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Los Angeles Times
7 days ago
- Politics
- Los Angeles Times
California taxpayers will pay $15 million to hire journalists
California lawmakers and Gov. Gavin Newsom jammed through a $322-billion budget last month. The biggest headline: Spending to provide healthcare for many undocumented immigrants went away. But there's a nugget that you might have lost in the fine print: Taxpayers will fork out $15 million to hire, train and deploy dozens of journalists around the state. Yes, we're all in the publishing business, together! It's actually been this way since 2023, when state Sen. Steve Glazer of the Bay Area town of Orinda secured $25 million to start the California Local News Fellowship program. That paid for the first three years of the program, and the hiring of about three dozen journalists in 2023 and again in 2024, and soon in 2025, to cover subjects like education, healthcare, the environment, social services and the criminal justice system. The new spending approved last week will create a fourth round of reporters in 2026 (each cohort is hired for two years) and launch a new program to help train news editors. The expenditure once again puts California into stark contrast with Republicans and the Trump administration, which last week slashed $1.1 billion over two years in support for public ratio and television. (You might have noticed local stations like LAist and KCRW cranking up their fundraising appeals to backfill the missing funds.) Paying to support one of America's least popular professions might strike some as a) foolhardy b) wasteful c) unjust. But I am going to go with d) wise. Specifically, penny-wise. Here's why: Accurate news and information has become an increasingly fleeting resource. But it's one that should rank not far behind clean air, food and water on the list of things we need to maintain a healthy and fair society. You might have noticed that information you can trust is becoming as rare as a parking space in San Francisco's North Beach. That's largely because one-third of California's newsrooms have closed in the last 25 years, and more than 65% of journalists have lost their jobs, Glazer noted in a Sacramento Bee op-ed. That's meant 'leaving many communities exposed to unchecked misinformation and government opacity,' Glazer wrote, along with Martin G. Reynolds, co-executive director of the Robert C. Maynard Institute for Journalism Education. That's the institute that will be helping train editors to meld the next generation of journalists. The first-rate journalism school at UC Berkeley has overseen the fellowship program and matched journalists, who make $60,000 to $65,000 a year, with news outlets. I haven't had a chance to review all the work of the dozens of journalists who have been deployed around California. But I have seen that one reporter, assigned to the Modesto Bee, wrote about a small community's struggle to get safe drinking water. KVCR radio in the Inland Empire got a news fellow who has doggedly reported on the reaction to recent immigration raids. Another of the fellows wrote about how inflation and food insecurity had pushed more people to seek food from nonprofits in Chico. All of this, and a lot more, has been produced for a relative pittance, 0.005% of a state budget of $322 billion. Make no mistake, funding of a few dozen fellowships, alone, will not solve the information crisis. A much bigger investment will be required. That's why the Legislature has been looking toward the information economy's biggest companies as a potential source of support for journalism. Internet giants like Google — with a recent annual revenue of $359 billion — have been enriched by high-quality news content while news outlets have been cutting staff. Some in the state want the digital giants to pay to support outlets that employ reporters, editors and photographers. They're the ones, after all, who provide the stories that often pop up at the end of Web searches. But the final outcome of that fight remains to be decided. Alexandra says, 'I don't know if it's pampering per se, but my furry angel Oliver has enrolled in sheep-herding classes in Malibu, swim classes when he was a baby, and last year he got a David Bowie-themed lightning bolt tattoo from the WeHo spa Dogue for a birthday party.' Email us at essentialcalifornia@ and your response might appear in the newsletter this week. Today's great photo is from Times contributor Mariah Tauger at the property of Lindsay and Daniel Sheron, who designed and built their own home on a vacant hillside lot in Mount Washington over the course of three years. Jim Rainey, staff writerDiamy Wang, homepage internIzzy Nunes, audience internKevinisha Walker, multiplatform editorAndrew Campa, Sunday writerKarim Doumar, head of newsletters How can we make this newsletter more useful? Send comments to essentialcalifornia@ Check our top stories, topics and the latest articles on
IOL News
25-06-2025
- Lifestyle
- IOL News
Feeling full moon fever? Unravelling the lunar influence on your emotions and well-being
Stunning photos were taken of the strawberry moon recently as it rose in the night sky. Image: FreePik. South Africans, like people across the globe, have always felt a pull towards the moon, especially when it hangs full and bright in our velvet night sky. There's a magic to it, a whisper that speaks to something deep within us. But is it just folklore, or is there something more to the full moon's influence on our well-being? Stunning photos were taken of the strawberry moon earlier this month as it rose in the night sky. According to LAist, a strawberry full moon occurs during the time of year when strawberries fully ripen. The name originated with the Algonquin tribes in the northeastern US, according to the Old Farmer's Almanack. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ June 10-11 was the lowest full Moon in nearly two decades, a phenomenon that won't repeat until 2043. Each full moon throughout the year is given a traditional name that reflects natural events or seasonal changes occurring at that time. For instance, February's full moon is the Snow Moon, while July is the Buck Moon since it coincides with the period when male deer, or bucks, begin to grow their antlers. From the ancient San people's reverence for the moon as a celestial guide to the Zulu tradition of linking the moon's cycles with agriculture, the moon on Thursday, July 10, holds a special place in our diverse cultural heritage. Many of us grew up hearing stories about the moon's power, its connection to the tides, and even its supposed influence on human behaviour. 10-11 June 2025 was the lowest full Moon in nearly two decades, a phenomenon that won't repeat until 2043. Image: Andy Dufresne/pexels
Yahoo
09-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Former O.C. Supervisor Andrew Do headed to prison for COVID relief bribery scheme
Andrew Do, the former Orange County supervisor who took more than $550,000 in bribes over COVID-relief money meant to buy meals for needy, elderly constituents, was sentenced Monday to five years in federal prison. 'I just do not believe a sentence anything less than the maximum reflects the seriousness of the crime,' said U.S. District Judge James Selna. "Public corruption brings damage far beyond the monetary loss to the county." The judge expressed displeasure that the law allowed him to sentence Do to only five years. Do fled war-torn Vietnam with his family as a child to become an attorney and one of Southern California's most powerful Vietnamese American politicians. As part of a plea deal, Do admitted last year that he funneled more than $10 million in federal pandemic funds to a nonprofit that in turn steered money to his two daughters. The scandal was uncovered in 2023 by the news site LAist, which reported that Do approved contracts worth millions to the nonprofit, which promised to provide meals to the poor, elderly and disabled residents of Little Saigon but could show scant evidence of its effort. Do approved the contracts without disclosing that his 23-year-old daughter Rhiannon, a law student at UC Irvine, had signed documents identifying herself as the nonprofit's president or vice president. As accusations mounted, Do claimed he was the victim of slander, responding with defiant vitriol against the reporter who broke the story, Nick Gerda, and demanding his firing. When the Orange County Register called for Do's resignation, he accused the newspaper of spreading 'gross misinformation.' Late last year, however, Do agreed to resign from the Board of Supervisors and pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit bribery. Federal prosecutors said the Viet America Society gave Rhiannon a job, and paid her as an employee, after her father voted in favor of the lucrative contracts. Prosecutors also said the organization steered money to Do's other daughter through an air conditioning company. 'I'm very grateful that the judge saw the case for what it is,' said Janet Nguyen, the current First District Supervisor. 'He benefitted while people suffered. He took advantage during the pandemic, when no one was watching.' She said the county is conducting an audit to better understand how Do's scheme was allowed to occur. Prosecutors accused Rhiannon Do of making a false statement on a loan application, but agreed to defer the charge, allowing her to enter a diversion agreement in exchange for her cooperation. The elder Do, a Republican, worked as a deputy public defender and a prosecutor before he won a special election in 2015 to represent Orange County's 1st Supervisorial District, which covers Cypress, Fountain Valley, Garden Grove, Huntington Beach, La Palma, Los Alamitos, Westminster and Seal Beach. He became the second Vietnamese American ever to serve on the board, and was later elected to two four-year terms. He was known for his efforts to combat homelessness and for his sponsorship of a Tet Festival in Fountain Valley that drew thousands of people annually. At a time when Vietnamese immigrants face increased threats of eviction and deportation, the disgraced supervisor's behavior 'erodes the already precarious level of trust our community has in the government,' said Mai Nguyen Do, the research and policy manager for the Harbor Institute for Immigrant and Economic Justice, a community group. 'After he's released, it wouldn't surprise me if he goes about his life, and meanwhile so many working-class people in the community don't have the resources to pick themselves up again after they're incarcerated,' said Do, who has no relation to the former supervisor. Jodi Balma, a professor of political science at Fullerton College who has followed the Do scandal, wondered how the bribery scheme somehow passed through the checkpoints of the county bureaucracy. 'There are really good and smart though somewhat annoying procedures in place to verify all contracts with the county,' Balma said. 'Somebody had to say, 'Approve that payment' without any receipts or verification or services. And those people have not been held responsible.' Balma also wondered whether it was fair that Rhiannon Do was allowed to enter a diversion program. 'If there is no punishment for his daughter, that feels unfair to all the other law students who might not be accepted to the California Bar Association because of misconduct,' Balma said. 'This is huge misconduct for someone who wants to be a lawyer.' Andrew Do's defense attorneys asked that he be sentenced to 33 months in prison. In a court filing, they said he had been volunteering at a maritime institute that teaches sailing to underprivileged teens, adding that the head of the program had praised Do's 'unwavering ethical compass.' The defense attorneys said that Do had expressed 'shame' and 'deep sorrow' for his crimes, that his license to practice law had been suspended and that his life has been 'destroyed by his own acts.' Do had 'received no actual payment to himself—all significant funds were provided to his daughter Rhiannon Do,' the defense wrote in a court motion, claiming he had been 'willfully blinded to the violations by the desire to see benefit to his adult daughter.… He now recognizes how completely wrong he was in this catastrophic self-delusion.' The plea deal called for restitution between $550,000 and $730,500, with the sale of the family's forfeited house in Tustin credited against that figure. 'This episode of poor judgment stands out as unique in his otherwise commendable life,' the defense wrote. 'He had a catastrophic lapse of judgment when he failed to stop payments to his daughters, and because VAS was helping his family, he failed to see the red flags of these illegal acts.' Pleading for leniency, defense attorneys invoked Do's backstory as a man who rose to public service after a childhood in war-ravaged Vietnam. But prosecutors said his background only amplified his guilt, considering many of the constituents he victimized had similarly difficult pasts, and he was aware of their vulnerability. Do 'made the decision to abandon the elderly, sick, and impoverished during a national emergency so that he could personally benefit,' prosecutors wrote. 'When the County and nation were at their most vulnerable, defendant saw an opportunity to exploit the chaos for his own benefit and, in so doing, betrayed the trust of hundreds of thousands of his constituents,' prosecutors wrote. 'The scheme was far-reaching and premeditated, and defendant had no qualms about pulling others into his criminal enterprise, including his own children.' Do's crimes, the prosecutors wrote, were 'an assault on the very legitimacy of government.' Calling his conduct 'despicable' and his attempt to minimize his crimes 'absurd,' prosecutors said that of the more than $10 million he steered to the Viet America Society , much of it supposedly for meal programs for the elderly and disabled, only $1.4 million went to that purpose. Do's willingness to involve his family in his scheme pointed to his 'moral indifference,' prosecutors said, while his campaign of invective against the press aggravated his culpability. In connection with the Do case, the U.S. Attorneys office announced charges last week of bribery against the founder of the Viet America Society, and for wire fraud against a man affiliated with another Orange County relief group. The judge ordered that Do surrender himself to federal custody by Aug. 15 and recommended he be incarcerated in the federal prison in Lompoc. Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Los Angeles Times
09-06-2025
- Politics
- Los Angeles Times
Former O.C. Supervisor Andrew Do headed to prison for Covid relief bribery scheme
Andrew Do, the former Orange County supervisor who took more than $550,000 in bribes over Covid-relief money meant to buy meals for needy, elderly constituents, was sentenced Monday to five years in federal prison. 'I just do not believe a sentence anything less than the maximum reflects the seriousness of the crime,' said U.S. District Judge James Selna. 'Public corruption brings damage far beyond the monetary loss to the county.' The judge expressed displeasure that the law allowed him to sentence Do to only five years. Do fled war-torn Vietnam with his family as a child to become an attorney and one of Southern California's most powerful Vietnamese American politicians. As part of a plea deal, Do admitted last year that he funneled more than $10 million in federal pandemic funds to a nonprofit that in turn steered money to his two daughters. The scandal was uncovered in 2023 by the news site LAist, which reported that Do approved contracts worth millions to the nonprofit , which promised to provide meals to the poor, elderly and disabled residents of Little Saigon but could show scant evidence of its effort. Do approved the contracts without disclosing that his 23-year-old daughter Rhiannon, a law student at UC Irvine, had signed documents identifying herself as the nonprofit's president or vice president. As accusations mounted, Do claimed he was the victim of slander, responding with defiant vitriol against the reporter who broke the story, Nick Gerda, and demanding his firing. When the Orange County Register called for Do's resignation, he accused the newspaper of spreading 'gross misinformation.' Late last year, however, Do agreed to resign from the Board of Supervisors and pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit bribery. Federal prosecutors said the Viet America Society gave Rhiannon a job, and paid her as an employee, after her father voted in favor of the lucrative contracts. Prosecutors also said the organization steered money to Do's other daughter through an air conditioning company. 'I'm very grateful that the judge saw the case for what it is,' said Janet Nguyen, the current First District Supervisor. 'He benefitted while people suffered. He took advantage during the pandemic, when no one was watching.' She said the county is conducting an audit to better understand how Do's scheme was allowed to occur. Prosecutors accused Rhiannon Do of making a false statement on a loan application, but agreed to defer the charge, allowing her to enter a diversion agreement in exchange for her cooperation. The elder Do, a Republican, worked as a deputy public defender and a prosecutor before he won a special election in 2015 to represent Orange County's 1st Supervisorial District, which covers Cypress, Fountain Valley, Garden Grove, Huntington Beach, La Palma, Los Alamitos, Westminster and Seal Beach. He became the second Vietnamese American ever to serve on the board, and was later elected to two four-year terms. He was known for his efforts to combat homelessness and for his sponsorship of a Tet Festival in Fountain Valley that drew thousands of people annually. At a time when Vietnamese immigrants face increased threats of eviction and deportation, the disgraced supervisor's behavior 'erodes the already precarious level of trust our community has in the government,' said Mai Nguyen Do, the research and policy manager for the Harbor Institute for Immigrant and Economic Justice, a community group. 'After he's released, it wouldn't surprise me if he goes about his life, and meanwhile so many working-class people in the community don't have the resources to pick themselves up again after they're incarcerated,' said Do, who has no relation to the former supervisor. Jodi Balma, a professor of political science at Fullerton College who has followed the Do scandal, wondered how the bribery scheme somehow passed through the checkpoints of the county bureaucracy. 'There are really good and smart though somewhat annoying procedures in place to verify all contracts with the county,' Balma said. 'Somebody had to say, 'Approve that payment' without any receipts or verification or services. And those people have not been held responsible.' Balma also wondered whether it was fair that Rhiannon Do was allowed to enter a diversion program. 'If there is no punishment for his daughter, that feels unfair to all the other law students who might not be accepted to the California Bar Association because of misconduct,' Balma said. 'This is huge misconduct for someone who wants to be a lawyer.' Andrew Do's defense attorneys asked that he be sentenced to 33 months in prison. In a court filing, they said he had been volunteering at a maritime institute that teaches sailing to underprivileged teens, adding that the head of the program had praised Do's 'unwavering ethical compass.' The defense attorneys said that Do had expressed 'shame' and 'deep sorrow' for his crimes, that his license to practice law had been suspended and that his life has been 'destroyed by his own acts.' Do had 'received no actual payment to himself—all significant funds were provided to his daughter Rhiannon Do,' the defense wrote in a court motion, claiming he had been 'willfully blinded to the violations by the desire to see benefit to his adult daughter.… He now recognizes how completely wrong he was in this catastrophic self-delusion.' The plea deal called for restitution between $550,000 and $730,500, with the sale of the family's forfeited house in Tustin credited against that figure. 'This episode of poor judgment stands out as unique in his otherwise commendable life,' the defense wrote. 'He had a catastrophic lapse of judgment when he failed to stop payments to his daughters, and because VAS was helping his family, he failed to see the red flags of these illegal acts.' Pleading for leniency, defense attorneys invoked Do's backstory as a man who rose to public service after a childhood in war-ravaged Vietnam. But prosecutors said his background only amplified his guilt, considering many of the constituents he victimized had similarly difficult pasts, and he was aware of their vulnerability. Do 'made the decision to abandon the elderly, sick, and impoverished during a national emergency so that he could personally benefit,' prosecutors wrote. 'When the County and nation were at their most vulnerable, defendant saw an opportunity to exploit the chaos for his own benefit and, in so doing, betrayed the trust of hundreds of thousands of his constituents,' prosecutors wrote. 'The scheme was far-reaching and premeditated, and defendant had no qualms about pulling others into his criminal enterprise, including his own children.' Do's crimes, the prosecutors wrote, were 'an assault on the very legitimacy of government.' Calling his conduct 'despicable' and his attempt to minimize his crimes 'absurd,' prosecutors said that of the more than $10 million he steered to the Viet America Society , much of it supposedly for meal programs for the elderly and disabled, only $1.4 million went to that purpose. Do's willingness to involve his family in his scheme pointed to his 'moral indifference,' prosecutors said, while his campaign of invective against the press aggravated his culpability. In connection with the Do case, the U.S. Attorneys office announced charges last week of bribery against the founder of the Viet America Society, and for wire fraud against a man affiliated with another Orange County relief group. The judge ordered that Do surrender himself to federal custody by Aug. 15 and recommended he be incarcerated in the federal prison in Lompoc.
Yahoo
29-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Toxic algae sicknesses declining, marine animal rescue org says
Congratulations, Southern California. Experts say the worst of the deadly algae bloom is over. The Marine Mammal Care Center in San Pedro on Wednesday announced that 'there have been no new patients showing signs of domoic acid (DA) toxicosis this past week and no signs of Pseudo-nitzschia algae detected in Southern California waters as of Friday.' In the past few months, animals like birds, sea lions and marine mammals have been sickened or killed by domoic acid poisoning, which is brought on by algae blooms. The flood of sickened animals overwhelmed veterinarians and care centers near the Southern California coast, though many of those animals that were treated were able to recover from the potentially fatal toxin. 'This was the longest, most toxic, and deadliest bloom we've ever experienced,' the MMCC said. 'Because of your support and advocacy, we got through it, and hundreds of marine mammals received a second chance at life!' Though the worst of this crisis appears to be over, the MMCC is preparing for the next battle by expanding its facilities and increasing patient capacity. As LAist notes, climate change is making oceans more acidic as they absorb more carbon dioxide, conditions that allow many algae to thrive. 'And some of those algae, like Pseudo-nitzschia, produce the toxic domoic acid,' LAist explains. 'We're seeing these types of events happening year after year after year. And they're increasing in their intensity and their frequency,' David Bader, a marine biologist with the MMCC, told LAist. As a result, the MMCC is currently fundraising to assist in that preparation effort. 'We couldn't have made it through without your support,' the organization added. 'Thank you for every donation, comment, and share. Here's a big California sea lion-sized thank you from all of us at MMCC!' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
