Friday, March 29, 2024

Survey: Blacks, Latinos in LA County Face Disproportionate Health Outcomes

CITY NEWS SERVICE

Black and Latinx residents of Los Angeles County experience poorer health outcomes compared to other racial and ethnic groups due to disparities in access to care, availability of healthy foods, housing and economic security, according to the Los Angeles County Health Survey, released Thursday.

The L.A. County Department of Public Health’s first post-pandemic health study collected information from 9,372 adults and 7,391 children.

“The 2023 LA County Health Survey findings confront us with the stark realities of how historical inequities continue to shape the health and well-being of our communities, especially among our Black and Latinx residents,” DPH Director Barbara Ferrer said in a statement. “These disparities are the result of deeply ingrained systemic injustices and policies that have, for too long, marginalized communities, affecting access to care and resources needed for good health.”

According to the survey, Black adults in L.A. County were found to experience higher instances of hypertension, asthma, obesity,

Wednesday, March 27, 2024

$12 Million Settlement Reached Over LA County PACE Loan Program

CITY NEWS SERVICE

Los Angeles County and a private lender will pay a total of $12 million to resolve a pair of lawsuits alleging that a program designed to help homeowners install clean-energy products left many participants with payments they could not afford, making them vulnerable to foreclosure, attorneys announced Tuesday.

Public Counsel, which represented plaintiffs in the suits, a pair of private lending companies that worked with the county on the Property Assessed Clean Energy, or PACE, loan program targeted homeowners the companies should have known would be unable to afford the payments, while the county allegedly failed to provide adequate safeguards to protect loan recipients.

“PACE should have been a good program that enabled homeowners to upgrade their homes with renewable energy,” Ghirlandi Guidetti, a lead attorney on the case from Public Counsel, said in a statement. “Instead it turned into a nightmare for too many families. This settlement should help make that right.”

Settlement funds will be made available to anyone who received a county-sponsored PACE loan between March 2015 and March 2018 and had a lien recorded against their property.

Tuesday, March 26, 2024

LA County Gasoline Prices Rise 11th Time in 12 Days

By STEVEN HERBERT, City News Service

The average price of a gallon of self-serve regular gasoline in Los Angeles County rose Tuesday to its highest amount since Nov. 21, increasing eight-tenths of a cent to $5.046, rising for the 11th time in 12 days.

The average price has risen 11.6 cents over the past 12 days, including a half-cent Monday, according to figures from the AAA and Oil Price Information Service. It rose three consecutive days, dropped one-tenth of a cent March 18 and resumed increasing last Tuesday.

The average price is 8.2 cents more than a week ago, 24.9 cents higher than one month ago and 19.5 cents greater than one year ago. It has dropped $1.448 since rising to a record $6.494 on Oct. 5, 2022.

The national average price changed by one-tenth of a cent for the third consecutive day following an 11-day streak of increases totaling 14 cents, dropping one-tenth of a cent to $3.533.

Friday, March 22, 2024

Average LA County Gas Price Tops $5 a Gallon for First Time Since Nov. 26

By STEVEN HERBERT, City News Service

The average price of a gallon of self-serve regular gasoline in Los Angeles County topped $5 for the first time since Nov. 26 Friday, increasing 1.8 cents to $5.009, rising for the seventh time in eight days.

The average price has risen 7.9 cents over the past eight days, including 1.6 cents Thursday, according to figures from the AAA and Oil Price Information Service. It rose three consecutive days, dropped one-tenth of a cent Monday and resumed increasing Tuesday.

The average price is 6.8 cents more than week ago, 21.2 cents higher than one month ago and 14.8 cents greater than one year ago. It has dropped $1.485 since rising to a record $6.494 on Oct. 5, 2022.

“Gas prices are likely to continue trending upward this spring as in prior years,” said Doug Shupe, the Automobile Club of Southern California’s corporate communications manager.

The national average price rose for the 10th consecutive day,

Tuesday, March 19, 2024

With Bus Fleet Failing, LA County Seeks Alternatives for Transporting Inmates

CITY NEWS SERVICE

Citing persistent mechanical problems with the existing bus fleet, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors Tuesday called for a report on potential alternative methods of transporting jail inmates to and from court hearings, medical appointments and state prisons.

According to Supervisor Hilda Solis’ office, the sheriff’s department has not received any new inmate-transport buses since 2018, leaving it with a current operational fleet of between five and 11 in the L.A. Basin area, where 64 are actually needed. Only six out of nine buses are operating in the North County area, and only six of nine are operating for state prison transfers.

Solis’ office noted that it also costs between $1.2 million and $1.6 million a year to maintain the aging buses.

The shortage of buses at one point left 33% of inmates who were scheduled to appear in court unable to do so because of the lack of transportation, according to a Superior Court estimate cited by Solis’

Tuesday, March 19, 2024

LA County Board of Supervisors Expected to OK Rules for Short-Term Rentals

CITY NEWS SERVICE

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors is scheduled Tuesday to give final approval to regulations for operating on short- term rentals in unincorporated areas.

Under the new rules, hosts with Airbnb or Vacation Rentals By Owner, VRBO, would be required to register and pay a fee of $914 on an annual basis.

The county rules would also restrict short-term rentals to a host’s primary residence — prohibiting the use of accessory dwelling units, rent- restricted primary residences and vacation rentals for short-term rental use.

Additionally, the regulations place restrictions on the number of guests, length of stay and types of events for short-term rentals. Companies like Airbnb and VRBO would be required to comply with the new regulations, and establish an enforcement and appeals process for customers who fail to abide by the new rules.

The board tentatively approved the regulations in February.

The move came as a result of board action taken on March 19,

Thursday, March 14, 2024

California Weakens Plan For Mandatory Cutbacks In Urban Water Use, Yielding To Criticism

By RACHEL BECKER, CALMATTERS

Facing criticism over their ambitious plan to curb urban water use, California’s regulators today weakened the proposed rules — giving water providers more years and flexibility to comply.

Cities and urban water districts welcome the changes to the state’s draft conservation rules, which they said would have been too costly for ratepayers, estimated at $13.5 billion, and too difficult to achieve.

But environmentalists are dismayed by the revisions, which they said won’t save enough water to weather shortages as climate change continues to squeeze supplies.

“It’s really looking like this is a ‘do nothing’ regulation,” said Tracy Quinn, CEO and president of Heal the Bay, a Los Angeles County environmental group. “The updated standards are weak, and the regulation includes semi-truck sized loopholes that make it too easy for water suppliers to shirk their obligation to use water more efficiently.”

Mandated by a package of laws enacted in 2018,

Saturday, March 9, 2024

LA County Unemployment Rate Rises in January

CITY NEWS SERVICE

Los Angeles County’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose to 5.4% in January, up slightly from a revised 5.2% in December, according to figures released Friday by the state Employment Development Department.

The 5.4% rate was above the 5% rate from January 2023.

Statewide, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 5.2% in January, 5.1% in December and 4.5% in January 2023. The comparable figures for the nation were 3.7% in January, 3.7% in December and 3.4% a year ago.

Total nonfarm employment in Los Angeles County decreased by 70,200 positions between December and January to reach more than 4.5 million. The trade, transportation and utilities sector led the way by dropping 20,500 jobs, thanks mainly to the end of the holiday season and drops in retail employment, according to the EDD.

Specific statistics for Pasadena were not broken out in the March 8 report.

In December 2023, the unemployment rate in Pasadena was reported at 4.40%,

Thursday, March 7, 2024

Roughly 355,500 LA County Ballots Still Need to be Counted from Tuesday’s Election

CITY NEWS SERVICE

An estimated 355,500 ballots from Tuesday’s primary election in Los Angeles County still remain to be tallied, the Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk’s Office announced late Wednesday afternoon.

The ballots include 345,000 vote-by-mail ballots, 10,000 conditional registration ballots and 500 provisional ballots. The county will also continue to accept ballots received in the mail through March 12, as long as they were postmarked by Tuesday’s election day.

The RR/CC updated election returns Wednesday afternoon, adding 105,717 ballots to the overall tally. A total of 1,016,574 ballots have now been counted, equating to a voter turnout of 17.89%.

Updated vote tallies will be released every weekday through March 19, after which updates will be released on Fridays and Tuesdays until March 29.

Wednesday, March 6, 2024

Gascón Bound for Runoff in Re-Election Bid for LA County District Attorney

CITY NEWS SERVICE

District Attorney George Gascón will be heading to a November runoff election in his bid to retain his position. He will likely face Nathan Hochman, a former U.S. assistant attorney general who was the Republican candidate for state attorney general in the 2022 general election.

With neither candidate earning more than 50% of the vote from Tuesday’s primary election, the top two vote-getters advance to the November general election.

Gascón topped the field of 11 challengers as votes were tabulated Tuesday night, with Hochman running a close second and Jonathan Hatami, a child abuse prosecutor in the District Attorney’s Office, in a fading third place.

Gascón was elected in 2020 over incumbent Jackie Lacey because he promised a wave of progressive changes. But he has been under fire since taking office for issuing a series of directives critics have blasted as soft on crime. The directives included a rule against seeking the death penalty,