A summary of selected recent Los Angeles...

A summary of selected recent Los Angeles City Hall actions affecting the Westside.

CITY COUNCIL

* HOMELESS VETERANS--Authorized the Los Angeles Housing Department to issue a $1.76-million loan to a nonprofit group, New Directions Inc., to develop a 156-bed drug and alcohol rehabilitation center at the West Los Angeles Veterans Administration. The plan involves the renovation of a vacant three-story building, at 11301 Wilshire Blvd. in the sprawling complex. Work on the project is expected to begin in early 1996 and be finished by next summer. Toni Reinis, executive director of New Directions, said “40% of the male homeless population of Los Angeles are veterans, and filling the 156 beds will, unfortunately, be no problem.”

* TB PREVENTION--Authorized the Housing Department to spend $51,021 for two contracts designed to prevent the spread of infectious diseases, mainly tuberculosis, at 25 homeless shelters in the city. The county’s Department of Health Services TB Control will receive $15,615 to acquire equipment that measures air quality in enclosed spaces. Homeless Health Care Los Angeles will get $35,406 to provide comprehensive TB prevention training to the shelters. The program is designed especially to safeguard homeless individuals who are HIV-positive or who have AIDS from communicable diseases.

* HOLLYWOOD TREE TRIMMING--Extended a tree-trimming contract with Mariposa Landscapes for four months. The company is responsible for tree trimming, landscape maintenance and plant replacement on Hollywood Boulevard between Gower Street and Sycamore Avenue, and on Vine Street between Sunset Boulevard and Yucca Street. The cost of the contract extension is $16,468. A new long-term contract, which will combine landscaping and street maintenance, is expected to be awarded at the end of the extension after an evaluation of bids submitted by several companies.

* RAVI SHANKAR--Approved a resolution honoring famed sitar player Ravi Shankar on his 75th birthday. Shankar, who has lived in Los Angeles for 30 years, is considered to be the musician most responsible for bringing Indian classical music to the West.