Los Angeles grocers partner with FEMA for wildfire resource assistance
Three Los Angeles-area grocery stores will host mini resource stations this weekend, to provide critical resources for businesses, employees and residents impacted by the recent wildfires.
Representatives with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Small Business Administration and the County of Los Angeles will be at resource stations set up at Ralphs and Food 4 Less stores in Malibu, Venice, and Pasadena on Saturday, Feb. 8.
At these locations, FEMA will provide essential information and resources for individuals and families impacted by the fires, while the SBA will assist affected businesses, homeowners and renters with financial guidance and recovery support.
"We know how overwhelming recovery can be after a disaster, and we want people to know they're not alone," said Curtis Brown, Federal Coordinating Officer. "By working with Ralphs and Food 4 Less, we're bringing support directly to the communities that need it most—making it easier for families and businesses to get the help they need to rebuild and move forward."
Saturday's event runs from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the following locations:
Food 4 Less - 1329 N Lake Ave, Pasadena
Ralphs - 910 Lincoln Blvd, Venice
Ralphs - 23841 Malibu Rd, Malibu
Bracken's Kitchen will serve free hot meals to those affected by the fires at the Pasadena Food 4 Less throughout the week, while supplies last.
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The goal of $750 million has remained unchanged, even as the state's budget outlook darkened dramatically in recent months, setting off fierce battles for funding among competing Democratic interest groups. Newsom and his legislative partners have tried to avoid the usual political tripwires. To entice lawmakers far from Hollywood's center, they proposed a bonus for productions filmed outside of the 30-mile zone encircling Los Angeles. They made union entertainment workers, not studio bosses or celebrities, the face of their campaign. By portraying the incentive as a middle-class jobs program, they've largely neutralized objections from elsewhere in organized labor, which would otherwise target the tax credit as a corporate giveaway. 'This was the story of hundreds of union workers who have had to mortgage homes and foreclose on their homes and move to different states because of just how slow the business is,' said Budnick, an advocate for getting formerly incarcerated people into the pipeline for industry jobs. Hollywood hopes collide with Sacramento reality As budget negotiations careen toward a June 15 spending plan deadline, Newsom is trying to assure the anxious industry he'll be able to deliver. His office reiterated on Thursday he is 'fully committed' to securing a revamped $750 millon credit. Even if Newsom is able to claim victory in the final gauntlet of budget negotiations, it's far from assured that the effort will break through Hollywood's current malaise. A panel of top studio executives at the ritzy Milken Global Issues conference last month offered a stark illustration of the gap between Hollywood's expectations and the realities in Sacramento. Casey Bloys, who runs HBO, lamented how California's tax credits — which are capped and distributed via lottery — compared to Georgia's uncapped incentive program. 'Because it's capped, you can't plan,' Bloys said. 'You have to get into a lottery, and you're not sure if your show is going to get the tax break or not.' But an uncapped tax credit was never in the cards in California, especially in this fraught budget year. Newsom is betting that he can make at least some headway in pulling Hollywood out of its doldrums. But that success depends on the studios actually being open to returning to California — or if the enticements from outside its borders prove too tempting to pass up. 'My sense is that people throughout the industry — from the folks building sets to studio execs — recognize that Newsom is doing more than any governor in memory to try and save California's entertainment industry,' said Brian Brokaw, a Newsom adviser who sits on the California Film Commission. 'Ultimately what this will come down to is whether those who actually make the decisions about where to shoot share the governor's commitment to California.' The exodus of production from the state may be so long gone that nothing Newsom does now will substantially reverse the tide. But perhaps the governor's film tax flex could at least quell some uncomfortable questions about Hollywood flight under his watch — particularly if he wants to tout his record in a 2028 White House run. 'If he's going to run for president, this is gonna come up,' said Rushfield, the longtime industry watcher. 'And he's got to be able to say that he tried.'
