Thesouthbound105

A Culver City nonprofit founder is accused of diverting more than $7.5 million meant for homeless housing through sham vendors. His arraignment is set for Oct. 22, and prosecutors say more cases are coming. LOS ANGELES — Federal prosecutors on Wednesday, Sept. 16, charged three people tied to Los Angeles-area homelessness nonprofits with fraud and bribery, alleging that money meant to house unhoused people paid instead for a nightclub, luxury travel, a vintage car restoration and video games. First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli, HUD Secretary Scott Turner and District Attorney Nathan Hochman were among the officials at the downtown announcement. “Nobody was minding the shop. There's no vetting. There's no auditing. There's no accounting. It was just a rush to push as much money out the door. First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli, responding to a question from LAist All defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty; the charges are allegations. ...

The county's count jumped by 35 in a single week, with five deaths. Long Beach, which tracks its own cases, reported its first West Nile death since 2017. More than two months of mosquito season remain. LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles County has now confirmed 135 West Nile virus infections this year, according to the Department of Public Health's weekly report released Friday, Sept. 25 up from 100 just a week earlier. Five people have died. Of the 135, 130 were hospitalized, and 120 developed neuroinvasive disease, the severe form of the illness that attacks the brain or spinal cord. When the county crossed 100 infections on Monday, Sept. 21, Public Health called it the highest count this early in the mosquito season in nearly a decade. The last time the county reached this level was 2017, when 268 cases were reported for the full season. The department said then that the county is “on track for one of its most severe West Nile virus seasons in recent years.” West Nile vi...

Seven people sickened and six hospitalized in the county's second neighborhood typhus cluster of 2026. Health officials say the risk reaches well beyond Koreatown. LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles County health officials are investigating an outbreak of flea-borne typhus in Wilshire Center, the dense Mid-Wilshire neighborhood that overlaps Koreatown, after seven people with symptoms were linked to the cluster. Six of the seven were hospitalized. All have recovered, the Department of Public Health said when it announced the outbreak on Tuesday, Sept. 22. It is the second flea-borne typhus outbreak the department has reported this year. The first, announced July 29, involved five people in nearby Pico-Union; all five were hospitalized and later recovered. Countywide, Public Health has counted 109 typhus cases so far in 2026. As of Friday, Sept. 25, the department had not announced any additional cases tied to the Wilshire Center cluster. As flea-borne typhus cases continue to inc...