TODAY’S ESSENTIAL NEWS
» Va Lecia Adams Kellum Appointed New Head Of L.A. City-county Homelessness Agency The Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority’s new chief executive is no stranger to the often contentious and closely watched efforts to remove tents from public spaces and get homeless people indoors. She’s managed and run many of them. Va Lecia Adams Kellum will now take on a bigger challenge: Attempting to chart a path for the much-maligned joint-powers authority, whose mission and management have been under the microscope in recent years. [L.A. Times]
» L.A. County Leaders Approve Two-Month Extension Of COVID Renter Protections With just one week left until pandemic-era eviction rules were set to expire, the L.A. County Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to extend COVID-19 renter protections for another two months. Low-income tenants across L.A. County who can’t pay rent due to hardships brought on by the pandemic were scheduled to lose eviction protections after Jan. 31. The expiration could have left an estimated 226,000 households in the region with past-due rent vulnerable to eviction if they couldn’t pay February rent on time. The extension, approved Tuesday evening after a lengthy public comment period, will keep those pandemic-related eviction safeguards in place through March 31. [LAist]
» Survivors Recount Rampant Abuse At Los Angeles’ Juvenile Jails Nearly 300 people have come forward in a lawsuit against L.A. county, detailing claims of sexual abuse by officers in juvenile jails, spanning from 1972 through 2018. The case paints a disturbing picture of systemic misconduct and violence against multiple generations of children in the most vulnerable circumstances, some as young as 10 and 11 years old. Staff sexually violated children in their cells, bathrooms, hallways, medical areas, solitary confinement and throughout more than a dozen boys’ and girls’ detention halls, the suit says. Some victims were handcuffed when they were assaulted, and officers frequently intimidated victims into silence and submission, saying they’d be punished in isolation, get longer jail time or be permanently separated from their families if they spoke up, according to a 359-page complaint filed in December. [Guardian]
» Adult Swim Drops Rick and Morty Co-creator Justin Roiland Adult Swim said it has cut ties with Rick and Morty creator Justin Roiland, after he was charged with felony domestic violence in Orange County. “Adult Swim has ended its association with Justin Roiland,” Adult Swim posted on Twitter Tuesday. “Rick and Morty will continue.” The star and co-creator of the animated comedy series appeared in court earlier this month for a pre-trial hearing. Roiland faces charges related to a 2020 incident. [Fox]
» Actor Julian Sands Remains Missing Amid Mount Baldy Search The search continues for Julian Sands after the actor was reported missing 12 days ago in the Mount Baldy area, according to the San Bernardino Sheriff’s Department. “The Sheriff’s Department is closing in on the second full week of the search for missing hiker, Julian Sands,” read a statement issued Tuesday. “Numerous ground and air search efforts have taken place. As of this time, Mr. Sands has not been found and no evidence of his current location has been discovered. The search will continue, weather and ground conditions permitting.” [THR]
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ONE MORE THING
Sundance: Cocky Men Abound in Film Festival’s “Cat Person,” “Fair Play”
There’s been a ton of talk about penises in Park City during the opening days of this year’s Sundance Film Festival.
In director Sebastián Silva’s graphic and weirdly riveting comic tragedy, Rotting in the Sun, the dozens of male organs on display in various states of tumescence and performance are so prevalent that they may remind viewers that fundamentally, they’re looking at a body part, not a mere metaphor. Intercourse, fellatio, and urination however, are mostly of interest to other filmmakers here in Utah for what they say about power—in fact, Fair Play, in which a character’s erectile state is a key plot point sold to Netflix for around $20 million, it was announced Monday.
