City of Industry fires its boss a month after failing to find the votes
Pasadena Star News' JASON HENRY: "The City of Industry fired its top employee on Tuesday morning, roughly a month after a previous attempt to terminate him failed."
"The City Council voted unanimously to end City Manager Paul Philips’ contract on the second attempt, with council members Mark Radecki, Abraham Cruz and Catherine Marcucci — who all opposed firing him Jan. 25 — now supporting the decision."
"The city has been rife with controversy. Philips is the fourth high-profile dismissal in the last month. In January, the City Council fired reform monitor William Lockyer, City Clerk William Morrow and Anthony Bouza, an attorney working on efforts to expand the city’s utility."
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Living near oil wells can cause health problems, LA County believes it has solutions
SGV Tribune's STEVE SCAUZILLO: "More protections are needed for residents living in close proximity to thousands of oil and gas wells releasing toxic air contaminants near homes, schools and playgrounds in dense, low-income neighborhoods, according to a report released Tuesday by the Los Angeles County Department of Health."
"If nothing is done, more than 300 chemicals used to extract harder-to-reach oil and gas reserves beneath urban Los Angeles “present public health concerns, ranging from respiratory health effects to development of cancer,” the county department reported."
"There are 3,468 active oil wells in the county, 880 of which operate in the city of Los Angeles. Some are located as close as 60 to 100 feet from residential front doors. The closer they are, the greater the potential for negative health effects, the report states, including exposure to benzene, a known carcinogen, and hydrogen sulfide, a compound that smells like rotten eggs and can cause gastrointestinal sickness."
READ MORE related to Energy & Environment: Cold Alaskan storm bringing rain and snow to SoCal -- City News Service; Winter's biggest storm headed for NorCal -- The Chronicle's SOPHIE HAIGNEY; California's pollution cops crack down on big rigs. That might start a fight with Trump -- Sacramento Bee's DALE KASLER; Sacramento's new bike trail through SLP clears major hurdle toward 2021 opening -- Sacramento Bee's TONY BIZJAK; Sierra travel trouble: Four days of heavy, low snow -- Sacramento Bee's CATHY LOCKE; Where's my water meter? Sacramento has installed 100,000 but many households still without -- Sacramento Bee's ELLEN GARRISON; Authorities recommend evacuations in parts of Santa Barbara County ahead of storm -- LA Times' ALENE TCHEKMEDYIAN; Puerto Rico deaths related to Hurricane Maria continued for months after the storm, data suggest -- LA Times' MILTON CARRERO; Endangered winter-run salmon find Tehama County creeks useful -- Redding Record Searchlight's DAMON ARTHUR; Betting on Blockchain to put truly sustainable seafood on dinner plates -- Oceans Deeply's JESSICA LEBER; How much snow next winter? It may not remain a mystery much longer -- Water Deeply's MATT WEISER
LA County supervisors seek to expand program that aims to reduce school shootings
LA Times' MELISSA ETEHAD: "The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Tuesday to pursue expansion of a county program designed to prevent school shootings."
"The proposal, written by Supervisors Janice Hahn and Kathryn Barger, asks mental health professionals and law enforcement officials to report back to the board with options on how to bolster the School Threat Assessment Response Team."
"Hahn said that until Congress takes action to curb gun violence, schools in L.A. County are at risk."
Pasadena could allow 6 marijuana dispensaries in Old Pasadena and elsewhere if voters back this initiative
SGV Tribune's JASON HENRY: "If an initiative backed by the City Council finds voter support this June, Pasadena could see its first legal marijuana dispensary in its historic downtown."
"The City Council is asking voters to support a series of regulations that would allow a maximum of six dispensaries, four growers and four testing laboratories within the city limits. A map showing the few eligible locations includes large portions of Old Pasadena, the city’s popular downtown district."
"Council members rushed to get the initiative on the June 2018 ballot to cut off more permissive regulations being floated by advocates."
Applications for California grants to undocumented college students lag as officials encourage more
EdSource's LARRY GORDON: "With a March 2 deadline looming, California education officials are once again urging undocumented students to overcome any fears and to apply for the special state aid that helps cover their college tuition."
"As of Tuesday, Feb. 27, the total number of applicants for the California Dream Act grants was 25,656, which was 491 more than the same day last year. But another 10,476 applications must be filed by midnight Friday to match the deadline numbers from 2017. So officials are worried that might not be possible given the political climate about immigration."
“I’m incredibly concerned,” said Lupita Cortez Alcalá, executive director of the California Student Aid Commission (CSAC), the state agency that administers the Dream Act grants and other financial aid to California students."
Counties slow to spend millionaires' money on mental health
Sacramento Bee's ADAM ASHTON: "California counties are sitting on money from a special tax on millionaires that should be spent on mental health programs, but the state isn’t moving fast enough to reclaim the funds, according to a state audit released on Tuesday."
"California State Auditor Elaine Howle found that county mental health programs had stashed $231 million from the tax that should have been returned to the state by the end of the 2015-16 budget year."
"That's on top of $535 million that counties said they held in reserves for their mental health programs that year, according to the audit. All together, local governments had $2.5 billion on hand to spend in 2015-16"
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SoCal home prices jump 11.4% amid tight listings
OC Register's JEFF COLLINS: "Last year’s sizzling housing market spilled into January, with home prices rising at the fastest pace in 3½ years, new CoreLogic figures show."
"The median price of a Southern California home — or the price at the midpoint of all sales — was $507,000 last month, just $2,500 shy of the all-time high reached in December, the Irvine-based real estate data firm reported Tuesday, Feb. 27."
"That’s up 11.4 percent from the January 2017 median, the highest appreciation rate since May 2014. By comparison, the average price gain over the past two years was 6.7 percent."
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50 years later, have levels of inequality changed? Not really, new report says
AP's RUSSELL CONTRERAS: "Barriers to equality pose threats to democracy in the U.S. as the country remains segregated along racial lines and child poverty worsens, according to study made public Tuesday that examines the nation 50 years after the release of the landmark 1968 Kerner Report."
"The new report blames U.S. policymakers and elected officials, saying they’re not doing enough to heed the warning on deepening poverty and inequality that was highlighted by the Kerner Commission five decades ago and it lists areas where the country has seen “a lack of or reversal of progress."
“Racial and ethnic inequality is growing worse. We’re resegregating our housing and schools again,” former Democratic U.S. Sen. Fred Harris of Oklahoma, a co-editor of the new report and the last surviving member of the original Kerner Commission created by President Lyndon Johnson in 1967. “There are far more people who are poor now than was true 50 years ago. Inequality of income is worse.”
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California man arrested in bid to fight along Islamic State in Africa
The Chronicle's KURTIS ALEXANDER: "A 20-year-old Central Valley man was arrested on suspicion of traveling to Africa in a bid to fight alongside the Islamic State terrorist group, federal officials said Tuesday."
"Bernard Raymond Augustine, a resident of the small farming community of Keyes south of Modesto, was picked up by FBI agents in Tunisia last week and transported to New York, where he was expected to make an appearance Tuesday in federal court, documents show."
"Augustine faces a charge of attempting to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization. He remains in federal custody. The charge carries a potential 20-year prison sentence."
ADL: America saw biggest jump in anti-semitism in nearly 40 years
OC Register's DEEPA BHARATH: "Nazi chants at Charlottesville; swastikas on parked cars in Long Beach; death threats in Newport Beach — all happened last year, and all were part of the biggest surge in anti-Semitic actions in the United States in nearly 40 years, according to data compiled by the Anti-Defamation League."
"Leaders of the nonprofit that tracks Antisemitism suggested the upturn is a reflection of the nation’s political climate."
“There’s just a lot of divisive rhetoric,” said Amanda Susskind, the ADL’s regional director in Los Angeles."
Trump aide Hope Hicks clams up on WH role during House hearing in Russia inquiry
LA Times' CHRIS MEGERIAN: "White House Communications Director Hope Hicks declined Tuesday to answer questions from the House Intelligence Committee about her work since President Trump was inaugurated."
"That means Hicks wouldn’t talk about the drafting of a controversial statement about a meeting at Trump Tower between Donald Trump Jr., the president’s oldest son, and a Russian lawyer offering political dirt on Hillary Clinton during the 2016 campaign."
"The statement, issued last July when news of the June 2016 meeting came to light, falsely said the meeting was about adoption policies."
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Upset over a US missile defense system, China hits South Korea where it hurts -- in the wallet
LA Times' MATT STILES: "The bustling Myeongdong neighborhood has long been this city’s most-visited tourist spot, a place where foreign shoppers fill rolling suitcases with South Korea’s coveted cosmetics, clothing and electronics."
"But over the last year even the street vendors have noticed a steep decline in sales."
"There aren’t as many tourists to attract in the streets,” said 38-year-old Park Jeong-soo, who sells chicken skewers from a cart. “It was the worst at the end of last year."
