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1 week ago | 
westsidecurrent.com | Jamie Paige
LOS ANGELES — With final legal filings submitted Tuesday, a federal judge will now decide whether to strip the City of Los Angeles of control over its homelessness spending. At stake: hundreds of millions of dollars, oversight of shelter programs, and the city’s ability to manage one of the nation’s largest homeless populations. The case — L.A. Alliance for Human Rights v.
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1 week ago | 
westsidecurrent.com | Jamie Paige |Rachael Gaudiosi
Public libraries across Los Angeles are facing rising violence, drug use, and mental health emergencies, leaving librarians overwhelmed and fearing for their safety. LOS ANGELES — On the morning of August 9, 2023, Santa Monica police officers responded to a call for service at the Ocean Park Branch of the city’s public library. A library employee, attempting to wake a homeless man sleeping near the front doors, found him badly injured and unresponsive.
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1 week ago | 
westsidecurrent.com | Jamie Paige |Rachael Gaudiosi
LOS ANGELES — On the morning of August 9, 2023, Santa Monica police officers responded to a call for service at the Ocean Park Branch of the city’s public library. A library employee, attempting to wake a homeless man sleeping near the front doors, found him badly injured and unresponsive. The 41-year-old victim had suffered blunt force trauma to his face and head. He was transported to a local hospital in critical condition but was expected to survive.
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1 week ago | 
westsidecurrent.com | Jamie Paige
LOS ANGELES — California’s largest home insurer is facing scrutiny on multiple fronts after a state investigation into its claims handling practices was announced last week — followed one day later by a court hearing in which a wildfire survivor asked to formally intervene in State Farm’s latest request to raise rates.
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1 week ago | 
westsidecurrent.com | Jamie Paige |Angela McGregor
SANTA MONICA— From Ocean Park to Culver Boulevard, thousands of Westside residents turned out Saturday to join the nation for the “No Kings Day of Defiance.”In Santa Monica, where city officials had braced for the worst, the day remained peaceful. Some businesses along the Third Street Promenade boarded up storefronts ahead of the protests, and the city launched a live blog to monitor activity in real time. But as of Saturday afternoon, there was no sign of unrest.
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2 weeks ago | 
westsidecurrent.com | Jamie Paige
VENICE — Parents of students at Broadway Elementary School are continuing to push back against Los Angeles Unified School District’s decision to reassign Principal Rachelle Garmon — a move they say was made “in the dark” without transparency, input, or clear justification. On Monday evening, dozens of families rallied outside Daniel Webster Middle School, where an in-person town hall had originally been scheduled to address concerns about the leadership change.
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2 weeks ago | 
westsidecurrent.com | Jamie Paige
LOS ANGELES — At least two people were taken into custody during U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids targeting car washes on the Westside over the weekend. Videos posted to social media show ICE agents detaining workers and at least one customer at car washes in Culver City and Westchester. Families of those detained say they have not been able to contact their loved ones.
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3 weeks ago | 
westsidecurrent.com | Jamie Paige
VENICE — A man accused of breaking into the apartment of an 86-year-old woman at a Venice senior housing complex with alleged intentions to sexually assault her has a history of parole violations and criminal convictions — including failure to register as a transient sex offender — raising new alarms about the intersection of homelessness, registration laws, and public safety in Los Angeles.
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3 weeks ago | 
westsidecurrent.com | Jamie Paige
SAN FRANCISCO - On a quiet Tuesday morning in San Francisco’s Tenderloin district, the Granada Hotel stood as a testament to the promise of Project Homekey. Construction workers moved in and out, modernizing plumbing and enhancing communal spaces. Despite its challenges, the Granada represents progress: an occupied building repurposed to house some of San Francisco’s most vulnerable residents.
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3 weeks ago | 
westsidecurrent.com | Jamie Paige
A growing number of violent offenders in Los Angeles are being diverted from jail into mental health programs that come with long-term housing benefits, raising concerns among prosecutors and victims who say judicial compassion is being applied too broadly—and at the expense of public safety. SANTA MONICA — On Memorial Day weekend, Christian Hornburg lay in a long-term care facility, dressed in a hospital gown and surrounded by the hum of medical equipment.
