FREE
LA to resume parking enforcement, towing of vehicle dwellings on May 15
Coroner’s office determines deaths of model, friend were homicides
M O N D AY, A P R I L 11- A P R I L 17, 2022
V I S I T A R C A D I AW E E K LY. C O M
V O L U M E 26,
N O. 64
LA County supervisors urge Congress to OK additional COVID funding BY CITY NEWS SERVICE
A
s negotiations continue in Washington, D.C., the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors has urged Congress to approve additional COVID-19 funding to ensure continued access to vaccinations, testing and care for virus patients. The board unanimously approved a motion by Supervisor Hilda Solis to formally urge President Joe Biden and members of Congress to negotiate an agreement that continues funding for COVID health measures. “For the last two years, federal COVID-19 relief funding has been critical in supporting our efforts in Los Angeles County to combat this unprecedented pandemic,” Solis said in a statement after the vote. “With these resources, our county, with our federally qualified health centers, hospitals and community partners, has created an extensive testing network, supported a massive vaccination effort with large scale and mobile vaccination sites, distributed PPE to our most vulnerable, and delivered lifesaving therapies and treatments to those with COVID-19. “These funds were essential, and they helped us provide services to those most in need, including lowincome communities and communities of color,” she said.
The board’s vote came one day after news that congressional leaders had reached a tentative agreement on a $10 billion COVIDresponse funding package. The total is well below the White House’s original $22.5 billion funding request, and below a more recent $15 billion agreement. The reduction in funds primarily represented money that would be used to battle virus outside the United States Los Angeles County officials have expressed concern in recent weeks about possible cuts in federal funding domestically that could hamper continued COVID-control measures -- most notably in providing access to testing and vaccinations, and for treatment of patients without insurance. Solis wrote in her motion that a reduction in federal funding will force healthcare agencies that care for “vulnerable” residents to “absorb costs, turn people away or withdraw from the significant network that the county has built for testing, vaccine administration and treatment.” Speaking to the board Tuesday, Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer reiterated that local COVID case and hospitalization rates are down dramatically from the winter surge, although the decline in infection numbers has leveled off. She noted that over the
| Photo courtesy of Louis Velazquez/Unsplash
past week, the seven-day daily average of new cases was 783 -- a 19% increase from the prior week. Average daily deaths, however, remained low at 14 per day, nearly half of the average of 27 per day two weeks ago. Hospitalizations have also remained low, she said. According to state figures, there were 297 COVIDpositive patients reported
in county hospitals as of Tuesday, up from 287 a day earlier. There were 42 of those patients being treated in intensive care, down one from the previous day. Ferrer reported 708 new COVID cases on Tuesday, along with 12 additional virus-related deaths. She also noted a recent upswing in outbreaks of cases in school classrooms.
She said that last week, only four classroom outbreaks were reported, but for the week of March 28 through Sunday, 10 were reported. And on Monday alone, six new classroom outbreaks were reported. “While we don’t see significant increases in the number of students and staff that are testing positive through routine testing, we
are ... seeing a sharp uptick in school outbreaks,” she said. She said the county continues to strongly recommend that people wear masks indoors at schools, even though they are not required. The county is also recommending that schools across the county conduct weekly testing for unvaccinated students and staff.
LA begins steps to develop electric fleet of more than 10,000 city vehicles BY CITY NEWS SERVICE
T
he Los Angeles City Council Wednesday approved an “Electric Vehicle Master Plan,” aimed at developing an entirely electric fleet of more than 10,000 city-owned vehicles
and deploying EV charging infrastructure across the city. The motion was introduced by Councilmen Mitch O’Farrell and Paul Krekorian, who announced the plan outside City Hall on Wednesday morning, ahead
of its passage by a 12-0 vote. “Historically, this city has the worst air quality in the nation thanks to freeways, sprawl, gaspowered vehicles,” O’Farrell said during the City Council meeting Wednesday. “The automotive age
of the last century turbocharged our descent into that dubious distinction that we all live with today, especially disadvantaged communities that bear the brunt of this degradation because of their proximity adjacent to major trans-
portation infrastructure, thoroughfares, arterioles, freeways, underpasses.” The city’s current electric vehicle fleet consists of 124 electric sedans, 46 plug-in electric hybrids and two hybrid electric street sweepers. Four light-duty
electric trucks are also expected to arrive in Los Angeles this year. Over the last five years, the city has installed 350
See City vehicles Page 3