November 2009 Archives

Tipoffs: Speaker Bass trying to force orderly transition.

With less than two weeks remaining, the 2nd City Council District election has turned into a contest of who is the outsider. Daily News.

In mailings, in robo-calls, in attacks on one another, businesswoman Chris Essel and Assemblyman Paul Krekorian, D-Burbank, have sought to portray each other as the "insider" who cannot be trusted.

To Krekorian, Essel is the "downtown special interest" candidate who has received endorsements from a number of City Council members, city employee unions and Controller Wendy Greuel, who was the council member of the district until her election last March.

Colfax Meadows could be considered ground zero in the debate over the future of the entertainment industry in Los Angeles.Daily News.

Residents in the 40-by-40 square-block area complain they have become the backlot for the industry -- with seemingly perpetual filming in their neighborhood causing nuisances like noise and traffic.

"For the longest time, I could not recall seeing a shoot here. Now, it seems like it's a constant thing," said Stu Miller, who has lived in the Colfax Meadows area for 37 years.

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa today begins a four-day trip to Mexico, where he will lead a delegation of artists to the 2009 Guadalajara International Book Fair. Daily News.

Thanks to a $2.1 million grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, more than 450 local authors, artists and filmmakers will display their work and perform at the festival, which runs for more than a week.

Villargaigosa will be the guest of honor at the festival.

After Los Angeles police Capt. Kirk J. Albanese assumed command of Foothill Division six years ago, a Latino family called 911 to report a burglary. Dana Bartholomew in the Daily News.

The next day, 12 gang members in white T-shirts banged on their door warning them never to speak to police again. That same week, the gang terrorized a security guard at the San Fernando Valley's only housing project.

So the new area captain pounced. Albanese dispatched four cops into San Fernando Gardens in Pacoima - 24/7. And ordered them out of their black-and-whites.

"I said, `You park your car at the community center and you get in it when you go home.' They walked a foot beat 24 hours a day," said Albanese, 54, now a deputy chief and commander of the South Bureau.

"We planted a flag and crime was gone."

In a concession to unions, Los Angeles Unified Schools chief Ramon Cortines said Tuesday he will eliminate half the number of local district offices he helped create a few years ago in a bid to reduce next year's deficit of nearly $500 million. Connie Llanos in the Daily News.

But Cortines said savings from the move will amount to just $12 million, and tougher cutbacks, including layoffs, will have to be made to balance the budget.

"There is no way to avoid cuts," Cortines said at a special budget meeting called to inform the school board about the district's worsening financial outlook.

A nearly $1 million grant from the National Parks Service will help recreational areas in the Santa Monica Mountains remain open and avoid cuts in services, officials said Tuesday. Troy Anderson in the Daily News.

The $939,169 grant to the Angeles District of California State Parks will allow parks in the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area to operate at last year's service levels, said Woody Smeck, the NPS superintendent of the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area.

"By granting these funds, our desire is to maintain the efficiency of the national parks while providing for public enjoyment and use of the interlocking state and national parks that exist in the Santa Monica Mountains," Smeck said.

With Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa vowing to block any measure that allows for-profit pot sales, the City Council managed Tuesday to hammer out some guidelines for a long-awaited medical marijuana ordinance.Daily News.

During a five-hour session marked by an hourlong power outage, the council debated details of the measure, including signage, location and odor control.

The major issue, however, remains reimbursement. District Attorney Steve Cooley recently said he will prosecute any pot clinics engaging in over-the-counter sales of marijuana, and Villaraigosa said Tuesday he will not sign any ordinance that violates state law.

Valley Councilmen Dennis Zine and Greig Smith announced today that they are supporting Valley businesswoman Christine Essel in the race to succeed Wendy Greuel as City Councilwoman for District 2. Village to Village blog.

Newly appointed LAPD Chief Charlie Beck named his top command staff Monday and set up two new offices - including a special services division that will oversee counter terrorism and the detectives bureau - in a reorganization designed to "increase efficiency and improve effectiveness." Daily News.

In a briefly worded department memo, Beck promoted Deputy Chief Michel Moore, who now heads the Valley Bureau, to assistant chief in charge of the new Office of Special Services.

Moore, who was in the running with Beck for the job of chief, is one of three assistant chiefs and one of six direct reports to Beck.

Home sales in the San Fernando Valley and Los Angeles County are not likely to spike in October by the same impressive amount as the national average, a sign that the local housing market is in stronger shape, industry watchers said Monday. Bob Strauss in the Daily News.

Whereas home sales rose nationally by 36 percent for the month, California October home sales figures - due out on Wednesday - are expected to come in closer to 30 percent.

"We actually started seeing an increase in sales starting late last year," said Jim Link, CEO of the Southland Regional Association of Realtors, which covers multiple listings services for the San Fernando and Santa Clarita Valleys.

n the face of a multimillion-dollar budget deficit, Los Angeles Unified School District Superintendent Ramon Cortines ordered an immediate hiring freeze Monday and cut other expenses, including travel, conferences and food at district meetings. Daily News.

Cortines said the district is facing an estimated $50 million to $60 million deficit this year and a possible $480 million deficit for the 2010-11 school year.

"As a result of the financial challenges that we are facing, it is imperative that we ensure that every dollar we spend is essential to the operation of this district, and more importantly, supports our instructional mission," he said. "Therefore, effective immediately, I am placing a freeze on the hiring and filling of vacancies; travel, conference and convention attendance; procurement of contracted professional development services; the rental of non-district facilities and the purchase of catering or refreshments to be served at employee meetings."

Councilwoman Jan Perry said Monday she is talking to officials at Anschutz Entertainment Group about reimbursing at least some of the $3.2 million in taxpayer money spent on the Michael Jackson memorial.

At her request, the City Council's Public Safety Committee - which was supposed to take up the issue Monday - postponed the discussion for a week.

The last two months have been a whirlwind of meetings and deadlines for Eduardo Solorzano, principal of San Fernando Middle School.Connie Llanos in the Daily News.

Visibly exhausted, the first-year principal has been working 12-hour days and weekends since his school was chosen as one of 36 Los Angeles Unified campuses that are up for grabs this year under a new district reform effort that lets both outsiders and insiders compete to run schools.

The School Choice plan is meant to breed better academic results at the district's new and failing schools through competition. This week it was announced that more than 200 bidders answered the district's call and submitted bids for the three dozen schools.

It had been years since the Boatwrights had heard from their beloved brother James Arthur - the only one of the 10 surviving adult siblings estranged from the family.Sue Doyle in the Daily News.

Wanting to bridge the gap of years and miles, they launched an Internet search in August from their homes in the Deep South, knowing only that he lived somewhere in Los Angeles.

They got a hit, but the news brought them sorrow rather than joy. James Arthur Boatwright, age 65, was among the 4,827 unclaimed bodies listed in an online database by the Los Angeles County Coroner's Office.

The head of L.A. Live challenged City Attorney Carmen Trutanich on Thursday to either file criminal charges over the Michael Jackson memorial service or apologize for hinting the company may have broken the law.Daily News.

"Prove it or drop it," AEG President Tim Leiweke said during an interview. "We can't resolve this until he declares we have done nothing wrong or apologizes -- I'll take either.

"But he has been going around for five months defaming me and our company and we did nothing wrong."

NORTHRIDGE -- Greeted by 250 saluting officers, LAPD Chief Charlie Beck on Thursday led a formal inspection of the Devonshire Division and addressed sworn staff in his first major appearance in the San Fernando Valley since becoming chief. Sue Doyle in the Daily News.

Saying he expects officers to be "open, honest and show respect," Beck told the platoons crowded around his lectern that he was proud of their hard work, and he spoke about the unrelenting demand for good teamwork at all staffing levels.

"You have to stand behind your leaders. You have to stand with your leaders," Beck said. "And you have to stand together."

Partially fueled by the election of President Barack Obama and the statewide controversy over gay marriage, hate crimes based on sexual orientation shot up 21 percent in Los Angeles County last year, while religious crimes increased 14 percent, according to a county report released Thursday.Troy Anderson in the Daily News.

Although the total number of hate crimes countywide dropped 4 percent from 2007 to 2008, the rise in homophobic and religious-based hate crimes worried local advocate groups.

"The spike we saw in the gay and lesbian community can definitely be correlated to the influence of the Proposition 8 debate," said Amanda F. Susskind, regional director of the Anti-Defamation League, referring to the ban on gay marriage that California voters approved last year.

One in five Angelenos between the ages of 16 and 24 is unemployed and not in school, putting a severe drain on the city's limited resources, a study released Thursday said. Connie Llanos in the Daily News.

Statewide, about one in 6.25 people in that age group are out of work or school, and can expect to live in poverty for about nine years, according to the study produced by the Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University in Boston.

"If people are living in poverty they are probably not paying taxes, they are drawing on welfare and they're more of a drain to the city," said study author Paul Harrington, a Northeastern professor

Facing their own financial crises amid the state's budget crunch, most of California's largest school districts are increasing class sizes in kindergarten through third grade, eroding the most expensive education reform in the state's history. California Watch in the Daily News.

California Watch surveyed the 30 largest K-12 districts in the state and found that many schools are pushing classroom enrollment to 24 students in some or all of the primary grades. Other districts have raised class sizes to 30 students - reverting to levels not seen in more than a decade.

In cash-strapped Los Angeles Unified, each of the district's 524 elementary schools could choose between retaining all their teachers and keeping class sizes low - or laying off teachers and retaining support staff such as nurses, math coaches and "intervention coordinators."

With their runoff election less than three weeks away, City Council candidates Paul Krekorian and Christine Essel sparred Wednesday during a spirited debate before San Fernando Valley business leaders.Daily News.

Krekorian, a Democratic Assemblyman from Valley Glen and Burbank, portrayed Essel as a candidate "beholden to downtown special interests," while Essel called Krekorian "a career politician ... looking for his third office in four years."

The two are running in the Dec. 8 special election to fill the District 2 seat vacated when Wendy Greuel was elected as city controller.

Under pressure from County District Attorney Steve Cooley, the City Council delayed action Wednesday on Los Angeles' latest medical marijuana ordinance.Daily News

Unwilling to vote on a law that would have allowed cash transactions at marijuana clinics - which Cooley said would violate California law - council members instead decided to add more than 30 changes to the proposed ordinance. One provision would limit the number of clinics in the city to 186, compared to the 800 to 1,000 operating now.

More young men and women in the San Fernando Valley want to be all they can be - in the Army - than at any time since the U.S. went to war in Iraq.Tony Castro in the Daily News.

According to statistics released Tuesday by the Army, enlistments in the Valley region jumped almost 30 percent this year as a slumping economy sparked the biggest military recruiting year in Los Angeles since the Iraq War began in 2003.

The recruiting region from Glendale to Thousand Oaks reported 573 enlistments through Sept. 31, compared with 443 during the comparable period in 2008, according to the Army. One of the biggest jumps was reported in Glendale, with an 88 percent hike.

A group representing California taxpayers gave more than half the state's lawmakers failing grades in its annual report card issued Tuesday, only months after the Legislature approved the largest tax cuts in state history.Troy Anderson in the Daily News.

The Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association gave "F" grades to 73 out of 120 Assembly members and senators, with only 29 receiving "A" grades.

Even as DWP crews scrambled to repair a water main break in Winnetka, a panel of experts reported Tuesday that corrosion, not the city's conservation program, was to blame for a spike in pipeline ruptures that have disrupted traffic and engulfed a fire truck.
Daily News.
The Department of Water and Power released the long-awaited report - developed by experts from the University of Southern California, Cornell University and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory - which blamed the breaks on corroded portions of the aging system.

The Los Angeles Police Department entered a new era Tuesday with the City Council's unanimous, 14-0, confirmation of Charlie Beck as the city's 55th chief of police.Daily News.

Beck, 56, was immediately sworn in by council President Eric Garcetti and Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, allowing him to succeed former Chief Bill Bratton, who resigned two weeks ago to take a private-sector job. A public swearing-in ceremony is scheduled for Dec. 3.

A 32-year veteran of the department, Beck was selected by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa to take over a department that has expanded to more than 10,000 officers while the crime rate has shrunk for seven consecutive years.

Dozens of charter school operators, non-profit groups and even the teachers union have made it clear that they think they can do a better job running L.A. public schools than Los Angeles Unified bureaucrats.Connie Llanos in the Daily News.

All met a Monday deadline to submit bids to operate some or all of the 36 schools up for grabs under an ambitious reform plan that lets outsiders - and insiders - take daily operational control of public schools.

"Today we have finally stopped talking about reform and we've taken a deliberate and strong step towards ending business as usual at this district," said LAUSD boardmember Yolie Flores-Aguilar, who authored the School Choice plan.

As Los Angeles Unified officials scrambled to avert up to 8,500 layoffs, leaders of the teachers' union demanded Monday that the district slash bureaucracy and disclose spending before imposing furloughs and deep pay cuts. Connie Llanos in the Daily News.

Superintendent Ramon Cortines announced last week that layoffs are the only way to close a looming $500 million budget deficit unless employees take a four-day furlough this year and a 12 percent pay cut next year.

A.J. Duffy, president of United Teachers Los Angeles, on Monday rejected Cortines' ultimatum, but said the union was "willing to talk" about options.

Likely delaying passage of a new medical marijuana ordinance, two City Council committees on Monday rejected the city attorney's call for an outright ban on over-the- counter cannibis sales. Daily News.

Members of the council's Public Safety and Planning and Land Use committees - clearly frustrated by the process - asked City Attorney Carmen Trutanich to review ordinances in other cities and come back with a revised ordinance when the full City Council meets Wednesday.

Becca Doten, the communications director for Councilman Richard Alarcon, won her election as a member of the Democratic National Committee post.
Doten was one of four women seeking the post and received 180 of 281 votes cast at the California Democratic Party meeting this past weekend.'
"I am honored to have the opportunity to join the California delegation to the DNC," said Doten. "Inclusion of young Democrats as DNC members is essential to the future of our Party and I thank the Executive Board members of the CDP for the strong statement they made to ensure that our diverse delegation includes young voices."
Doten first got involved in politics in 2003, inspired and engaged by Gov. Howard Dean's campaign for President. Since then, she has given hundreds of hours of volunteer time to local, state and national campaigns. In 2006, she was named a "Volunteer of the Year" by the Democratic Party of the San Fernando Valley (DP/SFV).

A fiery crowd of 1,200 crammed into the auditorium of Birmingham Community Charter High School on Sunday for a question-and-answer meeting with U.S. Rep. Brad Sherman, D-Sherman Oaks - one of the largest turnouts ever for his town hall assemblies. Sue Doyle in the Daily News.

Angry about health care, unemployment and immigration, the audience loudly jeered and cheered as Sherman answered their questions during the 90-minute meeting that filled all 800 seats in the high school auditorium and forced residents to sit on the floor and stage or stand and listen from the lobby.

Tipoffs: A way for other school districts to take over LAUSD schools; mayor headed to Copenhagen.

Los Angeles Unified schools chief Ramon Cortines told unions Friday that they must accept a combination of furloughs and pay cuts this year and next or the district will be forced to lay off up to 8,500 employees.Connie Llanos in the Daily News.

Saying the district needed to bridge a $480 million budget gap for the 2010-11 school year, Cortines asked all employees to accept four furlough days this year and a 12 percent pay cut next year.

SEIU Local 99, representing service workers, and the Associated Administrators of Los Angeles said they were open to discuss the concessions. A United Teachers Los Angeles representative was not available for comment.

The Michael Jackson memorial service cost the city of Los Angeles about $3.2 million, according to a new city report released Friday, an expense city officials justified spending because of the massive crowds they had anticipated at the July 6 event. Daily News.

The report from Chief Legislative Analyst Gerry Miller said the costs involved $1.2 million in direct salary and $2 million in overtime for preparation and deployment of the 3,968 officers assigned to the event in anticipation of crowds of more than 250,000.

Even though his confirmation as Los Angeles police chief is a virtual certainty, Deputy Chief Charlie Beck has stayed away from the 10th floor -- where his new offices are located. Daily News.

"Not been up there, not going up there," Beck said in an interview Friday from his sixth-floor office at the new Police Administration Building. "I'm kind of like a ballplayer who doesn't want to do anything to jinx it."

Beck's nomination as the 55th chief of the Los Angeles Police Department is to be considered by the City Council on Tuesday. Based on interviews with a majority of the council, the vote for his five-year contract to succeed William Bratton seems assured.

In the race for endorsements i nteh 2nd Council Disltric race, Asaembyman Paul Krekorian announced Fridah that nearly a dozen neighborhood leaders and activists from Sunland-Tujuga are endorsing him in the Dec. 8 runoff.
"We believe that Paul Krekorian is the person who should fill the seat on the City Council," the letter said. "His successful track record in public service demonstrates his ability to identify issues, come up with creative solutions, and work hard to get them implemented. We need this fresh approach in City Hall."
The authors include leaders on the Sunland-Tujunga Neighborhood Council, La Tuna Canyon Community Association and Foothill Trails Neighborhood Council. Business leaders, parks advocates and teachers are also included.
Busiensswoman Chris Essel also recently announced endorsemenbts from City Attorney Carmen Trutanich and the Los Angeles Police Protective League.

A woman who jumped on top of an armed bank robber, two men who came to the aid of a wounded teacher and a young man who defended an elderly man against a road-rage driver were honored Thursday for their acts of bravery.Sue Doyle in the Daily News.

The Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office recognized the four San Fernando Valley residents with a Courageous Citizen Award at a luncheon hosted by Kiwanis Club of Northridge for acting at considerable personal risk to save others.

For years, advertisers have used charming kids to get parents to buy their own children everything from junk food to designer clothes. Now U.S. Census officials plan to recruit those same skills from the ranks of public school students.Connie Llanos in the Daily News.

As part of a nationwide effort, Los Angeles Unified officials Thursday joined with state educators in launching a campaign to encourage students to get parents to participate in the March 2010 Census count.

With the turn of a gold-plated shovel, city officials broke ground Thursday on a new $13.5 million fire and aircraft rescue station at Los Angeles International Airport. Art Marroquin in the Daily News.

The 27,500-square-foot Los Angeles Fire Station No. 80 will sit between the north and south airfields at LAX, nearly double the size of the outdated airfield facility that it's replacing, officials said.

Fourteen firefighters will be assigned to each 24-hour shift when the new station opens next fall.

Construction will begin in January on the $1billion northbound carpool lane on the San Diego (405) Freeway through the Sepulveda Pass, officials said Tuesday. Sue Doyle in the Daily News.

Proponents had worried last spring about funding for the 405 project after the cash-strapped state withheld millions of dollars in revenue from voter-approved bonds awarded two years earlier.

However, with additional revenue expected from recently issued infrastructure bonds, and assurances from the state that it will honor its funding commitment, transit officials are preparing to break ground on the 10-mile project.

Community groups and Los Angeles Unified officials on Tuesday condemned an anonymous flyer handed to Latino parents that threatened them with deportation if they supported plans to convert their neighborhood school to a charter. Connie Llanos in the Daily News.

Calling it an escalation in a series of "scare tactics," district officials and community advocates said distribution of the flyer was timed to weaken one of LAUSD's boldest efforts to reform public education in Los Angeles.

LA Unified Superintendent Ramon Cortines tried to reassure parents in a statement that nothing would happen if they signed a petition to support a charter school.

A Superior Court judge on Tuesday gave Controller Wendy Greuel and City Attorney Carmen Trutanich more time to resolve their dispute over whether she can audit his office, saying the city still needs to provide Greuel's office with an attorney.Daily News.

At the same time, both sides revealed counteroffers to try to settle the case that began with their predecessors, former Controller Laura Chick and former City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo.

The city of Los Angeles shelled out $137 million over the past two years for legal costs - nearly two times more than the previous two-year period and enough to hire nearly 1,300 police officers and cover most of the public works budget, according to a report released Monday. Troy Anderson in the Daily News.

The study by California Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse also found the amount of money Los Angeles County spent on lawsuit verdicts, settlements and outside counsel rose from $138 million to $190 million in the same period.

"It's amazing that while endless programs are being cut and jobs are being lost, the city and county of Los Angeles are spending hundreds of millions of dollars on lawsuits," said Maryann Marino, regional director of the organization's Southern California branc

im Moorhead keeps an inch-thick stack of documents nearby as proof. Susan Abram in the Daily News.

He calls them a pile of lies.

These are letters from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service, repeatedly assuring him that his application for citizenship was being processed.

In fact, it wasn't. The Federal Bureau of Investigation had held on to his file for two years with no plans to review it anytime soon.

Deputy Chief Charlie Beck breezed over his first hurdle Monday on his way to becoming chief of the LAPD, winning unanimous approval for his nomination from a key City Council committee.Daily News.

Final confirmation is expected at the Nov. 17 meeting of the full City Council.

Beck took the opportunity to outline his bottom-to-top plan for cementing the widely praised reforms of the department implemented by former Chief William Bratton. He stressed the importance of community-based policing and deploying more resources into patrols.

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's teenage daughter Natalia Fe saw the forlorn look on her father's face and sensed a sadness in his voice as he finished making phone calls to the two candidates passed over to be the next chief of police.Tony Castro in the Daily News.

"Dad," she said, standing next to him at Getty House, the official mayoral residence, "that must be the toughest call you've ever made." "It's certainly one of them."

But while the selection process presented the mayor with one of the toughest political decisions he's faced, the confirmation process of his pick, Deputy Chief Charlie Beck, is giving him a chance to jump-start his waning public image.

As city officials and businesses launch new efforts to combat runaway production in Los Angeles, one local union has suggested they start in their own backyard. Daily News.

A Teamsters local that represents entertainment industry workers has compiled a list of the 10 most difficult locations to film in Los Angeles - and most of them are affiliated either with city government or with the most influential businesses and groups downtown.

Tipoffs: Councilman Dennis Zine refuses debate challenge from Lone Star owners.

The Los Angeles Police Foundation held its annual fundraiser, called True Blue, on Sunday night with the featured guest being former Chief Bill Bratton.
Bratton was there along with former Mayors James Hahn and Richard Riordan -- but no sign of Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who has made the LAPD his top priority.
Vfillaraigosa did make a video address to the 800 people in attendance but offered no indication of why he was not in attendance -- a point apparently driven home by developer Rick Caruso as he worked the room, according to observers.
The event raised about $2 million for support of the LAPD and its various programs.

Even though he's been out of office for more than a week now, former Police Chief Bill Bratton is getting one more sendoff this week.
The Los Angeles Police Foundation is holding its 10th annual fundraising event, called True Blue, and will pay tribute to Brartton.
The event will be held at 6:30 p.m. Saturday at the LAPD's new headquarters.
"Tonight" show host Conan O'Brien will serve as emcee and officials expected include Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, new chief Charlie Beck and City Council members.
Also there will be developer Rick Caruso, who was the Police Commission president when Brfatton was hired.
Money raised from the event will go to supplementthe LAPD budget for a variety of programs.

he Los Angeles Police Department has cleared almost two-thirds of its backlog in testing DNA rape kits after coming under pressure from women's rights groups and City Council members to speed the process, officials announced Thursday. Daily News.

City Controller Wendy Greuel released an audit showing the backlog of cases in one year has shrunk to 2,527 from 7,038. But Greuel called for continued improvements and changes in how the LAPD catalogs the cases.

- Los Angeles police chief nominee Charlie Beck vowed to residents of the San Fernando Valley Wednesday night that he will continue the style of collaborative law enforcement that has dramatically reduced crime in the area. Tony Castro in the Daily News.

"I promise that we will not only continue the advancements that have been made not only in the Valley but throughout the city, but we will build on those advances," Beck told a packed Van Nuys City Hall.

"There is much left to do."

Ending years of feuding over how to provide water throughout the state, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the state Legislature on Wednesday reached agreement on a wide-ranging water plan that asks voters to approve an $11.1 billion bond package. Daily News.

Los Angeles-area officials praised the agreement for providing a stable supply of water by working to manage and restore the fragile ecosystem of the San Joaquin-Sacramento Delta, one of the main water sources for Southern California. The bond will go before voters in November 2010.

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who worked on water issues when he was Assembly speaker and has been pushing to have Los Angeles projects included in the bond measure, said the plan would assure Los Angeles of the water it needs, at stable rates.

Hoping to reverse the city's image as unfriendly to business, the City Council on Wednesday created a new committee to look at ways to streamline and reduce the city's business taxes. Daily News

The nine-member Business Tax Advisory Committee, to be appointed by the mayor and City Council, will look at new reductions and consolidations of the business tax similar to past efforts that resulted in bringing in more revenue to the city.

"When we first looked at this, I thought it was a bad idea," Council President Eric Garcetti said. "I thought we needed the business tax to bring in revenue."

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa lost another department head on Wednesday with the resination of Cecilia Estoolano as chief executive of the Community Redevelopment Agency,
Estolano had headed the agency for more than three years and said she was leaving to work
for a national environmental group, Green For All, which works to provide broad access to clean energy programs. She will be working on public-private partnerships.
"I commend Cecilia Estolano and the many accomplishments achieved by
the CRA under her steady leadership," Villaraigosa said.
Estolano's last day is Nov., 20.

Deputy Chief Charlie Beck, a 33-year Los Angeles Police Department veteran with "LAPD blue" in his blood, was picked by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa Tuesday to head the department - ending weeks of speculation about who would fill the big shoes left by William Bratton. Daily News.

The mayor's choice, widely cheered by rank-and-file officers, the police union and civil rights groups, was expected to sail through the City Council over the next two weeks.

"This is not just a job to me. This is who I am," Beck said during an at-times emotional news conference in front of Getty House, the official mayoral residence.

Two San Fernando Valley congressmen vowed Tuesday to fight the FAA's refusal to ban nighttime flights at Bob Hope Airport in Burbank, where residents have been complaining for decades about jet noise.Gregory J. Wilcox in the Daily News.

The Federal Aviation Administration's 42-page ruling, dated Friday, said that banning commercial, cargo and charter flights between 10 a.m. and 6:59 a.m. would unduly burden commerce and would impact air travel throughout the country.

Enrollment in the Los Angeles Unified School District has fallen to less than 680,000 students this year, nearly a 10 percent decline since its peak seven years ago, officials said Tuesday. Connie Llanos in the Daily News.

Enrollment at the district hit a high of more than 747,000 students in 2002, but that number has fallen steadily ever since.

District officials were not immediately available to explain general reasons for the decline, but they did say fewer students mean less money for the district overall, which could lead to further budget cuts and layoffs.

San Fernando Police Chief Robert Ordelheide will also serve as interim city administrator for the next eight months as officials look for a candidate to fill the key management post.
Connie Llanos in the Daily News.
Ordelheide, 49, will not be paid two salaries, but his contract will be renegotiated to include compensation for the additional responsibilities, officials said.

Former City Administrator Jose Pulido resigned last month.

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, after a week of intense interviews and consultations with city leaders, is to anonounce his choice for the next chief of police today,
Three candidates -- Assistant Chief Jim McDonnell, Deputy Chief Charlie Beck and Deputy Chief MIchel Moore -- beat out a crowded field to emerge as the choices of the Los Angfeles Police Commission.
Villaraigosa held two formal interviews with the nominees in what he has called the most important decision in his term.
One of the signal achievements of the mayor's years in office has been the continuing decloine in crime as he has beefed up the LAPD to a force of more than 10,000 officers.
The announcement is expected at 11 a.m.

Despite Los Angeles County's already record high unemployment, the job outlook is likely to get worse as the number of businesses that plan to layoff workers has more than doubled since last year, according to a new poll released today. Tony Castro in the Daily News.

A survey by the Los Angeles County Business Federation says 33 percent of respondents said they would layoff workers in 2010, up from 14 percent who were asked last year.

A last-minute refusal by an Italian passenger train carmaker to be fined for missing production deadlines derailed a $300 million deal that would have brought a factory to Los Angeles, officials said Monday, costing the region an estimated $368 million in economic activity and hundreds of jobs. Daily News

City officials said they demanded the penalties in writing, given AnsaldoBreda's record for missing deadlines in a previous contract to manufacture 50 rail cars. The proposed deal was for double that number.

At the heart of the Los Angeles Zoo, at the center of one the city's priciest controversies, stands what may be the world's largest shower. Dana Bartholomew in the Daily News.

For elephants.

When the water hits the big ears next fall, the 25-foot waterfall being built at the $42 million Pachyderm Forest will help launch one of the most advanced exhibits in the nation, zoo officials say.

After only five months in office, City Attorney Carmen Trutanich has become one of the most polarizing figures at City Hall.Daily News.

Labeled a "bully" and a "thug" by some, Trutanich insists all he is trying to do is be the city's lawyer and do the best job he can.

"What lawyers do is provide advice and alternatives," Trutanich said during an interview in his eighth-floor City Hall East office. "It's up to the client whether to take the advice.

- It's been nearly two months since a 64-inch water main burst under Coldwater Canyon Avenue and unleashed tens of thousands of gallons of water through nearly a dozen nearby Ventura Boulevard shops. Sue Doyle in the Daily News.

Still, many of the local businesses that suffered flood damage remain closed, far longer than they had expected.

Home to antique shops, designer clothing stores, one-of-a-kind lingerie shops and cafes, the small block of awning-trimmed stores sits with a ghost-town vacancy in the 13010 block of Ventura Boulevard. The cleanup continues as business owners sift through claim filings with their insurance companies and the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power.

Tipoffs: After Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa announces his choice today on Tuesday to replace Bill Bratton, the next chief will have to sell himself to officials, public.

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa will announce his choice for Los Angeles' next police chief on Monday, ending almost three months of behind-the-scenes jockeying among LAPD insiders for the job.Tony Castro in the Daily News.

The next chief, replacing William J. Bratton who officially left the office Saturday, will be one of three LAPD veterans tapped by the Police Commission as finalists: Deputy Chief Charlie Beck, Assistant Chief Jim McDonnell and Deputy Chief Michel Moore.

Established in 1896, San Fernando Middle School is viewed as a cornerstone of its community and a rite of passage for generations of residents who have passed through its halls.Connie Llanos in the Daily News.

Some traditions at the Valley's oldest campus are likely to end, however, as San Fernando finds itself on a list of 36 schools about to be taken over by outside operators.

In a last-ditch effort to improve performance at lagging campuses, Los Angeles Unified is putting them out to bid, a move that could result in San Fernando being converted to an independent charter, magnet or pilot school.

Did we get a wrong number? Kevin Modesti in the Daily News.
San Fernando Valley residents might wonder what happened to the 747 area code, which was created amid fanfare and grumbling last spring to serve new telephone customers in the crowded 818 area.

Officially, the 747s could have been handed out beginning May 18, a month after preparations for the so-called area-code "overlay" forced Valley phone users to dial "1-818" even for calls from one 818 number to another.

Costo is in discussions with The Westfield Group about building a warehouse store in Warner Center, where the developer has ambitious plans to connect its Topanga and Promenade malls, the Daily News has learned. Gregory J. Wilcox in the Daily News.

The Costco would be located on the southeast side of Victory and Topanga Canyon boulevards, near the year-old Crate & Barrel store, and might include a two-story parking structure, said city officials familiar with the plans.