Six months after Los Angeles County allocated funds to create jobs for the local youth, the investment has yielded over 3,400 jobs. The motion, introduced by Supervisors Don Knabe and Zev Yaroslavsky during the County’s budget hearings, was unanimously approved by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors this past summer.

On June 18, 2007, the Board approved an allocation of $6.5 million to fund the Youth Jobs Program, and directed the Department of Community and Senior Services to use the money to enter into contracts with appropriate Youth Jobs providers throughout the County, including the seven local Workforce Investment Boards. To date 3,436 jobs have been filled Countywide, with 499 jobs in the Fourth District alone.

There is a tremendous need for our youth to be meaningfully engaged in positive activities in our communities, and employment is vital to that experience, said Supervisor Knabe. I am very pleased at the success of this program, but our work is not complete. We will be working very hard to press this point at the State and Federal level that job programs for young people is a priority that all of us will benefit from.

On Friday, January 11, 2008, Los Angeles County Supervisor Don Knabe and the Hispanic Outreach Taskforce (H.O.T.) will present the inaugural Southeast Summit on Youth & Violence.

The purpose of this summit is to bring forth a conceptual framework for reducing violence in our communities. This framework will focus on a strategy that encourages cooperative, coordinated efforts among elected officials, law enforcement, educators, community organizations, outreach and intervention workers, health and mental health workers, faith based representatives, businesses, government agencies, and local nonprofits all working toward the common goal of reducing violence levels in neighborhoods and communities.

Attendees of the summit will include elected officials, law enforcement and community leaders from the unincorporated area of Whittier and the Cities of Artesia, Downey, Hawaiian Gardens, Montebello, Norwalk, Pico Rivera, Santa Fe Springs, and Whittier.

The event will take place at the Norwalk Marriott, located at 13111 Sycamore Drive in the City of Norwalk, between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. on Friday, January 11. For additional information, please call the H.O.T. office at (562) 789-0550.

Hypertension is on the rise among Los Angeles County adults. A report issued by the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health indicates that the percentage of adults countywide who have been diagnosed with hypertension increased from 18% in 1997 to 25% in 2005, a rise of nearly 40%. The findings are based on the results of the most recent Los Angeles County Health Survey. The report also provides recommendations for individuals, businesses, cities, and communities to help reverse or reduce the upward trend.

Hypertension or high blood pressure can be deadly if not adequately treated. Unfortunately, many persons with hypertension do not seek treatment until complications develop because they don’t have symptoms and in some cases, are unaware they have the disease, said Jonathan E. Fielding, MD, MPH, Director of Public Health and County Health Officer. Hypertension increases a person’s risk for having a heart attack, heart failure, or stroke, and can also lead to kidney failure, vision loss, and dementia.

Public Health officials emphasize that appropriate treatment of high blood pressure greatly reduces the risk for complications. Unfortunately, among many Angelenos, hypertension remains poorly controlled. The LA County Health Survey shows that hypertensive adults without health insurance or a regular source of care often go without blood pressure medication. In order for these patients to be able to control their blood pressure, it is essential that they have ongoing access to a regular source of health care and to affordable prescription medications.

Lifestyle factors also play a major role in the development and control of hypertension. Our findings also show an important connection between someone having hypertension and their level of physical activity, alcohol use, and obesity. These findings underscore the importance of efforts to help people adopt and maintain a healthy lifestyle, including eating a balanced diet, exercising regularly, limiting alcohol consumption, and not smoking, said Fielding.

Among obese adults, 37% reported a past hypertension diagnosis, compared to 24% of overweight and 17% of normal weight adults. Among adults who reported minimal physical activity, 27% had been diagnosed with hypertension, compared with 21% percent who met physical activity guidelines. The report also found that the prevalence of hypertension decreased as household income increased. Because obesity is strongly associated with high blood pressure, one explanation for the rising rate of hypertension among county adults is the obesity epidemic.

From 1997 through 2005, the percent of obese adults in LA County increased from 14% to 21%. However, the observed increase in hypertension could also be due to improvements in blood pressure screening and diagnosis, or improved survival among patients with hypertension.

Now in its second season, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art’s (LACMA’s) concert series, Art & Music, will celebrate the museum’s newly completed Phase I of Transformation, reinstallation of its permanent collection, and touring exhibitions with a group of celebrated artists.

Each of the museum’s collections and exhibitions inspires a special concert featuring such world-renowned musicians as Philip Glass, Anoushka Shankar, the Berlin Trio, and TAIKOPROJECT. Concert tickets go on sale Monday, December 3, 2007 and range from $25 to $30, with discounts for seniors and students. The Berlin Trio will kick off the series on Saturday, January 12.

The transformation of LACMA this year, with the opening of the Broad Contemporary Art Museum in February, will bring some truly outstanding performers to the museum for this season’s Art & Music series, remarked Mitch Glickman, LACMA’s Director of Music Programs. To have these highly acclaimed artists performing in our intimate, 600-seat Bing Theater will make for a memorable experience.

In January, the Berlin Trio will be making its U.S. debut; later, the Modern Collection Celebration Concert will pay tribute to LACMA’s new highly anticipated modern art galleries in the Broad Contemporary Art Museum. These two concerts include internationally acclaimed violinists, pianists, and cellists performing the works of celebrated composers such as Tchaikovsky and Stravinsky.

Over the past thirty years, the Philip Glass Ensemble has performed in some of the most prestigious music festivals and concert venues throughout the world. The composer, known both for his Academy Award nominations and his ability to turn art into sound, will perform at LACMA in March, just a few weeks after LACMA opens Phase I of Transformation. Soon after, Anoushka Shankar, the Grammy-nominated sitar player and composer, will be performing songs from her latest album, Breathing Under Water.

In June, the high-energy TAIKOPROJECT will perform in conjunction with LACMA’s exhibition Masterworks of Japanese Painting from the Price Collection. The Japanese-American group first gained high praise after winning the Tokyo International Taiko Contest. Their mission is to spread the taiko experience through exhilarating performances that blend storytelling, music and dance. Aside from Art & Music, LACMA also features Sundays Live, an ongoing series featuring free classical music concerts presented by LACMA in cooperation with Friends of Sundays Live. The concerts take place every Sunday at 6 pm in the Bing Theater and feature mid-career professionals and student virtuosos taking center stage.

Tickets for the Berlin Trio, Modern Collection Celebration Concert, Anoushka Shankar, and TAIKOPROJECT are $25 for general admission, $18 for museum members and seniors (62+), and $5 for students with valid ID. Tickets for Philip Glass are $30 for general admission, $22 for museum members, and $5 for students with valid ID. All tickets may be purchased online by going to
www.lacma.org or by telephone at (323) 857-6010.

The leaders of Los Angeles County have proclaimed Thursday, December 20, 2007, as A Day Without a Bag throughout the County, in an effort to encourage shoppers to go without disposable bags in favor of reusable bags.

The motion, introduced by Supervisors Don Knabe and Zev Yaroslavsky, was unanimously approved today by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors.

The Los Angeles County Department of Public Works has recently reported that approximately 6 billion plastic carryout bags are consumed in the County each year. This is equivalent to 600 plastic bags per person per year. The prevalence of these bags has significantly contributed to the litter problem and environmental degradation throughout the County.

On December 20, 2007, Heal the Bay is sponsoring A Day Without a Bag to help promote behavioral change. This is a great opportunity for the County to help raise environmental awareness, as well as prevent plastic bag litter.

The use of reusable bags decreases litter, conserves natural resources, reduces the amount of waste disposed in landfills, keeps our communities clean, and protects the marine environment.

The Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk today assured all non-partisan Permanent Absentee/Mail Voters who received letters late last week indicating the option of requesting party ballots for the upcoming Presidential Primary Election that their requests would be honored beyond the December 3, 2007, deadline referenced in the letter.

Election law in California allows qualified political parties to decide whether to permit non-partisan voters the choice of voting for a partisan candidate. Only the Democratic and American Independent Parties are offering non-partisan voters that choice in the February 5, 2008, Presidential Primary Election.

A delay in mailing the letters to non-partisan Permanent Absentee/Mail Voters caused concern with the response date of December 3, 2007, for requesting American Independent or Democratic Party ballots. "The response date was intended to assist in meeting timelines for the initial mailing of ballots and not to limit voter choices," said Conny McCormack, Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk. "Requests from non-partisan voters who wish to cast Democratic or American Independent party ballots will be honored regardless of the date received."

McCormack added that additional information regarding voters’ ballot options for the Presidential Primary Election will be included in the Official Sample Ballot and in absentee/mail ballot packets, which will be mailed to voters in early January. Non-partisan voters who do not wish to request a Democratic or American Independent ballot will be issued ballots containing only non-partisan contests and ballot measures.

Voters who received the letter and have additional questions are encouraged to contact the Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk Absentee/Mail Ballot Section at (562) 466-1323 or by email at voterInfo@rrcc.lacounty.gov
for assistance.

A free, six-hour holiday spectacular of music, song and dance will unfold on the stage of the beautiful Dorothy Chandler Pavilion of the Music Center on Monday, December 24, from 3:00 to 9:00 p.m. It’s the 48th Annual L.A. County Holiday Celebration, L.A. County’s biggest holiday show, featuring more than 40 musical ensembles, choirs, and dance companies, about 1,200 performers in all, expressing the joy of the season.

This year’s hosts include Sheryl Lee Ralph (original Broadway cast of Dreamgirls, To Sleep with Anger), Fred Willard (FOX’s new comedy series Back to You and the films For Your Consideration, Best in Show) and two members of the comedy group Culture Clash, Richard Montoya and Herbert Siguenza. Additional hosts will be confirmed closer to the show date.

The Holiday Celebration, which reflects the rich mosaic of cultures found in Southern California, is L.A. County’s yearly gift to Los Angeles. Admission is FREE, as is the parking under the Music Center. Reservations for tickets to the show or parking are not necessary. Doors open at 2:30 p.m. Patrons may come and go throughout the six hour performance. People waiting in line to get in can see the show on the Jumbotron on the Music Center Plaza.

Complete program information will be available after December 7 at
www.holidaycelebration.org and (213) 972-3099. Those who can’t make it to the Music Center can watch the live broadcast of the Holiday Celebration on KCET.

My position on the negotiations between the Coliseum and USC is simple. I do not and will not support the Trojans leaving the Coliseum for the Rose Bowl or any other venue.

As a member of the Coliseum Commission, I am completely committed to getting USC’s lease with the Coliseum renewed. It will be a tremendous disappointment to fans across Southern California and to USC alumni around the globe if there is a failure to reach an agreement in the very near future. This is not the time for non-productive rhetoric. This is the time for a solution.

On a personal note, I have been a USC fan for over three decades and my family and I have been attending games at the Coliseum for years. I know what the loss of the Trojans would mean and what an unacceptable solution it would be. As a Coliseum Commissioner, I will continue to work diligently to ensure the Trojans keep their home at the Coliseum for years to come.

– Supervisor Don Knabe

County of Los Angeles, Fourth District

A high-tech system designed to curb graffiti is credited for an arrest of a local man accused of several incidents of graffiti vandalism in the Rowland Heights area, Supervisor Don Knabe announced today.

Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Deputies, using documentation obtained from the Graffiti Tracker program, recently arrested one of the most active graffiti vandals in Rowland Heights. The suspect was arrested and charged with multiple misdemeanor counts of vandalism, and he is currently awaiting trial. Additional suspects could be arrested as the investigation continues.

Before the ‘Graffiti Tracker’ came along, a bust like this wouldn’t have been possible because there was no way of determining which vandals were doing the most damage or how much damage they were actually responsible for, said Supervisor Knabe.

This system was originally put to use in the City of Carson several years ago and in 2006 Supervisor Knabe funded the project in South Whittier. Since then, Sheriff’s Deputies have made over 20 arrests and seen a 24% decrease in vandalism in 2007.

The Graffiti Tracker system was created to capture and store graffiti data. The system gives law enforcement personnel real-time, street-level intelligence that allows them to not only focus on the worst graffiti offenders and their damage, but also to monitor potential gang violence that is associated with the graffiti.

Los Angeles County Department of Health Services (DHS) hospitals rate average and above average in several key quality indicators and showed improvement in other areas according to the latest quarterly report card from the California Hospital Assessment and Reporting Taskforce (CHART), released recently.

The CHART project was established in 2004 by a group of hospitals, purchasers and health plans to provide consumers with comparative hospital data to make more informed health care choices, and more than 200 California public and private hospitals currently participate in this voluntary effort.

Los Angeles County was a founding member of the CHART initiative and supports efforts to continually improve quality and the patient experience in our system, said DHS Director and Chief Medical Officer Bruce Chernof, MD. CHART is an important mechanism to examine areas of performance strength and weakness.

The aggregated data includes core measures routinely provided and made available publicly on the Joint Commission website combined with mortality data from the Office of Statewide Health Planning & Development (OSHPD) and patient satisfaction data. Additional measures are expected in the future.

The report ranks performance on a 1-5 scale in areas such as heart attack care, heart failure care, pneumonia care, infection prevention, and coronary artery bypass and pneumonia mortality. Of the 16 counties in California’s public hospital system, Los Angeles County is one of seven participating in this project.

AMI (heart attack care), pneumonia, heart failure and other measures include several components. Some components measure clinical practice, such as administering aspirin or other medications upon arrival or at discharge, other components measure preventative practices such as smoking cessation counseling and providing discharge instructions. Scores may be affected by poor performance in either the clinical practice or the prevention component. Overall, DHS Hospitals score at or above the state and national averages for clinical components and there are opportunities to improve performance in the preventative components.

Olive View-UCLA Medical Center rated a score of 1, or superior and LAC+USC Medical Center rated a score of 2 or above average for the AMI, or heart attack care composite. For the Pneumonia Quality measure, Harbor-UCLA and Olive View-UCLA Medical Centers maintained their ratings of average.

Several initiatives have been implemented to improve ratings at each hospital. For example, nurse training to screen patients for vaccination eligibility and the creation of new clinical pathways to facilitate more effective patient management were implemented.

The most recent round of data covers different time periods. For heart attack care, pneumonia care, heart failure care and surgical infection prevention, the data measures performance between April, 2006 and March, 2007. Other data measures hospital performance from 2002 to 2004.

A breakdown of the time periods for each of the data elements is available on the CHART website and scores are based on data collected over a year’s time. Consequently, improvements in one quarter may not be immediately reflected in the data score. In some categories there is not enough data to make an analysis.

Consumers can access the CHART website at www.calhospitalcompare.org