Travel guidebook Fodor’s issued their ‘Travel Awards’ this week; officially labeling Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) the “worst airport in the world.”
“When you fly to a city like New York or D.C., you choose an airport based on location, quality and the amount of added time airport shenanigans add to your travel plans,” said the managing editor for Fodor’s. “In Los Angeles, you also have a choice: between the behemoth time-suck that is Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) or the straightforward, shenanigan-free experience that is Burbank airport.”
“For the poor souls who aren’t merely killing time in a layover, those who woefully call this their point of dis- or embarkation, they are forced to endure the purgatorial nightmare of traffic that leads to and from each of LAX’s nine terminals (as many terminals as Dante’s hell has circles),” she added.
Making matters worse for LA residents, the city continues to struggle with its rapidly escalating homeless crisis.
Los Angeles officials claimed they were “stunned” last week when new data showed a whopping 16% increase in the city’s homeless population in just one year; saying residents are now facing an “unprecedented” level of poverty.
“Despite an increase in spending on initiatives meant to get people off the streets, homelessness is up dramatically in Los Angeles and Los Angeles County, officials said Tuesday,” reports The Week.
“The annual count of the homeless found there are nearly 59,000 people living on the streets, in shelters, or in cars in Los Angeles County, up 12 percent from last year. More than 36,000 are in the city of Los Angeles, a 16 percent increase,” adds the website.
“At this point of unprecedented wealth in the county of Los Angeles, we are equally confronted with unprecedented poverty manifesting itself in the form of homelessness,” Los Angeles County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas told the Los Angeles Times.
“Overall, the service portion of the effort on mental health, substance use, the issue of housing, rent subsidies, those are important and we should stay the course,” he said. “Where we have to work much harder is in the area of affordable housing.”
Read the full story at USA Today.
'BREAKDOWN OF CIVILIZATION': LA Times SLAMS City Officials over Homeless Crisis, Rat Invasion, Garbage Piles
A columnist with the Los Angeles Times unloaded on city officials this week over the region’s escalating homeless crisis, ongoing invasion of rodents, and “sky-high” garbage piles taking over the streets.
“Los Angeles looks as if it’s digging out from a hurricane, with hordes on the streets, tents everywhere and armies of rodents on the march, inciting fears of disease.,” Steve Lopez wrote in his column, which appeared online Saturday night.
“I could give you a hundred breakdowns of what happened and what it all means, but it comes down to this: We’re in troubled waters on a ship without a captain, and though there might be a few pretenders on the bridge, nobody trusts them,” adds Lopez.
“We found out on Tuesday that although the city and county spent $600 million last year to chip away at the number of homeless people, the total increased by 16% to nearly 60,000,” adds the author.
“I naively invited readers last week to email me photos of trash heaps and encampments in their neighborhoods, and my inbox is about to explode,” he wrote. “I’ve got photos of half-clothed people passed out on pavement, sidewalks blocked by tents, bulky items, piles of poop and enough trash to fill the Grand Canyon.”
The current rat invasion sweeping across Los Angeles extended into an unlikely place last week: City Hall. Experts are now blaming the infestation on “homeless camps” circling the public property.
“When faced with complaints earlier this year from city workers about rats infesting L.A. City Hall, most city officials said little about whether the problem was connected to several homeless camps right outside,” reports the Los Angeles Times.
“But a newly uncovered report from a pest control company hired by the city has raised fresh questions about whether officials wrongly downplayed that possibility during discussions at City Council meetings,” adds the newspaper.
According to the pest control company hired to clear city hall, workers found “poor sanitary conditions” including human waste, food, and needles throughout the property.
“The homeless are using the grated areas above the pits as their bathroom and relieving themselves,” wrote David Costa, building construction and maintenance superintendent. “This is also attracting the rats. Custodial will need to do some hazmat cleaning of the grates and the pits. There are even hypodermic needles being tossed in the pits along with human waste and other garbage.”
The invasion comes after two LAPD officers were diagnosed with Typhus and other serious diseases related to the city’s rat population.
Read the full story at Fox News.
CALIFORNIA REVOLT: Three More Towns VOTE OUT of ‘Sanctuary City’ Disaster
Three more cities have officially opted out of California’s unconstitutional ‘Sanctuary’ policies; joining the Trump administration in its courtroom battle against the Golden State’s illegal law that shields undocumented immigrants from federal agents.
According to Fox News, the Newport Beach city council voted unanimously to challenge California’s hot-button law; joining “a dozen” other municipalities that are currently considering their options to waive the statewide policy.
“It’s a tool in the toolbox for our police to help keep criminals off the street,” Newport Beach Councilman Scott Peotter said.
The local politician then slammed Governor Jerry Brown and his refusal to cooperate with the Trump administration; adding the Governor was sending his National Guard to the border but “not for immigration.”
“You listen to Jerry Brown, and he’s sending [troops] there for other reasons. Not for immigration purposes,” he said. “In either event, the troops end up being at the border.”