District

Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. George Gascón is expected to advance to a November runoff, but it’s too early to tell who his challenger will be. Although polls show Gascón has grown deeply unpopular with a significant portion of L.A. County residents, polls and local political observers have suggested that his strong progressive base will carry him out of a crowded primary field replete with challengers who spent more time attacking him than they did defining their own candidacies. Four years after taking office on a…

Virtually every challenger has said they will reverse the sweeping policy changes Gascón enacted on his first day in office, but the planned implementation varies on such a walk back. Hochman, Hatami, Milton and McKinney have said they would either erase all of the district attorney’s policies or begin their terms as the “exact opposite of George Gascón.” Hochman has accused Gascón of ushering in “the golden age of criminals,” and Milton claimed the district attorney is part of a broader national attempt to “destroy our…

The Department of Education has launched an investigation into the death of Oklahoma teenager Nex Benedict, who died on Feb. 6 — one day after getting into a fight in the school’s girls bathroom. Friends and family said Benedict, who was 16 years old, used he and him pronouns as well as they and them pronouns. Relatives of the 10th-grader said Benedict had been bullied over their gender identity. His death has drawn national attention as activists and trans students have blamed the state’s antagonistic policies…

Los Angeles school board candidate Graciela Ortiz has been removed from her job as an L.A. Unified counseling administrator pending a confidential investigation, school district officials confirmed, leading a school-employees union to withdraw its endorsement of her for the March 5 election.The investigation was launched after a civil lawsuit was filed alleging Ortiz and a political ally are liable for the actions of a campaign worker, who pleaded no contest to sexual misconduct with an underage volunteer. Both the…

Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain If you are an educator or a parent, you have likely already seen many ways in which "the kids are not alright." Mounting evidence shows that the mental health of American youth has been declining for at least a decade. During the pandemic, it took an even sharper downturn. The Centers for Disease Control and…

Gang crime spurred residents living near Mid-City in the 1980s to erect gates to separate their tree-lined Los Angeles neighborhood from a stretch of Pico Boulevard.Today, the gates act as a barrier between Pico’s auto shops, beauty salons and low-rise apartment buildings and Country Club Park, a neighborhood to the north that’s known for its Craftsman and Tudor Revival homes and expansive lawns.Country Club Park residents say the gates create a pleasant, park-like area that draws dog-walkers and strollers from across…

George Gascón was elected Los Angeles County district attorney in 2020, a convulsive year in which Americans’ lives were upended by the pandemic and public confidence in the criminal justice system was shaken by the murder of George Floyd. The latter led to a reckoning over racial inequity in arrests, prosecutions and punishment. Voters wanted Gascón to set a corrective course in the nation’s largest local jurisdiction while keeping people safe.He is doing what he promised, and doing it well, despite intense and…

If you have a fireplace in Southern California, experts are asking you not to use it. A no-burn alert has been extended at least through Wednesday as much of the region sits beneath an atmospheric soup of haze and pollutants.The alert was issued Monday by the South Coast Air Quality Management District for the non-desert parts of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties. The alert bans any burning of wood or manufactured fire logs made of wax or paper due to poor air quality in the region.Current…

Donald Trump, his close allies, and attorneys are exploring ways to weaponize recent, unverified claims that Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis has engaged in an “improper relationship” with a special prosecutor working for her.  Though the veracity of the allegations is unknown, Trumpland is already discussing different ideas for marshaling considerable resources to try and dig up even more dirt on, among other things, Willis’ “sex life and… her money” in an effort to shut down the criminal case against…

Samsung has announced that in order to elevate the customer experience visiting the Gangnam-daero district in Korea, the company will partner with popular brands. Notably, this move is also aimed at taking the lead in revitalizing the Gangnam-daero district. The world's largest chipmaker will provide ‘Play Pass', a coupon book that will give access to offers at various partner stores in Samsung Gangnam. Customers visiting Samsung Gangnam can avail discounts and offers using the ‘Play Pass' from December 4. The ‘Play…