April 2008 Archives

The site is useful for legitimate purposes as well as not so legitimate. We'll have a story on one possible scam in Wednesday's paper.

"Swift boating"? Dirty tricks by outsiders? Ugh.

Reading up on Industry, with dreams of the NFL floating through my head, I came across a Wall Street Journal article from June 9, 1960 about small communities, especially dairy farmers, who were incorporating to protect themselves.
"...And two years ago, when a group wanting to carve a factory community out of the county had trouble getting the necessary 500 signatures, they visited the local mental institution, got enough inmates to sign their petitions and thus formed the City of Industry. A new law now requires such petitions be signed by qualified voters."
* UPDATE:Frank Girardot found another article on this, on the city's own Web site, albeit a Tribune story: " "Industry's" Incorporation came after a Superior Court decision denied a protest supported by residents in neighboring cities that 173 mental patients in a private santarium shouldn't be counted as inhabitants, giving proponents the nneccessary 500 population needed to incorporate."

I don't think so.
"A state commission on Tuesday asked its staff for a written legal opinion on whether it had the authority to cut the salaries of the governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, legislators and other state elected officials."

Former SGVN political editor and Pasadena Star News reporter Gary Scott has long derided newspapers' online strategy, saying if they only care about hits they should just post porn. But what if they just called it art? (h/t LAO)

Members of an Internet forum helped recover a stolen car.

Longtime investigative reporter Bob Greene, who started the IRE, died. This snippet is a sign of a truly gifted reporter.
"Along the way, Greene made deep impressions on people he covered and helped send to prison. The newspaper's stories on former Suffolk County Republican Chairman Edwin "Buzz" Schwenk helped send him to jail in 1981 for financial irregularities. But in the end the two men were friends and fishing partners, all the more so because Greene wrote a letter to the sentencing judge asking for leniency.
"At no time was Bob dishonest with me; he was upfront, and he turned out to be a real friend," Schwenk said.

Longtime investigative reporter Bob Greene, who started the IRE, died. This snippet is a sign of a truly gifted reporter.
"Along the way, Greene made deep impressions on people he covered and helped send to prison. The newspaper's stories on former Suffolk County Republican Chairman Edwin "Buzz" Schwenk helped send him to jail in 1981 for financial irregularities. But in the end the two men were friends and fishing partners, all the more so because Greene wrote a letter to the sentencing judge asking for leniency.
"At no time was Bob dishonest with me; he was upfront, and he turned out to be a real friend," Schwenk said.

I'm not a hater. Swear. A friend of mine, Luis Perez, from Tribune-owned Newsday was one of the reporters on this Pulitzer Prize-finalist story about the dangerous gaps between Long Island railroad’s trains and its boarding platforms, spotlighting individual injuries and triggering a multi-million-dollar remedy by the railway. The list of winners and nominees is the usual. Some stories only the NY Times or Washington Post could do, others were done at smaller papers with simply a dedicated staff and editors.
This Post feature story was interesting for its simple premise, what would Washington metro commuters do if a violinist played at the station and they didn't know he was world renowned. There is a short video, but more enjoyable was a 44 minute audio of Bell playing. A life out of balance, indeed.

Apparently, a bunch of Mt. Views Observer newspapers were stolen Sunday on the eve of the election. Why someone would chance getting arrested for something so juvenile is amazing. (H/t FCB)
Also Centinel has an interview with Carol Liu, Candidate for the 21st Senate District

even if it is just a wink and a nod.

I was transfixed this morning on the congressional hearings regarding the 'bailout' of Bear Stearns. I put scare marks around bailout because everyone this morning seemed to go to great pains to say it wasn't a bailout. Maybe because I'm getting older ( and thinking more about how I'm going to buy a house and take care of my family) but I'm paying more attention to how our financial institutions work and who has oversight. As I learn more, I'm becoming disenchanted and even angry about how investors got screwed while the top executives (for the most part) get out unscathed.