The two sides in the Proposition 8 ballot initiative have amassed more than $40 million for media campaigns now playing on California television, but their most important asset might be the huge, volunteer, shoe-leather armies battling over same-sex marriage. Mercury News.

In an election that looks increasingly tight, Dean Merkley, a retired executive and part-time rancher in San Jose, is a member of a volunteer army that hopes to convince Californians to pass a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage. Darius Ngo, an 18-year-old college student in San Francisco, is among an opposing corps of volunteers who could make the difference on Nov. 4 in whether California becomes only the second state to reject a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage.

Faced with a national economic meltdown that is impacting states and cities, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said Saturday it means Los Angeles will be forced to re-evaluate its goals and return to the core services of the city. Daily News.

"Make no mistake that even though Wall Street is 3,000 miles away, it is affecting every neighborhood in this city," Villaraigosa told an overflow crowd of neighborhood council members at City Hall during their annual budget day.

"The magnitude of this crisis is far worse than anything we have seen, and it means we have to look at what our core services are for the city and how we can deliver them more efficiently."

Living for more than five decades in an old city housing project nicknamed Dogtown, Clyde Fulford has seen toxic chemicals seep from his backyard and waves of violence claim the lives of youths. Rachel Uranga in the Daily News.

But on a sunny Saturday afternoon, the man known by many Dogtown residents as "The Black Godfather" picked up a shovel and participated in something unlike he ever saw there before: dozens of neighbors planting hundreds of trees.

Nearly $800,000 has been raised by candidates for the City Council's 5th District race in the March election.Daily News.

Former City Council deputy Adeena Bleich led all candidates with $155,000 raised as of Sept. 30 for the March 3 election to succeed Councilman Jack Weiss. Weiss is running for city attorney.

Former city commissioner Leland Wong was sentenced Friday to five years in prison for bribery, embezzlement and a host of other offenses discovered during a City Hall "pay to play" corruption investigation into former Mayor James Hahn's administration. Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.

Wong had been an appointee of three mayors and had served on the city's Water and Power, Airports, and Harbor and Water.

In a harsh rebuke, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michael Johnson said Wong used those years of city service, his good name and his access to politicians to extract $100,000 in bribes from a shipping company doing business with the city.

The Metrolink board of directors on Friday voted to appoint 11 rail industry experts to a safety review panel to analyze the commuter system and make recommendations on how to improve safety.

The board also learned that about half of Metrolink's trains now have an engineer and another set of eyes in the cabs and locomotives. And plans are moving forward to install a temporary automatic train stopping system before state-of-the-art positive train controls are required in several years. Troy Anderson in the Daily News.

Metrolink board vice chairman Keith Millhouse said he's glad Metrolink now has doubled-up staffing in the cabs and locomotives, providing an extra set of eyes to improve safety.

"I understand the practical difficulties (in getting more staff)," Millhouse said. "But I'd like to see that number exceed 90 percent and get those people in there as soon as possible. We'll get the money for it."

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa continued his fundraising bonanza for his re-election campaign next year, reporting Friday that he has raised more than $2.3 million against a field of lightly funded and little-known candidates. Daily News.

Only attorney Walter Moore reported any significant amount of money, $162,000, for the March 3 election. Other announced candidates for the election include Bruce Darian, Mervin Evans, David Hernandez and Mike Manley, none of whom reported major fundraising.

The money raised by the mayor was as of Sept. 30 and does not include other recent fundraisers, including one this week in San Antonio sponsored by former HUD Secretary Henry Cisneros.

"Angelenos are showin

Relying on his ties to former Mayor Henry Cisneros, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa came to San Antonio on Thursday to tap contributors for his re-election bid in 2009. San Antonio Express.

Several dozen people turned out for the fundraiser at Magnolia Gardens, many of them writing checks for $100 to $1,000.

After losing his first mayoral campaign in 2001, Villaraigosa won in 2005 and started building a national reputation as the leader of the country's second-largest city. Despite admitting an extramarital affair last year with a television reporter, he's believed in some quarters to be considering seeking the Democratic nomination for governor in 2010.

For the first time in the nation, an ex-gang member's name has been removed from a gang injunction that limits the movement of people suspected of having gang ties, City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo said Thursday.Brandon Lowery in the Daily News.

City officials used the announcement to show that Los Angeles has made it considerably easier for former gang members to find redemption within the law.

Under the old process, people could petition the City Attorney's Office to get off the list, but even city officials acknowledged it was nearly impossible to succeed.
rn their lives around," Delgadillo said. The first successful applicant "was able to provide sufficient, reliable and verifiable information that he is not a member of any community street gang."

D

crisis will wreck what few sales prospects automakers had for the rest of this year, with J.D. Power and Associates slashing its retail car sales forecast Thursday and warning that next year will be even worse.Gregory J. Wilcox in the Daily News.

The downturn in auto sales threatens to close 700 car dealerships nationwide and 70 have already closed this year in California, auto industry officials said this week.

"This is a recovery that is going to take several years to work itself out," said Jeff Schuster, executive director of automotive forecasting at Westlake Village-based J.D. Power.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and legislative leaders emerged from a meeting Wednesday saying they're confident California will be able to repay up to $7 billion in short-term loans, even as the state treasurer estimated the state's revenues are likely to drop another $3 billion below projections. AP in the Daily News.

But they offered no explanation - and reached no agreement - on how they plan to solve the state's mounting fiscal problems, other than to say they will hold weekly meetings to discuss the crisis.

"We want to just assure everybody that we'll be able to pay our bills at the end of the month, and we go step by step after that," Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata, D-Oakland, said.

State officials have worried that the ongoing national credit crisis may make it hard for the state to sell $7 billion in short-term bonds, starting with a $4 million offering next week. The state needs the money to tide it over until it gets a surge in tax revenue next spring.

The Wall Street meltdown has caused local and state public-pension systems to lose tens of billions of dollars in value over the past year, and elected officials and taxpayer groups expressed worry Wednesday that taxpayers might ultimately have to bail out the plans. Troy Anderson in the Daily News.

The state retirement system has lost about $50 billion in investment value since June 30, 2007, a drop of about 20 percent in just over a year.

Los Angeles County's system has dropped 8 percent, from $40.9 billion down to $37.8 billion, during the same period.

In the wake of last month's fatal Metrolink collision in Chatsworth that killed 25 people, the region's two freight railroads announced Wednesday that they will put automated systems on L.A.-area tracks to stop trains before they crash by 2012 - three years ahead of an expected congressional mandate.Rachel Uranga in the Daily News.

Union Pacific and Burlington Northern Santa Fe told a special state Senate hearing in Van Nuys the track infrastructure for the new system will be in place on 120 miles of track by 2012. But not every single locomotive will be fitted with a control computer by that date, officials said.

"Los Angeles is going to be our No. 1 priority," said Jeff Young, Union Pacific Railroad's assistant vice president of information technology.

In what environmentalists called the most progressive environmental action ever taken by Los Angeles County, the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday moved to make buildings and homes more energy efficient and landscaping more drought resistant. Troy Anderson in the Daily News.

Under three new ordinances approved by supervisors, new homes and businesses will be required to use power more efficiently, retain storm water on site and use drought-tolerant plants.

Mark Gold, president of Heal the Bay, said the board's passage of the ordinances is the most progressive environmental action taken by the county and will set a precedent for the entire region.

Animal shelter workers joined activists Tuesday to renew calls for the resignation of city animal control manager Ed Boks. During a special city meeting, employees for the Los Angeles Department of Animal Services called for the heads of general manager Ed Boks, and his assistant, Linda Barth. Dana Bartholomew in the Daily News.

Last month, half the department had filed a petition of no confidence, citing mismanagement, intimidation, retaliation and a disregard for workers, animals and public safety.

"This is unprecedented for this many members of animal services to stand up and say, 'We've had it, ... We can't bear to see animals the way they're being treated because of management policies and procedures,'" said Victor Gordo, a union representative for LAAS middle management.