Richardson lauds Olympic sailing coming to Long Beach
Long Beach Mayor Rex Richardson lauded the Los Angeles Organizing Committee for the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games (LA28) yesterday in announcing the sailing venue plan for the Olympic Games Los Angeles 2028, in which sailing events will take place along the Belmont Shore coast in Long Beach as well as the Port of Los Angeles.
“Long Beach is the premier location for windsurfing and kiteboarding – two outstanding sailing events that will captivate spectators,” said Richardson. “We hosted Sailing competitions during the 1984 Olympic Games, and we cannot wait to continue our legacy and show our beautiful coastline to the world once again in 2028.”
The Olympic sport of Sailing includes 10 medal events among Men’s, Women’s and mixed teams. For the 2028 Games, Sailing events will be shared between Long Beach, a major Venue City, and the Host City of Los Angeles, utilizing two of the best locations along the Pacific coastline for Sailing competitions.
Long Beach’s Belmont Shore will stage four (4) board events: Men’s and Women’s Windsurfing and Men’s and Women’s Kite. Meanwhile, the Port of Los Angeles will host six (6) boat events: Men’s and Women’s Dinghy, Men’s and Women’s Skiff, Mixed Dinghy and Mixed Multihull.
Valladares, GOP Lawmakers urge immigration enforcement to focus on violent criminals
State Sen. Suzette Martinez Valladares (R-Santa Clarita) joined a group of California Senate and Assembly Republicans last week in asking President Trump to focus immigration raids on undocumented violent criminals and urging the President to implement policies that will modernize our immigration process.
The letter sent to the President was signed by six Republican members of the California State Senate and Assembly.
“Decades of failed policies have led us to the difficult situation we face today,” said Valladares. “We are now urging the Administration to prioritize public safety, while advancing immigration and visa policies that strengthen our economy, secure our borders, and keep our communities safe.”
The letter stated, “We fully support efforts to identify, detain and deport undocumented violent criminals,” but also conveyed that employers in their districts had concerns about the recent raids, creating widespread fear among workers regardless of immigration status, resulting in many not showing up for work.
“We urge you to direct ICE and DHS to focus their enforcement operations on criminal immigrants and, when possible, avoid the kinds of sweeping raids that instill fear and disrupt the workplace,” the letter stated.
Perez praises Friends of the Burbank Public Library
Burbank Mayor Nikki Perez last week praised and thanked The Friends of the Burbank Public Library, a volunteer-driven nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting the Burbank Public Library as it marked its 45th anniversary this year with the funding for a new library bookmobile.
This mobile outreach vehicle will expand the Library’s ability to serve residents across Burbank, particularly those with limited access to the current physical branches. This vehicle will bring books, technology, and programming directly to neighborhoods, schools, and community events, ensuring that library services reach all corners of the city.
“I’m incredibly grateful to the Friends of the Library for their consistent vision and generosity. Since their first donation of a landline answering machine in 1980 to today’s new bookmobile the Friends have been a shining example of what’s possible when neighbors come together to expand access and uplift everyone in our community! I look forward to seeing this resource in action bringing learning and connection to residents of all ages and across all neighborhoods in our wonderful City,” said Perez.
For more information about the Friends or to become a member, visit friendsofburbanklibrary.org or attend their monthly meetings at Burbank Central Library on the 4th Wednesday of the month.
Chu demands answers on school mental health grant cuts
U.S. Rep. Judy Chu (D-Monterey Park, Alhambra, San Gabriel, Pasadena) last week led a bipartisan letter to the Department of Education demanding answers following reports that the agency plans to reallocate $1 billion in federal mental health grant funding.
Congress originally approved this funding through the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, which passed with broad bipartisan support to address the critical shortage of mental health professionals in schools.
“Students are six times as likely to receive needed mental health care when it is provided at school, and the majority of youth who receive needed services do so at school,” wrote the Members. “This includes prevention, early detection, and early intervention efforts, which are critical components of comprehensive mental and behavioral health services and crisis prevention.”
“As the only psychologist in Congress and a former educator for over 20 years, I know firsthand how important school psychologists are to the mental health and well-being of students. And yet we currently have a nationwide shortage of school psychologists, with an average of over 1,000 students for every one school psychologist—a far cry from the recommended ratio of 500 to 1,” said Chu
“At a time when about 1 in 5 students struggles with a mental health disorder, we should be increasing, not decreasing, our investments to ensure students have access to the help they need. I’m proud to join my colleagues in sending this letter, and I look forward to getting answers from the Department of Education on why they recently discontinued $1 billion in federal grants for schools to hire more mental health professionals and what their plan is to address the youth mental health crisis.”
