Los Angeles, CA — The Pan African Film and Arts Festival (PAFF), the largest international Black film festival in the United States, proudly announces the release of its highly anticipated 2025 Film Guide. The PAFF Film Guide offers a first look at the extraordinary lineup of films selected for this year’s festival taking place February 4-23, 2025, in Los Angeles. While PAFF runs through the 23rd, all of its films will screen February 10-17. This year PAFF will showcase an exceptional selection of over 150 films, with a lineup that includes 46 documentaries, 100 narratives, 46 features, 100 shorts, and six web series. The festival…
Author: SBE Staff
By Tyler Shaun Evains | Daily Breeze The City Council this week approved draft language for ordinances that would allow and regulate cannabis business operations in Redondo. It’s a step toward having two dispensaries open in the city. The panel voted 4-1, with Councilmember Scott Behrendt dissenting, to approve the draft language. Behrendt has lobbied against dispensaries opening in the city, especially in his District 5, which, he said, is already saturated with liquor stores and smoke shops. Two of the ordinances, if approved, would allow marijuana dispensaries to operate in inland and coastal areas of the city, and the…
By Jeff Collins | Orange County Register Once debris from the Los Angeles County wildfires is cleared and rebuilding begins, attention will likely shift to the financial health of a small, but growing California fire insurance provider. The California FAIR Plan has an outsized share of the state’s riskiest policies because it is the insurer of last resort for home and building owners who can’t get coverage elsewhere. If the FAIR Plan is unable to pay all of its claims, virtually every insured homeowner in the state could end up paying a portion of the LA County fire losses. The nonprofit…
Lil Wayne, Chris Brown and Marshmello are just a few of the musicians who applied for and received payouts as part of the Shuttered Venue Operations Grant, a government program meant to aid independent venues and arts groups struggling during the pandemic. But according to a new report, they allegedly used the money to instead pay themselves or throw lavish parties at the cost of taxpayers. In a detailed report from Business Insider, the musicians who received the grants — also including Alice in Chains, Shinedown, Rae Sremmerd and Steve Aoki — applied for assistance after the grant was signed into law by Donald Trump…
By David Zahniser and Libor Jany FBI agents searched the home of a Los Angeles deputy mayor as part of an investigation into a bomb threat made against City Hall, officials said Wednesday. The agents searched the home of Brian Williams, who is deputy mayor for public safety, on Tuesday while looking into a bomb threat Williams “allegedly made against City Hall earlier this year,” said Zach Seidl, a spokesperson for Mayor Karen Bass. In a separate statement, the Los Angeles Police Department identified Williams as the “likely” source of the bomb threat. Read more at: LA Times
During Hunger Action Month, DoorDash is proud to announce that California-based organizations will receive 12 of 70 Project DASH Impact Grants totaling over $300,000 awarded this year to organizations working to eliminate barriers to accessing food and essential goods. “Project DASH is proud to help empower local communities to better serve those in need,” said Caitlin Gillis, Senior Manager, Government and Nonprofit – DoorDash Drive.“Home delivery has become an increasingly important tool in connecting people with food and essential goods in a way that prioritizes convenience and dignity, and Project DASH helps our partners break down barriers to access. We look forward to seeing how these…
The Compton Community College District is pleased to announce the facility design for Compton College’s future student housing was recently honored with a 2024 award of merit in the project design category by the Community College Facility Coalition. The professional design award will be presented on November 7, 2024 to the architectural firm HPI Architecture led by President Lawrence Frapwell, and the Compton Community College District. Courtesy of HPI Architecture “The skyrocketing cost of housing in California adds extra financial burden to college students when they are trying to focus on academics and job training with the goal of making…
By Keri Blakinger and Emily Elena Dugdale | LA Times One deputy was convicted of driving drunk with a loaded gun in the car. Another was suspended for failing to promptly report an on-duty traffic accident. An experienced detective was accused of lying on his job application. And a commander was demoted to captain for turning a blind eye to a cheating scandal in a popular law enforcement relay race. For five months, California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta’s office has fought to keep secret the names of eight Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies at the center of the case against Diana Teran,…
By Hannah Wiley | LA Times The former chief of staff of a California state senator who recently left the Democratic Party to become a Republican filed a lawsuit against her on Thursday alleging that she sexually harassed him, created a hostile workplace and fired him in retaliation for rejecting her sexual advances. The lawsuit, filed in the Sacramento County Superior Court, claims that for much of 2023, state Sen. Marie Alvarado-Gil (R-Jackson) “engaged in erratic, controlling, sexually dominating abuse of authority and power” against her chief of staff, Chad Condit. “This was a sex-based quid pro quo relationship of…
By Libor Jany and Richard Winton | LA Times When Los Angeles police Officer Brady Lamas was relieved of duty in 2022 for allegedly sharing nude photos of a fellow cop — his wife at the time — he reportedly found a lifeline with a private company named Watermark Security Inc. Started by Jamie McBride, an LAPD detective and director for the union representing most rank-and-file officers, Watermark has earned a reputation in law enforcement circles for offering a soft landing to cops who face disciplinary action. McBride promised good pay, reportedly telling officers suspended or fired from their departments over various…