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Offshore winds will continue to strengthen, leaving an elevated fire danger for the region.

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Today’s Big Stories

1. LA County board approves $828M abuse claims settlement

The county Board of Supervisors Tuesday approved an $828 million settlement with 414 plaintiffs who claim they were the victims of childhood sexual abuse at the hands of county workers.

The settlement is on top of an earlier $4 billion settlement reached on behalf of roughly 11,000 claimants. That settlement has already led to financial consequences for the county, including curtailments in spending and many county departments coping with 3% budget cuts during the current fiscal year. Some county services are also undergoing reductions.

The various claims involved in the settlements were the result of AB 218, which temporarily lifted the statute of limitations on allegations of childhood sexual abuse. The claims included in the two settlements involve allegations dating back as far as 1959, targeting workers at the county Probation and Children and Family Services departments.

County officials said that in light of recent allegations that some plaintiffs may have made fraudulent damages claims, every individual abuse claim involved in both settlements will be carefully reviewed. Every claim will be vetted, with individual plaintiffs being required to provide a “detailed, multi-page written factual summary, under penalty of perjury, of the alleged misconduct and resulting harms.”

2. Bass to consider improvements to LAPD mental health unit following audit

City officials are moving forward Tuesday with a review of potential improvements to the Los Angeles Police Department’s mental health response team following a performance audit that found officers were addressing crisis calls with a patrol-first, armed approach and failed to meet certain goals.

City Controller Kenneth Mejia released an assessment Monday of the LAPD’s Mental Evaluation Unit, whose primary role is to respond to calls for service that may involve mental health crises. The assessment came in response to the January 2023 killings of three men in apparent mental health crisis, and focused on operations and incident data from 2020-22, as well as use of force incidents between 2021-24.

Mejia’s team examined the MEU’s Systemwide Mental Assessment Response Team — co-response teams of armed LAPD officers alongside LA County Department of Mental Health clinicians that address mental health-related service calls. The SMART units are a secondary support unit behind patrol units.

The assessment evaluated LAPD policies and training protocols.

“Currently, the primary response that exists for mental health emergencies is the LAPD’s Mental Evaluation Unit’s SMART teams. MEU’s own stated mission is to prevent unnecessary incarceration and hospitalization and reduce violence — however, my office’s assessment of LAPD MEU found that LAPD does little to prove MEU or SMART accomplish any of this,” Mejia said in a statement.

3. Body of newborn infant found near USC; investigation launched

Los Angeles police and county medical examiner’s officers were investigating the death of a newborn baby whose body was found near the USC campus early Tuesday morning.

Officers responded to the 3100 block of McClintock Avenue, west of Hoover Street, at about 1:30 a.m. Tuesday, according to the Los Angeles Police Department. The address is the location of the Cardinal Gardens Apartments off-campus housing.

The baby was 19 hours old, but full-term, according to the Los Angeles County Office of Medical Examiner, which identified the child but was investigating the cause of death.

“At this time, it is being classified as an undetermined death pending the coroner’s investigation,” a police spokesman said.

4. 25 states and D.C. sue Trump administration over SNAP benefits funding

A coalition of states sued the Trump administration Tuesday for what they say is an unlawful suspension of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Plan benefits.

In their 45th lawsuit against the current administration, 23 attorneys general and three governors filed a lawsuit against the USDA and Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins for withholding so-called contingency funds to keep the program running in November.

“While Donald Trump parades around the world trying to repair the economic damage he’s done with his incompetence, he’s denying food to millions of Americans who will go hungry next month,” California Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a statement about his state’s participation in the lawsuit. “It’s cruel and speaks to his basic lack of humanity. He doesn’t care about the people of this country only himself.”

In a lawsuit filed in a federal district court in Massachusetts, the states contend the federal government is legally required to make SNAP payments because Congress appropriated $6 billion in contingency funds through September 2026 in case of an event like the current government shutdown, now in its 28th day.

President Donald Trump talks with California Gov. Gavin Newsom after arriving on Air Force One at Los Angeles International Airport in Los Angeles, Jan. 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)

 

Your Notes for Tomorrow

  • President Trump meets Xi Jinping on sidelines of APEC summit
  • Bureau of Economic Analysis publishes advance GDP data for the third quarter of 2025, after final figures published last month said that real gross domestic product increased at an annual rate of 3.8% in Q2 2025, following annual contraction of 0.6% in Q1 2025
  • Suspect in Charlie Kirk shooting appears in a Provo, Utah court 12 p.m. ET 
  • National Wicked Day, annual celebration of the Broadway musical “Wicked,” in honor of its debut at the Gershwin Theatre in New York Oct. 30, 2003.
  • Unemployment Insurance Weekly Claims Report – Initial Claims

In Case You Missed It

(Spectrum News/ Jas Kang)

Los Angeles County is home to the highest number of foster youth in the country.

When foster youth reach age 18, they’re considered too old to stay in the system, and that happens with roughly 1,000 youth per year.

Click the link above for more information.