Bass, Barger urge Congress to fund long-term fire recovery
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass (D) and Los Angeles County Supervisor Kathryn Barger (R-Palmdale, Lancaster, Santa Clarita, San Marino, Pasadena, La Cañada Flintridge, portions of the San Gabriel Valley) issued a joint statement yesterday pressing Congressional leaders to include long-term disaster recovery funding in any supplemental appropriations package.
Their statement came after the Trump Administration’s most recent emergency funding request left out critical support for communities still rebuilding from the Palisades and Eaton fires. It also follows a bipartisan push from four U.S. senators — Alex Padilla (D-CA), Adam Schiff (D-CA), Thom Tillis (R-NC), and John Curtis (R-UT) — who urged Congressional leadership to advance the funding despite its absence from the White House’s request.
“From Los Angeles to Sacramento to Washington DC, we have worked together to fight for recovery funding and resources for our communities, and we won’t stop until every family has returned home and every business has reopened its doors,” Bass and Barger said in the joint statement.
“Los Angeles families, businesses, and neighborhoods have shown extraordinary resilience, but the scale of these recoveries requires continued assistance from every level of government. We urge Congressional leaders to advance a disaster supplemental aligned with the City’s and County’s previous requests. We will continue working with every partner – at every level of government – to rebuild our communities and the critical infrastructure that supports them even stronger than before,” they added.
The joint appeal marks a rare moment of cross-jurisdictional and cross-party alignment on fire recovery, with a Democratic mayor and a Republican supervisor speaking with one voice alongside senators from both parties.
It also comes as recovery efforts in both the Palisades and Eaton burn areas continue to stretch well past their initial timelines, with local officials repeatedly warning that federal funding gaps threaten to slow rebuilding for displaced families and small businesses.
Friedman: merger ruling proves need for independent review
U.S. Rep. Laura Friedman (D-Burbank, Glendale, Pasadena) yesterday lauded the federal court decision that halted the proposed $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery by Paramount Skydance for two weeks, calling the ruling validation of her months-long push for independent scrutiny of the deal.
Friedman led 34 California members of Congress in a May 7 letter thanking California Attorney General Rob Bonta for committing to a “full and robust review” of the merger and urging him to analyze its effects independently of what she has characterized as the Trump Administration’s politicized approach to antitrust enforcement.
“This latest court action reaffirms what I’ve been saying at every step of this deal. We simply cannot trust this Administration to act in the best interests of American workers and consumers,” said Friedman. “Any merger of this size and scale, with so many local jobs and livelihoods on the line, calls for a rigorous and thorough review. Now, it seems like a judge agrees and wants to give this proposed merger the scrutiny it needs. I’ll continue to follow this case as it makes its way through our legal system.”
Friedman’s office points to a steep decline already underway in the region’s entertainment sector: on-location production in the greater Los Angeles area fell 13.2% for the July-through-September period of 2025 compared with the year before, and more than 42,000 jobs in the county’s motion picture industry were lost between 2022 and 2024.
Paramount has projected $6 billion in expense cuts over three years if the merger proceeds, a figure analysts say points toward further local job losses.
As Hollywood’s representative in Congress, Friedman has positioned herself as one of the most vocal critics pushing for careful examination of the deal’s impact on California’s entertainment industry, and is separately working on a bipartisan national film tax credit aimed at keeping entertainment production from moving overseas.
Mitchell, Solis advance next phase of Measure ER rollout
Los Angeles County Supervisor Holly J. Mitchell (D-Inglewood, Hawthorne, Gardena, Compton, Carson) and Los Angeles County Board Chair Hilda L. Solis (D-Downtown Los Angeles, East Los Angeles, Pico-Union, Boyle Heights, El Monte, West Covina, Baldwin Park, Pomona) secured Board approval yesterday for a motion authorizing the county’s Department of Health Services to begin executing contracts with community-based nonprofit health clinics.
The motion is a key step toward launching Measure ER, the Essential Services Restoration Act, on schedule in January 2027.
“Measure ER, approved by Los Angeles County voters, dedicates 45 percent of its revenue to community-based nonprofit clinics that provide essential health services to residents who would otherwise face significant barriers to accessing the care they need,” said Mitchell. “Today’s action ensures we can move from voter approval to implementation without unnecessary delays. By investing in trusted community clinics and building this program with transparency, accountability, and equity at its core, we are strengthening our health care safety net for the residents who need it most.”
“Los Angeles County voters made a clear choice to strengthen our health care safety net, and now it’s our responsibility to turn that commitment into real access to care,” said Solis. “This action helps ensure we can move quickly and thoughtfully to build the partnerships, systems, and accountability needed to deliver on the promise of Measure ER. As implementation moves forward, transparency and community collaboration must remain at the center of every decision so that families who have long faced barriers to health care access see meaningful results.”
The motion builds in several public accountability measures, including advance notification to the Board before any contract is executed, public presentations at the county’s Health and Mental Health Cluster meetings for major agreements, and ongoing stakeholder engagement throughout implementation.
DHS has also been directed to minimize new infrastructure costs, prioritize direct patient care funding, and coordinate with existing Medi-Cal systems to ensure continuity of care.
Hahn doubles reward to $50,000 in Torrance teen’s shooting death
Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn (D-Long Beach, San Pedro, Diamond Bar, Whittier, Cerritos, Downey, Torrance, Redondo Beach, Hacienda Heights) won Board approval yesterday to increase the reward for information in the shooting death of 17-year-old Chyler Paton from $20,000 to $50,000, more than a year after the Torrance teen was killed leaving a graduation pool party.
Paton, who had recently graduated from Culver City High School, was shot at approximately 8:58 p.m. on June 18, 2025, on the 23000 block of Huber Avenue in Torrance. He was leaving a home rented for an end-of-school-year pool party attended by roughly 200 people when he was shot.
Investigators developed a person of interest and made an arrest, but prosecutors were unable to secure a case filing, and Torrance police detectives believe witnesses who could provide corroborating information have not yet come forward.
“Chyler had his entire life ahead of him, and whoever is responsible for robbing him of it needs to be held accountable for that,” said Hahn, whose district includes Torrance. “His family have lived with the pain of his death for more than a year now. We need the public’s help to close this case and help deliver justice for them.”
“More than a year ago, a family lost their 17-year-old son to gun violence. Chyler Paton had just graduated from Culver City High School and had a bright future ahead of him when his life was tragically taken,” said Los Angeles County Supervisor Holly J. Mitchell (D-Inglewood, Hawthorne, Gardena, Compton, Carson), whose district includes Culver City. “We will continue to urge anyone with information that could hold those responsible for this senseless and heinous crime to come forward.”
Anyone with information is urged to contact the Torrance Police Department Detective Division at (310) 618-5570, case number 250021528.
