Los Angeles County reached a pivotal milestone in its road to recovery from the January wildfires. On Feb. 11, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began clearing debris from properties burned in the Pacific Palisades and Altadena, marking the beginning of a years-long rebuilding process for the thousands of residents who lost their homes and businesses.
On this week’s “In Focus SoCal,” host Tanya McRae sits down with Kathryn Barger, chair of the LA County Board of Supervisors who represents areas impacted by the Eaton Fire. Barger recently launched the Altadena Recovery Commission to support long-term rebuilding efforts with the input of businesses, philanthropic and faith-based organizations.
“We wanted to be really industry experts that I trust, getting information from the community that I trust, so that we make decisions that are benefiting Altadena and bringing Altadena back in a way that really does reflect the true diversity and the greatness of Altadena,” Barger said.
The supervisor also shared how the last few weeks have been for her, as she’s been updating the public and meeting with impacted residents since the Eaton Fire broke out on Jan. 7.
“I tell people I’m less a politician and more a public servant, and there is no question in my mind now that it’s time for me to stand tall and be at the forefront, giving our residents the assurance that they are in fact heard and seen,” Barger said.
Also on this week’s episode of “In Focus SoCal,” McRae takes a closer look at two new laws in California that are protecting child social media influencers and ensuring that they are fairly compensated. One bill, authored by California Sen. Steve Padilla, known as the Child Content Creator Rights Act, requires vloggers featuring minors in at least 30% of their content and earning $1,250 or more monthly, to set aside 65% of a proportionate percentage of earnings in a trust account. Another bill modernizes the current California Child Actor’s Bill to include protections for minors earning money through digital and social platforms.
State Sen. Susan Rubio joins “In Focus SoCal” to discuss some of her priority legislation that she’s introduced so far this legislative session, including access to affordable health food and gun violence in schools. Rubio introduced the Safe Schools and Places of Worship Act on the first day of the current legislative session. Prosecutors across the state have found it difficult to hold people accountable for making criminal threats against schools and places of worship unless they identify a specific person in the threat. SB 19 would address this issue and make it easier to successfully prosecute those who threaten to commit death or great bodily injury to any person on the grounds of a school or pace of worship.
“Every time there’s an incident in a school, according to some data we received, each incident is $100,000. Not only is it taking resources away from other critical programs that we can be putting that money into, but what’s happening, it’s creating a community-wide panic,” Rubio said.
“We have parents that are keeping students at home,” she said. “And as a former educator, I can tell you with certainty that every day they’re not in school, they’re losing vital information that is critical for their education.”
Send us your thoughts to InFocusSoCal@charter.com and watch at 11 a.m. on Saturdays and 9 a.m. on Sundays.
