ReportWire

Tag: inland empire

  • LA supervisors advance ‘buffer zones,’ would protect worshippers, healthcare seekers from protesters

    LA supervisors advance ‘buffer zones,’ would protect worshippers, healthcare seekers from protesters

    [ad_1]

    Establishing a buffer zone between people entering a hospital or medical clinic, going to religious services or a school facility and groups of protesters gathered outside could soon be the law of the land in unincorporated LA County communities.

    By a 5-0 vote, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday, Aug. 6,  ordered the county counsel to write a draft ordinance establishing a “bubble zone” that “protects individuals” entering or leaving hospitals, medical clinics, schools or places of worship from unwanted interactions with protesters who are trying to share their opposing point of view or offer counseling.

    The ordinance would make it a misdemeanor crime for anyone who obstructs or blocks another person from entering or exiting these places. It also would prevent anyone from getting within eight feet of someone handing out leaflets; displaying signs; orally protesting, educating or offering counseling — unless the person consents.

    The eight-foot buffer zone would be put in effect within a radius of 100 feet from the entrance to these kinds of places.

    “We have seen incidents outside of schools throughout the county,” said Third District Supervisor and board chair Lindsey Horvath on Aug. 2. Horvath authored the motion. “We have to make sure that when people are going to schools, or places of worship, for example, they can go in safely.”

    She said her office has heard from the Jewish community, especially men and women going into a synagogue wearing traditional clothing who have felt unsafe. She said there’s also been an increase in Islamophobic incidents.

    The StandWithUs Center for Legal Justice (SCLJ) filed a lawsuit against pro-Hamas groups and individuals from accessing religious services at Adas Torah Synagogue in Los Angeles on June 23, 2024, the group reported. It cited a federal law that prevents people from blocking access to places of worship.

    Horvath said at a place of worship, every worshipper should be free from intimidation and harassment.

    “Even here in Los Angeles County, we have seen how intimidation is used to prevent community members from entering facilities to receive essential services — bubble zones are how we meaningfully protect personal safety,” Horvath said in a prepared statement after Tuesday’s vote.

    Protests have increased after the start of the Israel-Gaza war, which began when Hamas attacked and killed 1,200 Israeli citizens on Oct. 7, 2023, which was followed by relentless bombing of Gaza by Israel that has killed nearly 40,000 Gazans. The Anti-Defamation League reported that antisemitic incidents were up 140% in 2023 over the prior year.

    Although the motion does not mention abortion, most buffer zone ordinances in the United States that determine where protesters can stand have been in relation to demonstrations from protest groups both for and against abortion rights. Anti-abortion demonstrations often occur at clinics that provide abortion and other reproductive care and they’ve intensified after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the constitutional right to an abortion in June 2022 by reversing Roe v Wade.

    “The exercise of a person’s right to protest must be balanced against another person’s right to access and obtain healthcare services, access education, and exercise their freedom to worship in a safe and unobstructed manner,” read the motion.

    The proposed ordinance is based on a state of Colorado law passed in 1993 that has withstood several court challenges, said Horvath.

    But a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision is seen as weakening bubble zone laws, said Ken Paulson, First Amendment lawyer and director of the Free Speech Center based at Middle Tennessee State University.

    “The next buffer zone case to get to the U.S. Supreme Court will face extraordinary scrutiny as to whether it limits free speech,” Paulson said on Friday, Aug. 2. “There is a strong sense that the more conservative majority Supreme Court will be less tolerant of buffer zones than it has in the past.”

    If the county ordinance is adopted, the board directed the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department to train its deputies in its enforcement. Also, informational forums will be conducted with the county’s 88 cities to encourage them to adopt similar ordinances.

    [ad_2]

    Steve Scauzillo

    Source link

  • Inland Empire leads US in large industrial leases

    Inland Empire leads US in large industrial leases

    [ad_1]

    It’s news but not a big surprise: The Inland Empire claimed the biggest share of top 100 industrial leases nationwide in the first half of the year.

    A couple of years have elapsed since the inland market — which covers both Riverside and San Bernardino counties — held the top spot in the regular reports by CBRE. It returned to the top spot in the recent six-month period with 15 of the top 100 industrial leases in the U.S., L.A. Business First reports. 

    The 15 deals combined for 13.5 million square feet, with nearly half of them new leases.

    The Inland Empire got a second nod related to the overall top spot, laying claim to the most industrial lease deals of 1 million square feet or more during the period.

    The region’s industrial market turned white hot during the pandemic, when the trend toward digital commerce and home delivery drove inordinate demand. From 2021 to 2023 it was not unusual for spec distribution centers of hundreds of thousands of square feet to find tenants to sign leases for entire developments before construction was completed.

    But the Inland Empire and the rest of the country saw demand drop over the past year, as some big tenants, such as Amazon.com, sorted out their needs and trimmed space.

    The Dallas-Fort Worth market supplanted the Inland Empire as the hottest industrial market in 2023, based on CBRE’s data, but fell back to second place nationwide for the first six months of this year with nine large leases combining for 8 million square feet.  Memphis finished third, also with nine leases that together accounted for 6.1 million square feet.

    Ian Britton, CBRE managing director and regional leader for the Inland Empire, told L.A.Business First that the deals in the region over 2024’s first six months reflect a trend of big tenants consolidating distribution operations in bigger facilities. 

    “Although deals are taking longer to make and there is less urgency among tenants, larger occupiers are taking advantage of the opportunity to right-size their supply chains and become more efficient,” Britton said in a statement. “Many are consolidating multiple facilities under one roof, improving demand in the 1 million-square-foot-plus size range.”

    Average lease rates nationwide, which are around 70 cents a square foot, rose by 7.7 percent in the first half compared to a year earlier. The average rate in the Inland Empire was around $1.24 per square foot.

    [ad_2]

    TRD Staff

    Source link

  • LA Metro beefing up police patrols, ‘hardening’ stations to stop fare-evaders

    LA Metro beefing up police patrols, ‘hardening’ stations to stop fare-evaders

    [ad_1]

    In response to a recent spate of rider assaults, LA Metro on Thursday authorized “a surge” of law enforcement to physically patrol on board trains and bus lines marked by high rates of crimes, instead of just remaining on train platforms, within bus depots or in squad cars.

    The sea change comes from a motion approved by the Board of Directors, aimed at rejiggering deployment strategies from the trio of law enforcement agencies hired by the transit agency, including officers from the LAPD and the Long Beach Police Department and deputies from the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department. The motion also includes redeployment of Metro Transit Security Officers.

    The 2024-2025 budget of about $9 billion will include an additional $18 million for law enforcement, bringing the total cost for the three agencies to about $195 million, which means LA Metro gets about 260 armed officers patrolling the vast system each day.

    While many board members acknowledged that is not enough, considering that LA Metro every day handles almost a million riders on 2,400 bus runs, 108 rail stations and more than 400 rail cars, they must work within a tight budget.

    “I’ve been told law enforcement can’t be everywhere at once,” said board member and L.A. County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath. “They don’t have the personnel to the extent needed.”

    Nonetheless, CEO Stephanie Wiggins said the agency is reacting to recent violent incidents on buses and trains and on train platforms. The agency already expanded law enforcement presence primarily on the rail systems, while Metro’s security officers are increasing their presence on buses.

    Liu Francisco, 52, from North Hollywood rides the mile from home on his bike to the North Hollywood B (Red) line station on Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2023. He paid to enter as security look on. (Photo by Dean Musgrove, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

    The agency on May 28 will also launch a 90-day pilot program that involves locking the exit fare gates at the North Hollywood B Line Station. That will require passengers to touch a TAP card on a reader at the exit, showing they’ve paid the fare in order to open the turnstiles, a first in the agency’s history.

    Riders who did not pay will be cited or removed. The idea is to remove riders, often who are homeless, mentally ill or taking illicit drugs, from the system.

    “The majority of violent crimes are from those with untreated mental health conditions and drug addictions,” Wiggins said.

    An LA Sheriff's Department officer rides the C-train at the Vermont Avenue station in Los Angeles on Wednesday, May 15, 2024. (Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)
    An LA Sheriff’s Department officer rides the C-train at the Vermont Avenue station in Los Angeles on Wednesday, May 15, 2024.(Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)

    Board member James Butts, mayor of Inglewood and a former police chief, agreed that enforcement of the agency’s fare system, part of its “code of conduct,” is a key aspect of stemming violent assaults. But that enforcement power was taken away from law enforcement a few years ago by Metro.

    “We need to make sure people who get on buses and trains are the people who have paid the fare,” Butts said.

    Two murders of passengers appear to have been committed by assailants who were mentally ill, as both killings were unprovoked, authorities reported.

    Wiggins specifically mentioned the unprovoked killing of Juan Luis Gomez-Ramirez, a teacher visiting from Mexico who was sitting on a Line 108 bus in Commerce when someone on the bus got up, walked toward the rear exit, pointed a gun at the back of his head and fired, killing Gomez-Ramirez instantly.

    Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón called it a tragic, senseless and heartbreaking killing of a “beloved father” who was simply riding on a bus in the 6200 block of Slauson Avenue in the afternoon of May 17. Winston Apolinario Rivera was charged with one count of murder, Gascon said in a statement.

    The second involved the fatal stabbing of 66-year-old Mirna Soza Arauz on April 22. Arauz was riding the B Line train at the Universal City Station in Studio City, heading home from her job as a night security guard at Tommy’s Restaurant in North Hills.

    Arauz, a mother and grandmother, was murdered in an unprovoked attack. After being stabbed in the neck, she managed to get off the train at the station, where she was found mortally wounded on the platform. A suspect was arrested about a half-hour later and identified as Elliott Tramel Nowden, 45. Nowden has since been charged with murder.

    Mirna Soza Arauz, 66, seen in a photo on the GoFundMe website, was heading home after boarding Metro B (Red) Line in North Hollywood early Monday, April 22, 2024, and was stabbed to death. A suspect identified as Elliott Tramel Nowden, 45, was arrested. LA Metro's board voted on Thursday, May 23, 2024 to beef up patrols and other security measures on its system. (Photo via GoFundMe)
    Mirna Soza Arauz, 66, seen in a photo on the GoFundMe website, was heading home after boarding Metro B (Red) Line in North Hollywood early Monday, April 22, 2024, and was stabbed to death. A suspect identified as Elliott Tramel Nowden, 45, was arrested. LA Metro’s board voted on Thursday, May 23, 2024 to beef up patrols and other security measures on its system. (Photo via GoFundMe)

    “No one should be losing their life or or risking their life just for riding on Metro,” said board chair and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass. “The violence and crimes we’ve seen on Metro is absolutely unacceptable.”

    A second motion also approved unanimously calls for the three chiefs of the law enforcement agencies to report to the Metro board at its June meeting about these “high profile” incidents, deployment of personnel, staffing levels and a cost analysis.

    Also at that meeting, the board will hear a report from staff on the possibility of establishing its own police department. Director Kathryn Barger, L.A. County Fifth District supervisor, said learning that Metro CEO Wiggins does not have the authority to learn where the officers are deployed and when, is a problem.

    “I feel the tail is wagging the dog right now,” she said.

    Below is a list of recent crimes on LA Metro that made headlines:

    A teenage boy was fatally stabbed at the 7th/Metro Center station in downtown L.A. on Jan. 11.A man was fatally stabbed at the Westlake/MacArthur Park Station (651 S. Westlake Avenue, Los Angeles) on Feb. 1.A No. 2 line bus was hijacked by a man with a BB gun that resembled a gun on March 21. The bus crashed into the Ritz-Carlton Hotel at West Olympic Boulevard.Two people were stabbed in separate attacks at Metro B (Red) Line stations in East Hollywood at (Hollywood/Western) and Westlake/MacArthur Park (600 block of South Bonnie Brae Street) on April 7.A bus operator got punched and stabbed while driving in Willowbrook (119th Street and Wilmington Avenue) on April 13.A man stabbed a 66-year-old woman (Mirna Soza Arauz) to death at a Metro Universal City station in Studio City (3900 block of Lankershim Boulevard) on April 22.A security guard was stabbed at a B Line station in Hollywood (1500 block of North Vermont Avenue) before fatally shooting his assailant on May 7, authorities said.A woman was stabbed in the arm at the Metro C Line Vermont/Athens station (South Vermont Avenue and the 105 Freeway) on Monday May 13.Hours later on May 13, four teenagers fought on a bus in Glendale (West Los Feliz Road and South Central Avenue). Two were stabbed and the other two arrested.On Tuesday, May 14, a man was robbed of his cellphone and hit in the chest on a bus in Encino (Ventura and Balboa boulevards).On Thursday, May 16, a man shot another passenger to death on a Metro bus in Commerce (6200 block of Slauson Avenue), authorities reported.A person was stabbed Tuesday, May 21, on a Los Angeles Metro bus in Lynwood (Long Beach Boulevard and Norton Avenue).

    [ad_2]

    Steve Scauzillo

    Source link

  • Biden to expand the San Gabriel Mountains National Monument, add forest rangers, funding

    Biden to expand the San Gabriel Mountains National Monument, add forest rangers, funding

    [ad_1]

    President Joe Biden will add nearly 106,000 acres to the San Gabriel Mountains National Monument on Thursday, May 2, expanding the monument designated 10 years ago by President Barack Obama by nearly one-third, according to the White House.

    Also, Biden will approve a 13,696-acre expansion of the Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument in northern California’s inner coast range, north of Sacramento. The two designations will be signed as proclamations by Biden later today at the White House through use powers granted to the executive branch. Together, they will add protections from mining and new highways to nearly 120,000 acres of wild lands in the state.

    The San Gabriel Mountains monument expansion will add 105,919 acres of Angeles National Forest land to the existing 346,179-acre SGM monument, protecting closer-in areas in the western Angeles, including historic Chantry Flat, the Arroyo Seco and federal forest lands near Sunland, Tujunga and Santa Clarita.

    Along with the expansion of the SGM monument, Biden promised additional resources for the area known as “L.A’s backyard playground,” located within 90 minutes of 18 million Southern Californians.

    The White House announced funding for an unknown number of additional field rangers, interpretive rangers and positions to help with visitors. Also, $2.3 million in Great American Outdoors Act funding will be invested in the monument to rehabilitate barracks and provide housing for recreation and other Angeles National Forest staff, the White House said.

    The Angeles National Forest received nearly 4.6 million visitors in 2021, more than Yosemite and Yellowstone national parks. Yet many areas remain closed due to fires, subsequent flooding and not enough funding to complete repairs.

    U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack will join President Biden in the signing of the proclamations.

    “The San Gabriel Mountains National Monument is a crown jewel for Los Angeles. It is a backyard to millions of people, and is also home to cultural resources, rare animals and plants, unique geology, and dynamic forests, rivers and high peaks,” said Secretary Vilsack. “President Biden’s actions today ensure this remarkable place is protected for current and future generations.”

    Others were jubilant over the presidential designation, something that was expected to happen on Earth Day in April but was pushed back. This included Rep. Judy Chu, D-Pasadena, who was present when Obama signed the original designation in 2014 and has championed the expansion for the last 10 years.

    “In 2014, President Obama answered our calls by designating the San Gabriel Mountains National Monument for the first time. Since then, we have introduced legislation and fought to complete the vision of an expanded Monument that includes some of the most visited and beautiful lands in the western Angeles Forest. President Biden and the Biden-Harris Administration heard us,” wrote Chu in a prepared statement.

    The monument before the expansion includes 342,177 acres of the Angeles National Forest and 4,002 acres of the neighboring San Bernardino National Forest. The addition also takes in lands owned and managed by the U.S. Forest Service.

    Biden added to what Obama started by using the Antiquities Act of 1906, first used by President Theodore Roosevelt to designate Devils Tower National Monument in Wyoming. Eighteen presidents of both parties have used this power to designate other national monuments, including the Statue of Liberty, Colorado’s Canyon of the Ancients, and New Mexico’s Gila Cliff Dwellings

    The San Gabriel Mountains monument is renowned for scenic mountain peaks, dark canyons, a plethora of flora and fauna species, hiking trails, campsites, streams and reservoirs. The addition takes in more popular portions of the western Angeles National Forest left outside the boundaries by Obama.

    A map of the proposed addition to the San Gabriel Mountains National Monument. (graphic by Jeff Goertzen/SCNG)

    The expansion includes areas north of Sylmar and east of the Newhall Pass, near Placerita Canyon in the Santa Clarita area. It would include the Upper Arroyo Seco, a historic tributary of the Los Angeles River with headwaters in the Angeles that meanders through La Canada Flintridge, Pasadena and South Pasadena. Also, the addition includes the Big Tujunga Reservoir and Big Tujunga Canyon, Switzer’s Camp, Millard Canyon and Eaton Canyon waterfall.

    Another key addition is a closer-in area known as Chantry Flat, a popular hiking, picnicking and camping spot north of Arcadia and Sierra Madre that has attracted thousands of visitors on weekends but has been closed for several years due to damage from fires, rainstorms and a lack of resources from the U.S. Forest Service to make repairs.

    The road leading to Chantry Flat is closed. This area would be added to the San Gabriel Mountains National Monument. (photo SCNG)
    The road leading to Chantry Flat is closed. This area would be added to the San Gabriel Mountains National Monument. (photo SCNG)

    .

    Also included in the expansion is the site of Thaddeus Lowe’s funicular, the Mount Lowe Railway, which from 1893 to 1938 took people on a roller-coaster of a ride high into the mountains above Pasadena. The monument protects giant wheels used to hoist the railway onto the tracks, left on the side of the trail near Echo Mountain for decades.

    Other historic trails that were created as part of the Great Hiking Era include the Gabrielino Trail, which was once a trade route used by Native American tribes and was recently restored. The new areas also contain ancient Native American relics.

     

    “Our local community is overjoyed to see this next step in a 20-year effort to permanently protect the San Gabriel Mountains,” said Belén Bernal, executive director of Nature for All, a group lobbying for more resources and expansion of the monument. “The area included in the expanded San Gabriel Mountains National Monument is the closest section of the National Forest to the San Fernando Valley,” she added.

    Guillermo Rodriguez, vice president of the Pacific Region and California director for Trust for Public Land, said the expansion of the San Gabriel Mountains monument will stimulate not just public, but also private funds, too.

    “Having that special designation allows for greater resources to be invested in these areas,” Rodriguez said. “We have seen national monuments, like national parks, act as economic drivers. That increased attention and accessibility adds revenue to the local economy.”

    About $1 million will be invested in the SGM monument from the State Water Resources Control Board, U.S. EPA, and the California Rivers and Mountains Conservancy, according to the White House.

    [ad_2]

    Steve Scauzillo

    Source link

  • EQT Exeter Spends $197M to Buy Inland Empire Industrial

    EQT Exeter Spends $197M to Buy Inland Empire Industrial

    [ad_1]

    EQT Exeter has bought a warehouse in the Inland Empire city of Fontana for $197 million. 

    Manulife Investment Management sold the 819,000-square-foot industrial property, according to an announcement from JLL, which brokered the deal, on Tuesday. The deal came out to $240 a square foot. 

    Located at 13423 Santa Ana Avenue, the distribution center includes 30-foot clear heights. 

    Manulife acquired the property in 2017 when it bought John Hancock Life Insurance Company, which built the warehouse in 2000, according to property records filed with San Bernardino County. 

    In the second quarter of 2022, Weber Distribution renewed a lease for 335,000 square feet at the property, according to a report from Lee & Associates. 

    HSN, also known as the Home Shopping Network, lists the property as an address for a distribution center, though lease information has not been publicly disclosed in records. HSN is owned by the Qurate Retail Group. 

    Though industrial leasing has slowed down from a peak in 2021 — when vacancy rates across the Inland Empire dipped below 1 percent — investors are still pouring cash into the asset class. 

    Last month, Rexford Industrial Realty bought 3 million square feet of industrial space — totaling 48 properties — in Southern California from Blackstone in a whopping $1 billion deal, adding almost 7 percent of square footage to its portfolio. 

    That deal came out to around $332 a square foot on average. 

    Also last month, Hillwood Investment Properties and CBRE Investment Management borrowed $756 million to build 6.6 million square feet of warehouses on the former NASCAR racetrack in Fontana.

    [ad_2]

    Isabella Farr

    Source link

  • Unions and gig workers win fight as Metro denies Lyft bike share contract

    Unions and gig workers win fight as Metro denies Lyft bike share contract

    [ad_1]

    In a victory for local unions, LA Metro has reversed course by canceling the proposed turnover of its bike share contract to Lyft, documents show.

    The contract was slated to go in February to Lyft’s subsidiary, Lyft Bikes and Scooters LLC, but that was abruptly squashed after heated protests from unions and gig drivers said the rideshare company was not friendly to unions.

    A letter dated March 26 sent to current contract holder, Bicycle Transit Systems, Inc., (BTS) said: “The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) has decided to cancel the subject solicitation.” It was signed by James Giblin, senior contract administrator for Metro.

    Instead, LA Metro is reexamining the scope of the program and plans to put the contract out for bid once again under a Request For Proposal (RFP). There’s no timetable for the new RFP, said Dave Sotero, Metro spokesperson on Monday, April 1.

    “There will be no interruption in bike share services,” he said.

    Both Lyft and BTS said they would reapply under the new RFP.

    “We are elated the voices of Angelenos were heard. Metro listened,” said Alison Cohen, founder and owner of BTS, which has been operating the system for the last nine years. “It is rare that once a decision is made they (Metro) change course. But it was the right thing to do.”

    The contract was the subject of a rally by drivers for Lyft, Uber, DoorDash and other car and bicycle delivery workers — known as gig workers — in front of Metro headquarters on Jan. 18. About 40 rallied against giving the contract to Lyft’s subsidiary, arguing that Lyft has not treated workers fairly and that the contract would downgrade bike share service in L.A. County.

    FILE- Felipe Caceras, organizer with the California Gig Workers Union, leads a rally on Thursday, Jan. 18, 2024, of gig workers who are against a plan by LA Metro to award a contract to Lyft for managing and operating Metro’s Bike Share program. Metro canceled the request for proposal and did not award the contract to Lyft at the end of March 2024. (photo by Steve Scauzillo/SCNG).

    Workers said they had been trying to join a union and have had labor disputes with Lyft, a ride-sharing company that has other ventures including operating bike share programs in New York City, Chicago and San Francisco.

    A letter sent to LA Metro from David Green, SEIU Local 721 president and executive director, said Lyft’s alleged anti-union practices and failure to uphold equitable standards made it a bad choice.

    This was one of 700 comments, letters and emails brought to the attention of Metro’s Operations, Safety, and Customer Experience Committee that agreed to put off the matter in January. Although Metro staff recommended Lyft over the other vendors, the contract solicitation was canceled a short time later.

    “We are proud of our submission, which earned the highest score from LA Metro, and look forward to reapplying to the new RFP,” wrote Jordan Levine, a Lyft spokesperson in an emailed response received on Monday, April 1.

    On its website, Lyft wrote that a new ruling from the Department of Labor defining an independent contractor does not change Lyft’s business model and will not reclassify Lyft drivers as employees.

    Lyft said that 92% of its drivers support a policy under which drivers would remain independent contractors and would receive “some but not all of the benefits that employees receive.”

    Others that opposed giving Lyft the contract said Metro should not privatize a public transit system. “I applaud Metro reconsidering and ultimately canceling a frivolous contract which would have given taxpayer dollars to a private company making millions off the working poor,” wrote L.A. County Democratic Party Chair Mark Gonzalez in an emailed response.

    Political and union forces could remain steadfast when Metro rejiggers the contract and opens it up to the lowest bidder.

    “I hope LA Metro continues to heed the call for a robust bike share system worthy of Los Angeles that protects union jobs,” Gonzalez said.

    Cohen said her company BTS, which is women- and LGBTQ-owned, has about 65 employees. Of those, 40 are unionized, she said. She is looking for a one-year extension at the very least. The BTS contract ends in August, she said.

    The canceled 11.5-year Lyft contract proposal would have cost Metro $47 million less than the estimated cost of the current BTS contract, according to a Metro staff report.

    BTS argues that under its leadership, LA Metro Bike Share has grown.

    In all of 2023, Metro Bike Share ridership reached 441,199, which is the highest annual ridership thus far, Sotero reported. The 2023 ridership figure shows an increase of 128,787 trips or 41%, compared to the highest pre-COVID ridership of 312,412 trips in calendar year 2018, he wrote in an emailed response.

    Lowered costs and more available bikes increased use of the program, which mainly operates within the city of Los Angeles. The number of on-street bikes increased from 1,224 in April 2022 to 1,726 in November 2023. Pedal assist e-bikes increased from 97 in April 2022 to 370 in November 2023, Metro reported.

    [ad_2]

    Steve Scauzillo

    Source link

  • ‘Catastrophic, life-threatening’ flooding expected in Orange County, Inland Empire

    ‘Catastrophic, life-threatening’ flooding expected in Orange County, Inland Empire

    [ad_1]

    The forecast for California’s monster storm just got worse for Orange County, the Inland Empire and mountain communities.

    The biggest concern is Monday, when the storm is expected to have its strongest impact.

    Orange County, Inland Empire

    The National Weather Service now warns of “locally catastrophic and life-threatening flooding” for those areas, stating that “the system will stall, bringing heavy rain through Monday afternoon.”

    Officials warned that the rainfall in Orange County and western Inland Empire areas could be “torrential.”

    Anaheim, Irvine and Ontario could get 5 to 7 inches; San Clemente and San Bernardino could get 4 to 5; and Riverside and Lake Elsinore, 3 to 4.

    Orange County issued an evacuation warning Sunday night for areas in the Santa Ana Mountains, including along sections of the Santiago, Silverado, Williams, Modjeska, Trabuco, Live Oak, Rose, Holy Jim and Black Star canyons, as well as around Irvine Lake.

    San Bernardino Mountains

    Heavy snow could cause power outages and ramp up traffic danger in the mountains. “Heavy wet snow” is expected Monday evening into Tuesday, forecasters said.

    Strong winds could be powerful enough to topple tree limbs and make driving difficult for high-profile vehicles. There could be gusts of up to 55 mph in the high desert and up to 75 mph in the San Bernardino Mountains.

    The bigger picture

    The changing forecast came as the storm moved south, walloping Los Angeles County and the heart of Southern California.

    The forecast for Los Angeles County became more severe Sunday, with rainfall totals generally rising by about 2 inches. It’s now possible that Pasadena could see up to 10 inches of rain; Northridge, Pomona and Santa Clarita could get 7; downtown Los Angeles, Long Beach and Westlake Village, 6; and Redondo Beach, 5.

    Peak wind gusts could be between 30 and 40 mph in downtown L.A., Long Beach, Pasadena and Pomona; 40 to 50 mph in Northridge and Redondo Beach; and nearly 60 mph in Santa Clarita and Westlake Village.

    Officials have urged people to stay off roads if possible Monday.



    [ad_2]

    Rong-Gong Lin II, Hayley Smith

    Source link