ReportWire

Tag: northwest

  • Have you seen the whimsical sea sculptures at Whittier Narrows park? LA County archivists want to know

    Their names hardly do them justice: Mother Dragon, Fish, Two-Headed Dragon, Starfish, Octopus and Tripod.

    Six colorful, whimsical, playground sculptures surrounding Legg Lake within the expansive Whittier Narrows Recreation Area in South El Monte have become beloved park icons for kids and adults alike for more than six decades.

1 of 8

Back in the 1960’s a sculptor named Benjamin Dominguez created several works of art inspired by fantasy sea creatures that were placed in playgrounds all around Whittier Narrows Recreation Area park on Oct. 24, 2025 in South El Monte, CA. (Photo by John McCoy, Contributing Photographer)

Expand

In order to find out more about them, the Los Angeles County Department of Arts and Culture is asking the public to send them their personal photos of themselves and their children or grandchildren playing on the sculptures, captioned with memories of a mid-century era when parks intertwined public art, interactivity and a child’s imagination.

“Depending on the response, how many photos we receive, we will have a phase two to determine creative ways to share them with the public,” wrote Laleña Vellanoweth, the county’s civic art conservation and collections manager in a statement released Thursday, Oct. 23.

Erica Rojas was in the park on Friday, Oct. 24 with her husband. They were training their dogs to walk and behave on the trails, when Rojas noticed the theme of ocean life after passing by the Octopus and Two-Headed Dragon sculptures.

“I love any artist that has inspiration from both land and sea,” she said.

The county’s project has two parts: conservation and historical research, Vellanoweth wrote.

The department is bringing on apprentices to comb through the photos, people’s comments and dig out letters and other records for clues on how the sculptures got here and why. They will also digitize and catalog the data. Conservation goals include: upkeep of the outdoor artworks that are subject to wear-and-tear, weather and seismic activity.

The outdoor, interactive artworks were designed by Mexican artist Benjamin Dominguez (1894-1974). He studied art at Academia de Artes Plasticas at the University of Mexico and graduated in 1925. He perfected a centuries-old faux-bois craft, known as “concrete wood” while at the university and used it to create these unique park sculptures.

Dominguez emigrated to the United States at age 62 and was commissioned to make tiger and lion enclosures at a zoo in El Paso, Texas. But he first began building his concrete-and-steel sea creatures at a park in Las Vegas, which was recently bulldozed to make room for a development. All the sculptures were destroyed.

In 1961, Dominguez was commissioned to make the six playground sea creatures for Whittier Narrows park by Frank G. Bonelli, the father of parks and recreation in LA County and a former county supervisor. A nature park in San Dimas bears his name.

Most of what is known about Dominguez was unearthed by Friends of La Laguna, a grass-roots group formed 20 years ago to stop demolition of the artist’s sea sculptures, known as La Laguna, within Vincent Lugo Park in San Gabriel. The group persuaded the City Council to abandon demolition plans and later helped get the park’s sculptures placed on the National Register of Historic Places.

“We noticed that the Dominguez sculptures at Vincent Lugo Park has tons of historical information and wanted to create that type of archive for our sculptures,” wrote Vellanoweth.

The county has consulted with Eloy Zarate, a history professor at Pasadena City College and co-founder of the San Gabriel-based Friends of La Laguna. The group raised $1.1 million to restore the La Laguna playground art, which includes a lighthouse with a slide kids love to go down. As a child, he played on the interactive sculptures in San Gabriel where he grew up, he said.

“We are the ones that brought Benjamin Dominguez to life. We said, ‘Hey, this guy was important,” said Zarate.

He said the six Whittier Narrows sculptures are similar to the ones Dominguez designed in Las Vegas, especially Mother Dragon, her yellow-orange body dotted with blue spikes and surrounded by red-and-white mushrooms.

Zarate has offered to write the nominating papers for the Whittier Narrows artworks so they can be accepted on the National Register of Historic Places.

“That is one of the last things we will do,” he said, noting the 20 years he and his group have given to preserving the artist’s unique playground artworks.

Besides San Gabriel and Whittier Narrows park, the third place where his work is preserved is Atlantis Play Center in a park in Garden Grove, at 13630 Atlantis Way, Zarate said. That park features Sandy Sea Serpent, with its tail winding up a hill that kids slide down. “All these structures are meant to be played on,” Zarate said.

His works in these parks represent “a rare example of handcrafted, mid-century playgrounds, when parks were designed to be creative and interactive rather than standardized,” wrote the Los Angeles Conservancy.

The works at Legg Lake were preserved in 2015 through the support of then L.A. County Supervisor Gloria Molina, according to the inscription on the informational display in front of one of the sculptures. It concludes by saying Dominguez’s works are an example of the contributions made by immigrants to Southern California.

In today’s political climate, in which ICE raids are resulting in the arrest of hundreds of immigrants, including those undocumented who’ve made a living and raised a family in Southern California for decades, the recognition of Dominguez at an L.A. County park is made more meaningful, Zarate said.

He hopes the county in its crowd-sourcing effort will acquire many photos, letters and documents relating to the Whittier Narrows park artworks.

“It is important particularly in today’s environment to understand people who come to this country and work, who give a significant amount to the country they’ve settled in,” Zarate said.

One can’t go into Whittier Narrows park without noticing the iconic serpent, or the octopus, for example, which are closer to the entrance on Santa Anita Avenue and the Pomona (60) Freeway.

“I mean, they are part of the park, and you recognize it,” said Armando Salcido on Friday, Oct. 24. Salcido and a friend were heading to get a closer look at some of Dominguez’s other sculptures scattered within the vast county park. “It is the first time I’ve seen the dragon. It’s really nice.”

To send in your photos, go to: https://form.jotform.com/252605621821148 and fill out the information, click next and you’ll get a page to download your digital photo(s). To see other photos already submitted, go to this dashboard on flickr. 

For questions or for help converting your physical images into digital images or submitting over 10 images, contact Danielle Galván Gomez, civic art registrar, at dgalvangomez@arts.lacounty.gov.

Submission deadline is Dec. 12 at 11:59 p.m. Pacific Standard Time.

Steve Scauzillo

Source link

  • Last day for LA County voters to register to vote is Monday, Oct. 20

    Los Angeles County eligible voters who want to vote in the Nov. 4 statewide election must be registered to vote.

    The last day to register is Monday, Oct. 20. That is the deadline not only to register to vote, but also to receive a vote-by-mail ballot for the Nov. 4 Statewide Special Election.

    Voter registration applications are available at most government buildings, including libraries, the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) and also at the LA County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk offices throughout the county.

    Also, registering to vote can be completed online by going to: LAVOTE.GOV.

    If any voters miss the deadline for registration, they won’t get a vote-by-mail ballot. But they can still vote in person at any of the Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk vote centers  beginning Oct. 25. There are 251 Vote Centers that will be open. Their hours are: 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. On Election Day, Vote Centers will be open 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

    If you’ve already registered, you should have received a mail-in ballot. After completing the ballot, it can be sent via mail, or deposited into one of 418 ballot official drop boxes or left at a vote center. The drop boxes will remain open through Election Day.

    Voters will decide during the special election whether to approve or reject Proposition 50, which would redraw congressional districts mid-decade to give California Democrats an opportunity to pick up five more House seats in next year’s midterm election. The effort, led by Gov. Gavin Newsom, is in response to a similar gerrymandering effort by Texas Republicans hoping to ensure that the GOP retains control of the House in 2026.

    Voters can request to receive their materials in their preferred language by returning the Language Request Form on the back of the Sample Ballot Book, or by calling 1-800-815-2666, option 3. Spanish-speaking voters may also call 213-358-2701 for direct assistance, the Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk reported.

     

    Originally Published:

    Steve Scauzillo

    Source link

  • Watches, warnings discontinued as Tropical Storm Jerry weakens

    Watches, warnings discontinued as Tropical Storm Jerry weakens

    CENTRAL FLORIDA IS AGAIN A HURRICANE HOTSPOT THIS YEAR. OH MY GOD. MAKE SURE THAT YOU’RE PREPARING FOR THE POTENTIAL THAT YOU MAY HAVE TO EVACUATE. WE’VE SEEN THE IMPACT OF CATASTROPHIC STORMS. EVERY LOT THAT’S EMPTY WAS SOMEBODY’S HOME FOR 100 YEAR FLOODS. FLOODS THAT AREN’T SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN FOR 100 YEARS HAVE HAPPENED FOUR TIMES IN THE LAST 6 TO 7 YEARS BEFORE, DURING AND AFTER A HURRICANE. THE WESH TWO FIRST WARNING WEATHER TEAM IS HERE TO HELP. WE’RE STICKING TO A BUDGET FOR YOUR HURRICANE KIT AND STAYING IN TOUCH WITH LOCAL LEADERS ABOUT THEIR PLANS TO KEEP YOU SAFE. WE’VE BEEN WORKING ON A PROCESS SINCE MILTON IN ORDER TO BETTER THE SERVICE THAT WE PROVIDE TO THE RESIDENTS. THE TIME TO PREPARE IS NOW. SURVIVING THE SEASON. THE 2020 HURRICANE SPECIAL. AS WE GET INTO THE THICK OF THE 2025 ATLANTIC HURRICANE SEASON, YOU SHOULD BE PREPARED TO TAKE ACTION IF AND WHEN A STORM HEADS OUR WAY. THANK YOU FOR JOINING US. I’M STEWART MOORE AND I’M MICHELLE IMPERATO. WE HAVE A LOT TO COVER WHEN IT COMES TO STORM PREPARATIONS AND WHERE TO GET HELP AFTER A HURRICANE. BUT FIRST, THIS SEASON COMES WITH A LOT OF UNKNOWNS. THE FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY, OR FEMA, STRUGGLED WITH BUDGET CUTS AND LAYOFFS THIS YEAR. THE FULL IMPACT REMAINS TO BE SEEN AS THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION WORKS TO OVERHAUL THE AGENCY. IN JANUARY, PRESIDENT TRUMP FLOATED THE IDEA OF GETTING RID OF FEMA AND SHIFTING FEMA’S RESPONSIBILITIES TO STATES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS. THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT ALSO CUT FUNDING FOR THE NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION, OR NOAA, WHICH PLAYS A BIG PART IN WEATHER FORECASTING. AND WHILE THE SITUATION WITH THE GOVERNMENT COULD CHANGE THE STEPS TO PREPARE FOR A HURRICANE ARE TRIED AND TRUE. SO THAT’S OUR FIRST WARNING. WEATHER TEAM IS FOCUSED RIGHT NOW, STARTING WITH CHIEF METEOROLOGIST TONY MAINOLFI. WITH THE 2025 HURRICANE SEASON OUTLOOK. AND HERE WE GO AGAIN. I TELL YOU WHAT, ONCE AGAIN, MICHELLE IT LOOKS ACTIVE. YOU TAKE A LOOK AT THE NUMBERS. NOW NOAA CAME OUT WITH THEIR OUTLOOK 13 TO 19 NAMED STORMS. COLORADO STATE RIGHT AROUND 17. YOU GO TO WESH 16 TO 20 AND THE NUMBER OF MAJOR HURRICANES. NOW GUYS RUNNING BETWEEN ABOUT 3 TO 6. AGAIN, THE NORMAL IS 14, NINE AND THREE. SO JUST ABOVE THE NORMAL THERE OVER THE LAST 20 YEARS, THAT’S SOMETHING WE’RE GOING TO BE WATCHING. THERE’S REALLY THREE MAIN FACTORS WHY WE THINK IT’S GOING TO BE ABOVE AVERAGE SEASON. YOU TAKE A LOOK AT THE WARMER THAN AVERAGE OCEAN WATER TEMPERATURES, ESPECIALLY IN THE GULF AND THE CARIBBEAN. THE FORECAST FOR WIND SHEAR LOOKS LOW. REMEMBER, THE STRONGER THE WINDS, THE GREATER THE SHEAR. THE WINDS DO APPEAR TO BE LOOKING LIGHT, AND THERE’S GOING TO BE MORE ACTION NOW FROM THE WEST AFRICAN MONSOON. THE MORE MOISTURE OFF THE WEST COAST, THE GREATER THE RISK THERE IS FOR THESE TROPICAL WAVES TO DEVELOP. SO WHAT I WANT TO SHOW YOU HERE IS THE NORMAL WATER TEMPERATURES VERSUS VERSUS WHERE WE ARE RIGHT NOW. AND WE ARE RUNNING ABOVE NORMAL IN THE GULF OF MEXICO AND IN THE CARIBBEAN. AND BEFORE JUNE. THIS IS THE AREA THAT WE LIKE TO WATCH. SO WE’LL BE WATCHING THAT INTENTLY, THOUGH FOR NOW WE ARE IN GOOD SHAPE. GUYS, BACK TO YOU. HURRICANE HELENE AND MILTON CAUSED WIDESPREAD DEVASTATION AFTER MAKING LANDFALL ON THE GULF COAST LAST YEAR. THIS DRONE VIDEO SHOWS THE DAMAGE ON ANNA MARIA ISLAND. THE STORMS ALSO PACKED A PUNCH FURTHER INLAND. METEOROLOGIST ERIC BURRIS REMINDS US HURRICANES ARE NOT JUST A CONCERN FOR THE COAST. LAST YEAR WAS A TOUGH LESSON FOR SO MANY THAT STORMS ARE CLEARLY NOT JUST COASTAL EVENTS. HELENE TRIGGERED LANDSLIDES AND FLOODING IN THE CAROLINAS, FAR FROM THE GULF COAST, WHERE IT MADE LANDFALL A FEW WEEKS LATER. DURING MILTON, FLAGLER COUNTY SUFFERED SOME OF THE GUSTIEST WINDS, EVEN THOUGH IT WAS FAR FROM THE CENTER OF THE STORM. THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE LOST POWER, AND ROUGH SURF ENTERED PEOPLE’S BACKYARDS. THERE CAN BE EFFECTS. HUNDREDS OF MILES OUTSIDE OF THAT CONE. FLAGLER COUNTY EMERGENCY MANAGER JONATHAN LORD SAYS MANY PEOPLE HAVE MOVED TO THE AREA IN RECENT MONTHS. HE WANTS NEWCOMERS TO KNOW IF A STORM HEADS ANYWHERE NEAR FLORIDA. THEY NEED TO BE READY. MOSTLY WITH PEOPLE MOVING IN FROM OUT OF STATE. WHO’VE NEVER EXPERIENCED A HURRICANE BEFORE. OR SOMETIMES I’M TOLD THEY HEAR FROM THE REALTORS THAT WE DON’T GET HURRICANES IN THIS PART OF THE STATE. DEFINITELY NOT TRUE. AS WE TRACK THE TROPICS THIS YEAR, THE NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER IS REMINDING EVERYONE THAT THE CONE, WHICH IS ONLY CONCERNED WITH THE CENTER OF THE STORM, IS JUST ONE PIECE OF THE PUZZLE. THE HAZARDS ARE INCREASINGLY FALLING OUTSIDE OF THE CONE. JAMIE RHOME, THE DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF THE NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER, SAYS THIS IS ACTUALLY FOR GOOD REASON. THE CONE HAS GOTTEN SMALLER AND SMALLER OVER TIME AS FORECAST ACCURACY HAS IMPROVED. LAST YEAR TO TRY AND BETTER COMMUNICATE IMPACTS COUNTY BY COUNTY. THE NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER ADDED ADVISORIES OVER TOP OF THE CONE TO INCLUDE THREATS OVER LAND, AS WELL AS COASTLINE. SO IMMEDIATELY WHEN YOU LOOK AT THE CONE, THE FIRST THING YOU SEE IS, IS ALL THIS COLOR AND HOW FAR INLAND IT GOES. SO WE THINK IT’S A BETTER WAY TO COMMUNICATE. YOUR BEST SHOT AT SURVIVING THE SEASON IS TO HAVE A HURRICANE KIT STOCKED AND READY TO GO. METEOROLOGIST KELLIANNE KLASS SHOWS US BEING PREPARED DOES NOT NEED TO BREAK THE BANK EVERY HURRICANE SEASON. WE ALWAYS TELL YOU TO HAVE A HURRICANE SUPPLY KIT, BUT LOCAL EMERGENCY MANAGERS ARE SAYING, LET’S GO AWAY WITH THE 72 HOUR SUPPLY KIT AND GO FOR A DISASTER SUPPLY KIT THAT CAN HAVE YOUR FAMILY BEING FED FOR UP TO FIVE DAYS OR EVEN LONGER. AND THAT CAN GET PRETTY HEAVY ON WALLETS. BUT TODAY WE’RE AT A LOCAL DOLLAR TREE AT 1792, IN FERN PARK TO SEE HOW MUCH WE CAN GET WITH $100, WE HAVE OUR LIST READY, AND NOW WE’RE GOING TO GO SEE HOW MUCH WE CAN GET. LET’S GO SHOPPING. OKAY, SO THE FIRST THING THAT WE’RE GOING TO DO IS STIR KNOWS THEY’RE IN THE PARTY SECTION. AND THESE ARE GOOD UP TO TWO HOURS. SO WE’RE GOING TO GET FIVE IN THIS AISLE WE HAVE TWO OPTIONS FOR LOSS OF POWER. THERE’S YOUR TRADITIONAL FLASHLIGHT. BUT YOU ALSO HAVE THE OPTION OF AN LED LANTERN. EXTRA BATTERIES SHOULD BE ON YOUR DISASTER KIT. AND THE DOLLAR STORE HAD PLENTY OF THEM. I DIDN’T HAVE THIS ON THE LIST, BUT YOU DO NEED A LIGHTER FOR THE STERNO, SO I’M GOING TO ADD THIS TO IT. AND IF YOU NEED CANDLES, THEY DO HAVE TEA, LIGHT CANDLES. IF YOU HAVE CHILDREN, MAKE SURE YOU HAVE ALL OF THEIR SUPPLIES STOCKED UP. WE GRABBED A FEW CHILDREN’S WIPES, WHICH COULD ALSO DOUBLE AS CLEANSING WIPES FOR ADULTS. THE DOLLAR STORE HAD DIAPERS IN STOCK, BUT FOR $6 PER PACKAGE, THE AMOUNT OF DIAPERS PER PACKAGE DEPENDS ON THE CHILDREN’S SIZE. BANDAGES ARE IMPORTANT TO HAVE IN ANY DISASTER KIT. WE PICKED UP SELF-ADHERING BANDAGE WRAP AND ADHESIVE BANDAGES. WE ALSO GRABBED ANTISEPTIC TO HELP CLEAN THE WOUNDS. IBUPROFEN IS GOING IN THE CART AS WELL. NOW WE’RE ON TO NONPERISHABLE FOOD. WE’RE IN THE SNACK AISLE AND NOW IS THE TIME TO GET SNACKS THAT YOU AND YOUR FAMILY MAY ENJOY. PEANUT BUTTER. NOW WE’RE ON TO SHELF STABLE ITEMS, SO THIS IS GOING TO BE YOUR CANNED MEATS, YOUR CANNED VEGETABLES, ANYTHING THAT CAN SIT ON A SHELF IN CASE YOU LOSE POWER. YOU MAY ALREADY HAVE ONE OF THESE A CAN OPENER, BUT THIS IS A REALLY CHEAP AND AFFORDABLE OPTION, AND WE’RE GOING TO BE OPENING A LOT OF CANS, DISPOSABLE PLATES. PLASTIC WARE AND PAPER TOWELS ARE GOOD TO STOCK UP ON TO. HELLO, HELLO. HOW ARE YOU? GOOD. YOU GOOD? TO ONE 1053. WE ENDED UP GOING ABOUT $10 OVER BUDGET, BUT I DID START OUR DISASTER KIT FROM SCRATCH. YOU PROBABLY ALREADY HAVE A LOT OF THESE ITEMS AT YOUR HOME ALREADY. AND I ALSO DID ADD A COUPLE OF ITEMS INTO MY BASKET THAT WERE NOT ON THE LIST. OVERALL, YOU SHOULD TAILOR YOUR DISASTER KIT TO YOU AND YOUR FAMILY’S NEEDS. ADD A GENERATOR TO YOUR SHOPPING LIST IF YOU NEED A BACKUP SOURCE FOR POWER, YOU MIGHT BE IN THE DARK FOR DAYS AFTER A BIG STORM. CHIEF METEOROLOGIST TONY MAINOLFI SHOWS US THE PROPER WAY TO USE A GENERATOR. HURRICANE SEASON IS HERE AND A LOT OF FOLKS ARE GOING TO START RUNNING THESE GENERATORS. WE WANT YOU TO KEEP THEM 20FT AWAY FROM YOUR HOUSE, NOT INSIDE YOUR GARAGE, TO PREVENT CARBON MONOXIDE POISONING. ALL RIGHT. THE NEXT THING IS GENERATOR MAINTENANCE. NUMBER ONE, YOU ALWAYS WANT TO RUN IT A COUPLE TIMES A YEAR TO MAKE SURE THERE’S NO LEFTOVER FUEL IN THERE. THAT’S NEVER GOOD FOR YOUR GENERATOR. AND WHEN YOU’RE DONE USING IT, YOU WANT TO MAKE SURE THERE IS NO FUEL IN THERE. OTHERWISE, YOUR GENERATOR MAY NOT START UP WHEN THE NEXT HURRICANE ARRIVES. AND FOLKS, PLEASE REMEMBER TO ALWAYS HAVE A CARBON MONOXIDE DETECTOR WHEN YOU’RE RUNNING YOUR GENERATOR. TIME AND TIME AGAIN. HURRICANES LEAD TO FLOODING HERE IN CENTRAL FLORIDA AFTER FLOODED AFTER IRMA IN 2017, THE ORLO VISTA COMMUNITY FLOODED DURING IAN IN 2022, AND RISING WATERS FROM MILTON FORCED PEOPLE OUT OF THEIR HOMES INTO LAND LAST YEAR. PROPERTY OWNERS DEALING WITH REPEAT FLOODING ARE READY TO GIVE UP THEIR LAND. METEOROLOGIST CAM TRAN LOOKED INTO A PROGRAM MANY COUNTIES OFFER WITH THE HELP OF FEDERAL DOLLARS, WHAT IS NOW A CORDONED OFF LOT IN SANFORD USED TO LOOK LIKE THIS A TWO STORY HOME BELONGING TO A LOCAL FAMILY. BUT AFTER YEARS OF SEEING THEIR HOME DAMAGED BY FLOODING, THE FAMILY SOLD THE PROPERTY TO SEMINOLE COUNTY. THIS PARTICULAR HOME BACK HERE WAS SEVERE REPETITIVE LOSS, WHICH MEANS THAT IT WAS SUSTAINING FLOOD DAMAGE OVER AND OVER AND OVER AGAIN. FEMA OFFERS GRANTS TO PROPERTY OWNERS WHO EXPERIENCE REPETITIVE DAMAGE FROM FLOODING. THE FUNDING IS DISTRIBUTED TO INDIVIDUAL COUNTIES, INCLUDING SEMINOLE COUNTY, SO THERE’S THREE PROGRAMS. THERE’S BUYBACK. SO WE BUY OUT AN ACQUISITION DEMOLISH. THERE’S ELEVATE. SO WE TAKE THE HOME AS IT IS AND ELEVATE. AND THEN THERE’S ELEVATE RECONSTRUCT. SO ELEVATE RECONSTRUCT WOULD BE A CONCRETE MASONRY BLOCK HOME. YOU CAN’T JUST PICK IT UP. SO IT WOULD REQUIRE US TO PICK IT UP. BUT WHILE WE’RE PICKING IT UP WE’RE CONSTRUCTING WE’RE DOING CONSTRUCTION THAT’S GOING TO COST MORE MONEY. ANY PROPERTY OWNER WHO WANTS TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THIS FEMA GRANT WILL NEED TO BE PATIENT. IT CAN TAKE MONTHS, EVEN YEARS, TO GET THAT FEDERAL FUNDING APPROVED. VOLUSIA COUNTY IS CONSIDERING A SIMILAR PROGRAM. IT WAS AWARDED $20 MILLION IN FEDERAL FUNDING TO BUY BACK FREQUENTLY FLOODED HOMES. WE CAN’T BUY THEM ALL, BUT THERE’S SOME THAT WOULD MAKE SENSE. DELAND ON TAYLOR AVENUE, THERE IS A HOME THAT’S ACTUALLY THE HOMEOWNERS COME TO US AND SAID, WOULD YOU WOULD YOU BUY US OUT? AND THEY SAY THAT WITH TEARS IN THEIR EYES. DONNA ROONEY HAD FOUR FEET OF WATER IN HER HOUSE AFTER HURRICANE MILTON. SHE HOPES TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THIS BUYBACK PROGRAM. THAT’S WHAT WE WANTED FROM THE BEGINNING. WE HAVE NO INTENTION OF REBUILDING OR REFURBISHING THIS HOME. HUD STILL NEEDS TO APPROVE THE PROGRAM BEFORE IT CAN TAKE EFFECT. NEXT, ON SURVIVING THE SEASON. OUR FIRST WARNING WEATHER TEAM SPENT MONTHS ANALYZING WEATHER PATTERNS AND PINPOINTING THE HOT SPOTS FOR A BIG STORM. PLUS, HOW TO IDENTIFY THE SAFEST PLACE TO HUNKER DOWN DURING A TORNADO AND THE FUNDING STILL AVAILABLE. IF YOUR HOME SUFFERED DAMAGE DURING HURRICANE IAN. NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE ARE ATTENDING THESE MEETINGS OR KNOW ABOUT THE PROGRAM, AND THAT’S A SHAME. ONE NEIGHBOR LOOKING TO REBUILD IS SPREADING THE WORD TO HELP OTHERS JUST LIKE HER. OVER THE PAST YEAR, OUR FIRST WARNING WEATHER TEAM HAS BEEN ANALYZING WEATHER PATTERNS TO PREDICT WHEN WE COULD GET A BIG STORM IN CENTRAL FLORIDA. METEOROLOGIST ERIC BURRIS WAS ABLE TO PREDICT WITH 85% ACCURACY LAST YEAR, WHERE BIG STORMS WENT AND WHEN THEY MADE LANDFALL. HE’S DOING IT AGAIN AND PRESENTS THIS YEAR’S LONG RANGE FORECAST. HEY, THAT’S RIGHT. THE OVERALL PATTERNS THIS YEAR CLEARLY SHOW THE GULF AS THE HOT SPOT FOR ACTIVITY YET AGAIN. BUT THE WAY MY LONG TERM FORECASTING WORKS IS LOOKING AT LONG TERM FORECASTING CYCLES. SO LET’S BREAK IT DOWN. THE FIRST PART OF THE PATTERN THAT WE WATCH IS THE NORTHERN GULF COAST, FOR WHAT SHOULD BE THE SLOW MOVING AREA OF LOW PRESSURE. EARLY JUNE, BUT IN PARTICULAR LATE JULY AND AROUND THE BEGINNING OF SEPTEMBER, THEN ALONG THE NORTHERN GULF COAST YET AGAIN, I’VE OBSERVED AN OVERALL WEATHER PATTERN SHOWING A STORM SYSTEM AGAIN MID JUNE, BUT MOREOVER, LATE JULY AND INTO EARLY SEPTEMBER. BUT TO BE HONEST WITH YOU, INTO THE PANHANDLE AND OUR WEST COAST, THE BIGGEST PART OF THE PATTERN I’M WATCHING FOR THREATS IN THIS AREA IS THIS ONE WITH AN AREA OF LOW PRESSURE THAT SEEMINGLY WANTS TO CROSS THE GULF AND WORK TOWARD OUR WEST COAST. SO WATCH THESE DATES VERY CLOSELY. LATE JUNE, EARLY AUGUST AND MID SEPTEMBER. AND LASTLY, OUT OF ALL THE DATA OVER THE MONTHS AND MONTHS OF GATHERING MY NUMBERS FOR THIS YEAR’S HURRICANE FORECAST, WHILE ABOVE AVERAGE, ARE NOT CALLING FOR A HYPERACTIVE SEASON. EITHER WAY, WE HAVE A CLEAR THREAT TO WATCH FOR, AND THUS WE’LL NEED TO KEEP OUR HEAD ON A SWIVEL. BUT KNOW THIS YOUR FIRST WARNING WEATHER TEAM WILL BE HERE WITH YOU EVERY STEP OF THE WAY. WHEN THERE’S A RISK FOR SEVERE WEATHER. THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ISSUES WATCHES AND WARNINGS. YOU’LL HEAR OUR FIRST WARNING WEATHER TEAM USE THESE TERMS A LOT. METEOROLOGIST MARQUISE MEDA EXPLAINS WHAT THEY MEAN. THINK OF IT LIKE COOKING PASTA. A WATCH IS WHEN YOU PUT A POT OF BOILING WATER ON THE STOVE. THE HEAT IS ON. CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE AND YOU’RE WAITING FOR SOMETHING TO HAPPEN. A WARNING MEANS THAT WATER IS BOILING AND IT’S TIME TO ADD THE PASTA. OR IN WEATHER TERMS, THE EVENT IS HAPPENING NOW AND YOU NEED TO TAKE ACTION IMMEDIATELY. JUST LIKE YOU DON’T WALK AWAY FROM A POT THAT’S HEATING UP, YOU SHOULD IGNORE A WATCH. CONDITIONS. THEY CAN CHANGE QUICKLY AND BEFORE YOU KNOW IT, THAT GENTLE SIMMER CAN TURN INTO A ROLLING BOIL. SO DURING A WATCH, STAY ALERT AND BE PREPARED. BUT IF IT’S A WARNING, BE PREPARED TO TAKE COVER. BECAUSE JUST LIKE A POT OF BOILING WATER, SEVERE WEATHER DOESN’T WAIT. BEFORE MILTON MADE LANDFALL IN FLORIDA LAST YEAR, THE STORM SPAWNED MANY TORNADOES, INCLUDING ONE IN BREVARD COUNTY. THIS VIDEO SHOWS SOME OF THE DAMAGE IT CAUSED. METEOROLOGIST CAM TRAN EXPLAINS WHERE YOU SHOULD TAKE COVER IN A TORNADO. THE SAFEST PLACE TO GO DURING A TORNADO WARNING IS TO THE LOWEST FLOOR OF YOUR HOUSE. MAKE SURE THAT AREA IS NOT CONNECTED TO ANY EXTERIOR WALLS OR WINDOWS. YOUR SAFE ROOM COULD BE A CLOSET, A BATHROOM, OR EVEN A HALLWAY LIKE THIS ONE. BUT IN THIS HOUSE, THE SAFEST ROOM TO BE IN IS ACTUALLY THIS INTERIOR BATHROOM. IT IS AWAY FROM ANY EXTERIOR WALLS OR WINDOW, AND IT’S THE MOST INTERIOR ROOM OF THIS HOUSE. IF YOU LIVE IN AN APARTMENT BUILDING OR YOU’RE WORKING AT AN OFFICE HIGHRISE, SIMILAR RULES APPLY. GO TO THE BOTTOM AND THE LOWEST FLOOR OF YOUR BUILDING. AND IF YOU CAN’T GO TO AN INTERIOR HALLWAY. AS WE PREPARE FOR THE NEXT BIG STORM, MANY HOMEOWNERS ARE STILL TRYING TO RECOVER FROM PAST DISASTERS. CHIEF METEOROLOGIST TONY MAINOLFI SHOWS US A PROGRAM RIGHT HERE IN ORANGE COUNTY THAT’S HELPING FOLKS GET BACK ON THEIR FEET. THE ORANGE COUNTY RECOVERS PROGRAM HAS SET ASIDE $59 MILLION TO HELP RESIDENTS OF ORANGE COUNTY AND ITS MUNICIPALITIES REPAIR, REBUILD AND REPLACE ELIGIBLE HOMES WITH REMAINING DAMAGE FROM HURRICANE IAN. IT IS A GRANT, SO THAT’S GOOD NEWS FOR EVERYBODY. IT’S NOT ALONE. FOLKS ARE ABLE TO APPLY FOR THESE FUNDS AND CAN DO SO UNTIL THE MONEY RUNS OUT. SHERI JILLIAN WITH THE DISASTER RECOVERY TEAM, EXPLAINS WHO’S ELIGIBLE. NUMBER ONE, YOU MUST HAVE OWNED THE PROPERTY AND RESIDED IN THE PROPERTY AS YOUR PRIMARY RESIDENCE, SO OWNED PRIOR TO IAN, AND STILL OCCUPY THE RESIDENCE AS YOUR PRIMARY RESIDENCE, YOU MUST BE A LOW TO MODERATE INCOME INDIVIDUAL, WHICH IS 80% AMI. YOU MUST HAVE A CURRENT MORTGAGE AND TAXES ON THE PROPERTY. ONCE ELIGIBILITY HAS BEEN APPROVED, THE DAMAGE ASSESSMENT WILL BE DETERMINED. FROM THERE, THE HOMEOWNER WILL THEN BE GIVEN SOME MONEY SO THAT THE REPAIRS CAN BE MADE ON THEIR HOME, AND THEY CAN HOPEFULLY GET THEIR LIVES BACK IN ORDER. DEBBY RYAN LIVES IN ORLO VISTA. IT WAS LIKE A RIVER AND IT WAS VERY FAST MOVING AND EVERYTHING. SHE GAVE US A TOUR OF HER HOME WHICH FLOODED DURING HURRICANE IAN IN 2022. THIS WAS ALL WATER. WATER WAS UP TO THAT SECOND STEP AND THAT WAS ON FRIDAY. SO I DON’T KNOW HOW HIGH IT WAS BEFORE THEN AND ALL THAT HIGH WATER DEVASTATED THE INSIDE OF MANY PEOPLE’S HOMES. FLOORING IS COMING APART, PLUMBING FOR LAUNDRY ROOMS IS DAMAGED. THERE’S MOLD INSIDE HOMES AND IN SOME CASES, MOBILE HOMES WERE DESTROYED AND HAD TO BE TAKEN AWAY. RYAN IS APPLYING FOR THE COUNTY’S PROGRAM AND WANTS TO MAKE SURE HER NEIGHBORS KNOW ABOUT IT, TOO. THERE’S 6000 PEOPLE THAT LIVE IN ORLO VISTA. YOU SAW HOW FEW PEOPLE WERE THERE. THEY’RE DOING EVERYTHING THEY CAN TO HELP PEOPLE. THE ONLY CONCERN I HAVE IS THAT NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE ARE ATTENDING THESE MEETINGS OR KNOW ABOUT THE PROGRAM, AND THAT’S A SHAME. THERE ARE TWO WAYS TO APPLY FOR FUNDING. WE POSTED THAT INFORMATION ON OUR WEBSITE, WESH.COM. UNDER THE HURRICANE TAB. TRIM THE TREES, CLEAR YOUR YARD, FILL YOUR GAS TANK. THESE ARE ALL STANDARD THINGS WE DO TO PREPARE FOR A HURRICANE. METEOROLOGIST KELLIANNE KLASS REMINDS US NOT TO FORGET ABOUT THE SMALLER TASKS THAT CAN MAKE LIFE A LOT LESS STRESSFUL. IF YOU LOSE POWER OR ACCESS TO CLEAN WATER. WASH YOUR DISHES AND DO YOUR LAUNDRY. FILL UP ANY PRESCRIPTIONS YOU MAY NEED. IF YOU HAVE A DOG, MAKE SURE TO GET SOME PEE PADS. IT COULD BE A WHILE BEFORE THEY CAN GET OUTSIDE AND MAKE SURE YOU HAVE ENOUGH FOOD, WATER, AND LITTER FOR YOUR PET. CHARGE ANY ELECTRONIC DEVICES AND CHARGE BANKS. WALK THROUGH YOUR HOME AND TAKE VIDEO OF EVERYTHING. IT WILL HELP YOU IF YOU NEED TO MAKE A CLAIM LATER. FILL PLASTIC BAGS WITH WATER AND FREEZE THEM BEFORE THE STORM. OH, AND DON’T FORGET TO COOLER. DON’T WAIT UNTIL A STORM IS COMING TO CHECK YOUR INSURANCE. UP NEXT, THE SPECIFIC PROTECTIONS YOU SHOULD LOOK FOR IN YOUR HOME INSURANCE POLICY. AND SANDBAGS CAN KEEP THE WATER OUT, BUT ONLY WHEN USED CORRECTLY. WE GET OUR HANDS DIRTY, SHOWING YOU THE FASTEST AND EASIEST WAY TO FILL. YOU MAY HAVE HEARD YOU SHOULD CHECK YOUR INSURANCE BEFORE A BIG STORM HITS. FIRST WARNING, METEOROLOGIST CAM TRAN EXPLAINS WHAT SHOULD BE IN THE FINE PRINT. REVIEW YOUR HOMEOWNER’S POLICY BY LOOKING AT THE DECLARATION PAGE. THAT’S WHERE YOU’LL FIND YOUR COVERAGE LIMITS AND DEDUCTIBLES. EXPERTS SAY THE COST OF CONSTRUCTION HAS GONE UP IN RECENT YEARS, SO YOU MAY HAVE A SHORTFALL IN COVERAGE IF YOU HAVEN’T UPDATED YOUR POLICY IN A WHILE. IT’S ALSO HIGHLY RECOMMENDED TO GET FLOOD INSURANCE, EVEN IF YOU DON’T LIVE IN A FLOOD ZONE. THIS IS NOT INCLUDED IN YOUR TRADITIONAL HOME POLICY. EXPERTS HIGHLY RECOMMEND FLOOD INSURANCE EVEN IN CENTRAL FLORIDA, ESPECIALLY AFTER WE SAW SIGNIFICANT FLOODING DURING HURRICANES IAN AND MILTON. YOU MAY ALSO WANT TO GET YOUR INSURANCE POLICIES IN PLACE AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. ONCE A WATCH OR WARNING HAS BEEN ISSUED, YOU CAN NO LONGER ADD OR CHANGE A HOMEOWNER’S POLICY FOR FLOOD INSURANCE POLICY. IT’S EVEN LONGER. IT TAKES 30 DAYS TO TAKE EFFECT. SANDBAGS ARE OFTEN THE FIRST LINE OF DEFENSE IN PROTECTING YOUR HOME FROM RISING WATERS, BUT MANY PEOPLE DON’T KNOW HOW TO FILL THEM UP OR LAY THEM DOWN PROPERLY. FIRST WARNING METEOROLOGIST MARQUISE MEDA SHOWS US THE MOST EFFICIENT WAY TO USE SANDBAGS. EVERY YEAR A STORM SEASON APPROACHES. WE COVER SANDBAG DISTRIBUTION SITES ACROSS THE REGION. HOMEOWNERS LINE UP EAGER TO FILL UP SANDBAGS TO PROTECT THEIR HOME FROM RISING WATERS. SO WE PROVIDE THE BAGS, WE PROVIDE THE SAND. WE PROVIDE THE MECHANISM. THE RESIDENTS HAVE TO PROVIDE THEIR THEIR ENERGY AND AND THEIR THEIR BODY STRENGTH TO DO THIS. I GOT HANDS ON TRAINING WITH THE ORANGE COUNTY PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT. WE ROLLED UP OUR SLEEVES AND GOT TO WORK. IT’S 3 OR 4 SHOVEL FULLS. YOU DO NOT WANT TO FILL THE BAGS ALL THE WAY TO THE TOP. YOU WANT TO LEAVE SOME SPACE IN ORDER TO TIE THEM OFF. SHOVELING INTO THE BAG CAN BE TRICKY. SO THE COUNTY MADE FUNNELS TO HELP OUT. SO THESE ARE OUR OLD SAFETY CONES THAT WE’VE HAD SITTING ON A SHELF. TURN THEM UPSIDE DOWN AND THEY MAKE A WONDERFUL FUNNEL. OFFICIALS SAY FUNNELING SAND TAKES LESS TIME THAN SHOVELING. SO THIS METHOD COULD GET THE LINE MOVING AND PEOPLE CAN GET HOME FASTER. TO MY SURPRISE, THE BAGS WEIGHED LESS THAN I EXPECTED BECAUSE THEY’RE NOT FILLED TO THE BRIM. THEY’RE MUCH EASIER TO PICK UP. THEY ARE ABOUT 10 TO 12 POUNDS EACH. IF YOU FILLED IT CORRECTLY, YOU’LL GET TEN SANDBAGS PER RESIDENT. TEN SANDBAGS CAN DO A LOT. THEY WILL TYPICALLY COVER THE AVERAGE SLIDING GLASS DOOR. THE FRONT OF A GARAGE DOOR. PLACEMENT IS KEY AND SO IS PROPER LAYERING. ONCE YOU PLACE THE SANDBAGS, YOU WANT TO STACK THEM IN 2 TO 3 LAYERS. MAKE SURE THAT NO WATER CAN SEEP THROUGH SO WE OFFSET THEM. WE GO STACK THEM OFFSET. SO YOU LAY YOUR FIRST FOUNDATION DOWN AND THEN YOU OFFSET ON TOP AND OVER ON TOP OF THE OTHER ONE. WHEN THE NEXT BIG STORM HEADS YOUR WAY, YOU CAN EXPECT FREE SANDBAG LOCATIONS TO OPEN IN JUST ABOUT EVERY CENTRAL FLORIDA COUNTY. WESH TWO IS COMMITTED TO HELPING YOU GET READY FOR WHATEVER COMES OUR WAY THIS HURRICANE SEASON. RIGHT NOW ON WESH.COM, YOU CAN FIND OUR 2025 HURRICANE SURVIVAL GUIDE. IT BREAKS DOWN IN DETAIL EVERYTHING YOU SHOULD DO BEFORE, DURING, AND AFTER A BIG STORM. AND IT’S FREE FROM THE WESH TWO NEWS AND FIRST WARNING WEATHER TEAM. THANKS FOR WATCHING. STAY SAFE THIS HURRICANE SEASON.

    Watches, warnings discontinued as Tropical Storm Jerry weakens

    Updated: 12:12 AM EDT Oct 11, 2025

    Editorial Standards ⓘ

    Tropical Storm Jerry is weakening in the Atlantic, according to the National Hurricane Center. >> Video above: A hurricane special from WESH 2All watches and warnings have been discontinued, the NHC said. Jerry was initially forecast to strengthen into a hurricane; however, the system is struggling and beginning to pull away from the Northern Leeward Islands. For parts of the northern Leeward Islands, the Virgin Islands, and eastern Puerto Rico, Jerry may result in an additional 1 to 2 inches of rain.This rainfall is not expected to cause any additional flash flooding concerns, NHC says. Maximum sustained winds: 60 mphMinimum central pressure: 1004 mb >> Subscribe to the WESH 2 YouTube channel Watches and Warnings All watches and warnings have been discontinued. Hurricane season 2025The Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1 through Nov. 30. Stay with WESH 2 online and on-air for the most accurate Central Florida weather forecast.>> More: 2025 Hurricane Survival GuideThe First Warning Weather team includes First Warning Chief Meteorologist Tony Mainolfi, Eric Burris, Marquise Meda and Cam Tran.>> 2025 hurricane season | WESH long-range forecast

    Tropical Storm Jerry is weakening in the Atlantic, according to the National Hurricane Center.

    >> Video above: A hurricane special from WESH 2

    All watches and warnings have been discontinued, the NHC said.

    Jerry was initially forecast to strengthen into a hurricane; however, the system is struggling and beginning to pull away from the Northern Leeward Islands.

    For parts of the northern Leeward Islands, the Virgin Islands, and eastern Puerto Rico, Jerry may result in an additional 1 to 2 inches of rain.

    This rainfall is not expected to cause any additional flash flooding concerns, NHC says.

    Maximum sustained winds: 60 mph

    Minimum central pressure: 1004 mb

    >> Subscribe to the WESH 2 YouTube channel

    Watches and Warnings

    All watches and warnings have been discontinued.

    Hurricane season 2025

    The Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1 through Nov. 30. Stay with WESH 2 online and on-air for the most accurate Central Florida weather forecast.

    >> More: 2025 Hurricane Survival Guide

    The First Warning Weather team includes First Warning Chief Meteorologist Tony Mainolfi, Eric Burris, Marquise Meda and Cam Tran.

    >> 2025 hurricane season | WESH long-range forecast

    Source link

  • Northwest Native Nations could lose hundreds of millions in federal funding, report says

    Lucy Suppah, a member of the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs, attends a protest in Madras on Saturday, April 5, 2025. (Photo by Julia Shumway/Oregon Capital Chronicle)

    A new report from Portland State University found that budget cuts under President Donald Trump’s new spending bill threaten nearly half of federal funding allocated to federally recognized Native American and Alaska Native nations last year.

    Roughly $530 million of the $1.19 billion allocated to Northwest tribal nations in fiscal year 2024 — used to fulfill the federal government’s trust and treaty obligations to Native American and Alaska Native tribes — is at risk of being cut. The congressionally allocated funds serve myriad functions for tribes in the Northwest, including providing clean drinking water, affordable housing, schools, transit and land management. Funding is decided by Congress on a yearly basis and can be disbursed over a period of time that exceeds the calendar year it is allocated.

    “All across the board tribes are worried about the funding cuts that are happening right now,” said Serina Fast Horse, who is Lakota and Blackfeet and serves as the co-director of the Northwest Environmental Justice Center, which provides grant application assistance and advising to Indigenous communities in the Northwest.

    Fast Horse says there are serious concerns among Northwest tribes about further cuts to vital programs ranging from health and wellness to early childhood education. The report warns of vulnerabilities to programs and grants that tribes rely on for resilience in the face of climate change, like improving home weatherization, managing forestland and renovating aging homes. Federal dollars to help Northwest tribes bolster their infrastructure against the increasing threats from wildfire, drought and sea-level rise could also be slashed.

    The Portland State report found millions in Clean Air Act funding could also go away — the Environmental Protection Agency earmarked nearly $2 million in 2024 for Northwest tribes in a series of grants for monitoring air quality and pollution. Much of the congressionally allocated funding has yet to be distributed to tribes and is now at risk of being cut altogether.

    The report demonstrates how proposed major reductions across the federal government, including at the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of the Interior and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association, could reverberate across Indian Country.

    Tribal officials shared concerns that drastic cuts could cause the federal government to fall short of trust and treaty obligations that mandate the federal government support tribal services, uphold tribal sovereignty and protect tribal treaty resources — responsibilities that courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court, have repeatedly upheld.

    “All the funding reductions addressing clean water, air and dealing with climate change have impacts on the Tribes’ culture and treaty protected resources,” said William E. Ray Jr., chair of the Klamath Tribes.

    Researchers declined to disclose specific projects at risk of elimination for fear of retaliation, and a number of tribes and tribal organizations declined to comment to InvestigateWest, citing similar concerns.

    “Trump and Congressional Republicans are wreaking havoc on Tribal communities with their ‘Big, Ugly BETRAYAL’ of a law that arbitrarily cuts many programs supporting folks in Indian Country, where chronic underfunding is already impacting services and exacerbating disparities,” said Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkley, a Democrat.

    He added that the federal government plays an outsized role in funding essential services to tribal communities, including health care, education and public safety, and that the Inflation Reduction Act took important steps in advancing funding for water infrastructure and environmental programs for tribes.

    In 2024, Clean Air Act related funds were used to fund 15 projects for 12 Northwest tribes. The Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation, the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, and the Tulalip Tribes are some of the Native American nations set to receive research grants for improving air quality and pollution monitoring. Among 12 tribes selected for funding, several of them focus on minimizing exposure to poor air quality and harmful pollutants to their elderly and medically vulnerable residents. Other tribes intend to study impacts of pollutants on important first foods — culturally significant staple foods consumed before colonization — that officials say are critical to improving health outcomes for their citizens.

    Researchers at PSU examined 469 programs impacted by President Trump’s reversal of former President Joe Biden’s Executive Order 14008, which sought to address climate change and created a number of environmental justice initiatives. Sixty of the programs identified by researchers were specifically named in the Republican-led spending bill for cuts, and 17 of those provided funding directly to tribes. The programs accounted for roughly 35% of all federal investments in tribes in 2024. The report says not all of the funding will be cut, but a significant portion of it could be.

    The cuts come at a time when Native Americans and Alaska Natives already have limited access to federal services and funds, according to a December 2024 report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office, a nonpartisan congressional watchdog. It found when tribes had to compete with other entities for federal funding, they may receive a small portion of the total amount, and that limited access to federal services and funds contributes to known disparities for Native Americans and Alaska Natives compared to other Americans.

    Of the $20.15 billion in federal funding that went to tribes between 2010 and 2024, tribes within the boundaries of Idaho received a total of $304.56 million, Washington tribes $1.81 billion, Oregon tribes $690.76 million, and Alaska Native tribes received $2.35 billion.

    Other programs at risk of being cut include the EPA’s embattled Environmental Justice Government-to-Government Program, which funded initiatives by states, tribes and local governments to support activities that lead to measurable environmental or public health impacts.

    Under that program, in 2023, the EPA awarded the Tulalip Tribes $977,000 to work in conjunction with the Confederated Tribes and Bands of Yakama Nation to create a tool to detect which homes are at greatest risk from wildfire smoke infiltration and dangerously hot weather, which are growing issues affecting both communities.

    While the federal government has repeatedly affirmed its obligations to tribes, actual allocations remain disproportionately small compared to population figures. In 2024, Native American tribes received just 1.7% of federal energy and environment spending, despite Native people making up 2.9% of the U.S. population.

    Between 2010 and 2024, tribes within the bounds of Idaho, Washington and Oregon received roughly $2.81 billion in federal investments in energy and environmental infrastructure, which represents roughly 14% of the $20 billion in allocations made to tribes nationwide.

    The researchers determined that programs funded under the Inflation Reduction Act, Biden’s 2022 climate, health and tax law, are at particular risk of being eliminated. The funding allocated to tribes under the IRA represented a historic investment in infrastructure in Indian Country, more than doubling energy and infrastructure investment from $1.51 billion nationwide to $3.94 billion in 2024, around .04% of total federal grant spending obligations for 2024.

    “When you put them in the context of how much money the federal government actually spends on certain things, it’s pennies on the dollar,” said Sophie Lalande, a co-author of the PSU report.

    Soon after taking office and without consulting Congress, the Trump administration suspended some grants that tribal communities used heavily, such as community change grants, distributed by the EPA’s Offices of Environmental Justice and of External Civil Rights Compliance during the Biden administration, to support climate resilience and clean energy. Distributed as a part of the Inflation Reduction Act, the grants were suspended as part of the Trump administration’s anti-diversity, equity and inclusion efforts.

    The grants helped tribal communities in the Northwest tremendously, according to Fast Horse.

    “They were providing hundreds of thousands of dollars to communities for infrastructure improvements, like access to clean drinking water and climate resilience hubs, just really essential pieces of community development for health and safety of communities,” she said.

    The report stresses a multiplier effect from investments made in tribal communities. Infrastructure dollars invested on tribal lands often serve as anchors for broader local development, since tribal lands often share regional infrastructure like power grids, roads or water systems with non-Native communities, with the power of dollars rippling outward into surrounding rural towns and cities.

    Bobby Cochran, a researcher with Portland State University and senior project manager at the National Policy Consensus Center, co-authored the report.

    “We just haven’t made a major investment in infrastructure since the ’60s or ’70s, so this wasn’t fluffy,” he said. “It’s really important stuff that was just trying to play catch-up.”

    InvestigateWest is an independent news nonprofit dedicated to investigative journalism in the Pacific Northwest. Visit investigatewest.org/newsletters to sign up for weekly updates.

    Source link

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

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

    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.

    Steve Scauzillo

    Source link

  • One of DC’s oldest veterinary hospitals to open 2nd location – WTOP News

    One of DC’s oldest veterinary hospitals to open 2nd location – WTOP News

    Friendship Hospital for Animals, whose original location opened in 1936, is opening a second location in Friendship Heights in D.C. 

    Friendship Hospital for Animals, whose original location opened in 1936, is opening a second location in Friendship Heights in D.C.

    CLICK TO ENLARGE: A rendering of Friendship Hospital for Animals’ new location. The 30,000-square-foot location is much larger and will open in November. (Courtesy Friendship Hospital for Animals)

    The new location, expected to open this fall at 5025 Wisconsin Ave. NW, is just a half-mile from its main location at 4105 Brandywine St. NW. The main location will continue to provide primary care, rehab and other pet care services.

    The new, 30,000-square-foot location is much larger and will open in November. The facility, open 24 hours a day, will provide emergency services, dermatology, cardiology and expanded specialty care services, including radiation oncology, nephrology and urology.

    For surgeries, there’s also an operating room equipped with advanced technology for minimally invasive procedures.

    Friendship Hospital for Animals is a member of EVG Specialty Network, which has partnerships with other veterinary clinics in Florida, New York, Tennessee and North Carolina.

    Friendship Hospital for Animals is one of the largest in the mid-Atlantic, with more than 80 veterinarians. In 2020, it merged with Encore Vet Group. EVG Specialty Network is headed by CEO Kieran Mara, who has been with Friendship Hospital for Animals for 25 years.

    Get breaking news and daily headlines delivered to your email inbox by signing up here.

    © 2024 WTOP. All Rights Reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.

    Jeff Clabaugh

    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

    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).

    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

    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.

    Steve Scauzillo

    Source link

  • 10 displaced in Northwest DC fire, officials say – WTOP News

    10 displaced in Northwest DC fire, officials say – WTOP News

    Ten people are out of their homes after an apartment fire in the District’s Adams-Morgan neighborhood Sunday afternoon.

    D.C. Fire and EMS responded to an apartment building on fire in the 2400 block of 17th Street Northwest in Washington, D.C. on April 21, 2024.
    (Courtesy, DC Fire and EMS)

    Courtesy, DC Fire and EMS

    D.C. Fire and EMS responded to an apartment building on fire in the 2400 block of 17th Street Northwest in Washington, D.C. on April 21, 2024.
    (Courtesy, DC Fire and EMS)

    Courtesy, DC Fire and EMS

    D.C. Fire and EMS responded to an apartment building on fire in the 2400 block of 17th Street Northwest in Washington, D.C. on April 21, 2024.
    (Courtesy, DC Fire and EMS)

    Courtesy, DC Fire and EMS

    D.C. Fire and EMS responded to an apartment building on fire in the 2400 block of 17th Street Northwest in Washington, D.C. on April 21, 2024.
    (Courtesy, DC Fire and EMS)

    Courtesy, DC Fire and EMS

    Ten people are out of their homes after an apartment fire in the District’s Adams-Morgan neighborhood Sunday afternoon.

    D.C. Fire says it got the call around 3 p.m. for a reported blaze in the 2400 block of 17th Street Northwest between.

    Reports say smoke was coming from a second-floor bedroom when fire crews arrived on the scene.

    Officials evacuated the building and quickly put the fire under control. Euclid Street and Kalorama Road, which were closed to traffic while first responders fought the fire, reopened to traffic at around 9:30 p.m.

    No injuries were reported, though there was some damage to the structure. Officials say the seven adults, three children and one dog displaced after the fire are getting help from Red Cross.

    Officials haven’t shared what caused the fire.

    An approximate location of the incident is included below.

    WTOP’s Ivy Lyons contributed to this report.

    Get breaking news and daily headlines delivered to your email inbox by signing up here.

    © 2024 WTOP. All Rights Reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.

    Ivy Lyons

    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

    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.

    Steve Scauzillo

    Source link

  • Meet Emma + August: The New Handmade Designer Shop With Glowing Gold Artwork

    Meet Emma + August: The New Handmade Designer Shop With Glowing Gold Artwork

    The new brand launches this week with The Essential Home Collection featuring metallic gold art prints.

    Press Release
    –

    Oct 3, 2016


    Seattle, WA, October 3, 2016 (Newswire.com)
    –
    Emma + August is proud to announce The Essential Home Collection, set to premiere on October 7th, 2016. This 10-piece collection features radiant gold foil art prints with real shine. Each print is meticulously handcrafted by life-long artist and shop creator, Em Marshall. Em uses high quality matte paper made with renewable energy from responsibly managed forests. When asked about her creation process Em said, “I use unique mixed media techniques, lots of love, and my own two hands. My inspiration for this collection comes from the desire to help others create a positive and blissful home. I love to work with gold because it’s both modern and timeless.” Em’s much anticipated limited edition original, “Her,” a self-portrait in rose gold, is expected to sell out.

    Shoppers will enjoy the new Emma + August golden maps, now introducing yellow gold and rose gold world map prints, ideal for any room or office. Emma + August is also releasing detailed city map prints from around the world. It’s starting now with The Pacific Northwest, featuring Seattle, WA; Portland, OR; and Vancouver, BC, as well as a European limited edition set of Rome, Paris, and Prague. Em explains, “These golden city maps were designed with the idea in mind that now, you can take your favorite cities home with you.” ​

    “I use unique mixed media techniques, lots of love, and my own two hands. My inspiration for this collection comes from the desire to help others create a positive and blissful home. I love to work with gold because it’s both modern and timeless.”

    Em Marshall, Owner of Emma + August

    Other pieces in The Essential Home Collection include a four-piece Botanical Set featuring the rose, iris, orchid, and poppy; a three-piece Sea Creatures Set with vintage sketches of the turtle, lobster, and crab, a Hops Sketch for beer lovers, an American Bison print, a Good Vibes Only sign, and a Record Player print, all in alluring metallic gold foil. Shoppers have the choice of a clean and chic white and gold print, or a bold and powerful black and gold print. 

    Contact:

    Em Marshall

    585-208-9001

    em@emmaandaugust.com

    EmmaAndAugust.Etsy.com

    About Emma + August

    Emma + August is a new lifestyle brand out of Seattle, Washington specializing in handmade gold foil prints for positive minds and blissful homes. 

    Source: Emma + August

    Source link