Tag: los angeles

LA Spends Billions to House a Fraction of Homeless Population

According to watchdog group Open the Books, the city of Los Angeles dedicated $1.2 billion in 2016 to try and fight homelessness through building affordable housing units. 

Since the program was approved, about 1,200 units have been completed – with some units costing taxpayers over $700,000 each, according to a city audit. One project currently underway is estimated to cost almost $837,000 per unit.

“The plan was to get the homeless people in Los Angeles into permanent housing to get them off the street and make no mistake, Los Angeles has a big problem when it comes to the homeless,” said Open The Books’ Adam Andrzejewski to The National Desk’s Jan Jeffcoat. “In 2016, that $1.2 billion ordinance passed. It was a bond proposal for permanent housing for the homeless. And today, there are more people that are unhoused than ever before in the city of Los Angeles.”

While the homelessness crisis continues, Andrzejewski said a “bureaucratic culture” sprung up in the city.

“In city government, there are about 750 employees dedicated to housing and community development, and the top employee in that department makes more than a White House cabinet official,” said Andrzejewski.

According to polling by The Los Angeles Times and the L.A. Business Council Institute, nearly 40% of voters in the city feel “signi​ficantly unsafe”due to homelessness in their neighborhoods.

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As Los Angeles Comes Apart From Soaring Crime, Demand For Safe Rooms Skyrockets

As Los Angeles comes apart with soaring crime, wealthy homeowners have surged in their demand for “safe rooms” so they can be protected from potential invaders of their homes.

Dean Cryer, the vice-president of international operations at Building Consensus/Panic Room Builders, told The Hollywood Reporter, “Our influx of inquiries has increased more than 1,000 percent over the past three months. … It’s gone insane.”  He added, “Hidden rooms are definitely trending right now.”

“Building Consensus/Panic Room (which consulted on the 2002 movie Panic Room) builds various safe spaces ranging in security levels from one through eight. Safe rooms at level three may be protected with Kevlar, while a level eight is encased in thick steel,” The Hollywood Reporter noted. Cryer explained, “Just the doors can be 2,000 to 3,000 pounds. And then we’re installing steel within the room. So, we’re generating up to 10,000 pounds in a room. … You could kit out a small closet for about $100,000, $150,000. And then it’s north of there. We’ve done one in London that had two rooms, full suites … and that was over a million dollars.”

To enter the rooms, biometrics such as a finger or retina scan are primarily utilized; they can be hidden behind a bookcase or hidden wall and include panic buttons that automatically call security services.

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Los Angeles school hosts LGBTQ clubs for kids as young as 4 years old to teach transgender mutilation, ‘two-spirit’ sexuality

The Los Angeles Unified School District’s Office of Human Relations, Equity, and Diversity hosted a 10-week online club for LGBTQ elementary school students, according to a Wednesday report from the Federalist.

The group — dubbed the “Rainbow Club” — promoted “two-spirit” sexuality and taught the intricate details of gender reassignment surgery.

The group hosted online meetings over a period of 10 weeks.

What are the details?

According to the report, the virtual club was geared toward “LGBTQ+ elementary school students, their friends, and their grown-ups.”

The outlet reported that the District Office of Human Relations, Equity, and Diversity created a variety of “short, student-facing Push & Play lessons for educators to utilize in their advisory classes.”

“Several of these presentations pushed leftwing gender theory, including one that even informed students of the ‘two-spirit’ Native American sexuality, which has allegedly ‘survived centuries of colonial violence and prejudice,'” the outlet added.

One such production featured a host who complained about European colonizers’ effects on Native Americans after they “imposed homophobia, rigid binary gender roles, and misogyny” — which the host suggested were a byproduct of the Christian faith.

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In-N-Out Burger in LA apparently remaining defiant as restaurants aren’t checking customers’ proof of vaccination — a violation of citywide mandate

In-N-Out Burger restaurants in Los Angeles apparently are remaining defiant and not checking proof of COVID-19 vaccinations for customers who dine inside the iconic burger joints — a violation of the city’s mandate, which KCBS-TV reported is the strictest in America.

What are the details?

A reporter from the station, Tom Wait, visited five In-N-Outs across the city Tuesday night and found it was “business as usual,” with restaurant workers not once asking for vaccination proof from Wait, KCBS said.

At least one customer told the station he agrees with In-N-Out: “You have the right to eat here or not. It’s their business, not ours …”

KCBS said In-N-Out didn’t immediately respond to its request for comment.

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Friend of late model Christy Giles brain-dead after being dumped outside LA hospital

A 26-year-old aspiring architect who was mysteriously left unconscious outside a Los Angeles hospital is now brain-dead, her family said.

Hilda Marcela Cabrales-Arzola spent two weeks in a coma after she was dropped off outside Kaiser Permanente West Los Angeles hospital on Nov. 13.

Cabrales-Arzola’s organs will be donated to nine different people, her family said as they announced the devastating update over the weekend, according to KABC-TV.

The lifeless body of her friend, model and aspiring actress Christy Giles, 24, was also dumped two hours earlier outside Southern California Hospital in Culver City by two men allegedly wearing bandanas over their faces.

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LAPD Orders Cops To Collect Social Media Data On Every Single Person They Stop

Los Angeles police officers have been directed to collect social media information on every civilian they interview, including people who haven’t been arrested or accused of a crime, according to the Guardian, citing leaked records.

According to the report, “field interview cards” used by LAPD officers contain instructions to record a civilian’s Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and any other social media accounts – along with basic biographical information. Chief Michael Moore has reportedly told cops to collect the data for use in “investigations, arrests, and prosecutions,” and has warned officers that the cards will be audited by supervisors to ensure they’re filled out completely.

“There are real dangers about police having all of this social media identifying information at their fingertips,” said Rachel Levinson-Waldman, a deputy director at the Brennan Center for Justice, which obtained the documents.

The Brennan Center conducted a review of 40 other police agencies in the US and was unable to find another department that required social media collection on interview cards (though many have not publicly disclosed copies of the cards). The organization also obtained records about the LAPD’s social media surveillance technologies, which have raised questions about the monitoring of activist groups including Black Lives Matter. -Guardian

Monitoring of social media accounts began in 2015, when the LAPD’s interview cards contained a line for “social media accounts.”

“Similar to a nickname or an alias, a person’s online persona or identity used for social media … can be highly beneficial to investigations,” wrote former LAPD Chief, Charlie Beck.

According to the LA Times, over half of civilians stopped by LAPD and had their personal details taken were not arrested or cited. Last October, criminal charges were filed against three officers in the LAPD’s metro division for using cards to falsely label civilians as gang members once they were stopped.

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Los Angeles bars protests at homes after anti-vaccine rally supporters show up at officials’ residences

Los Angeles city leaders approved an ordinance Tuesday that would bar protests within 300 feet of the residence belonging to the person being targeted, a move that came following months of demonstrations outside the homes of public and elected officials. 

The City Council voted 12 to 2 to approve the measure, with council members Mike Bonin and Nithya Raman dissenting. A second reading — usually a formality — will be held Sept. 21 for the ordinance to go into effect. 

The ordinance was requested by Council President Nury Martinez and Councilman Mitch O’Farrell, who were the targets of anti-vaccine protesters last month. On Aug. 29, a protester at a Santa Monica rally shared their home addresses and encouraged people to show up at the residences if they voted to approve an ordinance requiring partial proof of vaccination before being able to enter most indoor spaces. 

“We have one week to stop the (vaccination) passports … if it’s unanimous, we’ve lost,” a protester said. “Sharpen your knives, get your guns, get your food now. We find out who voted yes and you show up at their house. We need to intimidate these people.”

“No staffers, no family members of ours should be subjected to this kind of treatment. My address and my home is not a public place for you to come and protest,” she added.

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LA To Require Vaccination For Indoor Spaces, Including Restaurants, Bars, Gyms, Stores

KTLA News reported Wednesday that the city council has unanimously voted to introduce vaccination requirements in order to enter indoor spaces, including restaurants, bars, gyms and even stores.

The report notes that the council “voted to direct the city attorney to draft an ordinance requiring patrons to have at least one dose of the vaccine to be able to enter the indoor public spaces.”

Entertainment centers like stadiums, concert venues and movie theaters will also fall under the ordinance.

Council President Nury Martinez declared that “It’s our responsibility to protect the public, that includes protecting them from the unvaccinated.”

Martinez added “The decision to not get vaccinated doesn’t just affect you. We have kids under the age of 12 who are not eligible for the vaccine yet, and someone’s decision to not get vaccinated affects them as well.”

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LA City Council members propose requiring at least one vaccine dose in order to enter indoor establishments

Two members of the Los Angeles City Council are pushing for a requirement that people get at least one vaccine dose in order to enter indoor establishments.

LA City Council President Nury Martinez and Council Member Mitch O’Farrell introduced the motion on Wednesday.

A portion of the motion that Martinez shared on social media declares: “I THEREFORE MOVE, that the City Council instruct the City Attorney to prepare and present an ordinance that would require eligible individuals to have received at least one dose of vaccination to enter indoor spaces, including but not limited to, restaurants, bars, retail establishments, fitness centers, spas, and entertainment centers such as stadiums, concert venues, and movie theaters.”

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Los Angeles County officials are advising essential workers to wear masks at home to avoid further spread of Covid-19

Things are so bad in Los Angeles County that health officials are now advising all essential workers to wear masks inside their own home to prevent spreading Covid-19 within their household.”Right now, because there is so much spread, we’re recommending that people wear their face coverings while they’re inside the home,” Los Angeles County Director of Public Health Barbara Ferrer said in a news conference Monday. That’s for people who are either leaving their home every day for work or who are running errands regularly for their family, Ferrer said.Doing so, she said, “will add a layer of protection while we get through this surge.”

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