Category: Los Angeles

LA City Councilors Explore Special Election for Nury Martinez’s Former Seat

LOS ANGELES—Three Los Angeles City Council members signed onto a motion Oct. 18 calling for a special election to fill the Sixth District seat vacated by Nury Martinez’s resignation for her involvement in the City Hall audio leak scandal. The motion was presented by Councilors Monica Rodriguez and Mitch O’Farrell and seconded by Councilwoman Nithya…


Los Angeles County Supervisors Vote to Support Women in Iran

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors unanimously passed a motion to support women’s rights in Iran and Iranian protesters abroad as well as within the county in a 5–0 vote Oct. 18. The move comes after the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini last month at the hands of Iranian morality police for improperly wearing…


LA County to Supply Libraries With Narcan to Prevent Overdose

LOS ANGELES—The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a proposal Oct. 18 to place the overdose-reversal drug naloxone, or Narcan, at county libraries and train librarians on how to administer it. “Narcan is easy to use, anyone can carry it, and it saves lives,” Supervisor Janice Hahn, who introduced the motion, said in…


LA Port Reports Spike in Emissions During Cargo Ship Backups

The backup of cargo ships waiting to deliver goods to the Port of Los Angeles last year caused a spike in greenhouse gas emissions, a new study shows. In 2021, the port recorded a 39-percent increase in greenhouse gases, which include carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and fluorinated gases. These gases trap heat in the…


LA County Labor Federation Investigating Who Leaked Audio of Officials

The Los Angeles County Labor Federation is investigating the recent leak of a racially charged conversation that sent political shockwaves reaching all the way to the White House and sparking local protests for the involved city councilors to resign. The taped conversation—which reportedly happened at an office of the Labor Federation in October 2021—captured LA…


Election Software CEO Surrenders to LA Authorities; Prosecutors Allege ‘Massive Data Breach’

LOS ANGELES—Los Angeles prosecutors on Oct. 14 accused the CEO of a Michigan-based election software company of being involved in a “massive” data breach affecting several thousand victims, including minors. Eugune Yu, 64, who heads Konnech, a company that provides software to electoral districts for the management of poll workers, was charged with the felony…


Biden Tours LA Metro Subway Construction Site, Touts Infrastructure Funding

LOS ANGELES—President Joe Biden paid a visit to a Metro subway construction site in West Los Angeles Oct. 13, touting federal investments in the nation’s infrastructure and saying the dollars will support projects across the Southland, including transit improvements for Los Angeles International Airport and the ports. Overlooking the future Metro D (Purple) Line subway…


LA City Council Canceled Friday Meeting as de Leon, Cedillo Defy Calls to Resign

LOS ANGELES—Los Angeles City Council canceled its Friday, Oct. 14, meeting, with Acting Council President Mitch O’Farrell saying on Oct. 13 the “people’s business cannot be conducted” until Kevin de León and Gil Cedillo resign their council seats. The two councilors were included in a recorded October 2021 conversation in which racially disparaging statements were…


Brother of Ex-LA City Councilman José Huizar Agrees to Plead Guilty

LOS ANGELES—The brother of former Los Angeles City Councilman José Huizar—who faces federal racketeering charges stemming from an alleged pay-to-play scheme—admitted in a plea agreement filed Oct. 12 that he took cash from his brother on numerous occasions and immediately wrote checks back to him or arranged to pay his expenses, then lied about his…


Nury Martinez Resigns From LA City Council Amid Outrage Over Leaked Audio

Los Angeles City Councilwoman Nury Martinez resigned from her council seat Oct. 12 after the recent leak of a recorded conversation from a year ago made her the center of a political firestorm that’s sweeping through the second-largest city in the United States. “It is with a broken heart that I resign my seat for…