Ridley-Thomas supports gang plan
Urges ‘urgent’ adoption of countywide violence reduction strategy
Los Angeles, CA – Describing the public safety concerns about gang violence in his district as “urgent,” Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas Tuesday urged approval of the County’s long-awaited plan to deal with gang violence.
After much discussion and revisions to add additional demonstration sites to the plan, the County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved the proposed Countywide Gangs and Violence Reduction Strategy that will include pilot projects in the Florence/Firestone area of the Second Supervisorial District, as well as Pacoima, Harbor Gateway and Monrovia-Duarte areas.
“I believe that we have to lock in on the notion that this matter is urgent,” Ridley-Thomas said. “Prevention has to be aggressive; intervention has to be far more creative than it’s been in past efforts; and suppression has to be proactive.”
Ridley-Thomas added, “A comprehensive look needs to be taken at how we deal with the issue of at-risk youth and the culture of gang violence that has left many communities virtually paralyzed.”
Once success has been established at the demonstration sites, the programs are expected to be expanded throughout the county. The strategy also includes the creation of the Los Angeles County Gang Prevention, Intervention and Suppression Coordination and the creation of one new staff position and staffing support from various county departments. The plan will bring together regional agencies to suppress gang violence, while attacking its cause development.
“Over the next 120 days, we need to talk specifically about our goals, targets, objectives, and deliverables, that we are moving toward. Many entities have a role to play. Everyone has to own this problem. It is a crisis. The matter is urgent and we should not treat it as it is routine,” said Ridley-Thomas.
Despite the fact that a record 1.13 million individuals in Los Angeles County received CalFresh benefits in January 2013, there are still many residents in immediate need of assistance who are unaware that they may be eligible for the benefit.
Consequently, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors has voted to launch another campaign reminding people that May is CalFresh Awareness Month and that the help is available.
Additionally, the compaign is designed to promote healthier food choices in the nation’s largest and most diverse county.
LOS ANGELES, Calif. — Standard home sales — the kind involving non-distressed properties — rose to a 5-year high last month, and pending home sales climbed nearly 15 percent above the previous month, the California Association of Realtors reported today.
LOS ANGELES, Calif. — The average price of a gallon of self-serve regular gasoline in Los Angeles County dropped to its lowest amount since Feb. 1 today, decreasing four-tenths of a cent to $3.954.
The average price has dropped 47 times in 48 days, falling 34.6 cents over that span, including seven-tenths of a cent on Sunday, according to figures from the AAA and Oil Price Information Service.
As the nation slowly emerges from the Great Recession, the economic numbers for the Antelope Valley show a much higher rate of sustained unemployment and devalued housing prices in both Lancaster and Palmdale.
The five-year economic downturn saw much of the area’s the job losses come from the construction industry and retail sales. At the beginning of the year, Lancaster had an unemployment rate of 14.4 percent while Palmdale fared better at 11.1 percent. In 2008 the two cities lost a little fewer than 1,000 jobs combined, according to a 2009 report.
LOS ANGELES, Calif.—The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in Los Angeles County increased to 10.4 percent in January, up from a revised 10.3 percent in December, the state Employment Development Department announced today.
The 10.4 percent unemployment rate was below the 11.6 percent rate in January 2012, according to the EDD.
In Orange County, where seasonally adjusted numbers were not available, the unemployment rate was 7.1 percent in January.
