Category: Los Angeles

The Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation is formally expanding a $3 million financial relief fund that it quietly launched earlier this month, to help people struggling to make ends meet during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The foundation, which grew out of the creation of the Black Lives Matter movement nearly eight years ago, said Thursday that it plans to make up to 3,000 microgrants of $1,000 each to people who it believes need it most. The BLM foundation has already begun asking recipients to apply for the Survival Fund grants as it builds out its philanthropic arm. If approved, the money is deposited directly into recipients’ bank accounts or made available on prepaid debit cards, the foundation said — no strings attached. “This came from a collective conversation with BLM leadership that Black folks are being hurt the most financially during the pandemic,” BLM co-founder Patrisse Cullors told The Associated Press. “I believe that when you have resources, to hoard them is a disservice to the people who deserve them,” she said. Cullors, the foundation’s executive director, said that so far the Survival Fund’s…

Republicans rallied solidly against Democrats’ proposed $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill as lawmakers awaited a decision by the Senate’s parliamentarian that could bolster or potentially kill a pivotal provision hiking the federal minimum wage. Despite their paper-thin congressional majorities, Democratic leaders were poised to push the sweeping package through the House on Friday. They were hoping the Senate, where changes seem likely, would follow quickly enough to have legislation on President Joe Biden’s desk by mid-March. By late Wednesday, not one Republican in either chamber had publicly said he or she would back the legislation. GOP leaders were honing attacks on the package as a job killer that does too little to reopen schools or businesses shuttered for the coronavirus pandemic and that was not only wasteful but also even unscrupulous. “I haven’t seen a Republican yet that’s found something in there that they agree with,” said House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif. “I think all Republicans believe in three simple things: They want a bill that puts us back to work, back to school and back to health. This bill is too costly, too corrupt and too liberal.” The hardening…

Powerful Santa Ana winds returned to parts of Southern California overnight. A big rig overturned in Fontana amid the gusty conditions. All drivers are asked to use extra caution when driving through windy areas.  Steve Kuzj reports for the KTLA 5 Morning News on Feb. 25, 2021.

The pervasive fear is gone, though not everyone is ready to resume pre-pandemic habits after receiving both vaccine doses.

A former Ethics Commission staffer said she and others were told that a Los Angeles City Council member wanted more “permissive” advice on gift laws.

Forty percent of coronavirus vaccines for school staff in Los Angeles County will go to L.A. Unified

The road where Tiger Woods crashed has been notorious for decades. Now officials vowing to fix

Many in the marginalized Latino LGBTQ community, a number of whom are frontline workers, have been deeply affected by the pandemic and are unable to find help.

MIAMI (CBSMiami) – Researchers are developing a new, rapid COVID-19 test that connects to your smartphone to reveal results at home. Ever since the pandemic began, researchers in France have been working on a way to test for COVID-19 quickly and accurately. “Since March, we try to develop a portable device everybody can use at home,” said University of Lille Professor Sabine Szunerits. The research at the French university started, oddly enough, with camels, llamas and alpacas. Scientists took tiny antibody particles from the animals called nanobodies. After some complicated science, they produced a device that plugs into a smartphone. A nasal or saliva swab is placed onto a strip and if nanobodies come into contact with the virus, the test will know it. “You start your mobile phone, a signal will occur, and depending on the height of the signal, you can say if you’re COVID positive or negative,” said Professor Szunerits. Researchers said initial trials on 300 samples were 90% accurate and delivered in 10 minutes. The next phase of the project is to run a three-month trial on more than 1,000 people.…

FONTANA (CBSLA) – A fire broke out early Thursday morning amid powerful winds in the San Bernardino County community of Bloomington, destroying at least two homes. Feb. 25, 2021. (LLN) The three-alarm fire was reported at 12:23 a.m. in the area of Tamarind and Santa Ana avenues. According to the San Bernardino County Fire Department, crews arrived on scene to find one home with heavy flames, and the fire spreading towards nearby brush and homes. Two homes have been destroyed and a third is heavily damaged, the fire department said. At least two acres of vegetation have burned. Footage from the scene showed a man hosing down RV’s in an effort to save a property. Crews contended with wind gusts of up to 50 miles per hour, the fire department said. As of 4:45 a.m., they remained on scene mopping up and looking for hot spots. There were no injuries. The cause was unknown and under investigation.

PITTSBURGH (KDKA-TV) — A longtime birdwatcher in Pennsylvania says he had a “once-in-a-lifetime” bird sighting – a cardinal that is half-male and half-female. “I had a once-in-a-lifetime, one in a million bird encounter!” James hill posted on Facebook.  Hill described the bird, which is known as a bilateral gynandromorph northern cardinal, as a bird divided right down the middle, half male and half female. Typically, male cardinals have bright red plumage. Females, on the other hand, are “buffy brownish,” Hill said in his Facebook post. Hill says he spotted the cardinal Saturday. Interestingly enough, another half-male, half -emale cardinal was spotted outside of Erie just two years ago. That bird was featured in National Geographic magazine. WATCH PITTSBURGH’S BALD EAGLES LIVE ON CAMERA HERE! “Could this bird be the same individual as the Erie, PA, bird? Possibly — their bird was female on the left and male on the right, too,” Hill said. Hill says he’s been birding for 48 years, and heard about the bird from a friend of the homeowner where it was spotted. He got permission from the homeowner to take a few…

California has a stellar record of preparing for the earthquake we just had. That won’t keep your water running after a big San Andreas break.

Share this article:A Los Angeles Police Department motorcycle officer was taken to a hospital Wednesday evening after a crash in South Los Angeles. The crash occurred about 9:15 p.m. near West Adams Boulevard and 13th Street, said Officer William Cooper with the Los Angeles Police Department. Video from the scene showed an SUV plowing into the motorcycle and a department cruiser parked next to the motorcycle. No details were immediately available on the extent of the officer’s injuries. The driver of the SUV was detained at the scene, ABC7 reported. The injured officer was taken to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, CBS2 reported. LAPD Motor Officer Taken to Hospital Following South Los Angeles Crash was last modified: February 24th, 2021 by Contributing Editor

Share this article:Two men were killed Wednesday evening in a shooting in the unincorporated community of Rowland Heights near Industry. Deputies responded about 7:50 p.m. to a rescue call in a home in the 18000 block of Villa Clara Street, near Fullerton Road, where both victims were found suffering from trauma to their heads, according to Deputy James Nagao of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. Los Angeles County Fire Department personnel pronounced both victims dead at the scene. A motive for the shooting or description of any suspects were not immediately available. The names of the victims were not disclosed. Two Men Killed in Rowland Heights Shooting was last modified: February 24th, 2021 by Contributing Editor

Authorities were investigating the circumstances around two men found dead in Rowland Heights Wednesday night. Deputies responded to a rescue call around 7:50 p.m. on the 18000 block of Villa Clara Street, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said in a news release. They arrived to find two people inside a residence suffering from trauma to their heads. Fire officials pronounced both of them deceased at the scene, the Sheriff’s Department said. Information on the cause of death, along with the age and identity of the victims, was not yet available, pending the county coroner’s investigation. There is no suspect information yet and no known motive for the incident, authorities said. Anyone with information about the incident is asked to contact the department’s Homicide Bureau at 323-890-5500. To provide information anonymously, call “Crime Stoppers” by dialing 800-222-8477, or visit lacrimestoppers.org.

Twice a day, five days a week, Mark Chaney, who has cerebral palsy, walks more than half a mile to get to his West Hollywood Metro bus stop. Lately, his biggest challenge has been boarding the bus. He says sometimes when he asks the bus drivers to put out the ramp, they hassle him because his disability is not visible. In a statement to KTLA, Metro said they’ve received Chaney’s complaint and launched an immediate investigation. “Metro’s policy is to board patrons at bus stops and to provide ramps for customers who request them,” the statement reads in part. John Fenoglio reports for the KTLA 5 News at 10 on Feb. 24, 2021.