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Bob Iger, chief executive officer of the Walt Disney Co., speaks during an Economic Club of New York event in Manhattan in 2019.Disney CEO Bob Iger succeeded in his fight with shareholder activist Nelson Peltz and another investment group, Blackwells Capital, over the makeup of the company’s board of directors and its strategic direction.
Disney is the most successful and highly valued of the traditional entertainment studios in Hollywood. Its long-time winning formula of leveraging its deep wellspring of intellectual property — particularly in superhero movies and animation — has helped it generate billions at the theatrical box office and in its theme parks. But as some of those creative efforts have sputtered and Iger, 73, has yet to name a successor, it created an opening for investors to acquire significant equity stakes and agitate for change.Although the vote total is not yet public, CNBC has reported that at least one board member whose seat was being contested won by a 2-to-1 margin. The vote of confidence means that Iger, his board and senior leadership can pursue their strategy to grow revenue, profitability — and the stock price — via such initiatives as the proposed sports streaming joint venture with Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery and a renewed focus on its upcoming slate of films includingProxy battles between investors and management rarely enter the broader culture. But this being Disney — and Peltz being a well-known, colorful figure in the financial world — the contest took on the air of a political campaign. Each side courted high-profile constituencies, with Iger securing endorsements from Walt and Roy Disney’s heirs, former CEO Michael Eisner and Laurene Powell Jobs, the widow of Steve Jobs. Disney also ran ads on podcasts and on LinkedIn, and Peltz took out ads on the back page of national newspapers. But as the law firm Kirkland & Ellis concluded after studying last year’s proxy season, “the more things change, the more they stay the same,” meaning that a company that is well-prepared to fend off an activist is most likely to succeed.A new program in Los Angeles is deploying teams of clinicians — not police officers — to respond to incidents involving people in mental health crisis, city leaders announced Wednesday.city authorities promised to develop an unarmed crisis response program in the wake of the 2020 murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police and the local uprisings that followed. People living with mental illness, their family members and activists have long called for the removal of law enforcement from mental health crisis calls. Often, the presence of police officers or sheriff’s deputies can cause a situation to escalate, and lead to violent or deadly outcomes.Since March 12, two-person teams made up of mental health specialists, emergency medical workers and licensed marriage and family therapists have responded to more than 300 non-violent emergency calls for service, officials said.Councilmember Monica Rodriguez said the city budgeted $9 million in the 2023/2024 fiscal year for the new unarmed crisis response program.A new program in Los Angeles is deploying teams of clinicians — not police officers — to respond to incidents involving people in mental health crisis, city leaders announced Wednesday.city authorities promised to develop an unarmed crisis response program in the wake of the 2020 murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police and the local uprisings that followed. “We recognize the need for the city of Los Angeles to provide a response in moments of crisis ... that don’t often require those armed with a gun,” said Councilmember Monica Rodriguez, who leads the L.A. City Council’s Public Safety committee, during a news conference at City Hall. People living with mental illness, their family members and activists have long called for the removal of law enforcement from mental health crisis calls. Often, the presence of police officers or sheriff’s deputies can cause a situation to escalate and lead to violent or deadly outcomes. In 2023, Los Angeles police officers shot at 34 people in separate incidents, 12 of whom — about 35% — were perceived to be living with a mental illness, according to the department's own data. Rodriguez said the city budgeted $9 million in the last fiscal year for the new unarmed crisis response program.Since March 12, two-person teams made up of mental health specialists, emergency medical workers and licensed marriage and family therapists have responded to more than 300 non-violent emergency calls for service, officials said.organizations — Exodus Recovery, Alcott Center and Penny Lane Centers — to provide two teams in each of three service areas spread across L.A. The teams are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week within the Police Department’s Devonshire, Wilshire and Southeast service areas.. The teams don’t have the authority to order psychiatric holds for people in crisis, but they can work with them to find help locally and can spend more time on follow up than law enforcement can. Since the launch of the program, crisis workers said they have interacted with people in a variety of ways: by bringing food to a woman who was crying and hungry, working with a business owner to engage with someone sleeping in a parking lot and sitting with a family for nearly three hours to help resolve a conflict involving a relative who lives with mental illness. Naomi Novak, deputy director of Intensive Mental Health Services at Penny Lane Centers, said all of that work takes empathy. “And really just sitting down and having a conversation with someone when they’re all alone in the world,” Novak said. Jacob Sadowsky, a mobile crisis response therapist at Penny Lane Centers, said he and his fellow crisis workers don’t drive marked cars or wear the kind of clothing that makes most first responders recognizable when responding to calls. Polo shirts and slacks are his preferred attire.“I don’t think we’re going into these situations thinking that we’re going to fix everything,” Sadowsky said. “But we are modeling some alternative approaches to supporting each person’s community, and I love that.”L.A.’s effort to build out crisis response comes as the city Police Department and county officials have struggled to meet the demand for behavioral health-related emergency calls. The LAPD has its own teams made up of an armed police officer and a mental health clinician, but it has struggled to meet demand. LAPD leaders have pointed to personnel shortages on the part of the L.A. County Department of Mental Health as part of the problem. Rodriguez said without its own dedicated behavioral health department, the city relies on L.A. County to provide mental health services — like crisis response — to residents. And those services have fallen short. “While it would be great for the county to step up and provide these roles and services in a comprehensive manner, we can no longer wait for those services to be fully realized here for our constituents,” Rodriguez said Wednesday.One of my goals on the mental health beat is to make the seemingly intractable mental health care system more navigable.Financial aid applicants from mixed-status families are having unique problems with overhauled federal application form. Mixed-status college applicants are typically U.S. citizens who live with one or more parents or guardians who are not authorized to live in the U.S.Problems with ID verification that’s been approved by federal officials and entering last names that are 16 characters or longer.University officials as well as the California Student Aid Commission are offering help to college advisors working on high school campuses. in hopes to receive money to pay for college. Over half of students enrolled at many California universities receive financial aid. That aid is often the key to unlock a person’s path to a college degree. in hopes of receiving money to pay for college. The majority of students enrolled at many California universities receive financial aid, which is often the key to unlocking a person’s path to a college degree. A significant number of those students live in families in which a member is not authorized to live in the United States. Amid“Our main concern was our students from mixed-status families,” said Shelveen Ratnam, spokesperson for the California Student Aid Commission. The commission oversees a program that sets aside billions of dollars in financial aid that’s given out to applicants who first fill out the FAFSA form. Typically, an applicant in a mixed status household is a U.S. citizen, but one or both parents or caretakers are in the U.S. without proper authorization. That means there is no Social Security number to enter in the application.It’s hard to say exactly how many California applicants live in mixed-status families, Ratnam said, but research suggests it’s about 12% of the applicant pool. Commission staff are working with financial aid counselors at universities and high school college advisors to help students fill out the forms and stay patient with the process., which can be used by many other FAFSA applicants. And campuses may also hold informational sessions that include help filling out the form, The FAFSA application has methods to verify a parent’s identity outside of a Social Security Number — such as a state issued identification — but the glitches in that process are keeping applicants from finishing and submitting the application. “That’s still something we’re concerned about, and we’re in communication with top officials with the U.S. Department of Education and then officials with the CSU and UC,” Ratnam said.College advisors also report that the FAFSA application doesn’t appear to be designed to handle long Spanish surnames, especially ones with hyphens. “The workaround that we've figured out with this is that we need to type in up to 16 characters of that last name, leave it cut off,” said Sebastian Ramirez. He’s a college application advisor working with students at Cabrillo High School in Long Beach.have been extra stressful for students, he said — they’re also juggling tests in Advanced Placement classes and the long list of senior activities as they end their public school careers.But Ramirez continues to call the students in to work on their applications, sharing updates on the fixes, and telling them they’ll be able to see their college futures more clearly once they send in their request for financial aid. “Luckily a few of the students in the past weeks they’ve been able to submit ," he said."The morale is slowly increasing.”Adolfo Guzman-Lopez focuses on the stories of students trying to overcome academic and other challenges to stay in college — with the goal of creating a path to a better life.The James Beard Foundation Restaurant and Chef Nominees are out, and three SoCal spots are moving onto the finalist round to compete for the top prize in Chicago this summer.Outstanding Bakery: Gusto Bread in Long BeachFrom the finalist list, winners from each category will be picked and announced at a ceremony in Chicago on June 10.and the only camera you own is one that doubles as a phone, with a little preparation you might still be able to get some relatively good shots.and the only camera you own is one that doubles as a phone, with a little preparation you might still be able to get some relatively good shots. "It all depends on how much effort one wants to put into it," says Sean Walker, an associate editor withfor the best views stretches from southern Texas, crossing through the South and Midwest and into the Northeast before hitting Maine. But anyone in the continental U.S. can catch at least a partial eclipse, weather permitting.It will be possible to capture interesting images even if you don't live in, or travel to, that swath where the moon will appear to nearly perfectly cover the sun."If you're within several hundred miles of the path of totality at maximum eclipse time," Walker says,"the spaces between leaves on trees and basically anything that makes a pinhole will project an image of the crescent sun on the ground or on a wall ... depending on how high the sun is at the time."in Fairfield, Maine. Another option is to shoot the environment around you as it is darkened as the eclipse reaches totality."Maybe a before and during shot of the same scene to capture the changing light levels," he suggests.If you're determined to take a direct photo of the eclipse, you will need a bit more preparation. The key to getting a good photo is"a simple tripod that will hold your cellphone stable so you can take pictures and not wiggle around during the totality," Walker says.max out at about 50% of totalityThat will take place at 11:11 a.m.with a passion for solar eclipses, says the other option is to shoot video"just as the sun is going dark." Although the quality of phone video isn't quite as good as a still image, you can always extract a still from the video later, he says.If you've never fiddled with your camera's settings, now's a good time. You'll want to reduce the exposure, at least during the partial eclipse phase, and also to set focus to"infinity." . Another way to watch the eclipse unfold is holding a colander over the ground. As the eclipse occurs, little crescent shaped suns will appear on the ground.“It can feel a long way, but fortunately on Earth there are eclipses that happen if you’re willing to travel and there are opportunities over the next several years to travel and see these eclipses,” Pietro said. The next total solar eclipse will be visible in Greenland, Iceland, Spain, Russia, and part of Portugal in 2026.FAFSA Vexes Those With Long Last Names, A New Strategy To Curb Gun Violence in LA County & A "Blessed" Tradition Continues On Olvera Street — The A.M. EditionRead the full story We've made it to Wednesday. In today's forecast you can expect sunny skies and warm temperatures in the 70s before the next storm comes to the Southland tomorrow night.The coasts will be on the cooler end, with highs in the upper 60s except for Long Beach, where daytime highs will reach 71 degrees. More inland, expect highs in the mid to upper 70s. In the high desert, temperatures will reach up to 74 degrees, even higher in Coachella Valley where it will be 87 degrees.The National Weather Service expects that Thursday night through Friday it'll be cloudy and cool with plenty of showers and a slight chance of thunderstorms. Snow levels will be so low that it's possible all the major mountain passes will be affected. Forecasters say this storm will produce high surf along L.A. County beaches, including the Malibu coast, starting at 9 p.m. Thursday through 3 p.m. Saturday. Breaking waves between 5 to 8 feet are expected during high tide.On this day in 2009, strong offshore winds produced gusts in the deserts where in Palm Springs a 50-acre brush fire broke out.alum Muffy Marracco hosts Thursday night trivia at Silver Lake’s Edendale. The quiz starts at 8:30 p.m. and the winner takes a $30 pot – and of course, bragging rights. Reservations recommended.has a deep love for comedy in L.A. He shared thoughts on the region's vibrant comedy scene and the changing landscape of modern stand-up comedy ahead of one of the city’s biggest comedy events of the year,The internet and streaming has changed the game for comedy. Kroll talks about what it has done for the industry and how comics can get their foot in the door today.Netflix Is A Joke Fest, one of the biggest events in comedy, returns to L.A. from May 1-12. It features big names, including Kroll, Ali Wong, Katt Williams, Sarah Silverman and Jon Stewart. So many names. Learn more atAfter starting his career in New York, Kroll moved to L.A. in 2007.back when it was on Fairfax and now it’s Largo at the Coronet, which has become my sort of home stand-up club in L.A.,” Kroll told Larry Mantle on The comedian has far surpassed those dreams. He's now the co-creator and voice actor of the hit adult animated seriesKroll shared his thoughts on L.A.’s vibrant comedy scene and the changing landscape of modern stand-up comedy ahead of one of the biggest comedy events of the year,“There was a sort of an alternative scene and then there was sort of a club comedy scene. But now there’s What’s been fun is to watch all of those different scenes begin to integrate and create a much larger comedy world where that serves so many different audiences and so many different audiences are finding crossover inside those different kinds of spaces.”Actress and comedian Ali Wong accepts the award for Outstanding Lead Actress In A Limited Or Anthology Series Or Movie for "Beef" during the 75th Emmy Awards.“I think it can take a comedian who would have, in the past, been able to perform at clubs around the country just as a working comedian, and really expand their audience. Like someone like Ali Wong, who before her special, was an amazing comedian and was a working comedian. The exposure that Netflix gave her has made her a household name. And she’s obviously gone on to do other kinds of stuff, likeSomeone like Ali or John Mulaney, who I have known forever, since college — those specials really expanded their audience on a scale that has made comedy not just a niche element of American entertainment, but a central pivotal venue for entertainment.”“It’s opened up tremendously from where it was. Montreal, it was a comedy festival, and there was another one in Aspen when I was starting out. If you were at my stage, or at the beginning of your career, you really needed to go to one of those festivals and get noticed, get signed by agents, managers. Hopefully get some sort of deal to develop a sitcom, or maybe, once in a blue moon, get an HBO special.If you were at my stage, or at the beginning of your career, you really needed to go to one of those festivals and get noticed, get signed by agents, managers ... that has changed dramatically.I think it’s because the internet has just opened all of that up so much. If you’re a funny person and you start to make funny videos on TikTok, or you have a podcast that builds an audience, or you’re on Patreon and you have a dedicated group of people … you can build audiences in so many ways and build revenue streams for yourself in so many ways. That has changed the economics of it.”“I think it allowed people to speak to their specific experience and that in turn will speak to an audience that has either a shared experience or an interest in another point of view. I think what sets apart certain comedians inside of that is that they speak to their specific experience, but in doing so, speak to some universal truths or a relatability to a broader audience that might not have the same shared experience but can feel, you know, frustrations about parenting, or being unlucky in love, or just observations on culture — that allow people to engage and relate, even if its not exactly what their point of view or life is.”There are still thriving comedy clubs in L.A. for comedians looking to perform live. Kroll recommends “doing spots at the Comedy Store” or places like Largo, “There’s plenty of venues that aren’t going to necessarily make you an incredible living but can help you get out of having a day job so that you can focus on your comedy,” he said.at the Greek Theatre on May 2 at 8 p.m., featuring Kroll, John Mulaney, Maya Rudolph, Jessi Klein, Fred Armisen and many more as part of Netflix is a Joke Fest.
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