The Thorn West is a state and local news roundup compiled by members of DSA-LA. Our goal is to provide a weekly update on the latest developments in state and local politics, and to track the issues that are most important to our membership.
|
Issue No. 198 - April 12, 2024
|
- At Pomona College, a student referendum to divest from weapons manufacturers and“all companies aiding the ongoing apartheid system within the State of Israel” won with overwhelming support.. This week, 19 student protestors were arrested for demanding the school comply with that referendum. At Berkeley, a faculty member was filmed physically confronting a Palestinian-American student who disrupted a graduation celebration to advocate a similar divestment plan in protest of the ongoing genocide being conducted by Israeli forces in Gaza.
|
- Councilmember John Lee has been blocked in his first attempt to sue to prevent the Ethics Commission from conducting enforcement proceedings against him. Lee is being investigated for failing to report cash gifts.
- The Los Angeles Times Editorial Board notes that time is running out to put a measure on the 2024 ballot to strengthen the city’s Ethics Commission, which lags behind other cities in how much independence it has from the politicians it is charged with regulating – while the city council’s effort at reform appears to have indefinitely stalled.
|
- Two Los Angeles County juvenile detention facilities were on the brink of being shut down after numerous inspections found that they failed to meet habitability and safety standards. A new ruling from the California Board of State and Community Corrections finds that the facilities operate at the minimum allowable standard.. Youth activists, instrumental in drawing attention to conditions at these facilities, disrupted a Board of Supervisors meeting to protest the Board’s ruling.
- Both Los Angeles Times and CalMatters published major reporting investigating the recent dramatic increase in inmate deaths in both the Los Angeles County prison system and county prisons state-wide, finding systemic neglect.
|
- Measure HLA, the citywide transportation ballot measure that was approved by voters in March, is now set to take effect. Streetsblog LA’s first post-election update theorizes as to how the new law’s mandated improvements to bus and bike lanes might be implemented.
|
- L.A. Taco, whose reporting on homelessness and on police violence has been a vital part of Los Angeles independent media, is in danger of shuttering if their final membership drive falls short. Responding to the escalating crisis facing local independent media, UnrigLA surfaces a story about the city’s publicly-owned municipal newspaper, now defunct.
|
|
