Good evening, SoCal. We're wrapping up the day for you with the most important stories you need to know and your weather outlook.
Your Weather Planner
Offshore winds will decrease over inland cities, which will lead to below-freezing temperatures Thursday morning.
During the day, clouds will increase a bit, but temperatures will remain mild.
It will be a great day to go for a walk or hike outdoors.
Tomorrow's Highs
Get your 7-day forecast: LA West | LA East | San Fernando Valley/Ventura County | Orange County
Today's Big Stories
1. Bass' encampment initiative launches in South LA, 2nd Westside site
A city program aiming to provide housing to those living in encampments in Los Angeles is launching in South Los Angeles and continuing on the Westside, Mayor Karen Bass announced Wednesday.
Inside Safe, an initiative started by Bass, has housed 25 people near the intersection of Culver Boulevard and South Slauson Avenue, according to Councilman Marqueece Harris-Dawson.
At the intersection of West 87th Street and Western Avenue, the Culver Boulevard Median Inside Safe Initiative plans to provide services to 40 people living in the area, Councilwoman Traci Park's office said.
According to Bass' office, the Inside Safe Initiative will work to identify the "highest need encampments" that have a chronic and high demand for services. Using citywide coordination between various departments and agencies, the plan calls for identifying interim housing and eventually permanent housing resources for each person living in the encampments.
2. LAPD assists state task force on human trafficking, nets 116 arrests
A statewide multi-agency task force targeting human trafficking resulted in the arrests of 368 people — 116 by LAPD investigators — and the rescue of 131 victims, authorities said Wednesday.
Operation Reclaim and Rebuild was conducted over seven days in nine counties, including Los Angeles, Orange and San Bernardino, said Chief Michel Moore of the Los Angeles Police Department.
Numerous federal, state and local law enforcement agencies were involved in the effort, including the LAPD, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.
“The victims’ ages in this operation were found to be between 13 and 52 years of age, with six of them being juveniles,” Moore said at a news conference at the LAPD Elysian Park Academy.
Authorities stressed that although the statewide task force effort was conducted over a seven-day period, law enforcement organizations work every day to combat sex trafficking.
3. Alec Baldwin scheduled for court on charges in set death
Alec Baldwin’s first court appearance has been set as he confronts accusations of firearm safety failures and involuntary manslaughter in the fatal shooting of a cinematographer on a New Mexico film set.
A New Mexico court on Wednesday scheduled Baldwin and film-set weapons supervisor Hannah Gutierrez-Reed to appear by videoconference before Santa Fe-based District Court Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer in late February, leaving several weeks before the defendants may provide a formal response to felony charges. They were both charged Tuesday with involuntary manslaughter in the death of Halyna Hutchins on the set of the Western movie “Rust.”
Hutchins died shortly after being wounded during rehearsals at a ranch on the outskirts of Santa Fe on Oct. 21, 2021. Baldwin was pointing a pistol at Hutchins when the gun went off, killing her and wounding the director, Joel Souza.
A manslaughter charge can be brought if a defendant killed while doing something lawful but dangerous and was acting negligently or without caution.
4. At Tyre Nichols' funeral, VP Harris, Rev. Sharpton call for Congress to pass police reform
Tyre Nichols was laid to rest Wednesday in a ceremony held at the Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church in Memphis, three weeks after he died following a brutal beating by police after a traffic stop in early January.
In attendance Wednesday was Vice President Kamala Harris, as well as family members of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd.
The Rev. Al Sharpton, founder and president of the National Action Network, delivered the eulogy Wednesday, and invited Harris onstage for a surprise address.
“We are here on behalf of the people of our country and our president, Joe Biden. And we are here to celebrate the life of Tyre Nichols,” Harris began.
“When we look at this situation, this is a family that lost their son and their brother through an act of violence at the hands and the feet of people who had been charged with keeping them safe,” she continued. “And when I think about the courage and the strength of this family, I think it demands that we speak truth. And with this I will say: this violent act was not in pursuit of public safety.”
“...One must ask, ‘was not it in the interest of keeping the public safe that Tyre Nichols would be with us here today?’” Harris went on to say. “Was he not also entitled to the right to be safe?”
Harris also called on Congress to pass the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, saying: “Joe Biden will sign it. We should not delay and we will not be denied. It is non-negotiable.”
5. Bipartisan group of lawmakers announce push to ratify Equal Rights Amendment
Lawmakers on Tuesday announced plans to achieve a goal a century in the making: Ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment, which would guarantee equal rights for all American citizens regardless of sex.
A group of lawmakers on Tuesday held a press conference to introduce a resolution which would remove the time limit for ratification, allowing the ERA to become an amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
“It’s long past time the Constitution affirm our equality in the eyes of the law,” Massachusetts Rep. Ayanna Pressley said. “The ramifications run deep as women face daily sexism, pregnancy discrimination, pay inequities, sexual violence and legislative attacks on our bodily autonomy."
The new push for its adoption comes in the aftermath of the Supreme Court ending the constitutional right to an abortion last year.
“This is about women's rights,” Rep. Sylvia Garcia, R-Texas., said Tuesday. "It's about gender equality. It's about making sure that there is truly justice for all.”
“It is 2023 and there is absolutely no reason that an arbitrary deadline should prevent women from having equal rights under the Constitution," said freshman Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove, D-Calif. "There should never be a time limit on equality. Women continue to face discrimination in health care, in the workforce, and in every-day life."
Your Notes for Tomorrow
- Groundhog Day
- DNC winter meeting begins
- President Biden marks 30th anniversary of the Family and Medical Leave Act
- Unemployment Insurance weekly claims report
- Pro Bowl Games Skills Competition begins
- Astronauts perform spacewalk from ISS
In Case You Missed It
Pictured here is Treepeople CEO Cindy Montañez. (Spectrum News/Tara Lynn Wagner)
Proposed budget cuts for urban greening programs could leave communities at risk from extreme heat
It’s a simple six-word motto and it’s one Cindy Montañez lives by: “Trees need people. People need trees,” she stated succinctly.
The San Fernando native didn’t grow up in a community with tree-lined streets, so when she was elected to City Council, at the age of 25, she knew exactly what she wanted to do.
“I literally had a napkin when I was running,” she said. “And I wrote down, 'What is my biggest priority?' And the top of the list was like, 'I'm going to plant trees in San Fernando.'"
That napkin was the seed that grew into a major greening movement. It started 20 years ago with some Australian Willows and hasn’t stopped since, with the final selection of slated trees planted just last month.
“We planted over 700 trees in this neighborhood,” Montañez said. “From McLean to Hubbard, Fifth to Fourth, almost every single house now has a tree in front of it.”
This isn’t about beauty — although the results are beautiful. Montañez, who is now the CEO of the nonprofit TreePeople, says this is about public health and equity.
Click the link above for the full story.