Public safety officials in Butte County warning those living near Park Fire burn scar of possible flooding and debris flow dangers | News | actionnewsnow.com |
With the winter months approaching, leaders from multiple Butte County agencies held a press conference Friday to warn of the dangers of possible debris flows and flooding.
Public safety leaders want the public to be aware during the rainy season of the increased risks for flooding and debris flows in areas impacted by the Park Fire, where the ground inside of the burn scar was left bare of any vegetation. [Article] |
by , . 2024-11-08 |
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San Diego Unified students create public service announcements about social media harms | KPBS Public Media |
The San Diego Unified School Board announced the winners of its social media awareness contest at Mira Mesa High School on Friday.
The contest is part of the school district’s response to U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy's call for a warning label on social media platforms.
This summer Murthy wrote in an op-ed, the warning should say, "Social media is associated with significant mental health harms for adolescents."
Mira Mesa High School 11th-grader Kylie Brite created one of the seven winning public service announcements. [Article] |
by , KPBS - San Diego. 2024-11-08 |
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California state auditor sues Huntington Beach over not complying with Pacific Airshow settlement audit - Los Angeles Times |
California state auditor Grant Parks has sued the city of Huntington Beach for refusing to comply with an audit into the controversial Pacific Airshow settlement.
Parks filed suit on Orange County Superior Court on Oct. 22. The city and city treasurer Alisa Backstrom are named as defendants.
Parks said in the suit that Huntington Beach has a “mandatory duty” to comply with his requests for access to city staff and records, as well as a subpoena issued to the city requiring the attendance and testimony of Backstrom. He is seeking the production of records, permits and contracts between the city and Pacific Airshow LLC.
In May, the California Joint Legislative Audit Committee voted 10-2 to seek review of the city’s multimillion-dollar settlement of a lawsuit that had been filed by Pacific Airshow LLC over the cancellation of one day of the 2021 airshow due to an oil spill off the coast of Huntington Beach.
State Sen. Dave Min (D-Irvine), who is currently locked in a too-close-to-call battle with Scott Baugh for a seat in California’s 47th Congressional District, initiated the audit request in January. [Article] |
by , Los Angeles Times. 2024-11-08 |
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Election results are bad news for the California High-Speed Rail project – Daily News |
The changing of the guard in Washington, D.C. on January 20 will likely complicate the California High-Speed Rail Authority’s plans to fund construction of its Early Operating Segment in the Central Valley. A new administration, hostile to California generally and rail funding in particular, will be less willing than its predecessor to offer additional grant funding. Rather than wait out the new administration and hope for better results in 2028, now would be a good time for the Authority, the legislature, and the governor to scale back the project. [Article] |
by , Los Angeles Daily News. 2024-11-08 |
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For transgender Americans, Trump's win is terrifying - Los Angeles Times |
Avery Poznanski was excited for a new chapter.
The nonbinary transgender senior at UCLA had decided last month, after years of personal discovery and long discussions with their family and doctors, to start testosterone therapy. The first few weeks felt exciting, fulfilling.
Then Donald Trump, after running a virulently anti-transgender campaign, won the presidential election Tuesday — which felt “really frightening” and “disheartening,” Poznanski said.
“I’m sort of still stunned about how big of an issue trans expression and rights became on Trump’s side, and how hard they campaigned on it,” the 21-year-old Murrietta native said Wednesday. “I’m just feeling scared, honestly.”
Across the U.S., transgender and other queer people are grappling with the fact that Americans voted in large numbers for a candidate who openly ridiculed them on the campaign trail, and a political party that spent millions on anti-LGBTQ+ attack ads.
For many, Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris’ loss to Trump is not just upsetting but deeply threatening. They are looking for reasons to be optimistic, such as Sarah McBride’s election in Delaware, which will make her the first out transgender member of Congress. But most just feel gutted — in part because they believe Trump will carry through on his promises to strip away their rights. [Article] |
by , Los Angeles Times. 2024-11-08 |
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Opinion: I thought I had my L.A. cycling commute down. I'd missed the obvious |
The other day I was biking home from Westwood to Venice, as I had for nearly a decade. At Wilshire and Gayley, the trip’s loudest, ugliest intersection, I noticed a guy straddling a 10-speed wearing scrubs. As cars sped by and an 18-wheeler blasted its horn, I nudged ahead and asked the man if he was in med school. Nope, he said in a precise German accent, he was a resident.
When I caught up to him again at Sepulveda, I told him his back wheel needed new spokes. He said he knew, he’d bought the bike for only $100, and wasn’t riding the absolute best?
In the many years I’d done this ride, this was the first time I’d bonded so immediately with a stranger. At Barrington, before he turned right while I continued straight, Conrad (we had exchanged names by then) said, “You must love riding the beach bike path” and waved goodbye.
I felt as if I’d been hit in the stomach. [Article] |
by , Los Angeles Times. 2024-11-08 |
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DOJ files statement of interest in Los Angeles County foster care lawsuit – Daily News |
Federal prosecutors on Friday, Nov. 8, filed a statement of interest in a lawsuit alleging Los Angeles County and state agencies tasked with providing welfare and mental health services to older youth in foster care have created a “pipeline to homelessness” in violation of the plaintiffs’ constitutional rights.
Youth advocacy organizations contend that state and local agencies have shown a “persistent failure to ensure that ‘transition age foster youth’ (between the ages of 16 and 21) have meaningful access to the crucial housing, mental health, and other services to which they are legally entitled.”
The proposed class-action suit was filed last year in Los Angeles federal court by attorneys on behalf of six young people in foster care. [Article] |
by , Los Angeles Daily News. 2024-11-08 |
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LA could cap rent hikes next year to 2% under new city rent control recommendations | LAist |
Los Angeles housing officials have released a long-awaited report recommending changes to the city’s rent control policies. [Article] |
by , . 2024-11-08 |
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Proposition 5 ballot measure to make it easier to fund affordable housing fails - Los Angeles Times |
A ballot measure that would have made it easier to finance affordable housing and other public projects in California has failed.
Proposition 5 was trailing 56% to 44% as of Friday afternoon, a 1.3-million vote margin, according to tallies from the Secretary of State’s office.
The measure would have decreased the approval threshold for local bonds from two-thirds to 55%. Backers said it was necessary to help build low-income housing, expand roads and transit, renovate parks and construct other public infrastructure.
Results from prior elections showed dozens of local bond measures that exceeded 55% support but failed to reach the required two-thirds majority, meaning that Proposition 5 could have led to a flood of new projects.
But opponents argued that the tax increases that would have resulted from easier approvals were too expensive.
“Proponents of Proposition 5 asserted repeatedly that their measure was not a tax increase, but simply ‘asking the question’ to see if voters wanted to ease the vote requirement for raising taxes,” said the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Assn., a main opponent of Proposition 5, in a statement. “That question has now been answered.”
Supporters of the measure, a group of housing, local government, union and other advocates, acknowledged its defeat Friday.
“The fight to address California’s housing crisis and infrastructure needs is far from over,” the Yes on 5 campaign said in a statement. “California needs to take serious, transformative action to build more housing that is affordable and improve critical infrastructure in our communities.” [Article] |
by , Los Angeles Times. 2024-11-08 |
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Orange and Riverside county registrars evacuated after bomb threats - Los Angeles Times |
Registrars of voters’ offices in Orange and Riverside counties were evacuated Friday evening after receiving bomb threats, but no explosives were located at either site, authorities said. [Article] |
by , Los Angeles Times. 2024-11-08 |
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McDonnell confirmed as new LAPD chief, says he won't cooperate with ICE | LAist |
The Los Angeles City Council approved the selection of Jim McDonnell as the city's next police chief, despite protests from immigrant rights activists concerned about whether the department would cooperate with federal immigration authorities. [Article] |
by , . 2024-11-08 |
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Trump's win brings uncertainty to fate of student loan forgiveness - Los Angeles Times |
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Trump’s win brings uncertainty to borrowers hoping for student loan forgiveness
People demonstrate outside the Supreme Court in Washington in 2023. (Jacquelyn Martin / Associated Press)
By Cheyanne Mumphrey
Nov. 8, 2024 5:31 PM PT
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Savannah Britt owes about $27,000 on loans she took out to attend college at Rutgers University, a debt she was hoping to see reduced by President Biden’s student loan forgiveness efforts.
Her payments are currently on hold while courts untangle challenges to the loan forgiveness program. But with the weeks ticking down on Biden’s time in office, she could soon face a monthly payment of up to $250.
“With this new administration, the dream is gone. It’s shot,” said Britt, 30, who runs her own communications agency. “I was hopeful before Tuesday. I was waiting out the process. Even my mom has a loan that she took out to support me. She owes about $18,000, and she was in the process of it being forgiven, but it’s at a standstill.”
President-elect Donald Trump and his fellow Republicans have criticized Biden’s loan forgiveness efforts, and lawsuits by GOP-led states have held up plans for widespread debt cancellation. Trump has not said what he would do on loan forgiveness, leaving millions of borrowers facing uncertainty over their personal finances.
The economy was an important issue in the election, helping to propel Trump to victory. But for borrowers, concerns about their finances extend beyond inflation to include their student debt, said Persis Yu, managing counsel for the Student Borrower Protection Center. [Article] |
by , Los Angeles Times. 2024-11-08 |
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Jim McDonnell sworn in as LAPD chief amid immigration concerns - Los Angeles Times |
The Los Angeles City Council on Friday confirmed Jim McDonnell as the city’s 59th police chief in a split 11-2 vote, and he was later officially sworn in in front of a crowded room of city leaders.
While several council members praised Mayor Karen Bass’ selection of a respected and experienced lawman to lead the department, the lack of unanimous approval underscored lingering concerns around McDonnell’s record on immigration as president-elect Donald Trump returns to office.
McDonnell, who has made few public appearances since his appointment, delivered his strongest comments yet about ensuring that the department would not participate in federal immigration enforcement.
“LAPD will not assist with mass deportations. Los Angeles is a city of immigrants and I know that immigrants are being disparaged right now,” McDonnell told the council, striking a more decisive tone than he did in answering some of the same questions at a previous committee hearing. “My job is to protect everyone in Los Angeles and to build trust and that’s what I plan to do.”
After the new chief’s private swearing in, Bass said she “was so appreciative of the way he handled everything.” [Article] |
by , Los Angeles Times. 2024-11-08 |
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Zuckerberg avoids personal liability in Meta addiction lawsuits – Daily News |
A federal judge again rejected a bid to hold Mark Zuckerberg individually liable in two dozen lawsuits accusing Meta Platforms Inc. and other social media companies of addicting children to their products.
US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, who is overseeing the cases, sided with the Meta chief executive officer on Thursday, finding that a revised complaint still wasn’t legally sufficient to proceed. The decision dismisses Zuckerberg as an individual defendant without affecting claims against Meta as a company.
Lawsuits filed on behalf of young people have alleged that Zuckerberg was repeatedly warned by Meta employees that Instagram and Facebook weren’t safe for children but ignored the findings and chose not to share them publicly.
Holding CEOs of large companies personally responsible for wrongdoing is generally difficult because of a corporate law tradition of shielding executives from liability. [Article] |
by , Los Angeles Daily News. 2024-11-08 |
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How the next Trump administration could affect health in California - Los Angeles Times |
Donald Trump’s return to the White House stands to significantly shape the health of Californians — the foods they eat, the medicines they take, the costs they face and more.
Trump has said he’ll grant a prominent health role to supporter Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has made discredited claims about vaccines and bucked the advice of pediatricians and dentists by advocating an end to water fluoridation. Policy analysts expect cuts to Medicaid.
And though Trump has publicly distanced himself from the conservative Project 2025 playbook, many of its proposals overlap with Trump’s agenda and the Republican Party platform. As such, analysts say its detailed proposals on opioid addiction, contraception, mental health treatment and more bear watching.
“I think everything is on the table,” said Gerald Kominski, a senior fellow at the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research.
Already, California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta has vowed to take the incoming president to court if his administration tries to stymie the state’s progressive agenda. [Article] |
by , Los Angeles Times. 2024-11-08 |
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How a Trump term could impact California’s LGBTQ+ students, financial aid - Los Angeles Times |
California’s schools, colleges and universities are girding for potentially sweeping changes under a new Trump administration, based on his starkly different vision for education gleaned from campaign pledges, the GOP platform and his past actions.
Trump and conservative allies could reduce federal financial aid, privatize student loans and end student loan forgiveness.
They could revise, again, enforcement of the Title IX civil rights law to eliminate protections for LGBTQ+ students and strengthen rights for those accused of sexual misconduct. Teacher job protections in K-12 schools could come under scrutiny, and Head Start preschools could be threatened.
In what would be a blow to the research prowess of the University of California, a Trump White House could reduce federal funding in areas of ideological disdain — climate change, for instance — or tie funding to political goals such as reining in teaching about race. International and undocumented students could be targets.
“Under Trump, higher education in the US will face a difficult future, featuring an aggressive and intrusive federal government, erosion in funding with no alternatives, a cavalcade of political litmus tests and a decline in the US’s science and technology capability,” wrote John Aubrey Douglass, a senior research fellow and research professor of public policy and higher education at the UC Berkeley Center for Studies in Higher Education. [Article] |
by , Los Angeles Times. 2024-11-08 |
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LA Metro concerned about Trump Administration nixing funds for key rail project – Daily News |
LA Metro is concerned that the Trump Administration will cut off crucial federal funding for planned rail lines, including a key light rail line for southeast Los Angeles County.
The Los Angeles County transit agency’s top government relations director recently spoke about the possible impact to funding the Southeast Gateway Line, a 19.3-mile line that would take riders from Artesia to the Slauson/A Line Station, and in the second phase, travel north to downtown Los Angeles. [Article] |
by , Los Angeles Daily News. 2024-11-08 |
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Danison: Every Orange County High School Needs a Mike Darnold to Fight Drug Abuse |
If you meet with Mike Darnold to talk about what he does – expect distractions.
Interrupting phone calls; a call he has to make to order five pizzas; students and staff poking their heads in his Dana Hill High School office with questions for the drug intervention specialist. [Article] |
by , Voice of OC. 2024-11-08 |
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How Trump's second presidency could bring more drama to Hollywood - Los Angeles Times |
Already facing retrenchment and existential concerns about its business model, Hollywood is bracing for more potential volatility from the incoming Trump administration.
While President-elect Donald Trump has not laid out specific plans for the entertainment industry, analysts said his proposed broader policies on global tariffs, as well as the threat of retaliation against companies, could put a chill on Los Angeles’ signature business.
“If I were wealthy today, I would not be buying stock in the entertainment world,” said Stephen Galloway, dean of Chapman University’s Dodge College of Film and Media Arts. “There’s going to be a lot of turbulence.”
California Gov. Gavin Newsom recently proposed upping the annual cap on state film and TV tax credits to $750 million, from its current total of $330 million. He and others have called for the federal government to step in and keep the U.S. competitive in global production.
But it’s unlikely that Trump would throw the film and TV business a lifeline, especially in any way that could help Newsom and deep-blue California. [Article] |
by , Los Angeles Times. 2024-11-08 |
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Costa Mesa eyes lot near Shalimar Park for more west-side open space - Los Angeles Times |
The Costa Mesa Planning Commission Tuesday will give initial consideration to a plan by the city to acquire a residential property near Shalimar Park in order to expand a rare recreational space in the highly developed west-side area.
Panelists will review whether the purchase of the property, at 778 Shalimar Drive, conforms to the city’s general plan in a meeting rescheduled from its typical second-Monday format, which would have fallen on Veterans Day.
Such a transaction would require the city to demolish a 3,390-square-foot fourplex on the .16-acre parcel, then draw up plans for expansion of Shalimar Park. Those actions would require separate Planning Commission approval. [Article] |
by , Los Angeles Times. 2024-11-08 |
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