Baldwin Park Press_2/21/2022

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Baldwin Park Newsom unveils ‘SMARTER’ plan for continued coexistence with COVID

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M O N D AY, F E B R U A RY 21- F E B R U A RY 27, 2022

V I S I T B A L D W I N PA R K P R E S S . C O M

N O. 57

V O L U M E 10,

LA awarded more than $47M to buy apartment buildings for homeless

LA County moves closer to licensing commercial cannabis businesses

BY CITY NEWS SERVICE

BY CITY NEWS SERVICE

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os Angeles was awarded more than $47 million to help its Housing Authority purchase apartment buildings to house people experiencing homelessness. The Los Angeles Housing Authority received nearly $37 million to buy multifamily rental housing buildings near public transportation and other amenities. Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office said that project will offer 126 units for people experiencing chronic homeless and people who are at risk of becoming homeless. It will also offer case management and help people access behavioral and physical health services, trauma informed care, benefits, documentation, education and employment services. The Los Angeles Housing Authority was also awarded $10.5 million to buy a newly constructed apartment building with 34 units that will be used to house people experiencing homelessness or who are at risk of becoming homeless. That site will offer case management to give people income support, access to health services, substance abuse treatment and eviction prevention. Further details about both projects were not immediately available. Newsom said in his announcement Wednesday that the funding to Los Angeles is part of $116 million for seven new Project Homekey sites across California. Project Homekey is a program launched in 2020 to quickly convert buildings into permanent housing in an effort to address the state’s homelessness crisis. Newsom said Wednesday that the state has housed thousands of people “at an unprecedented rate since the start of the pandemic.”

| Photo courtesy of Pedro Marroquin/Unsplash

“Today’s announcement will bring 387 housing units for those most in need of a home, offering several essential supportive services with easy access to public

transportation,” Newsom added. Orange County was also awarded $17 million Wednesday to buy a former hotel and turn it into 62 units of housing for

people who are homeless and chronically homeless. Newsom’s office said the project will initially serve as interim housing with plans to transition to permanent housing

overtime. The project is near a transit station, grocery store, medical clinic, public library and pharmacy and on-site case management will be offered to residents.

he Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors agreed Tuesday to move forward with the development and implementation of an “equitable” system for licensing commercial cannabis businesses in unincorporated areas. The board’s action means an end is potentially in sight to the county’s years-long ban on marijuana dispensaries and other cannabis-related activities. The county’s prohibition on marijuana dispensaries in unincorporated areas has been in place since 2010 and was broadened in 2017 to include the cultivation, manufacture, testing and distribution of the drug for other than personal use. California voted to legalize cannabis in 2016 and legal recreational sales began in January 2018. The board directed its Department of Consumer and Business Affairs to develop and implement a commercial cannabis licensing program for unincorporated areas, beginning with a limited number of licenses while prioritizing “equity” applicants. The framework authorized by the board allows for up to 25 retail, 25 delivery, 10 cultivation, 10 manufacturing, 10 distribution and 10 testing licenses. County officials said limiting the initial number of licenses will assure that the permits are being distributed equitably in the community. “A cannabis program that is safe, regulated and equitable is necessary for unincorporated L.A. County and for addressing the injustices that

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