Tuesday, May 2, 2023

LA County Begins CalFresh Outreach Effort to Combat Food Insecurity

CITY NEWS SERVICE

Faced with growing levels of food insecurity, Los Angeles County officials Monday began CalFresh Awareness Month in hopes of ensuring eligible residents are taking advantage of the state program that provides monthly food assistance.

“No one should be going hungry in L.A. County, but there are a lot of people who are struggling and don’t know they qualify for help,” Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors Chair Janice Hahn said in a statement Monday. “This month we are raising awareness of CalFresh and working with our partners to enroll as many families as possible so they can get this assistance.”

The campaign is countywide and involves several community-based organizations. CalFresh operates several offices in the Pasadena area.

According to the county, a recent USC Dornsife College study found that more than 800,000 Los Angeles County households experienced food insecurity between July 2021 and July 2022, and the numbers are exceeding pre- pandemic levels.

The county Department of Public Social Services and Department of Public Health will be working with community groups throughout the month to promote outreach and application-assistance efforts in communities that were disproportionately affected in terms of health and economic impacts during the pandemic.

Thursday, April 27, 2023

New Pass Provides Free Public Transit for LA County Jurors

CITY NEWS SERVICE

Jurors in Los Angeles will be offered a special pass providing free public transit to and from any of the 23 county courthouses where jury trials are held in lieu of the standard mileage reimbursement, officials announced Wednesday.

Jurors and potential jurors may use the EPass to travel free within the LA Metro system and other local transit agencies. The program aims to provide timely and equal access by reducing the stress of travel, gas and parking costs for round-trip transportation to courthouses using the county’s public transit systems, Presiding Judge Samantha Jessner said.

“This universal transit pass will make it easier for residents to use public transportation for free to travel to the courthouse for jury service,” Jessner said in a statement.

“On behalf of the court, I would like to thank LA Metro and our other transit partners for their support. As the largest trial court in the nation, we take pride in developing innovative solutions to ensure that we promote equitable access to justice and diversity in our jury pools.”

Monday, April 24, 2023

Local Music Promoter Bob Stane Hospitalized, Coffee Gallery Backstage Permanently Closed

Local music promoter and operator of music venue Coffee Gallery Backstage Bob Stane has been hospitalized and the music venue permanently closed, a spokesperson told Pasadena Now Monday.

The 86-year-old Stane is a music legend and concert promoter who has been an inspiring and iconic figure in the Southern California entertainment scene for over fifty years. 

Stane supported and nurtured a generation of musicians and performers as co-owner of The Ice House in Pasadena from 1961 to 1978, helping to launch the careers of many famous artists, including Jackson Browne, James Taylor, Linda Ronstadt, and The Eagles.

After a failed attempt at retirement, Stane returned to show business in 1998 as owner and impresario of The Coffee Gallery Backstage in Altadena, establishing it as one of the area’s premier performance venues. Closed last weekend, The Coffee Gallery Backstage was a 49-seat showroom connected to a coffee house called “The Coffee Gallery”. The Backstage was a listening room with a fine sound system,

Thursday, April 20, 2023

Judge Rejects LA County’s Settlement Proposal in Homelessness Lawsuit

CITY NEWS SERVICE

For the second time in five months, a federal judge Thursday refused to approve a proposed settlement agreement between Los Angeles County and a coalition of businesses and residents claiming government response to the area’s homelessness crisis has been historically lax.

The lawsuit filed three years ago by the L.A. Alliance for Human Rights against both the county and city of Los Angeles now appears to be headed for trial with the county as the lone defendant.

In a court order, U.S. District Judge David Carter denied the parties’ proposed stipulation, lifted the stay and reinstated proceedings with a scheduling conference set for May 9.

The ruling came a day after county officials announced they had reached a new deal to resolve the case.

The judge rejected the county’s promise to commit an additional $850.5 million to fund beds, services, outreach efforts and interim housing. That money would be on top of $293 million the county had previously committed in hopes of providing 6,700 new beds.

Wednesday, April 19, 2023

LA County Announces Revamped Settlement Proposal in Homelessness Lawsuit

CITY NEWS SERVICE

After an initial settlement proposal “fell short” in the eyes of a federal judge, Los Angeles County officials announced Wednesday they have reached a new proposed deal to resolve a longstanding lawsuit filed by a coalition of businesses and residents claiming government response to the area’s homelessness crisis has been historically lax.

According to the county, the new proposed settlement would commit an additional $850.5 million to fund beds, services, outreach efforts and interim housing. That money is on top of $293 million the county had previously committed in hopes of providing 6,700 new beds in response to the lawsuit by the L.A. Alliance for Human Rights.

The new settlement proposal would include 1,000 new mental health and substance-abuse beds for the homeless — up from 300 in the original proposed resolution — along with 450 housing subsidies for those at risk of falling into homelessness.

County officials also said the new proposal would increase the number of county outreach teams,

Wednesday, April 19, 2023

County Supervisors Get First Look at Proposed $43 Billion County Budget

CITY NEWS SERVICE

A proposed $43 billion Los Angeles County budget proposal for 2023-24 got early support Tuesday from the Board of Supervisors, although the initial review only begins a months-long public hearing process leading up to final adoption of a spending plan in October.

County CEO Fesia Davenport unveiled her budget proposal Monday, and presented it Tuesday to the Board of Supervisors, which took a procedural vote giving preliminary approval to the document. Public hearings on the budget will begin May 10.

Supervisor Kathryn Barger said the budget proposal “got several things right.”

“I am pleased it includes ongoing funding for sheriff’s academies to help keep our communities safe,” she said in a statement. “Our county must have a functioning pipeline that recruits and trains quality candidates for the sheriff’s department. This has a ripple effect, allowing us to maintain necessary staffing levels for our local sheriff’s stations and jails.

“I am also encouraged that the Department of Mental Health is allocated more than $60 million in Mental Health Services Act funding and more than 165 positions to expand services —

Thursday, April 6, 2023

Litfest in The Dena Scheduled to Start on May 2

STAFF REPORT

‘Books That Make a Difference’ is the theme of this year’s LitFest in the Dena.

This year’s event begins on May 2 at the Altadena Public Library with a tribute to Eric Priestley, alum of the original Watts Writers Workshop.

Erin Aubry Kaplan, Pam Ward, and Jervey Tervalon, friends who he also mentored, lead the evening’s dramatic readings with actor Lorne Green and a discussion on the enduring legacy of Black culture and the arts. This is followed by “Surviving the Literary Life,” a discussion with Pat Alderete, Janet Fitch, Lorne Green, Gary Phillips, Lisa Teasley, and Jervey Tervalon.

The weekend of May 6 and 7, LitFest in the Dena heads to Mountain View Mausoleum with five locations for panel discussions, workshops, readings, and other literary events.

Friday, May 5, Thomas Backer, PhD, opens LitFest in the Dena with his remarks on human creativity.

This is followed by a VIP Authors and Participants reception and a performance of LA’s oldest crime reading series Noir at the Bar.

Thursday, March 30, 2023

LA County, City Will Receive $157 Million HUD Grant to Address Homelessness

CITY NEWS SERVICE

The County and City of Los Angeles are set to receive $157 million from a $2.8 billion federal grant for helping homeless people move into permanent housing, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced Wednesday.

The Continuum of Care Competition Awards provides funding for thousands of local homeless service and housing programs across the nation.

The awards were previewed by HUD Secretary Marcia Fudge at the National League of Cities Conference.

“Helping people move into stable housing from temporary shelters and encampments on the streets is essential to ending homelessness,” Fudge said in a statement. “Working with our local partners, these Continuum of Care program grants deliver communities the resources they need.”

The program is the largest source of federal grant funding for homeless services and housing programs, according to HUD.

Wednesday’s announcement builds on a $315 million “first-of-its- kind” package of resources that HUD awarded in January to help communities provide housing and supportive services in unsheltered settings and for homeless people in rural areas.

Monday, March 27, 2023

Metro to Host Telephone Town Hall Tuesday for its 2024 Budget Process

CITY NEWS SERVICE

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority will host a public, interactive telephone town hall Tuesday to gather feedback about the agency’s fiscal year 2024 budget process.

The telephone town hall is slated for 6 to 7 p.m. Tuesday. Participants can share their comments and concerns on Metro initiatives, including alternative ways to ensure public safety, enhanced cleaning and the improvement of customers’ experience using transit services.

“Public participation and input are important so that the budget under development reflects the needs and priorities of the public,” according to a statement from Metro. “Metro encourages all Angelenos to participate and offer their input on the kinds of work and projects that should be prioritized in the FY2024 budget.”

Metro will randomly contact about 100,000 residents from various ethnic and economic backgrounds from across Los Angeles County through an automated system. Residents can also pre-register to participate at https://bit.ly/40GPBMf.

When residents answer their phones,

Wednesday, March 8, 2023

LA County Board Orders Progress Pride Flag to Fly at County Buildings

CITY NEWS SERVICE

The Progress Pride Flag will fly over Los Angeles County offices during June’s Pride Month under a motion unanimously approved by the Board of Supervisors Tuesday.

The motion by Supervisors Janice Hahn and Lindsey Horvath directed the county’s Internal Services Department to raise “the Progress Pride Flag at the Kenneth Hahn Hall of Administration and Los Angeles County facilities where the American and California flags are displayed during the month of June, while we celebrate LGBTQ+ Pride Month this year and every year moving forward.”

Such a move is in stark contrast to the action taken last month by the Huntington Beach City Council, which voted to no longer fly the Pride flag on city-owned property. The vote came just two years after the council voted unanimously to fly it.

“We are seeing anti-LGBTQ+ and anti-trans bills being passed at an alarming rate across the country,” Hahn said in a statement after the vote. “Here in Los Angeles County we’re making our position clear: in the largest county in the nation,