April 2010 Archives

Warning: Some of the images in this commercial are graphic.
Insurance Commissioner Stevev Poizner, in his bid for the GOP nomination for governor, might have gone to new levels in the "ick factor" in his newest television commercial attacking Meg Whitman.
It is not the script for the ad, called "Vulture" that attacks Whitman's association with Goldman Sachs : but the images of a vulture feasting on some road kill that could turn people off.
If the intent is to get attetion, it might work. But it might also turn as many people off.
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In a major coup for Los Angeles, a Chinese solar energy and automobile firm announced Thursday it will locate its U.S. headquarters here, potentially creating hundreds of new jobs.
Daily News.
BYD, a manufacturer of batteries and electric-hybrid vehicles that is partly owned by billionaire Warren Buffett, said it selected Los Angeles to be its U.S. base after reviewing offers from other California cities.

The initial plans call for locating the new headquarters at 1800 S. Figueroa St., at a site that once served as a car dealership.

Calling Arizona's tough new immigration law unpatriotic and unconstitutional, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa on Thursday said he supports an economic boycott of the state and urged swift action on federal immigration reform.Daily News.

Surrounded by immigration activists at his City Hall office, Villaraigosa said the Arizona law, which gives police the right to detain people suspected of being in the country illegally, opened the doors to seek true reform on a national level.

"The need for a complete reform of immigration laws is nothing new," Villaraigosa said. "We now find ourselves once again in a debate. We can choose to move forward for a more perfect union or move back to fight the tyranny we did 200 years ago.

Los Angeles County Coroner's Office employees don't feel safe at the morgue and say managers are not fair when it comes to issuing take-home vehicles and work assignments, according to an audit released Thursday.Trpy Anderson in the Daily News.

The 132-page report, by Washington State-based firm Strategica Inc., found a host of management problems that, if not corrected, could result in autopsy backlogs, threaten the department's accreditation and jeopardize law enforcement's ability to investigate and prosecute homicide cold cases.

"Many of the problems seem to center on a perceived disconnect between employee performance and recognition, perceived favoritism and inequitable treatment of staff," the auditors wrote. "Many described a climate of favoritism in which some employees are given privileges (e.g., take-home cars), are not disciplined and get better assignments."

Los Angeles may have to euthanize an additional 11,000 animals in city shelters next year if Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and the City Council go through with cuts that critics say will gut the city's animal services.Tony Castro in the Daily News.

The city killed more than 19,000 unwanted dogs and cats and 4,000 other animals last year. But some city officials and rescue advocates say a proposed $1.8 million reduction to Los Angeles' Animal Services department will not only mean more euthanasia, but more animals roaming around uncontrolled on the streets.

Child homicides in Los Angeles County soared 31 percent and suicides jumped 70 percent from 2007 to 2008, a troubling trend that experts say may be a consequence of the economic downturn. Troy Anderson in the Daily News.

The annual report released today by the Inter-Agency Council on Child Abuse and Neglect said 34 children were killed by parents, relatives or caregivers in 2008, compared with 26 the previous year.

Suicides among local youths jumped from 10 to 17.

Los Angeles Unified officials announced Tuesday they plan to pursue a series of controversial reforms in the teacher hiring and evaluation process, an effort that is likely to set up a tough fight with local unions. Connie Llanos in the Daily News.

The reforms, spelled out for the school board by Superintendent Ramon Cortines, include pilot programs linking incentive pay to teacher performance and policy changes that raise the bar for teachers to earn tenure.

The recommendations were contained in a 24-page report presented to the board Tuesday and commissioned a year ago to study teacher performance and hiring and firing policies.

LANCASTER -- The City Council on Tuesday rejected protesters' calls for results of a municipal election to be thrown out, but not before council members acknowledged a flaw in the system for verifying candidates' eligibility. Kevin Modesti in the Daily New0s.

The council voted 5-0 to certify the April 13 election following a 40-minute hearing on council candidate Johnathon Ervin's claim that an ineligible candidate drew votes that may have cost him the victory.

Earlier, Ervin and the ineligible candidate, Victoria Zavala, led a protest rally outside Lancaster City Hall by supporters claiming Zavala voters were "disenfranchised" when she was found to have been ineligible to run because she lives outside the city.

Los Angeles Unified officials unanimously approved a plan Tuesday to lobby the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power for a deal that would spare the district from spending up to $11 million under the utility's proposed rate hikes. Connie Llanos in the Daily News.

The cash-strapped school district, projecting a deficit of more than $260 million for the 2011-12 school year, is the DWP's largest customer.

The district already pays about $90 million a year to the utility. Newly approved rate hikes could increase that tab by about $2.6million, while a series of additional hikes sought by DWP could bring the cost to $11 million.

Los Angeles city officials Tuesday joined a growing nationwide backlash against Arizona's tough new immigration law, calling for a sweeping boycott of the state and its businesses. Tony Castro in the Daily News.

City Council members Janice Hahn and Ed Reyes proposed the boycott to protest the Arizona law requiring immigrants to carry documents verifying their status and allowing police to stop and question anyone who appears to be in the country illegally.

In the weeks before he died, bedridden from fighting a losing battle with cancer, former LAPD Chief Daryl F. Gates was visited by an LAPD helicopter hovering outside his hospital window. C.J. Lin in the Daily News.

Even though Gates was weak, he got up, put on his SWAT hat and stood at attention. He continued to salute the crew even as the chopper flew away, tears streaming down his cheeks.

It was a moment that spoke to just how dedicated Gates was to the department that he headed for 14 years and its officers, said retired LAPD Deputy Chief Mike Hillmann, speaking at Gates' funeral on Tuesday.

Even as some members complained they had been "scammed" by the DWP, the City Council failed Tuesday to rescind an electric rate hike it had approved earlier this month.
Daily News.
The council's 9-5 vote fell one short of the threshold needed to redo its previous action, which increased energy rates by about 4.5 percent starting July 1.

Some council members complained that they had been misled and believed their earlier vote was for a temporary rate hike - an increase Department of Water and Power officials later insisted was permanent.

Questioning the revenue projections in Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's proposed $6.7 billion budget, a city panel on Tuesday rejected the spending plan and asked for more details. Daily News.

The Budget and Finance Committee refused to open budget hearings until it has more solid revenue numbers to work with. The committee raised special concern about the revenue the mayor's office expects from parking meters next year and the level of reserves it expects to reach.

"There are proposals for $53 million (in revenue from parking meters to cover) operational costs and more than $70 million for the reserve fund that we don't know will be there," said Councilman Bernard Parks, chairman of the committee. "I do not want another year where we budget week to week, hour to hour."

Hundreds of mourners filed past the flag-draped coffin of retired LAPD Chief Daryl F. Gates on Monday during a public visitation for the "cop's cop" who came to symbolize both the best and worst of law enforcement. C.J. Lin in the Daily News.

Many of the guests made the sign of the cross as they paused at Gates' polished wooden casket, which was flanked by uniformed police officers standing at attention at the new Los Angeles Police Department headquarters. Mourners also paused to take photos of Gates' hat, badge and white gloves, which were displayed atop a white columned pedestal nearby.

The uniformed officers, from the elite Metropolitan Division - which includes the Special Weapons and Tactics team that Gates established - were relieved every 15 minutes in a formal changing of the guard - a gesture to honor one of Los Angeles' longest-serving police chiefs.

Los Angeles Unified officials should have the power to reward some teachers with incentive pay and fire others for underperformance, according to a long-awaited report being presented to the school board today. Connie Llanos in the Daily News.

Many of the recommendations in the report require changes to state law or major negotiations with employee unions that could take months or years.

But the 24-page document contains some suggestions that can be implemented by the board immediately, paving the way for perhaps the biggest ever overhaul of the district's teacher evaluation process.

"There are a lot of things we've needed to do better for a very long time to be able to guarantee every student in this district an amazing and effective teacher," said LAUSD school board member Yolie Flores.

The U.S. Supreme Court denied a bid Monday by Tarzana attorney Richard I. Fine to be released from jail, where he has spent more than a year after ignoring a judge's order to divulge information about his personal assets. Troy Anderson in the Daily News.

Fine has been held in solitary confinement at Men's Central Jail since early 2009 after he refused to pay $46,329 in attorneys' fees relating to a lawsuit or to reveal details of his personal finances. Superior Court Judge David P. Yaffe found him in contempt of court and ordered him held until he divulges the information.

Sterling E. Norris, the counsel for Judicial Watch in San Marino, said he was surprised Fine wasn't released because the high court has ruled in the past the longest someone can serve time in jail under "coercive confinement" is about five months.

The days of mobile billboards - those large advertisements sitting atop unhitched trailers that obstruct views and take up space on city streets - could be numbered. Tony Castro in the Daily News.

Proposed state legislation to ban the advertisements was passed Monday in the Assembly and it now heads to the Senate.

Local lawmakers say the signs are among the biggest gripes among voters and have been working to get them off the streets.

The LAPD has slashed its backlog of untested rape kits from 6,132 to 648, but says it could expedite the process further if the FBI lifts a regulation requiring the verification of tests conducted by private labs. Daily News.

City Councilman Greig Smith, who chairs the Public Safety Committee, said officials are lobbying federal lawmakers to change an FBI requirement that local police departments repeat DNA tests conducted by independent laboratories if the results are going to be used as evidence in court.

The battle lines are being drawn between Hollywood movie moguls and Wall Street wheeler-dealers over a plan to trade box-office futures as a commodity - much like soybeans or pork bellies. Bob Strauss in the Daily News.

On the one side are financial firms Cantor Fitzgerald and Veriana subsidiary Media Derivatives, which won preliminary approval this month from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission to open two separate exchanges where investors could essentially bet on future box-office performance.

On the other are the major Hollywood studios and their lobbying arm, the Motion Picture Association of America, which maintain that movies don't lend themselves to informed speculation on pre-release profits.

The city's grand experiment in neighborhood activism is about to take a big hit this year, and some advocates are worried if its spirit will survive.Daily News.

Under Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's latest budget plan, the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment will be folded into another city agency, the Community Development Department, reducing its independence, staffing and budget significantly.

Tipoffs: City Attorjney-mayor clash part of budget dance.

The Boeing Co. has agreed to pay $500,000 in penalties after runoff from some of its outflows at the Santa Susana Field Laboratory exceeded permitted levels of metals and radioactive material.Daily News.

The lawsuit was filed against Boeing by the state and the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Board in Ventura County Superior Court on April 15.

Boeing officials say after heavy rainfall, the water that comes out of outfalls is tested and those results have been reported to the Regional Water Quality Board for more than two years.

Amid protests that transit fare hikes would hurt the poor and minorities, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority declined Thursday to rescind a series of rate increases scheduled for July 1, but scheduled a special meeting to allow public complaints.Troy Anderson in the Daily News.

Unless the hikes are rescinded in a two-thirds board vote, the one-way cash fare for buses and trains will increase from $1.25 to $1.50, a daily pass will rise from $5 to $6 and the monthly pass will jump from $62 to $75. The fares for seniors, those with disabilities, Medicare recipients and students will remain the same through 2013.

A group representing bus riders said they are disappointed that the agency isn't scheduling a vote to rescind the hikes at the meeting next month. Combined with a fare hike in 2007, bus and rail riders will pay about 40 percent more now than they did a few years ago, they said.

Phil Chung left his Porter Ranch home before daybreak Thursday on a mission to buy a new energy-saving refrigerator.Gregory J.Wilcox in the Daily News.

By 6:08 a.m., he'd accomplished his mission, making Chung one of the first to participate in California's Cash for Appliances rebate program.

While it is still too early to gauge consumer acceptance, the program might be changing an entrenched consumer habit of replacing a major appliance only after the old one wears out.

City Attorney Carmen Trutanich blasted Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's proposed city budget in harsh terms Thursday, declaring it an example of "fundamental failure of management." Daily News.

Trutanich said his office is being asked to take an 18 percent cut, far more than any other public safety agency or any other city department.

An environmental consulting firm that worked for Los Angeles Unified for more than a decade engaged in serious conflicts of interest and overcharged the school district's construction program by $2.5 million, an audit released Wednesday said. Connie Llanos in the Daioly News.

Questa Environmental LLC, which oversaw environmental impact reports for the district's $20 billion construction program, inappropriately billed the district and manipulated time cards, including questionable charges of more than 2,000 overtime hours in two, three-month periods, according to the audit by LAUSD Inspector General Jerry Thornton. It also found that Questa employees were supervising their own relatives.

The audit, dated April 7 but released Wednesday, examined billing records from October 2008 through December 2008 and from March 2009 to June 2009.

A top deputy to City Attorney Carmen Trutanich joined the debate over next year's proposed budget with a memo to neighborhood council leaders urging them to fight cuts proposed by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.Daily News.

In an e-mail that began "Dear Neighbors," Special Assistant Jane Usher said Villaraigosa's budget proposal "shows his true colors."

Earth Day features some real green this year, with $35.2 million in cash rebates available to California residents who scrap power-gobbling appliances for energy-efficient models. Gregory J. Wilcox in the Daily News.

The money is California's share of the federal "Cash for Appliances" program, patterned after last year's wildly popular "Cash for Clunkers" rebates that helped get 690,000 gas-guzzling vehicles off the road.

Reflecting on the boost that "Clunkers" program gave auto dealerships, appliance retailers hope for similar results with the program that debuts Thursday.

Acknowledging his own mistakes and painting a grim picture of the city's finances, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa on Tuesday outlined a series of deep cuts in city services and renewed calls for shared sacrifice among all city workers.Daily News.

Villaraigosa's proposed 2010-11 budget, released as he delivered his annual State of the City address, calls for cuts in nearly every city agency, along with reduced services and higher fees for Angelenos and layoffs and unpaid furloughs for city workers.

"I think everybody realizes the urgency of our present financial condition," Villaraigosa said during the speech at the new Police Administration Building. "This is a tough time for everyone right now in Los Angeles. We are experiencing an historic economic collapse.

Los Angeles County's chief executive officer said Tuesday the number of employees facing possible layoffs due to a budget deficit could rise or fall depending on success of negotiations with labor unions, noting that individual departments have cut their costs about as deeply as they can.Daily News.

"Every department is at a point now where there's not a whole lot else to cut," William Fujioka told members of the Board of Supervisors, who quizzed him about the impact of the proposed $175.2 million cut to departments in the proposed 2010-11 budget. The cuts are proposed in hopes of bridging an estimated $510.5 million countywide budget deficit.

Chanting "This is America, not Russia," about 75 people gathered Tuesday morning outside the downtown Stanley Mosk Courthouse to urge the U.S. Supreme Court to free former taxpayer advocate attorney Richard I. Fine from jail.Troy Anderson in the Daily News.

In Washington, D.C., about 50 people staged a similar protest on the steps of the high court, which is scheduled to meet Friday to decide whether Fine should be released.

President Obama finished his visit to Los Angeles on Tuesday with a plea from Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and Council President Eric Garcetti to help the region out with transif funding.
"The last words the president heard was from the mayor and me about the 30/10 plan," Garcetti said. "The president told the mayor, 'You are indefatigable' and promised to look into it."
The 30/10 plan is an effort by Villaraigosa is to get the federal government to gurantee funding for projects contained in the Measure R sales tax. It would provide $40 million over 10 years to speed construction of the projects in the measure.

Declaring the dawn of "a new era of accountability," Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa on Monday nominated jobs czar Austin Beutner as interim chief of the DWP and ordered a top-down review of the $4 billion agency. Daily News.

If confirmed today by the Board of Water and Power Commissioners, Beutner will be tasked with restoring the public's trust in the municipal utility, which recently came under fire as it tried to push through an unpopular rate hike.

Los Angeles County's $22.7 billion spending plan for next year will require up to 131 layoffs and additional cuts in public services to cover an anticipated $511 million shortfall, officials said Monday. Troy Anderson in the Daily News.

This includes reduced hours at public libraries, consolidation of services at health clinics, the closure of a jail at the Pitchess Detention Center in Castaic, reducing sheriff's overtime costs and Assessor's Office cuts, which could delay home appraisals.

City looknig at 750 layoffs
Expect little bright news today from Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa as he gives his State of the City address and releases his 2010-11 budget proposal, which would eliminate more than 3,500 positions from the city payroll. Daily News.

The mayor's speech - in which he reflects on the past year and outlines his goals for the next - is expected to focus on the ongoing budget crisis and ways to close a projected $484 million deficit.

For Los Angeles City Councilman Paul Krekorian, the first 100 days in office have been anything but calm. Daily News.

Sinkholes, floods and an unrelenting budget crisis were among the most pressing issues to greet the newest member of the City Council, who represents the 2nd District that runs from Studio City to Sunland-Tujunga.

"I hope there is time to be more proactive, that we aren't just responding to one thing after another," Krekorian said in a recent interview.

Bringing in the ninth chief executive in 10 years, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is scheduled to announce he is appointing First Deputy Mayor Austin Beutner to serve as interim general manager of the Department of Water and Power.Dally News.

Beutner, who will continue with his responsibilities overseeing a dozen city agencies involved with economic development, will take over for David Freeman, whose six-month term expired last week.

Coming in on the heels of the controversy over an energy rate increase, Beutner said the mayor is charging him with several tasks in the utility's relationship with residents and the City Council.

California's oldest Latino political organization may be facing its last hurrah, having become a victim of its own success. Tony Castro in the Daily News.

In recent years, the Mexican American Political Association has seen the dismantling of many of its chapters, in part due to the enormous success Latinos have had over the past several decades entering political office.

"MAPA was an important organization that was formed when there were hardly any Latino elected officials," said James Acevedo, regarded by many as the godfather of Latino politics in the San Fernando Valley.

MAPA's reputation in California is also suffering as its controversial state president fights to stay out of jail for alleged voter registration fraud.

WASHINGTON - Can you trust Washington? AP in the Daily News.

Nearly 80 percent of Americans say they can't and they have little faith that the massive federal bureaucracy can solve the nation's ills, according to a survey from the Pew Research Center that shows public confidence in the federal government at one of the lowest points in a half-century.

The poll released Sunday illustrates the ominous situation facing President Barack Obama and the Democratic Party as they struggle to maintain their comfortable congressional majorities in this fall's elections. Midterm prospects are typically tough for the party in power. Add a toxic environment like this and lots of incumbent Democrats could be out of work.

Eager to return Sen. Barbara Boxer to Washington and anoint Jerry Brown as their gubernatorial candidate, California Democrats paid little attention over the weekend to a race that may be crucial to the party's future.AP in the Daily News.

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles City Councilwoman Janice Hahn are locked in a heated, under-the-radar primary battle for lieutenant governor, a job with few responsibilities but one that can become a stepping stone to the governor's seat. The position has remained vacant since Democrat John Garamendi won a seat in Congress last fall.

Tipoff:Whitman brings her own news operation to campaign.

Liberals gathering in Los Angeles for the California Democratic Party's 2010 convention today though Sunday will be trying to get back their "fired up, ready to go" spirit of the last big election year.Kevin Modesti in the Daily News.

With many of the Barack Obama supporters who chanted that motto in 2008 drained by the health-care fight, and with no nomination contest for governor or senator to pump their competitive juices, convention participants will seek other ways to ignite the party faithful.

"It's about building enthusiasm," said Agi Kessler, chairwoman of the Democratic Party of the San Fernando Valley, one of 3,000 activists expected for the event at the Los Angeles Convention Center and the JW Marriott hotel at L.A. Live. "I think it's a better process than when we're fighting over who's the best candidate. We're pretty much united."

losing candidate in Lancaster's City Council election Tuesday has called for the results to be thrown out after another candidate was found to live outside the city.Kevin Modesti in the Daily News.

Johnathon Ervin, who finished third in a contest for two available council seats, demanded in a letter to officials of the Antelope Valley city Thursday that a new election be held and threatened legal action.

Ending a three-week standoff with the City Council, the Board of Water and Power Commissioners on Thursday approved a temporary increase in power rates, but said it would be back asking for new hikes soon.Daily News.

Commissioners voted unanimously to approve a .6-cent-per-kilowatt hour rate hike, which the City Council suggested Wednesday. While the City Council estimated the increase would lead to a rate hike of about 4.5 percent, the DWP said it translated to a 4.8 percent increase.

The three-month rate hike, which would take effect July 1, would add $4 to the average bill during the period.

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is scheduled to announce his endorsement on Friday of San Francisco District Attorney kamala Harris for state Attorney General.
A news conference on the steps of City Hall is being scheduled, leading in to this weekend's convention of the California Democratic Party.
Harris is being challenged by former Los Angeles City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo. Delgadillo and Villaraigosa have never been close politically.

With $73 million in revenue and the jobs of 51 municipal workers at stake, the City Council took steps Wednesday to end a month-long standoff with the DWP by raising electric rates. Daily News.

By a slim majority, the council authorized an increase that would amount to about 4.5 percent, or $4 on the average household's bimonthly bill. It would take effect July 1 and be reviewed by Oct 1.

The vote came a day before the Board of Water and Power Commissioners had scheduled a special meeting of its own to consider a rate hike.

To hear rival candidates Mike Gatto and Sunder Ramani tell it, the June runoff for a vacant Assembly seat will be a matchup of underdogs.

Each portrayed himself as an overachieving neophyte after leading Tuesday's special election in the 43rd District, representing parts of the east San Fernando Valley.

Gatto received 32.3 percent of the vote to thump fellow Democrats Nayiri Nahabedian (22.3 percent) and Chahe Keuroghelian (13.6 percent). Ramani got 31.8 percent as the only Republican on the ballot.

Lancaster voters' overwhelming support for opening meetings with prayers will not end the fight over the role of religion in government, opponents of the successful ballot initiative said Wednesday.Kevin Modesti in the Daily News.

More than 75 percent of voters in the Antelope Valley city gave their OK Tuesday to Measure I, which sought public approval for officials to select clergy of different faiths to open meetings with invocations "without restricting the content based on their beliefs, including references to Jesus Christ."

Mayor R. Rex Parris, also elected Tuesday to a second two-year term, said the measure's triumph shows Lancaster residents are "looking at ways to say `yes' instead of `no' to people of faith's involvement in the community."

Citing high employment and the weak economy, City Councilman Richard Alarcón called Wednesday for a one-year moratorium on increases for rent-controlled units. Daily News.

City law allows landlords to raise rents by up to 3 percent a year, regardless of whether their costs have increased. He estimated the one-year freeze could save families $300 to $500.

"This is a city of renters, and it is growing as more and more people are losing their homes to foreclosure," Alarcón said at a news conference. "Rent control was created to protect families. When we are in an economic recession, families who are struggling to make ends meet can still face rent increases."

Attorney Mike Gatto led the Democratic field Tuesday for the vacant state Assembly seat representing parts of the east San Fernando Valley. Kevin Modesti in the Daily News.

Gatto defeated Democratic candidates Nayiri Nahabedian and Chahe Keuroghelian, and will face businessman Sunder Ramani, the sole Republican contender, in a June 8 run-off vote.

Lancaster approve prayer measure
A Lancaster ballot measure asking voters to approve city officials' policy of opening meetings with prayers appeared headed to a solid victory in early returns Tuesday. Kevin Modesti in the Daily News.

Measure I, leading more than 3-1 in initial results, was drafted to seek residents' approval of current policy to select clergy of different faiths to open meetings with invocations "without restricting the content based on their beliefs, including references to Jesus Christ."

Angry residents whose homes sustained hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage from burst water mains complained Tuesday about the DWP's response to the problem, saying the agency mistreated them and tried to lowball their claims.Daily News.

"They have treated us like dog meat," said Jay Cohen, whose Dickens Street home in Sherman Oaks was flooded when a pipeline burst nearby.

"They have disrespected me. They have disrespected my wife. They have made our life a hell."

The Los Angeles Unified school board Tuesday unanimously approved rescinding layoff notices for more than 1,400 teachers, nurses, counselors and librarians, sealing a tentative deal reached between local educators and the district earlier this month. Connie Llanos in the Daily News.

The board's vote finalizes the agreement that was approved this weekend by more than 80 percent of United Teachers Los Angeles members who voted in favor of taking 12 furlough days over the next two years to save the jobs of pink-slipped colleagues.

The agreement also calls for shortening the school year by a week this year and next.

As world leaders gathered Monday in Washington, D.C., to discuss the threat of nuclear terrorism, local officials said they are gearing up for an exercise in June that simulates the detonation of a 10-kiloton nuclear device in Los Angeles. Troy Anderson in the Daily News

Mike Contreras, director of emergency operations for the county Department of Public Health, said the county and city are preparing for "Golden Phoenix" to test the ability of police, fire and other agencies to respond to a catastrophic incident.

With voters going to the polls for two special elections on Tuesday, Secretary of State Debra Bowen is offering some special election trivia.
"Special elections are not as rare as they used to be and they present unique challenges to voters and cash-strapped elections officials," Bowen said in a statement. "Our democracy depends on citizen representation, but most voters get excited about going to the polls in June or November for a gubernatorial or presidential election, not in January or April or December to vote on a single contest."
* In the last 20 years, there have been 96 special primary and general elections to fill vacant seats in the Assembly, Senate and Congress in California, an average of 4.8 per year.
* The highest voter turnout for a special election that did not coincide with an already scheduled statewide election was 52.2 percent in 1998 when Lois Capps was elected to fill a vacancy in the 22nd Congressional District.
* In 2009, the voter turnout in the special elections to fill the vacancies in Senate District 26 and Assembly District 51 garnered the lowest voter turnout in the last 20 years, when 7.9 percent of the electorate turned out to vote in each election.
* In the January 12, 2010 special general election in the 72nd Assembly District, 15.6 percent of voters turned out to vote, and 81 percent of voters voted by mail.
* The average voter turnout in special elections since 1990 is 24.7 percent.
* The most special legislative and congressional elections in a single year since 1990: 18 in 1993. The combined average voter turnout for those elections was 27 percent.
* Since 1990, there has been at least one special election every year, except in 2002, 2003 and 2004.
The cost of a special election can vary widely and differs from county to county.

Summers could get shorter for thousands of local teens who would start the fall semester three weeks before Labor Day if new school calendars are approved by Los Angeles Unified officials this week. Connie Llanos in the Daily News

LAUSD board members will vote on two plans Tuesday that would affect school start times and winter and summer breaks for 16 San Fernando Valley high schools.

The first plan would start classes for 13 local high schools on Aug. 16 and end the year on June 3. The goal is to simulate the college calendar and allow students to take winter finals before their December vacations start.

At Hank's Tire on Ventura Boulevard, owner Steve Goldberg inspected the beat-up, discarded wheels that have been piling up at his shop recently. Susan Abram in the Daily News.

The heap of torn rubber is testament to the nearly 15 inches of rain that have pelted parched hillsides since the official rain season began on July 1, leaving city streets pocked with wide, jagged potholes.

Goldberg says he's seen more customers come to his shop this year with deep gashes to tires, damaged rims and whacked-out alignments.

A small turnout could play a big role Tuesday in an east San Fernando Valley special election for the California Assembly. Kevin Modesti in the Daily News.

Because it's the only matter on the ballot, less than 20 percent of eligible voters are expected to take part in the election to fill the 43rd Assembly District seat left vacant since Democrat Paul Krekorian moved on to the Los Angeles City Council.

Democrats Mike Gatto, Nayiri Nahabedian and Chahe Keuroghelian and Republican Sunder Ramani are competing for the seat representing parts of San Gabriel, Burbank and North Hollywood.

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and the City Council have said repeatedly that, come what may, declaring Los Angeles bankrupt is not an option.Daily News.

But with city leaders avoiding the tough decisions to mend L.A.'s financial health - opting instead for easy fixes that allow the city to limp along for another month or two - some are saying bankruptcy is just the ticket.

For one thing, it could lead to speedier reform of the pension system, which many economists and politicians say is necessary if the city is to prosper long term.

Tipoff: what to say to about a city in trouble.

The half-cent sales tax approved by Los Angeles voters to fund transit projects could create up to 500,000 jobs and infuse the local economy with nearly $68 billion over the next 30 years, according to a study released Thursday.Gregory J.Wilcox in the Daily News.

Revenue from Measure R will boost the hard-hit construction industry as crews begin work on the $35 billion package of freeway, subway and rail projects, according to the report from the Los Angeles Economic Development Corp. The ripple effect from their wages and the taxes they pay will spill over into other sectors, generating jobs in sectors as diverse as real estate and healthcare, manufacturing and tourism.

"I would characterize this study as being a more complete picture of Measure R spending over the next three decades," said Gregory Freeman, vice president of consulting and policy for the nonprofit LAEDC.

Saying they can avert a partial shutdown of Los Angeles government, city officials announced Thursday they had found an additional $30 million in revenue and savings to help pay their bills through the next two months. Daily News

They plan to combine the newfound money with a $90 million transfer from the city reserve fund that officials said would allow them to make payroll - but leave the city dangerously short in the event of an emergency.

City Controller Wendy Greuel said she is concerned the city will end the fiscal year with only $30 million left in reserve.

Sen. Barbara Boxer acknowledges she faces the fight of her political life as opponents stir up skepticism about federal spending on economic stimulus and health care reform. Kevin Modesti in the Daily News.

"These are tough times, so it's a tough race, and I accept that," Boxer said Wednesday after a speech and Q&A session with about 100 members of the Valley Industry & Commerce Association.

If the third-term California Democrat was looking for encouragement, she got little from her 30-minute appearance in front of Los Angeles-area business leaders, most of whom would be more likely to hear what they want from Republican hopefuls Tom Campbell, Chuck DeVore and Carly Fiorina.

In an effort to curb the rampant drug trade operating in the shadow of City Hall and LAPD headquarters, city officials filed a court injunction Wednesday against "commuter" gang members and drug dealers who target addicts seeking social services on L.A'.s Skid Row.C.J. Lin in the Daily News.

The injunction names the Grape Street Crips gang and 80 individuals that police have identified as the top drug dealers in the impoverished area of about 4,000 residents on the east side of downtown.

"We've learned that the single biggest criminal threat faced by the residents of the area is the open and notorious drug dealing and violence committed by hardcore gang members and career criminals who actually commute ... to Skid Row to do their dastardly deeds," City Attorney Carmen Trutanich said at a news conference.

Frustrated with the stream of recent budget cuts that have left California schools overcrowded and understaffed, a group of Hollywood-savvy parents decided to go viral with their ire Wednesday.Connie Lllanos in the Daily News.

Local parents from Wonderland Avenue Elementary, a Los Angeles Unified School in the Hollywood Hills, recruited the help of celebrity couple Megan Fox and Brian Austin Green, as well as producers at the comedy Web site www.funnyordie.com, to put together a video that urges state officials to restore education funding.

Posted Wednesday morning, the video had more than 147,000 views by early evening.

Flexing its muscles in an escalating City Hall budget battle, the City Council moved Wednesday to block Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's city shutdown plan and to seize control over the Department of Water and Power.Daily News.

The aggressive posturing came amid a flurry of developments over the city's financial crisis, made worse this week by DWP's refusal to transfer $73.5 million to the city budget.

Other actions Wednesday included a downgrade in the city's credit rating; City Controller Wendy Greuel launching an audit of the DWP; and Villaraigosa attempting to wrest $20 million out of the utility to help rescue a city on the verge of running out of cash.

Introduced as the new face of Latinos' growing influence in the church, Archbishop Jose H. Gomez of San Antonio was appointed Tuesday to be the next leader of Los Angeles-area Catholics.Kevin Modesti in the Daily News.

Pope Benedict XVI named Gomez, 58, to succeed Cardinal Roger Mahony as head of the Los Angeles Archdiocese after Mahony retires, as the Vatican requires, when he turns 75 next year.

The two men appeared together in a news conference in the sanctuary of the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in downtown Los Angeles.

Escalating his dispute with the City Council, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said Tuesday he is preparing to shut down large parts of city government for two days a week starting Monday because of the city's budget crisis.Daily News.

The shutdown will focus on departments not involved in emergency response or revenue generation. That is likely to include libraries, parks, city clerk, planning and public works, among others. Those staying open would include police, fire and sanitation.

The mayor's announcement came a day after the Department of Water and Power refused to make a $73.5 million transfer to the city's general fund because the City Council had rejected a rate hike for the utility. City Controller Wendy Greuel warned Monday that the city is likely to run out of cash by May 5 without the transfe

Some 12,000 students and their panicked parents won a temporary reprieve Tuesday when Los Angeles schools Superintendent Ramon Cortines announced he would next year continue to issue the vast majority of permits that allow children to attend campuses in outside districts. Melinda Pamer in the Daily News.

At a Board of Education meeting packed with parents - some wearing "I Love My School" T-shirts - Cortines said he would largely renege on a new policy that had been expected to return four-fifths of students on "interdistrict permits" to Los Angeles Unified School District neighborhood campuses.

"For existing permits, the majority of those will be approved," he said, generating applause and cheers from the audience. "I am not knowingly going to harm the education of boys and girls and young people and distress the adult in their life."

Los Angeles Unified officials halted a plan to purge computer files in the district's facilities department Tuesday, after a union complained that the move seemed questionable with the district facing a criminal investigation and a city audit of that unit.Connie Llanos in the Daily News.

Lawyers for the Teamster's Union, which represents facilities department employees, earlier Tuesday urged City Controller Wendy Greuel and District Attorney Steve Cooley to stop the district from purging the documents until their investigations were completed.

Cooley's office last week announced the indictment of senior facilities executive Bassam Raslan for nine conflict-of-interest charges for allegedly using his district position to hire employees from a company he also runs.

Reacting to a Stanford University study that found the state's public retirement plans face a shortfall of a half trillion dollars, California Public Employees Retirement System spokesman Brad Pacheco said Tuesday the study was based on outdated data.Troy Anderson in the Daily News.

Pacheco said the policy brief by the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research also relies on methodologies out of sync with government accounting rules and actuarial standards of practice.

"Our track record is clear: We have earned 7.9 percent return over the last 20 years, and that's the return that lifts the burdens of the taxpayer on pensions, and results in sound funding of our system," Pacheco said.

The union representing Los Angeles County prosecutors has filed a class-action lawsuit against District Attorney Steve Cooley, alleging his office committed "what amounts to identity theft" by obtaining a list of 650 prosecutors who supported the union, officials said Tuesday.Troy Anderson in the Daily News.

The lawsuit alleges Cooley's office obtained a highly confidential list of the prosecutors who supported the Association of Deputy District Attorneys and subsequently used the list to intimidate and harass them, damaging prosecutors' careers and prospects for advancement.

"This is an uprising of principled prosecutors who are seeking damages for the anti-union retaliation that has been inflicted upon them by the Cooley administration," said Matthew Monforton, a Bozeman, Mont., attorney representing the ADDA.

The candidates to succeed Paul Krekorian in the California Assembly are doing enough political pushing and shoving for two elections.Kevin Modesti in the Daily News.

Maybe that's because, in an odd turn of events, the three Democrats and one Republican competing in the 43rd Assembly District actually are running two races at the same time.

Democrats Mike Gatto, Chahe Keuroghelian and Nayiri Nahabedian and Republican Sunder Ramani are vying in an April 13 special election to decide who serves the last few months of the Assembly term Krekorian abandoned when he won a spot on the Los Angeles City Council. The Assembly seat represents parts of Burbank, North Hollywood and San Gabriel.

For such a high-profile job, Los Angeles District Attorney Steve Cooley is a low-key guy. Greg Risling in the Daiily News.

He's so unassuming that even after being elected to a third consecutive term he's one of the least recognized public figures in Los Angeles. Unlike counterparts in other cities, he leaves high-profile cases to his most talented attorneys and doesn't grandstand by holding press conferences on courthouse steps.

But by going after fugitive film director Roman Polanski, medical marijuana dispensaries and Michael Jackson's doctor in the past year, Cooley's stepped into a wider spotlight. The glare has brought some criticism, but also the attention needed for his run for state attorney general this year.

Faced with the possibility that a strict new Los Angeles Unified School District policy will force her daughter to attend Westchester High next year, Lynda Mitsakos has been shopping for homes in pricey Manhattan Beach. Melissa Pamer in the Daily News.

That's because she wants her child to stay at the beach city's Mira Costa High, a well-regarded campus where she can take Latin and compete on the Division II swim team. Those options are not available at lower-achieving Westchester.

"You can't just pull a kid out of high school. There are all kinds of other things going on. They're on a track," said Mitsakos, who lives in Playa del Rey.

Tipoff: Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa learns the downside of the DWP.

As parts of the San Fernando Valley experience a surge in gang-related killings and car burglaries, an additional 49 police officers were redeployed to the Valley Bureau this week under a citywide shift aimed at maintaining emergency response times. C.J. Lin in the Daily News.

The move falls under an effort by Police Chief Charlie Beck to strengthen the Los Angeles Police Department's patrol capabilities by reassigning 176 personnel citywide from centralized special units that tackle gangs, drugs and other high-profile crimes.

"I am extremely proud of the work that these men and women have been doing in their previous assignments; however, the critical staffing needs at the area level must remain my top priority," Beck said in a statement. "Area captains must be properly resourced and then held accountable for crime reduction."

Metrolink riders Friday commended the commuter agency for retaining 32 of the 44 train schedule slots slated for elimination but expressed concern that the routes will still be negatively affected. Daily News.

At a public hearing held by the Southern California Regional Rail Authority's board of directors, which oversees the commuter agency, passengers said that proposed fare increases and service reductions could make their weekday commute more difficult, even if their lines were not slated for elimination.

A section of Mulholland Drive between Laurel Canyon and Coldwater Canyon drives closed in February due to storm damage was reopened Friday. Daily News.

The westbound lanes were closed after rains caused an erosion gully on the downhill side of the roadway, Los Angeles Department of Public Works officials said.

LADPW engineers designed a bulkhead to support the roadway, and crews built the bulkhead, rebuilt the street and installed a guardrail. The re-striping and street sign work was finished Friday morning, said Richard E. Lee of the LADPW.

Secretary of State Debra Bowen has released the certified list of candidates who will appear on the June 8 ballot -- a total of 650 candidates for the 150-plus Constitutional, Congressional, State Senate and State Assembly offices up for election.
This year, California's Constitutional offices, 53 Congressional representatives, 80 State Assembly seats and the 20 even-numbered State Senate seats will be on the ballot.
The top vote-getter from each party's primary will advance to the November 2, general election. Because the office of Superintendent of Public Instruction is non-partisan, if no candidate receives a majority of the votes cast, the top two vote-getters will advance to the November election.
The official certified list of candidates, with ballot designations and contact information for each candidate, is available at http://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/2010-elections/june-2010/june-2010-candidates-list.pdf.
In the June primary, decline-to-state voters (voters who are not registered with any of the six qualified political parties) may request a Democratic or Republican ballot.
Decline-to-state voters who do not request a specific ballot will be given a nonpartisan ballot containing the candidates for Superintendent of Public Instruction, statewide ballot measures and any nonpartisan local races.
The last day to register to vote in the June 8, 2010, Statewide Direct Primary Election is May 24. The last day to request a vote-by-mail ballot is June 1.

It was 75 years ago that movie-house mogul Sid Grauman told his chauffeur to pick up a party of soldiers at Hollywood an Highland and take them to ogle homes of Tinseltown's biggest stars. The Beverly Hills tour launched by Bud Dell in 1935 has since become Starline Tours - one of Hollywood's biggest draws, with 150 buses and more than 1 million sightseers a year.Dana Bartholomew in the Daily News.

"Hollywood is a No. 1 destination," said Starline President Vahid Sapir, who bought the tour service from Dell in 1968. "(But) we definitely want more."

He will get it if Los Angeles officials and Hollywood business leaders have their way. On Thursday, a coalition of movers and shakers in one of the world's best-known tourist meccas kicked off a marketing campaign to get more locals and out-of-towners to head to Hollywood.

It was a high-stakes gamble over one-tenth of a penny and it wound up costing $36 million. Daily News.

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and the Department of Water and Power were handed a stunning loss late Wednesday when the City Council vetoed their effort to raise an renewable energy fee by .1-cent per-kilowatt-hour more than the council had authorized earlier in the week.

Had they left it alone, the council's earlier OK of a slightly lower hike would have generated $36 million for the utility this quarter.

Prolonging a high-powered political standoff with the City Council, the Department of Water and Power board demanded Wednesday that the agency be allowed to impose a rate hike fractionally larger than one authorized by the council. Daily News.

The Board of Water and Power Commissioners voted 4-1 to increase an energy surcharge by one-tenth of a penny per kilowatt hour higher than what the council said on Tuesday it would allow.

The difference may only mean a few nickels per month for the average Los Angeles household: The .6-cent-per-kwh increase approved by the City Council on Tuesday was estimated to add about $2 to the average bimonthly bill of $38.76 for residential customers.