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also seeks to raise pay for security guards and it would require their companies to offer more rigorous training. Smallwood-Cuevas, a Democrat from Los Angeles, said guards on average make around $44,000 a year,, despite their companies generating an estimated $34 billion in revenue.
She said guards also are being asked to take on increasingly dangerous roles without enough training.There are an estimated 330,000 private security personnel in California, making the industry one of the state’s largest workforces, Smallwood-Cuevas said. California businesses and local governments are increasingly hiring guards to protect them from smash-and-grab robberies and other crimes. Security firms also will be called upon at this year’s World Cup games in Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Area, the 2027 Super Bowl in Inglewood and the 2028 Olympics in California.Unions representing private security guards would gain a new advantage in organizing under California legislation that would compel companies to reach labor contracts if the firms want to provide use-of-force training., despite their companies generating an estimated $34 billion in revenue. She said guards also are being asked to take on increasingly dangerous roles without enough training. “This bill asks us to stand up with these officers to strengthen and improve these working conditions and to ensure that across California that we are not only improving safety, but we're also helping to build a safety pathway for workers in this sector,”The committee voted to advance her bill to the Senate Public Safety Committee which is scheduled to discuss the measure Tuesday. Security companies say the measure would add at least $1 billion to their costs each year and lead to fewer guards protecting the public.. “However, this bill goes much further than is necessary or reasonable, and we simply cannot ignore the staggering financial burden this bill will impose on our industry and, by extension, California.” There are an estimated 330,000 private security personnel in California, making the industry one of the state’s largest workforces, Smallwood-Cuevas said. California businesses and local governments are increasingly hiring guards to protect them from smash-and-grab robberies and other crimes. Security firms also will be called upon at this year’s World Cup games in Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Area, the 2027 Super Bowl in Inglewood and the 2028 Olympics in California. The measure, according to the business committee’s analysis, would expand training standards, increase annual training for security guards and require companies to compensate guards for time spent training. It would only allow companies to provide “power to arrest” and use-of-force training if agreed to in union contracts. Those agreements would require workers to earn at least 30% above California’s The bill also would require state regulators to review and set minimum wages for security guards by 2028. Security industry officials say even a $1-an-hour raise for security workers would add $750 million to their costs each year. “SB 1203 will eliminate jobs making companies that seek to automate security functions more competitive thereby displacing the very people the bill intends to help,” David Chandler, president of the California Association of Licensed Security Agencies, Guards & Associates, wrote in a letter to lawmakers.The bill is the latest effort by labor unions to use the Legislature to pressure companies to allow unionization. The most notable recent effort was a multi-year legislative push thatAbout 20% of private security guards are unionized, according to the industry, slightly higher than the rest of the state’s workforce, in which aboutin the Legislature, due in large part to the money they spend on the political campaigns of Democratic lawmakers. Unions also deploy their networks of organizers to advocate for their chosen candidates., the bill’s sponsor, is arguably the most influential labor organization in the state. The union and its affiliates have donated at least $21.4 million to lawmakers’ campaigns since 2015, according to the CalMatters Meanwhile, 33 of the 120 members of the Legislature are current or former union members, according to a California Labor Federation tally.for a local affiliate of SEIU that unionized security officers. Her campaigns have received at least $119,100 from SEIU and its affiliates since 2021, according to Digital Democracy.The union’s political clout as well as lawmakers’ sympathies for underpaid workers doing a dangerous job was on display last week at the business and professions committee. No committee members voted against the bill.Archuleta, a former reserve officer at the Montebello Police Department, said he used to arrive at crime scenes and “sure enough, there was a security officer there,” telling police “I got your back.” Archuleta’s campaign has received at least $79,600 from SEIU and its affiliates, according to Digital Democracy., a Democrat representing the Van Nuys area, said she didn’t have a problem with the bill’s intent to raise wages for guards. After all, she said she worked for five years as a security guard. But she said she felt the bill’s training requirements were duplicative or would override a law that the Legislature had passed last year on security personnel standards and training. She said she also had concerns the requirements in the bill could end up preventing companies from hiring qualified training consultants due to restrictions limiting who’s authorized to do that work.Menjivar’s campaign has received at least $16,900 from SEIU, according to secretary of state filings. “There were provisions within SB 1203 that she liked and a hard ‘no’ vote would send the signal that there is nothing the author or sponsors can do to move her to an ‘aye’ vote down the line,” Menjivar’s spokesperson, Teodora Reyes, said in an email.A line of beds, neatly made with folded blankets placed at the foot, sit unattended at the city of Long Beach's youth shelter on Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2025.Eight months since it was supposed to open, Long Beach’s new youth homeless shelter is still empty, plagued by plumbing problems and a long-running legal conflict that’s just now being made public. The nonprofit originally selected to run the shelter says it’s on the verge of suing the city for pulling the plug on its contract and withholding hundreds of thousands of dollars in payments that have left it on the brink of collapse.It’s a dispute that has been unfolding for nearly a year, between the city and the nonprofit April Parker Foundation. But at the shelter’s premature grand opening in August, all seemed well.The shelter had a dozen beds, meant for young adults at transitional age, who had recently exited the foster care system or juvenile justice and needed special help, like counseling, financial management, a schedule and a place to sleep. But that work never started.Eight months since it was supposed to open, Long Beach’s new youth homeless shelter is still empty, plagued by plumbing problems and a long-running legal conflict that’s just now being made public. The nonprofit originally selected to run the shelter says it’s on the verge of suing the city for pulling the plug on its contract and withholding hundreds of thousands of dollars in payments that have left it on the brink of collapse. It’s a dispute that has been unfolding for nearly a year, between the city and the nonprofit April Parker Foundation. But at the shelter’s premature grand opening in August, all seemed well. The foundation, by this point, had been a local city contractor for years, doing youth intervention and homelessness work. It was poised to run the new shelter under a $500,000 contract the City Council unanimously The shelter had a dozen beds, meant for young adults at transitional age, who had recently exited the foster care system or juvenile justice and needed special help, like counseling, financial management, a schedule and a place to sleep. But that work never started. In late October, the city says, it notified the April Parker Foundation that it wouldn’t be signing with them because of concerns about how the foundation billed for some of its prior work. Since 2023, Long Beach had contracted the foundation to provide rapid rehousing services for homeless people. Then last summer, it stopped paying them. Officials later explained that invoices were coming in late, inadequately filled out or missing required documentation to justify the expense. “We’re not making any accusations of fraud or even breach of contract,” Deputy City Attorney Nick Masero said, but the timing of the invoices “was not consistent with their contractual requirements, and the supporting documentation wasn’t provided to substantiate all the amounts on the invoices.” Masero said the city has sought to resolve the issue with the April Parker Foundation, but added that “we’re not obligated under the contract to make payment until they’ve provided all the necessary information and documentation.” April Parker, founder of the April Parker Foundation, alleges the city is manufacturing an excuse not to pay her. She said she has sent over hundreds of documents and receipts detailing every transaction tied to the program. “We delivered binders to them, binders that contain 100% documentation on every invoice, every transaction, everything,” she said. After providing those, Parker said communication with the city largely stopped, save for some correspondence through her attorneys. She remains unsure of what the city thinks her staff did wrong.inches closer to being finished. Parker said she was informed about the audit, but — despite her repeated texts and calls to city health officials — was never told if it found any problems within her organization. Parker said she was blindsided by the city withholding payments across all its contracts with her, some as early as March 2025, as she was ramping up to run the new youth shelter. The shelter is in West Long Beach, near the city’s Multi-Service Center in a warehouse district west of the Los Angeles River.“I do not know what is wrong with anything I’ve ever submitted because they’ve never told me what’s actually wrong, nothing,” Parker said. “So how can I fix something that I don’t even know what’s wrong? I gave them everything, and they’ve never come back and said, ‘Well, this is wrong, or that is wrong.’” On the city’s assurance that she would be running the shelter, she said, she hired staff, rewrote policies, updated insurance and hosted an open house at the facility. The foundation was even invited to the ribbon ceremony. Then, in a reversal, she said, the city told her they planned to “take the shelter in-house.” Without any written notice or further explanation, city officials, she said, assumed control of the shelter and denied access to her staff. Parker has since filed multiple legal claims against the city, alleging they improperly withheld payments for her nonprofit’s work on the youth shelter, rapid rehousing and gun violence intervention. They say the city owes Parker more than $1 million. She said those costs have crippled her nonprofit, forcing it to cut its youth shelter staff, reduce its administrative team and close its 36-bed transitional shelter. Parker said she had to take out a line of credit and stop paying herself a salary to save her organization. Her next step may be to sue. The city has denied the legal claims and sought to reopen the youth shelter with a new operator. At a City Council meeting this week, Homeless Services Bureau Manager Paul Duncan blamed the delayed opening on faulty plumbing. In December, months after the decision to kick out the April Parker Foundation, crews discovered cracked, clogged and faulty underground pipes that were causing toilets to back up. Renovations, which are under warranty, Duncan said, are expected to conclude soon. When the shelter opens next month, it will be run by Jovenes, Inc., an LA-based nonprofit. The City Council approved a“Glad to hear we have a real opening date in early May, and I look forward to moving forward,” Mayor Rex RichardsonRoughly three years after above average rainfall fueled a devastating landslide in Rancho Palos Verdes, the landscape has become almost unrecognizable. Homes, ripped apart by the land movement, have been wiped away, creating swaths of unusable open space. Trying to slow the landslide has pushed the city to the financial brink. But also caught in the landslide’s crosshairs is a beloved seaside network of trails that continues to be pulled apart and will never be the same.The area was once green rolling hills offering spectacular views of the Pacific Ocean and Catalina Island. Now, much of the land is riddled with 20-foot chasms, some of which span 12 feet. For decades, land movement was minimal. But with— up to 1 foot per week in some places. Land movement has since slowed to about 1.6 inches a week, thanks in part to wells the city installed that suck water out of the ground, but damage to the around 16 miles of trails remains and will likely never be abated.The California gnatchater, a small songbird that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service calls “threatened” and the endangered Palos Verdes blue butterfly rely on certain host plants within the preserve. Cris Sarabia, conservation director for the Palos Verdes Peninsula Land Conservancy, said the species can also benefit from less human activity.Roughly three years after above-average rainfall fueled a devastating landslide in Rancho Palos Verdes, the landscape has become almost unrecognizable. Homes, ripped apart by the land movement, have been wiped away, creating swaths of unusable open space. Trying to slow the landslide has pushed the city to the financial brink. But also caught in the landslide’s crosshairs is a beloved seaside network of trails that continues to be pulled apart and will never be the same. The area was once green rolling hills offering spectacular views of the Pacific Ocean and Catalina Island. Now, much of the land is riddled with 20-foot chasms, some of which span 12 feet.— up to 1 foot per week in some places — prompting Southern California Edison and SoCalGas to shut off utilities for hundreds of residents.Landslide damage has closed dozens of trails in the Portuguese Bend community area of Rancho Palos Verdes on April 4.Land movement has since slowed to about 1.6 inches a week, thanks in part to wells the city installed that suck water out of the ground, but damage to the around 16 miles of trails remains and will likely never be abated. "We don't traverse those areas on a regular basis. We occasionally use drones to look at the damage,” said Ara Mihranian, Rancho Palos Verdes’ city manager. “You can't get across certain trails, so if we even went down into a certain area, we wouldn't be able to continue because of the open fissures in the ground.” William Lavoie of the Palos Verdes South Bay group of the Sierra Club has hiked trails in the 1,500 acre-Palos Verdes Nature Reserve once a week for about 25 years. Before the city closed off the area, he said he saw a telephone pole “ tipping at about a 30-degree angle.”“ I understand why they closed the trails because there were some pretty good-sized fissures,” he said. “It would be very sad if somebody broke a leg or twisted an ankle or broke an ankle.”The California gnatcatcher, a small songbird that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service calls “threatened” and the endangered Palos Verdes blue butterfly rely on certain host plants within the preserve. “ The habitat that supports the wildlife has been fragmented, has been damaged with fissures opening up in the ground, splitting apart. Coastal sage scrub has actually been sucked in by the fissures,” Mihranian said. “That impacts the corridors and the wildlife patterns that you see out in the preserve.” But Cris Sarabia, conservation director for the Palos Verdes Peninsula Land Conservancy, said the species can also benefit from less human activity. “ Both of those endangered species have wings so they could essentially fly,” he said. “So the fissures on the trails or the cracks in the ground don't necessarily cause big impacts to them because they're able to move around.” Sarabia said his organization is also tracking the cactus wren bird that resides in a cactus found within the landslide area. “ We have been working closely with the different entities doing the work to avoid as much habitat as possible, but unfortunately some of these areas overlap,” he said. Meanwhile, the conservancy is trying to salvage the cactus and preparing for restoration of the sites, collecting native seeds and growing new plants. But the true extent of the damage and the effects to wildlife are unclear, Mihranian said, because city officials haven’t been able to go in to do a full assessment — the area is too unsafe. ”It's going to be a herculean effort and a very costly one as well,” Mihranian said of repairing the damage.When the current fiscal year ends in June, Rancho Palos Verdes will have spent close $65 million on efforts related to the landslide since October 2022. For context, the city’s annual operating budget is around $40 million.Rancho Palos Verdes has appealed to state and federal officials for assistance, but with little to no success. Adding salt to the wounds, the city has also lost out on revenue from parking fees for the preserve. Revenue generated at the Abalone Cove Park lot has dropped from $150,000 each year, to just $11,000, according to the city. Revenue from parking near Del Cerro Park also decreased from around $32,000 in fiscal year 2022-23 to just $4,000. Not to mention all the homes that have been lost, uprooting the lives of residents who haven’t been able to resell, instead relying on a government-backed buy back program.Lavoie, the Sierra Club member, said despite the trail closures, the vast open space in the Palos Verdes Peninsula means there are plenty of alternatives.Lavoie affectionately calls the trail behind Highridge Park “the maze.” It’s an easy one-hour walk and you get to share the trail with horses. Malaga Cove: Pass Neptune fountain, the library and post office to continue along a grassy hill shaded by eucalyptus trees. Use the utility pathway to reach La Venta Inn.There are lots of great trails that start at Ernie Howlett Park. Anyone can join the Palos Verdes South Bay group of the Sierra Club on their hikes in the peninsula. CheckIf you're enjoying this article, you'll love our daily newsletter, The LA Report. Each weekday, catch up on the 5 most pressing stories to start your morning in 3 minutes or less.Tickets to the FIFA Fan Festival will go on sale next week for eager soccer fans who want to celebrate the World Cup at the L.A. Memorial Coliseum.The festival is a four-day event featuring live music and other entertainment. Soccer fans will also be able to watch live matches.Soccer fans who want to celebrate the World Cup at the L.A. Memorial Coliseum will be able to purchase tickets to thebegins the same day as the tournament, June 11, and goes through June 14, and will include live music, match broadcasts and other entertainment, according to FIFA.General admission tickets are $10, and reserved club and loge seats are $30. Children younger than 12 years old are free. If event days are not sold out, fans can also purchase tickets at the Coliseum’s box office at Gate 29. The venue does enforce strict bag rules. Any bags must be clear, and exceptions can be made for special circumstances, like medical or infant care items.How do I get to the Coliseum? There’s more than one way to get to the venue. For public transit, the Metro E Line makes two stops near the Coliseum — Expo Park/USC and Expo/Vermont. There will also be a designated area for rideshare drop-offs and pickups at Vermont Avenue between Exposition Boulevard and Downey Way. Additional parking will also be available just a short walk from the venue on the USC campus. You can pre-book parking spaces starting at $55,. Comedians like Cameron Esposito, Eric Bauza, Christa B. Allen and many more star in this live reading at Dynasty Typewriter. A donation will be made to the World Wildlife Fund., based on the 1936 anti-marijuana propaganda film, on through May 10 at the Wisteria Theater in North Hollywood. Those crazy kids.. The film follows a Texas battle over restrictions on race and LGBTQIA+ materials, and tells the story of the librarians on the front lines. As lawmakers around the country push boundaries of censorship, the film looks at “the broader implications on these restrictions for education and public life.” and I was thrilled to get a sneak peek at the space. The Brutalist spaceship-like arm that reaches across Wilshire Boulevard is organized loosely , bringing decorative arts, design and photography onto the same plane as traditional painting and sculpture. I particularly liked the American West rooms and the design-focused areas that somehow make even a full-sized car look small. Outside is just as impressive, with a Rodin sculpture garden and old friends like Alexander Calder’s"Three Quintains " — first commissioned for the museum in 1965 — getting a new home and water feature. There are lots of new spots to explore during the nexthas your music picks, including Monday’s lineup of Biffy Clyro at the Belasco, Maya Hawke at Sid The Cat Auditorium, Langhorne Slim at the Troubadour, Young the Giant at the Grammy Museum and David Lee Roth runnin’ with the devil at House of Blues Anaheim. On Tuesday, Throwing Muses plays the Teragram, Failure plays Zebulon, Cheap Trick transforms Pomona College’s Bridges Auditorium into Budokan and the UK’s Flyte plays their first of two nights at the Lodge Room. Wednesday, Daptone Records soul trio Thee Sacred Souls is at the Greek Theatre . Also Thursday, She Wants Revenge is at the Wiltern, Ari Lennox is at YouTube Theater, fabulous showman Bright Light Bright Light plays the Mint and Britain’s Art Brut performs their entire album. The film follows a Texas battle over restrictions on race and LGBTQ+ materials and tells the story of the librarians on the front lines. As lawmakers around the country push boundaries of censorship, the film looks at “the broader implications on these restrictions for education and public life.”Big-name local chefs like Quarter Sheets’ Aaron Lindell and Wildair’s Jeremiah Stone and Fabián von Hauske Valtierra try their hand at no-waste cooking at Little City Farm for Earth Week in collaboration with home composting company, Mill. On Wednesday , Mike Fadem of James Beard semifinalist pizza restaurant Ops will collaborate with Lindell to create no-waste pizza recipes. Then, on Thursday, Stone and Valtierra team up with 2026 James Beard Emerging Chef finalist Fátima Juárez of Komal to showcase Mexican heritage-inspired dishes. All proceeds benefitHead to the Fullerton Museum Center for a new biennial juried exhibition, OC Made. It’s the first show of its kind dedicated to artists living and working in Orange County. This year’s crop features 108 artists and more than 130 pieces spanning painting, photography, sculpture and mixed media. Among the winners are Ramón Vargas for his piece"Wolf," plus curators’ choice nominees Jacquelin Nagel for"Begonia Maculata" and Brooke Hunter for"Center Stage." And keep an eye out for other events at the museum, like the Downtown Fullerton Art Walk on May 1.This event is currently sold out, but keep an eye out for a last-minute chance to get a behind-the-scenes look at the design and building of LACMA’s new David Geffen Galleries with LACMA CEO Michael Govan and Swiss architect Peter Zumthor., based on the 1936 anti-marijuana propaganda film, on through May 10 at the Wisteria Theater in North Hollywood. Those crazy kids.? El Cid says so, so it must be true. Dance off your fears about getting old at this album anniversary party.directed by Marielle Heller — the nostalgia is real). Comedians like Cameron Esposito, Eric Bauza, Christa B. Allen and many more star in this live reading at Dynasty Typewriter. A donation will be made to the World Wildlife Fund.Join drag kings and queens, including El Daña , Mo B. Dick ,"Mother" Karina Samala , Jazzmun and Manny Oakley for a panel — and, of course, a performance — about drag history and culture. Hosted by Lil Miss Hot Mess, the event is free and part of the National Humanities Center’s Being Human Festival, which runs through May 3.
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