Local Briefs

4.0 Earthquake at 4:44 am.

A 3.3 magnitude earthquake rattled the southern Los Angeles area early Monday morning, followed by a 4.0 magnitude quake less than half an hour later, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

The 3.3 magnitude quake hit at 4:15 a.m. followed by a 4.0 magnitude earthquake at 4:44 a.m., both located near Inglewood and around a mile from Lennox, according to USGS. Thousands of people reporting feeling the 4.0 quake.

The epicenter of the larger earthquake was located south of West Century Boulevard near Hollywood Park Casino, USGS said.

Seismologist Lucy Jones wrote on Twitter that the earthquake “would have been felt by most people awake in L.A.” but said it was “very deep” at around 12 miles.

Magnitude refers to the the energy released at the source of the earthquake, the USGS said. It replaces the old Richter scale.

Earthquakes between 2.5 and 5.4 magnitude are usually felt but rarely cause a lot of damage, according to Michigan Tech.

Homeless Told to Camp by the Beach.

A proposal by two Los Angeles city councilmen to set up temporary camps or “tiny homes” for homeless people in beach parking lots is drawing opposition.

“We need all kinds of solutions — and we need them everywhere we can put them,” Los Angeles Councilman Mike Bonin wrote on his website after submitting the plan in a City Council motion also signed by Councilman Mark Ridley-Thomas.

The motion asks the city administrative officer to evaluate and identify funding for temporary sites for “single-occupancy tiny homes or safe camping” at Will Rogers State Beach in Pacific Palisades, Dockweiler Beach in Playa del Rey and Fisherman’s Village in Marina del Rey. Dockweiler would include “safe parking” sites.

Bonin’s plan also envisions similar camps at a half-dozen non-beach sites including parks, and land owned by Los Angeles International Airport, but the proposed beach sites have drawn the most attention.

An online change.org petition opposing use of the Pacific Palisades parking lot had more than 6,000 signatures as of Tuesday morning.

The petition asserts that the proposed camp is not a solution to homelessness and would bring the problems of drugs, mental illness, crime and danger to the community.

LA Transit Police Receive $36M

Officials in Los Angeles voted this week to re-fund their police amid an upswing in crime. Less than a year after "defund the police" fervor swept across major cities from coast to coast, Los Angeles County Metro, the region's public transportation agency, voted Thursday to boost police funding by $36 million.

The vote passed 12-0, including a "yea" from Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, a major advocate of defund the police measures, chairman of the Transit police board.

LA Again Issuing Parking Tickets.

For Angelenos, parking is always complex. One may camp on certain sidewalks, but one can not leave a car parked on the same streets without risking a $100 fine.

The pandemic initially had the potential to compound all of this, as residents not deemed essential workers were (and still are) urged to work and stay at home. To help, the city and county offered some relief, by suspending ticketing, making it easier for all the folks staying at home, to park at home without getting a stack of dreaded envelopes on their windshields.

However, the City of LA has now resumed issuing parking tickets for all posted signs.

LA County Argues it Does Enough for Homeless Crisis

Los Angeles County filed a Motion to dismiss a Federal lawsuit filed by a coalition of downtown businesses and residents seeking to force the city and county to step up their response to the rising number of homeless encampments on local streets and near freeways.

The county argues that it already spends hundreds of millions of dollars each year on the homelessness crisis and has quickened its pace in recent years.

Mobility Mats in Venice

The Los Angeles County Dept. of Beaches and Harbors rolls out new “Mobility Mats” on Venice Beach. The idea is to make the sand and sea more accessible to those on wheelchairs.

The mobility mats will be installed between the parking lots at the West end of Venice Blvd, and the water.

A similar program installed mats in Manhattan Beach. The mats will be there from April to October, then will be rolled up for winter.

Hotel Employees Picket 4 Points

Workers are picketing the Four Points Sheraton Hotel near LAX. They allege that the hotel was approved for $4.5 million in Federal Paycheck Protection Program loans. PPP loans, which are really grants, are given on condition that the borrower retain employees. Instead, the Four Points Sheraton shut down the week after receiving the PPP funds.

“These workers gave decades of their lives to this hotel,” said Hotel and Restaurant Workers Union Spokesman Marla Hernandez. “We want to know where this money went.’

Four points by Sheraton is owned by Marriot Hotels.