LONG BEACH – The Port of Long Beach will once again host free harbor tours beginning in May, offering the public a chance to visit the sights and sounds of the nation’s largest seaport complex, port officials announced Monday. The 90-minute narrated tours will teach riders about how the Port of Long Beach impacts local residents, regional and national economies, get close to some of the biggest ships in the world, learn about the port’s zero- emissions operations and take pictures of machinery and local marine life. Registration online begins April 17 from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. for the…
Author: City News Service
LOS ANGELES – A proposal to declare a humanitarian crisis in Los Angeles County’s overcrowded jail system and begin efforts to dramatically pare down the inmate population was pulled Monday from this week’s Board of Supervisors agenda amid opposition from some board members and law enforcement groups. The motion to “depopulate and decarcerate” the jails — introduced by Supervisors Hilda Solis and Lindsey Horvath, and originally scheduled for a vote Tuesday — was met with backlash from law enforcement organizations when it was published late last week. Among those opposing the plan was the Los Angeles County Association of Deputy…
LOS ANGELES – The Central City Association of Los Angeles released a report Monday outlining ideas it contends could improve city decision- making and processes, as a council committee continues to consider changes in the aftermath of federal indictments and a leaked, racist audio recording involving council members. The report is intended to be an informational resource while the City Council’s Ad Hoc Committee on City Governance Reform prepares to put possible changes before voters in 2024. The Central City Association of Los Angeles began advocating for governance reform following corruption lawsuits against former city staff and council members. “Making…
CYPRESS – A 5-year-old gelding died after suffering a racing injury at Los Alamitos Race Course, state horse racing officials confirmed Monday. Autism Ability “took a bad step mid turn, fell and had to be vanned off” in Sunday’s second race, according to the official race chart. The fatality is listed as a “non-musculoskeletal sudden death” on the California Horse Racing Board’s website. Autism Ability had 14 career races and two first-place finishes in his career. He was owned by Mike Flory, trained by Jesus Nunez and his jockey was Ricardo Ramirez, according to the industry website Equibase. He is…
LOS ANGELES – Thousands of Los Angeles Unified School District service workers will vote beginning Monday on what has been described as a “historic” labor agreement reached following a strike that shuttered the nation’s second-largest school district for three days. The roughly 30,000 members of the Service Employees International Union Local 99 will cast ballots on the proposed contract between Monday and Friday, with the results set to be announced Saturday. According to the union, voting will be conducted in person from Monday through Wednesday, followed by two days of online balloting. The agreement also must be approved by the…
LOS ANGELES – The deadline for voters to cast ballots in the special election to determine who will represent the Los Angeles City Council’s Sixth District is Tuesday, nearly six months after disgraced Council President Nury Martinez resigned for making racist comments in a meeting that was secretly recorded and leaked to the public. The seven candidates appearing on the ballot are Marisa Alcaraz, Rose Grigoryan, Issac Kim, Imelda Padilla, Marco Santana, Antoinette Scully and Douglas Sierra. Whoever is elected to the seat will represent a large portion of the San Fernando Valley, including Arleta, Lake Balboa, North Hills, North…
LOS ANGELES – A former Orange County pharmacist faces sentencing Monday for her role in a health care fraud scheme that authorities say bilked the U.S. military’s health care plan out of more than $11 million. Sandy Mai Trang Nguyen, 43, of Irvine, was convicted in November in Los Angeles of 21 counts of health care fraud, and one count of obstruction of a federal audit. She faces up to 10 years in federal prison for each health care fraud count, and up to five years for the obstruction count, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. The scheme involved the…
LOS ANGELES – The president of the Los Angeles City Council Monday explained why it is best for Heather Hutt to be permanently appointed to fill the seat from which convicted Councilman Mark Ridley-Thomas was removed rather than hold a special election to let voters decide their representation. “Heather Hutt has capably represented the district as the temporary appointee and I am confident she will continue to do so as the permanent appointee,” said Council President Paul Krekorian. Krekorian plans to call on the council, at its next meeting, to appoint Hutt to fill out the remainder of Ridley-Thomas’ term.…
SACRAMENTO – Tackling an escalating public health emergency, California State Senator Richard D. Roth (D-Riverside) has introduced Senate Bill 641. This bill will significantly reduce the number of opioid overdose deaths by ensuring that all FDA-approved formulations and dosage strengths of naloxone, like Narcan, are made available to schools, local health agencies, law enforcement, first responders and community organizations across California for free. The Naloxone Distribution Project (NDP) is administered by the California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS). “California’s opioid overdose epidemic demands a comprehensive, every-tool-in-the-toolbelt approach. To that end, I have authored Senate Bill 641 to ensure that California’s…
LOS ANGELES – Participants of Los Angeles’ year-long guaranteed basic income pilot project received their final monthly payments Saturday, bringing the payment portion of a program that served more than 3,200 individuals and distributed more than $38.4 million to an end, city officials announced Wednesday. Los Angeles City Councilman Curren Price presented the motion to create a guaranteed basic income pilot in the city back in 2021. Administered by the city’s Community Investment for Families Department, the program known as Basic Income Guaranteed: Los Angeles Economic Assistance Pilot — or BIG: LEAP — provided participants with $1,000 per month in…