Judge orders L.A. to build shelter for Skid Row homeless within 180 days

Federal Judge David O. Carter today issued a 110-page order slamming L.A. city officials' inability to reign in the growth of the city's homeless population, noting encampments in nearly every neighborhood in the region.

Mayor Eric Garcetti has promised to spend nearly $1bn getting people off the streets within the coming year, but the order puts his feet to the fire: Carter specified that the $1bn must be placed in escrow and a spending plan "accounted for and reported to the Court within seven days." — Read the rest