Villaraigosa on the move ***

It was a busy weekend for Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.
First, he went to the start of the U.S. Conference of Mayors meeting in Providence, R.I., on Friday and Saturday, returning to L.A. on Sunday to take part in the gay pride parade in West Hollywood and then return to Providence to wrap up the U.S. Conference of Mayors meeting.
Villarigosa, as mayor of the nation's second largest city, is taking a more prominent role with the organization and was to be named a vice chair of the group.
While on the trip, the mayor also found himself faced with crossing a picket line for the second time in his career.
Firefighters in Providence are in a contract dispute and picketed the meeting and prompting Vice President Joe Biden and a number of other officials to cancel their appearances.
No comment from the mayor's office yet on his crossing of the picket line. Villaraigosa crossed picket lines two years ago during a demonstration by the Engineers and Architects Association in a contract dispute with the city.
***Aides to the mayor said the firefighters had a brief demonstration across the street from the meeting place and that he would not have cross any picket line.