Hochman lauds court decision to try Price on corruption charges
Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan J. Hochman lauded the second Los Angeles County Superior Court judge for ordering sitting LA City Councilmember Curren Price (D-South Central Los Angeles, University Park, Exposition Park, Watts, Florence, Lincoln Heights, Manchester Square) to stand trial on 12 felony public corruption charges, rejecting Price’s bid to have the case thrown out before trial.
Judge Larry Paul Fidler ruled Aug. 7 that the District Attorney’s Office presented “ample” evidence at Price’s preliminary hearing to support a probable cause finding, denying a motion Price filed in May to dismiss the case and set aside the felony information.
Fidler’s ruling affirms a Jan. 28 decision by Judge Shelly Torrealba, who held Price to answer after a six-day preliminary hearing and ordered him to stand trial on all 12 original counts.
“Just as L.A. Councilmember Curren Price cannot wall himself off from his ethical and legal obligations, he cannot wall himself off from the fact that he is going to face trial,” said Hochman. “Price’s latest motion to dismiss rehashes the same meritless arguments he has made for years to avoid accountability. The judge rejected those arguments and found that the Public Integrity Division presented ample evidence to hold Price to answer for 12 public corruption felonies. We look forward to setting a trial date and proving these charges beyond a reasonable doubt to a jury.”
Price will face trial on five felony counts of embezzlement of government funds, four felony counts of conflict of interest and three felony counts of perjury. He was arraigned and pleaded not guilty on April 10. If convicted as charged, he faces up to 11 years and four months in prison.
Price is due back in court Oct. 16 in Department 106 of the Foltz Criminal Justice Center for a pretrial hearing and trial-setting. Price is termed out of office at the end of 2026.
Friedman blasts GOP over rising health care costs
U.S. Rep. Laura Friedman (D-Burbank, Glendale, West Hollywood, parts of Los Angeles, Pasadena) joined Protect Our Care, local physicians and health care advocates at McCambridge Park in Burbank yesterday to condemn the Trump administration and congressional Republicans over rising health care costs in California.
Friedman and other speakers said Republicans cut more than $1 trillion from Medicaid and allowed the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) enhanced premium tax credits to expire in order to finance tax breaks for wealthy Americans, and called on the Senate to take up a House-passed bill restoring those tax credits.
House Democrats forced a vote on a clean three-year extension of the credits on Jan. 8, which passed 230-196 after 17 Republicans joined every Democrat in supporting it; the bill has not moved in the Senate.
“1.2 million Californians have lost their health coverage, and that didn’t happen by accident,” said Friedman. “Trump and Congressional Republicans let the ACA tax credits expire and cut a trillion dollars from Medicaid to pay for a trillion dollars in tax breaks for the ultra-wealthy. I’m proud to have helped force a vote in the House, where a bipartisan majority passed the fix seven months ago. Every day the Senate refuses to vote, more families in my district lose care they can’t replace.”
Speakers cited a range of statewide figures: 1.2 million Californians have lost coverage since the reconciliation bill passed, premiums more than doubled for nearly 22 million families nationwide after the enhanced tax credits expired Jan. 1. Additionally, more than 80 hospital wards, 40 maternity wards and nearly 320 clinics have closed nationwide as of July 1, including seven public health clinics in LA County.
Friedman said more than 47,000 constituents in her district face premium increases of up to 300%, on top of more than 42,000 constituents who have lost coverage under Medi-Cal cuts.
Barger denounces sexually violent predator placement in Antelope Valley
Los Angeles County Supervisor Kathryn Barger (R-Palmdale, Lancaster, Santa Clarita, San Marino, Pasadena, La Cañada Flintridge, and portions of the San Gabriel Valley) yesterday denounced a state recommendation to place a convicted Sexually Violent Predator (SVP) in the Hi Vista area of the Antelope Valley, and is urging residents to submit written comments opposing the placement before an Aug. 26 deadline.
The California Department of State Hospitals has recommended placing Harold Wachter, an adjudicated Sexually Violent Predator, at a residence on 200th Street East in Hi Vista. Barger first raised concerns about another SVP placement in the region in a July 7 letter to DSH Director Stephanie Clendenin, noting that three SVPs have already been housed in the Antelope Valley over the past five years despite the region representing just 4% of the county’s population.
“I am outraged that, despite my direct appeal to the Department of State Hospitals last month, the Antelope Valley is yet again being treated as a dumping ground for a Sexually Violent Predator,” said Barger. “There is something systemically broken in our state’s placement system when one region is repeatedly forced to shoulder a disproportionate share of housing the state’s highest-risk offenders. Our desert and rural communities should not be treated as a convenient option for state agencies looking to place individuals in isolated locations. It is unfair and unjust to the families and communities who call the Antelope Valley home.”
A formal placement hearing is set for Sept. 10 at 1:30 p.m. in Department 113 of the Hollywood Courthouse. Courtroom seating is limited to five members of the public, chosen by lottery, and the public will not be permitted to address the court directly.
“Residents will not even have the opportunity to address the court in person since only five members of the public will be admitted to observe,” Barger said. “That makes written public comment the only voice Antelope Valley families have in this process. I encourage every resident who opposes this placement to submit a comment before the deadline.”
Written comments can be emailed to SVPcomments@da.lacounty.gov or mailed to the LA County District Attorney’s Office, Attention: Sex Crimes Division – SVP Unit, 211 W. Temple St., 9th Floor, Los Angeles, CA 90012, by 5 p.m. Aug. 26.
Cisneros moves to shield minority-owned small businesses
U.S. Rep. Gil Cisneros (D-Covina, West Covina, Baldwin Park, El Monte, Azusa, La Puente) and U.S. Rep. Nydia Velázquez (D-NY), the House Small Business Committee’s ranking member, introduced the Small Business Integrity and Stability Act of 2026 on Tuesday, legislation aimed at protecting current participants in a federal contracting program from abrupt regulatory changes and terminations.
The 8(a) Business Development Program is a nine-year Small Business Administration initiative designed to help small, disadvantaged businesses compete for federal contracts. Cisneros and Velázquez said the SBA has made sweeping changes to the program over the past year, removing nearly a quarter of all participants and creating new barriers that disproportionately affect minority-owned businesses.
The bill would grandfather current participants into the previous rules, shield them from reevaluation under the new system, add an additional year to their program eligibility, and reinstate businesses removed for administrative reasons.
“The SBA’s core mission is to help our small businesses succeed, but recent decisions by the Administrator have left business owners — especially minority business owners — to fend for themselves,” said Cisneros. “The current 8(a) program, which was designed to help small, minority owned businesses, is now being stripped to its core. I introduced the 8(a) Small Business Integrity and Stability Act of 2026 to protect current participants in the 8(a) program from potential discrimination by shielding them from reevaluation and giving them an additional year in the program. This legislation will help us course correct the changes made to the 8(a) program and help put our minority business owners back on track.”
The bill is endorsed by the Small Business Majority.
