Tag: los angeles

The Shadow War: How LA County’s Power Brokers Ousted Sheriff Alex Villanueva to Bury Their Corruption Scandals

Los Angeles County has always run on power, proximity, and the kind of insider privilege that never appears on a balance sheet. But over the last four years, the mask has slipped.

The coordinated takedown of former Sheriff Alex Villanueva wasn’t a matter of reform, ideology, or even public safety. It was a political survival mission, a shadow war waged by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors and their well-funded network of nonprofits, consultants, and operatives who needed Villanueva out of the way before his investigations dragged them into the sunlight.

The truth is brutally simple: Villanueva became a threat the moment he started pulling the threads that held LA County’s corruption tapestry together.

Today, as new scandals erupt across homelessness funding, ARPA distributions, and county contracting, the motive behind his removal has never been clearer. They didn’t defeat Villanueva because he failed. They defeated him because he got too close.

The unraveling started in October 2021, when Villanueva publicly accused the Board of Supervisors of operating like a continuing criminal enterprise and urged the FBI to investigate.

It wasn’t hyperbole; it was a direct shot at the county’s ruling class and their multimillion-dollar political machine. What followed was the kind of coordinated response that only happens when power brokers feel the walls closing in.

Villanueva’s internal Public Corruption Unit had already begun connecting dots between county contracts, campaign donors, political appointees, and no-bid deals quietly awarded to friends of the Board. One of those threads led straight to Supervisor Sheila Kuehl and her close ally Patti Giggans, whose nonprofit, Peace Over Violence, won an eyebrow-raising series of sole-source contracts to operate a transit hotline that produced more invoices than meaningful data. LASD investigators executed warrants in September 2022, and the political establishment erupted in outrage, accusing Villanueva of retaliation rather than acknowledging the substance of the allegations. It was the moment the fight went from backstage maneuvering to open warfare.

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Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass Takes Victory Lap Over ‘First Rebuilt House’ in Pacific Palisades After Fires – There’s Just One Little Problem

Los Angles Mayor Karen Bass recently did a little victory dance about the ‘first rebuild’ of a house in the Pacific Palisades after the wildfires. Hey, it has only been almost a year, right?

There is one little problem with the house that Bass is celebrating, however.

It was a developer project that was in the works before the fires even happened. That’s right, this house wasn’t even one of the average homes destroyed by fires and her incompetence. What a surprise.

The New York Post reports:

LA Mayor Karen Bass called out for ‘phony’ Palisades rebuild after devastating wildfire

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass is getting called out for prematurely taking a victory lap for touting the “first Palisades fire rebuild.”

Locals are calling the latest announcement from Bass misleading, and a glaring sign the city didn’t bother to check whether the house it was showcasing was even a fire-loss rebuild at all.

In fact, the house Bass used as a beacon of hope for families returning is a developer project that was already in motion before the blaze. The teardown and rebuild were planned well in advance, with nothing to do with the fire that later tore through the Palisades.

Property records show the Kagawa Street home was purchased in early November 2024. The owner received a demolition permit on January 7, just hours before the Palisades Fire roared back to life and wiped out 6,831 structures, including the original home on Kagawa.

After debris removal, inspections, and the city’s routine reviews, the project cleared final approval in April. When the house passed its last inspection Friday, City Hall rushed to declare it the first official rebuild.

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Rising Latin Singer ‘DELAROSA’ Gunned Down in Ambush-Style Shooting in Los Angeles – Two Others Critically Wounded, No Arrests

In a tragic and senseless act of violence in crime-plagued Los Angeles, 22-year-old rising Latin music star Maria De La Rosa, known by her stage name “DELAROSA,” was shot and killed in an ambush-style attack early Saturday morning.

The incident unfolded in the Northridge neighborhood of the San Fernando Valley around 1:30 a.m. on Bryant Street, east of Tampa Avenue.

De La Rosa and two others were sitting in a parked vehicle when two male suspects approached on foot and unleashed a barrage of gunfire at close range.

All three victims were struck, with the singer succumbing to her injuries after being rushed to a nearby hospital.

The other two victims remain in critical condition as of Monday.

Witnesses described the horrifying scene to police, reporting that the gunmen targeted the vehicle in what authorities have classified as an “ambush-style” killing.

“Witnesses described seeing two male suspects approach a vehicle that was parked on Bryant Street. Multiple rounds were fired at several victims who were parked in the area in their vehicle,” LAPD said in a statement.

De La Rosa had released her debut single “No Me Llames” in August and was building a following as both a musician and social media influencer.

Her final Instagram post, a series of studio photos, has since been flooded with heartbroken tributes from fans, including notable condolences from Mexican-American record executive Jimmy Humilde and Juan Moises, the lead singer of Los Gemelos de Sinaloa.

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Los Angeles officials aren’t waiving building permit fees for Palisades fire victims

Isn’t it a principle of emotional intelligence for those who have it to delay a small gratification in order to get a bigger one?

They don’t have any of that in Los Angeles’s blue city government, where residents who were burned out in this year’s massive fires are apparently being told ‘no’ they don’t get their rebuilding permit fees waived. The rebuilding permits, few of which have been issued, can run about $20,000 per burned-out home, according to CBS News.

According to Palisades News:

In a letter sent this week to Mayor Karen Bass and the City Council, the [Pacific Palisades Community Council] asked city officials to approve the Budget and Finance Committee’s recommendation to waive fees and to expand the policy to include condominiums, townhomes, mobile homes, and small, owner-occupied apartment buildings.

…

The letter argues that most fire survivors are underinsured and face major financial gaps as they try to rebuild. The group said waiving permit fees would make an immediate difference for families still paying property taxes and mortgages on damaged lots while renting elsewhere.

The council also disputed city budget projections suggesting that a fee waiver would cost $250 million in lost revenue, calling those assumptions “completely unrealistic.” The letter said many homeowners will be forced to sell their properties at a loss, and that the city will actually profit from increased property taxes and development fees tied to new construction.

Best they could do was a ‘deferral‘ passed by the county supervisors back in June, assuming that was enacted. In other words, they may be willing to delay the fees, but they still intend to get paid. They saw the consultant report about the $250 million to be made and they want that money.

It’s flaming greed, because they wouldn’t be getting that money at all had the fires not happened. Now they want their $250 million, money for nothin’ given that it’s the residents who have to shell out to rebuild after the permits are issued (few of which have been, very few) which is exactly what they like.

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SHOCKING REVELATION: Transgender Individual in Viral LA Gym Bathroom Controversy Was Previously CONVICTED of Assaulting Ex-Wife — Then Adopted Her Name After Transition

A disturbing new twist has emerged in the viral Los Angeles gym bathroom controversy.

The transgender individual at the center of the viral Los Angeles gym locker room incident has been exposed as a convicted domestic abuser, who later took the name of the very woman he brutally assaulted.

According to the New York Post, the person now known as Alexis Black, who recently caused an uproar at a Gold’s Gym in Beverly Hills, was previously convicted of assaulting his wife while living as a man in Ohio.

Court records confirm that Black, formerly known as Kyle Grant Freeman, pleaded guilty in 2022 to viciously beating his then-wife, Alexis Freeman, leaving her with a compound fractured jaw that required surgery.

“Kyle Grant Freeman caused serious physical harm to the victim. The victim suffered a compound fractured mandible, which resulted in her needing surgery,” read court documents obtained by the Post.

Black served one year in prison and had prior convictions for domestic violence, drug trafficking, and resisting arrest, among other offenses.

Investigative reporter Sarah Fields wrote on X, “Grant Freeman, the man who was found in the women’s locker room of Gold’s Gym, was charged with three counts related to drugs: trafficking, possession, and failure to comply. He was ALSO charged with a 3rd degree felony for domestic violence and was convicted in November 2022. He spent 12 months in the Department of Corrections with a 219-day credit. The man spending time in the women’s locker room is a drug addict and violent abuser. Color me surprised.”

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Kids recruited from foster care are for sale at LA’s sex-trafficking corridor ‘The Blade’ — and cops are powerless to stop it

Anyone who wants to have sex with a young girl in Los Angeles can drive to “the Blade,” a notorious red-light district where 12-year-olds are openly walking the streets — and cops are all but powerless to thwart the disgusting pedo bazaar.

The children line up along a 2-mile section of Figueroa Street — a k a “the Kiddle Stroll” — clad in next to nothing to indulge in their johns’ sickest fantasies for around a hundred bucks.

Many of the girls were recruited from the foster-care system after being seduced on social media, authorities said.

Occasionally, they do their rounds with bruises and split lips — souvenirs from violent pimps who savagely beat them when they step out of line or don’t meet their quota.

Earlier last year, a group of local and federal law enforcement agencies launched an initiative to crack down on the trafficking and rescue the victims.

In August, the city attorney’s office announced that 190 traffickers had been arrested and 200 children rescued, some as young as 12.

Yet a trafficking victim interviewed by the New York Times said “the Blade” is now busier than ever before, with young girls being shipped in from across the country.

The growing throngs of exploited children inspired a nickname for the district from the LA city attorney: “Kiddie Stroll.”

At the state level, new laws have hampered authorities’ ability to identify victims and prosecute their traffickers.

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2 LA men charged with fraud in misuse of public funds meant for combating homelessness

Two Los Angeles-area men faced federal charges in separate criminal cases as they are both accused of fraudulently acquiring public funds that were allocated to address homelessness and build affordable housing, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced Thursday.

Cody Holmes of Beverly Hills was in custody as of Thursday after he allegedly used fake bank records to receive nearly $26 million from the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) for Shangri-La Industries LLC, for which he previously served as a CFO.

The money from Project Homekey was supposed to be used to build affordable housing in Thousand Oaks, but instead, Holmes, 31, spent the money to pay credit card bills and purchase good at luxury retailers, the DOJ alleged.

“Even though the developer received all the money from the state, the developer did not complete the construction of the Thousand Oaks project,” Acting U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli said during a news conference Thursday. “Essentially, he stole the money.”

In a separate case, Steven Taylor, a developer and real state agent, of Brentwood was released on a $3.6 million bond, the DOJ said, after he was charged with bank fraud, identity theft and money laundering.

Federal investigators said Taylor also used fake bank records to obtain loans and lines of credit. The 44-year-old is accused of using the fraudulently obtained funds to flip a Cheviot Hills home and selling it to a homeless housing developer for more than double his original purchase.

“Taylor had contracted to sell the property, which he acquired for only $11 million, fraudulently, to Weingart, a homeless housing developer, that purchased the property for a whopping $27 million in a transaction that was hidden from the victim lender and others,” Essayli added.

Akil Davis, FBI’s assistant director in charge of the Los Angeles Field Office. said Taylor also tried to enrich his business in high-end neighborhoods of Los Angeles.

“Taylor’s actions not only misled banks, but also took advantage of the city and state’s efforts to combat the homelessness crisis, Davis said.

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INSANITY: Los Angeles County Declares “State of Emergency” Over ICE Raids — Mobilizes Taxpayer-Funded “Relief Efforts”

Los Angeles County officials have once again made their priorities crystal clear, and it’s not the safety or well-being of American citizens.

On Tuesday, the far-left Board of Supervisors declared a “state of emergency” in a 4–1 vote in response to the Trump administration’s coordinated ICE raids targeting criminal illegal aliens across Southern California.

Instead of cooperating with federal law enforcement, Los Angeles leaders are mobilizing taxpayer-funded “relief efforts,” funneling state funds into legal aid, and possibly paving the way for a temporary moratorium on evictions, all justified by claims that federal enforcement “created a climate of fear” and “widespread disruption.”

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Israeli OnlyFans model allegedly robbed older men in Los Angeles — she says she’s the victim of a conspiracy theory

The Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department has issued a bulletin with a request from the public for alleged victims of an Israeli OnlyFans model to come forward.

The bulletin said Adva Lavie is suspected to be involved in a “series of residential burglaries” of the homes of older men in Los Angeles County.

She allegedly posed as a girlfriend or companion on social media apps and platforms, according to the bulletin posted on Facebook.

“They’re invited into the home, and then this person ends up burglarizing their home by stealing their personal belongings, and so that would kind of be the scenario we’re looking at,” Captain Dustin Carr said to KTTV-TV.

The sheriff’s department said Lavie had been arrested previously for a similar crime in a different jurisdiction but had been released from custody.

“We want to make sure that all victims are identified, they come forward and help prosecute this case,” Carr added. “We have some information that there may be other victims as well.”

Police said there may be as many as 10 victims in the alleged scheme.

However, when Lavie spoke to the Daily Mail via telephone about the allegations, she said she was the victim of a conspiracy before she hung up the phone.

“I think when you probably hang out with someone really powerful and someone really connected, if you piss them off, it’s problematic because they can really f**k you over,” she said.

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LA to Vegas high speed train now predicted to cost $21 BILLION, as critics warn final sum will be far higher

The price tag for the much-anticipated high-speed train between Southern California and Las Vegas has soared to $21.5 billion with warnings the number could keep rising. 

The 218-mile railway will take passengers from Las Vegas to Southern California in just two hours, with a Metrolink connecting them to Los Angeles Union Station.

At speeds of up to 200 mph, Brightline West hopes that its project will promote a ‘car-free, care-free lifestyle’.

Earlier this year, Brightline West reported that the railway’s construction would cost $16 billion, double the initially projection. 

But rising costs due to labor shortages, material cost inflation, and competition from other infrastructure projects has driven the cost up even further, according to Desert Sun. 

To make up for the difference, the company has requested a $6 billion federal loan through the US Department of Transportation.

The company issued $2.5 billion in private activity bonds in February, which requires it to secure the necessary loan by November. 

But if they can’t secure it, they may end up paying even more and be forced to repay investors early. 

Initially, the railway was supposed to open in 2027, in time for the Summer Olympics in LA the following year, but the date has been pushed back to 2029. 

Brightline West ceremonially broke ground on the project in April 2024 and preliminary construction has begun. 

The all-electric trains will be built along the Interstate 15 median with new stations in Apple Valley and Hesperia.

The final stop in Rancho Cucamonga, California will connect passengers to LA on a pre-existing Metro line. 

Brightline West claims taking the high-speed rail will be two times faster than the driving time which can take up to five hours. 

They also boast that they will create more than 10,000 job during construction and 800 permanent operations and maintenance jobs.

It’s also environmentally friendly and is projected to save 325,000 metric tons of CO2 each year.

According to their website: ‘Brightline is the only private provider of modern, eco-friendly, intercity passenger rail service in America.’

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