pulled

Ballot proposal on noncitizen voting in L.A. is pulled from the ballot

The Los Angeles City Council voted Tuesday to pull a measure from the Nov. 3 ballot that would have created a pathway to allow noncitizens to vote in local elections.

The council, on a unanimous vote, sent the draft ballot language to a committee for additional study after several councilmembers said it had not been properly vetted.

Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martínez acknowledged that he had not done enough outreach on the proposal, and had received letters from members of the Black community voicing concerns.

“I grew up in South Central Los Angeles. The Black and Brown solidarity is deep to me, and means something to me, and I don’t want this to be something that gets pushed through that is seen as a negative, something negative for the city of Los Angeles,” he said.

Soto-Martínez said he would keep pursuing the proposal in a future election so that when it passes, the city can have a “big celebration.”

The noncitizen voting proposal was not the only one dropped by the council at the 11th hour.

In a separate vote, the council scrapped plans for a Nov. 3 ballot measure that would have given council members power over policy at the Los Angeles Police Department. The Board of Los Angeles Police Commissioners, whose members are appointed by the mayor, currently have that responsibility.

The council voted 8-6 to further study the ballot proposal after the Los Angeles Police Protective League, the union representing rank-and-file members, threatened to sue the city, saying labor negotiators failed to meet and confer with them over the proposal.

The plan for expanding voting rights for noncitizens was unveiled by Soto-Martínez two months ago, It would have authorized the City Council to pass an ordinance allowing noncitizens to cast ballots in L.A. city and school board elections.

But many of the details had not yet been worked out, such as which groups would receive the franchise and whether Los Angeles County election officials would be capable of adopting such a system.

These questions were raised again Tuesday by Councilmember Traci Park, who voted “yes” on the proposal two weeks ago, but said this time that too much is still unknown about how it would work. She voiced fears about the city’s ability to protect noncitizen voters if federal immigration agents show up at polling places.

“My concern here is that if this goes to the ballot, the voters won’t really know what they’re voting for, because we don’t really know either,” she said. “These are things that should be figured out well in advance before we put anything in the charter at all.”

Councilmember John Lee held up a print-out of a warning on the San Francisco elections website. San Francisco allows noncitizens to vote in school board elections, and the website includes a notice stating: “Any information you provide to the Department of Elections, including your name and address, may be obtained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and other agencies, organizations, and individuals.”

“Given the experience of the only California city that currently allows noncitizen voting, it is not fear mongering to raise these concerns,” he said. “They are real issues that must be addressed before Los Angeles asks voters to approve a similar system.

Soto-Martínez said he viewed the warnings from Lee and Park as fear mongering, noting that immigrant rights groups were ready to move forward with his proposal.

“This country was created by people taking courage and pushing so that everyone can have the right to vote,” he said.

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Mystery as Busted star James Bourne’s Instagram disappears six months after he pulled out of band tour with illness

BUSTED star James Bourne has become centre to quite the mystery as it’s been revealed his Instagram account has disappeared.

This comes just six months after he pulled out of the band’s huge tour with a serious illness.

James Bourne pulled out of the Busted and McFly tour 6 months ago as a result of a serious illness Credit: Getty
The singer-songwriter’s Instagram profile appears to have disappeared Credit: Instagram
Busted stars (L-R) Charlie Simpson, James Bourne and Matt Willis shot to fame in 2002 Credit: Getty
James Bourne revealed back in April that he would be getting major surgery to extend his life expectancy Credit: Getty

When fans click through to scroll his profile, it’s completely gone.

It shows a blank white page with the words, “Sorry this page isn’t available.

“The link you followed may be broken, or the page may have been removed.”

This message usually pops up when Instagram has removed the account or the account holder has deleted their page.

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James pulled out of the group’s tour alongside their pals McFly last September, just hours before they were due on stage.

The 42-year-old confessed he would not be tearing up the stage with the rest of his band –  Charlie Simpson and Matt Willis.

He cited the reason for pulling out as “health” problems and said he “hoped to come back further down the line”.

James said in his statement: “The VS tour kicks off tomorrow night in Birmingham and as excited as I’ve been all year for this tour to begin, I’m really sorry to say that over the last 8 days it has become clear that I am not in good enough health to play these shows.

“There’s a lot of information I still don’t have about my condition but my bandmates, management and I are unanimous in deciding that I should focus on medical stuff for now.”

None of the boys wanted to let fans down and so they decided to push ahead with a replacement on guitar.

Bassist Matt told the Birmingham crowd: “You may have noticed our best friend is not here tonight. James Bourne is really f***ing sick and we love him and we miss him.

“This is the first show we’ve ever played without him and it’s really weird but we’re going to do the best we can.

“This happened really fast, y’know, health is wealth.”

The remaining Busted stars explained to their fans that they’d asked James if they should continue and he agreed saying, “you totally should.”

Back in April James opened up to Busted fans, sharing he was having a major surgery in the hopes it would extend his life expectancy.

“Hopefully [the surgery will] make me well enough to come back to what I love the most which is touring and making music. It really sucks to be out of the game,” admitted James on his Instagram story.

The singer, who shot to fame when Busted arrived on the pop scene in 2002 with What I Go To School For, is yet to reveal what illness he is battling.

Busted confirmed their split in an emotional press conference on January 13, 2005.

However they thrilled fans when they got back together ten years later, and have been going strong ever since.

The group have continued to rack up hit after hit.

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Graham Norton’s big budget ITV show The Neighbourhood pulled from primetime and replaced

Graham Norton’s ITV series The Neighbourhood has been pulled from its primetime slot less than a fortnight since its launch and will be replaced by repeats

Graham Norton’s ITV series The Neighbourhood has been pulled from its primetime slot less than a fortnight since its launch. The presenter, 63, is front and centre on the broadcaster’s new gameshow format in which real-life households have gathered in a purpose-built neighbourhood to be in with a chance of winning a £250,000 cash prize.

There were clearly high hopes for the series as it premiered in between both segments of the explosive I’m A Celebrity…South Africa final on April 24, and has been airing at 9pm on Thursdays and Fridays ever since, where it has managed to pull in just half a million viewers.

But now, new schedules have revealed that, going forward, the programme will air at 10.45pm which takes it away from the coveted slot it was initially given, implying that it has not lived up to expectations in terms of viewing figures.

READ MORE: ITV’s bid to lure Graham Norton away from BBC ‘backfires’ after ‘shock’ new show ratingsREAD MORE: Graham Norton explains why he’s breaking Terry Wogan’s famous rule at Eurovision

This Thursday, viewers tuning in at 9pm will instead see a repeat of Davina McCall’s Long Lost Family, and an episode of Beat The Chasers: Celebrity Special, which was initially aired in 2021, will be shown instead. A spokesperson for ITV confirmed the schedule shift as they said said: “The full box set of The Neighbourhood is now available to stream on ITVX. Additionally, the show will continue to air in an evening slot on ITV.”

But sources have claimed that whilst the broadcaster pulled out all the stops to make the programme into a hit, it just hasn’t gone that way in the end. An insider told The Sun: “They threw everything at The Neighbourhood to make it a big success, but it’s ended up a bit of a damp squib.”

The six households competing are The Bradons, The Kandolas & Samra, The Lozman-Sturrocks, The Pescuds, The Scouse Haus and The Uni Boys. Challenges put every neighbour to the limit as they try and eliminate one another without becoming unpopular enough to get the axe themselves.

Opening up on his first reaction when he saw the entirety of the set, Graham said: “Arriving in Derbyshire and seeing the set, I’d seen pictures but I didn’t quite understand the scale of it. It really is like being on a movie set, except it’s 360 – everywhere you look, it’s real.

“The art department did an extraordinary job of building up that town square where we do the removals, the pub, the cafe, the interiors of the houses. It really took my breath away!

“It made it even more exciting. I thought – this is serious! We’re making a big show. Then add on top of that, what Derbyshire does when the drone goes up and we see the Neighbourhood and the nature and the rest of it, it’s so beautiful, those big driving shots. It’s just gorgeous.

BAFTA award-winning broadcaster Graham continued: “One of the loveliest things about the show is seeing households who would never meet in real life, not only meeting but forming proper bonds of friendship. There are a few moments in the show that really do bring a tear to my eye because it’s just so genuine, so lovely and properly heartwarming.

“It’s such an odd word to describe a show like this but it’s properly wholesome. There’s something about the bright colours, being out in the countryside and the genuine bonds that you see created.”

The Neighbourhood is available to watch on ITVX

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