When it comes to success stories involving tiny babies, this one is huge.

But after years of waging life-and-death battles on behalf of African American mothers and newborns, Los Angeles’ Black Infant Health program is once again fighting for its own survival.

When state funding for the program was eliminated last year, the Board of Supervisors turned to First 5 LA –the child advocacy organization charged with using tobacco tax revenues to better the lives of local children—to keep services going.

First 5, responding to this motion and amendment, came through with $1.16 million. But that funding expires at the end of June.

So now the supervisors are once again asking for help. The board on Tuesday approved a motion by supervisors Mark Ridley-Thomas and Zev Yaroslavsky asking the First 5 Commission to provide the money to keep the program going for another year. Without it, the only source of funds would be about $500,000 in federal Title V funds—enough to allow just one, or at most two, of the current five providers in the county to continue serving clients.

Infant mortality remains disturbingly high among African Americans, with black infants in California more than twice as likely as whites to die in their first year. The program, established by the state in 1989, has proven effective at lowering the incidence of deaths in the first year of life and at raising birth weights to healthier levels.

“The program works,” says Cindy Harding, director of Maternal, Child, and Adolescent Health Programs for the county Department of Public Health, noting improvements in birth weights and decreases in preterm births among program participants in L.A. County.

The First 5 Commission, chaired by Supervisor Gloria Molina, who abstained from Tuesday’s vote, also includes members appointed by each supervisorial office and representatives from the county’s departments of mental health, public health and education. The funding for the Black Infant Health program is expected to come before it on May 13.

The program’s “street-based outreach” approach aims to find women in the first trimester of pregnancy and make sure they get to all their prenatal medical appointments. It also offers “social support and empowerment” for groups of new and expectant mothers—providing help with everything from job placement to breast-feeding.

“We are the gate-opener,” says Yodit Abraha, Black Infant Health program manager for the Mission City Community Network, Inc. in Mission Hills, one of the five providers in L.A. County. “We do everything, anything, for the mommy to cater to her to provide that safety net for the baby…We’re saving future generations.”

Abraha says the program aims to be “very African American-specific and culturally sensitive,” reaching out to pregnant women who may be single and alone. She calls the infant mortality rates “an American tragedy” and says she cannot understand why a successful program should be in peril due to lack of funding.

“This is a program that is not a luxurious activity. We’re talking about life and death,” Abraha says. “No baby in America should die.”

To watch a KABC-Channel 7 report on the Mission City program last summer, click here.

Posted 4/29/10

Updated 5/14/10:

The First 5 Commission, after hearing presentations from Supervisors Yaroslavsky and Ridley-Thomas, voted to provide $1.2 million to keep the infant program funded for another year.

If it’s summer, it’s the Hollywood Bowl.

This year’s amazing lineup kicks off June 18 with an Opening Night Gala to benefit Music Matters, the LA Philharmonic’s fund for musical education. That evening, the 2010 Hollywood Bowl Hall of Fame inductees will be disco queen Donna Summer, The Carpenters and classical pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet. Hosting the evening will be legendary musician/composer/producer Herb Alpert.

Like every summer, the Bowl will bring you some of the biggest names in music, including Sting, Herbie Hancock, Smokey Robinson, John Mayer, The Dave Matthews Band, Harry Connick Jr., Lee Ritenour and Dave Grusin—and, of course, the Philharmonic’s own superstar, Gustavo Dudamel, who, among other things, will conduct the opera Carmen.

Other highlights of the summer season include the traditional July 4th Fireworks Spectacular with Vince Gill, the return of Wednesday night “Jazz at the Bowl” and Sunday Sunset Concerts, which will feature a special Beatles Celebration marking the 45th anniversary of the Fabs’ visit to the Hollywood Bowl.

Here’s the Hollywood Bowl ticket page. See you there!

Posted 4/23/10

The Westside Subway Extension—along with a number of other key Southern California transit projects–could get moving a lot faster than expected under the “30/10 Initiative.” The Metropolitan Transportation Authority board today unanimously gave its backing to the initiative, which seeks to finish a dozen projects in 10 years (instead of 30) through federal loans to be repaid with Measure R funds. Now it’s up the federal government. Read more at Metro’s blog The Source.

Posted 4/22/10

Buried utilities in communities across Southern California can stay that way, under a decision today by the California Public Utilities Commission.

Southern California Edison had sought to move all of its underground electrical distribution equipment (transformers and the like) to above-ground metal boxes that could be located right by public sidewalks or on private property. Edison said the move to retroactively remove the underground equipment was needed to keep electrical workers safe and to enable the utility to quickly restore electrical service following power outages.

But a number of cities across the region, including Culver City and West Hollywood, had strongly protested Edison’s proposed action, citing community aesthetics and other concerns.

The Commission’s unanimous vote followed months of negotiations among Edison, Los Angeles County and the Westside Cities Council of Government. (Read Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky’s motion on the issue, which helped get the talks going.)

Under the PUC resolution, electrical equipment still must be placed above ground in all new construction on private property. But the commission said that the equipment is subject to local laws protecting the look and feel of surrounding neighborhoods. It also imposed rules requiring that Edison remove graffiti from its above ground equipment within 48 hours at no cost to taxpayers.

Posted 4/22/10

The Natural History Museum is, in its words, getting “a new front yard”—3.5 acres of open-air habitats and exhibits designed to attract local wildlife and connect visitors with Southern California’s unique outdoor experiences.

“We saw a chance to put nature back in natural history,” museum president and director Dr. Jane Pisano said during a media event to announce the ambitious $30-million project, scheduled to open in the Summer of 2011.

Tentatively called “North Campus,” the outdoor area will increase the museum’s exhibit space by 50% through the creation of 11 “wilderness” areas with such names as Pollinator Garden, Living Wall, Urban Edge, Shadow Garden and Get Dirty Zone.

The goal is to replicate a series of distinct natural environments that draw birds, butterflies, lizards and other wildlife while becoming educational laboratories for visitors of all ages. (For a detailed list of North Campus features, click here).

“We can teach people lessons they can easily take to their backyards or schoolyards,” Pisano said in an interview following the media presentation.

In addition to the outdoor exhibits, a 140-foot bridge—inspired by a whale skeleton exhibited inside the facility—will span overhead, allowing visitors to walk from the street directly to the entrance of the county-run museum off Exposition Boulevard. A stop will also be built in front of the museum for the new light-rail Expo Line, which is now under construction.

Funding for the project includes $10 million from L.A. County to build a two-story garage that will free up more space for the habitats.

North Campus is the latest piece of the Natural History Museum’s ongoing rebuilding and transformation project leading up to its 2013 Centennial. Called “NHM Next,” the initiative started with the dramatic restoration of the museum’s 1913 building, completed last year.

The Beaux Arts building was the first dedicated museum in L.A., so its restoration included a state of the art seismic retrofit to strengthen the un-reinforced brick walls.

Construction crews also restored the building’s iconic dome, covered with a stunning display of more than a million yellow and green ceramic tiles. Meanwhile, artists recreated the building’s gargoyles and topped the east wing with a new 6-foot eagle to replace the original bird destroyed in a 1920s earthquake. The grandson of the creator of a stained-glass skylight oversaw the restoration of the multi-hued piece.

In July, the building’s first new permanent exhibit is set to open, a ground-breaking look at 65-million years of the “Age of Mammals,” the first permanent exhibit to link geology and climate change over the entire sweep of mammalian history.

Scheduled to open in 2011 will be “Dinosaur Mysteries: Past & Present,” a mega-exhibit exploring how dinosaurs lived and why they died. The stars of that show will be the world’s only grouping of a baby, child and adult T. rex.

Come December, 2012, just before the museum’s centennial celebration, a third major exhibit will debut—“Under the Sun: Los Angeles, California and the World.” It will chart local cultural and natural history with hundreds of artifacts and artworks.

While waiting for the new exhibits, museum goers have had plenty of offerings in the museum’s 1920s buildings that have remained open, including the beloved dioramas of wild animal habitats of Africa and North America, and a “Thomas the T. rex” exhibit showing the young adult dinosaur excavated recently in Montana. To plan a visit, check out the museum’s updated website.

All the big names do it. Cosby. Sarandon. Abdul-Jabbar. Ali. So why not Antonovich, Knabe, Molina, Ridley-Thomas and Yaroslavsky?

Taking a page from the national READ! campaign, the county’s public library department has decided to enlist some in-house talent for its latest poster blitz. The five Los Angeles County supervisors, each holding a favorite book, are featured in the new posters, created using a special software provided by the American Library Association, that will go up in the county’s 85 libraries over the next few weeks.

These are challenging times for libraries everywhere; the new proposed county budget would cut hours at some branches and eliminate the adult literacy program. But the mission remains the same: promoting reading and literacy throughout diverse communities. Here’s an early peek at the posters, along with a few words from each supervisor about the book they chose.

Supervisor Gloria Molina
1st District

Rain of Gold

by Víctor E. Villaseñor

I chose Victor Villaseñor’s Rain of Gold because it is an epic Mexican-American story. The book tells the tale of Juan and Lupe Salvador as they fled from Revolutionary-era Mexico to the United States in search of a better life. Villaseñor always insisted that Rain of Gold was a non-fiction account of his family history, which is probably why his descriptions of 1920s and 30s Southern California are so vivid — and why the book itself is such a great read.

Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas
2nd District

Brother West: Living and Loving Out Loud, A Memoir

by Cornel West

I chose this book because Cornel West is a native Californian and one of our nation’s foremost public intellectuals. He is a brilliant, passionate and courageous scholar dedicated to making the world better. I’ve been fortunate to carry on a 30-year conversation with Dr. West and firmly believe we could all learn from his writings — the latest of which is his memoir, “Living and Loving Out Loud.”

Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky
3rd District

The March of Folly

by Barbara Tuchman

The March of Folly, by Barbara Tuchman, has become my bible in the making of public policy. Her assertion that folly is “a perverse persistence in a policy that is demonstrably unworkable,” should guide decision-makers in every walk of life, especially in government. I have long recommended this volume to newly elected officials, and I refer to it constantly as a reminder of the “do’s” and “don’ts” in decision-making.

Supervisor Don Knabe
4th District

The Chronicles of Narnia

by C.S. Lewis

This classic book has special meaning for the Probation Department’s Operation Read program, which I helped create and fund more than a decade ago. A few years back, Lewis’ book was the annual choice of Operation Read. Great books like this represent the backbone of what Operation Read is all about–building literacy skills among thousands of participating young people, helping them gain knowledge and move more successfully into their futures.

Supervisor Michael Antonovich
5th District

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

by C.S. Lewis

The first book in the C.S. Lewis series, “The Chronicles of Narnia,’ is a Judeo-Christian allegorical tale of temptation, transformation and redemption that challenges readers of all ages to exercise their minds and imaginations. It is a brilliant and powerful story my children and I enjoyed reading together and that I would recommend parents share with theirs.

Posted 4-21-10

Quick, in 10 words or less, what would you do to make L.A. drivers more aware of the bicyclists sharing the streets with them?

Don’t tell us—tell the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition, which is running a Bike Safety Slogan contest. The winner’s words will be immortalized by graphic designer Geoff McFetridge and posted in bus shelters and kiosks around town.

The deadline’s May 5, so don’t wait too long for inspiration to strike. Details are here.

Posted 4-22-10

Led by L.A. County officials, California’s clean and green energy programs got a major boost this week when Vice President Joseph Biden announced the list of 25 communities around the nation to receive a cut of the $452 million in American Reinvestment and Recovery Act funding to “ramp-up” energy efficiency building retrofits.

Rather than compete against each other for the federal funds, L.A. County and other parts of the state agreed to collaborate on their push for the money, a strategy that paid off handsomely. California collectively netted $30 million in new grant funding, of which $12 million will be dedicated exclusively to L.A. County. With funding from the Department of Energy’s ramp-up initiative, public agencies and private entities will soon launch neighborhood programs to rapidly expand energy retrofit projects, which can later be replicated at the state and national level.

Over the next few months, county officials will sit down with their federal counterparts and hammer out a detailed spending proposal, which will comprise a mix of direct financial incentives for retrofit projects like insulation, double-pane windows, heating and cooling systems and solar-power installations, as well as indirect investment in education, marketing and outreach programs.

And the $26 million county energy-efficiency grant applications that the California Energy Commission (CEC) turned down earlier this year? Not dead yet. County negotiators have been meeting with CEC officials in an effort to tap into other funding sources to keep County energy programs green and growing.

Posted 4/21/2010

Out there on the front lines of the war on contagious disease in Los Angeles, the 14 centers run by the county’s Department of Public Health have seen it all—from hepatitis A to tuberculosis.

Now the centers—which log about 280,000 visits a year—need some medicine of their own.

The new proposed county budget calls for a sweeping “regionalization plan” that would improve the bottom line for the deficit-plagued public health department, but would also lead to the consolidation or even elimination of services in many centers.

Seeking to buy some time—and perhaps ease the pain of budget-driven service cuts—the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved two motions seeking funding relief for the department as the county’s budget process moves forward.

Supervisors Zev Yaroslavsky and Don Knabe noted that the proposed budget submitted by Chief Executive Officer William T Fujioka already sets aside $3 million in reserve funds for use by the department, whose deficit is expected to hit $21.2 million in the coming fiscal year. But in their motion the supervisors said that $1.7 million more may be needed to preserve jobs and allow DPH a year to come up with an efficiency plan that does not jeopardize its mission to protect the public health. The motion directs the CEO and department to closely monitor this year’s DPH budget and to allow the $1.7 million carryover from any funds remaining when the new budget is finalized.

In a related motion, Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas asked the department and the CEO to provide before-and-after maps showing the “volume and accessibility” of public health services now and what they would be after the proposed cutbacks. He also asked the CEO to explore whether other outside funding sources could be found to help maintain service levels.

As things stand now, the department is looking at as many as 75 layoffs—out of an estimated 131 countywide. It also is facing cutbacks under the budget-driven plan to consolidate services at some centers while eliminating a number of key clinical functions altogether at its Hollywood/Wilshire and Torrance health centers.

The centers’ mission is to provide treatment and testing for TB and sexually-transmitted diseases as well as care in the broad category of “communicable disease triage.” They also offer immunizations. In addition, the centers are the launching point for the county’s public health field staff, which takes the fight against contagious disease out onto the streets and into restaurants and other workplaces—anywhere an infected person may have come into contact with others.
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After the board meeting, Jonathan E. Freedman, chief deputy director of the Department of Public Health, said he was cautiously optimistic about the coming year but noted there was little financial wiggle room, given the challenging budget picture.

“We have a delicately balanced budget here with very little revenue-generating possibility,” Freedman said.

The supervisors’ public health motions were among 10 offered Tuesday, asking the CEO to report back to the board on a variety of topics as budget deliberations get underway. Public hearings on the $22.7 billion budget are set to begin May 12, with budget deliberations set to start June 7.

Posted 4-20-10

• CEO tightens county’s belt

• Oh say can you see a 4th without fireworks?