Los Angeles Community Action Network
Founder and co-executive director of the Los Angeles Community Action Network, a community-based organization on Skid Row that represents the interests of the poor and homeless on housing, and economic and community development
One Small Step toward Housing the Homeless The LA City Council today made good on an eight-week-old promise. It declared a " shelter crisis ," designed to pave the way to temporary housing for some 19,000 people who sleep on the streets of the city. We hear from a reporter covering the story, a councilman who put forth the plan, and from homeowners and advocates for the homeless.
Los Angeles Declares a "State of Emergency" on Homelessness Homelessness has increased by some 12% in Los Angeles since last year. The 4000 people downtown on Skid Row are just 15% of the total on the streets of the city. Today, members of a City Council committee called homeless an "emergency," and called for $100 million for housing and other services.
Fatal Shootings and Retraining at the LAPD This year, LAPD officers have shot 22 people — up from an average of 15 or 16 in the first half of recent years. Jason Davis, a homeless man shot in a Venice coffee shop Monday, died last night, bringing this year's death toll to 11. Chief Charlie Beck says last summer's shooting death of Ezell Ford, a mentally ill black man, was "an important incident in the history of the LAPD." It's apparently what led to what Beck calls a "refresher" course in the use of force for all 10,000 officers — beginning this week.
Hospitals, the Homeless and 'Patient Dumping' on Skid Row There was public outrage recently when a driver forced a quadriplegic man out of an ambulance into a gutter on a skid row. Last year, a woman was left wandering in the same neighborhood with an IV still in her arm. There are 55 recent examples of what's called "patient dumping," but only one prosecution, partly because there's no specific law against the practice. Moreover, hospitals ask what they're supposed to do with 90,000 homeless in Los Angeles County, and just 40 beds for the chronically ill with no place to go. Today, Democratic State Senator Gil Cedillo announced plans to remedy that. We hear from Cedillo, the hospital association and advocates for the homeless.
White House budget proposal slashes and burns President Trump's first budget request is considered dead on arrival in Congress — a familiar development in Capitol Hill. We hear what it reveals about the priorities of the new administration. What's likely to die… and what might survive?
The longest US war: Will Trump send more troops to Afghanistan? The Trump White House is divided over the Pentagon's request for more troops in Afghanistan—where the US has been fighting for the past 16 years. Is there a formula -- either for "victory" or a political settlement? Is there an end in sight for America's longest war?
Will the Senate write a healthcare bill in secret? While Democrats and Republicans argue White House relations with Russia, another question is being decided behind closed doors: who gets help buying health insurance and who doesn't? We hear how the pros and cons are being shrouded in secrecy.
Replacing Obamacare: Now you see it… now you don’t As the Senate deliberates replacing Obmacare, health coverage for millions of people is at stake. There've been no public hearings, and a draft measure won't be made public. Is the House version so unpopular that that Senate is hiding a version that looks much the same?