot complex will include 25 apartment units and a large storage facility side by side under one roof.
El Segundo-based developer and operator of Trojan Storage is planning to build the complex at the intersection of Maclay Street and Bromont Avenue, featuring 163,000 square feet of self-storage in one half, and a 25-unit housing complex with one- and two-bedroom apartments in the other half, plus some art studio space. [Article] |
| by , Los Angeles Daily News. 2024-07-25 |
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| The story of California's struggling news industry told in charts - Los Angeles Times |
| As the world turned digital, people were quick to drop their Sunday papers and pick up their smartphones for news. Advertisers followed suit as digital platforms became more valuable real estate than print newspapers, leaving California news outlets desperate to find ways to stay profitable and relevant.
Supporters — including the California News Publishers Assn. and the Media Guild of the West which represents journalists at the Los Angeles Times — believe Assembly Bill 886, will give the industry a greatly needed boost by requiring online platforms like Google to pay news outlets when linking to their content. News outlets must spend at least 70% of the received funds on their staff.
A second bill being considered by California lawmakers, Senate Bill 1327, would charge Amazon, Meta and Google a “data extraction mitigation fee” for data they collect from users. The funds would go toward supporting local newsrooms.
California has lost one-third of its newspapers since 2005, according to a 2023 Northwestern Medill School of Journalism report. The number of journalists in the state has dropped 68% since then, and despite shifting efforts to digital, news outlets are struggling to attract readers and subscribers.
The Los Angeles Times cut more than 20% of its newsroom in January, representing one of the largest staff cuts in the newspaper’s 142-year history. Since L.A. Times owner Patrick Soon-Shiong sold the San Diego Union-Tribune to an investment firm in July 2023, its staff has been cut by an estimated 30%. LAist is also facing “a significant budget shortfall” over the next two years and has offered voluntary buyouts to journalists ahead of a potential round of layoffs. [Article] |
| by , Los Angeles Times. 2024-07-25 |
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| Newsom issues order on clearing homeless encampments | LAist |
| Gov. Gavin Newsom issued an order Thursday to state officials instructing them to dismantle homeless encampments.
The news was first reported by The New York Times.
In a statement, Newsom called on officials across the state to "do their part." [Article] |
| by , . 2024-07-25 |
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| Uber, Lyft win Prop 22 ruling; workers remain contractors - Los Angeles Times |
| The California Supreme Court on Thursday upheld Proposition 22, the voter initiative that allows Uber, Lyft and other gig economy companies to classify drivers for their ride-hailing and delivery services as independent contractors rather than as employees.
In a unanimous decision released Thursday morning, the state’s top court rejected claims brought by a group of drivers and a major labor union that the law is unconstitutional because it interferes with lawmakers’ authority over matters dealing with workers’ compensation.
The ruling, which was expected after a lopsided hearing in the case in May, marks the end of a years-long legal fight over Proposition 22, which essentially carved out a new classification for workers who are entitled to limited benefits but not the array of rights granted full-fledged employees.
Because the law has remained in effect throughout the legal process, the decision will not change how delivery and ride-hailing services operate in California. Uber, Lyft, DoorDash and other gig companies had argued their business models depended on the law being upheld and threatened to shut down in California if it was struck down.
Gig companies that backed Proposition 22 celebrated the ruling, saying California’s law affords workers control over their schedules.
“Today marks an historic moment and a landmark victory,” Morgan Fong, general counsel for Instacart, said in a statement Thursday. “Instacart shoppers consistently and overwhelmingly tell us they value their flexibility and independence. The Court’s decision preserves access to the flexible earnings opportunities they want and the important benefits provided under Prop. 22.” [Article] |
| by , Los Angeles Times. 2024-07-25 |
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| Aide to D.A. Gascón pleads not guilty to 11 felonies in records case - Los Angeles Times |
| A top advisor to Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. George Gascón pleaded not guilty on Thursday after state prosecutors said she illegally used confidential personnel records three years ago when she flagged several sheriff’s deputies’ names for possible inclusion on a list of problem officers.
The lawyer representing Diana Teran argued in court that the charges against her didn’t constitute a crime because maintaining a list of deputies accused of misconduct was part of her job overseeing the district attorney’s ethics and integrity operations.
“This is just talking about basic common sense,” James Spertus, Teran’s attorney, said in court. “Is it a crime to do your job internally at the D.A.’s office for the county when you have information in your head?”
Prosecutors with the California Department of Justice said it was too early in the legal process to grapple with those details. For now, the state said, the two sides could argue only over the contents of the criminal complaint filed against her, and not the other documents used to justify it. [Article] |
| by , Los Angeles Times. 2024-07-25 |
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| LA is planning for hundreds of thousands of new homes. But not in single-family zones | LAist |
| Everywhere you look, there are signs of the housing crisis gripping Los Angeles. Young families are fleeing the city. Eviction filings are way up. Hardly anyone can afford to buy a home.
But when you take a closer look at most L.A. neighborhoods, housing advocates say you’ll find little in the way of change to address this crisis. Palm tree-lined streets with rows of detached houses appear pretty similar to how they looked decades ago. [Article] |
| by , . 2024-07-25 |
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| Rose Bowl Could Receive in Excess of $1 Million in Senate Bill 96 Funds – Pasadena Now |
| The Rose Bowl could receive between $1 to $2 million in sales tax revenue under a new state law, Senate Bill 96. [Article] |
| by , . 2024-07-25 |
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| They built an Airbnb empire in L.A. It was illegal, according to suit - Los Angeles Times |
| By all accounts, Vladyslav Yurov was living the rags-to-riches American dream.
When he was 20 years old, the Ukrainian national came to the U.S. on a student exchange program and decided to stay, he said in a since-deleted Instagram video. He worked multiple low-wage jobs in Ohio, learned English and tried to make ends meet. He moved to Los Angeles and spent all his savings setting up his first rental unit for Airbnb, only to lose his lease two months later because, he said in the video, the arrangement wasn’t legal.
He didn’t give up. By age 29, Yurov was a millionaire, operating 28 “fully automated” short-term rentals on Airbnb and other hosting platforms, making more than $200,000 every month.
He even found a way to monetize his business model, running an online Airbnb “Hosting Academy” where clients paid to be taught his techniques. In an Instagram post, he wrote about how he helped students “make thousands with properties they don’t even own.”
Four weeks later, all of that came crashing down.
On June 20, Los Angeles City Atty. Hydee Feldstein Soto’s office filed a lawsuit against Yurov, his companies Skysun and Hugs & Smile, and two business partners, alleging that they made more than $4 million by leasing properties from Los Angeles landlords on a long-term basis, then renting out the units as illegal short-term lodgings. The lawsuit alleges that they operated more than 30 illegal rental properties across L.A. since 2020, including at least 10 that are subject to the city’s rent stabilization ordinance.
What made the rentals illegal, according to the city attorney? Among other things, the complaint alleges that Yurov and partners violated the city’s short-term rental ordinance — a measure designed to stop landlords from converting long-term housing into more lucrative short-term units — by renting out homes that they did not live in and that were subject in some cases to rent control.
The alleged scheme also hurt customers who booked listings from his firm, according to Airbnb posts reviewed by The Times. Clients said they paid for rentals in specific neighborhoods only to be pushed at the last minute into other areas they hadn’t chosen to stay in.
The lawsuit seeks up to $15 million in damages from Yurov and the other defendants. [Article] |
| by , Los Angeles Times. 2024-07-25 |
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| Los Angeles County charter amendment should be tabled and reworked – Daily News |
| The long-discussed idea of expanding the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors beyond five members has also long seemed — if vaguely — a potentially good plan.
It’s inarguable that representatives serving 2 million residents apiece in the nation’s largest county are by necessity rather distant from their citizenry. Members of Congress serve 700,000, after all.
But the devil is always in the details, and the recent floating of a ballot measure for November that would increase the board from five to nine members and create an elected, not appointed, county executive officer is a cautionary tale. We are very much struck by the strong opposition to it from not only the board’s lone Republican, Kathryn Barger, but also from Supervisor Holly Mitchell, one of the board’s most progressive members. [Article] |
| by , Los Angeles Daily News. 2024-07-25 |
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| Pasadena affirms affordable housing plan for repurposed Kaiser Permanente site |
| The city of Pasadena on Tuesday issued an official call for interested developers to work on what they envision <a to be a regional housing and mental health treatment hub</a> in the city.</p><p>The call – known at City Hall as a Notice of Availability – gives prospective developers a 60-day window to respond with their interest.</p><p>Officials want to repurpose the former Kaiser Permanente facility at the southeast corner of Lake Avenue and Villa Street into affordable housing and a center for mental health services.</p><p>The site sat vacant for 10 years at the southeast corner of Lake Avenue and Villa Street until the city took formal ownership of the 2.28-acre property last November for $12 million.</p><p>In a special joint meeting with Los Angeles County Supervisor Kathryn Barger this week, the City Council re-pledged a commitment to affordable housing at the site.</p> [Article] |
| by , Pasadena Star News. 2024-07-25 |
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| Opposition swells amid debate over deep-sea mining - Los Angeles Times |
| As the global energy transition stokes demand for critical minerals, the International Seabed Authority has been meeting in Jamaica to debate the future of deep-sea mining, and whether the industry can begin scraping the ocean’s floor for battery metals.
The discussions come amid heavy criticism from from environmental groups, who say the risk of damaging sea life is too great.
The proceedings are also occurring without a vote from U.S. officials, since the United States hasn’t signed the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea — the international law that created the authority.
But that hasn’t stopped California and several other states from establishing their own bans and restrictions. It also hasn’t stopped a group of Democratic lawmakers from calling on President Biden to place a moratorium on seabed mining. [Article] |
| by , Los Angeles Times. 2024-07-25 |
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| El Monte gets $2 million, delivered by supervisor, to house homeless |
| Los Angeles County Supervisor Hilda Solis presented the El Monte City Council with a $2 million check this week to support operations for two Homekey properties in the city totaling 133 beds of interim housing.
One of the Homekey properties, the 40-unit Hilda Solis Iris House, will prioritize houseless transition-age youth, meaning youth aging out of the foster-care system.
El Monte housing manager Vanessa Sedano explained why the city wants to prioritize these young people. [Article] |
| by , San Gabriel Valley Tribune. 2024-07-25 |
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| LA County leaders conflicted by Newsom’s call to remove homeless encampments – Daily News |
| On Thursday morning, Gov. Gavin Newsom urged local authorities to use a recent Supreme Court decision to aggressively clear encampments, but several Los Angeles County leaders said they don’t plan on changing their approach to homelessness in response to the ruling.
Earlier this month, the Supreme Court’s decision in Grants Pass v. Johnson gave municipalities the right to enforce anti-camping laws and ticket people for sleeping in public. [Article] |
| by , Los Angeles Daily News. 2024-07-25 |
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| What California's 'hydrogen hub' means for our energy future - Los Angeles Times |
| To its most ardent supporters, the emergence of a “hydrogen economy” is nothing but wonderful: good for the climate, good for the environment, good for human health, good for the economy, good for jobs, good for the historically overlooked and disadvantaged members of society.
Is it?
California is about to find out.
The federal government plans to spend $7 billion to $8 billion to build a hydrogen economy in the U.S. The money will be allocated to seven regional “hydrogen hubs” across the U.S. mainland. Six cover multiple states. California gets a hub of its own — and $1.2 billion. Private investment would add an additional $11 billion or so. The money will soon start flowing: A deal was signed with the U.S. Department of Energy in mid-July.
The deal creates a new “public-private partnership” to run the hub, called ARCHES — the Alliance for Renewable Clean Hydrogen Energy Systems. The operation will disburse money for projects around the state. Hydrogen producers, oil companies, gas companies, green energy companies, environmental policy groups, long-haul trucking companies and fuel cell makers are among the applicants. Southern California Gas Co. already has announced plans to build a dedicated clean hydrogen pipeline in the L.A. region called Angeles Link.
The program will kick off with 37 projects — yet to be announced — spread across the state with a heavy concentration in the Central Valley. [Article] |
| by , Los Angeles Times. 2024-07-25 |
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| FTC probe: Do companies use consumer surveillance to hike prices? - Los Angeles Times |
| It’s no secret that Californians pay more than the rest of the country for many goods and services — gas, housing, food, you name it. That’s part of the high cost of living in this state.
What’s less well known, though, is that consumers may be paying higher prices than their neighbors pay.
Tech firms and consultants have been offering companies the ability to set “personalized” prices online based on a customer’s ability or willingness to pay, using algorithms and artificial intelligence to sift through mountains of data to help maximize sales and profits. Advocates say the technology simply takes the principle of efficient pricing to its logical extreme; critics say it’s unfair, discriminatory and a perversion of free-market capitalism.
On Tuesday, the Federal Trade Commission launched an investigation that aims to determine how widespread this kind of “surveillance pricing” has become and what its effects have been. The five commissioners voted unanimously to order eight financial, tech and consulting companies to reveal what pricing services they offer, what data they collect to power these services, who is using their services and what effect that’s having on consumer prices.
FTC Chief Technology Officer Stephanie Nguyen said in an interview that the agency knows companies “are collecting massive amounts of data about consumers,” including very detailed, sensitive data about their demographics, where they go, what they look for and what they buy. The agency also knows that companies are able to use these data to specifically target information to individuals or groups. [Article] |
| by , Los Angeles Times. 2024-07-25 |
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| Star-studded commission launched to combat rising hate in LA County – Daily News |
| Public figures from entertainment to sports personalities are joining L.A. County’s efforts to fight the rise of hate crimes.
The “Unity Coalition,” launched on Thursday under L.A. vs. Hate, is a new collaborative effort comprised of people from the arts, sports and entertainment industries who are dedicated to combating hate and promoting unity, officials said in a news release. [Article] |
| by , Los Angeles Daily News. 2024-07-25 |
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| Class-action lawsuit against FAIR plan calls for better coverage - Los Angeles Times |
| A class-action lawsuit against the California FAIR Plan Assn. accuses the state’s insurance program of last resort of unlawfully selling policies with subpar coverage for fire and smoke damage.
The lawsuit was filed Wednesday in Alameda County Superior Court on behalf of four California residents who seek to represent more than 365,000 FAIR Plan policyholders.
Funded by a pool of private insurers who write policies in the state, the FAIR Plan serves as backup insurance for people unable to obtain coverage from private sources, especially those in high-risk areas where companies are reluctant to provide coverage.
Over the last few years, the state insurer has seen a wave of new policyholders amid extreme and destructive wildfires that have caused insurance companies to leave the state or to stop renewing policies.
As of March, the FAIR Plan was exposed to $340 billion in liabilities because of the high number of policies it had issued. [Article] |
| by , Los Angeles Times. 2024-07-25 |
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| Boiling Point: The Salton Sea Lithium Rush - Los Angeles Times |
| There’s a lithium bonanza happening at the Salton Sea.
CBS News likened the scene of companies lining up to mine lithium from under the Southern California lake to the 1849 Gold Rush.
To Gov. Gavin Newsom, the area is “the Saudi Arabia of lithium.”
The boom started when one of the world’s largest supplies of lithium was discovered one mile below the dying lake. The metal is required to produce electric car batteries and is essential to reducing carbon emissions.
Yet lost in the excitement about the money and new jobs that the mining projects could bring are the concerns of the people who live there.
The impoverished area — which is more than 80% Latino — already has a childhood asthma rate that is more than twice the national average.
The asthma cases have been tied to the toxic dust created as the Salton Sea recedes from lack of water. And some local residents fear that the number of respiratory cases could soar even higher as the lithium mining projects drink up more of the area’s much fought over allocation from the Colorado River.
Residents also worry about the hazardous waste that the mining projects could create. And the area’s Indigenous tribes are concerned that sites they consider sacred, including Obsidian Butte, a volcanic outcropping on the Salton Sea’s shore, could be disturbed.
In March, a local community group called Comite Civico del Valle, along with Earthworks, a national nonprofit, filed a legal petition to stop the first of the planned lithium mining projects, which is known as Hell’s Kitchen.
The groups say the potential hazards of the project by Controlled Thermal Resources, a privately held company, were not properly studied before the Imperial County Board of Superiors unanimously approved it in January. [Article] |
| by , Los Angeles Times. 2024-07-25 |
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| Gov. Newsom Calls on Local Leaders to Clean Up Encampments - Will They? |
| Local elected officials across Orange County may soon start clearing out homeless encampments under a new executive order signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom Thursday. [Article] |
| by , Voice of OC. 2024-07-25 |
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