Under fire from city officials and conservative activists, Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck on Thursday defended his controversial plan to stop the immediate impounding of vehicles of unlicensed drivers. C.J. Lin in the Daily News,

"If I had any inkling that what we were doing is illegal or a hazard to the public, then I wouldn't do it," Beck said, adding that the plan was crafted after meetings with immigration rights groups and local prosecutorial agencies.

Under Beck's proposed new policy - which comes before the Police Commission on Feb. 14 - an unlicensed driver who is stopped by police would not be subject to an immediate 30-day impound on a first offense.

Anschutz Entertainment Group and city officials on Thursday unveiled plans for a sleek, elevated convention center hall downtown.Dakota Smith in the Daily News,

The roughly 20,000 square foot new hall is planned as part of an expansion of the Los Angeles Convention Center, first built in 1971.

Renderings presented before a city committee illustrated how the new facility - which would rise one story above Pico Boulevard, so cars could pass underneath - would connect the existing South Hall with AEG's proposed football stadium.

In a proposal that could affect the 2013 mayoral election, the Los Angeles City Ethics Commission is considering increasing the limits on campaign donations for the first time since 1985. Daily News

The commission began reviewing the issue Thursday, but public interest groups and commissioners said they wanted more time to study the proposal, which would more than double the amounts city officials can raise from donors.

City Council members are now limited to $500 per donor per election cycle, and citywide officials - mayor, controller and city attorney - can raise $1,000 per donor per election cycle.

ity Attorney Carmen Trutanich, who has raised more than $1 million for his exploratory campaign for district attorney, said Thursday he is getting closer to announcing a final decision on whether to seek the seat. Daily News.

"It will be within the next couple of weeks that there is an announcement," Trutanich said, just before a City Hall news conference on a lawsuit filed against Northern Trust Corp. for mishandling the city's pension assets.

The National Association of Latino Elected Officials will present Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa with the Edward R. Roybal Award for outstanding public service at a Washington, D.C., ceremony next week.
Villaraigosa will be honored by Interior Secretary Ken Salazr, House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, Sen. Majority Leader Harry Reid and Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard at the event.
Roybal, a former Los Angeles City Councilman, went on to Washington, D.C., as a congressman and each year a Latino public officials is presented with the award in his name.
Villaraigosa, who is serving out his second term as mayor, previously served as a City Council member and Assembly speaker.

Los Angeles residents could begin paying more for water next month, with the City Council's preliminary approval Wednesday of an "emergency" increase requested by DWP. Melissa Pamer in the Daily News.

The rate hike will see the average family's monthly water charges go up about $1.71, or $3.42 per bimonthly bill from the Department of Water and Power, which says it needs the money to pay for federally and state-mandated drinking water quality improvement projects.

If affirmed by a second council vote next week, the increase will appear on bills beginning in March and April.

After six months of design work, Anschutz Entertainment Group will unveil today its plans for a new convention center - part of its proposed downtown football stadium campus. Dakota Smith in the Daily News.

While the stadium has dominated the headlines, AEG sold local officials on the $1.3 billion project by offering to overhaul the convention center - a facility derided as the "white elephant."

The new design would remake the decades-old convention center and - supporters hope - lure more lucrative conventions to the city of Los Angeles.

As the city's sidewalks slip further into disrepair, Los Angeles officials on Wednesday approved a new study to determine how to pay for the estimated $1.5 billion of needed improvements. Daily News,.
The City Council's Public Works Committee authorized the Bureau of Street Services to analyze the size of the sidewalk repair backlog. Staff will also begin a survey of neighborhood councils to see if they would support a citywide bond measure, the creation of tax assessment districts or other ways to pay for fixes.

City leaders said they need options because the city can no longer afford an annual repair program amid multi-million dollar budget shortfalls.

While the city mulls an outright ban on all medical marijuana dispensaries in Los Angeles, police in the north San Fernando Valley have already essentially enacted a ban of their own, shutting down all pot shops in Northridge, Granada Hills and Chatsworth. CJ. LKin in the Daily News.

As part of a three-year crackdown, narcotics officers with LAPD Devonshire Division on Monday shuttered the last of the dispensaries in the area, arresting three owners of a Chatsworth operation on suspicion of felony possession of marijuana for sale.

Herbal Medicine Care facility in the 10100 block of Topanga Canyon Boulevard made more than $600,000 in profit last year, according to LAPD Detective Robert Holcomb. The dispensaries are required by state law to be

After an 11-month wait, Los Angeles has its first ratepayer advocate, a position tasked with reviewing Department of Water and Power rate increases to weigh in on whether they are truly needed. Melissa Pamer in the Daily News.

The City Council approval of Fred Pickel to fill the new watchdog post came on the same day a council committee recommended an emergency request from DWP for a water rate hike of 2.9 percent.

Pickel is an energy expert and consultant who had been selected from about 60 candidates earlier this month by a citizens committee.

Gov. Jerry Brown's plan to dissolve redevelopment agencies statewide takes effect today, but the 192 employees of L.A.'s agency were told to still show up for work - they'll just get their paychecks from a different source. Daily News

Instead of drawing their pay from the city, workers with the Community Redevelopment Agency of Los Angeles will be paid by the state as part of a complicated system designed to wind down operations at the 67-year-old program.

With billions of dollars in statewide redevelopment projects at stake, the process is expected to be fraught with legal and budgetary challenges.

City Councilman Eric Garcetti is finding the downside of being a popular politician, with someone developingi a Twitter account using his name.
"So far, it seems harmlesss, but we would prefer people got the real information from us," spokesman Yusef Robb, said of the site: #eric_garcetti.
The site, with a picture of an open-mouthed Garcetti identifies him as "your next mayor, your next best friend, your next everything."
Tweets on it are fairly harmless items, but aides are concerned it could develop into something malicious.
"We wish they had a more appropriate name like #toomuchtimeonour hands,' Robb said.
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Residents of Sunland-Tujunga feel betrayed. Sherman Oaks and Studio City residents are divided over what might happen to them. And there is wide confusion from Lake Balboa to Silver Lake over how they'll share a single City Council district. Daily News.
Last week the Los Angeles redistricting commission released new maps that dramatically reshape City Council districts. That's prompted a flurry of emergency meetings by neighborhood councils and other groups to determine how the new maps will affect them, while City Council members stage rallies in opposition to their new districts.

"If there is one thing that is certain, it is that these maps will change," said Arturo Vargas, chair of the 21-member redistricting committee.

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa announced Monday the soon-to-be completed Orange Line busway extension has at least $180 million in excess funding that can be spent on other transportation projects in the San Fernando Valley. Christina Villacorte in the Daily News.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority planned to spend $180 million from Measure R, the voter-approved half-cent sales tax. But, the agency secured enough state and local funding for the busway that it won't have to tap the Measure R money.

"We're committed to applying it to other San Fernando Valley projects," Villaraigosa said of the unused sales tax revenue.

With the election 15 months away, two city officials said Monday they have raised more than $1 million each in what is expected to be a crowded and costly race for mayor.
City Controller Wendy Greuel and Councilman Eric Garcetti each said they will file reports today showing they have exceeded the million-dollar mark at this point in the campaign.Daily News.

Greuel said she will report $1.1 million, having raised an additional $488,126 in the past six months.

Garcetti said he will report a total of $1,062,815 as of the Dec. 31 deadline.