LOS ANGELES - Los Angeles County had the second-highest number of homeless residents of any region in the country this year, according to a report released Monday by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.The data was taken from point-in-time counts conducted in January, which found the Los Angeles region had 49,955 homeless residents, behind only New York ... Read more →
L.A. County more than matches $425,000 Obama Foundation grant
LOS ANGELES - The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors approved matching funds to create a $1 million investment in programs aimed at addressing trauma and increasing academic achievement for boys and young men of color.The Department of Mental Health will spend $575,000 over two years and the Obama Foundation's My Brother's Keeper Challenge will provide the balance in a ... Read more →
L.A. County seeks ways to reduce incarceration of pregnant girls
LOS ANGELES - Nearly 5 percent of young women booked into county detention centers or jail tested positive for pregnancy in 2017, leading two members of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors to push Tuesday for more resources aimed at improving their care and reducing those numbers.The 50 young women ranged in age from 14 to 19, though nearly three-quarters were 17 or ... Read more →
L.A. County moves Tejon Ranch housing project forward on 4-1 vote
LOS ANGELES - The county Board of Supervisors Tuesday tentatively approved a 19,333-home Tejon Ranch development in the Antelope Valley -- subject to a local jobs contract and review of fire mitigation strategies -- despite critics who claim it will damage sensitive habitats and present a fire danger for its residents.The vote was 4-1 with Supervisor Sheila Kuehl ... Read more →
Sheriff’s Dept. suspends controversial enforcement team’s operations
LOS ANGELES - The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department has suspended the operations of a highway enforcement team that stopped thousands of innocent Latino drivers in search of drugs on the 5 Freeway, prompting allegations of racial profiling, it was reported Friday.The county inspector general had launched an investigation into the activities of the Domestic Highway ... Read more →
L.A. County works to make food stamps available to foster youth
LOS ANGELES - Aiming to keep foster youth from going hungry when they age out of care, Los Angeles County officials voted Tuesday to put measures in place to make sure food stamps are on offer.Supervisor Hilda Solis recommended instituting a policy mandating that youth transitioning out of the county's care have a CalFresh application pending 90 days before they exit and ... Read more →
L.A. moves forward with restrictions on plastic straws
LOS ANGELES - Restaurants in much of Los Angeles County will soon be restricted from distributing plastic straws to customers who don't ask for them, with the county Board of Supervisors moving ahead with restrictions Tuesday.The county adopted an ordinance that will take effect Jan. 3. It will apply to all businesses serving food or beverages in unincorporated areas -- ... Read more →
L.A. County to re-evaluate firefighting needs
LOS ANGELES - The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to begin a yearlong, $4.5 million public outreach project to assess the needs of the fire department and ensure residents understand the financial challenges posed by increasingly severe wildfires.Supervisor Janice Hahn said it was time to rethink the county's firefighting resources.Calling the ... Read more →
Former SCE worker compares utility workplace to frat house
LOS ANGELES - A former Southern California Edison Co. employee sued the utility and her ex-supervisor Monday, alleging she was forced to resign rather than stay in a hostile work environment created by her boss that could be compared to a "frat house on double-secret probation."The woman is identified only as Jane Roe in her Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit that alleges a ... Read more →
Villanueva sworn in as L.A. County Sheriff, vowing to ‘restore’ department
LOS ANGELES - Alex Villanueva was sworn in as Los Angeles County's new sheriff Monday, echoing his campaign vow to "reform, rebuild and restore" the department while saying the agency would not be influenced by "divisive policies" from outside the county and state.Our entire county is standing at a crossroads, Villanueva told the crowd gathered for his swearing-in ceremony. ... Read more →
L.A. County receives nearly $300,000 grant for DUI offender oversight
LOS ANGELES - The Los Angeles County Probation Department received a nearly $300,000 grant from the state to help fund the monitoring of high-risk, repeat DUI offenders with suspended or revoked licenses, the county announced.The funds from the California Office of Traffic Safety will fund staffing to conduct compliance-checks on defenders, including home searches, random ... Read more →
L.A. County properties could become child care centers
LOS ANGELES - Los Angeles County properties could be converted to child care and preschool facilities under action taken Tuesday by the Board of Supervisors.Supervisor Hilda Solis recommended a review to determine which county owned buildings or rooms could be repurposed as early child care and education facilities and whether other properties might be used to build new ... Read more →
McDonnell touts achievements during career, says he’ll remain active
LOS ANGELES - One day after conceding defeat in his reelection bid, Los Angeles County Sheriff Jim McDonnell said Tuesday he has no plans to disappear from the law-enforcement world and is "looking forward to the next chapter."McDonnell, speaking to reporters at the sheriff's department downtown headquarters, touted accomplishments during his four years leading the agency, ... Read more →
L.A. County expands access to health care for undocumented immigrants
LOS ANGELES - The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to expand access to healthcare for residents who do not qualify under the Affordable Care Act, primarily undocumented immigrants.My Health LA is a partnership between the county and local community clinics and health centers aimed at providing health care for every county resident. Clinics provide ... Read more →
L.A. County approves $6 million settlement in DCFS case
LOS ANGELES (CNS) - The Board of Supervisors Tuesday approved a $6 million payout for a woman who said her 15-month-old baby was seized by county social workers against her rights.The decision to settle followed a board vote in June 2017 to appeal a jury's decision to award $3.1 million in compensatory damages to Rafaelina Duval. The panel found in November 2016 that the ... Read more →
L.A. County ramps up fight against STDs
LOS ANGELES - The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors approved $5 million in funding Tuesday to stem the rise in sexually transmitted diseases.Supervisors Sheila Kuehl and Mark Ridley-Thomas co-authored a motion authorizing the public health director to use the county money -- which comes from tobacco settlement funds -- over a two-year period to as much as double the ... Read more →
L.A. County may expand aerial firefighting fleet
LOS ANGELES - The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors agreed Tuesday to consider buying or leasing more firefighting aircraft and take a closer look at how aerial resources are deployed statewide.Supervisor Kathryn Barger recommended the review, saying she hoped to expand the county's fleet of fixed-wing craft and helicopters, possibly in partnership with the ... Read more →
L.A. County looks to expand youth housing
LOS ANGELES - Los Angeles County officials called Tuesday for more housing for young adults coming out of foster care or juvenile detention, to prevent them from starting their new lives homeless.Supervisor Hilda Solis called for a broad, multi-department review of programs to place youth in housing and asked staffers to determine why some beds are underutilized when an ... Read more →
Nine charged in alleged voter fraud scheme
LOS ANGELES - Nine people are facing felony charges for allegedly offering homeless people on Skid Row money and cigarettes in exchange for false and forged signatures on ballot petitions and voter registration forms, the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office announced.Kirkland Kauzava Washington, 38, Richard Howard, 62, Rose Makeda Sweeney, 42, Christopher Joseph ... Read more →
Watchdog group wants sheriff’s department to freeze out ice
LOS ANGELES - Members of a watchdog group have signaled that they want the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department to take more powerful steps to distance itself from the work of federal immigration enforcement agents.A series of preliminary recommendations by the Sheriff Civilian Oversight Commission called for the department to bar jail access to U.S. Immigration and ... Read more →