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Summer heat is here, which means heat alerts are in effect for cities in the Orange County basin and the Inland Empire.
While this is not record-breaking heat, exercising outdoors in these areas will be dangerous.
Fortunately, the winds aren’t too strong, but that doesn’t mean brush fires cannot erupt.
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Today’s Big Stories
1. 16 arrested in immigration enforcement near MacArthur Park
Following a recent federal court’s ruling that limited immigration enforcement in SoCal, federal agents were spotted Wednesday morning picking up people in Los Angeles’ Westlake neighborhood.
Images from the scene by Union del Barrio, an immigrants rights group, showed a white van and a Penske truck packed with federal agents.
The agents descended at 7 a.m. at a Home Depot parking lot about three blocks from MacArthur Park. Images showed abandoned street vendor stands.
Acting U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli posted on X confirming the enforcement in the area will continue. He also confirmed that 16 people were arrested during the operation.
“For those who thought immigration enforcement had stopped in Southern California, think again,” Essayli said. “The enforcement of federal law is not negotiable, and there are no sanctuaries from the reach of the federal government.”
2. LA City Council advances guaranteed income program
The Los Angeles City Council Wednesday allocated $2 million for a new guaranteed income pilot program intended to serve survivors of domestic violence and foster youth.
In a unanimous vote, council members requested that the city controller transfer $1 million each from two accounts associated with Council Districts 9 and 13 for the program, known as Supporting Transitional-Aged Youth and Survivors in Achieving Financial Empowerment, or STAY SAFE.
Council members Curren Price and Hugo Soto-Martinez, who represent Council Districts 9 and 13, respectively, led the effort.
The program is expected to provide $1,000 per month for two years to survivors of intimate partner violence and transitional aged-youth, who are current or former foster youth between the ages of 16 and 24.
In 2022, Price proposed a pilot guaranteed income program, which was later implemented from January 2022 to March 2023. The initiative, known as Basic Income Guaranteed: Los Angeles Economic Assistance Pilot, or BIG:LEAP, provided 3,200 households living below the poverty level with $1,000 in cash each month for 12 months.
3. UCLA says Trump administration has suspended $584 million in grants, threatening research
The Trump administration has suspended $584 million in federal grants for the University of California, Los Angeles, nearly double the amount that was previously thought, the school’s chancellor announced Wednesday.
UCLA is the first public university whose federal grants have been targeted by the administration over allegations of civil rights violations related to antisemitism and affirmative action. The Trump administration has frozen or paused federal funding over similar allegations against private colleges.
“If these funds remain suspended, it will be devastating for UCLA and for Americans across the nation,” Chancellor Julio Frenk said Wednesday in a statement, noting the groundbreaking research that has come out of the university.
The departments affected rely on funding from the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health and the Department of Energy, Frenk said.
The U.S. Department of Education did not immediately respond to an email from The Associated Press requesting comment.
4. LADWP urges Granada Hills, Porter Ranch customers to conserve water amid repairs
Due to a need for an emergency repair at a local Los Angeles Department of Water and Power water pump station, the department is calling on customers in the Granada Hills and Porter Ranch neighborhoods Wednesday to immediately conserve water.
LADWP expected that water service might be disrupted in portions of Porter Ranch and Granada Hills for approximately 9,200 customers beginning early Wednesday, when morning water use peaks.
The area affected by the urgent alert is bounded by Rinaldi Avenue to the south, Balboa Blvd to the east, De Soto Ave to the west, and the foothills and hills to the north.
On Tuesday afternoon, while water system crews were making repairs at a pump station that connects to a 10-million gallon water tank that serves the area, a valve that controls the flow of water failed to open, according to LADWP. As a result, the water flowing into the pipes serving the area was cut off.
(AP Photo)
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(AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, File)
A troubling trend in Los Angeles County has continued in recent years. Hate crimes against the Asian American and Pacific Islander increased by 31% from 2022 to 2023, according to county data.
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