July 2011 Archives

The announcement ripped across the Internet in the days leading up to Brenda Barnette's one-year anniversary as top dog of Los Angeles Animal Services. Dana Bartholomew in the Daily News.

The Animal Defense League-Los Angeles, which for seven years had bludgeoned pound officials to "stop the killing" of surplus pets, would lay down its arms.

There'd be no more personal insults against a revolving door of shelter managers. No more picketing outside workers' homes. No more shrill "no-kill" campaign.

"The mayor and the (city) council finally appointed a progressive, humane and no-kill leader to oversee LAAS," Pamelyn Ferdin, co-founder of ADL-LA and one of the most vocal critics of the department, reiterated Friday.

A new report questions the effectiveness of term limits in California - saying it has resulted in a merry-go-round of politicians moving from office to office and shifting power to the Governor's Office and lobbyists. Daily News.

The Los Angeles-based Center for Governmental Studies, which monitors political reform efforts, said the state should look at changing the system to provide more stability and balance.

"Term limit reforms hoped to create a citizen's legislature," said the report by researcher Ava Alexander. "They believed that incumbency and name recognition provided incumbents with an overwhelming advantage.

The first test of a two-year process to re-draw the state's political boundaries had Republicans scrambling on Friday to assess damage to their party, and Democrats angling to gain seats in the 2012 primary election. Dakota Smith in the Daily News,

The 14-member California Citizens Redistricting Commission, meeting in Sacramento on Friday, tentatively approved new maps for state Assembly, state Senate, Congress and the Board of Equalization districts. Following public comment, final approval is expected on Aug. 15.

It's unlikely the final maps will deviate from the ones released Friday, the commissioners said at a news conference. That news disappointed Republicans, who said the redrawn maps hurt their party.o be a tilt towards Democrats."

DeA former high school chemistry and biology teacher, Los Angeles Unified Superintendent John Deasy approaches his job as head of the nation's second largest school district like he would a science experiment -- methodically and with precision.
Connie Llanos in the Daily News,
His analytical and often unemotional way of doing business has already earned him a reputation with some for being disconnected and indifferent.

But with his first 100 days just behind him, and the start of his first school year just weeks away, Deasy said he has no time to apologize for his direct approach. asy getting high marks

Most people would relish the chance to be called president -- especially the nation's second-largest teachers union, representing some 40,000 educators, substitutes and counselors. Connie Llanos in the Daily News,

Fletcher is a fan of using metaphors and citing literary classics to get his points across. To express his priorities for the union, he recited a rhythmic poem that he said teachers have been using for years.
Fletcher takes n UTLA

Former professional athletes, union workers and high school football teams were among hundreds of supporters of a proposed downtown NFL stadium who crowded into City Hall Friday to hear details of the $1.3 billion project. Daily News.

Holding its first full public discussion of the proposed football stadium, the Los Angeles City Council heard from dozens of speakers, nearly all giving strong support for the plan by Denver-based Anschutz Entertainment Group.

Former Laker great Earvin "Magic" Johnson and former Los Angeles Rams quarterback Vince Ferragamo welcomed the stadium, which would be built adjacent to the Los Angeles Convention Center.

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa turned to a number of residents to offer suggestions to talk show host Conan O'Brien urging him to do volunteer work in order to get Raymer Street renamed after him.

The first public meeting in the San Fernando Valley over a new downtown NFL stadium saw a range of local reaction on Thursday night, with skeptics asking that the project be put to a citywide vote, and supporters calling on city officials to bring football back to L.A.Dakota Smith in the Daily News.

Roughly a dozen and a half people spoke during public comment at the Ad Hoc Committee's hearing at Van Nuys City Hall to discuss the memorandum of understanding with Anschutz Entertainment Group. The developer is hoping the city will approve the preliminary deal by mid-August. The project drew largely positive comments from many construction workers and labor groups. Others practically begged for a football stadium.

"I am here for my football team," said Sylmar resident Sharon Gunter, who only asked that the city not extend an invite to the Raiders or Rams.

San Fernando Valley politicians and leaders praised and lambasted the draft maps released Thursday by the Citizens Redistricting Commission, a volunteer panel in charge of redrawing the state's political boundaries.Dakota Smith in the Daily News,

The 14-member commission is scheduled to take a preliminary vote on the maps today, with final approval expected on Aug. 15.

"It's amazing for the Valley," said Stuart Waldman, president of the Valley Industry and Commerce Association. "We are going to have more and better representation than we had at the legislative level."

By Waldman's count, four state legislative districts are fully in the Valley under the current maps, with about eight other districts extending partially into the Valley.

Los Angeles Unified Superintendent John Deasy is calling for the repeal of some new state education funding measures that he believes restrict districts' ability to control their own spending and calendar. Connie Llanos in the Daily News,

The controversial measures were part of the deal reached in Sacramento this summer that allowed the state budget to be passed on time.

AB 114, a one-year bill, requires school districts to maintain staffing levels in the 2011-12 school year equal to those they had this year, based on an assumption that state revenues will increase by $4 billion this year.
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Although questions remain about costs and layoffs, a City Council committee approved a plan Thursday bringing the Los Angeles Zoo closer to public-private management. Daily News.

The full City Council is scheduled to consider the matter on Aug. 12, with the goal of having contractors' proposals in hand by year's end
ste time."

Rep/ Janice Hahn, D-San Pedro, received her first committee assigntment on Thursday, and it's a big one.
Due to her district having the Port of Los Angeles and Los Angeles international Airport, Hahn was named as one of 14 Democrats on the panel.
"Homeland Security is a excellent place for me to tackle the issues that matter to my district," Hahn said.
" We need to be doing more to protect our families and the engines of economic growth in our area like LAX and the Port of Los Angeles. I'm eager to roll up my sleeves and get to work preparing and protecting the people of my community and our nation."

ot in our community. No way. Susan Abram in the Daily News,.

That's what some Burbank residents are saying about the possibility that a Walmart will occupy a store being vacated in the sprawling Empire Center.

The Great Indoors, an upscale home furnishings store owned by Sears, will close by the end of August, and Wal-Mart recently purchased the 142,000-square-foot building.

A $1.3 billion plan to build a football stadium downtown and expand the Convention Center got a mostly positive reception at its first big public airing Wednesday night, as city officials repeated assertions that it would not cost taxpayers any money. Daily News.

In fact, officials noted that it would likely save the city money because Anschutz Entertainment Group is helping pay for the Convention Center renovation, work that would otherwise cost the city substantial funds.

The Ad Hoc Committee on the Downtown Stadium and Event Center heard officials explain that steps were taken to protect the city in the plans for the domed facility with the capacity to seat 75,000 people.

Ending an 11-year program that drew mixed reviews on whether it improved public safety, the City Council voted Wednesday to turn off red-light cameras at 32 busy intersections. Daily News.

Despite its 13-0 vote, the council remained divided over what to tell the nearly 65,000 motorists who were photographed running a red light, but haven't yet paid the $480 fine.

"We had one officer come up and tell us the fine was voluntary," said Councilman Dennis Zine, an outspoken critic of the camera program. "And, there are no (legal) repercussions since the court does not send the tickets on to the Department of Motor Vehicles to put a hold on a new driver's license."

Former Deputy Mayor Austin Beutner was the first of the 2013 mayoral contenders to file his first campaign report, saying he had raised more than $400,000 for his exploratory campaign.
"This is the first lasp in a very long race, but after just eleven weeks, we know we have a strong candidate in Austin Beutner," campaign consultant Sean Clegg said.
Beutner has been endorsed by former Mayor Richard Riordan and philanthropist Eli Broad.
The other campaigns downplayed what Beutner had raised. A spokesman for the campaign of Controller Wendy Greuel said they will file by next week and show more raised and less being spent. Beutner reported expenses of more than $202,000.
Radio host Kevin James said he will report having more than $100,000 in his campaign.
"Beutner must be disappointed," James said. "He's a multi-millionaire, if not a billionaire."

In the latest salvo in the mobile billboard battle, sign companies are hitching Goliath-size signs to tiny scooters and parking them curbside across the San Fernando Valley. Dana Bartholomew in the Daily News.

"It's upsetting," said Sharon Brewer, of Reseda, after driving by a budget-DUI-attorney ad mated to a Chinese-made moped parked under a city sign banning unhitched trailers.

"They're trying to get around the law around unhitched trailers. It's blight, pure and simple."

San Fernando Valley seniors and health care officials were left with nagging worries on Tuesday following Gov. Jerry Brown's decision to discontinue funding for key health services, saying the ripple effect would have a devastating impact on their families and their future. Dakota Smith in the Daily News.

On Monday, Brown vetoed a bill to continue funding for adult day health care, a blow to the state's 300 adult day health care centers that provide an array of services, including medical care, counseling and physical therapy to sick and disabled adults. The move follows Brown's decision to nix $169 million for the adult care program from the state budget signed last month.

Los Angeles has more than half of the state's adult day health care centers.

A second City Council committee on Tuesday urged the city to end its experiment with red-light cameras, citing cost, public defiance and questions over the program's effectiveness.Daily News.

The Audits and Governmental Efficiency Committee adopted a proposal to phase out the cameras and end enforcement this month. Next, the full City Council will decide whether to end the program, which will expire Sunday if the contract with Arizona-based American Traffic Solutions is not renewed.

But officials also renewed a debate over the cameras' effectiveness and whether drivers face any consequences for ignoring tickets issued through the program.

City Attorney Carmen Trutanich announced Tuesday that his District Attorney exploratory committee has raised $507,000 in less than two months.
"Trutanich has more than doubled the relative anemic fundraising by the announced six candidates," spokesman John Shallmana said.
The fundraising announcement came after Trutanich received the endorsement of froemr Mayor Richard Riordan. Earlier, Sheriff Lee Baca had endforsed Trutanich.
District Attorney Steve Cooley has endorsed another candidate, his Chief Deputy Jackie Lacy.
Trutanich has not said if he will run for D.A. _ he pledged during his campaign for City Attorney two years ago that he would not seek higher office.
A grassroots campaign stared several months ago and has signed up more than 2,000 supporters, Shallman said.

***
Jackson reports $230,00
Deputy District Attorney Alan Jackson announced he has raised $230,000 from 350 donors for his campaign.
"I am grateful to have earned such broad and deep support throughout the county. It is my intention to become the next D.A. and make sure that victims and their families have an advocate who fights tirelessly for justice," Jackson said.

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With both the Sheriff's and Probation departments vying to take control over state parolees, Los Angeles County's chief executive has recommended a hybrid operation that would require the agencies to team up when supervising high-risk offenders. Christina Villacorte in the Daily News.

The Board of Supervisors is scheduled to discuss the plan today, and both Sheriff Lee Baca and Chief Probation Officer Donald Blevins are expected to raise objections.

Blevins said Monday that sheriff's deputies would bring a heavy hand to the supervision of some 8,000 parolees, about half of whom are expected to be at high risk of reoffending.

With widespread public refusal to pay the traffic fines, a city panel recommended on Monday phasing out the red-light cameras at 32 Los Angeles intersections. Daily News

The City Council's Budget and Finance Committee asked for a report on how the city can end the long-disputed program and how citations issued under the program should be handled.

Councilman Mitch Englander, newly elected from the north San Fernando Valley, proposed that no new tickets be written to motorists photographed running red lights, although the 65,000 outstanding citations would be processed.

Developer AEG would pay nearly 75 percent of the cost of upgrading the Convention Center and would cover the entire cost of building an NFL stadium downtown, according to a draft agreement released Monday. Daily News.

The nonbinding Memorandum of Understanding outlines the major issues negotiated by the city and AEG. The owner of Staples Center and the L.A. Live complex has proposed relocating the West Hall of the Convention Center to make way for a $1billion stadium it hopes will host a professional football team.

According to the proposal, the city would issue $275 million in tax-exempt bonds to fund the Convention Center renovation. AEG would repay 73 percent of the bonds directly, with the balance covered by tax revenue generated by the stadium.

Los Angeles Unified officials this month approved a plan to, once again, eliminate social promotion at the nation's second-largest school district. Connie Llanos in the Daily Nwes.

A decade after the district launched its first effort to end the controversial practice of passing academically unprepared children to the next grade, officials plan to work on a new approach that is expected to ensure students advance only if they meet academic goals.

Taking a collaborative approach, district officials will ask teachers, parents and administrators to help create a standards-based promotion policy for the 2012-13 school year.

In his spacious City Hall office, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa points to two new souvenirs as a symbol of what can be achieved when construction projects go right: A basketball- sized chunk of concrete, next to a 2-foot length of rebar, sitting on his coffee table.Daily News.

It's a memento from Carmageddon weekend, when motorists defied projections and stayed off the roads while a stretch of the 405 Freeway was closed as crews demolished part of the Mulholland Bridge.

"What was incredible about it was that the people of this city responded as they always have," Villaraigosa said, "I can't tell you anyone expected that traffic would be as light as it was, but we got the word out and people responded."

Tipoff:McOsker facing internal union battle

George Ramos, a three-time Pulitzer Prize winner at the Los Angeles Times, was found dead in his hom in San Luis Obispo. He was 63. Cal. Cal Coast News, via LA Observed.
Ramos was given credit for reviving the journalism program at Cal Poly, San Luis Obisp, the school he attended.
Ramos was a Vietnam veteran, serving as a 2nd lieutenant in the U.S. Army.
After his discharge, he went to work as a reporter, at Copley News Service in the early 1990s and then on to the Los Angeles Times.
I worked with Ramos at Copley for a couple of years and he was a funny, passionate man with a huge heart and great compassion. He will be missed by all who knew him.

By Friday afternoons, the weekend invites begin appearing on Twitter. Dakota Smith in the Daiily News

"Djing a private Pool Party in Hollywood Hills tomorrow....open bar all day #Craziness." Another tweet promises: "Hollywood Hills Mansion.....Donation $40. Ladies in Bikini 50% off."

By late Saturday night, Twitter followers are pinging back: "Ohh, where the parties at? Because the Tarzana party got shutdown."

The city could reduce or phase out its controversial gross receipts tax on business without losing tax revenue over the long term, according to a new report by a Los Angeles business professor. Daily News.

The report is being circulated among city officials as the Business Tax Advisory Committee looks at a series of options to address a tax that has sparked substantial complaints from the business community.

BTAC is expected to make its recommendations on the tax by Aug. 3.

The draft report by Charles Swenson of the University of Southern California business school says the city can make dramatic cuts in the gross receipts tax - or even eliminate it. Businesses would move to Los Angeles while current firms would expand, according to the report, and the city would ultimately generate as much, if not more, tax revenue.

It's been 21 years since Los Angeles last hosted the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People's annual national convention.CJ Lin in the Daily News,

And for more than a decade, the youth chapter of the NAACP's San Fernando Valley branch has sat dormant.

But with the civil rights group's 102nd national convention in town this week and touting the importance of youth leadership, more than 40 Valley young people from age 14 to 22 are hoping to regain their charter to become an officially recognized chapter.

Nearly $5.1 million in federal money earmarked for airfield improvements at LAX was frozen Friday after Congress failed to reauthorize the Federal Aviation Administration. Art Marroquuin in the Daily News,

Additionally, 168 employees of the FAA regional office in Hawthorne will be furloughed today due to Congress' inability to extend the FAA's taxing and spending powers for another year.

"Because of their inaction, states and airports won't be able to work on their construction projects, and too many people will have to go without a paycheck," Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said in a written statement. "This is no way to run the best aviation system in the world."

With the deadline looming for the city to commit to a downtown football stadium, AEG President Tim Leiweke hinted Friday at some of the key provisions a deal could contain.
Daily News.
"I understand the skeptics out there," Leiweke told members of the downtown Rotary Club during a noontime speech. "I am not saying this hasn't been controversial, but clearly, this is a different vision, a different time.

"I get how people are suspicious. I get how people don't trust their governments. I get that coming to the city government and asking them to pay for a stadium is the wrong thing to do - not at a time when you are taking $54 million from the (budget of the) fire department."

Sun Valley may be known for having more than its share of landfills, but one former dumping ground is getting a makeover.Dakota Smith in the Daily News,

A FedEx facility will break ground next Thursday, supported by a neighborhood that's long sought to transform the dusty-looking Branford Landfill on San Fernando Road.

The automated facility will serve as a sorting center for FedEx Ground when it opens in 2013.

Four unions representing most of the county Probation Department's workers called Thursday for the ouster of the agency's chief, saying they have lost confidence in his ability to lead.Christina Villascorte in the Daily News,

Chief Probation Officer Donald Blevins angered the unions earlier this year when he recommended laying off about 200 employees, saying the department was overstaffed.

"Never before has every single union, representing every single employee except those at the very top of the leadership team, come together to send the strongest of messages - Blevins, it is time to go," said Ralph Miller, president of the county Probation Officers Union.

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa pressed a key U.S. Senate panel Thursday to support a proposal that would provide $1 billion in loan guarantees for transit programs. Daily News.

Villaraigosa was in Washington, D.C., where he and representatives of local governments, unions and contractors testified before the Committee on Environment and Public Works.

Villaraigosa told lawmakers the nation is at a "generational crossroads" when it comes to transportation funding. With the federal highway system built out, the mayor said Congress must ask itself: What now?

Drawing a small group of supporters and the ire of local politicians, presidential hopeful Mitt Romney swept into North Hollywood on Wednesday, using the backdrop of a desolate mall to brand President Obama's economic policies a failure. Dakota Smith in the Daily News.

"The president is fond of saying he didn't cause the recession, he inherited the recession," said Romney, standing in a parking lot in front of Valley Plaza. "And that's true. But he made it worse and he also made worse the recovery."

In Los Angeles as part of a two-day fundraising trip, the Republican former Massachusetts governor drew parallels between the economy and the mall, which was picked up by New York-based lender iStar Financial after developer JH Snyder defaulted on the loan earlier this year. Romney accused Obama of focusing on a "liberal agenda," and putting issues like health care reform ahead of job creation

After considerable backlash from parents and teachers, the superintendent of Los Angeles Unified suspended a policy that would allow homework to count for only 10 percent of a student's grade. Connie Llanos in the Daily News.

The policy was quietly approved by the school board in May in an effort to level the playing field for students with varying levels of academic support at home.

But Superintendent John Deasy called a halt to the policy after complaints that it would penalize hard-working students who complete homework assignments and strip teachers of authority over their classrooms.

Taking steps toward reforming Los Angeles' election laws, the City Council on Wednesday ordered a review of regulations governing campaign spending, matching funds and the role of independent expenditure committees.Daily News.

In a separate action, the council called a special election for Nov. 8 to fill the 15th District vacancy created with the election of Janice Hahn to Congress.

However, it was the rule limiting contributions to $500 for City Council races and the cap on spending for those accepting matching funds that drew the most attention. The issue arose from a U.S. Supreme Court ruling issued in June in an Arizona case that limits the use of public funds in campaigns.

Spurred by the experiences of two new bicycle enthusiasts, the Los Angeles City Council on Wednesday approved a historic measure that would allow cyclists to sue motorists who harass them. Daily News.

The "Prohibition Against Harassment of Bicyclists" bans physical assaults and threats on cyclists and deliberate attempts to distract them.

The law also allows cyclists to file civil lawsuits and recover attorney fees in favorable cases. It gives harassed riders the ability to recover triple their injury claims or $1,000, whichever is greater.
Protect

A trio of audits released Tuesday points out flaws in the LAPD's anti-gang unit and animal cruelty task force, while praising a test program that places surveillance cameras in cruisers. CJ Lin in the Daily News,

For the last year, officers have patrolled South Bureau in 300 vehicles equipped with video cameras, a tool designed to hold police accountable during their interactions.

Los Angeles Police Department officials are still working out technological and procedural kinks in the $5 million pilot program, but expect next month to issue a request for proposals to expand it.

A county agency that detected excessive levels of arsenic and other chemicals in the tap water at four county facilities waited as long as nine months before alerting health officials - and the people at those sites - about the risks. Christina Villacorte in the Daily News.

Supervisor Michael Antonovich criticized the Department of Agricultural Commissioner/Weights and Measures' delay in releasing the findings of its water quality tests.

"That's unacceptable," Antonovich told Agricultural Commissioner Kurt Floren during a Board of Supervisors hearing Tuesday.

A Chatsworth trolley manufacturer received a key city endorsement Tuesday in its bid to win a contract to build a $62 million light-rail system in Qatar. Gregory J.Wilcox in the Daily News.

TIG/m Modern Street Railways is a finalist to build a transit system for the Heart of Doha project. Its two-phase bid proposes the construction of five streetcars and more than 17 miles of track.

Company President Brad Read said obtaining city backing for its effort is important when competing for overseas business.

Reviving a battle with City Attorney Carmen Trutanich, the Los Angeles City Council called Tuesday for a study on the possible breakup of the office's civil and criminal divisions. Daily News.

By a 13-0 vote, the council ordered a survey of city attorney's offices in other municipalities.

"This is simply a report on how other cities and counties are represented by their attorneys," said Councilwoman Jan Perry, who co-sponsored the motion. "It is not about contracting out. The intention is to bring back a model that shows us how other jurisdictions work."

The San Fernando Valley's frail housing market weakened in June with sales falling to a record low for the month amid worries about the overall economy, a trade group said Monday. Gregory J. Wilcox in the Daily News.

Sales tumbled 21 percent last month, when 514 homes changed owners, compared with 649 a year earlier, said the Van Nuys-based Southland Regional Association of Realtors.

Coming off a record low for May of 501 homes, the market is on pace to break the 2007 low of 6,271 set in 2007.

Teacher turnover is up to three times higher at Los Angeles' charter schools than at traditional campuses, even while student enrollment continues to grow at the independently run campuses, according to two studies. Connie Llanos in the Daily News.

Researchers at the University of California at Berkeley tracked traditional and charter campuses within Los Angeles Unified's attendance boundaries between 2002 and 2009 - a time when the number of charters soared from 53 to 157 campuses.

They found that teachers at elementary charter schools had 33 percent higher odds of leaving by year's end than their peers at traditional campuses. The odds of leaving soared to nearly four times for charter teachers at middle and high schools, the study found.

Patrons of Los Angeles libraries rejoiced as Monday service was restored - a down payment on plans to open the facilities seven days a week - while a dispute simmered over rehiring laid-off librarians. Daily News.

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, several City Council members and other library supporters held a news conference at the Central Library to hail the return of Monday service - a move enabled by overwhelming voter approval of Measure L in March.

"None of us wanted to cut library hours," Villaraigosa said. "This economic tsunami has eviscerated local government, cutting library hours, public safety, the core of public service."

A 39-year-old developer who has worked as a $1-a-year member of the city's business team will be promoted to deputy mayor for the Office of Economic and Business Development. Daily News.

During a business roundtable being held today in the San Fernando Valley, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa will formally announce that Matt Karatz will take over the post previously held by former First Deputy Mayor Austin Beutner.

Karatz, the son of former KB Homes Presiden

Sarah Hamilton, the main spokeswoman for Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, announced Monday she is leaving this week to go to work for Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel.
Hamilton, who came Villarigosa after working for the Clinton Climate Initiative, is a Chicago native.
She leaves her city job on Friday and is to take on her position in Chicago in mid-August.

The Los Angeles City Council is close to becoming an Old Boys Club again. Daily News.

Once Janice Hahn takes the oath of office for Congress this week, Jan Perry becomes the last woman on the council.

"It worries me," Perry said. "And, when I leave office in two years, there is a chance this will be all males again."

Perry, who is running for mayor in 2013 and is termed out from the council, is the last of a wave of women who, at one point, made up one-third of the 15-member council. Another candidate in the mayor's race is former councilwoman Wendy Greuel, who currently serves as the city's controller.

TipoffL Crowded field for Hahn seat.

Here are some things we don't know about the Republican presidential field: Will Rick Perry run? Will Sarah Palin run, and will we see any less of her if she doesn't? Is Michele Bachmann a contender or a kook, and could she be both? What does it say about Mitt Romney and his rivals when polls show President Obama trailing a "generic" GOP candidate but walloping any actual GOP candidate? Kevin Modesti in the Daily News.

Here's one thing we do know: There will not be a man or woman from California in the race.

The city should move ahead with creating a public-private partnership to operate the Los Angeles Zoo, to increase revenue and reduce the city's subsidy, a report released late Friday said. Daily News.

City Administrative Officer Miguel Santana, in a report to the City Council's Arts, Health, Parks and Aging Committee, said the city should issue a request for proposals to see the level of interest in developing a new management structure for the zoo's operation. The report is scheduled for Tuesday's meeting.

"Without an alternative model, the city's general fund subsidy is very likely to be reduced further or eliminated, resulting in the continual increase of admission fees and the possible eventual closure of the L.A. Zoo," Santana said in his report.

If you believe the hype, Judgment Day for Los Angeles motorists begins at 7 tonight, when crews begin blocking access ramps to the 405 Freeway in preparation for the weekend closure through the Sepulveda Pass. C.J. Lin in the Daily News,

But will L.A. freeways, boulevards and side streets descend into clogged chaos, creating the city's worst-ever traffic jam? Or are all the doom-and-gloom scenarios about "Carmageddon" nothing more than fear-mongering blather similar to the Y2K scare more than a decade ago?

It's hard to tell, according to Metro officials, who say 500,000 cars travel the corridor on a typical July weekend.

After three months of hearing tear-filled testimony, a Los Angeles judge has divided up $200 million among victims of the 2008 Metrolink crash in Chatsworth - but said it was $64 million short. Dana Baretholomew and Bob Strauss in the Daily News,

In an agonizing decision issued Wednesday, Superior Court Judge Peter D. Lichtman said awards for the 24 dead and more than 100 injured would not be enough because of a federal cap on damages.

"Impossible decisions had to be made," Lichtman wrote in a 33-page ruling. "What was given to one victim had to be taken from another.

Drawing on his years of political activity at the state and local level, Assemlblyman Warren Furtuani announced on Thurusday he has the support of Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and Supervisor Mark Ridely-Thomas in his bid to succeed Jancie Hahn on the City Council.
Furutani is a former LAUSD board member and community college trustee, who has hired Parke Skelton, Villaraiagosa's long-time campaign consultant, to manage his campaign.
A native of San Pedro, Furutani is one of the top announced candidates for the City Council seat, vacated with Hahn's election to Congress. She is expected to resign her City Council seat next week, clearing the way for a Nov. 8 special election.
Furutani said he also has been endorsed by Councilman Paul Koretz, School Board President Monica Garcia and Community College Trustees Kelly Candael and Steve Veres.
Another candidate in the race, Pat McOsker, president of the United Firefighters of Los Angeles City, has the endorsement of the California Nurses Association.
Former Councilman Rudy Svorinich also has declared for the race as has Police Officer Joe Buscaino.

****McOsker campaign rseponds
The McOsker campaign said it is not looking for such high profile endorsements:
om.berman@gmail.com Learn more Report phishing
"Pat McOsker is focused on winning grassroots support and support from the working men and women from Los Angeles, like the RNs of the California Nurses Association. The 15th District is a long way from downtown and endorsements from the political establishment are not going to make the difference in this election."

Democrat Janice Hahn won a hard-fought campaign for Congress, setting off a scramble to fill her Los Angeles City Council seat representing the San Pedro area. Daily News.

By a 54-46 margin, Hahn defeated Republican Craig Huey to succeed Rep. Jane Harman, who resigned in February to head the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.

Hahn received 41,585 votes compared to 34,536 for Huey, a marketing executive who spent more than $800,000 of his own money in the race for the 36th Congressional District. Hahn raised and spent more than $1.3 million, much of it through donations from unions and Democratic Party organizations.

With the pending expansion of the Panama Canal posing a competitive threat, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said Wednesday the top priority for the Port of Los Angeles is dredging for a deep-water channel that can accommodate larger cargo ships. Daily News.

"The Port of Los Angeles is an economic engine - not only for the city, but for the nation," Villaraigosa said at a City Hall news conference, where he released an updated Industrial, Economic and Administrative survey.

Thanks to drops in violent and property crimes in the first half of 2011, the crime rate in Los Angeles is on track to be even lower than last year's, when overall crime hit a four-decade low, officials announced Tuesday. C.J. Lin in the Daily News.

Murders are down 8 percent from 160 reported in the first half of last year compared to the 147 murders in the same period this year. The statistic is an indication that the city can close out the year with fewer than 300 murders for the second time in a row, said LAPD Police Chief Charlie Beck.

"We are on target again this year," Beck said. "That's a number I never thought I'd see as a Los Angeles police officer. It's an amazing, amazing feat for the city of Los Angeles."

Los Angeles Unified officials and school board members Tuesday proposed two key changes to the district's landmark Public School Choice reform effort, which some parents and community members fear could water down the ambitious plan. Conniei Llanos in the Daily News.

The reform initiative, approved by the LAUSD board in 2009, allows outside groups to compete with LAUSD-based teams to run some of the district's lowest-performing campuses and new schools.

To date, some 55 LAUSD schools have gone through the competitive process, hailed by some as one of the most promising reform efforts ever undertaken by the district and sharply criticized by others as a give-away of public schools.

Taking another stab at speeding up the building permit process in Los Angeles, the city opened a new office Tuesday dedicated to streamlining approvals for business owners and developers. Dakota Smith in the Daily News.

A buffet of staffers from agencies like the Planning Department, Department of Transportation, and Department of Building and Safety will sit side by side in the new office, located on Figueroa Street in downtown. The goal is to create a central office to work on complex cases, rather than send applicants to numerous agencies around the city.

"This is an opportunity for L.A. to cut red tape and bureaucratic delays," said Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, "so that small businesses and larger developers can create jobs that we need."

A potential leading contender for Los Angeles mayor announced Tuesday he has decided against entering the race in 2013. Daily News

State Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Van Nuys, said he appreciates the calls of support he has received over the past several months, but believes the cost and time of a citywide campaign would take too much time away from his job.

"I really like my job," Padilla said in a telephone interview.

"I have a lot of things in the works that I don't want to walk away from."

Promising to hold a public session on plans for a $1.3 billion downtown football arena and convention hall, the City Council on Tuesday rejected a proposal to bypass a special committee formed to review the proposal. Daily News.

City Council President Eric Garcetti said a public session will be held July 29 to review the AEG proposal. In the meantime, the Ad Hoc Committee on the Downtown Stadium and Event Center will proceed with its plans for two more public hearings.

Councilwoman Jan Perry, who chairs the committee, said she considered it a "hostile act" by Councilman Bill Rosendahl to try and take the issue from the panel. Rosendahl also sits on the committee.

Councilwoman Janice Hahn won her bid for Congress on Tuesday over Republican Craig Huey by a strong margin.
The bittersweet victory came the day after the death of Hahn;s mother, Ramona Hahn,
Results showed Hahn with 30,545 votes for 56.8 percent to Huey's 23,207
for 43,1 percent,
Huey, a Tea Party memeber, spent niore than $800,000 of his own money on his campaign,.
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Councilwoman Janice Hahn, who is running against Republican Craig Huey in the South Bay for a congressional seat in the South Ba area, scaled back her campaign following the death on Monday of her mother, Ramona.
Hahn went early to her San Pedro polliing place to cast her ballot, then stated with family throughout the day. She was scheduled to be with supporters for an election return event.
Ramona Hahn died of unknown causes in her San Pedro home. She was 86.
The race against Huey has become closer than most expected as he has been able to put $800,000 of his own money into the race. Hahn has raises more than $1.2 million.

On any given day, it could be a sound, a smell, a face-to-face confrontation. Any of those triggers can bring back the same fears and rush of adrenaline experienced on the front lines of Iraq or Afghanistan. Daily Breeze.

"You get used to all the noise in Iraq, but when I came back here, it was hard for me," said Los Angeles Sheriff's Sgt. Trendel Coley, who was called up for a second deployment, lasting 15 months, with the Army in 2007. "I would hear a horn and ... I had to remind myself I was home and not in the war zone."

Coley is among many local police officers and deputies who have had to cope with readjusting to civilian life after long, and sometimes multiple, deployments.

Tipoff: Councilwoman outraises rival in race for Congress.

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In the possible race to succeed Hahn, UFLAC President Pat McOsker moved back into the San Pedro area several weeks ago to establish residency, his campaign says.

Carmageddon might deliver a weekend of traffic hell, but there'll be plenty of pit stops for weary motorists to take the sting out of all the fire and brimstone. Dakota Smith in the Daily News.

Plucky businesses are quickly realizing the potential of serving crazed commuters as well as locals who'll be eager to walk or bike to shops and restaurants to avoid clogged streets and highways when the 405 Freeway is closed.

Adam Milstein, owner of South Restaurant in Santa Monica, has a drink for the most rattled of drivers: the Road Rager, a $3 watermelon liquor-based shot created especially for the weekend.

The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power has been picked on by the City Council, bashed by ratepayers and slammed by taxpayer advocates for everything from escalating rates to confusing bills to poor customer service. Daily News,

But perhaps the critics never knew how bad it was. Until now.

A business journal has placed the DWP at No. 13 on a list of "The 19 Most Hated Companies in America."

It was ranked even worse than such trouble-plagued firms as AT&T - facing years of service complaints about iPhone coverage - and Bank of America, the target of complaints and lawsuits about poor mortgage service and foreclosures.

It is very difficult to create a new state from an existing one. The internal connections and already existing statues and laws make the process very complicated. However, there is one Southern California country supervisor who believes seceding and creating the state of South California is indeed possible. Andrew Canco in Public CEO.

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa today appointed Assistant Chief Brian Cummings, a 31-year-veteran of the Los Angeles Fire Department, to serve as the agency's interim chief. C.J. Lin in the Daily News,

Cummings will head the department while officials recruit a successor to Chief Millage Peaks, who is set to retire on Sunday.

Cummings has served as Peaks' chief of staff, and met recently with community groups around Los Angeles to explain a new deployment plan that places an emphasis on medical calls.

The tap water in at least four Los Angeles County facilities, including two in Lancaster, has levels of contaminants such as arsenic and lead that exceed federal and state recommendations, according to a new county report released Thursday. Christina Villacorte in the Daily News,

The study by the county Department of Agricultural Commissioner/Weights and Measures looked at the drinking water in 765 county facilities, including county jails, fire stations and wells.

While it found that several hundred facilities had detectable levels of contaminants such as chromium 6, arsenic and lead, four of them were above the "maximum contaminant level" set by state and federal agencies.

Ending speculation about his future plans, Councilman Dennis Zine on Wednesday formally filed his papers to begin fundraising for City Controller in 2013.
"I love public service," Zine said. "I spent 33 years with the Los Angeles Police Department and 10 years on the City Council and I really enjoy being out there for the public.
"I have seen what Laura Chick and Wendy Greuel have done with the job and I want to continue in that same tradition of holding a light to problems in the city."
Zine said he had talked with Greuel and received her assurance that she is in the race for mayor and will not seek re-election.

It built rocket engines mighty enough to blast Apollo skyward and beat the Soviets to the moon.Dana Barftholomew in the Daily News.

But when Canoga Park-based Rocketdyne won a long-shot bid 40 years ago to help launch a re-useable NASA space shuttle, it would enter one of the greatest high-tech races ever.

For its space shuttle main engine (SSME) would not only power the swiftest winged hot rod but become an uncompromising engineering wonder.

A small speck twinkled high above the Mojave Desert over the largest dry lakebed in the world. Dana Barftholomew in the Daily News.

Then it swooped down toward NASA Dryden Flight Research Center, where 300,000 giddy space fans who had trekked to Edwards Air Force Base watched it grow into a fuselage with wings.

The world's first space shuttle glided toward Rogers Dry Lake on April 14, 1981. The double sonic booms heralded the silent nose-in-the-air touchdown at more than 200 mph.

For those who'd built, then helped guide the swan-like Columbia home, she was a beauty to behold.

Continuing his appeal for federal government investments for local projects, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said Sunday it would be "political malpractice" for Congress to fail to reach an agreement on raising the debt ceiling to balance the federal budget.DailyNews

"Our No. 1 priority is jobs, jobs, jobs," Villaraigosa said during an appearance on CBS' "Face the Nation." "We have to put people back to work. We have to put up $40 billion we will get over the next 40 years that we want to see invested over the next 10 years. It doesn't cost the federal government much and we will pay it back."

But, he said, it will require Congress to agree to increase the debt limit to put the federal budget in balance.

Tipoff: Council leadership stays the same, for now

The Los Angeles County Probation Department has seen a spike in workers' compensation claims in recent years and officials are trying to determine whether it is due to fraud, an increase in workplace hazards or other causes. Christiba Villacorte in the Daily News.

The department saw 931 claims filed in 2010-11, an increase of 21 percent over three years. The county's other largest departments have seen their number of claims drop, or rise only by a small margin, in recent years.

Paying claims in that department cost $24 million in 2009-10, according to a county report. The agency had an overall budget of $685 million that year.

tI's a battle of acronyms: The Valley's VICA vs. the state's CEQA.

It may end up being quite a tussle between the Valley Industry and Commerce Association and the California Environmental Quality Act, which sets strict guidelines for mitigating the environmental impacts of development and other projects. Gregoy J. Wilcox in the Daily News.

But VICA President Stuart Waldman sensed a change in the political wind earlier this year when he and some members traveled to Sacramento for a meeting with Gov. Jerry Brown's staff.

Two weeks ago it was meet the press, this Sunday Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa will be on a round-table from the Aspen Institute on Face the Nation.
Villaraigosa, who is president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, is expected to be discussing "strong mayors, strong schools" during the conference.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) -- Gov. Jerry Brown on Thursday signed a rare on-time budget a day before the start of California's fiscal year, a package that is a combination of spending cuts, fee hikes and the promise of higher tax revenue that might never materialize. AP in the Daily News,

Brown signed the $86 billion spending plan after majority Democrats passed it without Republican support. They acted for the first time under a voter-approved law that allows budgets -- but not tax increases -- to be passed with a simple majority, rather than a two-thirds vote.

After months of debating and lamenting the fiscal crisis, Los Angeles Unified officials Thursday finalized the budget for the 2011-12 school year, using employee concessions and about 3,000 layoffs to help close a $408 million deficit. Connie Llanos in the Daily News.

The state budget signed Thursday by Gov. Jerry Brown, however, could prompt the district to review its books and potentially hire back more employees. The state budget contains more revenue for education than expected, meaning the district could add $180 million more to its spending plan.

The LAUSD budget calls for about $7 billion in spending, compared with $7.1 billion last year.

More than 40 percent of the parking citations dismissed by City Hall's controversial Gold Card Desk were dropped without explanation, according to a final audit of the program released Thursday. Dakota Smith in the Daily News,
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Used by public officials to challenge parking tickets, the desk came to light in an audit of the Department of Transportation released in May. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa ordered the program halted after critics raised questions of preferential treatment. | Related story: Findings publicize 'Gold Card Desk' for city officials to request reviews of parking citations

Following up on her audit, Controller Wendy Greuel subpoenaed documents for the 1,026 citations that were dismissed by the two-member Gold Card Desk. Reviewing hundreds of documents and emails, she determined the Gold Desk dismissed 43 percent of the citations without any explanation.

A city panel promised Thursday to make negotiations for a downtown Los Angeles football stadium more transparent as a former councilman raised concerns about closed-door giveaways of public land and money.Daily News.

The Ad Hoc Committee on the Downtown Stadium and Entertainment Center pledged to hold several more public meetings as it negotiates with Anschutz Entertainment Group over its plan for a $1 billion complex.

The committee also said AEG will have to pay CSL Consulting $400,000, an increase from $250,000 to analyze the proposal as it relates to the relocation and rebuilding of a Convention Center hall.