CARSON— The City of Carson’s credit rating has been upgraded from AA- to AA by S&P Global Ratings. The achievement reflects the city’s financial management, budgetary operations, and a growing economic base.
The upgrade highlights the city’s financial stewardship, particularly in managing its pension obligations and diversifying its revenue streams. Carson’s financial health has been bolstered by a strong reserve balance, enhanced sales tax revenues, and prudent budgeting practices.
“This upgrade is a clear indicator of Carson’s financial strength and stability,” said Mayor Lula Davis-Holmes. “It underscores our commitment to fiscal responsibility and our ongoing efforts to ensure Carson remains a prosperous and thriving community.”
City Manager David C. Roberts, Jr. also expressed his satisfaction with the rating upgrade, stating, “This achievement is the result of careful planning and disciplined financial management. It positions Carson favorably for future growth and allows us to continue providing exceptional services to our residents.”
S&P Global Ratings highlighted Carson’s positive budgetary operations and strengthening economic base as key factors in the upgrade. The city’s diverse revenue streams, including revenues from Measures K and C, have played a crucial role in maintaining its financial stability..
SACRAMENTO – Governor Newsom’s project to reimagine and transform San Quentin State Prison — the oldest and most notorious prison in California and previous home to the largest “death row” in the United States — has reached a significant milestone, and construction of the new education facility to improve public safety will soon begin.
The project, first announced in May 2023, transformed San Quentin from a maximum-security prison into the “San Quentin Rehabilitation Center,” a one-of-a-kind facility focused on improving public safety through rehabilitation and education.
The historic effort at San Quentin, never pursued at this scale in the United States, will serve as a nationwide evidence-backed model to advance a more effective justice system that builds safer communities.
With the demolition of the prison’s previous furniture factory, Building 38, complete, construction of the new educational and vocational center will begin this fall. This week, work also began to demolish an interior wall, known as the South Wall, to increase access to the new facility. Removing this internal wall, which has separated portions of the facility since 1856, will open up the new complex to the existing institution and create a campus-like feel. The removal of the internal barrier has no impact on the facility’s security.
Initial demolition of the interior South Wall dividing the secure facility
“The establishment of this new rehabilitative center marks a pivotal step toward fostering genuine transformation in our correctional system,” said California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation Secretary Jeff Macomber. “We are not just rebuilding walls but constructing pathways to restoration and rehabilitation for those in our care.”
In May 2023, Governor Newsom announced the project would be led by the San Quentin Transformation Advisory Council, which includes stakeholders including CDCR staff, criminal justice experts, program providers, and formerly incarcerated individuals. Through their collaborative planning, they presented a unified concept: an inviting, adaptable, campus-like space that encourages rehabilitation. The buildings will support incarcerated individuals with educational and job training opportunities, including high-tech and innovative classroom space, meeting areas, and staff offices.
The construction project is part of a systemwide change called the California Model, a transformation effort instituted at multiple state prisons throughout California. The model improves public safety by breaking cycles of crime for the incarcerated population while improving workplace conditions for institution staff through rehabilitation, education, and restorative justice. Valley State Prison piloted the California Model before the model was expanded to seven other facilities, including San Quentin.
Message from incarcerated persons on a wall to be demolished at San Quentin.
SACRAMENTO – As children across the state head back to school, California is launching a new statewide funding program that will put 1,000 new zero-emission school buses on the road, furthering the state’s efforts in having the most clean buses in the nation. This is on top of 1,100 clean school buses already on California roads, with another 1,200 in the pipeline.
The program will distribute $500 million to school districts and other educational entities to replace aging school buses with zero-emission vehicles and purchase needed infrastructure. The Zero-Emissions School Bus and Infrastructure (ZESBI) program is accepting funding applications through Sept. 30.
As California deploys zero-emission vehicles and builds the necessary infrastructure, the focus on school buses targets a sector where the switch to cleaner technology will lead to better public health outcomes for children and the communities where they live. Earlier this year, the Biden-Harris Administration announced more than $91 million to help California school districts make the switch.
The efforts are part of the Governor’s build more, faster agenda to deliver infrastructure upgrades across the state. Find projects in your community at build.ca.gov.
The program is a collaboration between the California Air Resources Board (CARB) and the California Energy Commission (CEC), and is administered by CALSTART, a transportation nonprofit.
Zero-emission school buses play a key role in California’s efforts to achieve carbon neutrality by 2045 and help protect children who are particularly vulnerable to the health impacts from diesel exhaust. In California, all school bus purchases made by school districts will need to be zero-emission technology by 2035, with an extension until 2040 for school districts in rural communities.
The time children spend in school bus commutes accounts for less than 10% of a child’s day, yet the commutes contribute 33% of a child’s daily exposure to some air pollutants, according to a study funded by CARB.
To date, California has provided more than $1.3 billion in incentives to school districts which has funded more than 2,300 zero-emission school buses, of which 1,100 are already in use. Over 70% of the zero-emission buses in operation are in the state’s most pollution-burdened communities. More than 300 California school districts and local education agencies have purchased at least one zero-emission bus – and a few have made the switch to a 100% clean fleet.
Awardees can receive up to $375,000 to replace internal combustion engine school buses with zero-emission vehicles, in addition to awards up to $95,000 per school bus to purchase and install associated charging infrastructure. Awardees will be required to scrap an old school bus for every new bus purchased.
A commitment by the Port of Long Beach to include more small businesses among its vendors and contractors continues to be successful, broadening access to port-related construction and professional services contracts.
Last fiscal year, almost 42% of port funds spent on eligible contracts through the port’s small business enterprise program went to purchase needed services and materials from companies defined as “small business enterprises” and “very small business enterprises.”
The 41.8% participation by small and very small businesses in contracting in fiscal year 2023 is the second-highest since the program was started in 2004, behind only 48.9% in 2022. The amount of applicable spending on construction projects, consulting services, event planning, and other supplies and services, rose year-over-year from $54.2 million to $55.7 million. The goal set for small business enterprise participation at the port, which is the Harbor Department of the City of Long Beach, is 27%, higher than many peer agencies.
“The SBE program provides opportunities to a wider, more diverse range of local contractors, suppliers and other businesses, which strengthens the local economy,” said Port of Long Beach CEO Mario Cordero. “As an additional benefit, we believe this practice also increases competition for tens of millions of dollars in public contracts each year, resulting in better outcomes and even more value.”
“The Port of Long Beach is a job creator for our community and beyond, but we recognize it’s not enough to merely serve as an economic engine,” said Long Beach Harbor Commission President Bonnie Lowenthal. “This program was created to ensure there’s a place for smaller companies to benefit from the economic opportunities.”
The thresholds of annual receipts and number of employees for classification as a small business vary widely by industry, as determined by the U.S. Small Business Administration. The very small business eligibility is equivalent to the state of California’s microbusiness designation – businesses with $5 million or less in annual gross sales, averaged over the last three fiscal years, or manufacturers with 25 or fewer employees.
Aspiring contractors for the port apply for posted contracts on the port’s “Planet Bids” online system, where the business owners can pre-register their companies and check back for posted bids. Go to www.polb.com/businessopportunities and click on “Access the POLB Vendor Portal.”
Details: For those interested in seeing the complete SBE utilization report for fiscal year 2023, go to www.polb.com/sbe.
SACRAMENTO — California is making it easier than ever to cash in empty beverage containers with more than 250 new recycling sites across 30 counties funded by recycling innovation awards. Gov, Gavin Newsom Aug. 27 highlighted CalRecycle’s award of nearly $70 million in Beverage Container Redemption Innovation Grants to projects that will add dynamic recycling methods like reverse vending machines, mobile recycling and bag-drop sites around the state, including in underserved counties like Butte, Imperial, Mendocino, Merced and Modoc.
Supermarket chains Save Mart and Smart and Final will get over $2 million each for reverse vending machines in 19 counties.
California is implementing several reforms to recycle more beverage containers and make redemption easier for consumers. Californians can now redeem wine, liquor and large juice containers for cash, and new retailer take back rules beginning next year will expand beverage recycling options for consumers in areas that are not served by a recycling center.
This is painful. This is horrible and feels a bit like a betrayal. But I have no choice. Bobby Kennedy Jr. was my friend and co-author. We wrote stories together for Rolling Stone. Bobby introduced my New York Times bestseller and wrote a chapter for Billionaires and Ballot Bandits. And, with Jesse Jackson, we co-authored the Number 1 selling adult single issue comic book of all time, Steal Back Your Vote.
But then, Bobby lost his mind.
It was truly scary. In 2012, Bobby had arranged a press conference about the Deepwater Horizon explosion. Eleven oil rig workers were incinerated in the blow-out of a British Petroleum drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico.
The Palast investigations team discovered that, 17 months before that oil rig blew out in the Gulf, British Petroleum suffered an identical blow-out in the Caspian Sea. The oil company—with the connivance of then-Sec. of State Condoleeza Rice—covered it up.
It was a hell of a story, which I broadcast on prime time in Britain and Europe. I wrote a book about it, Vultures’ Picnic.
Here’s where Bobby comes in — and it gets weird. On the second anniversary of the blow-out, Bobby, a professor of environmental law, arranged for a major press conference to expose this story of BP’s blood-encrusted perfidy.
But then, Bobby canceled the press conference, saying he heard the story had been told previously. Well, yes it had. You told it. Bobby, I was on the radio with you for an hour discussing the blow-out and its cover-up. Bobby had a national radio/TV show, Ring of Fire. He reviewed my book about the story. And strangest of all, Bobby was on my Democracy Now! Report about the blow-out. That Bobby had forgotten all these things was frightening—as if Leonardo DiCaprio had forgotten he was in a film about the Titanic.
Our investigator Leni Badpenny was listening in and she began making frantic cut-off gestures, to end a call with him. End it now! “Something’s wrong with him, or he’s just a jerk. I don’t know. But something’s really wrong and you don’t want your reputation destroyed by standing next to him when it goes wrong in public. Promise me we will never work with him, never see him again. I think he’s dangerous. I really do.”
This was difficult for her to say as she never got over being a bit star-struck in his presence. “Look,” she said, “I’m just a little kid from the Swiss Alps and I got to tell my dad I just had dinner with a Kennedy!”
But she insisted, “Stay away from him. He’s become untrustworthy and he’s getting crazier and crazier.”
This was not the first incident. Bobby was a strong guy in his late fifties talking like a 92-year-old in a nursing home trying to remember his first date.
Since then, we’ve found out that Bobby had a worm in his brain — a real, live physical critter that somehow got inside his skull. I’m not sure about the connection because I’m not a brain surgeon and I don’t speak worm.
That year, 2012, his wife, Mary Kennedy, after a call to him, hung herself. That could mess with anyone’s head — but in this case, the New York tabloids were blaming her suicide on him, a cruel and unjustified attack that had to make it an even heavier psychological burden.
Bobby Kennedy Jr Photo courtesy of Greg Palast
What I liked about Bobby
What I liked about Bobby—and Bobby about me—was that we were always skeptical of “official” stories. After all, his own dad famously admitted to making up cockamamie lies about Vietnam to waltz us into that war. We bonded over rejecting bullshit from the government and its servile punditocracy.
But there was a big difference between us. He thought every official story was bullshit. But I needed to see the bull. I was, and remain, a big-time believer in show-me-the-facts. But facts didn’t seem to get in the way of Bobby’s attraction to plain whacko conspiracy theories.
Example: We co-authored articles for Rolling Stone about racial vote suppression. In my book Armed Madhouse, my chapter “Kerry Won” described the physical evidence of ballots disqualified—enough rejections of Black voters’ ballots in Ohio to re-elect George W. Bush. This is hard evidence.
But Bobby jumped into an evidence-free crazy-world in a cringeworthy article for Rolling Stone speculating about voting machines that magically switched Kerry votes to Bush. I checked these stories to a fare-thee-well. Nothing to them. Bobby mistook the “potential” to cheat with actual evidence. I bit my tongue and said nothing.
Later, his knee-jerk reaction against Covid vaccines was the result of the attack on his reasoned questions raised in the film Vax about MMR vaccines laced with mercury. The film successfully got Big Pharma to remove the mercury. But Bobby, having been savaged by the industry, now became Mr. Anti-Vax, opposing anything injected by a needle (except, it appears, steroids to build muscles). Sorry, I’m no fan of Big Pharma — but I need proof before I tell people not to wear a mask during a pandemic. I need the proof — and his only proof was to accuse Big Pharma and the FDA of being liars. They are. Still, that’s not proof.
“Destroy Hamas”
It was heartbreaking to hear Bobby refer to his father as “daddy,” just like a little boy of 14 years — his age when his father was shot dead. I am told by psychologists that people often use phrasings of their childhood frozen on the day of a trauma — and in this case, that’s more than understandable. It did creep me out that he thought “daddy” was watching his every action and could still reward or punish him like a parent. But, like I say, who couldn’t forgive that?
And that led him into his first dive into the world of weird. His father was murdered by Sirhan Sirhan, a Palestinian who assassinated Bobby Senior because of RFK’s vociferous, militant support of Israel. Sirhan committed the killing on television. The murder is right there on film. Yet, Bobby Jr. could not believe his own eyes and that of a million horrified witnesses. To this day, he insists Sirhan did not kill his dad. Maybe it’s some kind of denial mechanism—having to watch your own father’s head blown apart. I don’t know, I’m a scribbler, not a shrink.
Now it gets weirder. Bobby recently said, “Hamas must be destroyed.” He opposes a ceasefire in Gaza and is channeling his father’s rage that Arab nations are trying to bring back the Holocaust. Is this a sincere view or an attempt to finally confront the killers who celebrated the murder of his father? Like I said, I’m not a psychologist. I’m just a guy concerned that my friend’s imbalance may choose our President.
The last time I heard from Bobby, it was after midnight on Election Day 2016. “Greg, what happened? When my plane left JFK, Hillary had won. I’ve landed in LA and Trump won. What happened?”
What happened? Bobby, WE WROTE A BOOK ABOUT IT. I had re-issued an updated version of my book, The Best Democracy Money Can Buy, which included his intro and a chapter he’d written. The book, which was on the Times Bestseller list, detailed exactly how Trump would take the election from Hillary through vote suppression trickery in Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Georgia. Did he forget his own book?
I admit, I feel terrible about revealing these things. But our democracy truly is in the balance. Bobby, as expected, dropped out of the race in favor of Trump. Is it the brilliant environmental law professor who is endorsing Trump—or the worm?
By Emma Rault, Columnist The Department of Justice or DOJ — along with eight states, including California — is suing software company RealPage, alleging that their AI rent-setting software has inflated rents across the country. Earlier this year, Random Lengthswas the first to report on the use of RealPage’s algorithm by corporate landlords in Los Angeles. RealPage collects private information that landlords don’t usually share with their competitors, such as lease expiry dates, vacancy rates, and rents being paid by current tenants. Its algorithm then uses this pooled information to tell landlords how much to charge. In March, President Biden said in his State of the Union Address, “For millions of renters, we’re cracking down on big landlords who break antitrust laws by price-fixing and driving up rents.” That same month, the Department of Justice launched a criminal investigation into RealPage and some of its corporate customers. Price fixing is when a number of players from the same industry get together and figure out what to charge. Technology is changing what this looks like: it’s not a group of landlords getting together “in a smoke-filled room” anymore, as Washington, D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalbtold NPR. But regulators are coming to the conclusion that price fixing by algorithm is still price fixing. Critics say the algorithm artificially pushes rents up beyond market rate — and because it is used by major players with real-estate portfolios worth billions of dollars, it has had a major impact on the rental market, hurting millions of Americans who are struggling to keep their heads above water. The New York Times reports that annual rent growth nationwide peaked in 2022 at nearly 16 percent.A recent UCLA surveyfound that 4 in 10 renters in LA County worry about becoming homeless. Several of the corporations named in class-action lawsuits previously filed against RealPage also manage apartment buildings all over Los Angeles. Corporate giant Greystar, for example, manages more than 500 units in San Pedro alone. Leasing managers for three of Greystar’s four San Pedro buildings confirmed toRandom Lengthsthat RealPage’s AI software was being used to set rents. At a campaign event in North Carolina earlier this month, Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee,mentioned algorithmic price-fixing in her remarkson the affordability crisis. “It’s anticompetitive, and it drives up costs. I will fight for a law that cracks down on these practices,” she said.
Update: On Sept. 4, the Long Beach Police Department was notified that missing person Davontay Clark was located safe and unharmed on Aug. 30, at a medical facility in the City of Los Angeles.
LONG BEACH — The Long Beach Police Department is asking for the public’s help locating a 29-year-old at-risk missing person, Davontay M. Clark, who was last seen on Aug. 22, about 8:30 p.m.
Clark was last seen leaving his residence in the 1700 block of Long Beach Boulevard. Clark is on foot, has no car or cell phone, and does not have a tracking device on his person. He has an unknown amount of cash. He has mental conditions and is non-verbal.
At-risk missing person Davontay M. Clark is described as follows:
Eyes: Brown, Clothing: Black PUMA shirt, camouflage pants, black PUMA shoes.
Scars/ Marks/ Tattoos: None
Medical Alerts: He has mental condition(s) and is non-verbal.
Anyone with information regarding this missing person is urged to call the LBPD missing persons detail at 562-570-7246 or Police Dispatch at 562-435-6711 or anonymously at 1-800-222-8477, www.lacrimestoppers.org.
LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Homicide detectives are responding to two seperate locations (100 block of E. 234th Street and 100 block of W. 234th Street) to investigate the circumstances regarding the shooting death of two male adults. The incident occurred on Aug. 24, 2024, at 11:32 p.m.
It is unknown at this time if the deaths are related. There is no additional information available at this time.
Anyone with information about this incident is encouraged to contact the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s Homicide Bureau at 323-890-5500, or anonymously at 800-222-8477;http://lacrimestoppers.org
PORTLAND, OR – The Stop the Merger Coalition led by UFCW Locals 7, 324, 400, 770, 1564 and 3000 Aug. 26 held a press conference immediately prior to the much-anticipated federal court hearings of the Federal Trade Commission’s challenge to block the proposed mega-merger of Kroger and Albertsons. Workers and leaders from California, Washington and Colorado, representing over 100,000 union grocery store members, reiterated their opposition to the anti-competitive, anti-worker and anti-community scheme.
“We’re fighting back because we know that the proposed mega-merger between Kroger and Albertsons would likely lead to job losses, store closures, pharmacy and food deserts, and higher prices, which would harm working families in both rural and urban communities across the country,” said Kim Cordova, UFCW International Vice President and President of Local 7, representing workers in Colorado and Wyoming. “Kroger and Albertsons claim the merger is necessary to compete with Walmart and Amazon, but their true goal is to consolidate power and increase profits at the expense of workers and customers.”
Jessica Crowley, a UFCW Local 770 member and staff pharmacist at an Albertsons-owned Pavilions Pharmacy in Los Angeles, California, said, “Competition is essential for maintaining medication access, especially during drug shortages. Let’s be clear: this mega-merger will negatively impact retail workers, smaller suppliers, independent chains, and communities already facing challenges with food and medication access.”
The Federal Trade Commission’s case challenging the merger, joined by the Attorneys General of Arizona, California, District of Columbia, Illinois, Maryland, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon and Wyoming, began today in federal court in Portland, Oregon, and is expected to last at least two weeks. A second case by the Washington State Attorney General is scheduled to be heard starting on Sept. 16, and a third case brought by the Attorney General of Colorado is scheduled to be heard starting on Sept. 30.
The Stop the Merger Coalition recently launched a customer petition ahead of the hearings, which in just a short time has already collected thousands of signatures of concerned customers telling Kroger and Albertsons to stop the merger that threatens our communities with store closures, food and pharmacy deserts, thousands of laid-off unionized grocery store workers, and higher prices. Recent media reports have indicated that Kroger and Albertsons have already spent over $864,000,000 on the merger process.
