What to expect: Sunny and warmer temperatures for today.
Read on ... for more details.
It's going to be a warm Wednesday here in Southern California.
Overcast skies will be more present along the coast this morning, followed by a mostly sunny afternoon. Temperatures along the beaches will reach the upper 60s to mid 70s for the inland coast.
Meanwhile, over in the valleys, temperatures will rise up to the mid 70s and low 80s, up to 85 degrees in the Inland Empire. Coachella Valley will be sunny with temperatures ranging from 92 to 97 degrees.
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At least seven wildfires burning around Southern California are sending smoke into some parts of the region. The South Coast Air Quality Management District has extended a smoke advisory through 4:30 p.m. Wednesday.
What does a smoke advisory mean? Local health officials send out warnings when the air quality is unhealthy. The advisories encourage people to avoid outdoor activities and take other steps to limit contact with smoky air.
Where are the fires? Wildfires are burning in Ventura, San Diego, Riverside, Santa Barbara and L.A. counties. You can keep tabs on the fires on the CalFire website.
Read on ... for more ways to protect yourself and your family.
At least seven wildfires burning around Southern California are sending smoke across the region. The South Coast Air Quality Management District has extended a smoke advisory warning of unhealthy air through 4:30 p.m. Wednesday.
Local health officials send out warnings when the air quality is unhealthy. The advisories encourage people to avoid outdoor activities and take other steps to limit contact with smoky air.
Wildfires are burning in Ventura, San Diego, Riverside, Santa Barbara and L.A. counties. You can keep tabs on the fires on the CalFire website.
Wildfire smoke is generally worse for your health than the kind of “garden variety urban pollution” Angelenos are used to, said Suzanne Paulson, an atmospheric chemist at UCLA. But air quality depends on where you live, and might change from hour to hour. The good news is that low-cost air quality sensors have made it easier to find out just how bad the air is in your neck of the woods. You can check PurpleAir, Clarity, and IQAir for real-time data on pollution levels, often down to the neighborhood level.
Staying indoors in the best way to avoid bad air pollution, Paulson said. You can also try to avoid the worst areas. “So for example, I ride my bike to work. I regularly look at the map and see if the air quality is OK, and sometimes I even change my route,” Paulson said.
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An Eaton Fire survivor is turning the site of her former home into an immersive art space this weekend.
Why now? Artist Kelly Akashi will be presenting sculptures using remnants left behind from the fire. Her work will be accompanied by artist Phil Peters, who's been recording the sounds of debris removal from Akashi’s property, including nearby rebuilding, compiled into a three-hour soundscape. Their project called Field Set, presented by the Los Angeles Nomadic Division (LAND), will be available for the public to view this Saturday and Sunday.
What’s it about: “ I really wanted to make the destruction mean something positive and hopeful for myself and for my community,” said Akashi. She used natural elements to create the sculptures and will even show a community garden she’s been working on and the chimney of her home, now turned into a sculpture called “Witness,” that was left standing.
The immersion: While viewers get to see the sculptures, they’ll also hear recordings of debris removal and rebuilding that Peters has been collecting for a year. He used subterranean microphones for the project and constructed large-scale subwoofers, a type of speaker, that will be used to play the recordings. “ We play back these sounds that are recorded there, the sort of memory of the demolition of the house,” Peters said. “But when we play them back, it creates sympathetic resonance, vibrations in our body that link body to ground, body to structure.”
Where you can see it: The event is free, but you’ll have to RSVP at this link to get the details of the location. It starts at 2 p.m. Special music performances will follow.
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The city of Santa Ana shaved a multi-million dollar budget deficit down to $85. Proposed cuts are planned for several city departments.
What’s on the chopping block? Cuts are being made to after-school programming, park maintenance and vacant job positions.
What’s next? The city will host a public hearing to go over the budget draft on June 2.
Read on … for what cuts could be made to balance the budget.
The city of Santa Ana is just $85 short of closing what started as a $13 million budget deficit. On the chopping block: after-school programming, park maintenance and more.
The city manager’s office presented another round of cuts to balance the budget at yesterday’s City Council meeting. Officials reported that the current proposal avoids layoffs and furloughs. Most of the cuts will come from the Public Works Department at more than $3 million.
The Police Department is seeing a proposed $2 million in cuts, but could still be allocated $4 million more than last year, according to the budget draft.
The city is looking to cut 20 vacant full-time positions and reduce part-time spending.
Five non-mandated commissions will also be dissolved, including the youth, parks and recreation, and arts and culture commissions. The move will save the city nearly $28,000.
Ambulance services will be cut down from a 24-hour unit to a 12-hour unit, saving $250,000, and fees will increase.
At a City Council meeting earlier this month, officials reported that the city’s revenue increased by 3% compared to last year, but spending is up 6%, with hikes in labor and pension/liability costs.
The Santa Ana Police Athletic and Activity League, also known as PAAL, costs the city more than $877,000, about 80% of which goes toward salaries for its current fiscal budget.
PAAL costs the city about $5,400 per child, compared to youth programs run by the Parks and Recreation Department, which cost about $100 per kid.
PAAL’s after-school and summer programs serve 87 children, and more than 200 are mentored and coached through its sports programming. The program’s budget will be slashed by about half.
Councilmember Johnathan Ryan Hernandez said this move should not be seen as a cut to youth services.
“Through this new proposed recommendation, we’ll reinstate exercise instruction at four different elementary schools, and we will increase the services from 228 children to 2,200 children,” Hernandez said. “We are not cutting youth services, we're actually adding youth services while saving money for our city.”
Mayor Valerie Amezcua said the library and parks departments can do the same programs, but not the way PAAL does.
“I just want to make sure whatever cuts we're making, that we continue to include our Police Department. To me, that's very important for the public trust,” Amezcua said.
The city isn’t completely in the clear when it comes to its finances. Measure X, a voter-approved sales tax, will be reduced in 2029, resulting in the loss of at least $30 million in annual revenue before completely expiring in 2039. The City Council, aside from Councilmembers David Penaloza and Jessie Lopez, has supported asking voters if the tax should be made permanent.
A public hearing to review the drafted budget will be held on June 2. Details will be posted on the city’s website.
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At least 20 detainees have launched a hunger strike at Desert View Annex, an immigrant detention center in Adelanto, California, where about 400 people are being held.
Why it matters: On top of squalid conditions, detainees say they must often wait several months to see the doctor and that they’re fed cold, unsanitary food. Detainees also say staff use solitary confinement to retaliate against those who speak out against these conditions, and to isolate detainees who are experiencing mental health crises.
Why now: The strike follows the recent release of a report from the California Department of Justice. The report details how the surge in immigrant apprehensions strained conditions and access to medical care at all of the facilities operating in California. State investigators also describe the recent deaths of multiple detainees.
What the federal government says: In an emailed statement, an unnamed Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said: “There is no hunger strike at Adelanto.” The department also added: “For the record: During hunger strikes, ICE continues to provide three meals a day, delivered to the detained alien’s room, and an adequate supply of drinking water or other beverages.”
What's next: Earlier this year, a coalition of immigrant rights groups filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of detainees, calling for conditions at Adelanto to be improved. The coalition has since requested an emergency court order to prevent further harm. A hearing is scheduled for July 10.
Go deeper: 'Being here breaks people': Inside solitary confinement at Adelanto
At least 20 detainees have launched a hunger strike at Desert View Annex, an immigrant detention center in Adelanto, California, where about 400 people are being held.
At a news conference Wednesday, immigrant rights groups, including the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights, said the strikers were motivated by the detention center’s inadequate response to life-threatening health conditions among detainees, “decreasing portions of food” as commissary prices rise and “retaliation and suppression” against those who’ve spoken out against conditions inside. The media event included family members and legal representatives, who described hearing from detainees about how the hunger strike began.
The strike follows the recent release of a critical report from the California Department of Justice. Grounded in interviews with 194 detainees across the state, the report details how the surge in immigrant apprehensions strained conditions and access to medical care at all of the facilities operating in California. State investigators also described the recent deaths of multiple detainees.
The annex strikers’ demands include:
Desert View Annex is operated by The GEO Group, a private prison company, under contract with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. No one at the press conference could confirm whether any detainees at the main Adelanto detention facility were on a hunger strike, too.
In response to a request for comment, The GEO Group referred LAist to the federal government. In an emailed statement, an unnamed Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said: “There is no hunger strike at Adelanto.”
The department also added: “For the record: During hunger strikes, ICE continues to provide three meals a day, delivered to the detained alien’s room, and an adequate supply of drinking water or other beverages.”
The department also said: “It is a longstanding practice to provide comprehensive medical care from the moment an alien enters ICE custody. This includes medical, dental, and mental health services as available, and access to medical appointments and 24-hour emergency care. For many illegal aliens this is the best healthcare they have received their entire lives.”
Caleb Soto, an attorney with the National Day Labor Organizing Network, represents people currently detained at the Adelanto detention center. He said he goes inside the facility every week.
“I watch [detainees] deteriorate week by week,” he said. “The food they're given ... provides almost no nutrition. Medical appointments can take weeks or even months to be approved, and often last 60 seconds ending with the prescription of Tylenol, Advil or even a salt packet. People with serious conditions go untreated, and I've watched people age in front of me in a matter of months.”
Soto also described his experience with the bond system. “Discretionary releases have fallen 87%,” he said. “And for those who do get a bond hearing, the average bond is now over $14,000, which is a stark increase from the previous administration.”
Detainees have filed grievances, raised formal complaints and written officials about the conditions they’re experiencing, Soto added. “A hunger strike is not a first resort," he said. "It's what people do when every other option has been taken from them.”
Detainees say staff use solitary confinement to retaliate against those who speak out against these conditions, and to isolate detainees who are experiencing mental health crises.
Earlier this year, a coalition of immigrant rights groups filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of detainees, calling for conditions at Adelanto to be improved. The coalition has since requested an emergency court order to prevent further harm. A hearing is scheduled for July 10.
