Good morning, SoCal. Here's what you need to know today.
Your Weather Planner
Make sure you keep the umbrella handy as these off-and-on light showers will continue throughout the day for your Monday.
The moderate and heavy rain will overspread SoCal in the early morning hours Tuesday and continue through Wednesday along with very strong winds in the area.
Low elevation mountain snow has the potential to impact our passes, such as the Tejon Pass.
For details on this strong Atmospheric River Storm, visit here.
Get your 7-day forecast: LA West | LA East | San Fernando Valley/Ventura County | Orange County
Around SoCal
1. California to seek beds for mental health, drug treatment
California voters would decide whether to fund a major expansion of housing and treatment for residents suffering from mental illness and addiction, under the latest proposal by Gov. Gavin Newsom to address the state's homelessness crisis.
Newsom announced Sunday that he will ask allies in the Democratic-controlled Legislature for a measure on the 2024 ballot to authorize funding to build residential facilities where over 10,000 people a year could live and be treated. The plan is the latest by the governor who took office in 2019 vowing to own the issue of homelessness in a state where an estimated 171,000 were unhoused last year.
The governor called the plan the next step in how California expands services for unhoused people, especially those with psychological and substance use disorders.
The initiative would be partially funded by general obligation bonds that would go toward construction of “campus-style” facilities along with smaller homes and long-term residential settings, Newsom's office said.
In addition, it would overhaul California's Mental Health Services Act, an initiative approved by voters in 2004 that charges a 1% tax on incomes greater than $1 million to fund mental health services. Some lawmakers complained that money from the initiative bypassed those who needed it the most, and Newsom's office said the new version would improve accountability and oversight for counties.
Newsom unveiled details of the plan during a stop Sunday afternoon in San Diego. The governor is in the midst of a five-day statewide tour that he's using to highlight his major policy goals. The tour replaced a traditional State of the State address.
2. LAUSD prepares for school closures as strike looms
Members of the Service Employees International Local 99 Union said they are moving forward with plans to strike throughout the Los Angeles Unified School District Tuesday through Thursday to “protest the school district’s unfair practices.”
The union’s announcement Saturday came one day after the LAUSD filed a legal challenge with the state Public Employment Relations Board seeking an injunction that would halt the strike, claiming the union’s proposed strike was illegal.
The district issued a statement Sunday night saying it is prepared for school closures but remains hopeful a resolution can be reached before the stated Tuesday deadline.
The statement was in response to a PERB ruling, denying the district’s request for injunctive relief because it did not find “the extraordinary remedy of seeking injunctive relief to be met at this juncture,” but did direct its Office of General Counsel to expedite the processing of the district’s underlying unfair practice charge against SEIU Local 99, which alleged that the union and its members were engaging in an unlawful three-day strike.
The district stated that it believes the conflict “could be resolved if both sides entered into good-faith discussions between now and Tuesday.”
Meanwhile, union officials — representing roughly 30,000 cafeteria workers, bus drivers, custodians, special education assistants and other workers — have yet to renounce planned picket lines for a strike that would shut down campuses for three days starting Tuesday.
The challenge questions the legality of the labor action and cites the timing, which would occur before the typical bargaining procedure has been completed.
It is unclear if or when the board will consider the request.
3. March 20 is voters' last day to register for CD6 special election
Monday is the final day for voters to register and be mailed a vote for the city's sixth district's special election.
According to the Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk's office, voter registration applications are also available countywide at most governmental buildings, including post offices, libraries, Department of Motor Vehicles and Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk's offices.
Voters were encouraged to check their voter registration to ensure they are registered and that their information is current.
If an eligible voter misses the registration deadline, that person will not be issued a vote-by-mail ballot but can still vote in-person at any voting center beginning March 25. Voting registration can be done online at lavote.gov.
4. Kenyan women, Ethiopian men dominate LA Marathon
Kenyan Stacy Ndiwa won the women's portion of the 38th Los Angeles Marathon Sunday and claimed a $10,000 bonus by finishing ahead of men's winner Jemal Yimer of Ethiopia.
The elite women started at 6:41 a.m., 18 minutes, 19 seconds ahead of the elite men for the race's Morgan & Morgan Marathon Chase. The time difference is based on a calculation of the differences in lifetime finishes among the top seeded entrants.
The 30-year-old Ndiwa crossed the finish line about 32 seconds before the 26-year-old Yimer. She finished with an unofficial time of 2:31:00.24, while Yimer's unofficial winning time was 2:13:13.58.
The race began under cloudy skies and temperatures in the mid-50s at Dodger Stadium with the field of approximately 22,000 heading off on the 26- mile, 385-yard course for the finish line in Century City.
It drew entrants from all 50 states and 67 nations, its largest field since 2020 when it had a record 27,150 entrants, the 21st time in 22 years it topped 20,000 entrants, organizers said.
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Don't Miss This
Only on Spectrum News 1
California medical geneticist on treating ultra-rare disorders
Growing up in Montebello and Long Beach, Dr. Emil Kakkis' family engrained a sense of service in him.
His grandmother, who escaped the death camps during World War II, always taught him to put good out into the world.
Kakkis’ father was a neurologist who discovered a treatment for people battling Parkinson’s disease. With them as his inspiration, Kakkis became a geneticist and put his focus on ultra-rare diseases, which is any disease that affects fewer than 6,000 people.
Click the link above for more on this story.
SoCal Snapshot
Fans watch as Aryna Sabalenka, of Belarus, on court at left, competes against Elena Rybakina, of Kazakhstan, during the women’s singles final at the BNP Paribas Open tennis tournament Sunday in Indian Wells, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)