LA man creates device to deter homeless from sleeping outside his condo — but is it the best solution?
Invented by Santa Monica resident Stephen McMahon, the device emits a chirping sound and flashes blue light when it detects motion. McMahon describes it as a non-aggressive deterrent.
Thanks to Jeff Bezos, you can now become a landlord for as little as $100 — and no, you don't have to deal with tenants or fix freezers. Here's how
I'm 49 years old and have nothing saved for retirement — what should I do? Don't panic. Here are 6 of the easiest ways you can catch up (and fast)
Nervous about the stock market in 2025? Find out how you can access this $1B private real estate fund (with as little as $10)
"We're not trying to punish anybody," he told NBC Los Angeles. "We're just trying to divert them."
The Blue Chirper, priced at about $400, was developed after McMahon experienced homeless encampments outside his condominium complex's storage area. He also noted a break-in and a neighbor with her infant daughter being assaulted, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Local news channel KTLA5 says McMahon has sold about two dozen devices to business owners and residents in various Southern California locations, including the 3rd Street Promenade in Santa Monica.
In West Hollywood, it was recently placed near a Trader Joe's on Santa Monica Boulevard. While some area residents appreciate the effort to keep sidewalks clear, others find the constant chirping and flashing lights disruptive.
'It's so annoying,' grocery shopper Jeffrey Howard told the Los Angeles Times. 'It's like an alarm from a smoke detector that you're just waiting for somebody to turn off.'
Another shopper, Travis Adam Wright, called it a bad look for West Hollywood. It feels like 'a jerk's first response to people living on the street,' he said.
The city has received no official complaints, but a code enforcement officer is set to assess the situation.
As one local woman pointed out, it may be more impactful to address the root of the issue rather than just one symptom.
'It makes me sad that that's what we're doing to get people to move on. On the other hand, this is someone's business, it's their livelihood,' she told NBC. 'We need just a better solution to the homeless situation.'
Read more: Want an extra $1,300,000 when you retire? Dave Ramsey says — and that 'anyone' can do it
This local initiative comes amid a national surge in homelessness. According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), over 770,000 people were experiencing homelessness on a single night in January 2024, marking the largest number since data collection began and 19% more than in 2007.
Factors contributing to this rise include rising inflation, stagnating wages among middle- and lower-income households and a severe shortage of affordable housing, with median rent increasing by 18% since 2020, says the National Alliance to End Homelessness, and a deficit of over 7 million affordable rental homes nationwide, according to National Low Income Housing Coalition estimates.
Notably, the baby boomer generation is facing homelessness at unprecedented rates. People aged 65 and older are now the fastest-growing group among the homeless population, with Justice in Aging projections indicating their numbers will peak by 2030. Many in this demographic struggle with rising housing costs on fixed incomes.
In fact, in the 2024 HUD report, about one in five people experiencing homelessness on a single night was 55 or older. Almost half of adults in this age group (46%) were experiencing homelessness in "places not meant for human habitation."
While a chirper may get rid of people occupying public stairways, it does nothing to address the broader issue at large — and a substantial solution remains to be seen.
Rich, young Americans are ditching the stormy stock market — here are the alternative assets they're banking on instead
How much cash do you plan to keep on hand after you retire? Here are 3 of the biggest reasons you'll need a substantial stash of savings in retirement
Robert Kiyosaki warns of a 'Greater Depression' coming to the US — with millions of Americans going poor. But he says these 2 'easy-money' assets will bring in 'great wealth'. How to get in now
Here are 5 'must have' items that Americans (almost) always overpay for — and very quickly regret. How many are hurting you?
Like what you read? Join 200,000+ readers and get the best of Moneywise straight to your inbox every week.
This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
San Francisco Chronicle
2 days ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
9th Circuit sides with religious group that rescinded job offer over worker's same-sex spouse
An international religious ministry that offered a woman a job as a customer service representative was entitled to withdraw that offer after learning she was married to another woman, a federal appeals court ruled Tuesday, citing the Supreme Court's broad 'ministerial exception' from civil rights laws. Although the low-paying position Aubry McMahon sought with World Vision in Washington state involved only contact with donors and members of the public and would not have required her to take part in worship services, those contacts can be considered 'key religious functions central to World Vision's mission,' said the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco. Unlike secretaries, accountants or janitors that perform in-house work, customer-service representatives are 'responsible for effectively communicating World Vision's involvement in ministries and projects around the world,' Judge Richard Tallman wrote in a 3-0 ruling that reversed a federal judge's decision in McMahon's favor. Their 'engagement of donors,' which can include joining them in prayer, 'is a form of ministry,' Tallman said. The ruling was based on the Supreme Court's unanimous decision in the Hosanna-Tabor case in 2012 that allowed religious organizations to classify some of their non-clergy employees — in that case, a teacher at a religious school — as 'ministers' who can be fired because of their race, sex, sexual orientation or other grounds normally forbidden by civil rights laws. Federal courts have applied that ruling to a variety of jobs at religiously affiliated institutions such as World Vision, a Christian ministry that trains pastors to provide spiritual and economic services to needy children around the world. The boundaries of the ruling remain hotly contested and drew arguments in Tuesday's case from California and 18 other states siding with McMahon, 17 states supporting World Vision, and religious and civil rights organizations on both sides. The ministry's 'radical vision' of religious exemptions from discrimination laws 'would wreak havoc on states' ability to ensure that employment opportunities remain open to all,' lawyers from the Massachusetts attorney general's office wrote in a filing joined by California. Rachel Laser, president of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, said Tuesday's ruling was 'part of a dangerous trend: A network of conservative legal activists and religious organizations is urging courts to expand a narrow, commonsense rule — meant to allow houses of worship to select clergy according to their faith traditions — into a broad license to discriminate and circumvent civil rights laws.' But World Vision's attorney, Daniel Blomberg of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, told the court that the ministry sought only to ensure 'that those who speak on its behalf faithfully reflect the view of marriage that Christianity has taught for millennia.' The ruling reinforces 'the common sense idea that religious ministries can expect their staff to live what they say they believe,' said attorney Steve McFarland of the Christian Legal Society, who filed arguments on behalf of conservative religious organizations and educators. Some of those groups have urged the Supreme Court to reconsider its 2015 ruling that established a constitutional right to same-sex marriage, two years after federal courts declared those rights in California in a separate case. McMahon did not discuss her marital status before being offered the customer-service job, paying $13 to $15 an hour, in January 2021. Later the same day, she told World Vision that she and her wife were expecting a child in March, and asked if she could take any time off after giving birth. After conducting 'internal discussions' about its policies, the court said, the ministry withdrew the job offer three days later. U.S. District Judge James Robart of Seattle ruled that World Vision had illegally discriminated against McMahon, finding that the job duties were largely secular, like calling donors, describing the ministry's work and keeping statistics, and did not involve any significant religious duties. But the appeals court said World Vision considers those employees to be the ministry's 'voice' to the world. Customer-service representatives 'minister to donors through prayer and routinely pray with donors about their needs and the needs of the children they sponsor,' wrote Tallman, an appointee of former President Bill Clinton. He was joined by Judges Ronald Gould, another Clinton appointee, and Morgan Christen, appointed by former President Barack Obama. Robart, whose ruling they reversed, was appointed by former President George W. Bush. President Donald Trump derided Robart as a 'so-called judge' in 2017 after striking down Trump's first version of a ban on U.S. travel from a group of mostly Muslim nations, a ruling that was upheld on appeal.
Associated Press
4 days ago
- Associated Press
Lightspeed Systems Appoints Dr. Donal McMahon as Chief Artificial Intelligence Officer to Lead Next-Gen Innovation
'Donal brings unmatched technical and leadership acumen, and his track record of operationalizing AI at scale gives us a huge edge. '— Brian Thomas, Co-Founder and CEO of Lightspeed Systems AUSTIN, TX, UNITED STATES, August 4, 2025 / / -- Lightspeed Systems, a global leader in student safety, edtech analytics, and IT management solutions, today announced the appointment of Dr. Donal McMahon as Chief Artificial Intelligence Officer. Dr. McMahon joins Lightspeed at a critical inflection point in its growth trajectory, bringing deep AI and data science expertise to accelerate innovation, improve operational efficiency, and enhance the digital learning experience for K–12 schools worldwide. Dr. McMahon will split his time between Lightspeed Systems and Genstar Capital, the leading private equity firm that is backing Lightspeed. At Genstar, Donal will serve as Head of AI & Data Science. 'AI is reshaping how we deliver safety, compliance, and engagement in our schools,' said Brian Thomas, Co-Founder and CEO of Lightspeed Systems. 'Donal brings unmatched technical and leadership acumen, and his track record of operationalizing AI at scale gives us a huge edge. With Donal on board, Lightspeed is positioned to lead the industry in using AI in transformative ways that help every student thrive.' At Indeed, McMahon led a 300-person global organization delivering advancements in job-matching algorithms, responsible AI governance, and data-driven platform optimization. His earlier work at Google focused on large-scale infrastructure and predictive analytics. He holds a Ph.D. in Statistics from Stanford University and degrees in Actuarial Science and Statistics from University College Dublin. 'I'm looking forward to joining Lightspeed and working alongside the team to put data and AI to work in ways that make a real impact,' said Dr. Donal McMahon. 'That means helping schools create safer, more engaging learning environments and giving educators better tools to do their jobs.' At Lightspeed, McMahon will drive the strategy and execution of AI across product development, customer experience, and internal operations. His initial focus includes enhancing student safety monitoring through predictive analytics, improving district-level insights, and embedding generative AI in educator workflows. These innovations will empower school leaders and educators with real-time, actionable insights—helping them identify students in need, strengthen teaching effectiveness, reduce operational burdens, and improve academic and wellness outcomes across the board. As the education landscape evolves, Lightspeed's AI investments will give schools the intelligence and agility they need to meet challenges proactively and help every student reach their full potential. About Lightspeed Systems Lightspeed Systems is the trusted partner to tens of thousands of schools worldwide, providing web filtering, device management, classroom engagement, and student safety solutions purpose-built for K–12. With over two decades of experience, Lightspeed empowers schools to create safe, secure, and equitable learning environments. Learn more at Amy Bennett Chief of Staff, Lightspeed Systems +1 503-891-7956 email us here Visit us on social media: LinkedIn Facebook YouTube X Legal Disclaimer: EIN Presswire provides this news content 'as is' without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the author above.
Vox
4 days ago
- Vox
Republicans want to give gig workers benefits. There's a catch.
is a policy correspondent for Vox covering social policy. She focuses on housing, schools, homelessness, child care, and abortion rights, and has been reporting on these issues for more than a decade. California rideshare drivers, supporters and former drivers rally saying they want to be made whole in the settlement discussions in a massive wage theft scandal that robbed drivers of tens of billions of dollars collectively, Wednesday, March 26, 2025. Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images Should independent contractors get employment benefits? The question has fueled decades of legal and political battles — and it might finally be coming to an end for the roughly 58 million people who currently work as freelancers, contractors and gig workers across America. Three Republican senators — led by Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, who chairs the chamber's Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee — have introduced bills to expand benefits like health insurance and retirement savings for contractors. The legislation would protect companies from worker misclassification lawsuits if they offered contractors non-salary perks, and Republican Rep. Kevin Kiley (CA) introduced companion bills back in February. Advocates of these so-called portable benefits argue that they support the realities of the current workplace. In 1947, Congress explicitly carved out independent contractors from the National Labor Relations Act's definition of 'employee.' Today, most contractors say they'd prefer to keep their independent arrangements but want more financial stability. Cassidy has hailed passing these bills a top priority for him this year. The portable benefits most likely to pass now, however, are less robust and worker-friendly than some progressive Democrats were envisioning ten years ago. Back in 2015, tech entrepreneur Nick Hanauer and David Rolf, former SEIU president of the Seattle Local 775, pitched a proposal where employers would contribute $2 an hour to a 'shared security system.' Benefits would accrue by the hour, pool across multiple jobs, and be accessible whether someone worked for one company full-time or five part-time. A year later, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) outlined a different approach: Instead of requiring employers to pay in, she proposed building public systems that would let workers take benefits like health care and retirement from job to job. In his final State of the Union address that year, Barack Obama also endorsed the general idea, emphasizing that 'basic benefits should be just as mobile as everything else is today.' Today, Explained Understand the world with a daily explainer, plus the most compelling stories of the day. Email (required) Sign Up By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Notice . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. But unions strongly opposed these efforts. Labor groups have long fought against worker misclassification, where wrongly designating employees as contractors allows employers to sidestep payroll taxes, unemployment insurance, minimum wage laws and other obligations. Unions view codifying portable benefits largely as a way to keep misclassifying workers and therefore cut them off from core workplace protections, including the right to unionize. Unions and union-funded nonprofits argue that portable benefits offer a false choice between job security and flexibility, and point to examples like nurses and restaurant workers where employees can still enjoy more flexible environments. The portable benefits approach, they warn, will just hasten the outsourcing of work to contractors or encourage more companies to misclassify their staff. They point to lobbying efforts by companies reliant on contractors, like DoorDash and Lyft, as well as lobbying by advocacy groups funded by Instacart, Uber, and Grubhub. For a time, it seemed that Democrats might fight for a more progressive version of portable benefits: Warren in her 2016 speech talked about extending union rights to temp and gig workers, and the Hanauer/Rolf proposal resembled how most European countries administer job protections. But the politics of the last seven years have instead shifted the party's focus toward narrowing the legal definition of independent contracting and reclassifying more workers as traditional employees. This approach is a cornerstone of the Protecting Right to Organize (PRO) Act, a union-backed federal labor reform bill that passed the House in 2021, was enthusiastically endorsed by President Joe Biden, and currently has 44 Democratic sponsors in the Senate. Yet the bill stands little chance of becoming law any time soon — and in the meantime, Republicans have taken up the issue with a more employer-friendly bent. With a few exceptions, most Democrats have stopped talking about securing portable benefits for freelancers who want to remain independent. But the need to protect gig workers hasn't gone away; both their numbers and their vulnerability continue to rise. The long-running policy battle may finally be winding down—just not in a way that necessarily helps them. Federal whiplash over the 'independent contractor' question The fight over worker classification stretches back decades, but a good starting place is 2006, when a group of FedEx Home Delivery drivers in Massachusetts voted to unionize. The company refused to bargain, arguing the drivers were independent contractors and therefore ineligible for a union. Although the National Labor Relations Board sided with the drivers in 2007, deeming them employees eligible to unionize, the DC Circuit overturned that ruling in 2009, and asserted the NLRB 'has no authority whatsoever over independent contractors.' Undeterred, the Obama-era NLRB ruled in favor of a different group of FedEx drivers in 2014, declaring them to be employees, not contractors. (The NLRB does not treat rulings other than those from the US Supreme Court as binding.) By 2015, the Obama Labor Department also issued guidance clarifying that most workers should be considered employees. But the Trump administration reversed both efforts, and in 2017 the DC Circuit again sided with FedEx. The pendulum swung back — to classifying more workers as employees — under Biden, only to shift again under Trump in his second term. Turning points The politics started to change in 2018, when the California Supreme Court issued a landmark decision sharply limiting when companies could classify workers as contractors. In response, California lawmakers in 2019 passed a law known as AB 5, functionally codifying the decision's stringent 'ABC test'— a standard that defines most workers as employees. Under the ABC test, one can only be considered a contractor if they do work that falls outside the company's typical line of business. Gig companies began fighting back. In 2020, tech giants like Uber, Lyft, and DoorDash successfully spent $200 million on a California ballot measure to exempt drivers from AB 5 in exchange for requiring companies to provide contractors with some limited benefits. The gig companies also turned their attention outside of California, working aggressively to prevent laws like AB 5 from spreading. In 2022 they prevailed in Washington state, which passed a law that provides limited benefits to gig workers in exchange for maintaining their independent contractor status. The Washington law was backed by the local Teamsters affiliate of drivers and the Washington State Labor Council, but vocally opposed by Sean O'Brien, the Teamsters' international president. Labor groups seeking to slow the momentum of portable benefits scored a win in 2021, when the strict 'ABC standard' was included in the Democratic Party's PRO Act. While a few tech-friendly Democrats continue to elevate the issue of protecting gig workers with portable benefits, most in the party have gone quiet on the subject, as doing so would be seen as undercutting a core goal of the PRO Act. The Democrats' central focus now is on reclassifying gig workers as employees, not protecting contractors with flexible benefits. Another political turning point came in 2023, when Utah lawmakers passed the country's first voluntary portable benefits law, enabling companies to contribute benefits to independent contractors without affecting their contractor status or implying employer liability. Companies like Shipt and Lyft started piloting new benefits for Utah workers months after the law took effect. In Pennsylvania, Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro last year initiated a portable benefits pilot with DoorDash, and Georgia, Maryland, and Tennessee have taken their own steps this year. Supporters say these new voluntary laws will give companies the confidence to provide workers with more competitive working conditions, and they point to preliminary results from Pennsylvania, where 4,400 DoorDash drivers signed up for the savings account program, and earned $400 on average in their first year. Labor leaders remain skeptical, warning this all may amount to little more than PR — or a way to treat workers like employees without providing real support. The new benefits may be pretty lackluster Independent contractors already have the ability to contribute to tax-deductible retirement savings plans known as Simplified Employee Pension plans, or SEP-IRAs. But under current law, employers can't also contribute to those plans without risking legal challenges. Cassidy's new proposal, the Independent Retirement Fairness Act, would amend federal law to allow employers to voluntarily contribute, while shielding businesses from having to provide broader employment benefits or protections. It's unclear whether companies would actually take advantage of this new freedom, though supporters point out that most private-sector retirement plans in the US are voluntary. In terms of health insurance, independent workers can already obtain portable coverage via the Affordable Care Act but a quarter of contractors lack coverage, typically because it's too expensive. This year, the average 40-year-old buying unsubsidized health insurance on the exchanges paid nearly $500 per month, while a family of four paid close to $1,600. Yet Republicans are not proposing to increase subsidies to independent contractors seeking health insurance on the exchanges. Indeed they just approved slashing subsidies to the Affordable Care Act, meaning those with coverage could see their premiums skyrocket, and millions more lose insurance altogether. Rather, Cassidy is looking to allow contractors to purchase pooled options known as Association Health Plans (AHPs), which might provide lower premiums but come with far fewer protections, for example, AHPs frequently lack coverage for preexisting conditions and preventative services. AHPs were originally meant to be options for businesses in the same industry or geographic area but in 2018 the Trump administration tried to expand them to let loosely affiliated groups — like freelancers — buy coverage together and avoid many Affordable Care Act requirements. A federal judge struck down that effort in 2019, saying it unlawfully stretched the definition of 'employer' and was clearly designed to evade the ACA's consumer protections. Related Trump is finalizing one of his big proposals to undercut the ACA Republicans reviving that effort now could both skim healthy, young individuals off the ACA exchanges, and mislead workers into plans far more skimpy and unregulated than they realized. 'In an ideal system employers would have no role in health insurance, but even in our current system, it typically would be better for workers to get subsidized health care on the individual exchanges than AHPs,' said Matt Bruenig, the head of the left-wing People's Policy Project think tank. 'These benefits don't seem like they would be much improvement at all, and could make things worse if they are a trojan horse for badly regulated AHPs.' Warren criticized Cassidy's proposal, but did not elaborate regarding where she falls today on portable benefits. 'I have always believed that all workers deserve access to quality health care and benefits, but unfortunately this Republican effort isn't about getting workers the benefits they deserve,' she told Vox in an emailed statement. 'This GOP legislation is about giving employers freedom to misclassify workers and deprive them of crucial workplace rights — including the right to form a union and be free from harassment.'
