Local Briefs

Rat Birth Control for LA

Los Angeles is on its way to becoming the nation’s “rattiest” city. Downtown LA in particular has a rat problem, centered on the homeless encampments located throughout the area.

A new rat contraceptive is being promoted to control and reduce the rat population

The pandemic and the growing homeless population along with the ban of many rodenticides in California has propelled L-A in to the number two spot of the cities with the worst rat infestations. In a year, two rats can produce 5-thousand-plus rat babies, grand babies, etc.

Nicole Williams, Chief Strategist for Senes Tech says ContraPest – a contraceptive for rats – can stop all that begetting: “So when the rats drink it, essentially it lowers the egg production of the female and interferes with the sperm of the male so it slows or even stops their ability to reproduce.”

“It is not poison so it won’t kill your dog if it gets into it and if a hawk or cat eats the rat it won’t harm the hawk or cat,” she notes. Williams adds that your pest control company can provide you with this humane alternative to poisons.

Electricity Kills a Worker in WLA

7/16: Three workers were injured, one fatally, after rebar became electrically energized and ignited a high-rise structure being built in West Los Angeles Thursday afternoon, officials said.

Crews responded to a fire with reports of two patients with electrical injuries in the 12100 block of Olympic Boulevard shortly after noon, according to a Los Angeles Fire Department alert.

Flames were shooting from the roof of the under-construction building by the time LAFD personnel arrived. It took 30 firefighters approximately 31 minutes to put out the blaze, the alert stated.

One worker was found dead at the scene. Two others were able to evacuate the area prior to firefighters arriving. They were injured and transported to a local hospital in unknown condition.

Venice Wrestles With Homeless

Venice is home to about 2000 people without permanent housing. The City of Los Angeles has been trying to move them into shelters and hotels located elsewhere.

LA has been reluctant to use police to force unhoused people from their encampments, as it did in Echo Park in March. Instead, the Los Angeles City Council set aside $5 million this month to pay for interim housing for up to 200 people camping along Venice’s Ocean Front Walk.

Still, council member Mike Bonin has claimed to have housed 131 homeless people in Venice, by providing them with hotel vouchers.

Homelessness has scared away tourists. It has lead to increased crime in Venice.

At one recent meeting, the Venice Neighborhood Council’s Public Health and Safety Committee were briefed by the Los Angeles Police Department on year-to-date crime statistics through July 3, compared with the period a year earlier.

Violent crime was up 64%; robberies up 150%; burglaries up 93%; grand theft auto up 56%; and aggravated assaults or assault with a deadly weapon up 55%. More than 50% of those assaults involved a homeless individual as a victim, perpetrator or both.