February 2008 Archives

With California facing a massive budget deficit, lawmakers have launched efforts to reduce or eliminate some of an estimated $50 billion in tax credits and deductions to help balance the books. Harrison Sheppard in the Daily News.

The credits - decried as "loopholes" by critics - range from mortgage-interest deductions and research credits for business to enterprise zones in the inner city.

Many of the targets are politically popular benefits that analysts say will be difficult to eliminate when a two-thirds vote is required. But Democratic lawmakers are vowing to solve an $8 billion deficit without relying exclusively on cutting state programs.

After 18 years of leaving riding the rails in Los Angeles to an honor system, Metro will install gates to snag those using subways and light rail for free, a move expected to save the agency $5.5million a year. Sue Doyle in the Daily News.

Going up in the next 18 months, 379 gates will stand along the entire Red Line and portions of the Blue, Green and Gold lines after Metro's board voted 10-1 Thursday for the $61million endeavor. The Orange Line is not included.

"We have the only open subway system in the world," said Roger Snoble, Metro's CEO. "More people will pay the right fare with the gating system."

Faced with a budget shortfall of as much as $500 million next year, Los Angeles leaders say it's time to talk about their "sacred cows." Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.

Councilwoman Wendy Greuel first used the term last month when she warned there would be no more sacred cows - that all programs and departments would be eyed for cuts.

Shortly after, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa announced his own warning about sacred cows. And the phrase popped up again earlier this week in an exchange between Councilman Dennis Zine and Chief Legislative Analyst Gerry Miller.

Zine: "We're looking at everything to save money, correct? What about the sacred cows? Have we discussed those?

wo weeks after releasing an audit that called for the mayor's office to coordinate the city's anti-gang programs, City Controller Laura Chick publicly urged Councilman Tony Cardenas today to schedule a hearing on her findings. Daily News.

The councilman, who chairs the City Council's Ad Hoc Committee on Gang Violence and Youth Development, responded by saying his job is to "make sure any action taken involving our gang programs is made for the right reasons, and not for political reasons."

Chick's audit, released Feb. 14, recommends that the Los Angeles Police Department continue its primary role of suppressing gang activity, and that city departments redirect $19 million allocated to programs that do not have well-defined objectives and outcomes.

A San Pedro pizza shop is holding a fundraiser on Saturday to raise monety for the family of slain LAPD Officer Randall Simmons.,
Councilwoman Janice Hahn said the owners of Niko’s Pizzeria, 399 W. Sixth St., San Pedro, will donate half of all sales from the day to the Blue Ribbon Trust fund set up by the Los Angeles Police Credit Union.

With all eyes on Tuesday's presidential primary election, two of Sen. Hillary Clinton's biggest supporters are on their way to Texas to try to help her with last minute campaigning.
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and Speaker Fabian Nunez, who were widely credited with helping her win California, are going on the campaign trail this weekend to try to help her there, even with polls showing her once sizable lead shrinking to where opponent, Sen. Barack Obama, is now favored in the state.
Villaraigosa is leaving for Texas on Friday, with planned events in Dallas, Fort Worth, Brownsville and other cities to be determined. He isi scheduled to be with her through Tuesday's election.
Nunez will lead a "Juntos Con Hillary, Una Vida Mejor" tour that will bring together members of Congress, legislators, and community activists to win Hispanic votes. The campaign begins in San Antonio and then on to El Paso.

The effusive comments from the right Wednesday on the demise of conservative pontificator William F. Buckley is remarkable in that it shows either A) how short the memories of those praising him are, or B) how secure some elected officials on the right are in their belief that nothing they will say ever will come back and bite them on the backside.
What I'm getting at here is Buckley's extreme elitism that drove him to question the voting rights of women and minorities, and his utter snobbery in thinking that the First Amendment applied only to those whose speech, press and assembly passed muster with him. Then there was his suggestion that AIDS patients be tattooed, a stigmatizing concept popularized by the Nazis.
On another note, I am reminded of the dreadful year I spent as a subscriber to Buckley's National Review magazine monthly rag. You see, an old friend of mine, a flat-tax libertarian, occasionally engages me in political debates, and he thought it would be amusing to give me a gift subscription to the Review. This was in 2000, when such a subscription could land your name and address on the mailing list of any number of right-wing causes, some of which I found head-scratchingly weird.
So the Review hit my mailbox, and I actually read a lot of it. One issue I recall most clearly was its post-mortem on the Democratic National Convention. The cover carried a photo of Al Gore and Tipper smooching at the podium, and the headline read, "Gross!"
Oh, come on, I thought. A whole convention of speeches and you can't find anything to criticize in the issues discussed, so you go all third-grader-on-the-playground on us?
Granted, Buckley had stepped down from his day-to-day leadership of the Review by then, but he had set the tone there. And if this is the level of political discourse he left us with, I say good riddance.

The effusive comment from the right Wednesday on the demise of conservative pontificator William F. Buckley is remarkable in that it shows either A) how short the memories of those praising him are, or B) how secure some elected officials on the right are in their belief that nothing they will say ever will come back and bite them on the backside.
What I'm getting at here is Buckley's extreme elitism that drove him to question the voting rights of women and minorities, and his utter snobbery in thinking that the First Amendment applied only to those whose speech, press and assembly passed muster with him. Then there was his suggestion that AIDS patients be tattooed, a stigmatizing concept popularized by the Nazis.
On another note, I am reminded of the dreadful year I spent as a subscriber to Buckley's National Review magazine monthly rag. You see, an old friend of mine, a flat-tax libertarian, occasionally engages me in political debates, and he thought it would be amusing to give me a gift subscription to the Review. This was in 2000, when such a subscription could land your name and address on the mailing list of any number of right-wing causes, some of which I found head-scratchingly weird.
So the Review hit my mailbox, and I actually read a lot of it. One issue I recall most clearly was its post-mortem on the Democratic National Convention. The cover carried a photo of Al Gore and Tipper smooching at the podium, and the headline read, "Gross!"
Oh, come on, I thought. A whole convention of speeches and you can't find anything to criticize in the issues discussed, so you go all third-grader-on-the-playground on us?
Granted, Buckley had stepped down from his day-to-day leadership of the Review by then, but he had set the tone there. And if this is the level of political discourse he left us with, I say good riddance.

Councilman Richard Alarcon returned to school on Thursday and said he learned some important lessons.
Alarcon, serving as part of the "Principal for a Day" program with the the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce and the LAUSD, worked at Sylmar Elementary School where principal Susana Rubinstein showed him what her day is like -- and it involves a lot of walking.
"We must have walked for two hours straight and visited every classroom," Alarcon said. "And, she told me that's what she does every day."
And, the councilman came away with some self-assigned homework.
Among the things he plans to work on is raising enough money for Sylmar and every elementary school in his district to construct gymnasiums. "It's only $27,000 and I want to see what we can do to help them," Alarcon said, adding that his district has among the highest levels of childhood obesity in the state.
Also, he said he is going to help the school cut through some red tape when it comes to getting city permission to build a driveway for parents to drop off their kids as well as on the bus service requirements for disabled students.

The median price of a San Fernando Valley home plunged a record $113,000 in January from a year ago and sales sank to an all-time low as credit and foreclosure problems further pounded the market, a trade association said Wednesday. Gregory J. Wilcox in the Daily News.

The 18 percent price drop, to $500,000 from $613,000, is the first double-digit percentage decline since the early 1990s, said the Van Nuys-based Southland Regional Association of Realtors.

The latest median is nearly 25 percent below the record $655,000 set last June and is at the same level as in December 2004.

TheCapitol Weekly is reporting that Assemblywoman Karen Bass, D-Los Angeles, has put together the votes to become the next speaker of the state Assembly.
Bass, who has served as majority leader for Speaker Fabian Nunez, received a majority of support in the Democratic caucus to win the job.
Nunez helped put together the deal that put her over the top. Several legislators, including some who had hoped to be speaker themselves, announced as they left the meeting that Bass had won, the newspaper reported.

The Los Angeles City Council is taking credit for heading off the closure of 11 county health centers.
Councilman Bernard Parks, who it just so happens is running for the Board of Supervisors, brought in a motion last week to have the City Council go on record in opposing the closure. But, because of council procedures, it could not be considered until Wednesday's meeting.
"We are pleased that after this motion was introduced, four supervisors voted not to make cuts in this area," Parks said.
Parks said the drop in public health care has had an impact on city services, particularly for paramedics who are responding to routine health calls and find themselves delayed at different facilities with patients in their ambulances.
The council motion also calls on the federal government to avoid cuts in its level of service to health care.
Parks and others said the only bright spot they see is the debate to go toward a universal health care program.

House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Henry Waxman, D-Los Angeles, today asked the Justice Department to investigate whether Roger Clemens "committed perjury and made knowingly false statements" before his committee.

Waxman along with ranking Republican Tom Davis in a letter to Attorney General Michael Mukasey said Clemens' statements in a Feb. 5 sworn deposition and at a Feb. 13 hearing "that he never used anabolic steroids or human growth hormone" calls for a deeper investigation.

No word yet from DOJ.

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Stephen L. Johnson is emerging bloodied and bruised - politically, anyway -- from a hearing in front of California Sen. Barbara Boxer.

Boxer, chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, released documents yesterday uncovered by her staff showing that Johnson's top aides had urged him to grant California's smog waiver. Johnson in December denied the state's ability to enact its landmark emissions reduction law, and lawmakers have been crying foul ever since.

"I ask you to reconsider," Boxer told Johnson in a gentle moment. Then she rattled off a list of more than a dozen court cases the EPA has lost under the Bush administration and predicted ths at the state of California, whwhich is suing the agency over denial of the waiver, would win as well.

"You have a rotten track record," Boxer said. "Why are you putting half the people of the United States at risk? Restore some integrity to the EPA."

Johnson, as he has in the past, defended his decision and insisted he made it without the influence of the White House or the auto industry. And, he said, while he values his staff's opinion, the ultimate decision rests with him.

"I made the decision. I made it independently. I carefully considered all the comments, and I made the decision," Johnson said.

At least some Republican lawmakers defended Johnson, and questioned whether Boxer has been appropriate in airing the documents that the EPA has allowed the committee to see about how the deliberations were made. The agency has not given the committee copies of the documents, only allowing aides to hand-copy them in the presence of EPA staff.

New York Sen. Hillary Clinton may have the San Fernando Valley's vote for the presidential nomination, but the newest campaign fundraising reports show Illinois Sen. Barack Obama now has its money. Lisa Friedman in the Daily News.

Last month, Obama outpaced Clinton in donations from Valley residents, raising $730,639 to her $461,513, according to Federal Election Commission reports for the month.

While Clinton still has Obama beat in the overall Southland money race, analysts said the infusion of Obama donations from a region that solidly supported her in the primary is significant.

Los Angeles County's top voting official said Tuesday he's confident he can count the majority of 50,000 "double-bubble" ballots that went uncounted on Super Tuesday before the deadline to certify the election next week. Troy Anderson in the Daily News.

Based on advice from the County Counsel's Office and the Secretary of State's Office, acting Registrar-Recorder Dean Logan said he plans to count most of the ballots cast by 50,000 independent voters who did not fill out a party box at the top of the ballot along with a choice for president.

The "double-bubble" ballot required nonpartisan and decline-to-state voters to fill out a party box at the top of the ballot along with their choice for president in order for their vote to be counted.

As the Los Angeles City Council refused to slow police hiring Tuesday amid a budget crisis, council members said instead they're willing to generate money anyway they can - by raising parking-meter fees and allowing advertisements on everything from city trash cans and cars to dog parks. Daily News.

During a four-hour hearing on budget cutting, the council postponed a recommendation to cut the police academy class by 45 officers and put off the fight over whether the LAPD spending will be cut to balance the budget.

"We took the issue of police hiring off the table because we have at least three months to evaluate classes," said Bernard Parks, who heads the council's budget committee.

"It was in my judgment premature to be moving in that direction at this time."

It was Obama's turn to offer praise for Clinton, similar to what she did last week.
"We have gone thorugh 20 debates and there is still a lot out there. The one thing I am clear about is that Sen. Clinton has campaigned magnificently. I am very proud to have campaigned with her.
"There is no question that she would be a better president than John McCain. I just think I would be better.. that I can bring this country together.."
Clinton was equally effusive.
"Both of us feel strongly about the country," Clinton said. "We bring enormous energy and commitment to this race and we would bring that to the general election and the White House. It has been an honor. It has been history making."

The two were asked a variety of questions regarding foreign policy challenges facing the nation.
Among them:
-- The successor to Vladimar Putin in Russia.
-- The problems in Serbia and Kosovo.

Tim Russert threw a series of questions at both candidates regarding a wide arrange of issues:
-- Obama's promise to limit spending in the general election.
-- Obama's endorsed by Louis Farrakhan,
-- Clinton's release of her income tax records.
-- Clinton's release of documents during her years as First Lady.

The two offered details of what they had heard on the campaign trail in meeting with average Americans.
"I met with four middle-aged women and none of them were in positions they thought they would be in," Obama said.
Clinton returned to the theme of health care and the need to bring in more controls of special interests to invet in the middle class for heath care and college, among others.
:"People are working harder than ever, bu they're not getting ahead,' Clinton said. "The special interests are not going to give up without a fight. I'm a fighter."

In a series of hypothetical questions about Iraq, Clinton and Obama both said they would pull out all troops if the Iraqi government requested it.
And, Obama said he would "reserve the right" to return if Al Qaeda was using the country as a base to plan more attacks against the United States.
Clinton, interrupted by commercials, was not given time to respond.
However, her joking appearance about Obama's speeches were presented. "I give her points for humor," Obama said.

The Clinton campaign of the past week continued to dominate the questioning.
Obama was asked about Clinton's questioning of his experience, particularly in foreign policy issues.
He repeated his argument that is more about judgment.
Clinton said she believed the level of experience was critical -- particularly in the ability of the Democratic nominee in facing Republican Sen. John McCain.

Clinton complained that she always seems to get the first question on issues and pointed othet Saturday Night Live sketch from last weekend as an example of how she is picked on by the media as she was asked about her position on NAFTA.
On the trade agreement, she said it has helped some parts of the country,but damaged others. She said she would seek to change it to make it provide more protections for American companies.
Obama said he believed Clinton was changing her position on the trade agreement, saying she had campaigned for her Senate seat saying, "on balance," it was good for the country.

Obama tried to shift the focus to negative tactics used against his campaign by Clinton.
Clinton would not bite and switched back to discussing the health care issue, with both citing their own experts on why their plan is better.
And, as they did in last week's session, the two candidates overrode the moderators to refuse new questions as they continued the discussion on universal health care.

In the most anticipated debate since, well, last week's confrontation, Sens. HIllary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama began their 20th debate of the presidential election in Cleveland, Ohio.
Most of the pre-debate attention was on Clinton and the strategy she will employ in the debate, being aired on MSNBC.
With her first question, Clinton was asked about the tone of the past week and -- with a smile on her face -- defended herself, but politely.
:As I have said, I have a great deal of respect for Sen. Obama, but ... with some of the tactics of his campaign...have been very disturbing to me," Clinton said. "I think it's important you stand up for yourself."
Clinton complained that Obama had mischaracterized her health care plan.
"We can have a good debate that uses accurate information," she said.
Clinton also denied any knowledge of her campaign releasing a photo of Obama in
Africa where he was dressed in a native costume.
As for her contentions of misstatements on her health care plan, Obama insisted the basic facts were correct.

Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Huntington Beach/Long Beach is on the House floor now blasting the Bush administration for refusing to allo him to interview a federal prisoner.

Rohrabacher has been pushing to interview Ramzi Yousef, one of the masterminds of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing to investigate possible connections to the Oklahoma City bombing. The requests, he said, have been consistently unanswered or denied, he said.

But in a wide-ranging floor speech, Rohrabacher is taking aim at Bush in areas usually reserved for Democrats, calling the president "arrogant," "secretive" and calling the administration's interaction with Congress as filled with "contempt and condescension."

"George Bush was elected president, not king,'' Rohrabacher said.

The denouncement on the House floor of the administration is a first for a Republican. Rohrabacher is a staunch supporter of the Iraq war and last year voted with the administration 85 percent of the time, according to Congressional Quartely.

Now the ranking Republican on the House foreign affairs oversight subcommittee, Rohrabacher noted that it is within his congressiona right to interview federal prisoners if the prisoner acquieses.

"When the president of the United States rejects the legitimacy of congressional prerogatives, there are serious consequences,'' he said.

The Justice Department has not returned calls about Rohrabacher's request. Yousef is being held at the federal Supermax prison in Florence, Colo.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's proposed 2008-09 budget would close 48 state parks, including four in the San Fernando Valley region. Today, the California State Parks Foundation launched a "Save Our State Parks Campaign."
The group is hoping to rally parkgoers, businesses and other organizations to convince state lawmakers that closing the parks that the small financial savings achieved -- about $13.3 million -- is not worth the cost of closing such valued resources.
More information on the campaign can be found at www.savestateparks.org.

The state Senate begins its hearings into the 2008-09 budget today and Senate president pro tempore Don Perata, D-Oakland, said he wants to make sure the pain the budget will bring will be fully understood by the public. He promised that budget discussions will take place during open, public hearings, rather than behind closed doors during meetings of the "big five" leaders.
In the past, the four legislative leaders and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger have often worked out the final, toughest details of state budgets during private meetings. But Perata said with such a difficult budget year ahead -- the state has a remaining deficit of at least $8 billion - he wants the public to understand the choices that will have to be made.
He made the comments today in response to what he said were rumors from the governor's office about plans for private meetings and "working groups" to hammer out the budget.
"Whatever it is we're going to talk about, we're going to do it in the full light of day," Perata said. "So we underscore the fact we're talking about people's lives here, we're talking about people's careers. We cannot be cavalier about that."
"And the last thing we want to do is to have somebody say you did it in the dark of night, because you didn't have the courage to do it in the light of day."
Perata also said he is not optimistic about the chances for closing any tax credits, much less increasing tax rates this year to narrow the budget gap. After Assembly Republicans shot down a proposal to close a loophole for yacht buyers, he said, it is highly unlikely they would agree to any similar proposals.

New information is dripping out about the battles inside the Environmental Protection Agency leading up to Administrator Stephen Johnson's denial of California's waiver to implement its landmark smog law.

According to a set of talking points obtained this week by Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., the EPA's director of transportation and air quality, Margot Oge, warned Johnson as late as October 2007 that "the stakes are huge, especially with respet to future climate change." She also, according to the document, urged Johnson to consider a compromise in which the EPA grants the waiver for three years before defering it.

"You have to find a way to get this done," reads the memo prepared for Oge by Christopher Grundler, Deputy Director of EPA's Office of Transportation and Air Quality

"If you cannot, you will face a pretty big personal decision about whether you are able to stay in this job under those circumstances," it says. "This is a choice only you can make, but I ask you to think about the hsitory,and the future of the agency in making it. If you are asked to deny the waiver, I fear the credibility of the agency that we both love will be irreparably damaged."

Boxer on Tuesday said the newly-released documents point to "an agency in crisis" over the California decision.

Johnson in December denied California's waiver request to enact a state law requiring a 30 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2016. The state has filed a lawsuit opposing the decision.

The slow drip of documents is in response to demands from both Boxer and Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Los Angeles. They had previously uncovered e-mails exposing lobbying from top officials in the Department of Transportation against California's emissions plan, and a tight relationship between the agency and the auto lobby.

The newest documents, which Boxer aides are allowed to view only in the process of EPA officials and are permitted only to hand copy, have highlighted a lively debate among the agency's staff _ almost always in favor of California's request. Boxer has said she is continuing to push for more documents explaining Johnson's final decision.

In the meantime, Johnson is expected to appear before Boxer's Senate Environment and Public Works Committee tomorrow to discuss the FY2009 budget. It's fair to expect a political version of "wackamole," with Boxer verbally bashing Jonson each time he picks up his head.

The city of Los Angeles lost a key legal argument Monday and now will have to go to trial to defend the annual transfer of about $30million in Department of Water and Power water-service revenue to the city's general fund. Bethj Barrett in the Daily News.

The ruling by a Superior Court judge to deny the city's motion for summary judgment comes as another potential setback for an already cash-strapped city facing a $155 million budget deficit by June 30 and as much as $500 million next year.

Because of the uncertainty of the transfers, the city hasn't included them in the current budget, nor in its financial projections.

Setting up another fight between the mayor and the Los Angeles City Council over police hiring in tough budget times, the city's chief legislative analyst recommended on Monday cutting the March police academy class by 45 recruits to save money. Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.

The LAPD is currently recruiting police candidates faster than the city planned. Reducing the number of new hires this year would save $1 million and stave off proposed cuts to library book purchases and graffiti removal programs.

Moreover, the city must close a $155 million budget deficit by June 30 - and "belt-tightening" measures proposed by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa won't deliver the expected cost savings by that deadline, according to the analyst's office.

Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama hold their 20th _ and possibly last _ debate tonight heading up to the March 4 primary elections.
Whas has dominated the discussions over the debate is which Hillary Clinton will show up and is Obama prepared to deal with it.
Clinton won high marks for the civil tone of last week's debate and his moving closing statements where she talked of how proud she was to be on the same stage as Obama.
That has changed over the past few days, with Clinton going on the attack and saying Obama should be ashamed of the campaign he was waging.
The Daily News will be watching it tonight -- and blogging on it. Comments are welcome and we will post them as quickly as we can.

Business customers of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power rate the utility 2nd highest in overall customer satisfaction among public and investor-owned utilities in the Western United States and 8th highest in the nation, according to a study released last week by J.D. Power and Associates.
The DWP said the 2008 Electric Utility Business Customer Satisfaction Study (SM) ranked the LADWP second only to the Sacramento Municipal Utility District in the Western United States and ahead of 51 out of the 58 largest electric utilities across the nation.

In their race for the county Board of Supervisors, Councilman Bernard Parks and state Sen. Mark Ridley-Thomas are both looking to tap into support from the business community. Los Angeles Business Journal.

In their race for the county Board of Supervisors, Councilman Bernard Parks and state Sen. Mark Ridley-Thomas are both looking to tap into support from the business community. Los Angeles Business Journal.

A year after Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and LAPD Chief William Bratton declared gangs public enemy No.1, crime has plummeted, homicides are at 30-year lows, and for the first time cops are working with hard-core gang interventionists to quell rivalries. Rachel Uranga in the

"One year later, gang homicides are down 30percent. That is an unequivocal measure of success," said Matt Szabo, spokesman for Villaraigosa, who now wants to place all the city's anti-gang programs under his office.

"We are doing as much as we can with the resources and the authority that we have."

But despite the gains, some of the boldest initiatives of Villaraigosa's anti-gang plan are barely getting off the ground, while other efforts that have been touted as "successes" aren't so clear-cut.

Residents of Los Angeles drink the nation's tastiest tap water, according to the judges of an international competition. AP in the Daily News.

More than 120 water sources competed in the 18th annual Berkeley Springs International Water Tasting this past weekend. A panel of 10 journalists and food critics sampled sparkling, tap and bottled water from 19 states and other countries.

The title of best municipal water was shared by the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, which serves Los Angeles, and the town of Clearbrook, British Columbia.

With three light-rail lines making their way across the city, officials are now looking at plans to link them through a future 1.6-mile rail in downtown Los Angeles. Sue Doyle in the Daily News.

"The more light rail you create, the more you have to connect," said Diego Cardoso, Metro executive officer of countywide planning and development. "Otherwise you face a gridlock of trains coming to downtown Los Angeles."

Commuters can review Metro's plans for a Gold, Blue and Expo line connector at two public meetings this week. After reviewing public comment, Metro staff will make a recommendation on the line this summer to its board.

Tipoffs: Mayor looks to put heat on City Council to make spendng cuts now.

Click photo to enlarge
On Ventura Blvd in Tarzana, workers work on Tarzana Village Walk... (Tina Burch/Staff Photographer)

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Stretching 17 miles across the San Fernando Valley - from Universal City to Woodland Hills, from mom-and-pop shops to big-box retailers - Ventura Boulevard is cemented as the region's main drag and commercial corridor.Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.

But developers are increasingly eyeing the strip for apartments and condominiums atop shops. And the mixed-used projects - common in San Francisco, New York and increasingly in Pasadena and downtown - are beginning to change the face of the boulevard.

Seven residential projects totaling 900 units are now under construction on Ventura Boulevard. In all, 21 projects totaling 1,333 units have been approved.

The newest father in the Los Angeles City Council is Councilman Jose Huizar, whose wife, Rachelle, gave birth to a son on Saturday.
Simon Huizar was born at Arcadia Methodist Hospital, weighing in at 7 pounds, 10 ounces and 20-inches in length. Mother, baby and father are doing well, aides said,.
Huizar, who has two daughters, joins Councliman Richard Alarcon as the newest father on the council. Alaracon's wife, Flora, gave birth to a daughter earlier this month.