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World’s Largest Wildlife Crossing Slated for the SM Mountains By Keldine Hull An $87 million wildlife crossing, mostly funded by private donors, went into its final design phase last month. Slated to be completed by 2023 and stretch 200 feet above 10 lanes of the 101 freeway, it will be the first of its kind near a major metropolis and largest in the world. While tunnels are more common throughout California, the new wildlife crossing will give creatures of the Santa Monica Mountains safer access to food, open spaces and potential mates. According to recent studies, inbreeding due to habitat loss could lead to the extinction of mountain lion populations in the Santa Monica Mountains. “What you’re seeing with the 101 freeway is it has actually acted as an ecological barrier,” said Beth Pratt from the National Wildlife Federation in an interview with the Associated Press. “And what it’s doing is creating an island of the Santa Monica Mountains- cut off from the rest of the world. And as we know, nature does not like islands.” Pratt added that no one has attempted to do a connectivity project of this magnitude. “This crossing isn’t going to bring more wildlife; it’s just going to ensure they don’t go instinct,” Pratt explained. “And I think that’s cool that 300,000 people a day are going to drive through this crossing that wildlife will be walking over. And to me that’s the perfect way that wildlife and people can co-exist. We’re not taking the freeway away from people. They can still drive yet we’re doing this beautiful thing for animals so that they don’t get hit by cars and so that they can have a future.”
August 30 – September 12, 2019 Volume 5, Issue 20
Sleeping Ban Near Schools, Parks? Proposal that would ban homelessness on school routes. By S am C atanzaro A policy proposed by a Los Angeles City Councilmember that would prohibit sleeping within 500 feet of schools among other locations tests a federal court ruling's power over local government's attempt to tackle a homelessness crisis while also raising moral questions. A federal court ruling last year in the case Martin v. City of Boise barred t cities from punishing individuals from sleeping on public property unless they provide sufficient and accessible indoor housing. “As long as there is no option of sleeping indoors, the government cannot criminalize indigent, homeless people for sleeping outdoors, on public property," reads the ruling from the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, which includes both Idaho and California. In the decision, which ruled a City of Boise's law penalizing homelessness unconstitutional citing the Cruel and Unusual Punishments Clause of the Eighth Amendment, the court did give cites leeway, however, to prohibit sleeping in public in certain situations. “Even where shelter is unavailable, an ordinance prohibiting sitting, lying, or sleeping outside at particular times or in particular locations might well be constitutionally permissible," the decision reads. Last week, Los Angeles Councilman Mitch O’Farrell proposed a set of regulations that would test the scope of this leeway. The rules would prohibit sitting, lying down or sleeping within 500 feet of schools, daycare center and parks while also banning bedding near homeless shelters. In addition, O’Farrell's rules would make illegal sleeping on bicycle paths; on bridges or in tunnels designated as school
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Under a proposal from a Los Angeles City Councilmember, sleeping in public parks would be illegal.
routes; public spaces with notices prohibiting trespassing or stating closing times for safety or maintenance; and crowded areas near large venues, including the Venice Beach Boardwalk. The rules also would make illegal approaching, following closely or speaking to a person in a manner that may cause a reasonable person to fear bodily harm or damage to or loss of property. Being intimidated into giving money would also be punishable as well. While supported by some residents such as Travis Binen who said in a letter to Council "the City needs to be able to legally move them instead of leaving them on the sidewalk to die or harm others," O'Farrel's proposal was met with harsh words by his collogue Councilmember Mike Bonin in a series of tweets. "Some restrictions on encampments near schools and shelters make sense and could pass legal muster — but this overreaching proposal is giving a middle finger to the court, false promises to neighbors, and a kick in the head to people who are homeless," Bonin wrote. "The heart of LA’s homeless problem is that that for decades we have focused on criminalization instead of solutions...Every time we criminalize, homelessness gets worse and
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the court ties the city’s hands further. And we squander resources and lose a mission-driven focus. In a letter to City Council, Michelle Wong Research Fellow in Health Services Research at U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs echoed Bonin's concern that adding these regulations will make it more difficult for individuals experiencing homeless to access resources. "This will severely curtail the available places that homeless-experienced individuals can stay/sleep, that this will force these individuals to places that make it more difficult for them to access services and for homeless-service providers to find/reach them, and ultimately lead to worse health outcomes for homeless-experienced individuals," Wong said. Lisa Redmond, a Venice resident, raised a moral objection to O'Farrell's proposal saying "this is not how we should treat our neighbors and community members by punishing them for being less fortunate. It is plain and simple an act to criminalize individuals for being homeless," in a letter to Council. In his series of tweets, while Bonin referenced that certain aspects of O'Farrell's
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