TODAY’S ESSENTIAL NEWS
» Long Beach Launches Text Program To Stem Homelessness Long Beach has launched a new text alert program, helping to better connect people experiencing homelessness to resources and services. Those that sign up for the program will receive real-time updates on city-run services, instructions on how to sign up for the safe parking program or emergency shelters and alerts about dangerous or inclement weather. “People experiencing homelessness are often on the move, and rely on their cellphone for information,” said Long Beach Mayor Rex Richardson. To sign up for the program, text “HOME” to 99411 and opt-in to notifications. [CBS]
» Police Chase Alternatives Exist, So Why Don’t SoCal Agencies Use Them? High-speed pursuits are one of the most dangerous circumstances that police face on a frequent basis. In just the past few months, there have been several that have ended in fatal crashes in the Los Angeles area, many of which killed innocent bystanders. However, new technologies provide an alternative to dangerous car chase pursuits. Stop Technologies has developed a receiver that can be mounted under a car’s dashboard, allowing law enforcement to disable a vehicle remotely. And a device called a Starchase, a stick-on GPS tracker launched from a patrol car onto a pursuit suspect’s vehicle, is currently being used in 30 other states. The big reason this tech isn’t being used in SoCal, according to LASD Deputy Mike Miller, is cost. [FOX]
» Rare Beetle Species Named After Ex-California Governor Brown Scientists are naming a rare species of beetle in honor of former California Gov. Jerry Brown after finding one at his ranch. Bembidion brownorum was last seen in 1966, but it hadn’t been named or described until one was collected near a creek on Brown’s ranch in Colusa County, about an hour’s drive northwest of Sacramento, the University of California, Berkeley announced Monday. The beetle is brown and tiny at about 5 millimeters (0.20 inch) long, although that is still larger than other Bembidion beetles. Under magnification “it glows with a green and gold metallic shimmer,” according to UC Berkeley. [AP]
» FedEx Moving Maintenance Operations To Indianapolis FedEx confirmed on Monday that it will close its Los Angeles maintenance facility and move all of its operations to Indianapolis. The lease of their Los Angeles facility, primarily used as an aircraft maintenance facility, will expire in June 2024 after which the company plans to discontinue the use of the facility. Aircraft maintenance jobs are high-paying compared to others that do not require a college degree. [WishTV]
» The White Lotus Season 3 Will Be Set in Thailand Sources have confirmed to Variety that HBO’s hit series The White Lotus, starring the perennial Jenniffer Coolidge, will take up residency in Thailand for its highly anticipated third season. As the series’ first two seasons were shot at Four Seasons resorts in Hawaii and Italy, respectively, it’s possible that Season 3 will take place at one of the luxury hotel giant’s four properties in Thailand, which are located in Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Koh Samui and the Golden Triangle. [Variety]
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ONE MORE THING
Echo Park Lake Fence, Flashpoint for L.A.’s Homelessness Crisis, Begins to Fall
Two years after the installment of a chain-link fence around Echo Park Lake, workers began on Monday morning to tear down the barrier erected after the dispersal of a major homeless encampment there which became both a plague on the local community and a cause du jour for progressives.
The fence was first put in place after the Los Angeles Police Dept. swarmed the park in 2021, which pushed out the large homeless encampment that had grown during the Covid-19 pandemic. The effort was part of the city’s plan to revitalize its parks, which later included a “clean up” of MacArthur Park.
