May 2009 Archives

TIPOFFS -- Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa nears a decision on running for governor. He has been holding a series of meetings with supporters _ who generally have advised him to remain in L.A.
Also, Mattier and Ross in the San Francisco Chronicle say they hear he has decided against a run.
***The fake Twitter account for City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo already taken down.

Three years ago, Anthony Mejia transferred to the newly formed Panorama High School. At 16, he was almost two grade levels behind, chronically truant and completely disengaged from his studies. Connie Llanos in the Daily News.

It was Panorama High's first year and its location, in the heart of six competing gang territories, had already earned it the title of "Bloodbath High."

Now 19, Mejia is getting fitted for his cap and gown and scheduling classes at a local community college.

School's out for summer.Connie Llanos in the Daily News.

The Los Angeles Unified School District became the latest in a number of districts statewide to announce the cancellation of summer courses this year.

Officials announced Thursday that summer classes will be canceled for elementary and middle school campuses, and only a limited number of courses will be offered to high school students.

The move will affect more than 225,000 students and save the district about $34 million, officials said. It comes as the district seeks to close a budget gap of $130 million in the next six weeks.

Latinos now account for about one in five American children - up from one in 10 three decades ago - thanks largely to a huge influx of Mexican and Central American immigrants that began in 1980, a study released Thursday found. Tony Castro in the Daily News.

The American-born children of parents who arrived since the 1980s now make up a majority of Latino youngsters in the United States, according to the Pew Hispanic Center in Washington, D.C.

This second generation of American-born children of at least one Latino immigrant parent now constitute 52 percent of the nation's 16 million Hispanic children, the study found.

Psychology major Tara Martin felt a deep solitude amid the abandoned outdoor lunch tables, the deserted paseos, and the vacant lawn in front of the Oviatt Library. Susan Abram in the Daily News.

Squirrels, it seemed, outnumbered people at Cal State Northridge.

"It's dead," said Martin, 23. "I was talking to my fiance just now, telling him, 'I'm the only one here."'

Fire Chief Douglas Barry, who helped begin transforming the Los Angeles Fire Department when it was embroiled in controversy over racism and hazing, announced Thursday he plans to retire on Aug. 30.Daily News.

Barry, 55, the city's first African-American fire chief, said he decided to retire now because he believed he has accomplished many of his goals and it was time to allow someone new to come in.

"Let me stress, I am retiring," Barry said at a news conference in the Fire Commission hearing room. "There is no drama there. I understand there will be those who will assume that there is some form of controversy connected to my retirement. That is not the case."

City Attorney-elect Carmen Trutanich's transition team will be led by a former Los Angeles County district attorney and former speaker of the state Assembly, he announced Thursday.Daily News.

Robert Philibosian, who was the district attorney from 1981 to 1984, and Robert Hertzberg, who was speaker from 2000 to 2002 and ran for mayor of Los Angeles in 2005, are the co-chairs of the transition team. Jane Usher, who was a close advisor to former Mayor Tom Bradley and most recently served as president of the city Planning Commission, will serve as executive director of the team.

Home sales jumped 26 percent in the San Fernando Valley in April, and more evidence emerged that the months-long price decline may be abating, a trade association said Wednesday.Gregory J. Wilcox in the Daily News.

The median price of a previously owned Valley house increased from $345,900 in March to $355,000 in April - a 3 percent jump, said the Van Nuys-based Southland Regional Association of Realtors.

While the price was 24 percent below the $464,000 median reported a year earlier, it has remained in the mid- to upper $300,000s for six consecutive months and has increased for three months in a row.

The two lawyers who faced off in the historic legal fight that decided the 2000 presidential election on Wednesday announced they are partnering on a federal lawsuit to overturn California's ban on gay marriage.Tony Castro in the Daily News.

Theodore B. Olson and David Boies, who argued opposing sides of the landmark Bush v. Gore lawsuit before the U.S. Supreme Court, said Proposition 8 violates the equal protection and due process rights guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution.

The plaintiffs in the case include Paul Katami and Jeffrey Zarrillo of Burbank, who were denied a marriage license on May 20, according to the lawsuit.

If AIG was too big to fail, how about the world's eighth-largest economy? Associated Press in the Daily News.

In a move with only one modern-day precedent, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Democratic lawmakers are pressing the Obama administration and members of Congress for federal loan guarantees to help the state out of a desperate, multibillion-dollar jam.

City Council members unanimously approved a $7.01 billion budget on Wednesday but warned that spending could be cut if city unions fail to make concessions and if the state takes local money to fix its own financial mess.Daily News.

The budget calls for some 2,000 layoffs, scales back many city programs and essentially slices about 15 percent, on average, from every city department.

The vote-rich San Fernando Valley gave City Attorney-elect Carmen Trutanich his victory in his May 19 win over City Councilman Jack Weiss, an analysis of election results show. Daily News.

Trutanich's 55-45 percent citywide margin swelled to 58-42 percent in the 5th Council District, which extends from Sherman Oaks and Encino to West Los Angeles - and which Weiss represents.

The San Fernando Valley's housing market grew stronger in April as sales soared, foreclosures tumbled and prices continued to stabilize, a research center said Monday. Gregory J. Wilcox in the Daily News.

And, in a significant development, sales picked up in some higher priced neighborhoods where activity has stagnated for months, said the Valley Economic Research Center at California State University, Northridge.

"This is one of the better months in probably over a year and a half," said William Roberts, the center's directo

Gay rights advocates and supporters pledged a statewide cultural war Tuesday in additional to legal battles to overturn the California Supreme Court decision upholding the voter-approved ban on same-sex marriage.Tony Castro and Susan Abram in the Daily News.

A series of planned marches and protests Tuesday night across the state was the first sign of that campaign to repeal Proposition 8, which voters approved last November.

In West Hollywood, an estimated 15,000 people appeared at a rally and march, with political supporters including Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa who said he was confident voters will support another amendment reversing Prop. 8.

A nationally acclaimed alternative high school that works with second-chance teens will be given no second chance, administrators said Tuesday. Dana Barthololmew in the Daily News.

The West Valley Leadership Academy, nearly closed in June 2008 because of dwindling enrollment, will be shuttered next month by the Los Angeles County Office of Education.

The Canoga Park school has been hailed for its no-nonsense approach to turning around "the worst of the worst" - kids in gangs, kids on drugs, truant kids and kids who get kicked out of school.

A program to find housing for Los Angeles County's most vulnerable homeless could be expanded to help 500 people under a concept the Board of Supervisors tentatively approved Tuesday.Troy Anderson in the Daily News.

Supervisors said they wanted to know how much it will ultimately cost before giving final approval to expand what is currently called Project 50 - to find housing for 50 of the county's most vulnerable homeless.

The vote followed the release of a report in February finding that the program had successfully moved the 50th homeless person into a permanent home. The two-year pilot program was originally designed to help the 50 homeless people on Skid Row deemed the most likely to die if they remained on the streets.

Mayors of the state's largest cities made a broad appeal Tuesday to California officials not to take property tax money from local governments struggling to balance their budgets. Daiily News.

Organized by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, officials from San Diego, Sacramento and Santa Ana met with state Treasurer Bill Lockyer, Controller John Chiang and legislative leaders, offering to work with them to solve the state's $21 billion deficit without harming local government.

Former Assemblyman Paul Koretz claimed vicotory in his bid for the Los Angeles City Council late Tuesday over neighborhood council leader David Vahedi.
The Koretz campaign released a statement saying the latest update from the county Registrar's office giving him a 702 vote lead cannot be surpassed by Vahedi. There was some confusion over the number of votes left to be counted. Koretz estimated it at about 100 votes, while earlier projections had it at about 2,000
Vahedi has questioned another aspect of the election where some absentee ballots sent out failed to include the election. Koretz said it involved about 50 ballots and was corrected before election day on May 19.
"Although we have been told that there are still approximately 100 ballots left to count, we can now safely claim victory," the Koretz campaign said. "Once these ballots are counted, and the election is certified, we will update the website."
There was no immediate comment from the Vahedi campaign. The race was for the seat vacated by Councilman Jack Weiss, who ran for City Attorney.

After more than 30 years together, Brent Lok and Wade French have accumulated more than a few possessions, including a hilltop home, an impressive collection of Asian art and, alongside their diplomas, vacation photos and family portraits, a framed marriage license, dated June 17, 2008. New York Times in the Daily News.

Today, Lok and French will discover what that license means in the eyes of the law, as the California Supreme Court hands down its decision on Proposition 8, the voter initiative passed in November that outlawed same-sex marriage. Previously, in May 2008, the court legalized same-sex marriage, and since the election, several groups have sued, saying the proposition's revocation of that right was unconstitutional.

In addition to answering that legal question, however, the seven-member court is expected to address the legal status of some 18,000 same-sex couples who were married in California between June - when the legalization took effect - and Election Day in November.

For City Attorney-elect Carmen Trutanich, the reality of what he accomplished in Tuesday's election still has not sunk in. Daily News.

In between telephone calls at his Harbor City office, Trutanich said he is still trying to adjust to his new position as one of the city's three top elected officials and what it means for him, his family and the city.

"To be honest, I have not had a moment to think about it all," Trutanich said. "I've been getting all these calls and working to clean up my business here. I have a couple of cases to resolve, I have to dissolve my partnership. I have a lot to do and not much time."

As the Los Angeles Police Department enjoys a resurgence of its public approval, one of the key factors has been a sharp increase in the diversity of the force, to nearly match the texture of Los Angeles itself.Troy Anderson in the Daily News.

A Harvard University study released last week found a wide variety of factors playing a role in the "staggering scale of change" in the LAPD over the past decade. But one of the most visible changes according to the study's authors - and according to Police Chief William Bratton - was significantly increasing the diversity of the LAPD to match the city it's sworn to protect.

In 1990, according to the report, 45 percent of graduates from the Police Academy were white; 30 percent were Latino and 19 percent were black.

Tipoffs: Everyone has ideas on what other programs to cut.

Since Tuesday, when Californians shrugged off Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's warning of "fiscal Armageddon" and voted down a package of budget-balancing ballot measures, everybody has wondered what the worst part of Armageddon might be. Kevin Modesti in the Daily News.

Fire station closures? Prisoner releases? Education funding cuts? Health care funding cuts? Messy public parks?

The worst part of Armageddon so far seems to be the not knowing. At least that's the part most of us can agree about.

Despite making strong gains in the latest round of standardized tests, the Los Angeles Unified School District still sits near the bottom of California's urban school districts, according to state rankings released Thursday.Connie Llanos in the Daily News.

The springtime release of the state's base Academic Performance Index, or API, ranks schools based on their statewide test scores and how they perform compared to schools having similar demographics.

According to a district analysis of 10 large, urban districts in the state, only Oakland Unified School District ranked below LAUSD.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said Thursday that he and lawmakers will try to quickly solve the state's $21.3 billion deficit without taxes, gimmicks or much borrowing. AP in the Daily News.

The Republican governor told reporters after a prayer breakfast in the capital that voters sent state leaders a clear message during Tuesday's special election: Live within your means.

Schwarzenegger said he took that as a sign voters want more cuts to state programs. He also has proposed selling state assets such as San Quentin State Prison, the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum and CalExpo, the state fairgrounds in Sacramento

Los Angeles County had the worst overall beach water quality last year in California, according to the 19th annual "Beach Report Card" released today by an environmental group. Daily News.

Only 70 percent of beach sites in the county earned A or B grades -- a state-low total for the fourth year and nearly even with last year's 71 percent tally, according to Heal the Bay.

Public fed up

Low voter turnout and the rejection of five state propositions that would have helped reduce the state's multibillion-dollar deficit show the public is fed up with the way government handles its business, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said today. Daily News

In Los Angeles County, 17.39 percent of the 4.33 million eligible voters participated in the election, which cost $28 million. The voters who did show up at the polls soundly defeated Propositions 1A through 1E, which Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger had touted as critical to prevent the state's budget gap from growing even larger.

Local governments scramble

Los Angeles city, county and school officials Wednesday began bracing for - and plotting to fight - yet another round of budget cuts after California voters rejected a package of budget-reform ballot measures in Tuesday's election.Daily News.

Anticipating the state will take money due local governments, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa announced plans for a Sacramento lobbying trip next week to try to head off some of the expected losses.

Trutanich savors win

Winning by a landslide, City Attorney-elect Carmen Trutanich on Wednesday said he was still in a state of disbelief about his victory over Councilman Jack Weiss. Daily News.

"It gives me chills," he said. "I looked at this like an athletic contest: You go on the field and lay it all on the line and that's what I did. I gave it my all."

In a stunning rebuke of an incumbent councilman, attorney Carmen Trutanich was easily elected to be the next Los Angeles City Attorney.
Trutanich defeated Councilman Jack Weiss by a wide margin in one of the most bitter and hard-fought campaigns in recent memory.
``Listen, we took on and we knew that we were taking on the most
powerful political machine in the nation,' Trutanich said.
"You have to remember that (Weiss') campaign manager was the Speaker of the Assembly and the mayor of this fine city. And we knew that we would have a fight on our hands. But you know what, those of you who didn't know me, know me now. I'm not afraid to fight. I'm
going to fight for this city if the voters will have me in this office,''
In the City Council race to succeed Weiss, former Assemblyman Paul Koretz had a small lead over Neighborhood Council leader David Vahedi.
Only 335 votes separated the two and it was unclear how many ballots remain to be counted.

City Councilman Dennis Zine has been a long and vocal supporter of Trutanich and he let everyone know it tonight at Trutanich's campaign party.
But what people did not know is that Council members
Janice Hahn and Bernard Parks also voted for Trutanich. Parks did not offer an explanation for his vote, but Hahn said she did it partly because Trutanich was from San Pedro.
"Also, I have watched Jack Weiss and he has a different view of public service than the Hahns do," the councilwoman said. "Sometimes he shows a disdain for his constituents and his colleagues."
Hahn was not public about her support of Trutanich during the campaign, acknowledging there was pressure on her to remain out of the race.
Not so for Zine.
"I never had any pressure," Zine said. "I worked alongside Jack Weiss for eight years. Jack Weiss doesn't know how to work with people.
-- Courtesy of NBC News Raw

Trutanich greeted supporters at the Sheraton Universal Hotel shortly after 9 p.m., saying the early returns looked good, but that more time was needed for the returns to come in.
Trutanich was joined by District Attorney Steve Cooley, who convinced him to run, and took heart in the earthquake of this afternoon.
"Maybe it's a sign that we will be shaking things up," Trutanich said.

Private attorney Carmen Trutanich took a narrow early lead over Councilman Jack Weiss in the race for City Attorney as former Assemblyman Paul Koretz moved ahead against political novice David Vahedi for the 5th City Council District seat in absentee returns.

Los Angeles' voters will go to the polls today to decide a package of six state budget-related initiatives, along with a slate of local elections that includes a hotly contested race for city attorney.

Despite the long-ranging implications of the election, just 25 percent to 30 percent of registered voters are expected to go the polls.

Even absentee ballots indicate a lack of voter interest in the election. Los Angeles' 4 million voters requested 755,263 absentee ballots but, as of May12, had returned just 195,479.

With Propositions 1A through 1F, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is facing what experts say are long odds in his effort to balance the state budget and reform the budget process during the worst recession in decades.

The final act has begun in the Screen Actors Guild's 13-month struggle to ratify a new contract.
Bob Strauss in the Daily News.
Ballots will be mailed today to some 120,000 voters, seeking a thumbs-up or thumbs-down on the two-year offer from the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers.

"I'm very, very glad that the members are finally going to get a chance to weigh in on this deal," said Ned Vaughn, a leader of SAG's moderate Unite for Strength faction, which wrested control of the union's national board from the harder-line Membership First supporters late last year.

After facing its darkest days following the Rodney King beating and Rampart police scandal in the 1990s, the Los Angeles Police Department has significantly redeemed itself in the eyes of the public, according to a Harvard University study released Monday. Troy Anderson in the Daily News.

A full 83 percent of city residents say the LAPD is doing a good or excellent job - up from 71 percent two years ago, the study said. The percentage of people saying the department was doing an excellent job doubled in the period, the study found.

Survey results showed the public now sees a kinder, gentler and more effective LAPD - although only half of residents thought the department treated all races fairly "almost all" or "most of the time." The study found that the quality and quantity of law enforcement has improved since 2002 even as police used less serious force each year since 2004.

After 13 hours of debate, the City Council approved a budget deal late Monday that calls for 1,200 layoffs, 26 furlough days for city employees and a police hiring plan that could delay Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's goal of adding 1,000 LAPD officers by the end of this year. Daily News.

The unanimous vote followed a marathon session of contentious talks, much of it focused on a compromise deal on police hiring.

The deal restricts the hiring of new police officers to those who replace officers who retire or quit. Any additional officers - such as those needed to get to the 1,000 new officers the mayor promised to hire - would have to come from federal stimulus money

In his other life, he's known as Ensign Lt. Eric Garcetti. But, as City Council President Eric Garcetti, he cut short some of his annual Naval Reserve training on Monday to return to City Hall to work on the city's proposed $7.01 billion budget.
Garcetti has been working he phones for the past week trying to work out a compromise on the spending plan among his council colleagues and Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.
The budget hearings began shortly after 10 a.m. with union leaders from the police, fire, librarian and other unions complaining about the spending plan as it is now crafted.

Former Mayor Richard Riordan announced he is endorsing 5th District City Council candidate David Vahedi in Tuesday's election over former Assemblyman Paul Koretz.
Vahedi is an accountant, former State auditor, attorney, mediator and community organizer running on a platform of challenging the downtown power brokers and bringing change to Los Angeles.
In making his endorsement, Riordan stated:
"I know what it takes to change the way decisions are made at City Hall and I believe that change is necessary. That's why I am supporting David Vahedi for City Council. He has what it takes to make a difference; he has earned my trust, my respect, and my support."

Hollywood has been crowing all year that one of the few bright spots in the recession can be found in darkened movie theaters.Bob Strauss in the Daily News.

It's hard to argue with the raw box office numbers: As of last week, North American grosses were $3.42billion, nearly 16 percent ahead of what they were during the comparable period in 2008. And three weekends into the crucial summer moviegoing season - the May-through- August frame when 40 percent of the year's tickets are sold - the profit picture looks somewhat dimmer than we've been led to believe. The lead in box office ticket sales, for example, may peak very soon.

Armed with a pencil that she wields with ruthless precision, Alfreda Theus scrutinizes thousands of Los Angeles Unified School District employee record files. Connie Llanos in the Daily News.

The lists of hire, promotion and job change dates tell the story of every LAUSD employee - and Theus is tasked with being the stern editor.

As the district weighs thousands of layoffs, it is her job ultimately to decide, among some 40,000 non-teacher employees, who keeps their job, who goes and who can be offered a demotion and salary cut to stay employed.

Tipoffs: Cities declaring fiscal emergency as a statement of problems.

The pooches can cost up to $750. Only they're not breeder dogs but pound hounds rescued for $40 or less from city animal shelters.Dana Bartholomew in the Daily News.

Los Angeles officials have accused private rescuers of cherry-picking their finest Fidos at cut-rate fees, then selling them for profit.

From one of the city's most politically active and influential districts, voters on Tuesday will be asked to select their next City Council member and possibly the next city attorney.Daily News.

For Councilman Jack Weiss, who has represented the 5th Council District spanning the south San Fernando Valley and West Los Angeles, voter turnout in his district could well decide if he becomes the next Los Angeles city attorney.

Chrysler LLC notified nearly 25 percent of its dealers on Thursday that they would be closing by early next month, but Southern California took a relatively light hit. Gregory J. Wilcox in the Daily News.

Of the 789 dealerships nationwide that received closure notices from the bankrupt automaker, just three are in the San Fernando Valley - Big Valley Dodge in Van Nuys, Star Chrysler Jeep in Glendale, and Murphy and Shelby Dodge Inc. in San Fernando. A dealer in Ventura and another in Carson also were told they would be closed by June 9.

Although its name appears on the list of closures filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Murphy and Shelby has already gone out of business.

Governor releases plan to lay off thousands

- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Thursday called for laying off thousands of state employees and slashing billions from education to deal with California's latest budget deficit. AP in the Daily News.

The governor also wants to sell state property, including the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum and Ventura County Fairgrounds, to raise $600 million to $1 billion over the next two to five years. He said the state could save millions of dollars by eliminating or consolidating certain boards and departments.

Mayor goes on offensive
In a rare showdown pitting Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa against the City Council, the dispute over expanding the LAPD escalated Thursday as the mayor blasted a Westside councilman who switched positions to oppose his budget.Daily News

Flanked by police officers, firefighters and business leaders at a news conference, the mayor criticized Councilman Bill Rosendahl, who'd previously promised to support an expansion of the Los Angeles Police Department. On Wednesday, however, Rosendahl was one of three budget committee members to vote against the mayor's proposed $7 billion budget, which includes money to continue hiring officers.

Los Angeles Magazine brands Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa as a failure in iits next edition _ saying it was disappointed after so much promise where they once declared him the "Pop Star Mayor." Details at L.a. Observed.
Villaraigosa was asked about it at a news conference this morning.
He smiled, shuffled on his feet and said: "It's a nice smile. A few pounds lighter."
And then took the next question at news conference re. budget.

Los Angeles teachers will refrain from a one-day strike Friday, union officials announced today, but are planning to picket before school and engage in civil disobedience and a downtown march after school. Connie Llanos in the Daily News.

Union officials also said they are planning a recall campaign against district board members who are allowing budget cuts and class size increases to happen. They did not specify which members they would target or when the effort would begin.

United Teachers Los Angeles was forced to cancel its member-approved one-day strike after a Los Angeles judge Tuesday approved a temporary restraining order against the action.

Facing the worst financial crisis in the city's history, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa made a new plea on Wednesday for city unions to return to the bargaining table or face the prospects of thousands of layoffs, along with unpaid furloughs for all civilian workers. Daily News.

At the same time, the City Council's top analyst recommended a freeze on the mayor's priority of hiring more police officers and said the city's situation could grow even worse next week if voters turn down a series of ballot propositions designed to balance the state budget.

"I do not want to do this," Villaraigosa said during a City Hall news conference where he sought to explain his call for a fiscal emergency by the city, clearing the way for officials to order layoffs and furloughs.

With health care costs rising across the nation, the Los Angeles City Council moved on Wednesday to increase the living wage rate paid to airport workers to allow them to get health insurance. Daily News.

At the urging of Councilwoman Janice Hahn, who has taken the lead on the issue over the past year, the council instructed the City Attorney's Office to draft a measure amending the living wage ordinance to increase payments to workers by $2 or $3 an hour.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Monday said California faces a $15.4 billion budget deficit in the coming fiscal year, nearly double the previous estimate. AP n the Daily News.

He warned the shortfall will grow to $21.3 billion if votes reject the five budget-related measures on the May 19 special election ballot.

The governor outlined the state's dire fiscal condition in a letter to legislative leaders, a week before voters go to the polls. He also said he would release his annual May budget revision on Thursday, after previously saying he would do so after the special election.

A Los Angeles judge granted a restraining order Tuesday forbidding Los Angeles Unified teachers from staging a one-day walkout Friday, marking a victory for district officials who fought the planned job action. Connie Llanos in the Daily News.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge James Chalfont said he based his decision on the health and safety of the students.

Fiscal emergency sought for city
Warning that Los Angeles could run out of cash this winter, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa asked the City Council on Tuesday to declare a state of fiscal emergency, which would allow the city to impose furloughs and layoffs on its 40,000-member work force without union consent. Daily News.

The move, believed to be unprecedented in the city's history, comes as Los Angeles struggles to close a $530 million deficit in the mayor's proposed $7 billion budget. The gap could grow to $1 billion next year.

Port traffic to decline
International trade - once the driver of Southern California's economy, is in for a grim year, with traffic through Los Angeles ports expected to plunge 13.5 percent from 2008, according to a forecast released today. Gregory J. Wilcox in the Daily News.

But the downturn is predicted to be short-lived, with trade activity rebounding slightly in 2010, said the forecast from the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp.

CSUN students face hikes
CSUN stuMany California State University students at Northridge and elsewhere will pay 10 percent more for tuition this fall if university officials approve suggested fee hikes today. Sue Doyle
in the Daily News.

Aimed at generating $127 million in new revenue, the fee hikes would raise full-time undergraduate tuition by $306 to $3,354. Full-time graduate students would pay $378 more, taking their total fees to $4,134. dents face hikes

Just in time for next Tuesday's election, Sen. Dianne Feinstein released a statemetn in support of two of the propositions before voters.
"I will reluctantly vote for 1A and 1B because I do not see any way to prevent a greater financial disaster for the state of California," Feinstein said in a statement.
"Voters are confronted with these bad choices because we don't have a budgeting system that works effectively and efficiently in times of budget crisis. Ultimately, I believe major reform is necessary in order to put California back on track."
While Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger would have liked Feinstein to back all the measures on the ballot, 1-A and 1-B are the principal ones he wants to see approved.
Feinstein's full statement:
"The propositions on the May 19th ballot represent a Hobson's choice for California voters. On Monday, Governor Schwarzenegger said that California's budget deficit had ballooned to $15.4 billion - and that if these ballot propositions fail, it would swell to $21.3 billion.
I will reluctantly vote for 1A and 1B because I do not see any way to prevent a greater financial disaster for the State of California. I will vote against Proposition 1C because I do not believe that taking money from future lottery proceeds to reconcile existing debt is advisable in public finance.
Propositions 1D and 1E, which would enable money to be taken from special funds and put into the General Fund, are indicative of a real problem facing the state. That problem is this: With money being locked up or reserved for special purposes, the state does not have any flexibility when there is a major revenue loss like the one that has just taken place.
Voters are confronted with these bad choices because we don't have a budgeting system that works effectively and efficiently in times of budget crisis. Ultimately, I believe that major reform is necessary in order to put California back on track. "

Kicking off the last week of campaigning in what officials acknowledge is an uphill campaign, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and Sheriff Lee Baca joined firefighters, carpenters and other union members in support of the Proposition 1-A-F on next Tuesday's ballot.
"California has a financial flu," Baca said at a City Hall news conference. "We all have to join together to help restore it."
The measures are part of a deal that was worked out earlier this year to pass this year's state budget and deal with the more than $40 billion shortfall facing the state.
Villaraigosa said the measures will allow the state to continue its funding on everything from firefighting to schools and he recognized the difficulties faced by people.
"But now is the wrong time to take it out on the state," Villaraigosa said. "We don't have a lot of options. The fact of the matter is, if these don't pass, the state will have to make cuts like we've never seen."

A bitterly contested proposal to create apartments for sober-living homeless veterans at the Sepulveda VA complex in North Hills appears dead on arrival. Dana Bartholomew in the Daily News.

Citing a lack of jurisdiction, a Los Angeles zoning administrator declined to issue a variance to develop 147 privately managed apartments targeted for chemically dependent and disabled homeless veterans on public Veterans Affairs property.

"The city has no jurisdiction over federally owned property," Associate Zoning Administrator Linn K. Wyatt wrote in a 22-page ruling issued Friday, "and therefore issuance of the variance grant would not be legally binding."

After riling the dozens of neighborhood councils with a plan to slash their budgets by nearly 80 pecent, the City Council will hear new proposals today on ways to balance Los Angeles' $7 billion budget without drastically cutting the groups' annual stipends.Daily News.

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said Monday he stands behind his original proposal to reduce each neighborhood council's annual budget from $50,000 to $45,000 - and objected to a plan to slash the allocation to $11,200.

"My proposal was to cut these neighborhood council budgets by the same 10 percent that we cut every other (department) budget," Villaraigosa said. "I don't support any further cuts."

A Luger pistol valued at $10,000, sawed-off shotguns, derringers, rifles and even a grenade launcher were among the 1,696 firearms turned in across the city on Saturday in a gun buyback program aimed at making the streets safer.Daily News.

While the greater-than-expected take pleased officials, it upset some gun owners who say they were turned away because of high turnout. Owners were given Ralphs and Visa gift vouchers valued at $100 in exchange for their firearms, but many locations ran out.

City Council President Eric Garcetti was called up last week for his annual Naval Reserve duty.
His office said he recieved his orders lasat week and left for duty on Sunday.
He is expected to be out all of this week and has remained in contact with his office.
Due to security reasons, they were not allowed to say where he was sent.

In neighborhood coffee shops, on the playground after school and at Little League games, parents of public school children are plotting.Connie Llanos in the
Daily News.

Tired of the tug of war between Los Angeles Unified school officials and unions over limited state and federal money, mothers and fathers are banding together to get their message out:

"What we want is for unions, school districts and state government to put the politics aside, forget their special interests ... sit down and make a real plan," said Elisa Taub, a San Fernando Valley mother of two and a parent organizer.

Tipoffs: Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas tweets, while Don Knabe is on YouTube.

When he was an 18-year-old senior at Hamilton High School and preparing for UCLA, Paul Koretz ran a quixotic campaign for a seat on the Los Angeles school board. Daily News.

"I had about $8,000 and received about 5,000 votes," Koretz recalled in an interview last week.

That was 34 years ago and it led to a lifetime in and around politics. Having helped create the city of West Hollywood and served as a state assemblyman, Koretz now heads into the May 19 runoff election for a seat on the Los Angeles City Council in a district running from Sherman Oaks to West Los Angeles.

A Los Angeles citywide gun buyback program Saturday collected about 1,700 firearms from owners who'd been promised anonymity, "no questions asked" and $100 gift cards. Kevin Modesti in the Daily News.

But the program ended up being perhaps too popular for its own good, as organizers ran out of gift cards that provided the incentive and dozens of people, if not hundreds, then turned around and drove off without submitting their weapons.

LAPD and other officials hailed the city's first such anonymous program as an unexpected success while acknowledging many more people might have turned in handguns and rifles if organizers hadn't run out of the Ralphs and Visa gift cards.

The mortgage meltdown that spread into a global economic crisis started in the Valley's own backyard, according to a new analysis from the Center for Public Integrity. Gregory J. Wilcox in the Daily News.

Countrywide Financial Corp., formerly headquartered at 4500 Park Granada in Calabasas, topped the center's list of 25 lenders responsible for extending subprime mortgages to homeowners who might not otherwise have qualified for a mortgage.

Those lenders accounted for nearly $998 billion of the $1.4 trillion in subprime mortgages made from 2005 to 2007, according to the report, "Who's Behind the Financial Meltdown," released earlier this week.

With weekend gridlock building on the 405 Freeway behind them, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and other officials broke ground Friday on the widening of the Sepulveda Pass -- which they hailed as the nation's largest highway project using federal stimulus money. Tony Castro in the Daily News.

The $1 billion project will create an estimated 18,000 jobs, Schwarzenegger said, helping ease the nation's economic crisis, which has sent unemployment above 10 percent in California.

Police Chief Bill Bratton renewed his endorsement of Councilman Jack Weiss for city attorney on Friday, but said he expected he would be able to work equally well if Carmen Trutanich wins out in the May 19 election. Daily News.

"I am known for building consensus," Bratton said at a news conference on the steps of City Hall. "It is important that we all work together - the district attorney, the U.S. attorney, the city attorney. I have differences with them from time to time, but we all work together."

This is getting to be a habit.
Last week, it was an appearance before AIPAC.
This weekend, it is the White House Correspondants Association Annual Dinner on Saturday night, for Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.

In spite of Los Angeles having record high unemployment, the city leads the nation's big cities in the drop of homicides, LAPD Chief William Bratton announced today.Tony Castron and Jason Kandel in the Daily News.

L.A. had a nearly 31 percent drop in homicides, Bratton said. That exceeded New York's nearly 20 percent drop; Chicago's nearly 16 percent drop; Philadelphia's nearly 11 percent drop; and far exceeded Las Vegas jump of nearly 50 percent.

Violent crime in the San Fernando Valley dropped over 7 percent, police said. There were more than a thousand fewer crimes in the first four months this year compared to the same period last year, said LAPD Deputy Chief Michel Moore, the Valley's top cop.

The Los Angeles Unified school board floated an admittedly creative plan to avoid thousands of layoffs: They invited union officials to scour district books for savings on the condition unions match the amount dollar for dollar with furloughs, pay cuts and other concessions. George B. Sanchez in the Daily News.

While the unusual plan requires a nod from Washington and needs union support, board members say they are willing to consider such ideas to save some of the estimated 5,000 jobs on the chopping block.

"The board believes there is a solution to save jobs that will require creativity, a willingness to come together at the table with all our partners, and a sacrifice from all district employees..." said the resolution authored by board President M nica Garc a and members Yolie Flores Aguilar and Richard Vladovic. The Los Angeles Unified school board on Tuesday floated an admittedly creative plan to avoid thousands of layoffs: They invited union officials to scour district books for savings on the condition unions match the amount dollar for dollar with furloughs, pay cuts and other concessions.

Looking to erase a $530 million budget shortfall, a City Council panel sparked a firestorm of protest this week with a proposal to slash the annual stipend given each neighborhood council from $50,000 to as little as $11,200.Daily News.

The proposal is one of several scheduled for debate next Tuesday as the Budget and Finance Committee tries to balance tLooking to erase a $530 million budget shortfall, a City Council panel sparked a firestorm of protest this week with a proposal to slash the annual stipend given each neighborhood council from $50,000 to as little as $11,200.

The proposal is one of several scheduled for debate next Tuesday as the Budget and Finance Committee tries to balance the $7 billion proposed by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.

Two members of the city's Fire and Police Pension Commission resigned Thursday as the panel voted to sever its relationship with a Dallas-based firm accused of fraud by the SEC. Daily News.

The board that oversees the $10.7 billion pension fund for 13,199 pensioners voted 7-0 to terminate its $1 million-a-year contract with Aldus Equity Partners. The money-management company is at the center of a complex federal investigation into kickbacks involving the New York state pension fund.

The San Fernando Valley's economy has pulled out of recession but is now in a holding pattern that could continue the rest of the year, the head of CSUN's economic, research center said Wednesday. Gregory J. Wilcox in the Daily News.

Speaking to about 400 local business leaders during the fourth annual Valley Economic Summit sponsored by the Valley Economic Alliance, economist William Roberts said the region's economy is no longer being pulled down by the weight of the real-estate crisis.

"The housing market is no longer the driver of our economic condition. The wind is out of that sail," said Roberts, who is director of the San Fernando Valley

Los Angeles Unified School District officials will launch the second phase of a district accountability program on Friday, seeking parents' comments about the schools their children attend. George B. Sanchez in teh Daily News.

Approximately 350,000 surveys will be mailed out on Friday, with parents asked to send in the questionnaire by June 22. Once they're compiled and analyzed, responses will be added to campus "report cards" that are meant to provide a snapshot of student performance at individual schools.

"We want everyone to feel a sense of ownership with these report cards, so it's not just a decision made downtown," said Samuel Gilstrap, an administrative analyst for the Los Angeles Unified School District.

About two dozen parents heard about the plan Wednesday during a meeting at Local District 2 headquarters in North Hollywood.

Coming to grips with the reality of Los Angeles' economic plight, the City Council reluctantly took the first steps Tuesday toward laying off up to 400 workers next fiscal year. Daily Breeze

The 9-2 vote, with Councilmen Richard Alarcon and Dennis Zine dissenting, came after more than an hour of debate over whether the city had made enough other cuts to save workers' jobs, and after union members voiced their own concerns.

Trying to prevent a one-day teachers strike scheduled this month, the Los Angeles Unified board decided Tuesday to seek an injunction against the teachers union alleging unfair labor practice.
George B. Sanchez in the Daily News.
District officials argued that the work stoppage scheduled for May 15 would violate the contract which was tentatively agreed to earlier this year.

"Teachers have a contractual obligation to be in our classrooms instructing students every day," said Superintendent Ramon Cortines in a written statement.

Residents who returned Monday to the 101 surviving homes at Oakridge Mobile Home Estates knew just how many days they've been away from their own beds: 170. Dana Bartholomew in the Daily News.

That's nearly six months sleeping on hard motel mattresses, skinny fifth-wheel berths and thin hide-a-bed couches.

"Sleeping on a hide-a-bed with my feet over the end, my arms hanging off ... every minute spent on that hide-a-bed couch is really too long," said Pete Brown, 56, a 6-foot-4 actor who's been staying with a brother in Sherman Oaks. "I just want to get home."

For 50 years, Jacobi Building Materials has sold tons of stone, stacks of brick and 60 varieties of landscaping pebbles to contractors and do-it-yourselfers. Sue Doyle in the Daily News.

But plans for a four-mile extension of the Orange Line busway to Chatsworth could shave a 24-foot-wide strip off the Jacobi lot at Vanowen Street and Canoga Avenue.

Aside from eliminating the land where Jacobi stores its heavy inventory, the $225 million busway will also force about 60 businesses - used-car lots, landscaping companies and metal supply stores - to relocate from the land they lease from the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

A week after the Los Angeles Unified board brushed off a plan to seek changes in state law making it easier to fire bad teachers, a board member is planning to revive the proposal.George B. Sanchz in the Daily News.

School board member Marlene Canter, who last week joined other board members to support an alternative to her own proposal, now says she thinks there may be an opportunity to try again.

"I'm bringing it back because now there's more public awareness," Canter said.

The Los Angeles County Claims Board recommended Monday the county pay $1.8 million to settle three lawsuits alleging poor medical care and false imprisonment in county jails.Troy Anderson in the Daily News.

The board recommended a $900,000 settlement for Franklin G. Silva, who alleged that negligent medical care he received in jail resulted in the amputation of his right foot, Senior Deputy County Counsel Narbeh Bagdasarian wrote in board documents.

After Silva was jailed in March 2005, Bagdasarian wrote, the culture of a lesion on his foot indicated an infection. Although Silva was transferred to the hospital, the infection spread and his foot had to be amputated.

The board also recommended a $395,000 settlement for the family of Michael Buford, who died while in custudy in 2005.

Recalling the life lessons learned from their first jobs, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa on Monday helped kick off the city's summer youth jobs program, which will get a boost this year from $20 million in federal stimulus money.Daily News.

Officials hope the program will find jobs for 16,500 residents ages 14 to 24, up from 15,000 last summer and 5,000 hired in 2005, the year Villaraigosa took office.

Cal State Northridge's acclaimed public radio station, KCSN-FM 88.5, continues to receive recognition for excellence in news reporting with two new Edward R. Murrow Awards.

The regional awards-best newscast and hard news feature-were given to the station and its staff by the Radio and Television News Directors Association for work done during 2008. Counting the most recent honors, the number of Edward R. Murrow regional awards won to date by KCSN's news department-which consists of one staff member, news director Keith Goldstein, and a team of journalism students-totals 29.........

As the 2010 field for governor takes shape, the top Republican contenders are a pair of successful former Silicon Valley businesspeople, each armed for the campaign with a self-made fortune. S.F. Chronicle

Both Meg Whitman, who scored big at eBay, and Steve Poizner, who made his pile as a high-tech innovator, begin the race with the wherewithal to spend whatever it takes to win. If past is prologue, however, Whitman and Poizner will both end up political losers.

As education in Los Angeles is slashed to the bone, even those who are long past their school days are feeling the pain. Tony Castro in the Daily News.

Senior citizens are fighting budget cuts proposed by the Los Angeles Unified School District that could gut adult-education programs that help keep them connected to the outside world.

But the fight could be in vain, according to district officials, who say that programs for seniors - especially those living in residential facilities - sit near the bottom of the district's list of priorities.

It is the type of race both candidates say they wish they could have avoided - hard-hitting, negative, personal. Daily News.

Yet that is exactly what the campaign between city attorney candidates City Councilman Jack Weiss and attorney Carmen Trutanich has become.

As the runoff campaign hits its closing weeks before the May 19 vote, the two have ratcheted up the rhetoric. Weiss has attacked Trutanich for allegedly representing gun owners and polluters in his law practice and Trutanich has argued the Los Angeles councilman is unpopular in his own district and has acted unethically at times.

Tipoffs: Tales of woe in city budget talks.

"Israel will always have a friend in the city of the angels," said Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa as he kicked off the annual AIPAC policy conference Sunday morning. (UPDATE: Check out the video.) Capital J.

Villaraigosa said Israel's struggle in the Middle East echoes his own Hispanic community's "struggle for civil rights" and said that when it comes to the Jewish state, "my roots run deep" -- recounting visiting his Jewish neighbors while growing up in East Los Angeles.

The mayor also said he would work to ensure that cities and counties across the country steer clear of investing with companies which do business with Iran. Los Angeles was the first city in the country to pass a Iran divestment measure in 2007.

As education in Los Angeles is slashed to the bone, even those who are long past their school days are feeling the pain. Tony Castro in the Daily News.

Senior citizens are fighting budget cuts proposed by the Los Angeles Unified School District that could gut adult-education programs that help keep them connected to the outside world.

But the fight could be in vain, according to district officials, who say that programs for seniors - especially those living in residential facilities - sit near the bottom of the district's list of priorities.

The district's adult-education system faces a cut of at least a third of its operating budget - a $53 million loss overall - with at least one of the eight adult schools in the San Fernando Valley shutting its doors.

A citywide opera festival touted as the most significant cultural event in Los Angeles since the 1984 Olympics has sparked protests by Jewish leaders because of plans to showcase the works of German composer Richard Wagner, whose anti-Semitic writings inspired Adolf Hitler. Troy Anderson in the Daily News.

The $32 million Ring Festival LA, planned to last from April 15 through June 30, 2010, is expected to draw thousands of cultural tourists for a variety of exhibitions, performances, symposiums and special events.

The centerpiece will be Wagner's epic four-opera cycle "Der Ring des Nibelungen," a performance organizers say will be a "defining moment" for the city but critics say will reopen wounds of those who survived the Holocaust.

- Betty Glassman steered slowly through the empty streets of the Oakridge Mobile Home Park on Saturday, past the concrete and brick scraps of nearly 500 lost homes, and parked next to one of 101 luckier structures. Kevin Modesti in the Daily News.

She got out of her silver Eldorado saying she felt a bit wobbly.

"I started getting teary driving in here," Glassman said. "It's been two months since I've been here. I wondered if we'd make it back."

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is spending Saturday in San Pedro as part of the Big Sunday clean up event across the city.
And, then, as become his wont, heads to Washington, D.C,m to speak before the American Israel Public Affairs Committee National Policy Committee, returning to Los Angeles on Monday to launch the city's summer youth employement program.

In a world of political neophytes, Bob Blumenfield exudes political competence. As a former staffer for Rep. Howard Berman, D-Los Angeles, and as the former right hand for Joe Edmiston, one of the state's savviest bureaucrats, Blumenfield has an insider's knowledge of how to pull the levers of political power. Capitol Weekly.
While Blumenfield has become a shining light among the Assembly's freshman class, there is a reassuring amount of perspective that is uncommon among so many politicians. Blumenfield is clearly ambitious, but in talking to the 41-year-old father of two (including a two-month old daughter), there is an inner calm about him that indicates that while he loves his work, he doesn't need public office the way many elected officials do.

With the economy and state budget in turmoil, California voters are more frustrated than ever with state lawmakers and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, according to a Field Poll released today. Sacramento Bee.

Only 14 percent of registered voters approve of the Legislature's performance, compared with 74 percent who disapprove of the Democratic-led institution. That is the lowest mark for the California Legislature in the Field Poll's 27-year history of tracking its job performance rating.

Dragged down by the recession, population growth in California and Los Angeles has slowed to historically low levels that even the state's still-healthy birth rate cannot overcome, according to data released Thursday.Tony Castro in the Daily News.

The state's population grew by only 1.1 percent last year to reach 38.3 million, according to the California Department of Finance. By contrast, a decade ago annual growth of 2 percent or more was common.

Los Angeles also grew by about 1.1 percent, to reach an estimated population of 4,065,585 last year.

Los Angeles County grew by 0.9 percent for a total population of 10,393,185 -- representing just over a quarter of the state's overall population.

When Abraham Oved texted a female classmate for help with his math homework in March, the reply was startling: Someone had attempted to rape her while she sat by her locker waiting to be picked up by her parents.George B. Sanchez in the Daily News.

A few days later, the Sherman Oaks Center for Enriched Studies high school student wrote a letter to Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.

"I am contacting you, because as a concerned friend of the victim, leadership student, and Los Angeles citizen, I feel it is your authority, undeniable passion for Los Angeles, and kindness to everyone, that will help my school recuperate from the shocking attack," wrote the 16-year-old sophomore. "This crime should not be tolerated by anyone, and I, personally, am trying to make sure of that."

The Fifth District City Council candidates debated Thursday night who would be more responsive to constituents, with Paul Koretz telling how he stayed in touch before as an elected official and David Vahedi portraying himself as a grass-roots leader. Kevin Modesti in the Daily News.

Koretz, a former West Hollywood mayor and city councilman and state assemblyman, said he had a listed home phone number when he was in office and will continue to do so if he becomes a Los Angeles councilman.