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Olympic gold medalist Suni Lee says she was victim of racist attack in LA
Go to BaldwinParkPress.com for Baldwin Park Specific News M O N D AY, N O V E M B E R 15- N O V E M B E R 21, 2021
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Newsom announces California has joined COP26 declaration on zero-emission vehicles Governor Gavin Newsom announced that California has signed on to a global agreement bringing together nations, states and regions, vehicle manufacturers, businesses, investors and other partners dedicated to rapidly accelerating the transition to zero-emission vehicles. Launched by the UK COP presidency, the COP26 Declaration on Zero-Emission Cars and Vans aim to achieve 100% zero-emission vehicle sales by 2035 in leading markets, and no later than 2040 globally. The Governor provided pre-recorded remarks for COP26 Transport Day, lauding the agreement and lifting up California’s world-leading policies to usher in a clean transportation future. California last month surpassed one million zero-emission vehicle sales, a top export
for the state. In Glasgow, California Air Resources Board Chair Liane Randolph participated in the launch of the joint declaration today. “California is proud to be leading the way along with so many global partners to build a clean transportation future,” said Governor Newsom. “This is the most impactful step we can take to fight climate change and it will take partners working together across all sectors of society to accelerate the transition.” California is home to more than 485,000 clean energy jobs and the state’s renewable energy and clean vehicle industries lead the nation in growth. Governor Newsom made a commitment in September to require that sales of all new passenger vehicles be zero-emission by 2035 and aggressively decarbonize
heavy-duty vehicles such as trains, trucks and buses. The state has targeted emissions from the heavyduty sector with action to reduce pollution in disproportionately impacted communities. The California Comeback Plan includes a $3.9 billion package to accelerate our zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) goals, including funding for clean vehicle infrastructure and to help drive consumer adoption of ZEVs. Earlier this year, Newsom joined a bipartisan group of 12 governors from across the country calling for the Biden Administration to create a path with the states to ensure that all new vehicles sold in the U.S. will be zero-emission in the near future and amplify states’ investments in ZEV charging and fueling infrastructure.
Governor Gavin Newsom speaking at the 2019 California Democratic Party State Convention | Photo courtesy of Gage Skidmore/Flickr (CC BY 2.0)
Report: Housing options for homeless LA vets need to be tailored to needs BY CITY NEWS SERVICE
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year-long study of a group of homeless military veterans in Los Angeles found that few were able to obtain permanent housing over the course of the year despite living near the region’s major VA service center. The project, led by researchers from the nonprofit RAND Corporation and the University of Southern California, found that although the veterans wanted to get off the streets, the housing options avail-
able to them frequently did not meet their desire for autonomy, safety, security and privacy. Many study participants lacked confidence about their ability to obtain or retain housing, noting that their past experiences convinced them there were few options and little affordable housing available to veterans. The report recommends expanding the quality of outreach efforts to engage homeless veterans, noting that the use of mobile services could be a key to connecting them to afford-
able housing and other services. “Veterans are a priority population who generally have access to services, but few of those we followed found permanent housing,” said Sarah Hunter, the report’s lead author and director of the RAND Center on Housing and Homelessness in Los Angeles. “This study demonstrates how difficult it can be for people who are unhoused to navigate the system to find suitable housing.” The study is the first to systematically track a group of veterans experiencing
homelessness in Los Angeles to obtain information about their housing, health and service experiences to understand factors that help or hinder their entrance into stable housing. The project followed a diverse group of 26 homeless veterans in West Los Angeles over 12 months, aiming to interview them monthly. Some of the veterans were recruited from a large homeless encampment adjacent to the campus of the West Los Angeles VA Medical Center, while the others lived just a few miles away.
Past mental and physical health problems were relatively common among the study participants, as was past victimization. More than half of the study group had been homeless for more than three years. Over the course of the year, 17 of the 26 veterans in the study received some kind of stable housing, but only three obtained permanent housing. Veterans secured stable housing in various ways, including leaving Los Angeles and participating in programs set up in response to the coronavirus pandemic, such
as the Project Roomkey initiative. Once the veterans became stably housed, their mental health, qualify of life and social support improved, and they reduced use of costly services such as emergency room visits and hospital stays. “Housing was a priority for the people we studied, but often they did not like the options available to them,” Hunter said. “They wanted a safe and private
See Homeless LA Page 3