March 2008 Archives

Chill out."

That's the advice former President Bill Clinton gave Democrats concerned about the extended nomination fight between Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama in a speech Sunday at the state Democratic convention in San Jose. Mary Ann Ostrom in the Mercury News.

In a spirited defense of his wife's vow to go on despite lagging in pledged-delegate counts, Clinton argued that continuing to campaign in the remaining states to cast ballots is "strengthening the Democratic Party."

He made his comments to about 3,000 conventiongoers at San Jose McEnery Convention Center, most of whom gave the former president a loud and enthusiastic reception.

The bitter weekend divorce between two actors unions in upcoming contract talks with Hollywood producers mirrors a scene from a daytime soap opera - the genre where the whole spat started.AP in the Daily News.

The Screen Actors Guild and American Federation of Television and Radio Artists have long sniped at each other over who better represents some 44,000 actors who are members of both groups.

The last straw, according to AFTRA President Roberta Reardon, was when the Screen Actors Guild leadership encouraged actors in the soap drama "The Bold and The Beautiful" to abandon the federation a month ago in "a relentless campaign of disinformation and disparagement."

TIPOFFS:
Controller Laura Chick and Councilman Tony Cardenas have differing ideas on how to solve the gang problems in the city.

It's 5 a.m. when a bleary-eyed Gary Orozco pulls away from his Fontana house and heads to Los Angeles to visit his grandmother. Sue Doyle in the Daily News.

Taking on the responsibility to check on her after his uncle died, the 21-year-old makes the weekly 50-mile drive before sunrise to beat the heaviest morning traffic.

And often, it's not before 8p.m. when Orozco dares to venture back on the freeway and return to his home in the Inland Empire.

"It's kind of a pain when I get to Hollywood," Orozco said. "But, still, it's to see my grandma."

In a region where the car is king, Orozco is among millions of Southland residents who plan their days around traffic virtually without a second thought.

State Attorney General Jerry Brown waxed nostalgic Saturday about his former days as governor and strongly suggested that he might run again – just as soon as he is done suing President Bush over global warming.
Sacramento Bee.
Brown joined four other rumored 2010 candidates – San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, Lt. Gov. John Garamendi, former state Controller Steve Westly and state schools Superintendent Jack O'Connell in firing up party partisans at the state Democratic Convention in San Jose.

On an entertaining day of political preening for would-be gubernatorial contenders, Brown, 69, provided rhetorical flourishes.

- CSUN professor Aida Metzenberg has cherished more than a decade of teaching genetic counseling, a graduate-degree program available on only 30 campuses in North America. Conniei Llanos in the Daily News.

But amid continuing budget squeezes, California State University, Northridge, is cutting the program that melds the study of genetics and medical counseling.

"I was shocked," Metzenberg said, adding that she is hopeful a donor might come forward to save the program. "I never thought this would end."

The program's elimination is the latest casualty at colleges across the Southland that have been struggling with years of financial trimming - and bracing for more if Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's $386 million proposed cut to the CSU system is approved.

Stepping up disagreements with Los Angeles City Controller Laura Chick over the future of anti-gang programs in the city, Councilman Tony Cárdenas on Thursday questioned the intent of Chick's proposal as well as its impact on existing programs. Daily News,

"We will not allow politics to infiltrate this process," Cá rdenas said at the end of a lengthy meeting examining Chick's "Blueprint for an Anti-Gang Strategy."

Among other things, the plan recommends most of the programs be transferred to the office of Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.

Hoping the increased public interest in this year's election will carry over to the most politically wonkish of events, the California Democratic Party plans to webcast this weekend's convention, Party Chairman Art Torres announced.
Starting at 9 a.m. Saturday, the party will be streaming live events and have video available on workshops at its website, www.cadem.org/convention.
Among the planned events are speeched by former President Bill Clinton, U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and a dinner presentation from Phil Donahue.

Hoping the increased public interest in this year's election will carry over to the most politically wonkish of events, the California Democratic Party plans to webcast this weekend's convention, Party Chairman Art Torres announced.
Starting at 9 a.m. Saturday, the party will be streaming live events and have video available on workshops at its website, www.cadem.org/convention.
Among the planned events are speeched by former President Bill Clinton, U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and a dinner presentation from Phil Donahue.

Nearly three years after the Los Angeles Unified School District launched efforts to implement tougher graduation requirements, the program has been plagued by disorganization and confusion with little accountability or oversight, according to an audit obtained by the Daily News. Naush Boghossian in the Daily News.

While the "A-G Resolution" requires all students to take college-prep courses in order to graduate, a scathing internal district analysis has found that so far the voluntary rollout has been ineffective and implementation has been spotty.

And the audit warns that without significant improvements, LAUSD students are not only at risk of failing to meet college eligibility requirements but also of failing to graduate from high school.

Six months after netting a $10million anonymous donation, leaders of the once-troubled Children's Museum of Los Angeles say the facility is on track to open in a year. Dana Bartholomew in the Daily News.

The museum, blasted in an audit last year for little oversight and few donations, has revamped its board and is raising funds, said Cecilia Aguilar Glassman, the museum's executive director.

"I would have to say that fundraising efforts since last summer are going extraordinary well," she said. "Everybody's goal is the same: to open in March 2009."

With fears that proposed bus cuts in rough neighborhoods - and in areas of the county with no other transit - could harm passengers, Metro authorities are moving to review plans that had been designed to save the agency $21million. Sue Doyle in the Daily News.

Metro's board voted this week to review the proposed changes, which would take place in June, and officials said they will coordinate changes in service with other city and municipal bus operators.

Twice a year, the transit agency evaluates its nearly 200 bus lines for efficiency and ridership and recommends service changes.

Stepping up disagreements with Los Angeles City Controller Laura Chick over the future of anti-gang programs in the city, Councilman Tony Cárdenas on Thursday questioned the intent of Chick's proposal as well as its impact on existing programs. Daily News.

"We will not allow politics to infiltrate this process," Cá rdenas said at the end of a lengthy meeting examining Chick's "Blueprint for an Anti-Gang Strategy."

Among other things, the plan recommends most of the programs be transferred to the office of Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.

California Democrats hold their annual state convention this weekend in San Jose and they are getting some star power to entertain the delegates.
Phil Donahue, who is the father of the modern talk show format, is scheduled to be the keynote speaker on Saturday night, talking about his new documentary, "Body of War."
On Sunday, former President Bill Clinton will be making the case for his wife at a morning speech to delegates. Clinton always has done will in California and Sen. Hillary Clinton won the February primary here by a 51-43 margin over Sen. Barack Obama.

Wading into the hot-button issue of immigration in the Southland, the Los Angeles City Council and a group of community leaders Wednesday denounced a federal measure that would require verifying that workers are in the country legally before being hired. Daily News.

Calling it mean-spirited and intentionally divisive, the council voted 11-1 to oppose the measure proposed by Rep. Heath Shuler, R-N.C., that would beef up border patrols and use a computerized system to verify job candidates' legal status.

"We have something more compassionate and humane from the National League of Cities that we would like to see implemented," Councilman Dennis Zine said.

Council President Eric Garcetti will be on the receiving end of orders this week when he reports for duty aboard the aircraft carrier USS Reagan in San Diego for a week-long tour as part of his Naval reserve duties.
Lt. Garcetti, who is a trained information officer, said he cannot divulge details of his assignment that is in addition to his annual two weeks of service in the reserve. Garcetti joined the reserve three years ago. In addition to the basic training, he also received specialized intelligence training last year.
"This will be a different experience," Garcetti said, adding he is not sure how he will adjust to an extended period at sea, even though it is only a week. "I'll be there in a support capacity and looking forward to taking and giving orders."

Fighting back against the rash of violence by street gangs, Watts residents are joining with Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa this morning to create a walking school bus to accompany children through gang territory to Florence Griffith Joyner Elementary School, 1963 E. 103rd St.
It is part of the safe passage program the city has had in effect for some time to insure children walking to and from school lare proteced.
The area selected is near the Watts-Wilkmington Arm housing project.
Later in the day, Villaraigosa is meeting with U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey to discuss city-federal policies on dealing with gangs.

In the first two months of this year, losing a home to foreclosure was almost as common for families as buying a home in the San Fernando Valley area. Gregory J. Wilcox in the Daily News.

During January and February, there were 1,084 foreclosures and 1,335 sales of houses and condos in Valley communities from Glendale to Calabasas, according to the San Fernando Valley Economic Research Center at California State University, Northridge.

By comparison, during the first two months of 2007 - also in a slumping market - there were just 235 foreclosures and 2,481 sales.

Naughty messages scrawled on school bathroom stalls have taken on a new cyber-twist with a Web site that promises college students "always anonymous ... always juicy" gossip. Connie Llanos in the Daily News.

But some of those posting on JuicyCampus.com have put up such nasty comments that a growing chorus of students and lawmakers is denouncing the site and calling for action.

On Tuesday, the California Attorney General's Office said it will review a request by state Assemblyman Alberto Torrico, D-Fremont, to investigate the site.

Armed with a laptop and the names of tens of thousands of police officers across the country, a Southland entrepreneur is raising the ire of law enforcement with an online, five-star rating system similar to those used for teachers. Rachel Uranga in the Daily News.

Less than a month old, RateMyCop.com has gotten 100,000 hits a day, with users leaving comments - good and bad - about their interactions with cops, founder Gino Sesto said.

He runs the site out of his two-bedroom home and said he thinks it's a fair way to hold law enforcement accountable.

Suicide rates among police officers in Los Angeles and San Diego are higher than their counterparts in other big cities cited in a report considered Tuesday by the Los Angeles Police Commission. AP in the Daily News.

The data was included in a study presented by Police Department psychologists who are in the process of retooling the agency's suicide prevention program.

The report said 19 Los Angeles police officers killed themselves between 1998 and 2007, while only seven died in the line of duty during that time.

Faced with a massive budget crunch, the Los Angeles City Council moved quickly Tuesday to raise zoo admission prices - by as much as 40 percent for children - but balked at boosting water and power rates amid widespread public opposition. Daily News.

The zoo hikes are expected to bring in $450,000 toward cutting a projected $20 million budget deficit this year, even as a city official called Tuesday for a review of dozens of other proposals designed to save money or raise revenue for the city.

But amid a campaign by neighborhood councils decrying proposed Department of Water and Power rate hikes, the council deferred any action until early next month.

A divided Los Angeles City Council delayed action on proposals to increase water and power rates charged by the Department of Water and Power. The matter is to return next week for a vote.
The council said it wanted more time to study the impact of the increase _ 6 percent over two years for ater and 9 percent over three years for power.
The money is to be used to rebuild the department's aging infrastructure. Included in the motions is creation of oversight committees to make sure the department spends the funds as promised.
Officials are considering a complete delay in the water rate action because of a pending court hearing challenging the transfer of water funds to the the city.

Councilman Jose Huizar, discussing how the Los Angeles school board won voter approval by providing specifics on what would be built.
DWP Commission President Nick Patsouras agreed.
"We will be able to show you every project in every district as it occurs," Patsouras said.
DWP General Manager David Nahai agreed, pointing to the massive amount of work to be done.
"We have 350,000 poles, 125,000 transformers and each one of those are a separate project," Nahai said.

Oversight became the buzzword among officials as they debated the proposed DWP rate increases.
Several oversight committees will be watching the agency if the various proposals go through.
First, there is the existing Neighborhood Council oversight committee.
Also proposed, is an oversight panel of city officials, to provide quarterly updates to the City Council on the progress of various projects.
A third oversight committee of citizens was proposed by Councilman Dennis Zine, with each of the 15 council members appointing someone from their district to look over the utility.
DWP General Manager David Nahai said he welcomed all the oversight.
"We welcome the chance to wash away doubt," Nahai said.

With Los Angeles City Council members beginning their debate, Councilwoman Jan Perry said part of the problem is the DWP's reputation.
"The need is clear, but there is hesitation," Perry said. "Some of it has to do with trust."
Councilwoman Wendy Greuel said the concern she and others have is whether it will improve reliability of service _ which has been hampered in the past two years with power outages.

The public hearing on the proposed rate hikes has begun, with a number of representatives from different neighborhood councils voicing protests to the increases.
"We need to listen to what the neighborhood councils are saying...we don't know how the money is being spent," one speaker said.
Another, Humberto Camacho, complianed there are no guarantees all the money from the increases will be spent on the DWP's aging infrastructure.

The public hearing on the proposed rate hikes has begun, with a number of representatives from different neighborhood councils voicing protests to the increases.
"We need to listen to what the neighborhood councils are saying...we don't know how the money is being spent," one speaker said.
Another, Humberto Camacho, complianed there are no guarantees all the money from the increases will be spent on the DWP's aging infrastructure.

The Los Angeles City Council this morning is set to debate increases to both the water and electric rates charged by the Department of Water and Power.
We will be posting updates through the debate here. As always, comments are welcome.

Even as homicides have spiked this year in Los Angeles, more than 400 police officers are unable to fight crime on the streets because they are filling in on a backlog of administrative and other tasks that should instead be performed by civilians, according to an audit released Monday. Daily News.

Renewing a call to hire more civilians for the LAPD, City Controller Laura Chick said that amid funding cuts and attrition, the department has more than 600 vacant civilian posts - from clerks and typists to analysts - and that many of the jobs are now being performed by sworn officers.

"There is no question that Los Angeles is one of the most under-policed big cities in America," Chick said in releasing the audit with LAPD Chief William Bratton.

A long-sought effort to install cameras in police cars moved a step closer Monday when a Los Angeles panel recommended approving a $5 million pilot program with IBM. Daily News.

In a 3-1 vote, the City Council's Public Safety Committee urged adoption of the contract despite questions about how IBM's contract could be $10 million to $15 million less than the next-lowest bidders.

"It seems to me it should raise some questions about the (request for proposals) when you have such a disparity," Councilman Bernard Parks said.

Councilma

The median price of a Los Angeles County home plunged a record 20 percent, or $117,010, in February from a year ago as sales continued their free fall as foreclosures increased, a trade association said Monday. Gregory J. Wilcox in the Daily News.

During February the county's median price fell to $467,200 from $584,210 last year, said the California Association of Realtors. It's the second consecutive record drop, percentage wise.

Sales in the county fell 42 percent from February 2007 and slipped 10.5 percent from January, the association said.

City officials broke ground Monday on the third and final phase of the $375 million NoHo Commons project, designed to transform the heart of town into an upscale commercial development with retail, entertainment and residential space.Sue Doyle in the Daily News.

Spanning three acres at the corner of Lankershim Boulevard and Weddington Street, the final part of the project will cost $79.4 million and will include a seven-screen Laemmle movie theater, a 700-space parking garage, an 182,000 square-foot office building with retail and the relocation of the historic Phil's Diner from Chandler Boulevard.

"NoHo Commons is nothing less than a blockbuster hit," said Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa at the groundbreaking ceremony Monday morning.

During the past two decades, state officials have thrown billions of dollars in tax credits and other incentives at a program designed to revitalize poor areas such as Pacoima with little way of measuring its effectiveness.

Earlier this year, budget- strapped California extended the nearly $400 million-a-year program through 2021 - and the governor even expanded it by adding eight enterprise zones designed to create jobs and boost the economy. Brandon Lowery in the Daily News.

The zones provide tax credits for businesses that hire eligible employees - including the disabled, veterans, American Indians, those laid off in a poor economy and those with criminal records. The money also can be used to buy machinery and machine parts.

But while business leaders and politicians defend the 42 enterprise zones as economic boosters, experts concede there is no definitive way to calculate how many jobs they actually have created or how effective they have been.

TIPOFFS::Rumors, concerns at Neighborhood Councils; Controller Laura Chick and Councilman Tony Cardenas headed for round two in gang dispute.

For Cindy Neal, last week's stunning meltdown of a top Wall Street investment bank and continuing stock market turmoil were just the latest reminders of today's grim economic realities.

Amid a slumping housing market, the 32-year-old Santa Clarita resident recently quit her job in the real estate industry and is studying veterinary medicine. To save money with soaring gas prices, she has cut back on day care for her son, shops at less-pricey stores and has reined in spending on eating out.. Harrison Sheppard in the Daily News.

And she's watching the unfolding turbulence in the nation's financial system with a wary eye.

"It's so unpredictable to have any money in the market," she said. "I almost think it would be better to pull all your money out and put it under a mattress. At least you can't lose anything that way. ... Right now, I don't know there's any answer out there other than just try to cope."

Just three months into the job, the new head of L.A.'s Department of Water and Power has reshuffled top management with new and promoted personnel who will rake in $2.2 million a year in combined salaries. Beth Barrett in the Daily News/

The management shift comes even as the City Council next week is scheduled to vote on the utility's request to hike power rates 9 percent over the next three years and water rates 6 percent over the next two years.

But General Manager H. David Nahai, who replaced career bureaucrat Ron Deaton on Dec. 1 as head of the $4.5 billion utility, said that by eliminating some top positions and not filling several others, the DWP ultimately will save $920,000 a year in high-level salaries.

And he said

It's an idea that grips at the heart of every Los Angeles politician: Get rid of the city-paid calligraphers who write those exquisite proclamations that are handed out like candy at City Hall and instead computerize the work. Daily News.

Estimated savings: $500,000.

Or cut all the specialized training programs for city workers, including the use of a Zen master to teach employees how to "center" themselves.

Estimated savings: $18,000.

Or end all those "fee waivers" City Council members grant constituents for special events.

Estimated savings: $2million to $4million.

Even as Los Angeles tries to trim its expenses amid a budget crisis, new data show that the city spends $3.6million a year on cell phones - up 26percent from five years ago. Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.

And costs have tripled and quadrupled in some departments as city workers have switched to more expensive PDAs and BlackBerrys to stay connected.

But with Los Angeles facing a $400million to $500million deficit next year, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has pushed city managers to cut cell-phone expenditures.

Due to significant drops in Los Angeles County home values, Assessor Rick Auerbach said Thursday that he's in the process of reassessing the values of 310,000 homes. Troy Anderson in the Daily News.

So far, he said, he has reduced the assessed value of 41,000 homes by an average of $66,000 each. That means a typical property-tax savings of about $660.

Auerbach said not all of the revaluations have come at the request of homeowners. Market conditions - and the growing likelihood that some properties are overassessed - have spurred him to review recent sales.

From Barstow to Beverly Hills, city leaders across the Southland met Thursday to discuss ways of improving transit for the region's 25 million residents - and how to pay for it. Sue Doyle in the Daily News.

Roadway tolls and public-private partnerships took center stage as reliable revenue sources, as support fell for a half-cent sales tax increase for Los Angeles County.

Over the past two months, county politicians have not mustered much enthusiasm for the half-cent hike and Metro's board members have not yet decided whether to put the issue on the November ballot.

"It's on the horizon," said Pam O'Connor, Metro board chairwoman, who supports the sales-tax hike. "It's a serious option to be considered."

Taking his own advice, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa will take a furlough day today.

Villaraigosa, who makes $223,142 a year, will give up $858.26 in gross pay as a way to encourage other city employees to take unpaid vacation days. Daily News.

The city is facing a multimillion-dollar deficit in the next fiscal year.

"Tough budget times require that we all step up to the plate," Villaraigosa said.

"The buck stops with me, and I am absolutely committed to making the hard choices necessary to protect public safety and other critical services."

Citing concerns about potential traffic and overdevelopment, the Los Angeles City Council ended a bitter years-long battle over the controversial Las Lomas mini-city Wednesday and voted to kill the entire proposed 5,553-home project. Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.

In its 10-5 decision, the council ordered the Planning Department to stop processing Las Lomas' annexation and development applications and return all studies and paperwork to the company.

The decision comes after six years of work and a $20 million investment by developer Dan S. Palmer Jr., who sought to build a 555-acre self-contained community of homes, offices and shops on the last stretch of open space between the city of Los Angeles and Santa Clarita.

Former Democratic vice presidential candidate Geraldine Ferraro complained Wednesday that Sen. Barack Obama drew a comparison between her and his controversial pastor in his seminal speech about race relations in the U.S. Gene Maddaus in the Daily News.

In a 37-minute speech Tuesday, Obama sought to place racially charged remarks by the Rev. Jeremiah Wright in a broader context, including them on a continuum with Ferraro's comment that Obama's race was a major factor in his political success.

"To equate what I said with what this racist bigot has said from the pulpit is unbelievable," Ferraro said in a telephone interview from Florida.

"(Obama) gave a very good speech on race relations, but he did not address the fact that this man (Wright) is up there spewing hatred."

A mediation conference is set for today on whether Providence Holy Cross Medical Center in Mission Hills will be allowed to go ahead with its planned $143 million expansion or be forced to conduct a detailed environmental study.Daily News.

The required conference is an attempt to head off a trial after Superior Court Judge Tom McKnew rejected a request to throw out a case filed by a group of residents opposed to the expansion.

In November, the hospital's expansion plan won tentative approval from the Los Angeles City Council, paving the way for the hospital, without further study, to add more than 100 beds to the San Fernando Valley's badly stressed health-care system.

Hospital officials

Perhaps in the ulltimate payback, Police Chief Bill Bratton on Thursday will announce he is backing stste Sen. Mark Ridley-Thomas for county supervisor in the June 3 election. .
Bratton.who has been frequently as odds with his predecessor,, Councilmqn Bernard Parks, will make it official at a news conferece at the Friendship Center in West Los Angeles.
Ridley-Thomas has already won the backing of law enforcement unions.

After a lengthy and heated debate, the council voted 10-5 to oppose the Las Lomas project, despite predictions the city will lose in expected court challenges.

Councilman Richard Alarcon said he will be the first person to vote against Las Lomas if it worsens traffic on Interstate 5 or damages a wildlife corridor. But first he wants a full environmental study.

"Mr. Smith would have you believe a vote against the moiton is a vote for Las Lomas. The vote is a vote to protect the taxpayers from a lawsuit in which the developer will prevail."

But, he said, he is afraid of the legal repercussions if the city goes against the City Attorney's recommendations.
--Kerry Cavanaugh

Councilman Greig Smith opened his arguments against the Las Lomas development, urging his colleagues to go against the advice of the City Attorney's office.
"The City Attorney was wrong on term limits....the City Attorney was wrong on Lincoln Place," Smith said.
Smith, whose district is the closest to the Las Lomas development, also complained about the amount of money spent by the developer.
"They have spent more than $2 million on lobbyists...(and) contributuions," Smith said. "In my 30 years in the council chambers, I have rarely seen so much money spent."

The City Council just began the Las Lomas debate. There's a full chamber, packed with community members, attorneys, lobbyists and trade unions. Three television cameras for a land-use issue!

With the Los Angeles City Council expected to take up the $20 million Las Lomas development today, the Daily News will be live blogging the debate as it unfolds.
The 553-acre development to create a mini-city near Santa Clarita has placed Los Angeles city officials at odds with their neighbors to the north over the impact it will have on traffic and other services as well as the loss of open space.
Comments are welcome and will be posted as quickly as possible.

Around the time that anti-war protesters disrupted Senate proceedings last week proclaiming themselves "ghosts of the Iraq war," Gustavo Aguilar Jr. was in the living room of his Sylmar home recalling his two tours of duty in that war-torn country. Tony Castro in the Daily News.

"I'm not a ghost of the war - I'm real," said the 23-year-old former Marine corporal. "I saw a lot of terrible things - things that changed me - but I also came to see how lucky we are to live in this country and that we have nothing to apologize for."

As the war in Iraq enters its sixth year this week, Aguilar has become a microcosm of the American experience in that country - engaged in a struggle with life-and-death consequences and increasingly grappling with a sense that it is a fight for the ideals established by the Founding Fathers.

In the year since American opinion against U.S. involvement reached a peak, the war in Iraq has somewhat softened as a national obsession - eclipsed instead by a tumultuous economy that has roiled the national landscape.

With legal battles continuing to delay an ordinance designed to force a group of hotels near Los Angeles International Airport to pay a living wage, a city official said Tuesday she now believes the city should have allowed voters to decide the matter. Daily News.

"I have always felt the people of Los Angeles would support the workers," Councilwoman Janice Hahn said. "I wish now we had put the matters before voters rather than try to work out a compromise."

The council voted in late 2006 to impose a living wage on Century Corridor hotels near LAX, citing civic investments in the airport that benefit the hotels.

LAPD Chief William Bratton refused Tuesday to divulge findings of an independent report that calls for changes in the department's elite SWAT team, including altering the unit's selection process to allow women to join for the first time. Rachel Uranga in the Daily News.

Though the report - called for by Bratton himself - has not been released, several SWAT officers expressed anger over what they say is a loosening of standards.

And at least one SWAT officer's wife has sent e-mails to Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, the civilian Police Commission and City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo to protest changes in the selection process.

With a $20 million investment on the line, the Las Lomas Land Co. won the first round Tuesday in a fight to keep its proposed 5,553-home mini-city near Santa Clarita moving forward. Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.

The win came as the City Council's planning committee agreed that Los Angeles must continue processing Las Lomas' application to annex the development into the city in what would be the first major annexation in nearly a decade.

But the real battle will unfold today, when the full council is expected to vote on whether to stop work on Las Lomas and kill the 555-acre development planned for the last swath of open space between Santa Clarita and the city of Los Angeles.

First came a mural of Studio City history, ordered erased from a local carwash.

Next came the oversized fish, Fifi and Fido signs at Petco, ordered removed this month by city code enforcers.

Residents angry about murals, signs and the city's myriad sign laws and selective enforcement have tipped off city inspectors, triggering a tit-for-tat sign spat that can mean fines or jail time. Dana Bartholomew in the Daily News.

Amid opposition from neighborhood council activists and lingering concerns about DWP management, two City Council committees declined to vote Monday on whether to support the utility's proposal to raise water and power rates. Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.

The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power has urged the council to boost the power rate by 9 percent over three years and the water rate by 6 percent over two years to help cover the cost of replacing the city's aging infrastructure.

But after a three-hour hearing Monday, the council's budget and environment committees forwarded the rate increase proposal to the full City Council without issuing a recommendation.

Three years after a string of deadly Southland freeway shootings prompted calls for activation of recording devices on existing freeway cameras, only a test project has been completed and officials have yet to pursue funding for the program, the Daily News has learned. Sue Doyle in the Daily News.

The outcry for recording came after nearly two dozen random roadway attacks in 2005 spurred law enforcement officials to ask Caltrans to start recording traffic from its 400 freeway cameras currently monitoring Los Angeles and Ventura counties freeways.

Last week, a shooting on the San Bernardino Freeway that left a 54-year-old Montclair woman dead returned the spotlight to the issue - but law enforcement and transportation officials said Monday that a recording process is still not in place.

A group seeking to impose a "living wage" on hotels near Los Angeles International Airport is estimating workers there have lost more than $4.6 million over the past 17 months as legal challenges over the issue continue and one hotel has agreed to unionize. Daily News.

The New Century Coalition, which has been behind the effort to get higher wages for workers at the seven LAX-area hotels, was set to formally release its findings today.

The group said its study found the hotels' workers lost an average of about $2,300 each as a result of the lower pay, with the range of pay loss coming in at a low of $648 for night cleaners to as much as $3,964 for food servers.

Local residents moved a step closer to a quiet night's sleep today as the airport authority announced it has completed an FAA-required study that could lead to mandatory nighttime curfews - with few exceptions - for flights in and out of Bob Hope Airport. Rick Coca in the Daily News.

Nearly eight years and more than $6 million dollars in the making, the latest incarnation of the study comes after the Federal Aviation Administration disagreed with several items in an earlier draft and sent it back to the commission in 2004.

On an 8-0 vote this morning, the revised "Part 161 Study," which was changed to include a larger area of homes affected by noise under the FAA's guidelines, will now go through a 45-day public comment period and other procedural requirements before going to the FAA for final approval, which might not come until summer 2009.

Eight California lawmakers are traveling overseas this week to study high-speed rail systems and other matters as the Legislature takes an 11-day spring break.

Assembly members Charles Calderon, D-Whittier, Mary Hayashi, D-Hayward, Jared Huffman, D-San Rafael, and Roger Niello, R-Fair Oaks, are on a trip to Spain sponsored by the California Foundation on the Environment and the Economy.

Sen. Jim Battin, R-Palm Desert, and Assembly members Anthony Adams, R-Hesperia, Bonnie Garcia, R-Cathedral City, and Fiona Ma, D-San Francisco, are part of a delegation visiting Japan.

One reason for the trips is to study the development of high-speed rail systems in both countries. A measure on the November ballot would authorize California to sell nearly $10 billion in bonds to help pay for a 700-mile high-speed rail system linking the state's largest cities.

Warning that Los Angeles will suffer more blackouts unless the city upgrades its electrical infrastructure, the Department of Water and Power will make the pitch again today to raise rates. Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.

Last fall, the City Council sent back the rate proposal amid questions on how the money would be spent.

But this time the utility appears to have more support, and Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has urged the council to hike electric rates by 9 percent over three years and water rates by 6percent over two years.

Anne Leyden has been home schooling her three sons - now 8, 12 and 15 - since they were old enough to start learning. Barbara Correa in the Daily News.

Leyden chose home schooling not because she thinks the public schools are terrible - in fact, her husband, Bill, teaches at Pacoima Middle School - but simply because she can.

But under a recent California court ruling requiring home-schoolers to have teaching credentials, that right could become more complicated.

TIPOFFS:Progressive Democrats take on their own because of the Iraq war, urge no endorsement of Reps. Howard Berman and Henry Waxman.

A young Asian woman arrives in Southern California with the promise of a restaurant job and a generous invitation to live for free in her employer's home as she acclimates to her new world. Tony Castro and Harrisonm Sheppard in the Daily News.

"I couldn't believe it. I thought I was living the American dream," authorities said Thonglim Khamphiranon told friends in her native Thai language.

But the promise of $240 a month to work in a Thai restaurant in the San Fernando Valley turned out to be a nightmare.

Her passport was confiscated, Khamphiranon later told activists battling human trafficking, and her ties to the outside world were cut. For six years in the late 1990s, she slaved up to 18 hours a day both at her employer's restaurant and at the woman's home, where Khamphiranon slept on the floor and served her boss on her knees.

I

The computerized payroll fiasco that already cost $40million to fix massive glitches will keep on haunting the Los Angeles Unified School District for years to come. Naush Boghossian in the Daily News.

Officials say they cannot continue to maintain the network without pouring additional millions of dollars into it over at least 15 more years.

LAUSD officials would not provide a specific amount last week, but one described it as a "large number" to be covered by loans. Details are scheduled to be revealed at a school board meeting next month.

Despite all the problems caused by underpaying and overpaying teachers for more than a year, officials continue to defend the system, saying high costs are common in early years of using such a complicated network.

Winning a California lottery jackpot won't force you into a higher state income tax bracket, but if you strike it rich at the horse track or casino the state taxman will want a cut.AP in the Daily News.

Buy a yacht, motor home or airplane in California and you'll pay a hefty sales tax bill. But purchase the same item in Oregon and keep it out of California for more than 90 days, and you'll avoid sales and use taxes altogether.

Sales taxes will be added to your restaurant bill, but there's no tax on the candy bar you buy as you head out the door.

Julie Davine, a mother of two in West Hills, has never considered herself politically active.

But she is hopping mad and drafting a letter to Arnold Schwarzenegger - her first letter to a California governor - over proposed state budget cuts that she considers theft from resources and funding for her kids' schools. Barbara Corea in the Daily News.

"When I first heard this, I thought, `It's like robbing from the poor.' We already pay for the music teacher. We pay for a P.E. teacher.

"We have to buy pencils, markers, Kleenex, copy paper. Now the school is going to ask for more. It boggles my mind."

With shrapnel still lodged in his wired-shut jaw, LAPD SWAT Officer James Veenstra spoke with difficulty - but purpose - as he thanked Angelenos for their support during a recovery that could take months as he considers his future in law enforcement. Rachel Uranga in the Daily News.

Veenstra, who was wounded during a 10-hour standoff in Winnetka last month that left five people dead, including SWAT Officer Randal Simmons, stood with his wife by his side in one of his first speaking appearances since that tragic day.

Despite his critical wound, the 20-year SWAT veteran said, he never lost consciousness that night.

"You can train and train and train, but sometimes you get the bear and sometimes the bear gets you," he said.

In a tensely awaited confrontation over the future of Los Angeles' anti-gang programs, City Controller Laura Chick and Councilman Tony Cardenas butted heads Friday over her proposals to revamp the city structure and move the programs under the authority of the Mayor's Office. Daily News.

"The words `turf war' are gang terminology and have no place at City Hall," Chick said in opening remarks to the Ad Hoc Committee on Gang Violence and Youth Development, alluding to the political tug-of-war that has surfaced over who should control the city's anti-gang programs.

"I know there are many questions on what we are proposing," she told the panel, which is chaired by Cardenas. "But I hope we move things to discuss what can be - and not what can't."

Tensions are high at City Hall as a City Council panel is scheduled to take its first look this afternoon at a report from Controller Laura Chick with her "blueprint" to deal with gangs and her complaint that Councilman Tony Cardenas has delayed hearing the matter.
Chick confronted Cardenas just before the regular meeting of the Council, ending with him telling her to "get out of my face.
Chick said she wanted to clear up some differences over whether her report on gangs was late in being delivered.
Cardenas said they talked amiably briefly and then Chick made a remark to him _ which he would not detail _ that he considered an insult.
“She basically wanted to infer she's been cool about this and didn't want to be nasty with me and then she said something insulting to me and I told her, 'Hey, just get out of my face.' I've never done that with an elected official before.”
Chick told him, “I'll get out of your face now, but I'll be back at 1:30,” when the hearings were to begin.

Tensions are high at City Hall as a City Council panel is scheduled to take its first look this afternoon at a report from Controller Laura Chick with her "blueprint" to deal with gangs and her complaint that Councilman Tony Cardenas has delayed hearing the matter.
Chick confronted Cardenas just before the regular meeting of the Council, ending with him telling her to "get out of my face.
Chick said she wanted to clear up some differences over whether her report on gangs was late in being delivered.
Cardenas said they talked amiably briefly and then Chick made a remark to him _ which he would not detail _ that he considered an insult.
“She basically wanted to infer she's been cool about this and didn't want to be nasty with me and then she said something insulting to me and I told her, 'Hey, just get out of my face.' I've never done that with an elected official before.”
Chick told him, “I'll get out of your face now, but I'll be back at 1:30,” when the hearings were to begin.

Complaints from parents of special-education students at Los Angeles Unified have soared by about 25percent over the past seven years as families in wealthier areas of the district have filed the lion's share of thousands of claims, the Daily News has learned. Naush Boghossian in the Daily News.

As the number of annual complaints rose to 2,302 last year, attorney fees paid to parents also have surged 146 percent, to $2.2 million, over the past several years, according to the most recent data available.

And parents on the Westside and in the San Fernando Valley account for nearly 70 percent of the complaints and payouts.

Faced with a projected $8 billion budget deficit, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is touring California with the urgent message that the Legislature - which will go on vacation next week - needs to negotiate a budget immediately rather than wait to fix the looming crisis. Beth Barrett in the Daily News.

And he says he also wants lawmakers to finally begin considering sweeping fiscal changes - including spending curbs and budget reform - to stabilize the state's future and reassure Wall Street that the Golden State is serious about the issue.

In a wide-ranging interview with Daily News reporters and editors Thursday, Schwarzenegger said he's tired of waiting on lawmakers who've had his budget for two months.

"I proposed my budget on Jan.10. Now it's two months later and no one has come to my office even though my door is open," Schwarzenegger said. "I've invited them and said, 'Come down as quickly as possible because we need to resolve the problem now, not in July ... No one came down and talked about it.

After Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa chided Los Angeles City Council workers for not taking unpaid leave to save the city money, council members upped the ante Thursday by saying they would put up $1.2 million in office funds to help balance the budget. Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.

The move came after a press conference Thursday morning in which Villaraigosa put pressure on city employees, except in public-safety agencies, to take unpaid five-day furloughs he had proposed in January to save the city $20 million amid its current budget crunch.

But only 365 of more than 25,000 city employees have acted on his request - saving the city just $95,000.

Outraged over a disbarment recommendation for a crusading lawyer who has sought to expose alleged improprieties in the Los Angeles County court system, the American Family Rights Association said Thursday that it plans to ask the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate. Troy Anderson in the Daily News.

The group plans a noon Saturday rally at Leimert Park at Vernon Avenue and Crenshaw Boulevard, and another rally at 10 a.m. March 25 outside the county Hall of Administration building at 500 W. Temple St.

Organizers hope to gather signatures for a petition and letter to the Department of Justice requesting an investigation into whether county government's practice of paying judges nearly $40,000 in annual cash benefits - in addition to their state salary and benefit packages - makes it difficult to get a fair trial in cases involving county government.

Differing legal opinions have been provided by the City Attorney's Office on the power of Controller Laura Chick to audit anti-gang programs if they are placed in the offices of Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.Daily News.

The opinions come as a long-delayed hearing on a sweeping set of recommendations Chick developed for Los Angeles' gang programs is set for a key council hearing today.

Chick said she has been told she has the right to audit the activities, but Councilman Tony Cárdenas said he was told there are limits on the controller and any audit would require written approval from the mayor.

It was one of those moments all officials hate _ being asked about their personal sacrifices as they call on others to give of themselves.
As Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa was talking Thursday about the city's financial problems and his call for employees to volunteer to take five days off at no pay, he was asked if he would be foregoing his pay while he is out of the city campaigning for Sen. Hillary Clinton.
“I think I've already give up pay,” Villaraigosa said. “I gave up my salary increase. I've given up what I'm going to give up.”
Villaraigosa, and all city elected officials, were schedueld to receive pay hikes retroactive to last July 1, but the mayor said he would not accept his because of the city's budget problem.
For the mayor, it amounted to $8,283, which would have boosted his salary to #232,425 a year.
And, Villaraigosa indicated again he has no plans to scale back his political activities this year.
“This is the most important election of my lifetime,” Villaraigosa said.
And, with the Iraq war draining resources and all levels of government suffering in the poor economy, he said he believes it is part of his job to be active to try to get more funds for Los Angeles.

n a sign of the budget crisis facing Los Angeles, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa told managers today to begin preparing for layoffs. Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.

Previous mayors also have warned of staff cuts but the city hasn't laid off workers since the early 1980s.

Despite the announcement, the mayor reiterated that he would continue to hire police officers.

"In order to maintain our commitment to expanding public safety and providing essential city services, it is only prudent to prepare ourselves for the tough actions which may be necessary in the budget ahead," Villaraigosa said.

Amid growing pressure to transform Los Angeles County's overcrowded and dangerous jails, officials have begun quietly weighing a plan to pump nearly $700 million into the system - nearly three times as much as previously proposed. Troy Anderson in the Daily News.

Under the plan, the Sybil Brand Institute would be demolished and a 1,024-bed replacement jail would be built at the Monterey Park site, while two 1,024-bed facilities would be built at Pitchess Detention Center in Castaic.

The plan also calls for a 1,152-bed, high-security jail to be built for men at the Mira Loma Detention Center in Lancaster, and the older section of the Men's Central Jail to be shuttered.

On the heels of a $750,000 payout by the city to settle a lawsuit over a liquor license and charges of racism, a group of residents is mounting a campaign to recall a City Council member at the center of the controversy. Rick Coca in the Daily News.

Jose Hernandez has come under fire for anti-Semitic comments attributed to him during a 2004 meeting with City Administrator Jose Pulido.

Los Angeles County District Attorney Steve Cooley on Wednesday officially announced his plans to run for a third term, saying he wants to expand programs to work with law enforcement agencies on the latest policing techniques. Daily News.

"We have established a District Attorney's Criminal Justice Institute to work with other prosecutors and police to talk about the latest developments, from DNA and high-tech as well as the law, such as asset forfeiture," Cooley said.

Cooley, 60, the second-highest-paid prosecutor in the nation at $236,829 - with a raise set to bring it to $292,300 in December - will face two announced opponents.

Steve Ipsen, a

Former vice presidential candidate Geraldine Ferraro on Tuesday defended a remark she made to the Daily Breeze last week, in which she suggested that Sen. Barack Obama would not be where he is if he were white. Gene Maddaus in the Daily Breeze.

In an interview with the Breeze, Ferraro said, "If Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position. And if he was a woman (of any color), he would not be in this position. He happens to be very lucky to be who he is. And the country is caught up in the concept."

The comment was picked up by political blogs and cable news shows across the country. The Obama campaign held a conference call Tuesday to denounce the remark, and Obama surrogates urged Sen. Hillary Clinton to repudiate it and remove Ferraro from her finance committee.

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved an ownership change for the $3 billion Grand Avenue project in downtown Los Angeles, transferring a 45 percent capital interest to a Dubai-owned company.Troy Anderson in the Daily News.

The developer, The Related Cos., will retain a 55 percent capital interest in the project.

Related's previous equity partner, California Urban Investment Partners - owned 97 percent by CalPERS and 3 percent by MacFarlane Urban Realty Co. - decided not to participate in the project.

"Unfortunately, CalPERS and MacFarlane were overinvested in downtown so Related has sought to find another equity partner," Supervisor Gloria Molina said.

"Related found Istithmar (Group), which was previously invested with them in the Time Warner Center Mandarin Oriental Hotel (in New York City) so they've dealt with them before. Under the ownership ... they will own the project and have key Related personnel remain as our contacts."

Following an 8 percent drop in legal and workers' compensation costs in Los Angeles County government the past two years, costs rose 6 percent to $437 million in 2006-07, officials said Tuesday.

The increase was largely driven by a 30 percent increase in administrative costs, an 18 percent increase in legal costs, a 55 percent increase in medical malpractice payouts and a 74 percent increase in payouts for vehicle accidents involving county employees, according to the annual risk management report. Troy Anderson in the Daily News.

"Right now, the figures are not very satisfying," Supervisor Gloria Molina said. "It shows an escalation in costs, particularly in litigation costs. I'm very concerned about that area. We are going to explore it and investigate it."

Risk Manager Rocky Armfield said the increased costs were primarily due to a spate of large lawsuit payouts, increased medical costs driving up workers' compensation costs and increased fees paid to the state to administer the workers' compensation system.

Van Nuys Congressman Howard Berman was officially named chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee today. Lisa Friedman in the Daily News.

The 13-term lawmaker takes the helm of the international relations panel, succeeds Rep. Tom Lantos, D-San Mateo, who chaired the committee until his death in February of esophageal cancer.

Last week, Berman offered the Daily News his first public glimpse into how he hopes to steer the panel that has broad jurisdiction over U.S. relationships with foreign governments.

In a blow to some of the Valley's poorest people, nearly 50 mostly senior and disabled tenants are being forced out of their apartments by landlords seeking to flee city rent control and subsidized housing. Dana Bartholomew in the Daily News.

Renters in Reseda, Northridge and North Hollywood who get federal Section 8 subsidies have been told to pay full market rates or get out, tenants, city officials and housing advocates said.

Though there are 45 documented cases, 115 tenants in four complexes could get 90-day notices that demand as much as $900 more a month in rent, or face eviction.

Even as Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and LAPD Chief William Bratton touted today that they are halfway to their goal of hiring 1,000 new cops by 2010, rising homicides so far this year continue to plague the city. Daily News.

With police puzzled by the brazen killings - from the shooting death of a 17-year-old football star Jamiel Shaw Jr. in Arlington Heights to the death of a 6-year-old in Harbor Gateway - a police commissioner called for an independent examination into what's causing the surge in violence.

"It's horribly senseless and involves a lot of youth," said Anthony Pacheco, president of the civilian Los Angeles Police Commission. "Why after a year of decline are we seeing this uptick, so widespread? It's horribly brutal. I don't want to downplay the department's expertise, but I think we are well-advised to get input from the community."

Gang member arrested in Shaw slaying. Daily News.

Los Angeles City Controller Laura Chick and Councilman Tony Cárdenas escalated their ongoing dispute this week over how to deal with her report on gangs and his delays in scheduling a hearing on the issue until Friday. Daily News.

In her report, Chick recommended consolidating the city's gang-fighting programs under a new unit to be overseen by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's office.

Both sent letters this week to City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo asking for clarification on the powers of the Controller's Office to audit programs operated by the city.

Sen. Barack Obama, on MSNBC, after winning his 26th state in the presidential primary, said he will continue his campaign theme of offering change in how the nation is run.
As he and Clinton now turn their attention to Pennsylvania, Obama said he will try to cut into Clinton's lead by his message "that I will be fighting for them.
"I think what I tell them is President Clinton deserves credit, but the trend of growing inequatity, of jobs being shipped overseas...that many of those thrends started before Georg Bush took office.
But, we are so paralyzed with the bitter partisanship and the influence of special interests, that their voices are not being heard. We want to restore the idea that Washington is fighting for working families."
Obama also said he is ready to be commander in chief, based on the judgment he has show in the past and criticized the Clinton television commercial on readiness as an attempt to appeal to public fears.
As for a potential Florida revote, Obama said he will abide by the rules established by the Democratic Party.

Obama declared the winner in Mississippi as new numbers on the delegate count came out.
And, a correction: Mississippi has 33 pledged delegates and seven super delegates.
Also, in looking at the numbers, MSNBC's number guru Chuck Todd says his review of the delegate count shows Obama will net seven delegates, possibly up to nine, and make up what he lost last week in the Texas and Ohio votes to Clinton.
In addition, Todd said the late vote in California turned a couple of congressional districts in to Obama's favor and he picked up at least two more delegates in the state.
late vote in California

Exit polls by NBC show that the biggest help and hindrance to the Hillary Clinton campaign is former President Bill Cliinton. One-third of Mississippi voters said he helped her, one-third said he hurt and one-third said he had no impact at all.

Obama took an early lead in the vote counting in Mississippi.
The latest delegate county has Obama at 1,579 and Clinton at 1.473, with 2,2025 now needed for the nomination. (That figure changes if there is a revote in Michigan and Florida).

Mississippi, and its 40 Democratic delegates, are at stake today in an election in which Sen Barack Obama is favored.
The question being asked by many is whether the turnout among Democrats will continue to set records or will the increasingly negative tone keep voters away from the polls.
Both campaigns have run hard in the state, the last election for six weeks before Pennsylvania's primary election on April 22. Unless, that is, some quick resolution is made on whether to have a revote in Florida and Michigan.
So far, on the cable news networks, however, the Mississippi balloting is taking a back seat to the sex scandal involving New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer.

Councilman Dennis Zine gets his moment in the spotlight today, when he is scheduled to appear on the Dr. Phil television show on KCBS.
Zine is scheduled to discuss his proposal to try to limit the activities of paparazzi because of the disturbance caused with Britney Spears. Dr. Phil caused a ruckus when he visited Spears while she was in the hospital and came out to discuss what he believed was wrong with her.

As the only woman ever to be selected by a major political party for the position of vice president of the United States, Geraldine Ferraro is uniquely suited to comment on the political events of the day.

An outspoken advocate for women's issues and a staunch supporter of presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton, Ferraro will offer her views on the state of the nation and the race for the White House at 7 p.m. Sunday at the Armstrong Theatre of the Torrance Cultural Arts Center Theatre in Torrance. The program is part of the American Perspectives series. Jim Farber in the Daily Breeze.

Speaking by phone from her New York law office, the 72-year-old former Democratic congresswoman outlined the themes that will dominate her talk. She also offered pointed observations
Former Democratic vice presidential candidate Geraldine Ferraro will speak in Torrance Sunday.
regarding the Barack Obama juggernaut and what she sees as a sexist media bias against the candidate of her choice.

In a rare move by a mayoral appointee, a Los Angeles planning official has offered community activists a strategy to sue the city over a new rule that allows developers to build taller, bulkier buildings - with fewer parking spaces - as long as they include affordable units. Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.

Planning Commission President Jane Ellison Usher, who was handpicked by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa to sit on the commission, alerted activists in an e-mail Sunday just a month after the Los Angeles City Council adopted the controversial density-bonus policy.

In the e-mail, Usher said the ordinance raises issues that are "ripe for immediate litigation."

Democratic candidates for the hotly contested 40th District Assembly seat decried Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's proposed budget cuts Monday and suggested other ways of combating dwindling revenues. Brendand Lowery in the Daily News.

The Assembly seat will open next year as Assemblyman Lloyd Levine, D-Van Nuys, reaches his term limit. Levine is running for the state Senate in the 23rd District.

Four Democratic contenders for Levine's seat - Dan McCrory, Laurette Healey, Stuart Waldman and Bob Blumenfield - attended a debate Monday at Shomrei Torah Synagogue sponsored by several local Democratic clubs.

Trying to make Los Angeles a focal point for counterterrorism efforts, LAPD Chief William Bratton on Monday opened what's being billed as the first National Counter-Terrorism Academy. Rachel Uranga in the Daily News.

Partnering with the Manhattan Institute, Bratton intends to take the initial $1 million step to teach local law enforcement about the roots of terrorism and how to combat it nationally over the coming year.

The federal government can't protect the country on its own, he said, noting, "The potential threat of terrorism is much more real now than it was in the 20th century. What is necessary is to actually police terrorism. That's where local police come. There are 700,000 of us in local cities."

City Controller Laura Chick, frustrated for several weeks over the time it has taken to get Councilman Tony Cardenas to schedule a hearing on her blueprint for dealing with gang crime, is seeking support from the Los Angeles Board of Education.
The school board has set a special hearing for Tuesday afternoon to hear from Chick on her proposal to crate an anti-gang office under the jurisdiction of Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa -- a proposal Cardenas has raised questions about.
Cardena's Ad Hoc Committee on Gangs and Youth Violence is scheduled to take its first look at Chick's report at a meeting now scheduled for this Friday.
In addition to Chick's frustration, Councilwoman Wendy Greuel has urged Cardenas to hold the hearing as soon as possible, as the rising tide of gang violence against innocent bystanders has risen in recent weeks.
Chick has received a wide level of support already for her plan, including Villaraigosa, Police Chief Bill Bratton, advisors to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and civil rights attorney Connie Rice, whose Advancement Project looked at gang issues last year.

Nearly a year after Los Angeles County supervisors restructured the county's top executive office, vowing to boost accountability and efficiency, taxpayer advocates are decrying a swollen budget and hefty salary hikes for a host of new deputy CEOs and staff. Troy Anderson in the Daily News.

The office budget surged nearly 50 percent from $27.7 million in 2006-07 to $41.2 million this year, and five new deputy CEOs draw annual salaries of more than $200,000 each. Meanwhile, each deputy's executive secretary makes $73,000 a year or more.

"My sense is that if you ask the average taxpayer in the county if they favor restructuring government, they would say yes - if the restructuring is going to reduce the expenses of government, reduce the bureaucracy and actually make things function more efficiently," California Taxpayers' Association spokesman David Kline said. "This seems to be heading in exactly the opposite direction. When government talks about restructuring, it always seems to lead to more costs, more overhead and more taxpayer dollars."

But county officials

Charles Mitchell was drafted into the Vietnam War soon after graduating from college. He served his country as a medic. Troy Anderson in the Daily News.

But when he returned home, the former marine biologist spent the next two decades "in hiding" from anti-war protesters, working for political campaigns and on various odd jobs.

By 1989, he applied for low-income housing and got an apartment on Skid Row in downtown L.A. Today, the 67-year-old scrapes by on about $1,000 a month in Supplemental Security Income benefits and pays $238 a month for his single-room apartment.

TIPOFFFS:
Grapping with city financial problems and whether to lay off workers.

You can't smoke in most places. Bribes are a no-no. Car seats and kids' bicycle helmets are the law.

And beating your wife will land you in jail - not to mention get you deported.

These are among the new rules and customs the world's refugees face in California, but they aren't so tough to handle considering they come with a package of liberties unknown in their native lands. Patricia Farrel Aidem in the Daily News.

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom is considering a 2010 run for governor - a campaign that would embrace many of the same divisive causes he has championed as mayor, including same-sex marriage, universal health care and protections for illegal immigrants, The Chronicle has learned. S.F. Chronicle.

Newsom has long been rumored to be a potential contender in what is likely to be a crowded field of Democrats looking to succeed Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a list that includes Attorney General and former Gov. Jerry Brown, former state Controller Steve Westly and Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.

In recent months, Newsom has quietly been meeting with Democratic campaign strategists and other supporters to discuss a gubernatorial bid.

Six and a half years ago, Los Angeles Fire Department Capt. Robert McMaster plucked a 3-year-old boy from the flames of a Palomar Hotel fire in Hollywood and won the Medal of Valor.

But when the 33-year LAFD veteran refused in late 2006 to stop recommending that a rookie firefighter be terminated for being unsafe, the department sent him to a Board of Rights hearing for insubordination and other charges. Beth Barrett in the Daily News.

McMaster, who is due to retire in June, said he was stunned when he was found guilty in January of five of eight charges against him. Now, he has filed for binding arbitration and says he intends to sue.

"I feel betrayed by the LAFD over this," said McMaster, a La Crescenta resident. "I feel my reputation has been tarnished with this department."

Late this week, notices will go out to thousands of teachers across California informing them that they may be out of a job in a few months - the first and clearest indication to many families of the kind of pain that California's massive budget deficit could inflict. Mike Zappler and Harrison Sheppard in the Daily News.

The layoff letters, which by law must go out by Saturday, could number in the tens of thousands, school officials warn.

Although it's possible, if not likely, that many of the warnings won't result in actual pink slips, the notices could be a flash point in the debate about how to close an $8 billion budget deficit - and what the fallout might be for California residents.

Sen. Barack Obama easily outpolled Sen. HIllary Clinton in the Wyoming caucuses on Saturday _ with all of 8,490 Democrats casting ballots in the election -- about the equivalent of one or two precincts in Los
Angeles.
For their efforts, Obama is expected to get seven delegates, Clinton will get four.
And, it's on to Mississippi for the next election on Tuesday.

It is rare to have the words crucial and Wyoming in the same sentence when it comes to presidential politics, but the state is getting a lot of attention today as its Democratic voters -- less than 10,000 of them -- turn out in caucuses today to decide between Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.
With more than 75 percent of the returns in, Obama was continuing his domination of caucuses over Clinton and he had 59 percent of the vote.

Looking to put pressure on his main opponent, state Sen. Mark Ridley-Thomas on Friday called for a series of seven debates with Councilman Bernard Parks in their June 3 race for the Board of Supervisors. Parks and his campaign could not be reached for comment.
The two have already had a pair of forums and Ridley-Thomas said he hoped more could be held to try to get the public interested in the election, the second of three to be held this year.

With brown lawns and a backyard swimming pool that resembled a cesspool, foreclosed homes were so rundown in one local cul-de-sac that residents sprang into action to clean up after their former neighbors.
Karen Maeshiro in the Daily News.
Stung by the statewide mortgage crisis, nearly 30percent of the 14 homes in Scranton Court are in foreclosure - and four of those are vacant.

With foreclosures rising in Palmdale - as well as the region - the city recently passed an ordinance designed to prevent foreclosed homes from deteriorating and becoming safety hazards or magnets for crime.

For the new resident, the foreclosed three-bedroom house on Beck Avenue - complete with a remodeled kitchen, hardwood floors and a pool - must have been a dream come true. Rik Coca in the Daily News.

The 1,600-square-foot home was listed for about $419,000 when the man moved in last month.

One problem: It wasn't his. He was a squatter.

"He had the door barricaded. He had a mirror that was taken off the wall that he had propped up so he could keep an eye on the front door to see if anybody was coming in," Realtor Steve Smallson said.

Spurred by growing ridership on the Orange Line, transit officials are pushing ahead with plans to extend the San Fernando Valley busway to ferry passengers four miles farther north from Canoga Park to Chatsworth. Sue Doyle in the Daily News.

Two plans to extend the line - which now runs between Woodland Hills and North Hollywood - were unveiled Wednesday as part of an environmental impact report that would significantly boost the already popular bus.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority board is set to pick one of the two plans in May, but it could be six years before Orange Line buses pull into Chatsworth.

Amid a budget crisis that means trimming emergency medical services and scrimping on library books, the city of Los Angeles will lose as much as $3.3 million this year by rejecting mini-billboards and other stand-alone advertisements.Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.

Under a controversial contract approved in 2001, the city agreed to let CBS/Decaux install 3,200 bus shelters, kiosks and mini-billboards throughout the city in exchange for $150 million over 20 years.

But some communities have been inundated with requests and residents don't want to see their sidewalks cluttered with advertisements.

United Teachers Los Angeles announced Wednesday that it has resolved a lawsuit over Los Angeles Unified's payroll system and said the school district has agreed to pay interest to 6,700 teachers who were underpaid for six months. Naush Boghossian in the Daily News.

UTLA also said in a statement that it will call off its faculty-meeting boycotts and the district has agreed there will be no reprisals against members who boycotted faculty meetings.

"UTLA is pleased to achieve justice for our members on this issue," UTLA President A.J. Duffy said. "We look forward to putting an end to disruptions caused by the payroll debacle. We are committed to moving forward with the district to improve the payroll system and fix any backlog of problems."

With the weak real estate market and slowing economy, the city of Los Angeles will bring in $90 million less revenue than expected in the fiscal year ending June 30, according to estimates released Wednesday by the city controller. Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.

The latest estimate puts city revenues this year at $4.246 billion. And as sales tax and property tax revenues drop further, revenue for the next fiscal year - beginning July 1 - will likely fall $11 million to $4.235 billion.

Over the last month, city budget officials have warned that revenue would be lower than expected and city leaders face cutting programs immediately to balance the budget.

Recent weeks of gang violence - with victims including a star athlete, students and infants - drew outrage from Los Angeles city officials Wednesday and calls for the city to review its response. Daily News.

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and Police Chief William Bratton also sought to calm fears the violence has been racially motivated.

"This is a city of 4 million people who get along very well, for the most part, every day," Bratton said. "I am well aware of how sensitive an issue race is and we would investigate if there was any indication it was a factor in these crimes. It isn't."

espite several recent headline-grabbing attacks against Jews in the San Fernando Valley, anti-Semitic incidents continued to decline statewide and across the country last year, according to a report released today.

The hate incidents dropped 13 percent nationwide in 2007 and 9 percent in California. Over the last four years, they have plummeted 25 percent around the country and 21 percent in the Golden State, figures compiled by the Anti-Defamation League show. Rachel Uranga in the Daily News.

Still, Jewish groups call the incidents troubling and note that despite gains, the deep-seated symbols of hate have not faded. More troubling, they say, are increased reports of anti-Semitic schoolyard squabbles.

"You are seeing an uptick in the acceptance of anti-Semitism," said Amanda Susskind, director of the league's Pacific Southwest Division. "We think the method of dissemination has changed because of the Internet."

Laurette Healey, one of the top Democratic candidates in the 40th Assembly District race, picked up the support of the Los Angeles Police Protective League. She also has been endorsed by Sheriff Lee Baca, ALADS and the California Police Chiefs Association.
“Laurette Healey has always been a friend to law enforcement," the Protective League said in a statement. "We know she will be willing to listen to all points of view and will be a reasonable and conscientious Assembly member. Laurette Healey is committed to the safety of her community and will work hard in the State Legislature to provide increased resources to her district to address these concerns.”

A staunchly conservative state senator from Thousand Oaks jumped into a Northern California congressional race Tuesday, saying he wanted to help return the Republican Party to the smaller-government themes sounded by Ronald Reagan. AP in the Daily News.

Sen. Tom McClintock announced in Auburn, Calif., that he would seek the GOP nomination for the seat now held by Rep. John Doolittle, R-Rocklin. Doolittle is under investigation in a congressional lobbying scandal and announced in January that he would not run for a 10th term.

One of the city's worst slumlords will be forced to refund $9 million in rent to his former tenants - including tenants at seven properties in the San Fernando Valley, City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo announced Tuesday. Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.

Landmark Equity Management Inc. frequently lied to tenants, refused to repair dangerous living conditions and illegally raised rents to force out rent-controlled residents and lease the apartments for more money, according to the criminal complaint filed in 2006.

Even after the city won an initial order in 2006 against Landmark, the company failed to make needed repairs.

The day after a jury awarded $1.6 million to two white Los Angeles Fire Department captains in a controversial prank against a black firefighter, some outraged city officials on Tuesday questioned the LAFD's disciplinary policies and demanded a review of the case. Daily News.

"This is absolutely outrageous," said City Councilman Dennis Zine. "Here we try to discipline people for allowing hazing to go on, and we have to pay for that - as well as for the person who was hazed.

"I don't know what this jury was thinking."

Even as gas prices for Los Angeles-area drivers are surging to record highs, transit officials are weighing whether to cut up to 20 bus lines across the city - including about 12 in the San Fernando Valley. Sue Doyle in the Daily News.

Meanwhile, dozens of other lines would either have hours reduced or routes shortened in June.

Overall, the cuts would wipe out some 375,000 hours of bus service annually for Metro, which is facing a $100 million operating deficit for the coming year.

And for motorists now grappling with higher fuel prices - as oil prices this week soared to over $103 a barrel - the cuts could limit alternatives for money-saving commuting options.

Under orders to reduce spending, the Los Angeles Fire Department sent notices Tuesday that it plans to eliminate part-time emergency medical treatment operations at three fire stations, including one in the Sylmar area. Daily News.

"Effective March 10, we are going to temporarily eliminate the variable staffing at these stations due to budget constraints," Battalion Chief Ron Villanueva said in the letter.

"We hope to bring the staffing back as soon as we can. The one thing we want to assure the public is that we will still respond to all calls and provide treatment."

In the wake of a report finding the LAPD failed to fully investigate civilian complaints against abusive officers, the ACLU urged the civilian Police Commission on Tuesday to adopt an independent investigative process, saying the department shouldn't police itself. Rachel Uranga in the Daily News.

The inspector general's audit released last month found half of the 60 complaints reviewed were flawed, including cases where police ignored key witnesses and inaccurately recorded statements.

"For years, inadequate investigation of complaints have been the norm in this department," Peter Bibring, an American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California lawyer, told the commission, noting that civilian complaint investigators are used in Seattle, San Francisco and New York City.

The county Board of Supervisors Tuesday called for tougher local restrictions on where the state can place released sex offenders.Troy Anderson in the Daily News.

The supervisors directed the County Counsel's Office to review Jessica's Law, or Proposition 83, to determine options local government have to restrict the housing of sex offenders in neighborhoods.

"Right now, the state has the authority to place them basically anywhere and, as a result of a great outcry in the Altadena community ... we were able to mobilize the community, and the state has now removed the sexual predators from that neighborhood," Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich said.

In his victory remarks, Sen .John McCain made clear he was prepared to begin his campaign against the Democratic nominee.
And, Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama made clear they were ready for McCain -- and each other.
Clinton continued the theme she began last week with her television commerical on who would be best prepared to answer the call of a crisis at 3 in the morning;. Clinton also tried a variation of a theme, having supporters chant, "Yes, we will," to counter the Obama chant of "Yes, we can."
And, Obama sought to tie Clinton to the same policies of McCain and President Bush when it came to the decision to send troops to Iran.

Sen.Barack Obama, serving as the anchor man of political speeches, offered his congratulations to Clinton for her victories as he said it remained too close to call in Texas.
"We know this, no matter what happens tonight, we have nearly the same delegate lead as we had this morning and we are on our way to winning this nomination," Obama said.
"You know, decades ago, I learned as a community organizser, that the real work of democracy...begins on street corners, and living rooms...to see the world as it is and we have the power to remake the world as it should be."
Obama said his campaign is designed "to write a new chapter. We were told this was not possible. That we could not change the world. .... Toniight, because of you and the movement we have built..we can stand up and with clarity and say we are turning the page to write the next chapter in American history."

Coming back from 11 straight losses, Sen. Hillary Clinton claimed victories in Ohio and Rhode Island on Tuesday and vowed to press on the campaign against Sen. Barack Obama.
In Ohio, which provided her with a key win to help her make her case to continue her campaign, a jubilant Clinton declared, "Thank you, Ohio.
"To anyone across America who has been counted out but refused to be knocked out, for everyone who has stumbled but got right back up...this one is for you," Clinton said. "You know what they say, as Ohio goes, so goes the natin. Well, Ohio is coming back and so is this campaign.
"We're going on. We're going strong and we're going all the way."

Both Sens. HIllary Clinton and Barack Obama called Sen. John McCain to congratulate him on clinching the GOP presidential nomination.
Clinton was declared the winner in Ohio, giving her two victories for the night that left television anchors frustrated -- being forced to wait for votes to be tallied instead of being able to call the election with the use of their exit polls.

Less than six months ago, the campaign of Sen. John McCain was in shambles -- out of money and in total disarray.
On Tuesday, McCain was able to claim victory on the next leg for the office he has sought for more than a dozen years.
"I am very grateful and pleased to note, my friends, that we have collected enough delegates...that I will be the nominee for president," McCain said in his victory speech.
The election :"was an accomplishment more than a few doubters thought unlikely.
"Now we begin the most important part of our campaign to make a respectful...case to the American people," McCain said. "I have never believed I was destined to be president. But I do believe we were born with responsibilities."

In her first victory in a month, Sen. Hillary Clinton was declared the victor in Rhode Island.

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, reversing his plans to hold off on conceding, acknowledged the victory by Arizona Sen. John McCain in the race for the Republican nomination for president.
Speaking in Dallas, Huckabee thanked his supporters for keeping his campaign alive.
"I called Sen. McCain....I said to him not only my congratulations but my commitment to him to not only unify our party, but to unify our country," Huckabee said. "Sen. McCain is an honorable man, who has run an honorable campaign."

Polls closed at 6 p.m. PST in Texas and Rhode Island and it was too early to say who was winning on the Democratic side. All the polls also closed in Ohio, even though some returns were release earlier. Obama was holding a slight lead.
In yet another oddity of the Texas system, absentee ballot returns were released prior to the closing of the polls and it gave Obama a slight lead.

Arizona Sen. John McCain became the presumptive Republican nominee for president on Tuesday, cinching the nomination with delegates to spare. All that' s left is the formality of the GOP convention beginning Sept. 1 in Minnesota.
Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who has been hanging on for weeks, is expected to concede this week.
With the victory, McCain now can begin to tap into the Republican National Committee database of research and donors and the GOP can begin its own campaign against Democrats. It also will free up President Bush to begin campaigning on behalf of McCain. The two are scheduled to meet on Wednesday at the White House.
And, while there has been much attention paid to Republicans switching to support Obama -- the so-called Obamicans -- Fox analyst Karl Rove said watch out for Democrats switching to the GOP, a group he called McCainocrats.

As Clinton moved to an early lead in Ohio returns, the Obama campaign was successful in winning a court order to keep some polls open in Cleveland because of weather problems.

Over at Fox, the Limbaugh factor in the Democratic presidential election is being discussed about the talk radio host urging Republican voters in Texas to cross over and vote for her.
What the analysts couldn't agree on was whether Limbaugh was trying to create chaos among Democrats or believes Clinton would be an easier foe in November.

Polls have closed in Ohio and all say it is too close to call.
Also, it turns out Ohio is like many other elections this year, where the winner of the popular vote could come in second in terms of delegates. All of it depends on the margin of victory within certain congressional districts in the state, analysts say.
McCain also declared the winner in Ohio as eh goes 2 for 2 for the night.

By all accounts, this year's election has been the most exciting and interesting in a generation.
There are more people voting than at any time in recent history and, based on all the pundits on television, it continues to draw wide interest.
What, then, is the rush to force out former Arkansas Gov Mike Huckabee and Sen. Hillary Clinton?
All the talk for the past several days has been speculation on whether either can continue a sustaintable campaign after today;s voting and both, to their credit, say it isn't over until it's over.

Vermont;s polls closed at 4 p.m. PST and the networks immediatley called it for Sen. Barack Obama on the Democratic side and Sen. John McCain for the GOP. McCain is hoping to close out his election tonight over former Gov. Mike Huckabee.

Here are the Democratic delegates to be decided for each state in today's election:
Ohio 141
Texas 193
Vermont 15
Rhode Island 21.
The Texas count is the most difficult to determine. Two-thirds of its delegates are allocated based on the popular vote and one-third are determined by those who attend caucuses. In addition, as in all Democratic races, the final delegate count based on proportional representation.
There also are mixed numbers given on the delegate counts for the candidates, with each campaign and the different networks all with their own figures.
A website, www.demconwatch.blogspot.com, has come up with some of the best estimates so far and it has the delegates apportioned like this:
Clinton.. 1,035 pledged delegates; 255 super delegates.
Obama 1,187 pledged delegates; 198 super deleatges..
Needed for nomination: 2,025 delegates.

Be honest. When was the last time you considered Rhode Island a crucial state in the presidential election? Or Vermont?
Yet both will be the center of attention today, albeit briefly, when voters there and, oh yeah,Ohio and Texas, go to the polls today to decide between Sen. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.
We will be doing live blogging again on the returns starting this afternoon. Comments are welcome and we will post them as quickly as we can.

Two white Los Angeles Fire Department captains who were more severely punished than a Latino firefighter who put dog food in black colleague's Tennie Pierce's spaghetti - a prank that cost the city $2.7 million in settlement costs and legal fees - won a $1.6 million judgment Monday. Beth Barrett in the Daily News.

In the decision, jurors said it was both a finding that Capts. Chris Burton and John Tohill were too harshly treated - in an effort to lessen the impact of Tennie Pierce's case - and that the department's policies were unclear.

"It was the administration that seemed eager to throw Capt. Burton and Capt. Tohill to the wolves in terms of their careers," juror Heather Howe said after the decision.

With street gangs using global networks to carry out extortion, drug trafficking and murder, top federal and local law enforcement officials said Monday they are strengthening ties across borders, sharing information and even officers.

Using an annual three-day summit on transnational gangs as the backdrop, the Los Angeles Police and Los Angeles County Sheriff's departments signed an agreement to launch an officer exchange program with El Salvador, saying they and federal officials are increasingly turning to their foreign counterparts to hunt down Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13), 18th Street and other street gangs. Rachel Uranga in the Daily News.

The homegrown L.A. gangs - both with strongholds in the San Fernando Valley - have ravaged Central American communities as thousands of immigrants returned to their homeland over the past two decades and spread a culture of violence.

"No single nation can fight gangs alone," said John Pistole, an FBI deputy director. "They are far-reaching criminal enterprises that ... often transcend state and international borders to accomplish their needs."

The 40th Assembly District race continues to be one of the most active leading up to the June 3 primary election.
Democratic candidate Laurette Healey is having an official kickoff of her campaign at 1 p.m. Saturday at her Canoga Parks headquarters, 21511 Sherman Way.
On Monday, March 10, a forum will be held for the Democratic candidates, sponsored by a number of organizatins, at 7 p.m. at Shomrei Torah Synogogue, 7353 Valley Circile Blvd., West Hills. It will be moderated by Bill Boyarsky, the former L.A. Times editor and columnist and member of the city Ethics Commission.
Candidates expected to participate include Healey, Dan McCrory, Stuart Waldman, Bob Blumenfield and Steven Zeldin.

Dos Wall Street underrate Main Street? A growing number of states and cities say yes. If they are right, billions of taxpayers’ dollars — money that could be used to build schools, pave roads and repair bridges — are being siphoned off in the financial markets, where the recent tumult has driven up borrowing costs for many communities. New York Times.

A complex system of credit ratings and insurance policies that Wall Street uses to set prices for municipal bonds makes borrowing needlessly expensive for many localities, some officials say. States and cities have begun to fight back, saying they can no longer afford the status quo given the slackening economy and recent market turmoil.

Municipal bonds, often considered among the safest investments, sank along with stocks last week, darkening the already grim mood in the markets. Several big hedge funds unloaded bonds as banks further tightened credit to contain the damage from mounting losses on home mortgages and other loans.

States and cities rarely dishonor their debts. The bonds they sell to investors are generally tax-free and much safer than those issued by corporations. But some officials complain that ratings firms assign municipal borrowers low credit scores compared with corporations. Taxpayers ultimately pay the price, the officials say, in the form of higher fees and interest costs on public debt.

“Taxpayers are paying billions of dollars in increased costs because of the dual standard used by the rating bureaus,” said Bill Lockyer, treasurer of California, who is leading a nationwide campaign to change the way the bonds are rated. California, one of the largest issuers of municipal bonds, is rated A; Mr. Lockyer said the state should be triple A.

A little bungalow in the heart of this community is renewing a big debate about historic preservation across the San Fernando Valley Connie Llanos in the Daily News..

Brought to the area in 1904, the bungalow was home to Wilson C. Weddington, a member of one of the Valley's first families, the area's first postmaster and a key figure in the region's early development.

But while the house has been designated a cultural monument, booming development in the region means it faces demolition unless owner JSM Construction finds a new site for it within 180 days.

When vandals lobbed a Molotov cocktail at the Bernard Milken Jewish Community Campus last month, Los Angeles City Councilman Dennis Zine immediately pledged to draw up a reward to catch the culprits. Rachel Uranga in the Daily News.

But it took Louisa Prudhomme more than a year to get city officials to offer a reward in the killing of her 21-year-old son, who was shot in the face by gang members.

Neither the $95,000 reward in the West Hills Jewish center attack nor the $25,000 reward in the case of Prudhomme's son in Highland Park has directly led to arrests.

But the differences in how they came about highlight a city reward system that some say is influenced as much by politics as by a quest for justice.

TIPOFFSCouncilwoman Jan Perry seeks help from Police Protective League: selling off the city.

A California lawmaker is proposing loosening state lottery rules to lure more gamblers and their dollars - but the move could draw the wrath of two of the most powerful interests in the Capitol. Steve Geissenger in the Daily News.

State Sen. Dean Florez, D-Fresno, has introduced a pair of bills that would allow the lottery to loosen prize payout rules, allow gambling themes such as blackjack and poker, clear the way for phone wagering, and permit electronic ticket-dispensing terminals that don't determine the outcome of the bet like slot machines.

Such changes would help the underperforming lottery and might also entice outside interests to consider leasing the lottery from the state - an idea floated by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to help ease the state's budget deficit.

- While most developers were eyeing property in suburbia in the 1980s, Moe Mohanna was staking his claim to some rundown buildings a few blocks from the state Capitol. AP in the Daily News.

The Sacramento landlord began fixing up nine storefronts along K Street in an area frequented by vagrants. His property is at the heart of the city's plans to revitalize its business district.

After years of failed negotiations to exchange other property for his buildings or to rehabilitate or buy them - city officials say they violate health and safety codes - Sacramento's redevelopment agency recently moved to go to court and seize the sites.

"We've done all of these things, and they are chasing us out of town," Mohanna said, as he showed photographs of once-dilapidated buildings that have a fresh coat of paint and new verandas. "They want to give the blocks to their favorite developers, and I'm just not one of them."

On the same day last week that a prominent U.S. senator endorsed the presidential candidacy of Democratic front-runner Barack Obama, a 20-year-old sports figure stole the political spotlight. Tony Castro and Ramona Shelbourne in the Daily News.

Greg Oden, a former Ohio State University basketball great and last year's No.1 draft pick in the NBA, said he was endorsing Obama.

"This will be my first presidential election to participate in as a voter, and I hope that you younger voters will get involved," Oden said, capturing media attention.

Meanwhile that day, sports agent-attorney Leigh Steinberg was putting the finishing touches on an imminent announcement of the formation of Athletes for Obama - including former Heisman Trophy winner Reggie Bush and NBA legend Charles Barkley.

It has taken four years, but the fierce conflict over gay marriage has finally shifted from its cradle at San Francisco City Hall to the California Supreme Court, just a few hundred yards away. Howard Mintz in the Daily News.

The state's high court on Tuesday will hear three hours of legal arguments in a series of cases that challenge California's ban on gay marriage and a 2000 voter-approved ballot initiative that defines marriage as a union between a man and woman.

The Supreme Court's intervention has been inevitable since February 2004, when San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom ignited a national furor by briefly giving same-sex couples the right to marry at City Hall. But now that the justices have the issue in their hands, the outcome is anything but predictable - and the stakes for all factions in the divisive social issue could not be higher.

The American Red Cross acknowledged that it lacks safeguards against paying for unused hotel rooms during natural disasters, a gap that may have cost it tens of thousands of dollars during Southern California's wildfires last year. AP iin the Daily News.

The acknowledgment Friday came a day after the charity disclosed that blocks of rooms booked to accommodate volunteers in San Diego County went empty.

"Our job was to be reviewing who we had in hotels every night and making sure the reservations matched who was coming and who was going," said Joe Becker, who oversees disaster services. "We had instances where we did not do that."

Advancing California's continuing war against smoking in public and private, a San Fernando Valley lawmaker is pushing a statewide measure that could prohibit renters from smoking inside their own homes.
Harrison Sheppard in the Daily News.
The bill by Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Van Nuys, would allow - although not require - landlords to ban smoking inside rental units as a means of protecting the health of other tenants who may live nearby.

"The goal here is to try to provide smoke-free housing for folks who live in multiunit buildings in California," Padilla said.

"More than 30 percent of California residential units are multifamily dwellings. So if you're a family hoping to live in a smoke-free environment, it's currently next to impossible to find a smoke-free unit."

Aiming to recoup an estimated $9 million a year spent sending firefighters to false alarms, one Los Angeles city leader and the city firefighters union are proposing fines for unneeded calls. Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.

The Los Angeles Police Department already charges property owners $115 or more for responding to a false burglary alarm.

But Councilwoman Wendy Greuel said she wants similar penalties implemented to deal with the roughly 30,000 false alarms the Los Angeles Fire Department responds to each year.

"It is illogical for the false-alarm billing policy to apply when the LAPD is called (but) not the LAFD," Greuel said.

Citing February's bloody toll in Los Angeles and across the nation, a city panel on Friday began looking at ways to regulate guns within city limits. Daiiy News.

Recognizing constitutional protections, Councilman Jack Weiss, chairman of the City Council's Public Safety Committee, said nevertheless something must be done to curtail gun violence.

"I recognize we are limited in what we can do, but we have to do something," Weiss said. "If we don't do anything, then the incident like we had at a bus stop this week is just another unfortunate tragedy."