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,

Wednesday, March 8, 2023

LA County Looks to Raise Awareness of Gun Violence Restraining Orders

CITY NEWS SERVICE

Calling it an effective law that is underutilized locally, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors Tuesday directed its staff to develop a public awareness campaign about the state’s red flag law allowing weapons to be seized from people deemed to be a danger of harming themselves or others.

The 2016 law allows certain people — including police, family members, domestic partners, housemates and school officials — to petition a court for a Gun Violence Restraining Order. Such an order mandates that the subject of the petition who is deemed a threat to themselves or others be stripped of firearms and ammunition for up to five years. The law also prohibits anyone subject to a GVRO from purchasing weapons and ammunition, including those who do not currently possess guns.

Supervisor Janice Hahn said that while the law is effective, it is underutilized, saying, “most people in L.A. County don’t know they exist.”

Under a motion Hahn co-authored with Supervisor Hilda Solis,

Wednesday, March 8, 2023

LA County Supervisors Fire Embattled Probation Chief

After resisting calls for his resignation, Los Angeles County Probation Department chief Adolfo Gonzales was fired Tuesday by the Board of Supervisors.

“Our juvenile halls are in crisis. The state has found them unsuitable, and they are at risk of being shut down. Youth are being hurt and are not attending school. Staff are being attacked and many are not showing up to work,” Board of Supervisors Chair Janice Hahn said in a statement. “(The) void in leadership starting from the top has allowed this situation to fester. Our board’s decision to terminate Chief Gonzales is only the first step of a long road to fixing our juvenile halls and supporting the youth in our care and the staff who work with them.”

Gonzales could not be reached for comment.

Hahn and Supervisor Kathryn Barger last week called on Gonzales to resign his position, following a 5-2 vote Thursday by the county’s Probation Oversight Commission also calling for him to step down.

Gonzales,