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Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and Councilman Herb Wesson -- both former speakers of the state Assembly -- are scheduled to be in Sacramento on Tuesday to witness the historic swearing in of Assemblywoman Karen Bass.
They are to be joined by former San Francisco Mayor and Speaker Willie Brown to see the passing of the gavel from Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez to Bass.
More than two-thirds of Los Angeles city workers earned overtime last year, totaling $355 million, even as the mayor issued a directive to curtail such payouts, a Daily News review has found. Beth Barrett in the Daily News.
More than 29,000 employees worked overtime in the 12 months through April, with nearly 1,500 earning more than $50,000 each in overtime pay alone.
The soaring OT has become a major contributor to a gross annual city payroll that now costs $120 million more to compensate the same size work force as a year ago, according to a Daily News review of salary and overtime data obtained from the City Controller's Office under the California Public Records Act.
And de
Police radio: $5,000.
Uniform and accessories: $1,620.
Service pistol and ammunition: $1,300.
Protecting and serving the nation's second-largest city: priceless.
If you think gas and food prices are high, try outfitting a new Los Angeles Police Department recruit. Jason Kandel in the Daily News.
Prices for everything from buttons to badges and bullets are way up, boosting the cost to outfit a single recruit to $9,000 this year, up 20percent from last year.
"It's a lot of
Tipoffs: Who local superdelegates support in presidential race; 5th district race gets crowded..
As Los Angeles grapples with its largest budget deficit in history, lucrative compensation packages for thousands of city workers are driving much of the gap, and there's little end in sight. Beth Barrett in the Daily News.
In the past year alone, gross annual payroll costs have soared $120 million for nearly 48,000 city employees - $90 million of that going to 35,000 civilian and sworn workers - and bumped the total payroll up to $3.2 billion, or nearly half Los Angeles' $7 billion budget.
While city leaders seek to close a looming $406 million budget shortfall with everything from fee hikes to service cuts, a Daily News review of salary data shows more than 21,000 city workers take home $70,000 or more a year and more than 6,000 take home more than $100,000.
Cit y Salary Database
Maintaining and boosting Southern California's transportation system over the next three decades could cost some $531 billion and require new taxes, tolls and user fees, a regional planning group said Friday. Harrison Sheppard and Kerrty Cavanaugh in the Daily News.
In its latest 30-year plan, the Southern California Association of Governments spelled out a range of projects that the region desperately needs to keep people and goods moving - from high-tech maglev rail lines to low-tech pothole repairs.
And the region has to plan for at least an additional 6million people in the next 30 years, said Gary Ovitt, immediate past president of SCAG and a San Bernardino County supervisor.
"That means more vehicles and more people traveling," he said. "We really want to get these projects done - and we would love to do even more because we can't afford to take the risk that we don't implement changes to improve the quality of life."
Nielson Weng always expected it would take hard work to get into college - but he never imagined it would be quite this suspenseful.
Weng is a prize catch for colleges - valedictorian at El Camino Real High, president of six school clubs, an immigrant success story. But despite all that, he's been placed on the waiting lists at five colleges to which he applied. Connie Llanos in the Daily News.
And he's not alone as colleges this year are faced with a surge of applicants - higher than even during the peak baby boomer years - and have resorted to putting more students than ever on the dreaded "wait list."
That means even as their friends are celebrating this month as college acceptance letters come in, many more students such as Weng are left in limbo, waiting and wondering.
"It isn't fair," s
A botched street-beautification project that snarled downtown Canoga Park for three weeks came at a hefty price: $303,650. Dana Bartholomew in the Daily News.
And city officials demanded Friday to know what went wrong and why work has yet to begin on the three new crosswalks at the heart of the project.
"I want some answers," said Councilman Dennis Zine during a City Council investigative hearing, which was referred to a committee. "As a representative of that community, I'm very upset. I want some answers."
With government funding drying up, a local private foundation has gathered donations to buy 485 acres in the Verdugo Mountains for public open space.Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.
The Fond Land Preservation Foundation will dedicate the open space acquisition today, adding another piece to a growing swath of public land in an area eyed for development.
"Most people would not have guessed that it was still possible to purchase 485 acres of open space in the city of Los Angeles," said Bill Eick, a Shadow Hills resident and member of the Fond foundation's board of directors.
While Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa wants to let the "shoe shine guy" comments of radio's Rush Limbaugh pass without comment, MALDEF officials are stepping forward to challenge the talk show host on his behalf.
John Trasviña, President and General Counsel of MALDEF, sent a letter objecting to Limbaugh's description of the mayor.
On May 5, Limbaugh appeared on FOX News to discuss Sen. Hillary Clinton's joke that he had a crush on her. Limbaugh responded with a story about how former President Bill Clinton allegedly "hit on" Limbaugh's date and introduced Villaraigosa to Limbaugh in order to distract him.
"The fact that your stated first impression of [Mayor Villaraigosa] was to consider him "a shoeshine boy" instead of the elected mayor of America's second largest city speaks volumes about your view of America and the role or status of people who do not fit your preconceived notion of what an elected official should be," Trasviña wrote.
"Perhaps as our community continues to increase its presence as the teachers, lawyers, professionals and civic leaders that our country depends on, you will finally move beyond your outdated mindset which attempts to exclude an entire American population from being the leaders of this nation."
Here's another example of the internet gone wild this week.
Numerous reports from London were that Police Chief Bill Bratton was either a) Leaving to become top cop there or b) planning to spend more time consulting with London's new mayor, Boris Johnson.
Neither is the case.
``I have had no conversations with Mr. Johnson,'' Bratton said in a
statement released late Thursday. ``I have not spoken with any members of his administration, and I have not been approached to act as an adviser as it relates to matters of crime reduction.''
The London tabloid Daily Mail and numerous other internet sites reported that Johnson said he was naming Bratton as an adivsor to develop a
"zero tolerance" program for grafitti and othe rminor crimes.
Bratton had served as a consultant to former London Mayor Ken Livingston on a vareith of security matters as well as with teh British national government, so the thinking was not completel out of line.
``I would certainly be willing to do so, if asked, for the new mayor in
my official capacity as chief of the Los Angeles Police Department,'' Bratton
said.
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's nominee to oversee Los Angeles' finances is facing growing opposition from the City Council over his lobbyist connections and his request for a $290,000 salary - far higher than the pay of the current city administrative officer. Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.
The mayor nominated his former chief deputy, Marcus Allen, in March and since then Allen has been meeting with council members to lay out his plans for the post and discuss his salary request, which is $70,000 more than the salary of outgoing CAO Karen Sisson.
The pay request comes even as the city faces a $406million budget shortfall and would make Allen the fourth-highest-paid official in the city - making even more than the mayor.
Despite a massive budget shortfall facing the city, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa assured San Fernando Valley business leaders on Thursday that he plans to continue business-tax reforms to reduce costs and simplify procedures.Daily News.
In a far-ranging speech about his proposed $7.01 billion budget and Los Angeles' economy, Villaraigosa told those attending the annual summit-style meeting of the Economic Alliance that he recognizes the need to encourage businesses to open and remain in the city.
"These are tough economic times," Villaraigosa said. "The fact is a lot of economists, a lot smarter than I am, didn't see this coming. A year ago, no one expected us to have the problems we are to the extent we are.
Los Angeles prosecutors and police told hundreds of Sylmar and San Fernando residents Wednesday that an injunction limiting gang movements is needed to stamp out a violent San Fernando Valley gang, despite fears that the measure would criminalize their communities and cause home values to plummet. Brandon Lowrey in the Daily News.
The injunction was requested last month against the San Fers, one of the San Fernando Valley's oldest gangs, which has ties to the drug trade and the Mexican Mafia.
"This is a long-term problem and a gang injunction is truly a long-term solution," said Bruce Riordan, head of anti-gang operations for the City Attorney's Office.
Ambitious state plans to unclog one of the world's busiest interchanges could slice into a popular San Fernando Valley wildlife refuge or close a heavily used 101 Freeway on-ramp.Sue Doyle in the Daily News.
Traffic planners say the options, outlined in a recently released environmental impact report, are crucial for boosting traffic flow from the southbound San Diego Freeway to the northbound Ventura Freeway.
Built in the 1950s, the freeway connector was designed to handle up to 1,500 vehicles an hour but now has been swamped with 1,790 autos per hour.
Angelenos selling condominiums shouldn't have to pay the city $150 to fund an affordable-housing process that has never produced homes for low-income residents, according to a review by city officials. Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.
The Daily News reported last year that since April 2007, residents selling condos have confronted a little-known law that gives the city of Los Angeles the right of first refusal to buy most condominiums built after 1974.
The city has always waived its right to buy the condos, but last April the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles began charging sellers $150 to cover the administrative cost of the processing the waiver.
Los Angeles city officials on Wednesday called for tighter regulations on how all contracts are awarded as they moved to clear two contested contracts doled out for work at Los Angeles International Airport. Daily News.
Members of the City Council's Trade, Commerce and Tourism Committee said they want to avoid the types of problems and conflicts over contract awards that have plagued the Los Angeles World Airports agency. With multibillion-dollar modernization of LAX on the horizon, the agency is headed by an executive director appointed last year.
"We have to make sure that there are no questions so that we can go ahead and do the work that we all support," Councilwoman Janice Hahn said. "I am all for modernization of the airport. We all know it needs to be done and done quickly.
California and the United States are in the midst of a mild recession brought on by the bursting housing bubble and higher gas and energy prices, the Milken Institute is reporting today.Daily News.
In an economic forecast, the institute says California is suffering the most and that the economic ills are not expected to ease soon.
"If the U.S. economy has the sniffles, California has a full-blown cold - with all the associated aches and pains," the report said. "California will experience a more severe recession than the nation overall, but the recession will still be mild by historical standards."
The Los Angeles Board of Water and Power Commissioners on Tuesday approved a new electrical rate restructuring plan that charges higher rates for customers who use the most electricity.Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.
If approved by the City Council, the plan would create three rate tiers from June through September, and a so-called hot zone - including the San Fernando Valley, the Eastside and South L.A. - in which residents would get to use more power before they are bumped into a higher rate tier.
Environmental groups praised the plan as a way to push energy conservation, while neighborhood council leaders requested better outreach and information for residents who may face big bills this summer when higher electricity rates and the rate restructuring kick in.
Boxy, oversized houses on small lots would be banned in most areas of the city under a new mansionization ordinance approved by the Los Angeles City Council on Tuesday. Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.
The rule comes after three years of debate over whether the city should limit the size of new homes to protect neighbors and neighborhood character.
"The city of Los Angeles is a city of great neighborhoods and the only way to keep it that way is to protect it," said Councilman Tom LaBonge, who proposed the mansionization ordinance.
Just steps away from the flurry of car pools and Metro buses clamoring down the Harbor Transitway, a man lay curled on the ground, sleeping soundly. Sue Doyle in the Daily News.
Wedged against a concrete bike rack, the 47-year-old schizophrenic, swathed in a thick winter jacket and red sweat pants, was hidden behind two paper bags stuffed with groceries.
"At least he's spending his money on food and not on alcohol or drugs," Suzanne Newberry, a counselor and nurse with the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health, said as she peered into the sacks.
Reviving a long-standing debate, the Los Angeles Fire Commission on Tuesday began preparing to phase out dealings with the operator of its youth Explorer program because of its relationship with the Boy Scouts of America.
In a 5-0 vote, the panel asked for a legal opinion from the City Attorney's Office to determine whether the Learning for Life program is separate from the Boy Scouts, which condemns homosexuality.
"It is not our intention to suspend the Explorer program," Commission Chairwoman Genethia Hudley-Hayes said. "Our issue is simply of legal concern that cannot be ignored ... to make sure we are not in violation of any policy of the city of Los Angeles. The city clearly has a nondiscriminatory policy."
Grappling to cover a projected $406 million budget shortfall, a Los Angeles city panel on Tuesday continued to explore potential cuts and fee increases - particularly on parking tickets - to close the spending gap.Daily News.
In an in-depth review of the mayor's proposed $7.01 billion budget, the City Council's Budget and Finance Committee called for further studies into delaying certain building programs, shifting some service hours to accommodate the public and searching for other revenue sources.
Chief among new potential revenue sources is a possible increase in an array of parking fines.
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has decided discretion is the better part of valor.
Or, you don't get into a shouting match with the man who owns the microphone.
Rather than respond to the slight by radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh, the mayor is letting pass a slur being seized on in the blogosphere.
Limbaugh, on his radio show, was talking about a recent time when he met with former President Clinton and Villaraigosa:
"I shook [Clinton's] hand, he left, comes back [with] the mayor of Los Angeles," Limbaugh said. "I thought it was a Secret Service agent, maybe a shoeshine guy. Turns out he gives me his card, I said, 'Oh, my gosh, it's the mayor of Los Angeles.'"
Villaraigosa aides said the mayor had heard the story several months ago and didn't believe it merited a response. "He's been called worst than that," one aide said.
l
Residents in the sweltering San Fernando Valley, South L.A. and the eastern half of the city would get a slight break on their power bills during the summer months under a proposed Department of Water and Power rate restructuring plan that seeks higher rates for those who use the most electricity. Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.
The rate plan sets three tiers of rates based on power usage, and it allows residents in the "hot zone" to use more electricity before they are bumped into the higher-rate tier. The Board of Water and Power Commissioners will consider the proposal on Tuesday.
Angelenos who have air conditioning, pool pumps, multiple plasma TVs, old refrigerators and other power suckers would pay a premium for their electricity. People who live in smaller homes without air conditioning and with minimal power usage would pay lower rates.
Plans to send a subway rumbling below Westside streets to link the traffic-choked region to Eastside rail lines have been narrowed to four possible routes estimated to cost up to $6.5 billion.Sue Doyle in the Daily News.
And even with no available funding source, Metro is forging ahead and preparing what it hopes will eventually be an attractive package to federal officials who have not offered any financial support for a subway beyond repealing a 1985 ban last year on federal money for construction under Wilshire Boulevard.
"There is a long way to go before the subway extension can become a reality," said Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, a Metro board member. "But building support for, and selecting, a preferred route is the prerequisite to the next difficult step - finding a way to pay its $450 million-per-mile cost."
Most Los Angeles residents love the city but are troubled by the high cost of living, the lack of government accountability and a widespread sense that no area is getting its fair share of services - the same sentiment that fueled the San Fernando Valley secession drive, according to a survey released today. Daily News.
Living in Los Angeles is "enjoyably frustrating," said one of the 65 people who participated in a daylong conference in September put together by the Accenture Institute for Public Service Value as part of the international consulting firm's study of the views of people living in eight major cities worldwide.
Descriptions offered by other participants included "creative," "stressful," "diverse," "eccentric," "crowded," "disorganized" and "a city where anything is possible."
Tipoffs: What wouyld you pay to have your name on the new police hq?
Call Doris Wise Montrose of Woodland Hills an atypical child of a Holocaust survivor. To mark Holocaust Remembrance Day, she likely won't be attending any of the commemorations around Los Angeles. Tony Castro in the Daily News.
"Remembering and memorializing is all good and well," says Montrose, who heads up Children of Jewish Holocaust Survivors Los Angeles, an ad hoc political advocacy group.
"But I believe in taking steps that go beyond rhetoric. I'm an activist."
Facing one of the worst job markets in years, many college grads will head back to school in the fall to bag an advanced degree in fields such as law or business while they wait out the hard times. Barbara Correa in the Daily News.
But for grads who absolutely need a paycheck, experts advise: Send your resume to the federal government, Mervyns or Target or a health-care provider.
"With the economy not doing well, people are thinking they'll get into a graduate program and sit it out for a while. Historically, that's what goes on," said Wendy Margolis, director of communications for the Law School Admission Council, which tracks law school applications and test registrations.
- Soaring prices at the supermarket are taking their toll on families across the Southland as the rising cost of everything from milk to eggs is stretching already-thin finances to the limit. Susan Abram and Sue Doyle in the Daily News.
The Melgar family used to load up the cart at Costco with jugs of nuts and tire-size cheese wheels, but those days are over. Special cookies and treats for the three kids are left on the shelves. And restaurant dining has become too much of a luxury.
"We are trying to economize at home," said Norma Melgar, who plans to shut off her cell phone to help offset the rising food costs. "Little by little, we are cutting back."
Despite the economic downturn, San Fernando Valley businesses are upbeat about their prospects, with more than half expecting sales growth in 2008, according to a survey set to be released this week. Gregory J. Wilcox in the Daily News.
The annual survey - conducted by the San Fernando Valley Economic Research Center at California State University, Northridge - revealed optimism among the owners of midsize businesses in key segments of the local economy.
"I was a little bit surprised by this, given all the (gloomy) news that's going on. These are key industries, and they are the industries that are generating jobs, so that's good news for the Valley," said Daniel Blake, CSUN economics professor and director of the research center.
Less than two years into the tenure of Los Angeles Unified Superintendent David Brewer III, all responsibilities for day-to-day operations at the district have quietly been shifted to a veteran educator who has been a key adviser to Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. Naush Boghossian in the Daily News.
Under the shift, all of the LAUSD's top senior personnel now report directly to Ramon Cortines, who played a crucial role in the mayor's efforts to reform the district and who now will report on district operations to Brewer.
District officials say Cortines' experience will allow Brewer to focus on big issues. But others are questioning whether it indicates that the school board is losing confidence in Brewer.
Los Angeles' population has surpassed 4 million for the first time, officials announced Thursday.Harrison Sheppard in the Daily News.
While state officials said last year that L.A. had passed that milestone on Jan. 1, 2007, they said final tabulations on that earlier estimate showed the city's population was actually 3.996 million.
However, the city's population grew 1.2 percent last year to reach 4,045,873 residents as of Jan. 1, 2008, according to the state Department of Finance.
Linking the need for immigration reform to a renewed call for officials to end raids on businesses, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa on Thursday complained that the federal government needs to revise its priorities.Daily News
"When Immigration and Custom Enforcement doesn't have the resources to go after criminal gang members, they shouldn't be targeting legitimate businesses," Villaraigosa said at a MacArthur Park news conference as demonstrators gathered for a May Day rally and march.
"It is time for the federal government to acknowledge it has a failed immigration policy and (instead) put its resources where it would do the most good."
Villaraigosa released a study prepared by the Los Angeles Economic Development Corp. that examined three industries in Los Angeles that have high levels of immigrant workers - fashion, furniture manufacturing and food.
The strike involving nearly 300 paramedics and emergency medical technicians in the Antelope, Santa Clarita and San Gabriel valleys has ended.Jerry Berrios in the Daily News.
AMR, a private ambulance company that contracts with Los Angeles County, and the International Association of EMTs and Paramedics came to a tentative labor agreement Wednesday night.
"The strike is over," said AMR spokesman Jason Sorrick. "Our employees are coming back to work. We are moving forward, and we will continue to provide the best emergency service to the citizens we serve."
A simmering dispute between a prominent Jewish philanthropist and the head of the Los Angeles chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference reached a resolution Thursday with the two agreeing to look beyond their own issues.Daily News
In a meeting in the Beverly Hills mansion of Daphna Ziman, Ziman and the Rev. Eric Lee - brought together by religious leaders from New York City and Atlanta - said they will work together to try to eliminate racism and anti-Semitism in the community and beyond.
The two also said they hope to develop some cross-cultural events between African-American and Jewish youngsters. The two said they mutually agreed not to discuss the incident that had caused the rift - a dinner at which Ziman was being honored by an African-American group and was on the receiving end of remarks by Lee that she said were anti-Semitic.
Thousands of people are crowding the streets of downtown Los Angeles, many carrying yellow signs and others with American flags, descended on downtown Los Angeles as part of the annual immigration rights march.
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said he would not attend the protest.
"I've not been a shrinking violet when it comes to this issue," Villaraigosa said. "I don't feel the need to be at every march."
One of the big issues for immigrants recently has been the recent raids by Immigration and Custom Enforcement on downtown employers.
Just one month after Los Angeles Unified offered space on its campuses for nearly 40 charter schools, district officials said Wednesday they have withdrawn seven of the offers and are considering yanking five more.Naush Boghossian in the Daily News.
The withdrawals come amid a growing outcry by the teachers union as well as charter schools and traditional schools unhappy with the prospect of sharing dozens of campuses.
In a letter outlining the plan, Senior Deputy Superintendent Ray Cortines said he decided to withdraw the offers based on the "instructional impacts the charter co-location would impose."
A guide to street closures during the May Day marches.
Facing a civilian oversight commission skeptical about LAPD's investigation of racial profiling complaints, Chief William Bratton said Tuesday he will launch a wide-ranging review of police practices. Rachel Uranga in the Daily News.
Members of the Los Angeles Police Commission said during their meeting Tuesday that they were baffled by internal LAPD findings that no officers engaged in racial profiling, despite hundreds of complaints in 2007.
Commissioner John Mack, a longtime civil-rights activist and former head of the Urban League, ticked off the complaints, scoffing at investigators who cleared hundreds of officers of wrongdoing.
St. Bernardine of Siena Parish in Woodland Hills has donated nearly $1.5 million of its savings to the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles to help fund last year's multimillion-dollar settlement of clergy sex abuse cases.
The donation is unprecedented in the archdiocese, which has called on 101 churches with identified savings of at least $1 million each to help offset the more than $660 million payout to victims of clergy sexual abuse, according to archdiocese spokesman Tod Tamberg.Tony Castro in the Daily News.
"While it may not sit well with everyone in the parish, it is an extraordinary gesture of community and family on the part of St. Bernardine Parish," said Tamberg, who called the gift "emotionally moving."
Cardinal Roger Mahony was out of town Tuesday and not available for comment on the donation.
The donati
While Los Angeles grapples with the largest budget deficit in city history, all but one group of city employee unions have refused to reopen their contracts and consider concessions.Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.
Unions representing police officers, firefighters, airport peace officers, engineers and architects, and managing city attorneys all declined when City Administrative Officer Karen Sisson requested that they come to the negotiating table to talk about contract changes to save the city money.
One group - the Coalition of L.A. City Unions - has agreed to negotiate with Sisson's office - because its contract included a reopener clause that requires discussions if city revenue drops 1 percent.
A bill to study adding greater portions of the San Fernando Valley to the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area passed through Congress on Wednesday and is headed to the White House, where President Bush is expected to sign it. Harrison Sheppard in the Daily News.
The study would look at a proposal to create a Rim of the Valley Corridor - adding some 500,000 acres of mountain land above the San Fernando, La Crescenta, Santa Clarita, Simi and Conejo valleys to the existing protected parkland.
The bill was co-authored by U.S. Reps. Brad Sherman, D-Sherman Oaks, and Adam Schiff, D-Pasadena.
Identifying herself as the former, former, former, Jackie Goldberg made a rare appearance at City Hall on Tuesday, urging the City Council to hire more gang workers and provide more youth jobs.
Goldberg, a former school board member, former council member and former assemblywoman, is now working at UCLA and in Compton, she said.
"These are the mean streets and I do mean mean streets," Goldberg told the council as part of an appeal made by a group calling itself the Community Justice Coalition.
Goldberg warned that the city could be in for a long, hot summer involving gangs unless action is taken to hire more gang workers and try to create jobs for young people.
"If you would just hire the people who are on the gang list (of the LAPD), this would be a far different city," Goldberg said.
Gina Marie Lindsey, executive director of Los Angeles International Airport, will meet behind closed doors this morning with City Councilwoman Janice Hahn to explain allegations of cronyism tied to at least one airport contract. Art Marroquin in the Daily Breeze.
Lindsey asked to meet with Hahn after a story in Saturday's Daily Breeze outlined how Los Angeles-based developer DMJM was selected as project manager to oversee more than $5 billion worth of upgrades over the next decade at LAX.
"She asked for a meeting with me because I had expressed some concerns with these very serious allegations," said Hahn, who chairs the council's Trade, Commerce and Tourism Committee, which oversees LAX.
A growing number of immigrants and their children is pushing Latino voting strength in California to record levels and could alter local legislative and congressional races in coming elections, according to an analysis of potential new voters released today.Tony Castro in the Daily News.
By 2012, immigrants and their voting-age children could potentially represent 29 percent of California voters, according to findings by Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrants and Refugees based in Sebastopol, Calif.
But those estimates could be misleading, according to Jaime Regalado, executive director of the Edmund G. "Pat" Brown Institute at California State University, Los Angeles, and a leading political expert.
With the highest concentration of senior citizens in the nation, Los Angeles County is bracing for a surge in needed services as the elderly population is expected to double to nearly 3 million over the next two decades. Dana Bartholomew in the Daily News.
And in a bid to get ahead of the expected increase in demand, officials on Monday announced a countywide initiative with nearly every department aimed at improving services to seniors and making it easier for them to find and qualify for benefits.
"The strength of this new administrative structure is the ability to get multiple departments to improve services to specific target populations and to work together," Chief Executive Officer Bill Fujioka said.
Nearly two years after Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa vowed to find $1.8 million in city funds to bring more tourists to the San Fernando Valley, the region has yet to see a single penny for the effort. Daily News.
Widely hailed as a way to bolster an ailing economy, the money would have been the first to be used to specifically highlight Valley sites and accommodations. The mayor's pledge came after years of efforts by Valley advocates to get dedicated funding for tourism.
"Promoting the Valley as a tourist destination makes good economic sense," Villaraigosa said in making the announcement in November 2006. "Tourism boosts our economy and creates jobs. I will work ... to find the resources needed."
A skeptical Los Angeles City Council panel began its review Monday of Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's proposed $7.01 billion budget, even as a coalition of city worker unions vowed to fight plans for layoffs and mandatory furloughs. Daily News.
Led by Councilman Bernard Parks, the council's budget and finance committee questioned exactly how the mayor is closing a $406 million shortfall and whether city revenues will achieve expectations amid what some say is a three-year economic downturn.
Parks and panel colleagues said they are concerned the mayor has proposed balancing the budget with about $200 million in one-time revenues - rather than confronting the fact that L.A. spends more money than it brings in.
While Los Angeles might be the nation's second-largest city and sit just a few hundred miles from one of the world's leading high-tech hubs, city efforts to tap into the booming Wi-Fi trend are being snubbed. Sue Doyle in the Daily News.
Tennessee bus riders can access free wireless Internet while zipping past old battlefield sites in Chattanooga. A pay-to-use Wi-Fi system is being installed for riders on a 35-mile rail line roaring past tumbleweeds and cactus from Fort Worth to Dallas.
And in San Francisco, a private company is rolling out a wireless technology to let commuters on Market Street soar through cyberspace on any wireless carrier.
Diabetes among pregnant women and teenagers more than doubled in six years, a concern among physicians who say the disease increases the chance of miscarriages and birth defects, according to a study released today. Susan Abram in the Daily News.
Of the more than 175,000 patients who gave birth in about a dozen Kaiser Permanente hospitals from 1999 to 2005, twice as many births were to women with TypeI and TypeII diabetes, according to a Kaiser Permanente study published in the May issue of Diabetes Care. The American Diabetes Association funded the study.
The conditions are unlike gestational diabetes, which develops during pregnancy but can disappear after a baby is born.
Tiooffs: Villaraigosa will be in town this year for immiigration rights rally.
For nearly two decades, the Los Angeles Unified School District has relied on its staff to flush hundreds of campus drinking fountains every day to help lower any lead levels in the water, but tracking began only six months ago on whether the procedures are being properly carried out.
News that the nation's second-largest school district has not vigorously protected its children's water comes just days after school officials acknowledged that high lead levels were found in a drinking fountain at Woodlake Elementary School in Woodland Hills.Susan Abram in the Daily News.
While acknowledging that staff members in charge of flushing water fountains and keeping logs on it were negligent on some campuses, Superintendent David Brewer III and other LAUSD officials are trying to reassure parents that their children have not been at risk.
But some parents remain skeptical about whether it is safe for their children to drink water from school fountains.
Amid a contentious battle over a proposed Home Depot, city officials tried to cool tempers Saturday by hosting a community dialogue aimed at finding a middle ground between warring factions. Rick Coca in the Daily News.
About 200 community residents attended, although organizers had been expecting up to 1,000.
Although a few supporters, including Home Depot employees, noted the project would likely bring more jobs to the community, most in the crowd were against it.
Alicia De La Cruz hears the words city and county prosecutors use to describe her and her neighbors and is left puzzled.
Can they be talking about us?
"Virtual prisoners in their homes."
"They cannot go to the local market without being assaulted and robbed by San Fer gang members."
The alarming portrayal came in a 14-page request earlier this month for a gang injunction to severely limit the movement of the San Fers, one of the San Fernando Valley's most menacing gangs - with ties to the drug trade and the Mexican Mafia.
Rachel Uranga in the Daily News.
The Daily News is in the process of switching to new servers, so postings will be sporadic at best for the next several days.
Days of free and open roads are dimming in Los Angeles after the federal government offered $213.6 million to launch a one-year toll road pilot program by the end of 2010 in an effort to boost speeds on three sluggish freeways.
With a promise to keep traffic flowing no slower than 50 mph in car-pool lanes converted to express lanes, toll lanes will straddle freeways through Pasadena and between downtown Los Angeles and east Los Angeles County. Sue Doyle in the Daily News.
Motorists cruising the Harbor Freeway could also see toll lanes, depending on how far the federal money stretches with the one-year program shared by Caltrans and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
"This is a great day for us," said Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. "This is one important tool to relieve traffic and gridlock in this area."
The toll lanes are designed to enforce congestion pricing, a strategy that aims to make driving freeways more expensive during peak traffic times so noncommuters will stay off the roads during rush hours.
In a major shift for the San Fernando Valley - long known as "the 818" - a state panel on Thursday authorized a 747 area code for all new numbers in the region starting next year.Harrtison Sheppard in the Daily News.
But for residents proud of their singular area code and the identity it has lent the area, it signifies a fundamental change. For some, it seems even to strike at their personal identities.
"I have a friend in art school in New York who was so homesick she had `818' tattooed on her arm," said Johnny Fernandez, 30, of Sherman Oaks.
"It's definitely a Valley culture thing."
About 85 percent of students in Los Angeles Unified School District's Class of 2008 have passed the state's exit exam - required to receive a high school diploma - but English learners continue to lag, with just 53 percent passing the mandatory test. Naush Boghossian in the Daily News.
The overall results are up 1 percentage point from the same time last year, when 84 percent of the Class of 2007 had passed the English and math tests of the California High School Exit Exam.
The results are up 6 percentage points over the Class of 2006 at the same time.
The top two contenders for a coveted Los County Board of Supervisors seat tore into one another Thursday, each saying he could better represent the sprawling 2nd District from mid-Los Angeles to Carson and each claiming to be the stronger supporter of Sen. Barack Obama. Brandon Lowrey in the Daily News
In one of the opening blows, Los Angeles City Councilman Bernard Parks said he was a true public servant while his opponent, state Sen. Mark Ridley-Thomas, D-Los Angeles, was merely a politician.
"I've seen public service rather than political process," Parks told a crowd of about 250 people at the Westside Jewish Community Center in Los Angeles.
To help the city of Los Angeles out of its current budget crisis, would you be willing to pay up to $4 an hour for metered street parking? Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.
How about a $125 surcharge on traffic violations?
Or a luxury tax on electricity used by homes larger than 5,000 square feet?
The options were among the fees and tax hikes considered by the City Council on Wednesday in its first-ever "revenue day," designed to help close a $406 million shortfall that is the largest in Los Angeles history.
He's a disabled Vietnam veteran. She's a retired teacher who spends most of her pension on health insurance. Dana Bartholomew in the Daily News.
Arnie and Marilyn Bernstein are among an estimated 1million Angelenos with a rent-controlled apartment.
But if voters kill rent control in a June ballot measure, the Bernsteins say, their monthly payment would jump from $876 to $1,300 - a 48 percent increase.
"We couldn't afford another apartment," said Marilyn Bernstein, 62, of Canoga Park, who has lived in the one-bedroom unit for 21 years. "We'd be living under a bridge - like `Tent City, here we come.' The possibility of lifting rent control would be devastating."
Concerned about granting up to $65.5 million in tax breaks for Grand Avenue redevelopment even as the city grapples with its largest budget shortfall in history, Los Angeles officials on Wednesday insisted the project's benefits will outweigh the costs. Daily News.
"We are making sure that this is all there is," Chief Legislative Analyst Gerry Miller said. "What we believe is this money is needed to help build the hotel and we will get a lot more in other revenue that we otherwise wouldn't receive."
Defense of the tax breaks came just days after Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa proposed a $7 billion city budget that seeks to hire more police and firefighters but slashes city spending and proposes dozens of new fee hikes for Angelenos.
For more than a decade, the Lancaster City Council has unknowingly been following the wrong procedures when appointing Planning Commission members, officials recently discovered. Karen Maeshiro in the Daily News.
Traditionally, commission members have been appointed by individual council members and then ratified by the council as a whole.
But newly elected Mayor R. Rex Parris discovered that state law actually requires the mayor to make the appointments and submit them to the council for ratification.
Today is Denim Day in Los Angeles and all the city officials made sure they wore denim to commemorate a serious topic of domestic abuse.
"We want everyone to know that Los Angeles is not a sanctuary for domestic abuse," Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said. "Coming from a family where there was domestic abuse, I can tell you what it does to a family. Men should respect women,."
And, while the topic was serious, it was also curious to note the different styles.
Some, like Councilwoman Wendy Greuel, looked comfortable in a faded pair of jeans.
Others, like Villaraigosa, had neatly pressed jeans and wore boots with it.
And, then there was Councilman Dennis Zine. He wore a matching denim jacket and jeans, prompting some to be thankful there isn't a leisure suit day at City Hall.
First the good news: Home sales in the San Fernando Valley increased for the third consecutive month in March, according to reports released Tuesday. Gregory J. Wilcox in the Daily News.
But now the bad: Sales and prices remain in a free fall and foreclosure woes show no signs of easing anytime soon.
From Glendale to Calabasas during March, 642 properties changed owners, up 17 percent from February but down 52 percent from a year ago, according to the San Fernando Valley Economic Research Center at California State University, Northridge.
Los Angeles' money crunch rippled across City Hall on Tuesday as officials began to flip through hundreds of pages of Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's budget and found major cuts spread across city agencies. Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.
To fill a $406 million shortfall while still hiring police and firefighters, Villaraigosa has proposed cutting analysts and clerical and maintenance workers. Warning of tough choices, he has slashed travel budgets, cut park rangers and plans to stop payment to cable access Channel 36.
And on Tuesday, some city leaders began to fight back.
Despite criticism over how it spent $2.2 billion in previous bond funds, the Los Angeles Community College District board is expected to vote today on placing another bond measure of up to $5 billion on the November ballot. Connie Llanos in the Daily News.
If it passes, Los Angeles city residents could expect to pay $17 to $25 more in taxes per $100,000 of assessed property value to cover the bonds.
The decision comes even as district officials say they have more than $1 billion remaining from two previous bonds and about 200 unfinished projects.
But with 27 construction projects under way - including some at Harbor College in Wilmington - and several new vocational demands on the horizon, that money won't last long.
"We are spending about $15 (million) to $20million a day on construction," said Larry Eisenberg, director of facilities,
Los Angeles city officials marked Earth Day on Tuesday by enacting what they called one of the most progressive laws in the nation, requiring developers to comply with green building standards on major projects. Daily News.
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who had recommended the policy, signed it into law just hours after the City Council voted 14-0 to adopt the standards.
Under the measure, developers of projects larger than 50,000 square feet are required to meet green building codes for water and energy efficiency, as well as for improved indoor air quality and drought-tolerant landscaping.
Early exit polls paint startingly different pictures of the Pennsylvania voters.
CNN has Clinton winning a clear majority of while males and seniors. Over at MSNBC, they say the biggest factor for voters is bringing about change, a factor that generally has favored Obama.
After a six-week break in presidential primary elections, voters in Pennsylvania go to the polls today in what all analysts agree is a make-or-break election for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton against Sen. Barack Obama.
At one point, Clinton held a 20-point lead in the state, but Obama has narrowed that substantially in recent weeks.
The betting now is on the margin of victory, although most agree if Clinton wins by one vote, she will call it a mandate to continue on to North Carolina and Indiana in their upcoming primaries.
The real test, however, could come later this week, when Clinton calls the money people to try to raise the money needed to continue the race.
At stake today are 158 delegates to the Democratic National Convention. Like all Democratic primaries, they will be decided on the proportion of vote.
With the Los Angeles Police Department exceeding hiring goals and only a small number of recruits saying a bonus program has motivated them to join, a city panel took steps Monday to limit the payout to lure candidates. Daily News.
The City Council's Public Safety Committee urged the LAPD to end the $5,000 signing bonus after the class beginning next week graduates.
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa outlined his proposed $7 billion budget on Monday, using a North Hollywood street maintenance yard as the backdrop, to warn of hard times ahead for the city as he seeks to deal with a $406 million shortfall.
Details of the budget are to be available at the Mayor's website including links to his formal announcement, a budget summary and the budget itself.
The mayor is saying that street maintenance and repair would not be cut under his budget nor would there be a slowing in the police hiring plan he has adopted.
But, there will be several fee increases to pay for the city's operation, from libraries to trash to golf.
The budget plan now goes to the City Council's Budget and Finance Committee which will review the plan and make its own recommendations on spending.
The L.A. trash fee hikes enacted over the past two years were never enough to cover the cost of hiring 1,000 police officers, and even Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's proposed increase this year won't cover the full expense of expanding the force, city records show.Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.
The findings come after Villaraigosa told Angelenos in 2006 that he would raise the monthly garbage collection fee from $11 to $28 over four years to pay for 1,000 more Los Angeles police officers, boosting the ranks to 10,000 and making the department the largest in city history.
While previous mayors' efforts to raise the trash fee were shot down, residents and neighborhood councils endorsed Villaraigosa's plan to boost public safety by accepting a 150percent rate hike to pay for more cops.
Faced with the most severe economic conditions in nearly two decades, Los Angeles city and county officials today will unveil budgets that are expected to call for wide-ranging service reductions while also asking residents to pay more to finance government. Daily News.
The budget squeeze comes as property and sales taxes - two of the main revenue sources for local governments - have plummeted to a combined loss that is expected to have a devastating impact.
The last time there was a drop in year-over-year sales tax revenues was in the early 1990s amid the last national recession.
After all these years, Larry Flynt says he's bored with pornography. Rachel 'Uranga in the Daily News.
So what's his new turn-on? Attacking hypocrisy - "the biggest danger" to American democracy - by exposing politicians such as former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer and his $4,000-an-hour prostitute, and Idaho Sen. Larry Craig and his men's room peccadilloes.
While he's at it, Flynt would like to run Cardinal Roger Mahony out of town after first tarring and feathering him over his role in the Catholic Church sex-abuse scandal.
Tipoffs: Police Chief Bratton defends LAPD's Special Order 40.
A Granada Hills community garden. An NHL star's tiny red Prius. A Sylmar solar effort. A Pacoima area cleanup. Grass-roots activists across L.A. and the San Fernando Valley are doing what they can to help reduce our footprint on this Earth and ease everything from pollution and global warming to bulging landfills. Their stories illustrate a simple truth: It all starts with a single step by each of us to build a healthy, prosperous, sustainable environment for a new generation and hope for the planet.Daily News.
The bad news is that the Midfield Satellite Concourse at Los Angeles International Airport will not be built by January 2012, breaking a promise made just eight months ago by airport executives. Art Marroquin in the Daily News.
The good news is that the airport will still be able to accommodate the Airbus A380 and other superjumbo jetliners by building more contact gates on the back side of the Tom Bradley International Terminal.
"I think the Midfield Concourse will be done in late 2012 or early 2013 now, but we'll have those new gates built at the Bradley Terminal by January 2012," said Los Angeles City Councilwoman Janice Hahn, who heads the council's Trade, Commerce and Tourism Committee.
In a move to stamp out one of the San Fernando Valley's most notorious and violent gangs, the city on Thursday sought one of its most sprawling injunctions against the San Fers to curtail its influence in the Northeast Valley. Daily News.
District Attorney Steve Cooley and City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo are seeking an injunction that would place severe limits on the gang's estimated 900 members to meet in public, intimidate witnesses and sell or possess drugs, weapons or graffiti tools.
Citing cases of intimidation of young people, the random shooting of a man baby-sitting his 1-year-old nephew and the beating of people walking on the street, officials said the San Fers have acted as if they are above the law.
"For too long, the San Fer gang has used intimidation, violence and fear to hold this community in the San Fernando Valley hostage to its insidious activities," Delgadillo said.
In a sign of the increases Angelenos will face as the city grapples with a massive budget crunch, the Los Angeles Public Library is proposing a $1 fee to have a book transferred between branches. Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.
The fee is one of several new charges and increases that could take effect July 1 to help the public library system cope with budget cuts brought on by the city's $406 million deficit.
Already, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has said he will seek to raise residents' trash fees this summer to pay for more police officers.
The years-long battle over a proposed Home Depot in Sunland- Tujunga has been one of the nastiest, dirtiest land-use fights in recent Los Angeles history. Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.
There have been charges of racism, plots of corporate skulduggery, shouting matches and millions of dollars spent to sway public opinion on both sides of the debate.
But now, dozens of volunteer mediators from the City Attorney's Office are planning a massive outreach next weekend to bring 1,000 community members together to find out whether everyone can just get along and whether a compromise is possible.
State officials ordered California's largest health insurers to reinstate 26 improperly canceled health policies Thursday and said they plan to review thousands more in coming months. Harrison Sheppard in the Daily News.
The order was the first action out of a two-year investigation into whether insurers regularly violate state law when canceling policies.
The state Department of Managed Health Care is planning to review the case of every Californian who has had a health insurance policy canceled in the past four years - a number expected to exceed 10,000.
"We couldn't find any evidence that these (26) people should have been rescinded," said DMHC spokeswoman Lynne Randolph.
The dream of bringing the NFL back to Los Angeles is being revived by developer Ed Roski today, with his plans for a 75,000 seat stadium in the City of Commerce. Industry.While he is planning a news conference to announce details, nearly all the plans are on his website.
What stands out are a few things that are lacking:
Among them:
--He has no source of outside financing, with the state legislature pulling a bill that would have allowed a diversion of funds.
-- He has no football team. The NFL says it will not expand and there is no indication any team really wants to move.
-- Is it really an effort to build a stadium for the NFL or to develop a shopping center-office complex?
Councilman Dennis Zine and his proposals to try to limit paparazzi's made the Daily Show on Wednesday night in an interview with reporter Rob Riggle.
Launching a pitched battle against Los Angeles Unified over plans to dole out more space for the growing charter-school movement, the teachers union said Wednesday that it will aggressively campaign against traditional schools sharing sites with the popular independent schools. Naugh Boghossian in the Daily News.
Demonstrations by parents and teachers and community meetings have already begun, just days after the district offered space to more than three dozen charter schools - the most so far - as part of a settlement of a lawsuit challenging the LAUSD's lagging efforts to share its facilities under Proposition 39.
But some schools and teachers said the plans are too disruptive because they include mixing some elementary and secondary students and allocating classrooms that already are in use.
With fire season rapidly approaching, firefighters and homeowners across Southern California are bracing for a scorching summer amid concerns that potentially hotter-than-normal temperatures and fierce Santa Ana winds could ignite blazes even worse than last year's devastating wildfires.Jerry Berrios in the Daiiy News
Last year, fueled by the driest year on record in Los Angeles that left the region tinder-dry, massive wildfires throughout Southern California destroyed hundreds of homes and scorched more than 500,000 acres.
"It's the worst fire season ever, this one coming up," said Los Angeles Fire Department Assistant Chief Greg West.
Southern California real estate took another beating in March when prices plunged by record amounts and foreclosures accounted for nearly 40 percent of sales, an industry tracker said Tuesday. Gregory J. Wilcox in the Daily News.
Price declines ranged from 18.5 percent in Los Angeles County to 28.2 percent in San Bernardino County, said La Jolla-based DataQuick Information Systems, and indicate that the housing slump is deepening.
For the entire six-county region, the median price tumbled 23.8 percent, also a record, to $385,000. That's $120,000 in equity lost over the past 12 months and the lowest price since April 2004.
Look out 818, here comes the 747.
The telephone area code that has defined the San Fernando Valley for two decades is running out, and a new one may be approved as early as next week. Troy Anderson in the Daily News.
A recent judicial decision recommended that the 747 area code be assigned only to new telephone lines in the Valley, rather than forcing half the area's residents to switch their existing numbers.
But that option also means that Valley residents would always be required to dial the full number, 10 digits with the area code, even when calling a neighbor in the same 818 zone.
Despite already raising Los Angeles residents' trash fees, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is expected to propose hiking the monthly refuse-collection bills even higher next week, to $36 - triple the cost of just two years ago. Daily News.
The increase would hit as Angelenos have begun feeling the pinch of an economic downturn and seeing their household expenses rise, with higher prices for everything from gasoline and food to water and power.
But Villaraigosa said L.A. must try to raise a variety of fees - including those for trash collection - to close a $406 million budget shortfall and meet his promise to expand the police force by 1,000 officers.
A coalition of Los Angeles homeowner groups has filed the second lawsuit in the past two weeks challenging a recently adopted city rule that allows developers to build taller, bulkier buildings if they include affordable units. Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.
The case filed by the Environment And Housing Coalition Los Angeles - a group made up of 17 homeowners associations from the Westside, Valley and Mid-City areas - also relies on a legal strategy proposed by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's top planning appointee to fight the adopted density-bonus ordinance.
Last month, city Planning Commission President Jane Ellison Usher sent an e-mail to community groups, laying out a legal strategy to fight the ordinance and urging them to move swiftly in filing suit.
Even as Los Angeles city officials launched a new approach to fighting street gangs Tuesday, another victim of the violence issued a heartfelt plea for quick action to stem the problem. Daily News.
"I love him dearly. I raised him the best I could and encouraged him to make a difference in life," said Donna Brown, the mother of Clifton Hibbert Jr.
Hibbert, a 22-year-old California State University, Northridge, student who planned to become a lawyer, was gunned down in March while driving through downtown Los Angeles with his friend Kenneth Patterson.
As the Los Angeles Police Commission continues to review changes in how its SWAT teams operate and are composed, the report on its has drawn some strong criticism from Robert Parry, who posts over at Friendly Fire.
For his complete analysis, read on
Despite a financial crisis that threatens to cripple Los Angeles with everything from service cuts to layoffs, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa pledged Monday to continue boosting the ranks of the Police Department and pouring money into ridding city streets of gang violence.
For the second consecutive year, Villaraigosa centered his State of the City address on preventing and reducing gang crime - including adding four gang-reduction zones to eight created last year and spending $18 million in hands-on gang programs in those 12 hard-hit communities. Daily News.
"Public safety is the first obligation of government," Villaraigosa said during his address at LAPD headquarters.
"When you don't have safe streets, everything falls apart. People become isolated. Kids turn into prisoners. Jobs evaporate. Families struggle just to survive."
Even as Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa delivered his last citywide speech Monday before beginning a re-election campaign, political observers said he faces a challenging year ahead narrowing his focus and delivering on his promises for improvements to the city. Daily News.
In his third State of the City address, Villaraigosa outlined plans to attack Los Angeles' gang and financial crises, but political and city analysts said the mayor now needs to demonstrate to Los Angeles - and the state - that he can effect real change in governing the nation's second-largest city.
"Last year was a difficult year for him and, even though he seems on the uptick now, he has to have measurable deliverables," said Jaime Regalado, director of the Edmund G. "Pat" Brown Institute at California State University, Los Angeles.
Several immigrant rights groups Monday decried proposed changes in Special Order 40 to target illegal immigrants in criminal gangs, saying any move to change the rule in such a way would single out minorities and weaken civil liberties. Daily News.
Members of the Mexican American Political Association, Labor Community Strategy Center and Hermandad Mexicana said the long-standing rule has been effective in encouraging immigrants to report crimes, and existing laws are sufficient to deal with criminals.
"Our concern is that the gang database now includes anyone who police think is a gang member, without verification," said Manuel Criollo, a spokesman for the Labor Community Strategy Center.
Paramedics and emergency medical technicians in portions of Los Angeles County will take a step closer to the picket line today when union leaders file a strike notice with American Medical Response, a private ambulance company serving about a dozen cities in the county. Jerry Barrios inj the Daily News.
The roughly 300 employees who work in three zones - the San Gabriel Valley, the Antelope Valley and Santa Clarita - want better wages and benefits. AMR sent a proposal Monday, but the union rejected it.
"The offer does not meet our demands," said Matthew Levy, national director of the International Association of EMTs & Paramedics. "... We just can't agree to their terms."
The number of psychiatric beds in public hospitals has fallen dramatically across California and the nation - with the Golden State now dedicating Susan Abram in the Daily News.
While the ratio in California mirrors the national average, it represents a sharp drop over the past five decades - from 340 beds per 100,000 people nationwide in 1955, according to the report by the national nonprofit Treatment Advocacy Center.
"The results of this report are dire and the failure to provide care for the most seriously mentally ill individuals is disgraceful," said Dr. E. Fuller Torrey, president of the Arlington, Va.-based center that advocates for treatment of the mentally ill.
It is well past noon on a recent weekday and Jaime Armando has finally concluded that, for the fourth day in a row, he likely won't find any work. Tony Castro in the Daily News.
"A year ago, I was working four and five days a week, but this year it's been more like one day in five," says Armando, a 19-year-old Guatemalan immigrant who daily hangs out along Vanowen Street and Canoga Avenue with other day laborers looking for work.
"But that means that tomorrow ... tomorrow, I should get work."
Welcome to the life of day laborers in the San Fernando Valley, caught in the grip of an economic downturn that arguably takes the worst toll on those on the bottom rung of the socioeconomic ladder.
With the death of her 18-year-old son still a vivid memory, Martha Torres released a balloon with his name on it Sunday to bring attention to those who have died at the hands of another. Robert S. Hong in the Daily News.
"This is a new experience for me," said the Burbank woman, whose son, Oscar, was killed in 2005 in Glendale by a driver who was later convicted of second-degree murder. "At least we know that somebody will remember them."
Torres joined dozens of other families at Rose Hills Memorial Park and Mortuary on Sunday to pay tribute to their slain loved ones and advocate for the rights of victims' families in the judicial process.
This 23rd annual event, put on by nonprofit Justice For Homicide Victims, began about noon atop one of the park's grassy slopes where nearly 200 gathered, some wearing pins with photos of lost loved ones.
For thousands of Los Angeles Unified School District employees, tax time this year has been even more stressful than usual. Harrison Sheppard in the Daily News.
The district's payroll system fiasco resulted in about 3,400 incorrect W-2 forms being mailed to employees earlier this year, leaving many of them worried about facing penalties if they file late or incorrect tax returns as Tuesday's filing deadline approaches.
As of Friday, however, district officials said they've managed to resolve most of the outstanding tax filing issues.
District chief operating officer David Holmquist said there are about 50 employees who still have issues to resolve with their W-2s and another 200 who may have had problems with incorrect contributions to an employee retirement plan.
Tipoffs: City officials look to clarify -- and possibly change -- Special Order 40. Mayor caught between his job and national politics.
The city of Los Angeles must build nearly 113,000 new housing units by 2014 to meet the needs of a growing population without worsening the shortage of affordable homes, according to a new city study. Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.
Some 25 percent of the homes need to be affordable for poor and lower-wage workers, yet new development in Los Angeles is primarily for wealthier buyers and renters, according to the study.
The housing development target - plus strategies to meet the goal - is laid out in the city's draft Housing Element, which is now being considered in public workshops around the city.
The goal of the report, said Principal City Planner Jane Blumenfeld, is to lay out city policies that will help L.A. build 113,000 new homes.
Today's homebuyers are turning someone else's economic nightmare into their American dream. Gregory J. Wilcox in the Daily News.
And while there are not many buyers in most markets, they share a common trait: tenacity.
They are striking deals in a market with a distinct yin - record low sales - and yang - soaring foreclosures that are pushing supply up and prices down.
Some are buying their first homes after meeting the tightest credit standards in years. Some properties are attracting multiple offers again, and selling for more than the asking price.
Does this mean that the long, steep slide is over? Probably not.
Thousands of Los Angeles Unified parents and students packed the Los Angeles Convention Center Saturday for a parent summit, to get advice on everything from identifying attention-deficit disorder to improving their children's test scores. Rick Coca in the Daily News.
Parents and students were offered the chance to air some gripes, interact with school board members and hear directly from Superintendent David Brewer III during some of the more than 50 seminars and activities at the 12th annual Parent Summit.
During a workshop with school board members, Jenny Mangandi, a 13-year-old student at Thomas Starr King Middle School in Los Angeles, complained that substitute teachers are used too often in one of her classes and that her school is overcrowded.
Faced with a city budget crisis, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa on Friday said he is proposing eliminating 767 city jobs while also raising a variety of fees and fines to help close a $406 million deficit. Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.
While Villaraigosa was short on details, he said he would reveal more information when he releases the 2008-09 budget later this month.
And he made it clear that layoffs and dramatic service cuts are planned.
"We're looking at the biggest budget deficit in L.A. history, and we're going to have to make the tough choices," Villaraigosa said.
Calling it a response to public outrage over gang crime in Los Angeles, Councilman Dennis Zine said Friday he wants to alter the LAPD's long-standing Special Order 40 by allowing officers to question gang members about their immigration status. Daily News.
Opposed by immigration-rights activists, the amendment would bolster already existing relationships with immigration officials and require police to report gang members who are in the country illegally.
But it would not alter the crux of the 1979 rule that prohibits officers from asking crime victims about their immigration status.
"These are people who are terrorizing their own communities," Zine said. "They are extorting business for protection money. They are victimizing their own communities. We need to give gang officers another tool to deal with the problem."
Residents and city officials are concerned over a plan to open a new jail at the Mira Loma Detention Center, believing it could lead to increased crime and other problems for local neighborhoods. Karen Maeshiro in the Daily News.
"We don't want it here. The immediate response of myself, citizens, people who I have talked to is, `We have got one, thank you very much,"' Lancaster Councilwoman-elect Sherry Marquez said, referring to the state prison already in Lancaster.
"Go look for another piece of property to put the jail. We've got our share."
Grappling with a growing caseload, Los Angeles County's massive court system is increasingly threatened by antiquated, cramped facilities and dozens of buildings that are at risk in an earthquake, officials acknowledged this week. Troy Anderson in the Daily News.
Of the county's 50 court facilities, fully two-thirds fail to meet seismic safety standards, according to county data.
And officials at Los Angeles County Superior Court, and the District Attorney's Office and the Public Defender's Office said courthouses have become so crowded that in some cases inmates are escorted in handcuffs and leg irons through public hallways to their courtrooms.
The state Supreme Court delivered a setback to a group of hotels near LAX, upholding Los Angeles city officials' efforts that began nearly two years ago to require the hotels to pay about 2,000 workers a "living wage," officials said Thursday. Daily News.
The court ruled late Wednesday that it would not hear an appeal of the case, finding that the city acted properly when it changed an initial ordinance on the issue last year to avoid a referendum on the move.
The Supreme Court ruling overturned a lower-court decision that had sided with the hotels.
Whether its members are ripping down illegal signs or battling over street-sweeping days, the Woodland Hills Neighborhood Council is out in full force with efforts to continually improve the area. Sue Doyle in the Daily News.
When they're not cleaning tree wells or pulling weeds from sidewalks, they're fighting for gates and other improvements outside Woodland Hills Elementary School.
"We are doing good, but our worst enemy is the city bureaucracy," said Heath Kline, a five-year neighborhood council member and director of the community services committee.
Perhaps because he's a historian, retired professor Daniel Walker Howe can look on one of the most eventful days of his long career and reduce a lifetime achievement to a simple postscript. Tony Castro in the Daily News.
That's how he informed his wife, Sandra, in a note asking her to rendezvous with him near UCLA on Monday.
"Meet me at 6 in the St. Alban's parking lot," the note read.
"P.S. I won the Pulitzer."
Faced with growing public pressure to quell gang violence in Los Angeles, the City Council signed off Wednesday on a plan to turn over all of the city's gang-intervention and -prevention programs to Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa for at least 18 months. Daily News.
The 12-0 vote marked a victory for the mayor and City Controller Laura Chick, who had been pushing for mayoral control of the programs - which spend an estimated $19million a year - with as few restrictions as possible.
The vote also ends nearly two months of acrimony between Chick and Councilman Tony Cardenas, who chairs the council's Ad Hoc Committee on Gangs and had resisted giving Villaraigosa control of the programs.
Despite last-minute questions over surcharges that will boost customer bills even more, the Los Angeles City Council gave final approval Wednesday to raise residents' water and power rates beginning this summer. Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.
Money from the controversial rate hikes will help pay for upgrades to the city's aging water and electrical systems.
Under the approved plan, water rates will increase 3.1percent July 1 and another 3.1percent July 1, 2009.
Power bills will increase 2.9percent in June, another 2.9percent July 1 and an additional 2.7percent July 1, 2009.
When fully implemented in July 2009, the rates will increase average customer bills by $87 per year.
Even as the Los Angeles Unified School District grapples with wide-ranging problems, including lagging student test scores, more than a dozen San Fernando Valley schools were honored Wednesday by the state for exemplary academic performance.Naush Boghossian in the Daily News.
The recognition is a coup for the Valley, where 16 of the newly honored schools, or two-thirds of all California Distinguished Elementary Schools named in the LAUSD this year, are located - and also where the bulk of such schools in the area are perennially found, district officials believe.
"We've been working really hard in the Valley for a very long time to bring scores up and improve schools. It didn't just happen yesterday," said school board member Julie Korenstein, who has represented the Valley for 21 years.
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors has directed officials to investigate phone-company charges after hearing from a woman who said her monthly phone bill hit more than $1,000 because of calls from her jailed son.Troy Anderson in the Daily News.
"For the first nine months of my son's incarceration, my monthly phone bill has been over $1,000," Evelyn Arong told the board on Tuesday.
"I can't see what possibly would justify this outrageous markup for phone service. I would never have thought my phone bill would be such a major expense."
Councilman Richard Alarcon said the protests of the City Council over the DWP are meaningless unless they vote to reject the increase.
"There is the old saying of sticks and stones will break my bones but words will never hurt me," Alarcon said. "Well, our sticks and stones is our vote."
However, the council rejected his pleas and voted 13-1 to approve the power rates, with Alarcon dissenting, and 11-3, with Hahn, Zine and Alarcon dissenting to approve the water rate increases.
Councilwoman Janice Hahn said part of the problem facing the DWP is the lack of public trust.
Complaining that officials did not include the cost of surcharges to buy natural gas in their figures, Hahn said she was tired of the "I'm shocked this is going on" attitude of the department managers.
"I will probably end up voting for this, but we need to make sure we have more transparency with the public," Hahn said.
Councilman Dennis Zine said it was a big reason for creating a separate oversight committee of council appointees. Also, there is a proposal to have a separate study of the annual transfer from the DWP to the city's general fund.
Councilman Richard Alarcon, who indicated he wanted more detail on the work to be done in his district with the new rates, said he remains opposed to the increases because of the lack of detail.
"I cannot support this rate increase without knowing what it means for my district," Alarcon said. "I don't know how we can vote for this until we knows what it means for the city."
Councilman Richard Alarcon, who indicated he wanted more detail on the work to be done in his district with the new rates, said he remains opposed to the increases because of the lack of detail.
"I cannot support this rate increase without knowing what it means for my district," Alarcon said. "I don't know how we can vote for this until we knows what it means for the city."
Councilman Richard Alarcon, who indicated he wanted more detail on the work to be done in his district with the new rates, said he remains opposed to the increases because of the lack of detail.
"I cannot support this rate increase without knowing what it means for my district," Alarcon said. "I don't know how we can vote for this until we knows what it means for the city."
Taking the advice of Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's top planning appointee, a Valley Village woman has sued the city over a new rule that allows developers to build taller, bulkier buildings if they include affordable units. Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.
Last month, city Planning Commission President Jane Ellison Usher sent an e-mail to community groups, criticizing the recently adopted density bonus ordinance and laying out a legal strategy to challenge it.
On Thursday, homeowner Sandy Hubbard filed the first lawsuit using Usher's suggestions. A group of home and business owners is also considering a lawsuit.
It could be a compromise or it could be a showdown today when City Council leaders propose their version of how to reorganize gang intervention programs. Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.
City officials agree that Los Angeles spends millions of dollars each year on gang-prevention and -intervention programs, without tracking how the money is spent or whether the programs deter gang crime.
But for the past two months, Controller Laura Chick and Councilman Tony Cardenas have battled over the best way to reform the system.
Cardenas has challenged that proposal, saying it would consolidate power with the mayor and diminish council and public oversight. He wants to create a new department to oversee gang-intervention and -prevention programs.
Now, with Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa planning to unveil his reorganization of gang-intervention programs Monday duri
Los Angeles police are drawing their guns less often than last year. But when they do, they're killing more criminal suspects than before, according to an LAPD report released Tuesday. Rachel Uranga in the Daily News.
In the first quarter of the year, police killed 12 suspects - twice the number of suspects killed over the same period last year.
Still, the number of officer-involved shootings in the period fell to 15 from 18.
"We are still trying to put some context to this and figure out why," Capt. Kris Pitcher, head of the LAPD's Force Investigation Division, told the civilian Police Commission. "There are so many factors involved, you can't attribute it to one particular issue."
As part of a larger plan to build libraries throughout Los Angeles County, the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved $16.5 million for construction of a new Topanga Library.Troy Anderson in the Daily News.
The 11,293-square-foot library at 122 N. Topanga Canyon Blvd. will replace the Las Virgenes bookmobile that serves the area now.
Area residents must currently travel to Agoura Hills or Malibu to access full libraries.
The grieving parents of a Los Angeles teenager who recently lost his life to gang violence pleaded with city officials Tuesday to take aggressive steps to boost city safety. Daily News.
Fighting back their anguish, Jamiel Shaw Sr. and his wife, Anita, were surrounded by family members and supporters at City Hall as they told how the death of their son has taken an emotional toll.
"Every day we are reminded of what happened," Jamiel Shaw Sr. told City Council members, as he broke down..
Rapid development jeopardizes the future of the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, threatening up to 1,000 species of plant life and hundreds of animals, according to a report to be released today. Susan Abram in the Daily News.
Nearly 1,300 acres of private land within the recreation area is lost each year to development, which could add up to 70,000 lost acres by 2062 - a little less than half of the entire park, according to the National Parks Conservation Association, an advocacy group.
To protect the area, the government would have to buy some $62 million worth of private land, but the National Park Service hasn't had any funding for acquisition of land since 2000, according to the NPCA.
With complaints about graffiti rising, a Los Angeles city panel called Monday for expansion of a pilot program to install more video cameras across the city to capture taggers on tape and aid in their arrest. Daily News.
The City Council's Public Safety Committee asked for a report on how to fund the program and work with neighborhood councils to identify the worst locations in the city.
Since 2000, the city has had 60 cameras operating at various sites under a program run by the Office of Community Beautification under the Board of Public Works.
Steve MacDonald, the head of Film L.A., is leaving the organization that issues film permits and serves as a liaison with local government, announced Monday he is leaving to go to work for an investment firm.
"The last four years have been both challenging and rewarding, and it has been an honor working with so many excellent people in the industry, government, community and civic arenas," MacDonald said.
He is going to work as managing director of Strategic Development Solutions, a firm rhat provides private equity for economic development in under-served areas of the country.
No word on his successor.
Even as Los Angeles Unified finally boosted efforts last week to give charter schools more space on district campuses, the move has caused dissent that could lay the groundwork for conflict between the district and the popular education movement. Naush Boghossian in the Daily News.
Two months after LAUSD settled lawsuits challenging lagging efforts to share its facilities with the independent schools, the district has offered space on traditional campuses to 39 charter schools - the majority of the 54 that applied.
The placement offers are the most the district has ever made and triple the 13 space assignments it offered last year.
TIPOFFS: Mayor sounds a simliar theme, ex-schools chief returns to LAUSD.
After four decades in urban development, Robert D. Voit has left his imprint on more than $1 billion in construction projects across Southern California, Arizona and Nevada. Connie Llanos in the Daily News.
But it's the $500 million Warner Center skyline - at the heart of Woodland Hills and long regarded as San Fernando Valley's downtown - that the veteran developer considers his most significant legacy.
Voit's vision in the 1970s for an urban hub amid the tree-lined hills and suburban single-family neighborhoods would later be hailed as a jewel of development.
More than 15,000 people have signed up for a federal security card permitting access to sensitive areas of the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach since enrollment opened nearly four months ago, according to the Transportation Security Administration. Art Marroquin at the Daily News.
While federal officials say local enrollment figures are "on pace," critics of the Transportation Worker Identification Credential program argue that registration is moving along at a snail's pace.
Steep enrollment fees, a lack of accessible registration centers and poor planning on the part of federal authorities were cited as the leading reasons for the poor turnout so far, according to port executives and union leaders.
Even as Los Angeles County's sprawling court system seeks to mete out justice, security is becoming a growing concern as the number of threats against its 600 judges, commissioners and referees has more than doubled in the past two years. Troy Anderson in the Daily News.
Threats against court personnel surged from 99 in 2006 to 267 last year, according to court records. And as violence and threats have risen, security costs have soared from $132 million three years ago to $169 million.
In recent years, a court commissioner and his wife were gunned down at their home, a judge's child was threatened at school, an attorney was shot repeatedly outside the Van Nuys Courthouse, and a judge's wife was kidnapped and killed.
"It's rare when a week goes by and I don't get some kind of call from the sheriff about a threat or something else involving our courts," Los Angeles Superior Court Presiding Judge J. Stephen Czuleger said.
"We've had many cases in which a witness has been threatened or the local public defender says they have a gang member who is very upset and is going to take action against a witness, a lawyer or the judge."
With Los Angeles International Airport in the midst of a multibillion-dollar renovation, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa on Monday will welcome officials from around the world to discuss how to make airports more environmentally friendly. Daily News.
The three-day C40 Airports and Climate Group meeting at the Biltmore Hotel is expected to include delegates from London, Chicago, Seattle, Montreal, Warsaw, Mexico City, Bangladesh, Hong Kong, Jakarta, New York, Philadelphia, Seoul, Stockholm and Zurich.
Delegates from around California also are expected to attend.
Villaraigosa has made the greening of Los Angeles one of his top priorities, with a number of initiatives at LAX including replacing gas-powered vehicles with alternative-fuel vehicles, using electric power for aircraft on the ground and using only renewable power at the remodeled Tom Bradley International Terminal.
As election season comes to a close in this city of 171,500, five candidates are vying for two available city council seats. Voters go to the polls on Tuesday. Jerry Barrios in the Daily News.
Amid a budget crisis that has city officials preparing for layoffs and scrambling for savings, the Los Angeles City Council is sitting on some $12 million in spending money. Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.
Cash allocated annually from the city budget, along with money from the sale of city property and from advertising revenue, is set aside for individual council members to fund pet projects ranging from community events to street improvements.
But with a budget deficit this year and a shortfall estimated at $450 million next year, some city leaders are eyeing the funds to help close the gap.
Freshman Assemblyman Felips Fuentes, D-Sylmar, will be giving the Democratic response on Saturday to President Bush's weekly radio address.
In it, he will go after the federal government on the impact of federal policies -- particularly the census undercount and unfunded mandates -- as part of the reasson for the state's financial problems.
The link for the remarks is at:http://democrats.assembly.ca.gov/Newsline/Audio/20080405RadioAddressEnglishCensusFuentes.mp3
Among his remarks: "For too long the Bush administration has taken California’s hard earned tax dollars and rewarded us with costly and ineffective unfunded mandates.
"Indeed, while Republicans in Sacramento propose cutting our state budget to the bone, laying off teachers and closing state parks, California’s federal tax dollars are being shuffled to states that refuse to pay for the services they need, states mostly controlled by Republicans."
Los Angeles Councilman Bernard Parks picked up the endorsement of the board of directors of the new BizFed organization in his race for the 2nd Supervisorial District against state Sen. Mark Ridley-Thomas, D-Los Angeles in June.
BizFed Chairman David Fleming cited Parks record in supporting business and offering incentives to companies to remain in Los Angeles.
"We are confident that his background as the chief of police and as a council member make him the ideal candidate to resolve some of the most pressing issues facing the county," Fleming said.
Ridley-Thomas has picked up the support of most labor groups in the county.
The race is to fill the seat being vacated with the retirement of Supervisor Yvonne Brathwaite Burke.
Los Angeles Councilman Bernard Parks picked up the endorsement of the board of directors of the new BizFed organization in his race for the 2nd Supervisorial District against state Sen. Mark Ridley-Thomas, D-Los Angeles in June.
BizFed Chairman David Fleming cited Parks record in supporting business and offering incentives to companies to remain in Los Angeles.
"We are confident that his background as the chief of police and as a council member make him the ideal candidate to resolve some of the most pressing issues facing the county," Fleming said.
Ridley-Thomas has picked up the support of most labor groups in the county.
The race is to fill the seat being vacated with the retirement of Supervisor Yvonne Brathwaite Burke.
Although still near the bottom in writing skills compared with other large urban districts, Los Angeles Unified eighth-graders have made significant gains in the past five years and outpaced both state and national improvements, according to a national report released Thursday. Naush Boghossian in the Daily News.
The LAUSD - along with districts in Atlanta and Chicago - improved overall writing scores "significantly," according to the Nation's Report Card from the National Assessment of Educational Progress.
The assessment is designed to measure whether students can communicate effectively in essays, letters and stories.
"For our middle schools, this was really a significant growth and an improvement," said Esther Wong, assistant superintendent of planning, assessment and research at the LAUSD.
Despite several recent high-profile killings that boosted Los Angeles' homicide rates, overall violent crime in the city fell slightly in the first three months of the year - and dropped 6 percent in the San Fernando Valley. Rachel Uranga in the Daily News.
The drop comes after months of grim and heartbreaking tales of Angelenos grappling with violence on the city's streets.
Although homicides citywide jumped 20 percent - with 101 people killed in Los Angeles in the period - they fell 10 percent in the Valley.
Still coping with the fallout of last year's disastrous May Day immigration-rights rally, the LAPD's top brass said Thursday that they will use lessons they learned to better-police this year's march. Aron Miller in the Daily News.
During a City Hall briefing with local journalists, Cmdr. Sandy Jo MacArthur reviewed the problems Los Angeles police encountered - and created - during last year's May 1 rally at MacArthur Park, including poor coordination, planning and communication and too many decisions left up to individual officers.
Many of those issues were addressed in a scathing October LAPD report in which the department - and specifically Chief William Bratton - took responsibility for the breakdown.
As his one-year term as Glendale mayor comes to an end, Ara Najarian said Thursday that the city is experiencing a metamorphosis from a sleepy bedroom community to one of California's top cities. Rick Coca in the Daily News.
Addressing about 360 people at the Chamber of Commerce's annual mayoral State of the City and awards luncheon at the Glendale Hilton Hotel, Najarian said that with the soon-to-open $400million Americana at Brand serving as the city's "centerpiece," the future has arrived in Glendale.
"We are on a threshold of entering a new era in this city," Najarian said.
Costs of a new downtown Los Angeles police headquarters have soared $150 million over projections - to more than $453 million - because the city's Bureau of Engineering has failed to provide adequate oversight and management, City Controller Laura Chick said Thursday. Daily News.
The 10-story building at First and Spring streets is scheduled to open next year as a replacement for the aging Parker Center.
But after releasing an audit performed by KPMG for $187,000, Chick said city engineers lost control of the project and the LAPD had to step in to deal with the design firm.
Socking Angelenos with higher water and power bills beginning this summer, the Los Angeles City Council gave initial approval Wednesday for the Department of Water and Power to raise rates to fund improvements to the city's aging utility infrastructure.Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.
The decision came after more than three hours of debate and staunch opposition by dozens of neighborhood council members who warned that the higher utility bills will strain already struggling households.
But several council members said they were convinced the city must invest in its infrastructure quickly, particularly after Firefighter Brent Lovrien was killed last week in a Westchester explosion triggered by a faulty 60-year-old power cable.
Fran Pavley and Lloyd Levine were colleagues at one time, fellow liberal Democrats from the San Fernando Valley who served together in the state Assembly and often voted the same way on big issues.Harrison Sheppard in the Daily News.
But, as often happens between former colleagues in the era of term limits, today the two are running against each other for the same state Senate seat - to represent West Los Angeles, the West Valley and Oxnard and to succeed Sen. Sheila Kuehl, D-Los Angeles, who will be termed out at the end of this year.
The knives have come out as Levine, still in the Assembly, and Pavley, who was termed out, both have well-funded campaigns, deep ties in the Valley and similar ideologies - and each is slashing at the other's effectiveness.
Renewing its opposition to federal raids at medical marijuana facilities, the Los Angeles City Council went on record again Wednesday in urging the federal Drug Enforcement Administration to allow the city to regulate the clinics.Daily News.
"We have put a moratorium in place on all new clinics until we develop regulations," Councilman Dennis Zine said. "Our goal is to bring the sale of medical marijuana under control so it is accessible to people who truly need it.
"This is about the compassionate use of a medicine that helps sick people."
The council voted 9-1 to support a state resolution on the issue after a number of people who use medical marijuana testified on behalf of the resolution, saying it is a key to helping them enjoy a decent quality of life.
Setting the stage for a divided City Council to wrestle over who should oversee anti-gang programs, a key committee Wednesday asked department heads to come up with a plan to place it under mayoral control. Rachel Uranga in the Daily News.
Though the plan could take weeks to pass through several other committees, it further pits two opposing ideas - and their disputing backers - against each other.
"I think this will be a healthy debate," said Councilwoman Wendy Greuel, who authored Wednesday's motion and sits on the three-member Audits and Governmental Efficiency Committee that unanimously passed it. "It's been a political battle rather than about the battle for our kids."
A reluctant and divided Los Angeles City Council gave preliminary approval on Wednesday to increases in both the water and power rates.
In an separate votes, the council backed the increases, 9 percent over three years for power rates and 6 percent over two years for water, that is charged by the Department of Water and Power.
The proposal includes creation of a 15-member oversight committee appointed by City Council members.
A final vote is scheduled for next week.
The DWP last raised power rates in 1992 and water rates in 2006. When fully implemented in 2009, the power rate increases will add about $8 a month to the average resident's home. The water rates will cost about $1 a month.
DWP General Manager David Nahai told the City Council the rate increases are needed even if the utitlity stops its annual transfer of money to the city's general fund.
"What these rate increases do is allow us to go out and borrow money at low interest rates," Nahai said. "The transfer is a de minimus issue for us."
The transfer of funds, approachng $200 million a year, long has been a source of criticism among those who question the DWP rates.
Councilwoman Jan Perry, in a compromise designed to head off some of the debate, called for increasing rates for one year -- 2.9 percent for power and 3.1 percent for water -- to see how well the DWP performs in improving its infrastructures.
Included in the proposal are a number of detailed reporting requirements by the agency on its work plan as well as a new oversight committee to make sure it is performed as promised.
Councilman Bill Ropsendahl, linking the death of Firefighter Brent Lovrien last week to a freak explosion, held up a foot-long piece of cable that he said was similar to what was involved in the accident.
"This is what caused the death of Firefighter Brent Lovrien," Rosendahl said. "This shows the deterioriating infrastructure we have in Los Angeles and is a wake-up call for us to make improvements."
Rosendahl said there is between 12,000 and 15,000 miles of the cable -- some as much as 60 years old -- throughout the city.
The public testimony has started, drawing objections from several speakers.
The biggest problem, says Jack Humphreville of the Neighborhood Councils, is the lack of trust with the DWP and that it will use any rate increase solely for infrastructure work.
The agency is seeking a 6 percent increase in water rates over two years and a 9 percent hike over three years for power rates.
The Los Angeles City Council is expected to pick up its debate on proposals by the Department of Water and Power to increase rates for both its services.
We will be blogging through the debate to provide updates.
There is more than the city';s financial woes on Mayor Antonio Villoaraigosa's mind when he goes to Sacramento today.
The Sacramento Bee reports he is also holding a 41,000 per person fundraiser tonight for his 2009 re-election campaign.
The paper reports:
"His evening fundraiser is at Ella Dining Room & Bar in downtown Sacramento, with an influential list of hosts, including Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez, lobbyists like Soyla Fernandez and Darius Anderson, members of the Tsakopoulos clan and Bob White, the former chief of staff to Gov. Pete Wilson.
"Others hosting Sacramento fundraisers today include Sen. Alan Lowenthal, GOP Assembly candidate Brian Nestande (if the name sounds familiar to grizzled Capitol veterans, he's the son of former Assemblyman Bruce Nestande) and Assemblyman Curren Price."
As he waited his turn for free food at an anti-poverty center in Pacoima, Jose Contreras bit his lower lip and shook his head. Tony Castro in the Daily News.
"I've never had to beg for food," said the recently unemployed 32-year-old San Fernando warehouse worker. "But with no money and not having eaten in several days, I was hungry."
It is a story heard increasingly these days at San Fernando Valley food-distribution centers, not only from the long-term poor, including many senior citizens, but also from growing numbers of people like Contreras - victims of a worsening economy.
Sources at Los Angeles television stations KCBS-TV (Channel 2) and KCAL-TV (Channel 9) confirmed that their stations have fallen victim to the same series of newsroom cuts that have affected other CBS owned-and-operated affiliates throughout the country.David Kronke in the Daily News.
Among those departing are Harold Greene and Ann Martin, who co-anchor the KCAL newscast at 4 p.m. and the KCBS newscast at 6 p.m. Both have decided to retire when their contracts expire on June 1. In all, fewer than 20 have lost their jobs at the two local stations.
Reporters Jennifer Sabih and Jennifer Davis also were let go, the Hollywood trade magazine Variety reported.
Plans to open two new Los Angeles police stations - including the $37 million Topanga Police Station in the San Fernando Valley - could be delayed as long as six months amid the city's continuing financial problems.
Daily News.
While the Los Angeles Police Department has increased by more than 300 officers over the past two years, the LAPD said plans to open the new Valley and Mid-City stations can't be finalized until the city approves its budget for the coming year.
That means the stations - set to open late this year - now won't open until early next year as the department waits to learn whether funding is available for staffing and whether the LAPD has enough of certain types of officers to man the stations.
"We have enough patrol officers, but there are concerns if we have enough detectives and administrative personnel," City Councilman Greig Smith said. "We won't know until we take up next year's budget if we will have the staff necessary to open as planned in October or if we will have to wait."
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa will release his budget proposal later this month. It will then be reviewed by the council.
Free parking for Angelenos who tool around in hybrid vehicles could soon be coming to an end.
That's because just days after extending the benefit to 2011, the Los Angeles City Council on Tuesday reversed itself and said it now wants to study the cost of the program as the city faces dramatic budget problems. Daily News.
"This was a great incentive when we first did it," Councilman Bill Rosendahl said. "But hybrids don't need assistance from us. They already are getting a benefit from the savings they get by not having to buy $4-a-gallon gas
In a rare public review of how city officials decided to settle the hazing case of former Los Angeles Firefighter Tennie Pierce, the City Council was told Tuesday that the city at the time faced much greater losses amid ongoing controversies at the Los Angeles Fire Department. Daily News.
Attorney Brian Sun of the firm of Jones Day, which received $1.4 million to review the case, said the city was facing a difficult time in defending itself in the Pierce case.
Pierce sued the department, alleging harassment and discrimination, after colleagues fed him spaghetti that had dog food in it.
Coping with a projected $500 city shortfall next year, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa heads to Sacramento on Wednesday to meet with state leaders to keep funding coming to the city.
Villaraigosa has a full agenda in meeting with state leaders, including Senate President Pro-Tem Don Perata, Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez, Assembly Speaker-Elect Karen Bass and ., Senate Pro-Tem Elect Darryl Steinberg, among others. Members of the city's Assembly and Senate delegations also will be seen.
As Los Angeles County supervisors consider a nearly $700 million plan to overhaul the jail system, a report set to be released today highlights a critical need to stop using the nation's jails as "asylums" to warehouse the homeless, mentally ill, addicted and those charged with immigration offenses. Troy Anderson in the Daily News.
The report by the Washington, D.C.-based Justice Policy Institute finds communities are bearing the cost of a massive increase in the nation's jail population, which has nearly doubled in less than two decades.
"As other metropolitan areas have demonstrated, there are effective, strategic ways to reduce a jail population without compromising public safety," said Mark Rosenbaum, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California.
V Australia Airlines will make its American debut in December, when it launches 10 weekly round-trip flights between Sydney and Los Angeles International Airport, officials announced Monday. Art Marroquin in the
Daily News.
The news comes as restrictions are being lifted on airline carriers traveling between the United States and "the land down under," thanks to an "open skies" agreement also signed Monday.
City officials and executives from V Australia - the international offshoot of Virgin Blue Airlines - announced the service during a news conference at LAX.
The bitter weekend divorce between two actors unions in upcoming contract talks with Hollywood producers mirrors a scene from a daytime soap opera - the genre where the whole spat started.AP in the Daily News.
The Screen Actors Guild and American Federation of Television and Radio Artists have long sniped at each other over who better represents some 44,000 actors who are members of both groups.
The last straw, according to AFTRA President Roberta Reardon, was when the Screen Actors Guild leadership encouraged actors in the soap drama "The Bold and The Beautiful" to abandon the federation a month ago in "a relentless campaign of disinformation and disparagement."
TIPOFFS:
Controller Laura Chick and Councilman Tony Cardenas have differing ideas on how to solve the gang problems in the city.
It's 5 a.m. when a bleary-eyed Gary Orozco pulls away from his Fontana house and heads to Los Angeles to visit his grandmother. Sue Doyle in the Daily News.
Taking on the responsibility to check on her after his uncle died, the 21-year-old makes the weekly 50-mile drive before sunrise to beat the heaviest morning traffic.
And often, it's not before 8p.m. when Orozco dares to venture back on the freeway and return to his home in the Inland Empire.
"It's kind of a pain when I get to Hollywood," Orozco said. "But, still, it's to see my grandma."
In a region where the car is king, Orozco is among millions of Southland residents who plan their days around traffic virtually without a second thought.
- CSUN professor Aida Metzenberg has cherished more than a decade of teaching genetic counseling, a graduate-degree program available on only 30 campuses in North America. Conniei Llanos in the Daily News.
But amid continuing budget squeezes, California State University, Northridge, is cutting the program that melds the study of genetics and medical counseling.
"I was shocked," Metzenberg said, adding that she is hopeful a donor might come forward to save the program. "I never thought this would end."
The program's elimination is the latest casualty at colleges across the Southland that have been struggling with years of financial trimming - and bracing for more if Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's $386 million proposed cut to the CSU system is approved.
Stepping up disagreements with Los Angeles City Controller Laura Chick over the future of anti-gang programs in the city, Councilman Tony Cárdenas on Thursday questioned the intent of Chick's proposal as well as its impact on existing programs. Daily News,
"We will not allow politics to infiltrate this process," Cá rdenas said at the end of a lengthy meeting examining Chick's "Blueprint for an Anti-Gang Strategy."
Among other things, the plan recommends most of the programs be transferred to the office of Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.
Nearly three years after the Los Angeles Unified School District launched efforts to implement tougher graduation requirements, the program has been plagued by disorganization and confusion with little accountability or oversight, according to an audit obtained by the Daily News. Naush Boghossian in the Daily News.
While the "A-G Resolution" requires all students to take college-prep courses in order to graduate, a scathing internal district analysis has found that so far the voluntary rollout has been ineffective and implementation has been spotty.
And the audit warns that without significant improvements, LAUSD students are not only at risk of failing to meet college eligibility requirements but also of failing to graduate from high school.
Six months after netting a $10million anonymous donation, leaders of the once-troubled Children's Museum of Los Angeles say the facility is on track to open in a year. Dana Bartholomew in the Daily News.
The museum, blasted in an audit last year for little oversight and few donations, has revamped its board and is raising funds, said Cecilia Aguilar Glassman, the museum's executive director.
"I would have to say that fundraising efforts since last summer are going extraordinary well," she said. "Everybody's goal is the same: to open in March 2009."
With fears that proposed bus cuts in rough neighborhoods - and in areas of the county with no other transit - could harm passengers, Metro authorities are moving to review plans that had been designed to save the agency $21million. Sue Doyle in the Daily News.
Metro's board voted this week to review the proposed changes, which would take place in June, and officials said they will coordinate changes in service with other city and municipal bus operators.
Twice a year, the transit agency evaluates its nearly 200 bus lines for efficiency and ridership and recommends service changes.
Stepping up disagreements with Los Angeles City Controller Laura Chick over the future of anti-gang programs in the city, Councilman Tony Cárdenas on Thursday questioned the intent of Chick's proposal as well as its impact on existing programs. Daily News.
"We will not allow politics to infiltrate this process," Cá rdenas said at the end of a lengthy meeting examining Chick's "Blueprint for an Anti-Gang Strategy."
Among other things, the plan recommends most of the programs be transferred to the office of Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.
Wading into the hot-button issue of immigration in the Southland, the Los Angeles City Council and a group of community leaders Wednesday denounced a federal measure that would require verifying that workers are in the country legally before being hired. Daily News.
Calling it mean-spirited and intentionally divisive, the council voted 11-1 to oppose the measure proposed by Rep. Heath Shuler, R-N.C., that would beef up border patrols and use a computerized system to verify job candidates' legal status.
"We have something more compassionate and humane from the National League of Cities that we would like to see implemented," Councilman Dennis Zine said.
Fighting back against the rash of violence by street gangs, Watts residents are joining with Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa this morning to create a walking school bus to accompany children through gang territory to Florence Griffith Joyner Elementary School, 1963 E. 103rd St.
It is part of the safe passage program the city has had in effect for some time to insure children walking to and from school lare proteced.
The area selected is near the Watts-Wilkmington Arm housing project.
Later in the day, Villaraigosa is meeting with U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey to discuss city-federal policies on dealing with gangs.
In the first two months of this year, losing a home to foreclosure was almost as common for families as buying a home in the San Fernando Valley area. Gregory J. Wilcox in the Daily News.
During January and February, there were 1,084 foreclosures and 1,335 sales of houses and condos in Valley communities from Glendale to Calabasas, according to the San Fernando Valley Economic Research Center at California State University, Northridge.
By comparison, during the first two months of 2007 - also in a slumping market - there were just 235 foreclosures and 2,481 sales.
Naughty messages scrawled on school bathroom stalls have taken on a new cyber-twist with a Web site that promises college students "always anonymous ... always juicy" gossip. Connie Llanos in the Daily News.
But some of those posting on JuicyCampus.com have put up such nasty comments that a growing chorus of students and lawmakers is denouncing the site and calling for action.
On Tuesday, the California Attorney General's Office said it will review a request by state Assemblyman Alberto Torrico, D-Fremont, to investigate the site.
Armed with a laptop and the names of tens of thousands of police officers across the country, a Southland entrepreneur is raising the ire of law enforcement with an online, five-star rating system similar to those used for teachers. Rachel Uranga in the Daily News.
Less than a month old, RateMyCop.com has gotten 100,000 hits a day, with users leaving comments - good and bad - about their interactions with cops, founder Gino Sesto said.
He runs the site out of his two-bedroom home and said he thinks it's a fair way to hold law enforcement accountable.
Suicide rates among police officers in Los Angeles and San Diego are higher than their counterparts in other big cities cited in a report considered Tuesday by the Los Angeles Police Commission. AP in the Daily News.
The data was included in a study presented by Police Department psychologists who are in the process of retooling the agency's suicide prevention program.
The report said 19 Los Angeles police officers killed themselves between 1998 and 2007, while only seven died in the line of duty during that time.
Faced with a massive budget crunch, the Los Angeles City Council moved quickly Tuesday to raise zoo admission prices - by as much as 40 percent for children - but balked at boosting water and power rates amid widespread public opposition. Daily News.
The zoo hikes are expected to bring in $450,000 toward cutting a projected $20 million budget deficit this year, even as a city official called Tuesday for a review of dozens of other proposals designed to save money or raise revenue for the city.
But amid a campaign by neighborhood councils decrying proposed Department of Water and Power rate hikes, the council deferred any action until early next month.
A divided Los Angeles City Council delayed action on proposals to increase water and power rates charged by the Department of Water and Power. The matter is to return next week for a vote.
The council said it wanted more time to study the impact of the increase _ 6 percent over two years for ater and 9 percent over three years for power.
The money is to be used to rebuild the department's aging infrastructure. Included in the motions is creation of oversight committees to make sure the department spends the funds as promised.
Officials are considering a complete delay in the water rate action because of a pending court hearing challenging the transfer of water funds to the the city.
Councilman Jose Huizar, discussing how the Los Angeles school board won voter approval by providing specifics on what would be built.
DWP Commission President Nick Patsouras agreed.
"We will be able to show you every project in every district as it occurs," Patsouras said.
DWP General Manager David Nahai agreed, pointing to the massive amount of work to be done.
"We have 350,000 poles, 125,000 transformers and each one of those are a separate project," Nahai said.
Oversight became the buzzword among officials as they debated the proposed DWP rate increases.
Several oversight committees will be watching the agency if the various proposals go through.
First, there is the existing Neighborhood Council oversight committee.
Also proposed, is an oversight panel of city officials, to provide quarterly updates to the City Council on the progress of various projects.
A third oversight committee of citizens was proposed by Councilman Dennis Zine, with each of the 15 council members appointing someone from their district to look over the utility.
DWP General Manager David Nahai said he welcomed all the oversight.
"We welcome the chance to wash away doubt," Nahai said.
With Los Angeles City Council members beginning their debate, Councilwoman Jan Perry said part of the problem is the DWP's reputation.
"The need is clear, but there is hesitation," Perry said. "Some of it has to do with trust."
Councilwoman Wendy Greuel said the concern she and others have is whether it will improve reliability of service _ which has been hampered in the past two years with power outages.
The public hearing on the proposed rate hikes has begun, with a number of representatives from different neighborhood councils voicing protests to the increases.
"We need to listen to what the neighborhood councils are saying...we don't know how the money is being spent," one speaker said.
Another, Humberto Camacho, complianed there are no guarantees all the money from the increases will be spent on the DWP's aging infrastructure.
The public hearing on the proposed rate hikes has begun, with a number of representatives from different neighborhood councils voicing protests to the increases.
"We need to listen to what the neighborhood councils are saying...we don't know how the money is being spent," one speaker said.
Another, Humberto Camacho, complianed there are no guarantees all the money from the increases will be spent on the DWP's aging infrastructure.
The Los Angeles City Council this morning is set to debate increases to both the water and electric rates charged by the Department of Water and Power.
We will be posting updates through the debate here. As always, comments are welcome.
Even as homicides have spiked this year in Los Angeles, more than 400 police officers are unable to fight crime on the streets because they are filling in on a backlog of administrative and other tasks that should instead be performed by civilians, according to an audit released Monday. Daily News.
Renewing a call to hire more civilians for the LAPD, City Controller Laura Chick said that amid funding cuts and attrition, the department has more than 600 vacant civilian posts - from clerks and typists to analysts - and that many of the jobs are now being performed by sworn officers.
"There is no question that Los Angeles is one of the most under-policed big cities in America," Chick said in releasing the audit with LAPD Chief William Bratton.
A long-sought effort to install cameras in police cars moved a step closer Monday when a Los Angeles panel recommended approving a $5 million pilot program with IBM. Daily News.
In a 3-1 vote, the City Council's Public Safety Committee urged adoption of the contract despite questions about how IBM's contract could be $10 million to $15 million less than the next-lowest bidders.
"It seems to me it should raise some questions about the (request for proposals) when you have such a disparity," Councilman Bernard Parks said.
Councilma
The median price of a Los Angeles County home plunged a record 20 percent, or $117,010, in February from a year ago as sales continued their free fall as foreclosures increased, a trade association said Monday. Gregory J. Wilcox in the Daily News.
During February the county's median price fell to $467,200 from $584,210 last year, said the California Association of Realtors. It's the second consecutive record drop, percentage wise.
Sales in the county fell 42 percent from February 2007 and slipped 10.5 percent from January, the association said.
City officials broke ground Monday on the third and final phase of the $375 million NoHo Commons project, designed to transform the heart of town into an upscale commercial development with retail, entertainment and residential space.Sue Doyle in the Daily News.
Spanning three acres at the corner of Lankershim Boulevard and Weddington Street, the final part of the project will cost $79.4 million and will include a seven-screen Laemmle movie theater, a 700-space parking garage, an 182,000 square-foot office building with retail and the relocation of the historic Phil's Diner from Chandler Boulevard.
"NoHo Commons is nothing less than a blockbuster hit," said Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa at the groundbreaking ceremony Monday morning.
During the past two decades, state officials have thrown billions of dollars in tax credits and other incentives at a program designed to revitalize poor areas such as Pacoima with little way of measuring its effectiveness.
Earlier this year, budget- strapped California extended the nearly $400 million-a-year program through 2021 - and the governor even expanded it by adding eight enterprise zones designed to create jobs and boost the economy. Brandon Lowery in the Daily News.
The zones provide tax credits for businesses that hire eligible employees - including the disabled, veterans, American Indians, those laid off in a poor economy and those with criminal records. The money also can be used to buy machinery and machine parts.
But while business leaders and politicians defend the 42 enterprise zones as economic boosters, experts concede there is no definitive way to calculate how many jobs they actually have created or how effective they have been.
TIPOFFS::Rumors, concerns at Neighborhood Councils; Controller Laura Chick and Councilman Tony Cardenas headed for round two in gang dispute.
For Cindy Neal, last week's stunning meltdown of a top Wall Street investment bank and continuing stock market turmoil were just the latest reminders of today's grim economic realities.
Amid a slumping housing market, the 32-year-old Santa Clarita resident recently quit her job in the real estate industry and is studying veterinary medicine. To save money with soaring gas prices, she has cut back on day care for her son, shops at less-pricey stores and has reined in spending on eating out.. Harrison Sheppard in the Daily News.
And she's watching the unfolding turbulence in the nation's financial system with a wary eye.
"It's so unpredictable to have any money in the market," she said. "I almost think it would be better to pull all your money out and put it under a mattress. At least you can't lose anything that way. ... Right now, I don't know there's any answer out there other than just try to cope."
Just three months into the job, the new head of L.A.'s Department of Water and Power has reshuffled top management with new and promoted personnel who will rake in $2.2 million a year in combined salaries. Beth Barrett in the Daily News/
The management shift comes even as the City Council next week is scheduled to vote on the utility's request to hike power rates 9 percent over the next three years and water rates 6 percent over the next two years.
But General Manager H. David Nahai, who replaced career bureaucrat Ron Deaton on Dec. 1 as head of the $4.5 billion utility, said that by eliminating some top positions and not filling several others, the DWP ultimately will save $920,000 a year in high-level salaries.
And he said
It's an idea that grips at the heart of every Los Angeles politician: Get rid of the city-paid calligraphers who write those exquisite proclamations that are handed out like candy at City Hall and instead computerize the work. Daily News.
Estimated savings: $500,000.
Or cut all the specialized training programs for city workers, including the use of a Zen master to teach employees how to "center" themselves.
Estimated savings: $18,000.
Or end all those "fee waivers" City Council members grant constituents for special events.
Estimated savings: $2million to $4million.
Even as Los Angeles tries to trim its expenses amid a budget crisis, new data show that the city spends $3.6million a year on cell phones - up 26percent from five years ago. Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.
And costs have tripled and quadrupled in some departments as city workers have switched to more expensive PDAs and BlackBerrys to stay connected.
But with Los Angeles facing a $400million to $500million deficit next year, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has pushed city managers to cut cell-phone expenditures.
Due to significant drops in Los Angeles County home values, Assessor Rick Auerbach said Thursday that he's in the process of reassessing the values of 310,000 homes. Troy Anderson in the Daily News.
So far, he said, he has reduced the assessed value of 41,000 homes by an average of $66,000 each. That means a typical property-tax savings of about $660.
Auerbach said not all of the revaluations have come at the request of homeowners. Market conditions - and the growing likelihood that some properties are overassessed - have spurred him to review recent sales.
From Barstow to Beverly Hills, city leaders across the Southland met Thursday to discuss ways of improving transit for the region's 25 million residents - and how to pay for it. Sue Doyle in the Daily News.
Roadway tolls and public-private partnerships took center stage as reliable revenue sources, as support fell for a half-cent sales tax increase for Los Angeles County.
Over the past two months, county politicians have not mustered much enthusiasm for the half-cent hike and Metro's board members have not yet decided whether to put the issue on the November ballot.
"It's on the horizon," said Pam O'Connor, Metro board chairwoman, who supports the sales-tax hike. "It's a serious option to be considered."
Taking his own advice, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa will take a furlough day today.
Villaraigosa, who makes $223,142 a year, will give up $858.26 in gross pay as a way to encourage other city employees to take unpaid vacation days. Daily News.
The city is facing a multimillion-dollar deficit in the next fiscal year.
"Tough budget times require that we all step up to the plate," Villaraigosa said.
"The buck stops with me, and I am absolutely committed to making the hard choices necessary to protect public safety and other critical services."
Citing concerns about potential traffic and overdevelopment, the Los Angeles City Council ended a bitter years-long battle over the controversial Las Lomas mini-city Wednesday and voted to kill the entire proposed 5,553-home project. Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.
In its 10-5 decision, the council ordered the Planning Department to stop processing Las Lomas' annexation and development applications and return all studies and paperwork to the company.
The decision comes after six years of work and a $20 million investment by developer Dan S. Palmer Jr., who sought to build a 555-acre self-contained community of homes, offices and shops on the last stretch of open space between the city of Los Angeles and Santa Clarita.
A mediation conference is set for today on whether Providence Holy Cross Medical Center in Mission Hills will be allowed to go ahead with its planned $143 million expansion or be forced to conduct a detailed environmental study.Daily News.
The required conference is an attempt to head off a trial after Superior Court Judge Tom McKnew rejected a request to throw out a case filed by a group of residents opposed to the expansion.
In November, the hospital's expansion plan won tentative approval from the Los Angeles City Council, paving the way for the hospital, without further study, to add more than 100 beds to the San Fernando Valley's badly stressed health-care system.
Hospital officials
With the Los Angeles City Council expected to take up the $20 million Las Lomas development today, the Daily News will be live blogging the debate as it unfolds.
The 553-acre development to create a mini-city near Santa Clarita has placed Los Angeles city officials at odds with their neighbors to the north over the impact it will have on traffic and other services as well as the loss of open space.
Comments are welcome and will be posted as quickly as possible.
Around the time that anti-war protesters disrupted Senate proceedings last week proclaiming themselves "ghosts of the Iraq war," Gustavo Aguilar Jr. was in the living room of his Sylmar home recalling his two tours of duty in that war-torn country. Tony Castro in the Daily News.
"I'm not a ghost of the war - I'm real," said the 23-year-old former Marine corporal. "I saw a lot of terrible things - things that changed me - but I also came to see how lucky we are to live in this country and that we have nothing to apologize for."
As the war in Iraq enters its sixth year this week, Aguilar has become a microcosm of the American experience in that country - engaged in a struggle with life-and-death consequences and increasingly grappling with a sense that it is a fight for the ideals established by the Founding Fathers.
In the year since American opinion against U.S. involvement reached a peak, the war in Iraq has somewhat softened as a national obsession - eclipsed instead by a tumultuous economy that has roiled the national landscape.
With legal battles continuing to delay an ordinance designed to force a group of hotels near Los Angeles International Airport to pay a living wage, a city official said Tuesday she now believes the city should have allowed voters to decide the matter. Daily News.
"I have always felt the people of Los Angeles would support the workers," Councilwoman Janice Hahn said. "I wish now we had put the matters before voters rather than try to work out a compromise."
The council voted in late 2006 to impose a living wage on Century Corridor hotels near LAX, citing civic investments in the airport that benefit the hotels.
LAPD Chief William Bratton refused Tuesday to divulge findings of an independent report that calls for changes in the department's elite SWAT team, including altering the unit's selection process to allow women to join for the first time. Rachel Uranga in the Daily News.
Though the report - called for by Bratton himself - has not been released, several SWAT officers expressed anger over what they say is a loosening of standards.
And at least one SWAT officer's wife has sent e-mails to Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, the civilian Police Commission and City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo to protest changes in the selection process.
With a $20 million investment on the line, the Las Lomas Land Co. won the first round Tuesday in a fight to keep its proposed 5,553-home mini-city near Santa Clarita moving forward. Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.
The win came as the City Council's planning committee agreed that Los Angeles must continue processing Las Lomas' application to annex the development into the city in what would be the first major annexation in nearly a decade.
But the real battle will unfold today, when the full council is expected to vote on whether to stop work on Las Lomas and kill the 555-acre development planned for the last swath of open space between Santa Clarita and the city of Los Angeles.
First came a mural of Studio City history, ordered erased from a local carwash.
Next came the oversized fish, Fifi and Fido signs at Petco, ordered removed this month by city code enforcers.
Residents angry about murals, signs and the city's myriad sign laws and selective enforcement have tipped off city inspectors, triggering a tit-for-tat sign spat that can mean fines or jail time. Dana Bartholomew in the Daily News.
Amid opposition from neighborhood council activists and lingering concerns about DWP management, two City Council committees declined to vote Monday on whether to support the utility's proposal to raise water and power rates. Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.
The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power has urged the council to boost the power rate by 9 percent over three years and the water rate by 6 percent over two years to help cover the cost of replacing the city's aging infrastructure.
But after a three-hour hearing Monday, the council's budget and environment committees forwarded the rate increase proposal to the full City Council without issuing a recommendation.
Three years after a string of deadly Southland freeway shootings prompted calls for activation of recording devices on existing freeway cameras, only a test project has been completed and officials have yet to pursue funding for the program, the Daily News has learned. Sue Doyle in the Daily News.
The outcry for recording came after nearly two dozen random roadway attacks in 2005 spurred law enforcement officials to ask Caltrans to start recording traffic from its 400 freeway cameras currently monitoring Los Angeles and Ventura counties freeways.
Last week, a shooting on the San Bernardino Freeway that left a 54-year-old Montclair woman dead returned the spotlight to the issue - but law enforcement and transportation officials said Monday that a recording process is still not in place.
A group seeking to impose a "living wage" on hotels near Los Angeles International Airport is estimating workers there have lost more than $4.6 million over the past 17 months as legal challenges over the issue continue and one hotel has agreed to unionize. Daily News.
The New Century Coalition, which has been behind the effort to get higher wages for workers at the seven LAX-area hotels, was set to formally release its findings today.
The group said its study found the hotels' workers lost an average of about $2,300 each as a result of the lower pay, with the range of pay loss coming in at a low of $648 for night cleaners to as much as $3,964 for food servers.
Local residents moved a step closer to a quiet night's sleep today as the airport authority announced it has completed an FAA-required study that could lead to mandatory nighttime curfews - with few exceptions - for flights in and out of Bob Hope Airport. Rick Coca in the Daily News.
Nearly eight years and more than $6 million dollars in the making, the latest incarnation of the study comes after the Federal Aviation Administration disagreed with several items in an earlier draft and sent it back to the commission in 2004.
On an 8-0 vote this morning, the revised "Part 161 Study," which was changed to include a larger area of homes affected by noise under the FAA's guidelines, will now go through a 45-day public comment period and other procedural requirements before going to the FAA for final approval, which might not come until summer 2009.
Warning that Los Angeles will suffer more blackouts unless the city upgrades its electrical infrastructure, the Department of Water and Power will make the pitch again today to raise rates. Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.
Last fall, the City Council sent back the rate proposal amid questions on how the money would be spent.
But this time the utility appears to have more support, and Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has urged the council to hike electric rates by 9 percent over three years and water rates by 6percent over two years.
Anne Leyden has been home schooling her three sons - now 8, 12 and 15 - since they were old enough to start learning. Barbara Correa in the Daily News.
Leyden chose home schooling not because she thinks the public schools are terrible - in fact, her husband, Bill, teaches at Pacoima Middle School - but simply because she can.
But under a recent California court ruling requiring home-schoolers to have teaching credentials, that right could become more complicated.
TIPOFFS:Progressive Democrats take on their own because of the Iraq war, urge no endorsement of Reps. Howard Berman and Henry Waxman.
A young Asian woman arrives in Southern California with the promise of a restaurant job and a generous invitation to live for free in her employer's home as she acclimates to her new world. Tony Castro and Harrisonm Sheppard in the Daily News.
"I couldn't believe it. I thought I was living the American dream," authorities said Thonglim Khamphiranon told friends in her native Thai language.
But the promise of $240 a month to work in a Thai restaurant in the San Fernando Valley turned out to be a nightmare.
Her passport was confiscated, Khamphiranon later told activists battling human trafficking, and her ties to the outside world were cut. For six years in the late 1990s, she slaved up to 18 hours a day both at her employer's restaurant and at the woman's home, where Khamphiranon slept on the floor and served her boss on her knees.
I
The computerized payroll fiasco that already cost $40million to fix massive glitches will keep on haunting the Los Angeles Unified School District for years to come. Naush Boghossian in the Daily News.
Officials say they cannot continue to maintain the network without pouring additional millions of dollars into it over at least 15 more years.
LAUSD officials would not provide a specific amount last week, but one described it as a "large number" to be covered by loans. Details are scheduled to be revealed at a school board meeting next month.
Despite all the problems caused by underpaying and overpaying teachers for more than a year, officials continue to defend the system, saying high costs are common in early years of using such a complicated network.
Julie Davine, a mother of two in West Hills, has never considered herself politically active.
But she is hopping mad and drafting a letter to Arnold Schwarzenegger - her first letter to a California governor - over proposed state budget cuts that she considers theft from resources and funding for her kids' schools. Barbara Corea in the Daily News.
"When I first heard this, I thought, `It's like robbing from the poor.' We already pay for the music teacher. We pay for a P.E. teacher.
"We have to buy pencils, markers, Kleenex, copy paper. Now the school is going to ask for more. It boggles my mind."
With shrapnel still lodged in his wired-shut jaw, LAPD SWAT Officer James Veenstra spoke with difficulty - but purpose - as he thanked Angelenos for their support during a recovery that could take months as he considers his future in law enforcement. Rachel Uranga in the Daily News.
Veenstra, who was wounded during a 10-hour standoff in Winnetka last month that left five people dead, including SWAT Officer Randal Simmons, stood with his wife by his side in one of his first speaking appearances since that tragic day.
Despite his critical wound, the 20-year SWAT veteran said, he never lost consciousness that night.
"You can train and train and train, but sometimes you get the bear and sometimes the bear gets you," he said.
In a tensely awaited confrontation over the future of Los Angeles' anti-gang programs, City Controller Laura Chick and Councilman Tony Cardenas butted heads Friday over her proposals to revamp the city structure and move the programs under the authority of the Mayor's Office. Daily News.
"The words `turf war' are gang terminology and have no place at City Hall," Chick said in opening remarks to the Ad Hoc Committee on Gang Violence and Youth Development, alluding to the political tug-of-war that has surfaced over who should control the city's anti-gang programs.
"I know there are many questions on what we are proposing," she told the panel, which is chaired by Cardenas. "But I hope we move things to discuss what can be - and not what can't."
Tensions are high at City Hall as a City Council panel is scheduled to take its first look this afternoon at a report from Controller Laura Chick with her "blueprint" to deal with gangs and her complaint that Councilman Tony Cardenas has delayed hearing the matter.
Chick confronted Cardenas just before the regular meeting of the Council, ending with him telling her to "get out of my face.
Chick said she wanted to clear up some differences over whether her report on gangs was late in being delivered.
Cardenas said they talked amiably briefly and then Chick made a remark to him _ which he would not detail _ that he considered an insult.
“She basically wanted to infer she's been cool about this and didn't want to be nasty with me and then she said something insulting to me and I told her, 'Hey, just get out of my face.' I've never done that with an elected official before.”
Chick told him, “I'll get out of your face now, but I'll be back at 1:30,” when the hearings were to begin.
Complaints from parents of special-education students at Los Angeles Unified have soared by about 25percent over the past seven years as families in wealthier areas of the district have filed the lion's share of thousands of claims, the Daily News has learned. Naush Boghossian in the Daily News.
As the number of annual complaints rose to 2,302 last year, attorney fees paid to parents also have surged 146 percent, to $2.2 million, over the past several years, according to the most recent data available.
And parents on the Westside and in the San Fernando Valley account for nearly 70 percent of the complaints and payouts.
Faced with a projected $8 billion budget deficit, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is touring California with the urgent message that the Legislature - which will go on vacation next week - needs to negotiate a budget immediately rather than wait to fix the looming crisis. Beth Barrett in the Daily News.
And he says he also wants lawmakers to finally begin considering sweeping fiscal changes - including spending curbs and budget reform - to stabilize the state's future and reassure Wall Street that the Golden State is serious about the issue.
In a wide-ranging interview with Daily News reporters and editors Thursday, Schwarzenegger said he's tired of waiting on lawmakers who've had his budget for two months.
"I proposed my budget on Jan.10. Now it's two months later and no one has come to my office even though my door is open," Schwarzenegger said. "I've invited them and said, 'Come down as quickly as possible because we need to resolve the problem now, not in July ... No one came down and talked about it.
After Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa chided Los Angeles City Council workers for not taking unpaid leave to save the city money, council members upped the ante Thursday by saying they would put up $1.2 million in office funds to help balance the budget. Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.
The move came after a press conference Thursday morning in which Villaraigosa put pressure on city employees, except in public-safety agencies, to take unpaid five-day furloughs he had proposed in January to save the city $20 million amid its current budget crunch.
But only 365 of more than 25,000 city employees have acted on his request - saving the city just $95,000.
Outraged over a disbarment recommendation for a crusading lawyer who has sought to expose alleged improprieties in the Los Angeles County court system, the American Family Rights Association said Thursday that it plans to ask the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate. Troy Anderson in the Daily News.
The group plans a noon Saturday rally at Leimert Park at Vernon Avenue and Crenshaw Boulevard, and another rally at 10 a.m. March 25 outside the county Hall of Administration building at 500 W. Temple St.
Organizers hope to gather signatures for a petition and letter to the Department of Justice requesting an investigation into whether county government's practice of paying judges nearly $40,000 in annual cash benefits - in addition to their state salary and benefit packages - makes it difficult to get a fair trial in cases involving county government.
Differing legal opinions have been provided by the City Attorney's Office on the power of Controller Laura Chick to audit anti-gang programs if they are placed in the offices of Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.Daily News.
The opinions come as a long-delayed hearing on a sweeping set of recommendations Chick developed for Los Angeles' gang programs is set for a key council hearing today.
Chick said she has been told she has the right to audit the activities, but Councilman Tony Cárdenas said he was told there are limits on the controller and any audit would require written approval from the mayor.
n a sign of the budget crisis facing Los Angeles, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa told managers today to begin preparing for layoffs. Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.
Previous mayors also have warned of staff cuts but the city hasn't laid off workers since the early 1980s.
Despite the announcement, the mayor reiterated that he would continue to hire police officers.
"In order to maintain our commitment to expanding public safety and providing essential city services, it is only prudent to prepare ourselves for the tough actions which may be necessary in the budget ahead," Villaraigosa said.
Amid growing pressure to transform Los Angeles County's overcrowded and dangerous jails, officials have begun quietly weighing a plan to pump nearly $700 million into the system - nearly three times as much as previously proposed. Troy Anderson in the Daily News.
Under the plan, the Sybil Brand Institute would be demolished and a 1,024-bed replacement jail would be built at the Monterey Park site, while two 1,024-bed facilities would be built at Pitchess Detention Center in Castaic.
The plan also calls for a 1,152-bed, high-security jail to be built for men at the Mira Loma Detention Center in Lancaster, and the older section of the Men's Central Jail to be shuttered.
On the heels of a $750,000 payout by the city to settle a lawsuit over a liquor license and charges of racism, a group of residents is mounting a campaign to recall a City Council member at the center of the controversy. Rick Coca in the Daily News.
Jose Hernandez has come under fire for anti-Semitic comments attributed to him during a 2004 meeting with City Administrator Jose Pulido.
Los Angeles County District Attorney Steve Cooley on Wednesday officially announced his plans to run for a third term, saying he wants to expand programs to work with law enforcement agencies on the latest policing techniques. Daily News.
"We have established a District Attorney's Criminal Justice Institute to work with other prosecutors and police to talk about the latest developments, from DNA and high-tech as well as the law, such as asset forfeiture," Cooley said.
Cooley, 60, the second-highest-paid prosecutor in the nation at $236,829 - with a raise set to bring it to $292,300 in December - will face two announced opponents.
Steve Ipsen, a
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved an ownership change for the $3 billion Grand Avenue project in downtown Los Angeles, transferring a 45 percent capital interest to a Dubai-owned company.Troy Anderson in the Daily News.
The developer, The Related Cos., will retain a 55 percent capital interest in the project.
Related's previous equity partner, California Urban Investment Partners - owned 97 percent by CalPERS and 3 percent by MacFarlane Urban Realty Co. - decided not to participate in the project.
"Unfortunately, CalPERS and MacFarlane were overinvested in downtown so Related has sought to find another equity partner," Supervisor Gloria Molina said.
"Related found Istithmar (Group), which was previously invested with them in the Time Warner Center Mandarin Oriental Hotel (in New York City) so they've dealt with them before. Under the ownership ... they will own the project and have key Related personnel remain as our contacts."
Following an 8 percent drop in legal and workers' compensation costs in Los Angeles County government the past two years, costs rose 6 percent to $437 million in 2006-07, officials said Tuesday.
The increase was largely driven by a 30 percent increase in administrative costs, an 18 percent increase in legal costs, a 55 percent increase in medical malpractice payouts and a 74 percent increase in payouts for vehicle accidents involving county employees, according to the annual risk management report. Troy Anderson in the Daily News.
"Right now, the figures are not very satisfying," Supervisor Gloria Molina said. "It shows an escalation in costs, particularly in litigation costs. I'm very concerned about that area. We are going to explore it and investigate it."
Risk Manager Rocky Armfield said the increased costs were primarily due to a spate of large lawsuit payouts, increased medical costs driving up workers' compensation costs and increased fees paid to the state to administer the workers' compensation system.
In a blow to some of the Valley's poorest people, nearly 50 mostly senior and disabled tenants are being forced out of their apartments by landlords seeking to flee city rent control and subsidized housing. Dana Bartholomew in the Daily News.
Renters in Reseda, Northridge and North Hollywood who get federal Section 8 subsidies have been told to pay full market rates or get out, tenants, city officials and housing advocates said.
Though there are 45 documented cases, 115 tenants in four complexes could get 90-day notices that demand as much as $900 more a month in rent, or face eviction.
Even as Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and LAPD Chief William Bratton touted today that they are halfway to their goal of hiring 1,000 new cops by 2010, rising homicides so far this year continue to plague the city. Daily News.
With police puzzled by the brazen killings - from the shooting death of a 17-year-old football star Jamiel Shaw Jr. in Arlington Heights to the death of a 6-year-old in Harbor Gateway - a police commissioner called for an independent examination into what's causing the surge in violence.
"It's horribly senseless and involves a lot of youth," said Anthony Pacheco, president of the civilian Los Angeles Police Commission. "Why after a year of decline are we seeing this uptick, so widespread? It's horribly brutal. I don't want to downplay the department's expertise, but I think we are well-advised to get input from the community."
Gang member arrested in Shaw slaying. Daily News.
Los Angeles City Controller Laura Chick and Councilman Tony Cárdenas escalated their ongoing dispute this week over how to deal with her report on gangs and his delays in scheduling a hearing on the issue until Friday. Daily News.
In her report, Chick recommended consolidating the city's gang-fighting programs under a new unit to be overseen by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's office.
Both sent letters this week to City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo asking for clarification on the powers of the Controller's Office to audit programs operated by the city.
In a rare move by a mayoral appointee, a Los Angeles planning official has offered community activists a strategy to sue the city over a new rule that allows developers to build taller, bulkier buildings - with fewer parking spaces - as long as they include affordable units. Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.
Planning Commission President Jane Ellison Usher, who was handpicked by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa to sit on the commission, alerted activists in an e-mail Sunday just a month after the Los Angeles City Council adopted the controversial density-bonus policy.
In the e-mail, Usher said the ordinance raises issues that are "ripe for immediate litigation."
Democratic candidates for the hotly contested 40th District Assembly seat decried Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's proposed budget cuts Monday and suggested other ways of combating dwindling revenues. Brendand Lowery in the Daily News.
The Assembly seat will open next year as Assemblyman Lloyd Levine, D-Van Nuys, reaches his term limit. Levine is running for the state Senate in the 23rd District.
Four Democratic contenders for Levine's seat - Dan McCrory, Laurette Healey, Stuart Waldman and Bob Blumenfield - attended a debate Monday at Shomrei Torah Synagogue sponsored by several local Democratic clubs.
Trying to make Los Angeles a focal point for counterterrorism efforts, LAPD Chief William Bratton on Monday opened what's being billed as the first National Counter-Terrorism Academy. Rachel Uranga in the Daily News.
Partnering with the Manhattan Institute, Bratton intends to take the initial $1 million step to teach local law enforcement about the roots of terrorism and how to combat it nationally over the coming year.
The federal government can't protect the country on its own, he said, noting, "The potential threat of terrorism is much more real now than it was in the 20th century. What is necessary is to actually police terrorism. That's where local police come. There are 700,000 of us in local cities."
City Controller Laura Chick, frustrated for several weeks over the time it has taken to get Councilman Tony Cardenas to schedule a hearing on her blueprint for dealing with gang crime, is seeking support from the Los Angeles Board of Education.
The school board has set a special hearing for Tuesday afternoon to hear from Chick on her proposal to crate an anti-gang office under the jurisdiction of Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa -- a proposal Cardenas has raised questions about.
Cardena's Ad Hoc Committee on Gangs and Youth Violence is scheduled to take its first look at Chick's report at a meeting now scheduled for this Friday.
In addition to Chick's frustration, Councilwoman Wendy Greuel has urged Cardenas to hold the hearing as soon as possible, as the rising tide of gang violence against innocent bystanders has risen in recent weeks.
Chick has received a wide level of support already for her plan, including Villaraigosa, Police Chief Bill Bratton, advisors to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and civil rights attorney Connie Rice, whose Advancement Project looked at gang issues last year.
Nearly a year after Los Angeles County supervisors restructured the county's top executive office, vowing to boost accountability and efficiency, taxpayer advocates are decrying a swollen budget and hefty salary hikes for a host of new deputy CEOs and staff. Troy Anderson in the Daily News.
The office budget surged nearly 50 percent from $27.7 million in 2006-07 to $41.2 million this year, and five new deputy CEOs draw annual salaries of more than $200,000 each. Meanwhile, each deputy's executive secretary makes $73,000 a year or more.
"My sense is that if you ask the average taxpayer in the county if they favor restructuring government, they would say yes - if the restructuring is going to reduce the expenses of government, reduce the bureaucracy and actually make things function more efficiently," California Taxpayers' Association spokesman David Kline said. "This seems to be heading in exactly the opposite direction. When government talks about restructuring, it always seems to lead to more costs, more overhead and more taxpayer dollars."
But county officials
Charles Mitchell was drafted into the Vietnam War soon after graduating from college. He served his country as a medic. Troy Anderson in the Daily News.
But when he returned home, the former marine biologist spent the next two decades "in hiding" from anti-war protesters, working for political campaigns and on various odd jobs.
By 1989, he applied for low-income housing and got an apartment on Skid Row in downtown L.A. Today, the 67-year-old scrapes by on about $1,000 a month in Supplemental Security Income benefits and pays $238 a month for his single-room apartment.
TIPOFFFS:
Grapping with city financial problems and whether to lay off workers.
You can't smoke in most places. Bribes are a no-no. Car seats and kids' bicycle helmets are the law.
And beating your wife will land you in jail - not to mention get you deported.
These are among the new rules and customs the world's refugees face in California, but they aren't so tough to handle considering they come with a package of liberties unknown in their native lands. Patricia Farrel Aidem in the Daily News.
Six and a half years ago, Los Angeles Fire Department Capt. Robert McMaster plucked a 3-year-old boy from the flames of a Palomar Hotel fire in Hollywood and won the Medal of Valor.
But when the 33-year LAFD veteran refused in late 2006 to stop recommending that a rookie firefighter be terminated for being unsafe, the department sent him to a Board of Rights hearing for insubordination and other charges. Beth Barrett in the Daily News.
McMaster, who is due to retire in June, said he was stunned when he was found guilty in January of five of eight charges against him. Now, he has filed for binding arbitration and says he intends to sue.
"I feel betrayed by the LAFD over this," said McMaster, a La Crescenta resident. "I feel my reputation has been tarnished with this department."
Looking to put pressure on his main opponent, state Sen. Mark Ridley-Thomas on Friday called for a series of seven debates with Councilman Bernard Parks in their June 3 race for the Board of Supervisors. Parks and his campaign could not be reached for comment.
The two have already had a pair of forums and Ridley-Thomas said he hoped more could be held to try to get the public interested in the election, the second of three to be held this year.
With brown lawns and a backyard swimming pool that resembled a cesspool, foreclosed homes were so rundown in one local cul-de-sac that residents sprang into action to clean up after their former neighbors.
Karen Maeshiro in the Daily News.
Stung by the statewide mortgage crisis, nearly 30percent of the 14 homes in Scranton Court are in foreclosure - and four of those are vacant.
With foreclosures rising in Palmdale - as well as the region - the city recently passed an ordinance designed to prevent foreclosed homes from deteriorating and becoming safety hazards or magnets for crime.
For the new resident, the foreclosed three-bedroom house on Beck Avenue - complete with a remodeled kitchen, hardwood floors and a pool - must have been a dream come true. Rik Coca in the Daily News.
The 1,600-square-foot home was listed for about $419,000 when the man moved in last month.
One problem: It wasn't his. He was a squatter.
"He had the door barricaded. He had a mirror that was taken off the wall that he had propped up so he could keep an eye on the front door to see if anybody was coming in," Realtor Steve Smallson said.
Spurred by growing ridership on the Orange Line, transit officials are pushing ahead with plans to extend the San Fernando Valley busway to ferry passengers four miles farther north from Canoga Park to Chatsworth. Sue Doyle in the Daily News.
Two plans to extend the line - which now runs between Woodland Hills and North Hollywood - were unveiled Wednesday as part of an environmental impact report that would significantly boost the already popular bus.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority board is set to pick one of the two plans in May, but it could be six years before Orange Line buses pull into Chatsworth.
Amid a budget crisis that means trimming emergency medical services and scrimping on library books, the city of Los Angeles will lose as much as $3.3 million this year by rejecting mini-billboards and other stand-alone advertisements.Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.
Under a controversial contract approved in 2001, the city agreed to let CBS/Decaux install 3,200 bus shelters, kiosks and mini-billboards throughout the city in exchange for $150 million over 20 years.
But some communities have been inundated with requests and residents don't want to see their sidewalks cluttered with advertisements.
United Teachers Los Angeles announced Wednesday that it has resolved a lawsuit over Los Angeles Unified's payroll system and said the school district has agreed to pay interest to 6,700 teachers who were underpaid for six months. Naush Boghossian in the Daily News.
UTLA also said in a statement that it will call off its faculty-meeting boycotts and the district has agreed there will be no reprisals against members who boycotted faculty meetings.
"UTLA is pleased to achieve justice for our members on this issue," UTLA President A.J. Duffy said. "We look forward to putting an end to disruptions caused by the payroll debacle. We are committed to moving forward with the district to improve the payroll system and fix any backlog of problems."
With the weak real estate market and slowing economy, the city of Los Angeles will bring in $90 million less revenue than expected in the fiscal year ending June 30, according to estimates released Wednesday by the city controller. Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.
The latest estimate puts city revenues this year at $4.246 billion. And as sales tax and property tax revenues drop further, revenue for the next fiscal year - beginning July 1 - will likely fall $11 million to $4.235 billion.
Over the last month, city budget officials have warned that revenue would be lower than expected and city leaders face cutting programs immediately to balance the budget.
Recent weeks of gang violence - with victims including a star athlete, students and infants - drew outrage from Los Angeles city officials Wednesday and calls for the city to review its response. Daily News.
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and Police Chief William Bratton also sought to calm fears the violence has been racially motivated.
"This is a city of 4 million people who get along very well, for the most part, every day," Bratton said. "I am well aware of how sensitive an issue race is and we would investigate if there was any indication it was a factor in these crimes. It isn't."
espite several recent headline-grabbing attacks against Jews in the San Fernando Valley, anti-Semitic incidents continued to decline statewide and across the country last year, according to a report released today.
The hate incidents dropped 13 percent nationwide in 2007 and 9 percent in California. Over the last four years, they have plummeted 25 percent around the country and 21 percent in the Golden State, figures compiled by the Anti-Defamation League show. Rachel Uranga in the Daily News.
Still, Jewish groups call the incidents troubling and note that despite gains, the deep-seated symbols of hate have not faded. More troubling, they say, are increased reports of anti-Semitic schoolyard squabbles.
"You are seeing an uptick in the acceptance of anti-Semitism," said Amanda Susskind, director of the league's Pacific Southwest Division. "We think the method of dissemination has changed because of the Internet."
Laurette Healey, one of the top Democratic candidates in the 40th Assembly District race, picked up the support of the Los Angeles Police Protective League. She also has been endorsed by Sheriff Lee Baca, ALADS and the California Police Chiefs Association.
“Laurette Healey has always been a friend to law enforcement," the Protective League said in a statement. "We know she will be willing to listen to all points of view and will be a reasonable and conscientious Assembly member. Laurette Healey is committed to the safety of her community and will work hard in the State Legislature to provide increased resources to her district to address these concerns.”
A staunchly conservative state senator from Thousand Oaks jumped into a Northern California congressional race Tuesday, saying he wanted to help return the Republican Party to the smaller-government themes sounded by Ronald Reagan. AP in the Daily News.
Sen. Tom McClintock announced in Auburn, Calif., that he would seek the GOP nomination for the seat now held by Rep. John Doolittle, R-Rocklin. Doolittle is under investigation in a congressional lobbying scandal and announced in January that he would not run for a 10th term.
One of the city's worst slumlords will be forced to refund $9 million in rent to his former tenants - including tenants at seven properties in the San Fernando Valley, City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo announced Tuesday. Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.
Landmark Equity Management Inc. frequently lied to tenants, refused to repair dangerous living conditions and illegally raised rents to force out rent-controlled residents and lease the apartments for more money, according to the criminal complaint filed in 2006.
Even after the city won an initial order in 2006 against Landmark, the company failed to make needed repairs.
The day after a jury awarded $1.6 million to two white Los Angeles Fire Department captains in a controversial prank against a black firefighter, some outraged city officials on Tuesday questioned the LAFD's disciplinary policies and demanded a review of the case. Daily News.
"This is absolutely outrageous," said City Councilman Dennis Zine. "Here we try to discipline people for allowing hazing to go on, and we have to pay for that - as well as for the person who was hazed.
"I don't know what this jury was thinking."
Even as gas prices for Los Angeles-area drivers are surging to record highs, transit officials are weighing whether to cut up to 20 bus lines across the city - including about 12 in the San Fernando Valley. Sue Doyle in the Daily News.
Meanwhile, dozens of other lines would either have hours reduced or routes shortened in June.
Overall, the cuts would wipe out some 375,000 hours of bus service annually for Metro, which is facing a $100 million operating deficit for the coming year.
And for motorists now grappling with higher fuel prices - as oil prices this week soared to over $103 a barrel - the cuts could limit alternatives for money-saving commuting options.
Under orders to reduce spending, the Los Angeles Fire Department sent notices Tuesday that it plans to eliminate part-time emergency medical treatment operations at three fire stations, including one in the Sylmar area. Daily News.
"Effective March 10, we are going to temporarily eliminate the variable staffing at these stations due to budget constraints," Battalion Chief Ron Villanueva said in the letter.
"We hope to bring the staffing back as soon as we can. The one thing we want to assure the public is that we will still respond to all calls and provide treatment."
In the wake of a report finding the LAPD failed to fully investigate civilian complaints against abusive officers, the ACLU urged the civilian Police Commission on Tuesday to adopt an independent investigative process, saying the department shouldn't police itself. Rachel Uranga in the Daily News.
The inspector general's audit released last month found half of the 60 complaints reviewed were flawed, including cases where police ignored key witnesses and inaccurately recorded statements.
"For years, inadequate investigation of complaints have been the norm in this department," Peter Bibring, an American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California lawyer, told the commission, noting that civilian complaint investigators are used in Seattle, San Francisco and New York City.
The county Board of Supervisors Tuesday called for tougher local restrictions on where the state can place released sex offenders.Troy Anderson in the Daily News.
The supervisors directed the County Counsel's Office to review Jessica's Law, or Proposition 83, to determine options local government have to restrict the housing of sex offenders in neighborhoods.
"Right now, the state has the authority to place them basically anywhere and, as a result of a great outcry in the Altadena community ... we were able to mobilize the community, and the state has now removed the sexual predators from that neighborhood," Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich said.
Two white Los Angeles Fire Department captains who were more severely punished than a Latino firefighter who put dog food in black colleague's Tennie Pierce's spaghetti - a prank that cost the city $2.7 million in settlement costs and legal fees - won a $1.6 million judgment Monday. Beth Barrett in the Daily News.
In the decision, jurors said it was both a finding that Capts. Chris Burton and John Tohill were too harshly treated - in an effort to lessen the impact of Tennie Pierce's case - and that the department's policies were unclear.
"It was the administration that seemed eager to throw Capt. Burton and Capt. Tohill to the wolves in terms of their careers," juror Heather Howe said after the decision.
With street gangs using global networks to carry out extortion, drug trafficking and murder, top federal and local law enforcement officials said Monday they are strengthening ties across borders, sharing information and even officers.
Using an annual three-day summit on transnational gangs as the backdrop, the Los Angeles Police and Los Angeles County Sheriff's departments signed an agreement to launch an officer exchange program with El Salvador, saying they and federal officials are increasingly turning to their foreign counterparts to hunt down Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13), 18th Street and other street gangs. Rachel Uranga in the Daily News.
The homegrown L.A. gangs - both with strongholds in the San Fernando Valley - have ravaged Central American communities as thousands of immigrants returned to their homeland over the past two decades and spread a culture of violence.
"No single nation can fight gangs alone," said John Pistole, an FBI deputy director. "They are far-reaching criminal enterprises that ... often transcend state and international borders to accomplish their needs."
The 40th Assembly District race continues to be one of the most active leading up to the June 3 primary election.
Democratic candidate Laurette Healey is having an official kickoff of her campaign at 1 p.m. Saturday at her Canoga Parks headquarters, 21511 Sherman Way.
On Monday, March 10, a forum will be held for the Democratic candidates, sponsored by a number of organizatins, at 7 p.m. at Shomrei Torah Synogogue, 7353 Valley Circile Blvd., West Hills. It will be moderated by Bill Boyarsky, the former L.A. Times editor and columnist and member of the city Ethics Commission.
Candidates expected to participate include Healey, Dan McCrory, Stuart Waldman, Bob Blumenfield and Steven Zeldin.
A little bungalow in the heart of this community is renewing a big debate about historic preservation across the San Fernando Valley Connie Llanos in the Daily News..
Brought to the area in 1904, the bungalow was home to Wilson C. Weddington, a member of one of the Valley's first families, the area's first postmaster and a key figure in the region's early development.
But while the house has been designated a cultural monument, booming development in the region means it faces demolition unless owner JSM Construction finds a new site for it within 180 days.
When vandals lobbed a Molotov cocktail at the Bernard Milken Jewish Community Campus last month, Los Angeles City Councilman Dennis Zine immediately pledged to draw up a reward to catch the culprits. Rachel Uranga in the Daily News.
But it took Louisa Prudhomme more than a year to get city officials to offer a reward in the killing of her 21-year-old son, who was shot in the face by gang members.
Neither the $95,000 reward in the West Hills Jewish center attack nor the $25,000 reward in the case of Prudhomme's son in Highland Park has directly led to arrests.
But the differences in how they came about highlight a city reward system that some say is influenced as much by politics as by a quest for justice.
TIPOFFSCouncilwoman Jan Perry seeks help from Police Protective League: selling off the city.
The American Red Cross acknowledged that it lacks safeguards against paying for unused hotel rooms during natural disasters, a gap that may have cost it tens of thousands of dollars during Southern California's wildfires last year. AP iin the Daily News.
The acknowledgment Friday came a day after the charity disclosed that blocks of rooms booked to accommodate volunteers in San Diego County went empty.
"Our job was to be reviewing who we had in hotels every night and making sure the reservations matched who was coming and who was going," said Joe Becker, who oversees disaster services. "We had instances where we did not do that."
Aiming to recoup an estimated $9 million a year spent sending firefighters to false alarms, one Los Angeles city leader and the city firefighters union are proposing fines for unneeded calls. Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.
The Los Angeles Police Department already charges property owners $115 or more for responding to a false burglary alarm.
But Councilwoman Wendy Greuel said she wants similar penalties implemented to deal with the roughly 30,000 false alarms the Los Angeles Fire Department responds to each year.
"It is illogical for the false-alarm billing policy to apply when the LAPD is called (but) not the LAFD," Greuel said.
Citing February's bloody toll in Los Angeles and across the nation, a city panel on Friday began looking at ways to regulate guns within city limits. Daiiy News.
Recognizing constitutional protections, Councilman Jack Weiss, chairman of the City Council's Public Safety Committee, said nevertheless something must be done to curtail gun violence.
"I recognize we are limited in what we can do, but we have to do something," Weiss said. "If we don't do anything, then the incident like we had at a bus stop this week is just another unfortunate tragedy."
With California facing a massive budget deficit, lawmakers have launched efforts to reduce or eliminate some of an estimated $50 billion in tax credits and deductions to help balance the books. Harrison Sheppard in the Daily News.
The credits - decried as "loopholes" by critics - range from mortgage-interest deductions and research credits for business to enterprise zones in the inner city.
Many of the targets are politically popular benefits that analysts say will be difficult to eliminate when a two-thirds vote is required. But Democratic lawmakers are vowing to solve an $8 billion deficit without relying exclusively on cutting state programs.
After 18 years of leaving riding the rails in Los Angeles to an honor system, Metro will install gates to snag those using subways and light rail for free, a move expected to save the agency $5.5million a year. Sue Doyle in the Daily News.
Going up in the next 18 months, 379 gates will stand along the entire Red Line and portions of the Blue, Green and Gold lines after Metro's board voted 10-1 Thursday for the $61million endeavor. The Orange Line is not included.
"We have the only open subway system in the world," said Roger Snoble, Metro's CEO. "More people will pay the right fare with the gating system."
Faced with a budget shortfall of as much as $500 million next year, Los Angeles leaders say it's time to talk about their "sacred cows." Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.
Councilwoman Wendy Greuel first used the term last month when she warned there would be no more sacred cows - that all programs and departments would be eyed for cuts.
Shortly after, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa announced his own warning about sacred cows. And the phrase popped up again earlier this week in an exchange between Councilman Dennis Zine and Chief Legislative Analyst Gerry Miller.
Zine: "We're looking at everything to save money, correct? What about the sacred cows? Have we discussed those?
wo weeks after releasing an audit that called for the mayor's office to coordinate the city's anti-gang programs, City Controller Laura Chick publicly urged Councilman Tony Cardenas today to schedule a hearing on her findings. Daily News.
The councilman, who chairs the City Council's Ad Hoc Committee on Gang Violence and Youth Development, responded by saying his job is to "make sure any action taken involving our gang programs is made for the right reasons, and not for political reasons."
Chick's audit, released Feb. 14, recommends that the Los Angeles Police Department continue its primary role of suppressing gang activity, and that city departments redirect $19 million allocated to programs that do not have well-defined objectives and outcomes.
Councilman Richard Alarcon returned to school on Thursday and said he learned some important lessons.
Alarcon, serving as part of the "Principal for a Day" program with the the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce and the LAUSD, worked at Sylmar Elementary School where principal Susana Rubinstein showed him what her day is like -- and it involves a lot of walking.
"We must have walked for two hours straight and visited every classroom," Alarcon said. "And, she told me that's what she does every day."
And, the councilman came away with some self-assigned homework.
Among the things he plans to work on is raising enough money for Sylmar and every elementary school in his district to construct gymnasiums. "It's only $27,000 and I want to see what we can do to help them," Alarcon said, adding that his district has among the highest levels of childhood obesity in the state.
Also, he said he is going to help the school cut through some red tape when it comes to getting city permission to build a driveway for parents to drop off their kids as well as on the bus service requirements for disabled students.
The median price of a San Fernando Valley home plunged a record $113,000 in January from a year ago and sales sank to an all-time low as credit and foreclosure problems further pounded the market, a trade association said Wednesday. Gregory J. Wilcox in the Daily News.
The 18 percent price drop, to $500,000 from $613,000, is the first double-digit percentage decline since the early 1990s, said the Van Nuys-based Southland Regional Association of Realtors.
The latest median is nearly 25 percent below the record $655,000 set last June and is at the same level as in December 2004.
The Los Angeles City Council is taking credit for heading off the closure of 11 county health centers.
Councilman Bernard Parks, who it just so happens is running for the Board of Supervisors, brought in a motion last week to have the City Council go on record in opposing the closure. But, because of council procedures, it could not be considered until Wednesday's meeting.
"We are pleased that after this motion was introduced, four supervisors voted not to make cuts in this area," Parks said.
Parks said the drop in public health care has had an impact on city services, particularly for paramedics who are responding to routine health calls and find themselves delayed at different facilities with patients in their ambulances.
The council motion also calls on the federal government to avoid cuts in its level of service to health care.
Parks and others said the only bright spot they see is the debate to go toward a universal health care program.
Los Angeles County's top voting official said Tuesday he's confident he can count the majority of 50,000 "double-bubble" ballots that went uncounted on Super Tuesday before the deadline to certify the election next week. Troy Anderson in the Daily News.
Based on advice from the County Counsel's Office and the Secretary of State's Office, acting Registrar-Recorder Dean Logan said he plans to count most of the ballots cast by 50,000 independent voters who did not fill out a party box at the top of the ballot along with a choice for president.
The "double-bubble" ballot required nonpartisan and decline-to-state voters to fill out a party box at the top of the ballot along with their choice for president in order for their vote to be counted.
As the Los Angeles City Council refused to slow police hiring Tuesday amid a budget crisis, council members said instead they're willing to generate money anyway they can - by raising parking-meter fees and allowing advertisements on everything from city trash cans and cars to dog parks. Daily News.
During a four-hour hearing on budget cutting, the council postponed a recommendation to cut the police academy class by 45 officers and put off the fight over whether the LAPD spending will be cut to balance the budget.
"We took the issue of police hiring off the table because we have at least three months to evaluate classes," said Bernard Parks, who heads the council's budget committee.
"It was in my judgment premature to be moving in that direction at this time."
The city of Los Angeles lost a key legal argument Monday and now will have to go to trial to defend the annual transfer of about $30million in Department of Water and Power water-service revenue to the city's general fund. Bethj Barrett in the Daily News.
The ruling by a Superior Court judge to deny the city's motion for summary judgment comes as another potential setback for an already cash-strapped city facing a $155 million budget deficit by June 30 and as much as $500 million next year.
Because of the uncertainty of the transfers, the city hasn't included them in the current budget, nor in its financial projections.
Setting up another fight between the mayor and the Los Angeles City Council over police hiring in tough budget times, the city's chief legislative analyst recommended on Monday cutting the March police academy class by 45 recruits to save money. Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.
The LAPD is currently recruiting police candidates faster than the city planned. Reducing the number of new hires this year would save $1 million and stave off proposed cuts to library book purchases and graffiti removal programs.
Moreover, the city must close a $155 million budget deficit by June 30 - and "belt-tightening" measures proposed by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa won't deliver the expected cost savings by that deadline, according to the analyst's office.
In their race for the county Board of Supervisors, Councilman Bernard Parks and state Sen. Mark Ridley-Thomas are both looking to tap into support from the business community. Los Angeles Business Journal.
In their race for the county Board of Supervisors, Councilman Bernard Parks and state Sen. Mark Ridley-Thomas are both looking to tap into support from the business community. Los Angeles Business Journal.
A year after Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and LAPD Chief William Bratton declared gangs public enemy No.1, crime has plummeted, homicides are at 30-year lows, and for the first time cops are working with hard-core gang interventionists to quell rivalries. Rachel Uranga in the
"One year later, gang homicides are down 30percent. That is an unequivocal measure of success," said Matt Szabo, spokesman for Villaraigosa, who now wants to place all the city's anti-gang programs under his office.
"We are doing as much as we can with the resources and the authority that we have."
But despite the gains, some of the boldest initiatives of Villaraigosa's anti-gang plan are barely getting off the ground, while other efforts that have been touted as "successes" aren't so clear-cut.
Residents of Los Angeles drink the nation's tastiest tap water, according to the judges of an international competition. AP in the Daily News.
More than 120 water sources competed in the 18th annual Berkeley Springs International Water Tasting this past weekend. A panel of 10 journalists and food critics sampled sparkling, tap and bottled water from 19 states and other countries.
The title of best municipal water was shared by the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, which serves Los Angeles, and the town of Clearbrook, British Columbia.
With three light-rail lines making their way across the city, officials are now looking at plans to link them through a future 1.6-mile rail in downtown Los Angeles. Sue Doyle in the Daily News.
"The more light rail you create, the more you have to connect," said Diego Cardoso, Metro executive officer of countywide planning and development. "Otherwise you face a gridlock of trains coming to downtown Los Angeles."
Commuters can review Metro's plans for a Gold, Blue and Expo line connector at two public meetings this week. After reviewing public comment, Metro staff will make a recommendation on the line this summer to its board.
Tipoffs: Mayor looks to put heat on City Council to make spendng cuts now.
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On Ventura Blvd in Tarzana, workers work on Tarzana Village Walk... (Tina Burch/Staff Photographer)
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Stretching 17 miles across the San Fernando Valley - from Universal City to Woodland Hills, from mom-and-pop shops to big-box retailers - Ventura Boulevard is cemented as the region's main drag and commercial corridor.Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.
But developers are increasingly eyeing the strip for apartments and condominiums atop shops. And the mixed-used projects - common in San Francisco, New York and increasingly in Pasadena and downtown - are beginning to change the face of the boulevard.
Seven residential projects totaling 900 units are now under construction on Ventura Boulevard. In all, 21 projects totaling 1,333 units have been approved.
The newest father in the Los Angeles City Council is Councilman Jose Huizar, whose wife, Rachelle, gave birth to a son on Saturday.
Simon Huizar was born at Arcadia Methodist Hospital, weighing in at 7 pounds, 10 ounces and 20-inches in length. Mother, baby and father are doing well, aides said,.
Huizar, who has two daughters, joins Councliman Richard Alarcon as the newest father on the council. Alaracon's wife, Flora, gave birth to a daughter earlier this month.
Dental disease among children is five times more prevalent than asthma in the San Fernando Valley and statewide, a result of poor nutrition, little education about oral health among parents and lack of access to dentists, community leaders said Friday. Susan Abram in the Daily News.
Dozens of nurses, teachers, pediatricians, dentists, and health promoters gathered at Meet Each Need with Dignity, an anti-poverty agency in Pacoima on Friday to discuss immediate plans to raise awareness about oral health in the community. They plan to flood churches, schools, day care centers and clinics with the message: Dental disease is preventable.
"The number one cause of missed school in LAUSD is dental disease," said Dr. Maritza Cabezas, a dentist with the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health.
"We call this disease a silent epidemic because kids go to school with the pain, and parents don't know, teachers don't know and kids think it's normal," Cabezas said. "They don't know they are not supposed to be in pain. They learn to live with it. Dental disease can affect their self-esteem, the way they eat and sleep."
Looking to slow the approval process for the massive Newhall Ranch Landmark Village project, Los Angeles city officials on Friday approved a call to require more study of the project's impact on the city. Daily News.
At the urging of Councilman Richard Alarcon, whose district is the closest to the planned project, the City Council asked for reports on the effects of traffic and other environmental concerns at the project, which would include more than 20,000 homes on the banks of the Santa Clara River abutting the Ventura County line.
The project is entirely within unincorporated county land near Santa Clarita.
The City Council is scheduled to get a report in mid-March outlining its options in seeking further information.
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa wants the new SWAT headquarters to be named for Officer Randy Simmons, who became the first SWAT officer to die in the line of duty during a Winnetka standoff earlier this month.
In a letter to the Police Commission, Villaraigosa said "it would be a fitting tribute to the life of Officer Simmons to rename the new home of the Metropolitan Division and SWAT team after this remarkable SWAT team officer and dedicated member of the community."
Within six months, the Metropolitan Division and SWAT are expected to relocate to the old Rampart Division station, located at 2710 W. Temple St.
Simmons, 51, was died in a Feb. 7 shootout with a man who killed his father and two brothers inside their Welby Way home. More than 10,000 people attended his funeral last week.
Bob Blumenfield picked up some major endorsement in the race for the 40th Assembly District, with the Democratic primary in June.
Blumenfield's campaign announced he has the backing of Mayor Antonio Vllaraigoa, Councilwwomn Wendy Greuel and state Attorney General Jerry Brown.
The race has taken on a tone of a soap opera with Stuart Waldman, a former aide to Assemblymwn Llloyd Levine, competing with Blumenfield for support in the race. Blumenfield serves as Levine' schief of staff district director.
Also in the race is fomer deputy State Controller Laurette Healy and activist Dan McCrory.
Despite demand for more green space in Los Angeles, the city has $129 million in developer-paid funds for parks sitting in an account just waiting to be spent, according to an audit released Thursday. Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.
Cumbersome and unrealistic spending rules are part of the problem, but the backlog is made worse because the Department of Recreation and Parks has not yet developed a plan to effectively dole out the money, City Controller Laura Chick said.
"It is hard to fathom that as the city faces a $300 million budget shortfall, we have $129 million intended for our youth, families, seniors and pets sitting unused and gathering dust," Chick said.
Los Angeles Unified School District teachers gave union President A.J. Duffy their vote of confidence Thursday, re-electing him to a second term over three challengers for the top United Teachers of Los Angeles post. Connie Llanos in the Daily News.
Duffy gained 58.7 percent of the vote, with challenger Linda Guthrie next at 23.7 percent. Challenger Becki Robinson received 16.4 percent and Barbara Eisen-Herman received 1.2 percent.
Duffy ran on the United Action slate and said he is excited to continue leading UTLA toward change.
"My plans are to continue down the road of reform, which has been the big thrust under my administration," Duffy said.
Hoping to end persistent rumors that Six Flags California will close and be replaced by more of the housing tracts that climb Valencia's hillsides, top brass talked Thursday about expansion plans for 2008. Patricia Farrell Aidem in the Daily News.
The $14 million plans touch both ends of the spectrum with a new kiddie area called Thomas Town under construction and a face-lift for the thriller coaster X, closed last year for transformation as X2: Xtreme to the Second Power.
"Once and for all, people will realize we're not selling the park today, we're not selling the park tomorrow," said Mark Shapiro, CEO of New York-based Six Flags.
Massive payroll glitches that left Los Angeles Unified teachers under- or overpaid last year are creating a new nightmare as thousands of year-end tax forms also have been found to be inaccurate, district and union officials said Wednesday. Naush Boghossian in the Daily News.
While LAUSD officials had promised that payroll problems would not affect teachers' year-end W2 tax forms, at least 3,400 have been identified as incorrect with less than two months remaining before the April 15 tax deadline.
And thousands more December pay stubs - which are usually used to verify annual income figures - now are not matching up with W2 figures, leaving many teachers concerned about possible errors.
With Los Angeles facing a tsunami of economic uncertainties, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa announced an "economic action plan" Wednesday designed to create 100,000 jobs over the next two years and develop programs to deal with the mortgage crisis, expand the middle class, attract more investment and increase tourism. Daily News.
"The economic experts, like Jack Kyser, tell us that they are not willing to concede we are in a recession, but it sure feels like one," Villaraigosa said in a speech at the Goodwill Industries work source center north of downtown Los Angeles.
"We recognize that cities are limited with what they can do. But you can't just throw your hands in the air and say we're limited. We have to deal with what we face."
Latino officers now outnumber whites in the LAPD, but the department still doesn't promote enough Latinos, blacks, Asians and women to high-ranking positions as required by a federal consent decree, according to a report released Tuesday. Rachel Uranga in the Daily News.
As of January, there are now 3,787 Latino officers in the LAPD and 3,770 white officers, according to the quarterly report named after the 16-year-old federal consent decree that forced the department to increase the hiring and promotion of minority officers. There are 1,183 black officers.
The report found the LAPD has met 47 percent of the promotional goals - with the majority of the noncompliance within the ranks of Latino officers.
About 60 female Los Angeles Department of Water and Power workers on Tuesday defended breast-feeding classes at work as cost-effective and called Commission President Nick Patsaouras "anti-women" for his criticism of the utility's $37,000 contract for the program. Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.
Women - including one with a baby - packed the Board of Water and Power Commissioners meeting carrying signs that read "Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's appointee Nick Patsaouras is anti-women."
The demonstration came after Patsaouras made comments in the Daily News and other media last week questioning why the utility is renewing a "lactation specialist services" contract.
An anemic housing market and strike-battered entertainment sector may drag on the Southern California economy, but the region will still remain strong enough to avoid recession through 2009, a leading forecast said today. Gregory J. Wilcox in the Daily News.
As measured by job creation, the regional economy should grow by 0.5 percent this year and to 1 percent in 2009, said the Economic Forecast and Industry Outlook compiled by the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp.
Jack Kyser, the LAEDC's senior vice president and chief economist, said the local economy will benefit from the diversity of its employment base.
Looking to counter a slowing economy, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa was expected to announce Wednesday the first stage of an economic action plan that seeks to create thousands of living-wage jobs. Daily News.
Villaraigosa's office said the mayor's plan consists of education and job-training programs to develop the skills needed by the local businesses and then work to place students in private-sector jobs.
"The national economy is currently confronting slow job growth, a severe mortgage lending crisis and credit crunch with a widening in the income gap," the mayor's office said in a statement.
The Los Angeles Police Protective League, long at odds with Councilman (and former Police Chief) Bernard Parks, joined several other law enforcement unions on Tuesday to back state Sen. Mark Ridley-Thomas in their race for county supervisor.
The Protective League was frequently at odds with Parks during his five years as chief, particularly over his disciplinary policy toward officers.
Ridley-Thomas has the backing of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO. Other law enforcement unions supporting him include the Association of Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs, the union representing deputies, as well as the Los Angeles County Probation Officers and the Southern California Alliance of Law Enforcement.
Ten-year-old Nicolas Gaona is the youngest of more than 42,000 volunteers who help the nation's largest county government serve the public - but the Northridge youth has one of the biggest hearts among Los Angeles County's cadre of helpers. Troy Anderson in the Daily News.
While helping prepare centerpieces for a March of Dimes event, Nicolas developed an idea to get more young people involved by selling tickets to movie premieres at ElCapitan Theatre, where children would be part of the audience and proceeds would aid babies born prematurely at area hospitals.
TIPOFFS:Controller Laura Chicks' recommendations on consolidating gang programs with the mayor's office facing tough going with
City Council.
Even as the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power again pushes to hike water and electricity rates, the nation's largest municipal utility continues to provide take- home vehicles to 117 managers and supervisors, the Daily News has learned. Beth Barrett in the Daily News.
In addition to cars issued to those employees who all earn six-figure salaries, the DWP assigns vans, sport utility vehicles and large trucks to about 250 other workers, according to data provided to the Daily News under the California Public Records Act.
Overall, about 4percent of the DWP work force has an assigned vehicle.
A computer containing personal information on more than 8,300 Los Angeles Department of Water and Power employees was stolen from an outside vendor Monday, utility officials confirmed Friday. Beth Barrett in the Daily News.
DWP General Manager H. David Nahai sent a letter to employees Wednesday informing them of the "possible security breach" and of steps being taken to safeguard them from the risk of identity theft.
DWP officials said the theft occurred at Systematic Automation Inc. in Fullerton and is being investigated by Fullerton law enforcement.
Congratulations to KNBC-TV (Channel 4) for being the only local station to broadcast live the funeral services of LAPD SWAT Officer Randal Simmons.
It is not the first time the station has turned over its prime morning hours to such events, including the last funeral involving an LAPD officer, Ricardo Lizaragga.
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Other stations join in
The other network owned stations and KTLA (Channel 5) picked up live coverage of the funeral.
Sidestepping any potential opposition from its commission, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power is shopping for a contractor to run pregnancy and breast-feeding classes for its workers for up to $50,000 a year. Beth Barrett in the Daily News.
Because the contract for "lactation specialist services" is less than $150,000, General Manager H. David Nahai can award it without seeking approval from the DWP board once the proposals are opened March 7.
But board member Nick Patsaouras criticized Nahai on Thursday for not bringing the controversial contract to commissioners for discussion.
he latest effort to combat Los Angeles' 40-year war against street gangs received powerful support Thursday with a pledge by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa to move quickly to try to assume responsibility for most anti-gang programs. Daily News.
At the same time, however, the plan by Controller Laura Chick to coordinate most anti-gang programs out of the Mayor's Office may not move quickly amid concerns of some City Council members.
Councilman Tony C rdenas, who chairs the council's ad hoc Committee on Gangs and Youth Violence, said he wants more time to study the proposal to determine if it should go ahead.
"This is a major policy issue and it is the City Council that sets policy," C rdenas said. "I have a number of questions that have developed after working on this issue for two years.
Los Angeles county and city officials are investigating whether Las Lomas President Dan Palmer broke the law when he signed documents saying he owns all 555 acres he seeks to develop into a "mini-city" outside Los Angeles city limits. Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.
Palmer signed county and city land-use applications saying he was the sole owner of the land, located in the hills between Santa Clarita and the city of Los Angeles.
But Fred McHaddad of Van Nuys actually owns 255 acres and he wrote to the city and county in December saying he was afraid Palmer was trying to take his property.
"Mr. Palmer is NOT the owner of the property, he only has an option to buy the property," McHaddad wrote in a letter to the city's Planning Department.
Southern California's housing market woes deepened in January, when sales plunged to a 20-year low and prices fell regionwide, an industry tracker said Wednesday.
Sales of new and previously owned houses and condos tumbled 45 percent from January 2007, to 9,983 transactions, said La Jolla-based DataQuick Information Systems. Sales fell 24.6 percent from December. Gregory J. Wilcox in the Daily News.
It's the fourth consecutive record low for DataQuick's database, which dates to 1988.
The median home price across the six-county region fell 14.4 percent to $415,000. January's median, the point at which half the homes cost more and half less, was just $1,000 above where it was two years ago.
Price declines last month ranged from 20 percent in Riverside County, hard hit by foreclosures, to 9.1 percent in San Diego County.
Amid broad criticism that Los Angeles' efforts to combat gangs are haphazard and ineffective, City Controller Laura Chick is unveiling a wide-ranging blueprint to bring together dozens of piecemeal city programs and hold them accountable under a new office directed by the mayor. Daily News.
The audit, set to be released today, comes a year after civil-rights attorney Connie Rice outlined broad problems in the city's efforts and estimated that gang crime is costing taxpayers more than $2 billion a year.
Key among Chick's more than 100 recommendations is coordination of the region's resources - from city parks and police efforts to school programs and a new Anti-Gang Office.
Saying it will help measure the effectiveness of the city's anti-gang programs, the Los Angeles City Council on Wednesday approved guidelines to redefine expectations for the programs. Daily News.
Using a model developed by Councilman Tony Cárdenas and his ad hoc Committee on Gang Violence, anti-gang program officials will have to demonstrate they have successfully kept young people from joining gangs or have persuaded gang members to give up their life of violence.
"For the first time, we have a way to show if these programs are effective," Cárdenas said before the 13-0 vote for the measure. "This is a giant step forward in protecting our taxpayers' money."
The biggest open secret of the city will be released Thursday when Supervisor Yvonne Brathwaite Burke endorses Councilman Bernarde Park to succeed her on the Board of Supervisors.
The two have scheduled a news conference on the steps of the Hall of Administration to make it official.
parks is in what is expected to be a tight contest with state Sen.Mark Ridley-Thomas in June for the seat.
Mexican President Felipe Calderón will be getting the full red carpet treatment today as part of his first major trip to the United States.
Calderon, who was iin Michigan on Monday, will speak to the California legislature today _ despite some protests from some Republican members protesting illegal immigration and wearing stickers reading "No Mas," according to the Sacramento Bee.
Calderon will be holding a private meeting with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger before addressing the special joint session.
After that, it will be a trip through the wine country and then on the Los Angeles, where he will be met by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who is hosting a private dinner for Calderon at Getty House.
Resurrecting a pledge to use more public transit as Los Angeles grapples with gridlock, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has begun stepping aboard more buses and rails to encourage Angelenos to leave their cars at home once a week. Sue Doyle in the Daily News.
"If I said to everybody, `Get out of your car and take public transit,' the likelihood of people doing that isn't great," Villaraigosa said Tuesday after arriving on the 710 Metro bus to catch the Purple Line at Wilshire Boulevard and Western Avenue.
"So the goal is: Get out of your car once a week. I want to model that."
The Coliseum Commission is expected to approve a lease agreement with USC today that could pave the way for millions of dollars in improvements to the aging Coliseum and ensure that USC remains a tenant for an additional half century. Billy Witz in the Daily News.
The proposed deal, the result of weeks of intense negotiations between Coliseum and USC officials, would require the Coliseum to finance improvements that are expected to cost in the neighborhood of $50 million over the next decade.
USC would continue to pay rent of approximately $1.6 million per season, pick up a slightly larger share of game-day costs and lend its name to the Coliseum's pursuit of naming rights that would help finance the improvements.
LAPD investigators omitted or misrepresented crucial information from private citizens' complaints alleging that police used excessive force, the independent inspector general told the civilian Police Commission on Tuesday. Daily News.
Responding to the "disturbing" report, the commission demanded that the LAPD improve its self-policing and explain why internal investigators have been slow to implement long-standing demands of the department.
A YouTube video of last Sunday's forum among the four Democratic challengers for the seat is available here, courtesy of Linda Sutton at an event sponsored by the Progressive Democrats of America and other local groups.
The four candidates are Laurette Healy, Bob Blumenfeld, Stuart Waldman and Dan McCrory.
The full event is captured in seven different videos at the site. The four are seeking to succeed Assemblyman Lloyd Levine, D-Van Nuys, who is termed out and running for the state Senate.
While the LAPD so far this year has continued to build on the momentum from last year's drops in San Fernando Valley crime, last week's quadruple homicide and SWAT team shooting in Winnetka underscores the sometimes random nature of violence and law enforcement's limited ability to prevent it. Rick Coca in the Daily News.
Although police say Edwin Rivera began to have mental health issues following the death of his mother a decade ago, family and friends say there was no indication he would ever turn so violent, killing three family members and Officer Randal Simmons and severely wounding Officer James Veenstra.
"This is like a lightning strike," LAPD Detective Joel Price said. "How are you going to prevent something like this from happening?
Some 50,000 votes cast by nonpartisan voters in Los Angeles County for president on Super Tuesday cannot be accurately tallied because of a confusing ballot design known as the "double bubble," officials said Monday.
Troy Anderson in the Daily News.
In a 21-page report issued Monday evening, acting Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder Dean Logan said a 1percent manual recount of 189,438 ballots estimated that 26percent may have been cast incorrectly and could not be tallied for Democratic and American Independent candidates for president.
"We are unable to clearly determine what the voter intent was on those ballots without the party selection or without knowing which voter booth they were in," Logan said. "It does not appear we are going to be able to go back and add those votes into the tally."
Up to $400 million has been spent on new computers and software for classrooms, but the Los Angeles Unified School District has not tracked where all of the new technology has gone, officials said Monday Sue Doyle in the Daily News..
Since 2004, the district has purchased 129,000 personal computers. But because of haphazard tracking, some classrooms still do not have enough computers for students, while others have computers but not enough software. Meanwhile, some school computers still are operating with outdated systems.
But officials have begun pushing for all district schools to have up-to-date instructional computer facilities, a plan to ensure that obsolete technology is quickly replaced, and tracking on how many personal computers are in which classrooms.
Low-cost carrier JetBlue Airways will launch service between Los Angeles International Airport and two East Coast cities beginning in May, while also beefing up flights offered at airports in Burbank, Long Beach and San Diego, according to several sources close to the deal. Art Marroquin in the Daily News.
JetBlue will offer three daily nonstop flights from LAX to New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport, and one daily nonstop flight to Logan International Airport in Boston.
The move could ultimately lead to lower passenger fares at LAX as JetBlue attempts to siphon passengers from competing discount carriers Southwest, Virgin America and AirTran.
Robyn Ritter Simon, a longtime political activist on the Westside, announced Monday she plans to join the field of candidates seeking to replace Councilman Jack Weiss on the City Council.
With Weiss having announced he plans to run for City Attorney, three other candidates have announced for the seat in the 2009 election.
Simon, 46, who is president of the West Los Angeles National Womens Political Caucus and who ran against Weiss in 2001, said she has always wanted to serve on the City Council and believes the opportunity is there in this coming election.
Other candidates who have announced for the race are former Assemblyman Paul Koretz, who represented West Hollywood and also served on the West Hollywood City Council before moving to Los Angeles, land use attorney Ron Galperin and businessman David T. Vahedi, who ran against Weiss four years ago.
Simon is married, with three sons. Prior to her post at the NWPC, she worked at the Century City Chamber of Commerce and the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce.
Tipoffs:Election winners and losers.
As cops rolled up outside the large apartment complex, gang members did a double take.
Seeing Los Angeles Police Department officers in their neighborhood was nothing new. But seeing city of San Fernando police officers sitting in LAPD patrol cars - now that might take some getting used to. Rick Coca in the Daily News.
"Whoa, what are San Fernando officers doing out here?" one of them was overheard asking.
On Friday, just a few days after voters upheld a citywide telephone users tax, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power renewed a proposal to raise its water and electricity rates. Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.
In early December, the City Council sent the rate proposal back to the DWP for two months so utility managers could provide assurances that the increase was needed and would be spent on infrastructure upgrades.
On Friday, the DWP Board of Water and Power Commissioners voted again to raise electric rates by 9 percent over three years and water rates by 6 percent over two years.
In response to City Council concerns, the DWP increased the average low-income customer discount from 15 percent to 20 percent and rearranged power infrastructure projects to replace the worst-performing equipment first.
WASHINGTON - The San Fernando Valley remains on the map.
In a decision released today by the U.S. Census Bureau, agency officials ruled that a designation defining "America's suburb" since 2005 will remain intact. Lisa Friedman in the Daily News.
The verdict came after a seven-month Valley-led campaign to convince federal officials that an official Census statistical designation is critical to the region's 1.8 million residents.
``The Census Bureau made the correct decision,'' said Rep. Brad Sherman, D-Sherman Oaks, who helped spearhead the campaign to save the Valley Census designation.
Supervisor Yvonne Brathwaite Burke, who has been a trailblazer for women and African-Americans, was honored by the Los Angeles City Council on Friday for her years of service as she prepares to retire this year.
Burke, was the first African-American elected to the state Assembly, the county Board of Supervisors, the United States Olympic Committee and other posts. She also was the first member of Congress to give birth while in office.
Councilman Herb Wesson, who once served as her chief of staff, organized the tribute, which included turning over the Third Floor bridge gallery to pictures of Burke from throughout her career and which will be displayed throughout the month. It includes a video tribute from various officials about her contributions to the city.
Short $155 million this year, the Los Angeles City Council began trimming the budget Thursday by freezing new hires in most departments and delaying the opening of two police stations by several months. Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.
But the budget committee members rejected - at least for now - the few proposals to cut services. Instead, they asked for other funding options rather than halt new book buying for libraries, reduce graffiti-removal funding or cut community beautification grants.
The first debate in the 2nd Supervisorial District race between Councilman Bernard Parks and state Sen. Mark Ridley-Thomas is scheduled for this 7:30 a.m. Saturday at Holman United Methodist Church, 3320 W. Adams Blvd., Los Angeles. The election is June 3.
The closely watched election is for the seat from which Supervisor Yvonne Burke is retiring.
The debate is sponsored by the Los Angeles Sentinel and radio station KJLH in partnership with a number of community groups.
About half of all 189,000 Los Angeles County nonpartisan ballots cast in the Tuesday primary were not counted because of confusion over ballot design, the county's top elections official said Wednesday. Troy Anderson in the Daily News.
And acting Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder Dean Logan said potentially tens of thousands more may also be affected because several hundred thousand absentee and provisional ballots are still left to count.
The problems surfaced Tuesday as the registrar's office began receiving reports throughout the day from crossover voters at the polls confused about how to mark their ballots.
While Los Angeles voters endorsed a telephone users tax and the $270 million a year it brings into city coffers, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa warned Wednesday that the city is still in a financial crisis that could leave it $500 million short next year. Daily News.
Two-thirds of voters on Tuesday supported the measure, which rewrites the city's telephone users tax to withstand legal challenges. The measure needed a simple majority to pass.
Its passage ensures the city will continue to generate an estimated $270 million a year from the tax on landlines, cell phones and, now, newer technologies such as Internet phone services.
After four years of debate, the Los Angeles City Council approved Wednesday an ordinance that would allow developers to build taller, larger buildings if they include units for lower-income residents. Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.
While required under a state law designed to promote affordable housing construction, the "density bonus" ordinance has angered homeowners groups that don't want to see big buildings in their neighborhoods.
To help alleviate concerns, the council tweaked the rules to protect single-family neighborhoods, including requiring developers to get special approval if they want to add extra height for a building within 50 feet of a house.
California First Lady Maria Shriver, no stranger to the paparazzi over the years, saw how out of control it can get on Wednesday when she bumped into pop princess Britney Spears at the Beverly Hills Hotel after the singer was released from the hospital.
The television show, Extra, was inside the hotel and filmed the meeting.
Spears was at the hotel after her release and Shriver walked in moments later, trailing the paparazzi.
Shriver introduced herself to the singer and they talked briefly before hotel staff escorted Spears into a back room.
Shriver was overheard talking to a companion complaining about the paparazzi.
Proposition S, the measure that keeps the telephone users tax in effect in Los Angeles _ along with $270 million a year in reven _ won easy approval from voters on Tuesday.
Final, semi-official results from the Registrar-Recorders office showed the yes vote at 376,513, for 65.63 percent with the nos at 197,182 for 34.37 percent.
The campaign behind it featured Police Chief Bill Bratton and Fire Chief Doug Bratton, warning of the danger to public safety if it didn't pass.
Proposition S, the measure that keeps the telephone users tax in effect in Los Angeles _ along with $270 million a year in reven _ won easy approval from voters on Tuesday.
Final, semi-official results from the Registrar-Recorders office showed the yes vote at 376,513, for 65.63 percent with the nos at 197,182 for 34.37 percent.
The campaign behind it featured Police Chief Bill Bratton and Fire Chief Doug Bratton, warning of the danger to public safety if it didn't pass.
Proudly sporting a Nancy Pelosi poster on her office door, 45-year-old children's-rights lawyer Cynthia Billey said her mind was made up a long time ago about who to vote for in the presidential primary. Connie Llanos in the Daily News.
The Sherman Oaks resident said she will cast her ballot today for Sen. Hillary Clinton because she represents more than just a candidate.
"She's a symbol of what women can do now," Billey said.
After hours of debate Monday over whether the 5,553-home Las Lomas mini-city might have a future in the city of Los Angeles, city officials postponed a decision to charge the developer for the staff time needed to process applications to annex into L.os Angeles. Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News..
The City Council's budget committee voted 4-1 to take a full council vote on whether to continue processing the project or stop it altogether.
If the council does decide to go ahead with the project, the the Las Lomas Land Co. would be required to pay the city for its review.
Home sales in the San Fernando Valley plunged a record 35 percent last year to their lowest level in more than two decades as fewer buyers qualified for loans amid the ongoing mortgage meltdown, a trade association said Monday. Gregory J, Wilcox in the Daily News.
Despite the steep sales slide to just 6,271 transactions, home prices managed to set an annual record as many sellers stayed put and refused to slash prices, the Southland Regional Association of Realtors said.
Still, as the median price edged up 1percent, to a record high of $611,833 for all of 2007, it declined and finished below $600,000 each month of the year's final quarter, the group said. In December, the median price dipped to $557,000, an annual loss of 12.4 percent, or $76,000.
With $270 million a year at stake in Tuesday's vote on a Los Angeles telephone users tax, some are saying a loss at the polls could be just what the city needs Daily News.
That's because Los Angeles has been living beyond its means since at least 2001, balancing its budget each year with money transfers or unexpected revenue from what had been a white-hot real estate market.
Attempts to limit spending, find inefficiencies and cut waste have failed to close a multimillion-dollar structural deficit - the gap between how much the city earns and spends.
TIPOFFS:It's not only the candidates and ballot measures who are impacted by Tuesday's election,
Dr. Ana Saravia sees firsthand the benefits and challenges of offering free medical coverage for children.
A pediatrician for six years who works at one of 10 community clinics operated under Northeast Valley Health Corp., Saravia has seen her practice double as a growing number of families have slipped from being able to afford health insurance to below the poverty line. Susan Abram in the Daily News.
"I work in a place where most of them are in government-insured programs, and I think most of the time, it works very well," she said. "But I also see that the system shuffles my patients around."
At a table filled with margaritas and tortilla chips, a group of disappointed volunteers from New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson's defunct presidential campaign recently debated whether to shift allegiance to Hillary Rodham Clinton or Barack Obama. Tony Castro in the Daily News.
Then a cell phone rang.
"I just got a call from Hilda Solis," said longtime activist Ruben Treviso, who heads the politically connected Latino veterans group American G.I. Forum. "She read me the riot act. I've got to go with Clinton."
Facing a raucous crowd of both supporters and opponents, the Los Angeles City Council on Friday gave preliminary approval to a far-reaching ordinance that would require city residents to spay and neuter their dogs and cats. Daily News.
The council voted 10-1 to adopt the controversial measure that would make L.A. among the largest cities in the nation requiring spaying or neutering of all cats and dogs by the time they are 4 months old.
Final action on the measure, which is an effort to try to control the city's population of unwanted cats and dogs, is expected next week.
"This is a humane ordinance," said Councilman Richard Alarcon, who spearheaded the proposal through the council and patterned it after pending state legislation.
Some people, and organizations, just won't let go.
At the commissioner's annual Super Bowl news conference Friday, Roger Goodell received the inevitable question about the NFL's return to the Los Angeles market. Steve Dilbeck in the Daily News.
And once again left L.A. in suspended animation.
"I expect to be back," Goodell said.
That would require that LosAngeles actually had a modern stadium, something lacking throughout the 13 seasons it has gone without an NFL team.
The presidential campaign of Sen. Barack Obama is bringing in the big guns this weekend in a final get out the vote effort before Tuesday's election.
The major event is set for Sunday with talk show host Oprah Winfrey making her second major campaign trip on Obama;'s behalt at a rally that will also feature Michelle Obama and Caroline Kennedy.
On Saturday, Obama is picking up two key suppoters who had been backing former Sen. John Edwards before he pulled out of the race.
Councilmen Herb Wesson and Richard Alarcon will announce their support for Obama at a rally at Obama;s Van Nuys headquarters, 14529 Archwood St.
Supervisor Gloria Molina, one of the most powerful Latino leaders in the nation, came out today for Sen. Hillary Clinton.
The Clinton campaign immediately named her as a national co-chair.
i
“I admire Hillary Clinton’s lifetime of work on behalf of children and families, and I trust that she will deliver results when she is President,” Molina said.
“Her experience in helping to create economic opportunities for working people, ensure access to affordable healthcare, and provide universal pre-kindergarten make her the best Presidential candidate for the unbelievably challenging times that we are living. ”
Molina long has been in the forefront of Democratic politics. She was the first Latina elected to the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, the Los Angeles City Council, and the California State Assembly.
In the heart of Hollywood before a star-studded audience, Democratic presidential contenders Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama sparred Thursday in their last debate before Super Tuesday in a high-stakes battle that took on a civility that had been missing over the past two weeks.Tony Castro in the Daily News.
The debate - now down to just the two after John Edwards announced he was withdrawing earlier this week - largely took on a tone of a celebration that the nomination of either a woman or an African-American would be history-making.
While the candidates delineated their differences to some 2,500 at the Kodak Theatre and a national television audience, their exchanges sidestepped the bitter contentiousness that has previously marked their campaigns.
No delay expected in L.A. vote count
As election officials across California warn this week that election-night results may be delayed because of decertification of some electronic-voting systems, Los Angeles County Acting Registrar-Recorder Dean Logan said he doesn't expect any significant local delays. Troy Anderson in the Daily News.
Clogged with dozens of television trucks, cameras and spotlights, Hollywood Boulevard became center stage for an outpouring of political fervor Thursday as Angelenos flocked to the last Democratic debate before voters hit the polls next week. Connie Llanos in the Daily News.
Supporters of both Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama swarmed throughout the five stories of the Hollywood & Highland mall near the Kodak Theatre, seeking to be part of political history.
In sharp contrast to Wednesday's Republican debate at the hilltop Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, the Democratic debate had the feel of an outdoor festival as a portion of Hollywood Boulevard was closed to traffic and people of all ages held up signs, banged on drums, sang on platforms and chanted for hours outside the theater.
Stepping up its pressure on the city, the Los Angeles Police Protective League called Thursday for the city to end the consent decree governing the Los Angeles Police Department as it challenged the qualifications and cost of the firm monitoring the decree. Daily News.
Protective League President Tim Sands, who has been fighting a financial-disclosure provision for anti-gang and narcotics officers, said the city has been in substantial compliance with all of the decree's main provisions and should move on.
"The time has come for the city to stand up and say the LAPD is done with the consent decree," Sands said. "In these tough budgetary times, the city cannot afford to waste taxpayer dollars for incessant, meaningless auditing that does nothing to enhance public safety or `reform' the LAPD."
When a devastating series of wind-driven wildfires ripped last fall through Southern California, manpower ran short and equipment even shorter. Patricia Farrrell Aidem in the Daily News,
In the end, more than 2,000 homes were destroyed. And the vast acres of blackened ruins drew the spotlight to an overextended state firefighting system that needs emergency help of its own, especially as a growing number of homes are built in fire-prone areas.
Faced with a $14.5 billion state deficit, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has proposed a surcharge on property insurance bills across-the-board to pay for more resources.
Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, chairman of Sen. Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign, has received $10,500 from indicted Chicago entrepreneur Antoin Rezko and his relatives or affiliates in previous council and mayoral campaigns, the Daily News has learned. Beth Barrett in the Daily News.
The news comes even as Clinton has criticized her chief rival, Illinois Sen. Barack Obama for taking contributions from Rezko in an increasingly contentious campaign as it heads into tonight's debate in Los Angeles.
Villaraigosa's Deputy Mayor Sean Clegg said today that the contributions are unrelated to the issues Clinton has raised concerning Rezko and Obama.
"It is no coincidence that this attack on the mayo
Sen. John McCain solidified his front-runner status for the Republican nomination Wednesday, sparring with an aggressive Mitt Romney in a feisty debate at the Reagan Library and securing key bicoastal endorsements from Rudy Giuliani and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. Tony Castro in the Daily News.
In a debate dominated by attacks and counterattacks between McCain and chief rival Romney, McCain appeared to take the upper hand.
The Arizona senator launched an offensive against Romney's economic record as governor of Massachusetts, while Romney said McCain was out of the conservative mainstream.
The debate was classic.
Two men arguing a different side of the same issue. Both throwing verbal blows and insults at the other's character. Connie Llanos in the Daily News.
But the heated spat was not between Sen. John McCain and Gov. Mitt Romney - the two candidates who dominated Wednesday's GOP debate at the Reagan Library. It was an exchange between a reporter and a political strategist in the media spin room.
A massive plan to accelerate transportation in the region with a $26 billion high-speed train system received initial approval from the Los Angeles City Council on Wednesday as it created a joint-powers agreement with neighboring cities. Daily News.
The move marked the first step in negotiations to solidify an Atlanta-based firm's proposal to construct a magnetic-levitation train system that would start at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, run through downtown and eventually reach Ontario Airport.
Los Angeles City Councilman Greig Smith said American Maglev Technology would foot the bill for the system and has been working with the Southern California Association of Governments on its proposal.
- A bill to convert the Santa Susana Field Laboratory site into a state park was formally introduced in the Legislature this week, but it is likely to be at least a decade before the project could begin. Harrison Sheppard in the Daily News.
Assembly Bill 1842 by Assemblyman Cameron Smyth, R-Santa Clarita, would create a joint-powers authority with seven state and local agencies to oversee the creation of a park on the 2,850-acre property after it is cleaned up by Boeing Co. and turned over to the state.
Boeing recently reached an agreement with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to pay for cleaning the contaminated land to high standards and then give it to the state for use only as open space.
With a life-size replica of the Oval Office, the seal of power gleaming off Air Force One and reams of White House documents, the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley may be the ideal setting for today's Republican presidential debate. Tony Castro in t he Daily News.
Just as Hollywood's Kodak Theatre - the site of the Oscars, next to the handprints of movie greats at Grauman's Chinese Theatre, with characters from Spider-Man to Darth Vader panhandling outside - may be the perfect venue for Thursday's Democratic debate.
From historic to Hollywood, the contrast between the venues highlights not only Los Angeles' own idiosyncracies but a culture of celebrity reflected in both campaigns.
Unveiling a flurry of traffic measures designed to dissolve bottlenecks on city streets, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa on Tuesday also urged car-crazy Angelenos to use public transit at least once a week. Sue Doyle and Kerry Cavanauigh in the Daily News.
From installing diagonal crosswalks that will help cars make more right turns at busy corners to prohibiting vehicles from parking on more major streets during rush hour, Villaraigosa said the steps will soon bring relief to motorists - although it may take up to four months for some to roll out.
"All of us need to get out of our cars once in a while," said Villaraigosa, who also resurrected an old promise to use more public transit.
"If we don't work together to move traffic, we won't be able to say we are doing everything possible to move traffic."
Facing the threat of resignations from officers in anti-gang and drug units who hotly oppose plans to make them disclose personal financial information, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa proposed a compromise Tuesday that he says will protect officers' privacy. Daily News.
Under the compromise, a federal court order would be issued to prevent any financial information from being subpoenaed by criminal witnesses.
The order would ensure privacy for officers and meet the terms of a federal consent decree provision designed to root out corruption among officers, the mayor said.
During his four-decade career, taxpayer-advocate attorney Richard I. Fine has filed cases that have saved California taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars and required state lawmakers to pass budgets on time.
Troy Anderson in the Daily News.
Whether he was bringing cases that reduced inflated Los Angeles sewer rates or forcing the county to pay child- and spousal-support payments, Fine has championed ordinary people taking on one of the most powerful government and judicial systems in the nation.
"He's a tireless and brilliant fighter for the little man and people's rights," said John Rizzo, president of the Marina Tenants Association, which retained Fine to protect Marina del Rey residents facing eviction during recent marina redevelopment.
With the city of Los Angeles short $156 million this year, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa proposed a dozen spending cuts Monday that include taking away city executives' cars and asking city employees to take five days' unpaid leave. Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.
But while the proposals could generate $35 million in savings, that's still far short of the money needed to close the budget gap - so Villaraigosa is relying on an additional plan for $117 million in cuts, fees and money transfers.
The plan by City Administrative Officer Karen Sisson includes an estimated $72 million in cuts ranging from delaying the opening of new police stations and canceling funds for paving alleys to trimming library budgets for new books.
Los Angeles City Councilman Dennis Zine issued a sharp rebuke Monday as the heavy rain flooding Los Angeles recently has exposed problems at some new city animal shelters, where plastic sheeting is being used to protect animals and prevent flooding in kennels. Daily News.
Zine said use of the sheeting at the city's Northeast Animal Center at 3201 Lacy St. is an affront to taxpayers who approved a $160 million bond in 2000 to build seven new shelters.
Told Monday that the city now might need to pay $180,000 or more from the bond to correct deficiencies in the shelter designs - modeled after shelters used in Pasadena - Zine erupted.
Tipoffs:Did the move of California's primary election to Feb. 5 diminish its role rather than enhance it in presidential politics? Should Democrats go to a winner-take-all?
Faced with a possible recession and loss of a telephone users tax, Los Angeles leaders have begun planning for the worst-case economic scenario for the city - a half-billion-dollar budget shortfall next year. Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.
Already the city is bracing for some immediate cuts to close a $75 million budget gap by June 30, which likely will mean reducing services and postponing new projects.
But looking to the 2008-09 fiscal year that starts July 1, Chief Administrative Officer Karen Sisson said last week that she anticipates the city could be short as much as $300 million.
If a telephone users tax on the Feb. 5 ballot fails to gain voter support, that figure could climb beyond $500 million.
Touted nearly a decade ago as a way to boost clean energy in Los Angeles, a Department of Water and Power program funded by ratepayers is largely subsidizing solar power systems for wealthier residents even as it falls far short of its energy goals, the Daily News has learned. Beth Barrett in the Daily News.
Since its inception in 1999, DWP ratepayers have paid $50.8 million to fund the city's Solar Incentive Program, which has financed half the cost of 1,022 solar power systems for residential and commercial property owners.
But of the $18.1 million in residential solar subsidies, nearly three-quarters has gone to 633 customers in five council districts encompassing upscale Westside communities, the West San Fernando Valley and the Silver Lake area.
Angelenos could pay as much as $120 a year in telephone taxes if Measure S passes Feb. 5, rewriting the city's existing telephone users tax to include modern technologies and help Los Angeles avoid legal challenges that could void the current tax, which generates $270 million a year.Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.
The measure would allow the city to tax voice mail service, pagers, text or instant messages sent by cell phone or PDA, and private communications services such as T-1 lines businesses often use.
A city resident with a landline and a personal digital assistant such as a BlackBerry - which can be used as a mobile phone and computer - would be taxed on the telephone and text services, which could add up to $10 a month in taxes or $120 a year.
Already grappling with a regional economic squeeze, consumers shivered with concern again last week as news of a possible U.S. recession rippled through the San Fernando Valley. Sue Doyle and Brandon Lowery in the Daily News.
The turmoil that sent lawmakers scrambling to cobble together a nationwide emergency stimulus plan came as the Valley endures fallout from the subprime mortgage crisis and a writers strike that has hammered the entertainment industry.
Coupled with rising home foreclosures, recent layoffs at longtime Valley-area industry giants Countrywide and Amgen, and pricey tabs at the gas pumps, the shifting economic landscape is leaving consumers clutching their pocketbooks tighter.
Jose Cervantez's last words to the health inspector hung in the air like the smell of diced onions and garlic he had just sauteed.
"We'll have no business," he said. "To me, it's not fair you are doing this." Susan Abram in the Daily News.
But inspector Scott Hunter continued, changing the letter grade on the front window of Cervantez's North Hollywood Mexican restaurant from a blue A to a scarlet C.
"Part of the problem was food temperature," Hunter said after he poked around Cervantez's refrigeration system, stove top and shelves, finding items that should be chilled to 41degrees were actually stored at 47.
Oh, how far the once-mighty U.S. dollar has fallen.
It's been a steady five-year decline for the greenback, a reality reflected by the fact that the Canadian dollar is now a more valued currency on the world market for the first time since the deep U.S. recession of the late 1970s. Kristopher Hanson in the Daily News.
And in the past 12 months, the dollar has deflated to about half the value of the British pound, and it now demands about two-thirds the value of the Euro.
A hamburger and pint of beer in London, if you can afford to get there, can set you back $25, and in India, where the rupee trades 34-to-1 against the dollar, the government has stopped accepting U.S. currency at tourist sites such as the Taj Mahal.
California's community college students will pay less for classes if voters pass Proposition 92, which in addition to cutting tuition by 25 percent would guarantee long-term funding for two-year schools. Lisa M. Krieger in the Daily News.
But the measure creates no way to pay for itself, and it could mean higher costs for students at state-funded four-year universities, which would be forced to compete for a smaller share of California's shrinking general fund.
The measure has sharply divided California's educational community, with the endorsement of the Community College League of California but opposition from the University of California, California State University and the California Teachers Association.
Complete election wrap in today's Daily News.
Los Angeles Holocaust survivors and their families, many with tears in their eyes, commemorated the 63rd anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz on Friday with the symbolic groundbreaking for the permanent home of the city's first museum dedicated exclusively to remembering the slaughter of 12 million in World War II death camps. Tony Castro in the Daily News.
The new home of the Los Angeles Museum of the Holocaust will be made possible through a landmark agreement with the city to build the state-of-the-art facility in Pan Pacific Park next to the Holocaust Memorial Monument in the Park La Brea area adjacent to The Grove.
"The liberation of Auschwitz 63 years ago was the first step towards extinguishing, once and for all, the fire of the Nazi concentration camps," Mark Rothman,a museum executive director, said at ceremonies moved indoors because of the rainstorm.
When the 15-story NoHo 14 project broke ground in early 2004, the project was described as the "quintessential smart-growth, transit-oriented development" by several city leaders.Connie Llanos in the Daily News.
With its open floor plans and modern design, the building was to be the Valley's first residential skyscraper - the first signs of urbanization in the area.
But since the initial groundbreaking fanfare, the building has been plagued with delays, rumors and controversy.
Well, that didn't take long.
Less than two weeks after taking a leave from her job as head of the county Federation of Labor to work for Sen. Barack Obama, Maria Elena Durazo has been named national co-chair of the campaign.
Durazo, whose roots are in organizing workers, will serve as one of the main surrogates for the Obama campaign leading up to the Feb. 5 primary election. One of her first jobs is hosting a series of round table discussions around the state focusing on the economy.
With Los Angeles' budget short at least $75 million, City Councilwoman Wendy Greuel asked her colleagues Wednesday to revive 10 proposals that could save millions of dollars. Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.
Most of the cost-saving measures have been suggested before, but proved politically unpopular and stalled. Now, with the city facing the first drop in revenue in a decade and program cuts expected to balance the budget, Greuel said city leaders should start trimming costs and generating more money.
"We need to be more disciplined in how we spend taxpayers' money," Greuel said. "We must use our current financial situation to fundamentally re-examine our spending policies and place a heavier emphasis on fiscal responsibility."
Looking to turn trash into treasure, Los Angeles' Bureau of Sanitation has launched a plan to help generate millions of dollars from the spaghetti jars, old newspapers and shoe boxes residents throw out. Sue Doyle in the Daily News.
Under the massive citywide recycling program - known as the Zero Waste Plan - most of the 3,600 tons of trash picked up daily in Los Angeles will be recycled, reduced to compost or turned into alternative energy by 2030.
The plan's goal is to stop the piling up of old yogurt cups, coffee grinds and other junk in landfills, where they churn out greenhouse gases.
In an effort to rescue businesses haunted by the intangible horrors of Los Angeles' city bureaucracy, the Valley Industry and Commerce Association this week rolled out a team that draws on city contacts to solve members' problems. Brendan Lowery in the Daily News.
The Red Tape Busters work out of a Sherman Oaks office that VICA President Brendan Huffman describes as fairly typical - no poles to slide down and no custom car with a blaring siren.
Seeking to reverse job losses that have plagued Los Angeles, a panel expects to disclose a plan today to boost economic development, with action ranging from expanding the city's international airport and seaport to creating tax-incentive zones for business.Daily NJews.
Since the peak of local employment in 1995, the report from the Los Angeles Economy and Jobs Committee says L.A. has lost 100,000 jobs to neighboring cities and regions that have developed strategies to attract businesses.
Authors of the report, "Building a World-Class City for the 21st Century," say city leaders need to take strong action to stem the job losses.
A half-percent sales-tax boost. A vehicle per-mile fee. Pay-to-use toll lanes. A $1 daily Los Angeles County parking fee.Sue Doyle in the Daily News.
The new year is just weeks old but Los Angeles County officials already are weighing nearly a dozen potential options to help generate up to $60 billion for county transportation needs through 2030.
And most of the options to pay for transit improvements are targeting taxpayers and the 7.1 million registered vehicles in the county.
Paper or plastic?
The answer to that oft-repeated question could turn into a legal issue as the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors is set to vote today on banning plastic bags at large grocery and retail stores in unincorporated areas unless use is significantly reduced. Troy Anderson in the Daily News.
The supervisors also are set to vote on whether to seek state legislation that would allow cities and counties to require supermarkets and retailers to charge as much as 15 cents per plastic bag.
The move comes as environmental groups have argued that plastic bags endanger wildlife, pollute waterways, exacerbate neighborhood blight and generate thousands of tons of unnecessary waste.
In the mid-1930s, actor Francis Lederer built what would become two mission-style landmarks in the west San Fernando Valley. Dana Bartholomew in the Daily News.
Now Marion Lederer, the late actor's wife, objects to a proposed condo development that she says could impact her historic home and the Canoga Mission Gallery.
Residents also object that, despite stiff opposition from neighborhood groups, city officials support the 160-unit complex near West Hills Hospital and Medical Center.
n the shade of rustling orange trees, Spencer Longmore watched his 2-year-old daughter giggle and coo last week at dozens of ducks and geese swimming in a tranquil pond on a warm breezy day. Brendan Lowery in the Daily News.
The 24-year-old North Hollywood resident recently discovered Los Encinos State Historic Park, an idyllic ranch tucked north of bustling Ventura Boulevard. Since then, he and his daughter, Fedora, have stopped by regularly.
"It's a place to relax," he said, noting he often reads or just sits beneath an orange tree while Fedora "can play in the grass and watch the ducks."
Tipoffs:Polce Chief Bill Bratton takes the role as city spokesman to promote Proposition S.;
When he returns this week to City Hall, Ron Deaton will be honored for 42 years of service as one of the most powerful figures in Los Angeles history. Daily News.
But it's likely his thoughts during the special ceremony will shift to a man with a seat reserved in the front row, someone who Deaton said he only vaguely remembers but who saved his life.
Dr. Reinaldo Sanchez-Grillo, a Costa Rican cardiologist, tended to Deaton for nearly two months last year after Deaton suffered a massive heart attack while on vacation.
The fate of billions of dollars worth of private property in California will be at stake this year in a political battle over how much power the government should have to seize homes and businesses for redevelopment. Harrison Sheppard in the Daily News.
With competing eminent- domain reform measures on the June ballot, the outcome will pit taxpayer groups against elected officials - and business and developers likely against both of them.
"I think the local and state chambers will fight this tooth and nail," said Barbara O'Connor, director of the Institute for the Study of Politics and the Media at California State University, Sacramento, "because this is one way that they can `mine' inner-city areas, which are often cheaper to develop and have large developments where they couldn't otherwise acquire property."
The Department of Water and Power's primary construction company for dust-mitigation work in the Owens Valley, along with a related firm, overbilled or was overpaid more than $7 million, according to a recently released audit. Beth Barrett in the Daily News.
The bulk of the work was on three construction contracts that were awarded for about $126 million, but grew to $162 million before the work was completed, according to the audit by GCAP Services Inc.
Some of the construction work was overseen by CH2M Hill, the Denver-based engineering firm that a previous audit concluded overbilled at least $3.3 million on a $96 million contract for the project.
Costs have soared for the Owens Valley dust-mitigation work, from an estimated $120 million to the $415 million range.
A slowing economy fueled by the crisis in the housing market is forcing Los Angeles to deal with its first drop in revenue in more than a decade - with plans being developed to cut spending by some $75 million in midyear. Daily News.
"In some respects, we are facing an unprecedented situation," City Administrative Officer Karen Sisson said Friday.
"We have not had a loss of revenue to this extent ever - and the last time we saw revenue drop at all was during the recession of the 1990s."
Thousands of supporters braved chilly conditions Thursday in the San Fernando Valley to hear Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton reiterate her plans to stimulate the country's troubled economy on a day when fears of a looming recession sent the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunging more than 300 points. Tony Castro and Connie Llanos in the Daily News.
But hundreds of backers were left out in the cold at the Clinton rally at California State University, Northridge, where her campaign had booked the campus's Grand Salon, which could seat only 250.
Reaching out to those left in the elements, the New York senator personally greeted and shook hands with many outside the hall who had waited for hours.
In an effort to create a stronger voice for residents in the North Hollywood area, five local neighborhood councils have decided to band together to deal with increasing development in the area. Connie Llanos in the Daily News.
"If taken individually, each of these projects would be bigger than anything we now have," said Cary McAdams, president of the Mid-Town North Hollywood Neighborhood Council.
"But together, they impact the entire area, change the character of everything, ... and they create a collective impact on the whole region."
With the Feb. 5 primary just weeks away, the San Fernando Valley has become a crucial statewide bellwether for presidential candidates as they seek to leverage labor support across Los Angeles.Daily News.
Just hours after Sen. Barack Obama campaigned in Van Nuys on Wednesday, Sen. Hillary Clinton hit the halls of California State University, Northridge, on Thursday. At the same time, former Sen. John Edwards rallied with union workers in downtown L.A.
And political experts and campaign consultants say at the heart of the Valley appearances is a renewed recognition of the region's size and vocal voters.
Crime has reached a "tipping point" in downtown L.A.'s Skid Row and if conditions are going to improve, long-term housing needs to be provided to hundreds chronically homeless, LAPD Chief William Bratton said Thursday.
Since September 2006, when the Los Angeles Police Dephetment launched a controversial cleanup effort on Skid Row called Safer Cities, police say deaths there have dropped by half and crime last year dropped 20 percent. Rachel Uranga in the Daily News.
"I think we have reached a tipping point," he said during a short speech to about 100 academics, policymakers, service providers and police gathered for a Manhattan Institute forum on the LAPD's Safer Cities initiative downtown. "Now the challenge is for the rest of society to step up."
It was the picture-perfect setting for Barack Obama's first visit to the San Fernando Valley.
A fan palm waved behind him. The branches of orange, tangerine and lemon trees hung overhead. A light breeze kicked up, the first sign of the Santa Ana winds that would arrive later.Tony Castro in the Daily News.
"I wake up to this every morning," his host, Mimi Vitello, told the Democratic presidential candidate as they walked from her small home into her backyard. There the media horde, down to Inside Edition - prerequisite of all superstars - awaited them Wednesday afternoon.
"I love it," said Obama, smiling confidently and looking at ease in shirt sleeves. "You have a nice home."
Working from the ground up
ith a share of the Democratic presidential front-runner spot and a growing list of key endorsements, the Barack Obama campaign is hitting California hard for its Feb. 5 primary - throwing hundreds of staffers, thousands of volunteers. Tony Castro in the Daily News.
Amid widespread criticism and fear of increasing control over Californians' lives by "Big Brother," a state panel has dropped a plan that would have let utility companies use radio signals to dictate the temperature in residents' homes. Brendan Lowery in the Daily News.
The California Energy Commission, in a bid to cut energy use during peak times or emergencies, had proposed forcing residents to install programmable thermostats that utilities could remotely control.
"What's the next step?" quipped state Assemblyman Rick Keene, one of several politicians who shot down the proposal within days of its inception. "They're going to put cameras in your house because they think they can cut down on domestic violence?"
Vowing to conduct a strict cleanup of the long-troubled Santa Susana Field Laboratory, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Tuesday said the state wants to maintain authority over the site and won't seek federal Superfund status for the area. Harrison Sheppard and Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.
State officials said they do not believe Superfund status is needed because they are already negotiating with property owner Boeing Co. to clean up the site to the highest standards.
The decision came as the governor also backed off an earlier plan to weaken the standards under which the contaminated rocket lab site near Chatsworth will be cleaned.
The city's grass-roots system of neighborhood councils got new power Tuesday when the Los Angeles City Council voted to allow the panels to introduce public-policy proposals - but only if individual members disclose their personal finances.
The unanimous vote came after two hours of intense debate on requiring community volunteers to file the same financial-disclosure forms that elected officials, commissioners and some city employees must file. Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.
The vote was considered a win-lose by neighborhood council activists who had long pushed for the authority to officially introduce ideas into city government.
"It represents a significant expansion of the ability neighborhood councils have to impact legislation," said Jason Lyon with the Silver Lake Neighborhood Council and the Neighborhood Council Review Commission. "But it's going to have a lot of consequences they didn't anticipate. It will create a morass of paperwork and increase bureaucracy."
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday voted unanimously to raise the district attorney's salary by $55,471 - about what an average county employee makes a year - to $292,300 effective Dec. 1. Troy Anderson in the Daily News.
The move means that if re-elected this year, District Attorney Steve Cooley would become the county's highest-paid elected official.
"He's rapidly approaching the pay level of the president of the United States, and that's not a good thing for anybody," said David Kline, spokesman for the California Taxpayers Association.
The Los Angeles City Council decided Tuesday to take over the issue of whether Los Angeles police in critical anti-crime units should be required to disclose financial information.
The move came despite warnings that there is little chance a federal judge will reverse his opinion that such disclosure is required to comply with a federal consent decree governing the Los Angeles Police Department. Daily News.
Prompted by complaints from the Los Angeles Police Protective League, the council agreed to review the order adopted by the Police Commission requiring anti-gang and narcotics officers to fill out forms showing their financial holdings.
Protective League President Tim Sands said officers consider it a dangerous intrusion that could make it easier for criminal suspects to gain access to personal information about the arresting officers.
San Fernando Valley schools are continuing to improve and generally outperform others in Los Angeles Unified, county and statewide on key student achievement tests, according to a new report released Monday.
The LAUSD's Valley schools and the Burbank, Glendale and Las Virgenes school districts all scored better than the LAUSD's average Academic Performance Index score of 655 in 2006-07, according to the report by researchers at Cal State Northridge. Naush Boghossian in the Daily News.
All but east San Fernando Valley schools also scored higher than county and state averages, said Daniel Blake, director of the San Fernando Valley Economic Research Center, which issued the report.
"Education is very important to the Valley and the consequences of that is that particularly in the smaller districts, they can really move and produce great results," Blake said.
Even as Los Angeles County weighs cutting services to the poor amid a shrinking statewide budget, the Board of Supervisors is set to vote today to boost the district attorney's salary 19 percent. Troy Anderson in the Daily News.
The proposed salary of $292,300 for District Attorney Steve Cooley would be far higher than the salary of the highest-paid federal judge, U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, who brings home $212,100 a year.
But the supervisors' pending vote is drawing protests from taxpayer groups that say such lucrative salary increases could give the county's 100,000 other employees ammunition to demand similar hikes amid increasingly intense budgetary pressures.
As Bishop Henry Williamson praised Martin Luther King Jr. from the pulpit of one of Los Angeles' oldest black churches Sunday, ushers passed out fliers reading "Register & Vote For King." Brandon Lowrey in the Daily News.
"Keep the dream alive," Williamson exhorted the congregation at Phillips Temple Christian Methodist Episcopal Church in South Los Angeles. "When you register to vote, you keep the dream alive.
"When you register to vote, you keep the dream what?"
With California expected to be a significant battleground for presidential politics Feb. 5, campaign managers for former Sen. John Edwards said Monday they are hopeful his message will win out over money. Daily News.
The state is so big and the costs so high to run an effective campaign, Edwards campaign manager Joe Trippi said, that he believes no candidate will be able to spend what is normally needed to run an effective television ad campaign.
"You could easily spend $25 million on California alone and it's one of 22 states in play on Super Duper Tuesday," Trippi said. "We don't believe it's possible for even the well-funded campaigns to do that."
In one of the first major tests of how much power neighborhood councils should have to influence public policy, the Los Angeles City Council will consider Tuesday letting the community boards introduce motions. Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.
The proposal would give neighborhood councils an authority now only held by the mayor, City Council members and department general managers - which is to officially introduce an idea into city government.
Currently, neighborhood councils must rely on a city council member to propose policy for them.
"It is one more step in bringing government closer to the people and the people closer to the government," said Leonard Schaffer, president of the Tarzana Neighborhood Council and a member of the Neighborhood Council Review Commission.
Tipoffs: On the campaign trail with Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.
As California braces for massive cuts in everything from parks to social services, an economic downturn is only partly to blame for the state's latest fiscal crisis. Harrison Sheppard in the Daily News.
Citing a looming $14.5 billion budget gap, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger last week proposed massive spending reductions - chopping aid for the elderly and poor, releasing thousands of prisoners early and closing dozens of state parks.
While state leaders say the slumping housing market is fueling the cuts, experts say the governor and Legislature also share the blame - the governor for cutting the car tax and proposing budget gimmicks that haven't worked, and the Legislature for years of overspending and resisting Schwarzenegger's earlier efforts for budget reform.
"Part of what's happened in the last five years is that the politicians in Sacramento have used every means possible to delay" fixing the budget deficit, said Barbara O'Connor, director of the Institute for the Study of Politics and the Media at California State University, Sacramento.
An early-evening chill Thursday didn't stop dozens of children from playing and adults from strolling about the long-troubled and gang-infested Jordan Downs housing project. Beth Barrett in the Daily News.
The neighborly scene was a sharp contrast to just two years ago when - even on balmy summer nights - the area was a virtual ghost town except for armed Grape Street Crips gang members, lined up sometimes 30 deep on street corners, hawking drugs.
"They were out of control in here, selling dope and drinking," South Bureau gang officer Dario Machado said. "About two years ago, we started hitting them hard on injunction violations. It went from gangsters all over the place to kids running around and playing ... normal kids playing soccer or riding their bikes."
The union representing Hollywood directors began contract talks Saturday, with striking TV and film writers calculating how a deal might affect them.Associated Press in the Daily News.
A quick resolution with directors could undercut the bargaining power of writers by serving as an industry template for the central issue of new media compensation, observers said.
The Writers Guild of America and the Screen Actors Guild issued a joint statement Friday saying they hoped directors reach a fair deal that "incorporates principles that will benefit all creative artists."
Nearly a year ago, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and Police Chief William Bratton stood in front of Mission Division officers and promised an all-out assault on the gang violence that was wrecking the community and others in the city. Rick Coca in the Daily News.
Top 10 Most Wanted gangster lists were drawn up, federal authorities were enlisted, gang members in the country illegally were rounded up and deported, and more police were sent into high-crime areas.
While some critics called the mayor and the chief's tactics mere P.R. stunts, the pair returned to the North Valley on Thursday to inform residents that, in their view, the plan delivered.
Despite objections from some City Council members, the Los Angeles Planning Commission gave its blessing Thursday to a policy that would block developers who want to build condos and big-box stores on prime industrial land. Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.
About 8 percent of the city's land is zoned for industrial use, which could include manufacturing, laboratory research, and film and television production.
While the city has had an industrial land use policy on the books for more than a decade, city leaders have rarely enforced it. Now that developers are increasingly seeking to bulldoze warehouses and manufacturing operations in downtown L.A., Hollywood and other hot residential real estate markets, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and some business groups are trying to stop the conversion of industrial land.
Faced with an overwhelmed and incomplete transportation system, the Metro agency has quietly polled Los Angeles voters on whether they would support a sales tax hike to help fund everything from building a subway to the sea to repairing pothole-ravaged roads.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority commissioned a $65,000 poll of Los Angeles County residents late last year to gauge support for a half-percent sales tax increase, although agency officials declined Wednesday to release details of the results. Daily News.
One person familiar with the survey, however, said the results showed that the measure would likely garner the two-thirds voter support needed to pass.
Angelenos already pay the second-highest sales tax rate in the state at 8.25percent, 1percent of which goes for transit projects.
With no clear front-runners yet in the nation's presidential race, the decision to move up California's primary appears to be paying off as candidates in both parties are now expected to grant more attention to the state than ever before, political experts and pollsters said Wednesday. Harrison Sheppard and Tony Castron\.
California's primary will be held Feb. 5, dubbed by some as "Super Duper Tuesday" because nearly two dozen states will hold primaries or caucuses that day - more on a single day than in any previous national campaign.
Traditionally, California has been seen as a nonfactor in presidential primaries because its primary was in June, long after the party nominees had been virtually decided.
Calling the situation at LAX a "ticking time bomb," Los Angeles officials called Wednesday on the Federal Aviation Administration to improve staffing at the airport to reduce the likelihood of collisions. Daily News.
Faced with a growing number of controller errors and near misses, the Los Angeles City Council voted 15-0 to ask the FAA to restore full controller staffing at LAX to 45, up from 33 now.
"What should alarm the public ... is that we are only a few seconds away from the deaths of hundreds of people," Councilman Tony Cardenas said. "Study after study has shown that we are in a dangerous situation here."
FAA officials said they have as many concerns for public safety as the local officials. But they said staffing was not a problem.
Fearing it will be tough to recruit enough poll workers to serve in an unprecedented number of elections this year, the county Board of Supervisors on Tuesday voted to offer a $75 bonus to poll workers who work all three elections. Troy Anderson in the Daily News.
These elections include the Feb. 5 presidential primary, June 3 state primary and Nov. 4 general election.
While officials feel they are in decent shape for the February and November votes, they fear interest will trail off for the June ballot because it has nothing to do with the presidential race.
Neighborhood councils would be able to introduce motions and initiate public policy under a recommendation adopted Tuesday by the City Council's Education and Neighborhoods Committee. Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.
The two-year pilot program would require two neighborhood councils to back a motion, and each council would be limited to introducing no more than three council files a year.
The full City Council will consider the proposal next Tuesday.
After nearly three years of debate, a Los Angeles city panel gave tentative approval Tuesday to the first citywide ordinance aimed at stopping people from building big, bulky houses on small residential lots.Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.
The proposed law approved by the City Council's planning committee attempts to quell the heated community battles that have flared between property owners who say they have a right to construct large homes and their neighbors who want to preserve classic smaller-home styles.
Yet the law is still weeks - even months - away from adoption as some council members are worried that limiting home sizes could shrink property values and the city's revenue from property taxes.
Organized labor has contributed more than $1 million to help Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa persuade voters to approve a Feb. 5 ballot measure that would maintain the city's telephone utility users tax. Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.
If voters reject the tax, the city could lose as much as $270 million a year currently generated by residential and business telephone calls. Villaraigosa has warned that if the city loses that money, services will be cut and employees could lose jobs.
Los Angeles County Federation of Labor Executive Secretary-Treasurer Maria Elena Durazo said unions are bankrolling the campaign because losing the telephone tax would hurt city services and the public employees who provide them.
With the threat of an exodus of officers from critical crime units - as well as an organized campaign against a new policy - a city official said Monday that he will ask the full City Council to reconsider requirements that officers in anti-gang and narcotics units divulge personal financial information. Daily News.
Councilman Jack Weiss, chairman of the council's Public Safety Committee, said he plans to present a motion asking the council to review the policy adopted by the Los Angeles Police Commission as part of its effort to comply with a federal consent decree.
"I have been one of the biggest supporters of the consent decree," Weiss said. "But I have a lot of concerns about this. I am not certain if this policy will do much to identify bad cops, but it appears to have a demoralizing effect on good cops.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is set to unveil a grim annual budget this week amid a worsening state financial crisis that is expected to dampen any new policy initiatives and dominate all debate in the Capitol this year.Harrison Sheppard in the Daily News.
While Schwarzenegger had earlier declared 2008 would be his year of education reform, California's $14 billion deficit and the lingering health care reform debate are overshadowing that plan and limiting state leaders' ability to launch policy initiatives this year.
And the bleak financial outlook has local governments bracing for potential cuts, with Los Angeles County officials estimating that $208 million in revenue could be at risk in 2008-09.
Tipoffs: Traffic conference to focus on financing plans.
They all mention her name - family and friends, health-care professionals, even presidential candidates - evoking her story as an example of health insurance gone wrong in the United States.Susan Abram in the Daily News.
The case of Nataline Sarkisyan of Northridge - who died last month after her insurer denied, then agreed to, a liver transplant hours before her death - continues to highlight the national controversy about insurance and medical care and what, if anything, can be changed.
While overall complaints against some California insurance companies about everything from access to care to other services have declined in the past two years, complaints about more specific procedures - like Nataline's - have increased, according to a Daily News review of state data.
Three 27-story high-rises are part of the newest proposed mega development for North Hollywood, the latest in a string of massive area projects that will draw more than $5 billion in private investment during the next decade. Connie Llanos in the Daily News.
In the design phase, the Artwalk East and West project includes the three high-rises, 1,249 new residential units, 37,000 square feet of retail space and 2,900 new parking spaces.
A spokesman for the developer, JSM Capital, touted the project as the ultimate example of smart growth and a symbol of the successful revitalization under way in North Hollywood.
"We think this design is consistent with the type of development the city wants to do around a major transportation node," said Allen Freeman, chief operating officer at JSM Capital.
"It's about a two-minute walk from the subway, and there is no better location for new housing."
The Artwalk joins a list of projects planned for the greater North Hollywood area, including Lowe Enterprise's $1billion Artwave, J.H. Snyder's Valley Plaza and NBC/Universal's $3 billion expansion.
But with the list of projects growing, the JSM proposal has ignited long-simmering concerns about the area's rapid development, which now faces legal battles and growing community opposition.
"We are not anti-development. W
Charging that the Los Angeles Unified School District is wasting taxpayer funds and dragging its feet in filing a lawsuit against the company responsible for rolling out a problem-plagued computerized payroll system, a state assemblyman said he will introduce a bill Monday to urge the district to recoup any lost money. Naush Boghossian in the Daily News.
Assemblyman Kevin de Leon said he will introduce Assembly Bill 730, which would prevent any contractor found by a court liable for breach of an information-technology contract worth more than $1 million - and the judgment is greater than $250,000 - from bidding on any new business with the state or any local government for five years.
De Leon said the bill was prompted by LAUSD payroll problems in which thousands of employees have been underpaid or overpaid since February 2007.
He charged Deloitte & Touche with conducting something akin to a "very sophisticated scam," in which - despite being paid $55 million to smoothly roll out the system - the company requested an additional $9.4 million to fix the problems.
The Bob Hope Airport plans to build a facility so screeners can check bags away from the Terminal B lobby, but some residents are forcing the City Council to take another look at the project. Alex Dubozinskis in the Daily News.
Stan Hyman and David Piroli oppose the project, saying it violates a 2005 agreement between Burbank and the airport meant to temporarily block airport expansion. They have appealed the city's decision to approve the screening improvements.
"If you have a suspect bag that really could have an explosive device in it, it's much better not to have it in a public area," said Victor Gill, spokesman for the airport.
Diesel emissions continue to plague the Southland and are creating what air-pollution officials call an "unacceptably high" rate of cancer risk for residents, according to a study released Friday by the region's air-quality agency. Daily News.
While the region's air has less toxic contamination now compared with seven years ago, the pollution is bad enough that 1,200 of every million residents in pockets of Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties are at risk of developing cancer from breathing the bad air.
The cancer risk around the ports - where trucks, trains and ships spew diesel pollution - is much higher at 2,900 cancers per million.
The Los Angeles airport commission is under investigation for possibly violating the state's open-meetings law when it discussed a topic that was not listed on an agenda last month, officials confirmed Friday. Art Marroquin in the Daily News.
The seven-member panel may have breached the Ralph M. Brown Act on Dec. 17 by discussing a congressional report that cited a "high risk" of close calls between aircraft maneuvering on the ground at the nation's airports, including Los Angeles International Airport.
While not taking a formal vote, the airport commission directed airport staff members to develop immediate measures to heighten safety on the northern airfield at LAX. The group also signaled that it intended to ask for a speedy environmental study examining how LAX's parallel northern runways should be configured - a contentious topic that has long drawn the ire of those living near the airport.
Religion and politics, the two subjects Americans shy away from at dinner parties, were front and center this week as the 2008 presidential campaign season officially opened. Patricia Farrell Aidem in the Daily News.
Candidates have unabashedly espoused their faiths, some blatantly and others tacitly, but all in hopes of luring the faithful to their team. The battle to win over Christian evangelicals in particular has further eroded the line between church and state.
Religion has always influenced U.S. politics, said Robert Kaufman, a professor at Pepperdine University's School of Public Policy in Malibu.
Just a month before the presidential primary, Secretary of State Debra Bowen imposed a series of new security measures on Los Angeles County's voting system Thursday to thwart hackers and others who want to tamper with the results. Harrison Sheppard in the Daily News.
Bowen had decertified the county's Inkavote Plus system in August based on security concerns, casting doubt on the ability of the nation's most populous county to conduct the February presidential primary.
County officials said they worked closely with Bowen's office on the new measures and believe they can meet the requirements in time for the vote.
It could be the suburb of the future - a development, concentrating town houses near jobs, that has its own bus system and plenty of parks, all in a wired, environmentally friendly community. Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.
Las Lomas developers say their proposed 5,553-home mini-city in the open hills between Santa Clarita and Los Angeles will be the smart-growth, sustainable answer to the problems created by the region's unplanned, suburban, car-dependent mode of building.
"We do see ourselves as very cutting edge," said Hilary Norton Orozco, executive vice president of the Las Lomas Land Co. "The fact is, we do believe we're going to change people's behavior."
With water supplies getting tighter, one Los Angeles leader has said the city needs to consider blocking new residential development until L.A. adopts regulations to limit water use in new projects. Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.
West San Fernando Valley Councilman Dennis Zine said he called for the mandatory water conservation in new development after Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's plea for voluntary water saving was largely ignored by Angelenos.
"It's a drastic step but we need to start discussing this," Zine said. "The more we build, the more water is consumed. The slower we are to act on it, the worse the consequences.
The San Fernando Valley's residential real estate market remained frozen during November with both sales and prices retreating substantially from a year ago, a trade association said Wednesday. Gregory J. Wilcox in the Daily News.
The median price of a previously owned single-family house fell an annual 6.3percent, or $37,500, to $557,500, said the Southland Regional Association of Realtors. It's the lowest median in 32 months, or the start of the 2005 second quarter.
Sales plunged an annual 53 percent, to 355 transactions, just one more than the record low set in October.
"I honestly think we're in a bit of an impasse. Buyers aren't doing anything and sellers are just sitting back waiting for something to happen," said Jim Link, the association's executive vice president.
Los Angeles International Airport was the nation's fourth-busiest airport in 2007, logging 680,954 landings and takeoffs, according to preliminary statistics released Wednesday by the Federal Aviation Administration. Art Marroquin in the Daily News.
The figure represents a 3
"We would attribute this increase to the fact that new service was introduced by low-cost carriers, particularly with the arrival of Virgin America," said Nancy Castles, an LAX spokeswoman.
Presidential candidate Barack Obama, no matter the results in Thursday's caucuses in Iowa, is already planning his California push for the state's Feb. 5 primary election.
Part of it includes a noon rally scheduled for this Friday at Los Angeles City Hall _ where Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has been a prominent supporter of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton.
Obama's event is being coordinated through his City Hall supporter, Council President Eric Garcetti.
No word from the Clinton camp on whether they are planning a similar event in the coming month _ although she is expected to have a highly visible presence in the state that has long supported her husband.
**Latest word is Obama himself will not be attending, but that backers of him will be appearing at the event.
Nearly five years ago, Los Angeles city officials sold 21 acres in Sun Valley at a rock-bottom price to a developer that pledged to turn the former dumpsite into the largest new industrial project in the Northeast Valley. Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.
But despite promises of hundreds of good jobs and a youth center, the massive development failed to materialize, and after several years the developer became mired in trouble and filed for bankruptcy.
Last year, Trammell Crow Co. bought the land in a court-ordered sale for $18.75 million - seven times higher than the city sale price - and now has resurrected plans to develop the former landfill, this time as a light manufacturing, research and development complex.
As she stepped onto the stage at the Wadsworth Theater in West Los Angeles last year, Hillary Rodham Clinton's chunky-heeled slipper seemed to catch on the flooring, and for just a moment there was a skip in her step. Tony Castro in the Daily News
The momentary hesitation also may have had something to do with the surprising boos that could be heard amid the cheers and applause as she was introduced to the predominantly Democratic audience gathered for a forum on global warming and America's energy future.
Clinton's chagrin peaked minutes later when she challenged the hecklers near the rear of the theater:
The glass is half full
Tired of grappling with all of the turmoil and trouble in the world? This year doesn't have to be so full of doom and gloom. Daily News.
"As we leap into 2008 - a leap year - I believe people have a choice. They can focus on the catastrophes, the down market, the housing/mortgage crunch, the wind-driven fires that have marked 2007," said Westlake Village's Jackie Lapin, author of "The Art of Conscious Creation, How You Can Transform the World."
"Or they can live in the belief that 2008 will bring abundance and better times for themselves and our Valley community."
While he has spent most of the holiday freezing in Iowa campaigning for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is returning to take part in the Rose Parade in neighboring Pasadena.
Villaraigosa will be riding on the city's float, the S.S. Los Angeles, to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Port of Los Angeles.
The city's float is a six-vessel piece called, "The Place Where the World Comes Together."
The float marks teh 100th entry by the city in the parade.
Scheduled to join Villaraigosa on the float is Councilwoman Janice Hahn, whose district includes the port.
'
There once was a time when leaving for work at 5:30 a.m. meant Brigitte Paulicivic practically had the San Diego Freeway to herself Sue Doyle in the Daily News.
Driving to her Woodland Hills job before the crack of dawn, the Santa Monica woman thought she had discovered a great little secret about commuting and avoiding traffic tie-ups.
Not anymore.
The early morning drive that had been a breeze for Paulicivic for the past five years is now crowded with other vehicles.
For Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, the new year brings with it new hope of emerging from an entanglement of personal problems and political defeats that have all but sidetracked his once-shining political career. Daily News.
But Villaraigosa still faces some grim economic realities as Los Angeles grapples with a slowing economy and a prolonged writers strike that have begun to take their toll on the city budget.
And the mayor and city are facing a high-stakes gamble at the polls in February, when voters will be asked to approve a replacement telephone-users tax - without which the city could lose $270 million.
It certainly feels that way. From the housing crisis to striking writers to high gas prices, old was new again in 2007. Here is a look at the year's top local business stories: Muhammad El-Hassan in the Daily News.
1. Home sales, prices drop
The housing market suffered a major slump in 2007, representing this year's top business story.
Reminiscent of the housing slump of the last decade, home sales took a major dive in 2007, with a double-digit year-over-year plunge nationwide. That was followed by a drop in home prices that also reached double digits in some markets, including Southern California.
Starting next week, minimum-wage workers will see a salary increase, kids will gain new protections from secondhand smoke, and cleats made from kangaroos will be legal to sell in California. Harrison Sheppard in the Daily News.
Those are just a few of the new laws that will take effect Tuesday after the Legislature passed 964 bills this year and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed 750 into law, according to the Senate Office of Research.
But analysts say this year's legislative session, overshadowed by wrangling over budget issues, resulted in few new laws that will make a major difference to average Californians.
In fact, two of the more significant laws that take effect in 2008 - an increase in the minimum wage and a ban on using handheld wireless phones while driving - were passed not this year, but in 2006.
Attention, Metro pass holders: Beginning Tuesday, there'll be no more free rides - at least not on DASH and Commuter Express buses.
Metro officials decided earlier this month that they'd had enough of picking up fares for Metro pass holders traveling on DASH and Commuter Express buses operated by the Los Angeles Department of Transportation. Sue Doyle in the Daily News.
Last year alone, Metro had to fork out about $760,000 to reimburse LADOT. That amount covered only about half the rides, so Metro thinks LADOT could take in some $1.5 million in 2008 thanks to the change.
Metro officials said it's not unreasonable to ask riders to share in the rising costs of transportation.
A city ordinance that would require a ``living wage'' for airport-area hotel employees was upheld today by the 2nd District Court of Appealm City News Service reports.
The court found that the Enhancement Zone Ordinance was sufficiently
different from a repealed Living Wage Ordinance because it addressed objections
expressed by hotels and businesses, according to the City Attorney's Office.
``I am pleased to report that the California Court of Appeal today, in a
published opinion, ruled for the city and upheld the city's Enhancement Zone
Ordinance,'' said City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo.
Officials for the hotels along the Century corridor said they were studying their options on an appeal
American consumers, uneasy about the economy and unimpressed by the merchandise in stores, delivered the bleak holiday shopping season retailers had expected, if not feared, according to one early but influential projection.NYT in the Daily News.
Spending from Thanksgiving to Christmas rose just 3.6 percent over last year, the weakest performance in at least four years, according to MasterCard Advisors, a division of the credit card company. By comparison, sales grew 6.6 percent in 2006 and 8.7 percent in 2005.
"There was not a recipe for a pickup in sales growth," said Michael McNamara, vice president for research and analysis at MasterCard Advisors, citing higher gas prices, a slowing housing market and a tight credit market.
Citing changes in its housing agency, Los Angeles officials announced Monday that $72 million in new federal funding has been awarded to the city for its efforts to deal with the homeless. Daily News.
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said the Department of Housing and Urban Development made the award to the city's Shelter Plus Care program.
"This is a watershed moment in L.A.'s effort to end homelessness," Villaraigosa said. "This is proof that when you set a goal, major change and progress can occur."
Questions over whether an insurance company acted properly in denying a liver transplant to a Northridge girl continued to reverberate Monday as insurance company executives said their actions have been mischaracterized. Daily News.
In a message e-mailed to employees, CIGNA Health Care's chief medical officer Jeffrey Kang and president David Cordani said the company had done all it could for Nataline Sarkisyan, who died last week after twice being denied authorization for a liver transplant even though doctors at UCLA Medical Center said she could be saved with one.
Kang and Cordani said the insurer's initial denial of the transplant was made after "we went directly to not one, but two, independent experts in the field who agree that the procedure in question, given the patient's particular circumstances, would not have been an effective or appropriate treatment.
Tipoffs: The mayor wins over some schools, even with LAUSD offering different rules.
Let's dub 2008 the "Year of the Home Buying Opportunity."
That's my glass-half-full take on what's going to happen with the residential real estate market.
But the extent of the opportunity will materialize over time. Gregory J Wilcox in the Daily News.
Perhaps market tracker DataQuick Information Systems and the California Association of Realtors provided a glimpse last week with sales and price statistics for November.
DataQuick noted that the median price across the Southern California region stretching from Ventura to San Diego fell a record 10.3 percent from a year earlier, to $435,000. (DataQuick's stats include new and previously owned houses and condominiums.)
With less than two weeks left in the year, Los Angeles is on track to record its lowest homicide rate since 1970. Rachel Uranga in the Daily News.
That year, 394 people were killed in the city as the war in Vietnam raged on and the Beatles called it quits.
As of Dec. 15, 379 people had been killed in Los Angeles this year, with about 200 of those incidents gang-related. The overall homicide rate is down 17 percent from last year.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department has seen similar declines, registering a 25 percent drop in homicides this year over last. Police attribute the decline to a variety of factors, including more focused policing - and chance.
Hollywood heiress Paris Hilton might have gotten a Coke and a smile
from Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies during her stint in jail
last summer, but the department went even further for errant actor Mel
Gibson. Troy Anderson in the Daily News.
In a review released Thursday into whether movie stars who run afoul
of the law get preferential treatment, an investigator found three
deputies involved in the drunk-driving arrest of Gibson violated
policy - including driving Gibson to a tow yard to pick up his car.
Deputies violated policy by hustling him through the release process
and not obtaining his palm print and the required signatures before
release, said Office of Independent Review Chief Attorney Michael
Gennaco.
And after his release, a sergeant gave him a lift to get his car.
"It's very rare to have an arrestee being driven to a tow yard so they
can pick up their car," Gennaco wrote in the report. "And in Malibu,
the tow yard was 112 miles away."
Legislators and activists involved with the Santa Susana Field Lab are
urging Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to support Superfund status for the
former nuclear research and rocket-engine test site. Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.
The governor is expected to decide by the end of the month whether he
supports placing the 2,850-acre lab on the National Priorities List,
which would bring U.S. Environmental Protection Agency oversight and
stringent cleanup standards that lab neighbors have long sought.
"The community has been praying for a decade that this site would be
added to Superfund list," said Dan Hirsch of the Committee to Bridge
the Gap, a watchdog group that has followed the field lab controversy.
"If the governor blocks Superfund listing, he would be doing a favor
to the polluter and a grave injustice to the people who live near this
site."
Despite threats of a mass defection of gang and narcotics officers,
the Los Angeles Police Commission on Thursday unanimously approved an
unprecedented requirement forcing cops from those critical
crime-fighting units to provide details of their finances. Rachel Uranga in the Daily News.
All five members of the civilian commission struck an almost
apologetic tone after passing the rule, calling it the last hurdle in
complying with a costly federal consent decree imposed after the
Rampart corruption scandal exposed a pattern of police abuse.
"It is not a sign of a lack of confidence in sworn officers but rather
of compliance with the consent decree," Commission President Anthony
Pacheco said. "This is just one mechanism in the arsenal to ferret out
any wrongdoing.
About half of the Sheriff's Department's internal investigations into officer-involved shootings and other uses of force in 2004 and 2005 were not conducted thoroughly and some were seriously flawed, according to a report released Wednesday. Troy Anderson in the Daily News.
In the report, Special Counsel Merrick Bobb raised questions about a number of investigations done by the Internal Affairs Bureau, including cases involving sheriff's deputies who shot suspects through their windshields and used flashlights to strike suspects.
In eight of 16 officer-involved shootings in 2004 and 2005, Bobb raised concerns that investigators didn't interview deputies involved in shootings and instead relied on Homicide Bureau reports in determining whether policies were violated.
Los Angeles County's population grew by less than
one-half of 1 percent this year, reflecting a long-term slowing as
more people are moving to less expensive areas of the country. Harrison Sheppard in the Daily News.
The county's population reached 10.3million as of July 1, according to
the state Department of Finance. That was a one-year increase of 0.45
percent.
By comparison, in 2000 the county's population grew by 1.93 percent.
The only thing keeping the county growing now has been a healthy birth
rate, with 152,479 new babies delivered in the past year and 60,800
deaths.
Even as the Los Angeles City Council approved raises for thousands of
city employees Wednesday, city leaders said the union contracts allow
them to reopen negotiations next year if revenue drops or if voters
reject a telephone-users tax on the February ballot. Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.
The employee contracts - which come at a time when city revenue growth
has begun to fall sharply - provide 23 percent wage increases over the
next five years for some 200,000 city workers.
The increases come on top of regular "step" increases that can add as
much as 5.5 percent a year to workers' pay. And the contracts add up
to an additional $255 million over the next five years.
Some 500 LAPD gang and narcotics officers are threatening to retire or change jobs if the city follows through on a proposal forcing them to reveal their personal finances, union officials said. Rachel Uranga in the Daily News.
A financial-disclosure proposal set to be considered by the five-member civilian police commission Thursday would be the last major hurdle to comply with a seven-year old federal consent decree meant to root out police corruption.
Under the proposal, all gang and narcotics officers with the rank of lieutenant or below must provide a detailed list of their finances including all their properties, past-due credit card debts, outside income, stocks, bonds and checking accounts.
In one of the first steps toward cutting bureaucracy for neighborhood councils, the city clerk will begin overseeing local elections as soon as June, according to a proposal adopted Tuesday by the Los Angeles City Council.Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.
The decision to move oversight of elections from the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment to the city clerk was one of several key recommendations put forward by the Neighborhood Council Review Commission.
Having the clerk's office handle elections is designed to free neighborhood council members and DONE from the responsibility of organizing, overseeing and promoting elections, which was time consuming and sometimes controversial.
Los Angeles' police and fire departments defied Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's call Tuesday to cut their budgets for next year and instead proposed major spending increases to improve public safety and emergency services. Daily News.
Commissions that govern the Los Angeles Police Department and Los Angeles Fire Department said they could not submit budget proposals with the 8 percent reduction requested by Villaraigosa without imposing draconian cuts, including layoffs.
Instead, both agencies submitted budget requests to the Mayor's Office that call for increases - $250 million more for the LAPD and $72 million for the LAFD.
Two City Council members are urging their colleagues to deny the reappointment of an affordable-housing advocate to the Community Redevelopment Agency Commission, charging that she has interfered with projects and hurt development efforts. Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.
In a letter to the council Tuesday, Councilman Bernard Parks and Councilwoman Jan Perry said CRA Commissioner Joan Ling has exceeded her authority by seeking to impose affordable-housing requirements and community-benefits conditions on projects in CRA zones.
"It has been our experience that in her role as a CRA Commissioner Joan Ling promotes an agenda that is driven by personal advocacy and results in a negative effect on South Los Angeles projects and housing projects in downtown Los Angeles," the letter said.
Despite five years of study and $25 million in design costs, airport commissioners on Monday scrapped most of the plans for a massive LAX baggage-handling system as projected construction costs have soared. Daily News.
Commissioners said the baggage-screening system planned for five terminals had become too technologically complicated and was part of an overall project budget that mushroomed from $341 million four years ago to more than $900 million.
"It's an unhappy situation I think that we have gotten as far as we have," said Gina Marie Lindsey, executive director of Los Angeles World Airports, which oversees the airport.
If legislation approved by the state Assembly Monday becomes law, it would be the largest overhaul of a health care system ever undertaken by a state. The legislation also would require insurance companies to offer coverage to Californians with pre-existing medical conditions. Sacramento Bee.
The landmark measure that would provide coverage to most uninsured Californians cleared its first major hurdle when it was approved along party lines in the Democratic-controlled lower house.
If the Senate approves the bill and voters agree to pay for it, it would extend coverage to nearly 70 percent of the state's permanently uninsured and require most Californians to buy health insurance.
USC presented a counterproposal to the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Commission on Monday that offers to keep the Trojans football team at the stadium - but only if the panel is committed to making an estimated $50 million in improvements to the venue over four years. Daily News.
Also under the USC proposal, the university would take over operation of the stadium and make the upgrades itself if the commission failed to raise the money needed for the stadium improvements.
"With control comes responsibility and if we were in control, we would be responsible for the repair, maintenance and improvement," said Kristina Raspe, USC's associate senior vice president for real estate and asset management. "If they're going to be in control, they need to be responsible for those items."
Calling it the "public safety scandal of our era," a Los Angeles city official proposed a $10million program Monday to clear a backlog of 7,000 homicides and rapes dating back at least a decade. Daily News.
Councilman Jack Weiss, who wrote a letter with the proposal to Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and Los Angeles Police Chief William Bratton, said he will be pressing to make solving the crimes a top priority next year.
"I am going to hold hearings every week on the backlog of DNA cases until every woman and man in this city is outraged," said Weiss, who chairs the City Council's Public Safety Committee.
Fabian Núñez felt betrayed.
It was 1993 and the immigrant rights activist was fuming: A lawmaker for East Los Angeles, a Mexican-American Democrat, wanted to stop California from issuing driver's licenses to undocumented immigrants. Núñez wrote and called Assemblyman Louis Caldera demanding an explanation, but the legislator only confirmed his decision to co-author the measure. Edwin Garcia in the Mercury News.
"I couldn't believe what I was hearing," Núñez recalled.
After hanging up, Núñez did something he never expected: He crossed the trench from political observer to political insider, eventually running for Assembly on a pro-immigrant platform, in Caldera's old district.
As a friend of presidents and hobnobber with governors, David Fleming makes an unlikely insurgent against the War on Drugs. Brent Hopkins in the Daily News.
He's been dubbed by a local business weekly as "The Valley's Most Powerful Person," chairs the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce and doles out dollars to charity by the millions.
He works for one of the world's largest law firms. He can preach for hours about business tax, government reform and transportation.
With his immaculate white shirts, slicked-back hair and easy familiarity with powerful people, Fleming embodies The Man.
Tipoffs: Looking at impact of writers strike; other odds and ends.
Actress Marsha Hunt still finds it painful to talk about the time 60 years ago this month when her acting career came to an abrupt halt. Lisa Friedman in the Daily News.
She had recently returned from a euphoric trip to Washington, D.C., to protest, along with Judy Garland, Humphrey Bogart, Danny Kaye and others, the House Un-American Activities Committee hearings into alleged Communist influences in Hollywood.
And though the trip had ended on a sour note - the group returned deflated after two days of watching their fellow actors and actresses treated as criminals - Hunt said she was still shocked when three offers to star in her own TV show were suddenly rescinded.
Nadja DiMartino, 13, takes a break from her homework every Monday night to watch her favorite new TV show, "Aliens in America." Kelly Puente in the Daily News.
As a young Muslim, DiMartino said she's seen very few positive portrayals of Islam in film and television. But this show, which stars a young Pakistani Muslim, is different, she said.
"It's so funny," DiMartino said. "You don't have to be Muslim to like it. Anyone can identify with it."
DiMartino was one of several hundred Muslims gathered at the Long Beach Convention Center on Saturday for the seventh annual Muslim Public Affairs Council convention. The council is a nonprofit organization that works for the civil rights of American Muslims.
Major topics for this year's event included Muslim portrayal in the media, countering Islamophobia, security and civil liberties, and building positive dialogue within the community.
The latest political tug of war over the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum could intensify Monday, when USC officials are set to respond to the Coliseum Commission's new proposal for a long-term lease to keep the Trojans' football home games at the city landmark. Daily News.
While USC has threatened to leave for the Rose Bowl, Coliseum officials late last week issued a counterproposal that compromised on the key issue of control of the stadium at the center of Exposition Park.
But at the heart of the struggle is how to fund millions of dollars in renovations at the aging stadium, which has a long history at the center of political power plays.
Ten months after installing a new computerized payroll process that has been roiled by glitches, Los Angeles Unified officials now say costs for fixing the system and completing its rollout could top $210 million. Naush boghossian in the Daily News.
The system, with an original price tag of $95 million, has underpaid or overpaid thousands of employees, and last week district officials said hiring consultants to fix it has already ballooned the cost to $132.5 million.
And some officials are questioning the district's transparency on all the costs associated with the system, noting that at least $6 million will be forfeited by allowing some overpaid teachers to keep the money.
California is the 12th largest source of greenhouse gas emissions on the planet, and 41 percent of the state's emissions come from the transportation sector. Karen Maeshiro in the Daily News.
The state also has three of the five most congested urban areas, and the congestion costs the state $20 billion annually in fuel and lost time.
One solution, according to an official with the California High-Speed Rail Authority, is to build a system that would connect the state's major metropolitan areas and get people out of their cars and onto mass transit.
Amid a drought, two giant Los Angeles reservoirs have to be drained because officials have found high levels of contamination in the water, Department of Water and Power officials announced Friday. Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.
Reservoirs in Silver Lake and Elysian Park were taken out of service in October when tests revealed bromate, a disinfectant byproduct that can form when treated water reacts with naturally occurring mineral bromide in sunlight.
The decision means L.A. will lose about 600 million gallons of drinking water, enough to serve 4,000 families for a year.
It started as a dispute over the use of the n-word during public comments to the Los Angeles City Council.
On Friday, it escalated into a debate over whether people should be allowed to wear masks while testifying before the council. Daily News.
In both instances, the debates were prompted by City Hall gadflies who scrutinize the council and testify about everything from their protest rights to special permit waivers awarded by the council.
This time, however, instead of moving to adopt an outright ban, the council decided to seek a legal opinion on whether the city can ban masks during council meetings.
With immigrant deportations on the rise, more than half of U.S. Latinos are afraid someone close to them will be deported, even though only a quarter of the country's 47 million Hispanics are here illegally, according to a report released Thursday.Rachel Uranga in the Daily News.
The annual poll conducted by the Pew Hispanic Center found that Latinos - regardless of citizenship - are increasingly feeling the sting of discrimination and are sharply against increased enforcement, especially when local police are involved.
"Latinos are feeling vulnerable in the current political and policy context of this country," said Paul Taylor, acting director of the Washington, D.C.-based center. "They are feeling a range of negative effects from the increased public attention and the stepped-up enforcement measures that have accompanied the growing national debate over illegal immigration," Taylor said.
They take credit and debit cards and will even send you text messages when they need more money.
And no, they are not your children, they actually are talking parking meters. New, fancy, high-tech ones. Sue Doyle in the Daily News.
About 6,000 of the electronic meters are poised to soon stand guard on Los Angeles streets under a pilot program launched Thursday at a North Hollywood public parking lot.
Costing $5.5 million, the new machines are being installed to help recover money lost from broken meters - estimated at $1.6 million over the past two years.
In the first major endorsements in the race for the 2nd Supervisorial District, state Sen. Mark Ridley-Thomas, D-Los Angeles, was the choice of a group of county workers over Los Angeles Councilman Bernard Parks.
The closely watched race for the successor to Supervisor Yvonne Brathwaite Burke has drawn wide interest because of the rarity of having an open seat on the powerful board.
Unions are expected to play a major role in what is believed will be a low turnout election in June.
Ridley-Thomas, a former city councilman, received the backing of a coalition of county nurses, firefighters, homecare workers and probation officers.
The Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO, is scheduled to make its recommendations soon to its other union members.
Los Angeles City Councilman Richard Alarcon called Wednesday for an investigation into the release of a city attorney memo that said city leaders would be breaking the law if they stop processing development applications for the controversial Las Lomas development. Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.
The confidential memo was obtained by project opponents and distributed by a neighborhood council.
But Alarcon argued that publicizing the opinion gave the developer an inside look at the city's legal strategy on the project, which has already spawned several lawsuits.
Marking a major political coup, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa won his bid to manage seven Los Angeles Unified schools as a majority of parents and teachers voted to partner on education reform, according to results released Wednesday. Naush Boghossian in the Daily News.
The hard-won victory culminated several failed attempts by the mayor over the past two years to assume a role in the district and capped an aggressive weeks-long campaign to win support for his plan.
Villaraigosa's nonprofit Partnership for Los Angeles Schools is set to begin managing the schools in the 2008-09 school year, promising campuses greater resources and control over budget and curriculum.
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa appeared to be winning his bid to manage
seven low-performing Los Angeles Unified schools, the mayor's office
said late Tuesday. Naush Boghossian in the Daily News.
While the school district had not yet released official ballot
results, officials with the mayor's office who were observing the vote
count said it appeared the majority of parents and teachers were
backing the plan. Villaraigosa said at a news conference he was "very
optimistic about all seven schools."
"While not all the votes have been counted, we do know this - over
20,000 parents and community members either voted today or signed a
petition to see the Los Angeles school district on a course toward
lower drop-out rates, higher student achievement, and safer
communities," he said as votes were still being tallied.
Despite concerns over its broad sweep, a city panel on Tuesday moved
ahead with a plan to ban fast-food restaurants in South Los Angeles. Daily News.
The proposal from Councilwoman Jan Perry was approved by the council's
Planning and Land Use Committee even though two city officials said
they believe more work on the ordinance is needed.
"We have a serious problem in my district with fast-food restaurants
and the increasing level of obesity and diabetes," Perry told the
panel.
For the first time in more than a decade, a high-stakes race is under
way for a Los Angeles County supervisorial seat in an election that
could significantly reshape the region's longtime political power
base. Troy Anderson in the Daily News.
While still months before voters hit the polls, Los Angeles City
Councilman Bernard Parks and state Sen. Mark Ridley-Thomas already
have launched what are widely expected to be fierce campaigns for the
post being vacated by the retirement of Yvonne B. Burke.
The race is the first highly competitive contest for the Board of
Supervisors since Burke battled U.S. Rep. Diane Watson in a bitter
1992 campaign to succeed the late Supervisor Kenneth Hahn.
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Tuesday
to appoint Dean C. Logan acting registrar-recorder, despite critics'
concerns that he lacks a college degree and was at the center of an
election controversy in the state of Washington. Troy Anderson in the .
The appointment, with a salary of $175,826, comes as the Secretary of
State's Office sent draft documents to the county earlier this week
listing extra security measures it plans to impose on the county's
voting systems before recertifying them for the February presidential
primary election.
In a test for the local labor movement, Warren Furutani, a long-time local educator, fell short of an outright victory in an election for the state Assembly.
Furutani, a member of the Community College Board of Trustees and a former Los Angeles Unified School District board, had 49.2 pecent of the vote, the country Registrar reported. He will be in a Feb. 5 runoff against Libertarian Herb Peters and American Independent candidate Charlotte Sadiyah Gibson. Carson City councilman Mke Gibson, a Democrat, had placed second wit 38 percent of the vote.
The district, whifch includes portisn of Long Beach and the Harbor City area, was holding a special election crated with the election of Laura Richardson to Congress.
Furutani was the beneficiary of assistance from the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO, which poured in workers and money to get out the vote for him.
Despite assurances that a telephone-users tax on the February ballot is simply aimed at modernizing how Los Angeles taxes communications systems, wording in the measure opens the door to also taxing Internet access. Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.
Federal law currently prohibits taxes on Internet access and e-mail - but that law sunsets in 2014, and some watchdogs said Monday that if the broadly written Measure S telephone tax passes it could allow the city to tax Internet access without additional voter approval.
"How do you say you're not taxing the Internet when the statute specifically says it's covering DSL, Voice-Over-Internet protocol, text messaging, instant messaging and PCS?" said Walter Moore, who is writing the opposition to the measure for the Feb. 5 ballot.
Los Angeles Unified officials have sent thousands of fliers urging parents and teachers to let Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa manage some district schools in what critics decried Monday as a biased campaign that misuses taxpayer funds. Naush Boghossian in the Daily News.
The district paid for the fliers and automated calls to remind parents about today's vote at seven schools, but critics say the information is essentially an advocacy campaign for the mayor's Partnership for Los Angeles Schools.
One flier obtained by the Daily News from the district's innovation division lists the benefits of a yes vote to join the partnership but makes no mention of any potential drawbacks.
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa warned Monday that he is prepared to call for mandatory cuts in water usage after the first of the year unless Los Angeles residents begin to sharply cut back.
Daily News.
"We made a call for cuts early in the year, and while there hasn't been a reduction there hasn't been an increase in water use," Villaraigosa said.
"But if we need to go to a mandatory program after the first of the year, we will. I think people understand that with the fires that surrounded us these last few months, with the fact we had the hottest year on record and the fact the snowpack in the Sierras is down dramatically, that we will have to understand the need to conserve."
Eight months ago, in a contemplative moment, Patric M. Verrone, president of the Writers Guild of America, west, sketched out what could have been a script for the collision that wrecked talks between Hollywood's producers and striking writers on Friday. New York Times in the Daily News.
During an interview in his office here, Verrone described the looming negotiations with employers as a confrontation much grander than a simple fight over pay formulas. This battle would be about respect.
Writers, he said, were looking to restore a sense of leverage and status that had been lost as ever-larger corporations took control of the entertainment business. He described Hollywood as teetering on the brink of a dark age, as far as creative types were concerned. "I think if they could do this business without us, they would, and so making our task as mechanical and simple and low-paying and unartistic as possible," Verrone said.
GLENDALE - With nearly 200 miles of Glendale's water pipes installed before 1940, the city plans to hike water rates to help pay for a $220 million upgrade. Alex Dobuzinskis in the Daily News.
The rate hike would amount to about 19.5 percent over the next three years, bringing the average household rate from $55 a month to more than $65.
Officials say the rate hike will allow them to qualify for millions of dollars in bond money to pay for an overhaul of the city's water infrastructure. But first, the City Council must approve the increase at its Tuesday meeting.
TIPOFFS:Los Angeles officials push back DWP rate increases until voters decide telephone tax.
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa took off his jacket, grabbed the microphone in Jordan High's auditorium and began trying to convince more than 200 Watts parents, teachers and students to join his educational reform effort. Naush Boghossian in the Daily News.
The pitch was reminiscent of a one-month blitz of town hall meetings last year in which Villaraigosa exhorted support for legislation that would have given him a substantial role in Los Angeles Unified.
"I believe there's no magic wand, that this isn't going to be simple, that we're not going to put this partnership together and overnight turn around the schools," Villaraigosa told the crowd last week.
Aided by a new database that matches criminal histories with gun owners, state and local law enforcement agents have begun rounding up California's most violent gun-toting felons. Jason Kandel in the Daily News.
The state Department of Justice and the LAPD have identified 110 fugitives, ex-convicts and other offenders who legally purchased guns then later were convicted of violent crimes. Some 890 others have been identified across the state.
"Having armed, convicted felons is a risk to public safety," said Wilfredo Cid, the chief of the Bureau of Firearms at the California Attorney General's Office. "Those people do not have a right to carry a weapon."
Well, that didn't take long. Last Sunday we asked for a little help with the housing mess.
The Big Daddy of All Lifelines arrived on Thursday, courtesy of big government teaming with big lenders so more than 1 million homeowners can keep their heads above roiling financial waters. Gregory J. Wilcox in the Daily News.
It was damage control from the nation's capital for about 1.2 million homeowners with subprime loans that may turn into foreclosures.
The Santa Susana Field Lab should be listed as a high-priority cleanup, with closer scrutiny by federal authorities of the site's extensive chemical and radioactive contamination, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's regional office announced Friday. Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.
After a seven-month review of the 2,850-acre hilltop site, the EPA's regional team found that contamination at the site poses enough of a threat to human health and the environment to be added to the National Priorities List, also called the Superfund program.
Lab watchdogs and neighbors have pushed for Superfund status - which is reserved for the nation's worst contaminated sites - that would give the EPA authority to conduct a new investigation and oversee cleanup at the lab.
Shortly before noon, sprinklers shot skyward across an apartment lawn, followed by a whoosh of water discharged by a broken pipe. Dana Batholomew in the Daily News.
Within minutes, a flood of precious water had spilled across the sidewalk and into a neighboring yard.
"It's terrible," said Sonia Ramos, 44, a resident of the complex in the 6300 block of Fulton Avenue. "A lot of water wasted. This building - we told the manager, but they don't care. Where I live, the sink is leaking; the toilet is broken and leaks constantly for the past six months."
Enter the city's Drought Busters.
Everyone will be glad to know that as far as the Los Angeles City Council is concerned, peace is important.
The council, venturing off into international affairs, unanimously came out in favor of a proposal by Democratic presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich that the federal government create a Department of Peace and Nonviolence.
The union representing most Department of Water and Power workers has dropped its lawsuit against the Daily News over publishing employees' names, positions and salaries online and has agreed to pay $17,213 in attorney fees and costs. Beth Barrett in the Daily News.
The settlement between the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 18, and the Daily News Publishing Company was reached Monday. The union filed in court Nov. 15 to have its lawsuit dismissed.
The union representing nearly 8,500 DWP workers twice failed in Superior Court to persuade a judge to bar the newspaper from continuing to post workers' salary information obtained under the California Public Records Act.
The region's transportation system is so clogged that Southern California residents and businesses will have to pay up if they want swifter freeways and efficient transit systems, according to a regional plan released Thursday. Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.
Current funding falls far short of the estimated $545.3billion needed to upgrade and expand the transportation system throughout the six-county Southern California area.
And with $132billion needed to fill the gap, the region should pursue pay-to-use programs including toll roads, benefit-assessment districts and cargo container fees, according to the plan by the Southern California Association of Governments.
Youths in Los Angeles schools are less physically fit than their peers statewide, although they have improved a bit over last year, according to California fitness data released Thursday. Harrison Sheppard in the Daily News.
Less than 21percent of students in the Los Angeles Unified School District met all the criteria considered to comprise a healthy lifestyle, while the statewide average was 27-31percent.
But while kids in the LAUSD and across California improved by several points over last year's results, state Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell said most children still have far to go before they can be considered in shape.
Controversial DWP water and power rate hikes stalled Wednesday as Los Angeles city leaders demanded that the nation's largest municipal utility answer a growing number of questions and better justify the need. Daily News.
Three City Council members called for at least a two-month delay so Department of Water and Power officials can provide more information about the proposed increases.
Under the plan, electric rates would rise 9percent over three years and water rates would climb 6percent over two years.
Cardinal Roger Mahony told police Wednesday he was shoved to the ground and kicked by an angry man in a July attack but said he would not file a police report. Rick Coca in the Daily News.
Mahony told Los Angeles Police Department Lt. Paul Vernon by phone that he was dressed casually in a sports shirt as he walked toward a mailbox near Our Lady of the Angels Cathedral at dusk last summer.
"A man approached him and said: `You're the cardinal, aren't you?"' Vernon said Mahony told him. "The man shouted at him. It happened very quickly and the man just went off on him - shoved him, knocked him to the ground and kicked him a couple of times."
The final list of Los Angeles city officials who have formally turned down the 4.16 percent raise retroactive to July 1 came out on Wednesday.
Heading the list was Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, followed by Controller Laura Chick, who submitted letters rejecting their raises to $232,425 and 196,667, respectively.
Four City Council members rejected the increases boosting their pay to $178,000 a year. They are Council members Eric Garcetti, Wendy Greul, Janice Hahn and Jack Weiss.
Accepting salary increases are City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo, who is to get $214,546 and Council members Richard Alarcon, Tony Cardenas, Jose Huizar, Tom LaBonge, Bernard Parks, Jan Perry, Ed Reyes, Bill Rosendahl, Greig Smith, Herb Wesson and Dennis Zine. Zine has said he will donate his raise to a local charity.
The House voted Tuesday to begin extending federal protection to more than a half-million acres of mountains and canyons surrounding the San Fernando, La Crescenta, Santa Clarita, Simi and Conejo valleys. Lisa Friedman in the Daily News.
The bill, known as the Rim of the Valley Study Act, directs the secretary of the Interior Department to examine expansion of the Santa Monica National Recreation Area.
Ultimately, supporters hope the National Park Service will embrace the open space and ecological resources.
As Secretary of State Debra Bowen mulls whether to impose additional security measures on Los Angeles County's voting systems, an audit released Tuesday found a host of problems in the county Registrar-Recorder's Office.Troy Anderson in the Daily News.
Auditors found the department exceeded its Board of Supervisors-adopted overtime budget in each of the last six years, was not conducting criminal background checks for employees appointed to sensitive positions, and in some instances violated civil service rules by bypassing higher-ranked candidates and hiring and promoting lower-ranked ones.
"These practices result in bypassing eligible candidates, which can lead to a perception of favoritism and reduced morale from employees having an unfavorable perception of the fairness of their department's exams and promotion process," Auditor-Controller Tyler McCauley wrote.
The city of Los Angeles is losing millions of dollars each year by mismanaging state and federal grants, according to an audit released Tuesday. Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.
While the city receives about $450 million in grants each year, there is little central oversight and coordination of which grants the city applies for and how the city manages the money it receives.
"The system is broken. It's bogged down in bureaucratic, outdated rules and procedures," Controller said.
The U.S. Supreme Court today declined to hear an appeal of a man who sued over Los Angeles County's decision to remove a cross from the county seal. Daily News.
The high court's refusal to hear the case effectively ends the challenge brought by county employee Ernesto Vasquez, who claimed the county's action can reasonably be interpreted as hostile to Christianity.
Without comment, the justices declined to hear the case.
Cardinal Roger Mahony was physically assaulted by a man enraged by the Catholic Church's sexual-abuse scandal within days of a record settlement with hundreds of victims, the Daily News has learned. Rick Coca in the Daily News.
Mahony, 71, revealed the attack during an annual conference in October before hundreds of stunned priests, saying a man assaulted him because of the scandal, according to four priests who attended the conference.
News of the assault comes as the bulk of the church's $660 million settlement with victims began being paid out Monday, with more than $500million in checks going out in the mail. The settlement with 508 alleged victims was approved by a Los Angeles Superior Court judge July 16.
In a fiery, fist-pounding speech, the leader of Los Angeles County's largest labor organization issued a warning Monday to elected officials that unions want to see firm support for labor efforts in return for backing in the upcoming elections. Daily News.
The strident challenge came as contracts are set to be negotiated next year for 30 unions covering 350,000 workers ranging from actors and longshoremen to home-care workers, teachers and janitors.
Maria Elena Durazo, executive secretary-treasurer of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO, told some 1,000 delegates at the group's second annual congress that labor is in no mood for being used for political purposes.
When H. David Nahai takes the helm today at the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, expectations are high that he will improve significantly the rough relations with the powerful union boss who represents more than 90 percent of the utility's employees.Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.
Still, inside City Hall a number of city leaders are wondering whether Nahai will be able to stand up to the powerful union and might compromise too much in the name of labor peace.
"The labor leadership at the DWP is exceedingly strong and powerful and is absolutely a major key player in how that department is run. There's no argument about that," City Controller Laura Chick said. "I would want to be reassured to know that the DWP is run by strong management that works closely with labor, but not run by labor."
TIPOFFS: One developer's lesson; Dennis Zine pays symbolic changes.....
San Fernando Valley business leaders decided this week to oppose the city's proposed telephone users' tax on the February ballot. Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.
The board of the Valley Industry and Commerce Association overwhelmingly voted Thursday to oppose Measure S, saying that the tax would be expanded to include services such as Voiceover Internet Protocol that are used by businesses but not taxed under the current law.
"VICA is concerned with the way Measure S has been presented as a tax reduction when it is really a new tax," said VICA Chairman Bob Scott. "The city needs to seriously consider that another new tax makes L.A. less competitive and less desirable to the business community."
The skies were clear and light winds blew in an easterly direction on the day nearly a half-century ago that federal officials insist was the only one during a 14-day partial nuclear meltdown when the Santa Susana Field Laboratory might have emitted radioactive materials into the air. Lisa Friedman in the Daily News.
The first look at wind direction that day emerged Thursday from mounds of meteorological data the Boeing Co. recently turned over to federal officials after years of denying the information existed.
But federal officials cautioned that many factors have yet to be analyzed and it still could take months to develop the data into a useful model for better understanding the 1959 meltdown.
Grappling with increasingly crowded Southland freeways, the Metro
board Thursday said it will seek to convert some of Los Angeles
County's most popular car-pool lanes to toll roads. Troy Anderson in the Daily News.
Under the plan, solo drivers could use the car-pool lanes if they pay
a toll. Vehicles with two or more occupants - which currently use the
lanes for free - would also pay a toll, although less than solo
drivers. It's unclear how the plan would apply to hybrids.
"Orange County has them and so does San Diego County, but we've never
had toll roads," Metropolitan Transportation Authority spokesman Marc
Littman said. "This is another option for reducing congestion,
improving mobility and generating additional revenues that we could
use to improve public transit."
In another warning to city department managers, Los Angeles Mayor
Antonio Villaraigosa renewed his call Thursday to slow hiring as he
set cutback goals for all agencies to try to deal with a projected
budget deficit. Daily News.
Villaraigosa released a letter to managers late in the day warning
again of the financial problems the city faces and singling out the
worst spenders in the city: the Office of Finance, City Attorney Rocky
Delgadillo and the General Services Department.
In separate letters to the departments, the mayor laid out targets of
$400,000 in reduced spending for each department as part of a citywide
effort.
.
Los Angeles County officials are bracing for a round of belt-tightening as property tax revenues fall short of expectations on drooping home values and the state prepares to cut off additional funds. Troy Anderson in the Daily News.
While soaring property values have poured millions into county coffers in recent years, officials say they expect revenues to increase just 2 percent to 5 percent next year - compared with 9 percent this year - as the real estate market cools.
At the same time, California's fiscal woes are worsening as Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has asked all state departments to prepare for 10 percent cuts amid a slowing economy and unexpected setbacks that have created a nearly $10 billion budget shortfall over the next two years.
Los Angeles City Councilman Tom LaBonge said Wednesday that he will call for a countywide parcel tax, designed to raise $1.7 billion, to help make long-term improvements to the region's transportation system. Daily News.
The proposal came as the council's Transportation Committee recommended approval of an 18-month process to develop a 20-year transportation plan.
But officials said the tax proposal would need support from all cities within Los Angeles County, as well as from county supervisors.
Home sales and prices tumbled across most of California in October as the credit crisis continued to roil residential real estate markets, a trade association said Wednesday. Gregory J.Wilcox in the Daily News.
Last month sales plunged 40 percent statewide from October 2006 and the median house price declined 9.9 percent to $497,110, said the Los Angeles-based California Association of Realtors.
The association computes sales on an annualized basis, which means that if the market matched October's pace all year, 265,030 houses would change owners.
NBC Universal plans to sell its entire 34-acre studio in Burbank to a development company that will inherit the right to build on the property, city and studio officials said Tuesday. Alex Dobuzinskis in the Daily News.
M. David Paul and Associates will be the builder, with help from Stockbridge Real Estate Fund, officials said. The companies have created a joint entity - Catalina Media Development II LLC - to develop the remainder of the NBC lot.
With NBC Universal set to move its operations to Universal City, the company reserves the right to lease the Burbank facility for several years while it makes the move. The daytime soap opera "Days of Our Lives" and "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" are among the shows produced at the Burbank studio.
Decades after Santa Susana Field Lab neighbors first asked which way
the wind was blowing during a 1959 partial nuclear meltdown at the
site, lab officials have discovered the missing meteorological
records. Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.
The newly found data are expected to be vital in helping lab watchdogs
and researchers more accurately estimate where radiation released
during the meltdown could have moved during the accident and what
communities might have been exposed.
Last year, a state-funded study determined that radiation released
during the accident could have triggered 260 cancers in the area. But
that analysis was stunted by the lack of data from the incident,
including weather information.
Hammered by a barrage of negative publicity in recent months, Los
Angeles Unified School District officials have quietly hired two
consultants to help improve their public image. Naush Boghossian in the Daily News.
The school district also hired the public relations firm Rogers Group
to focus exclusively on dealing with fallout from an electronic
payroll system that has left thousands of employees underpaid or
overpaid since February.
The recent hirings come in addition to a six-person communications
staff with a nearly $1.4 million budget, an overall $10 million
communications budget, and a separate consulting contract with Darry
Sragow, who helps LAUSD develop communications strategies and policy
issues.
The problem with traffic in Los Angeles is everyone talks about it,
but nothing seems to get done.
Little fixes like left-turn lanes and synchronized signals provide
some relief. But no long-term plan has emerged to solve the problem of
too many cars going to the same places on too few lanes. Daily News.
"We are never going to solve our transportation crisis with a single
project," Councilwoman Wendy Greuel said. "We need a comprehensive
policy, with benchmarks, to hold the city accountable. Right now... if
you ask anyone where the city is going, no one knows."
Bowing to pressure from City Council members, a developer agreed to
pay an additional $20,000 in relocation costs for tenants evicted from
a Valley Village apartment building to clear the way for approval of a
condominium project. Daily News.
Developer Gary Schaffel, under terse questioning from Councilman Bill
Rosendahl, agreed to make the additional payment to end the
controversy that had surrounded his project after a city planner
mistakenly left a telephone message with a tenant promising the
developer would win approval "no matter what."
Former tenants in the building played the taped message at hearings,
and raised concern that the project approval process had been tainted.
Assemblyman Lloyd Levine, D- Van Nuys, has found a special meaning for Thanksgiving. It was the day he proposed marriage to Edie Lambert, a Sacramento television reporter, the Sacramento Bee reports.
Levine aides said he proposed to Lambert on Thursday.
"They're engaged and they're incredibly happy," said Alex Traverso, Levine's spokesman.
No date for the wedding was announced.
Thanksgiving carries a special significance for the couple -- and apparently always will.
Exactly two years ago, Levine and Lambert met in a chance encounter, hundreds of miles from home, inside a Seattle airport during a Thanksgiving Day visit to relatives.
Upon meeting, they began talking casually, one passenger to another, and each apologized because neither recognized the other, Levine recalled in an interview last spring.
"We've been dating ever since," Levine, 38, said at the time. "She's absolutely wonderful."
Amid severe staffing shortages, California park rangers for months have battled after-hours parties in the area near the flash point of the weekend Malibu wildfires that scorched 4,900 acres and left 53 homes in ruins, the Daily News has learned. Beth Barrett in the Daily News.
Rangers on Monday said they have been aware of the problem for at least the past six months and even patrolled the area less than six hours before the firestorms are estimated to have started just hours before dawn Saturday.
While officials on Monday were still investigating the cause of the wildfires, they have said it was caused by humans and swept down from the popular gathering spot at the top of Corral Canyon into the Malibu Bowl community
Voting-rights experts on Monday said Los Angeles County's electronic
voting system is vulnerable to fraud and hacking and urged officials
to return to the practice of publicly counting paper ballots.Harrison Sheppard in the Daily News.
Speaking at a hearing held to determine whether the county's
electronic system should be recertified, several independent
voting-rights activists said they had doubts about the system marketed
by Omaha-based Election Systems & Software Inc.
Secretary of State Debra Bowen decertified the county's InkaVote Plus
system in August because a vendor failed to provide information and
equipment on time to consultants performing a review of voting systems
throughout the state.
Foreclosures in the Greater San Fernando Valley area soared nearly
fivefold and home sales plunged to their lowest level in almost 20
years in October, a research center said Monday.Gregory J. Wilcox in the
Daily News.
As the credit crisis increases its choke hold on residential real
estate, the Valley's median house price slipped under its year-ago
level for the first time since 1997, said the San Fernando Valley
Economic Research Center at California State University, Northridge.
Last month lenders foreclosed on 414 properties, up from 84 in October
2006, as owners could not make monthly loan payments. The center said
the most likely reason for the jump in foreclosures was higher
interest rates making payments unaffordable, the center said.
Once a bastion of old guard conservatism, the San Fernando Valley has become a hotbed of progressive activism that appears to be re-energizing the Democratic Party base in the county and state for the 2008 presidential campaign year. Tony Castro in the Daily News.
Activists have already moved into positions in the party's important county and state central committees, which have traditionally been the seats of power from where old guard leaders have controlled money and volunteers for political campaigns.
"A lot of new blood got involved in 2004," says Democratic activist Chad Jones of Granada Hills, an executive board member of Valley Grassroots for Democracy. "We're not old guard. We don't have a history. We don't know how things are supposed to be.
Consultants for Secretary of State Debra Bowen said Friday they found several flaws in Los Angeles County's voting system that could leave it vulnerable to fraud or electronic hacking. Harrison Sheppard in the Daily News.
The report found that seals on boxes used to carry the system hardware could be opened and resealed without detection, making the machinery susceptible to tampering.
Plus, some password-protected systems could be hacked with certain programs, and some encrypted files containing sensitive data could be decrypted.
Recent changes to the Board of Water and Power Commissioners are giving the San Fernando Valley added clout on the powerful utility panel. Beth Barrett in the Daily News.
The moves come as former board president H. David Nahai prepares to be the DWP general manager, replacing Ron Deaton, who is retiring.
While Nahai's appointment still needs approval by the City Council and mayor, Tarzana resident Nick Patsaouras was recently named to succeed him as president of the commission.
In addition, Encino attorney Lee Kanon Alpert was appointed Friday to the panel by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, capping a major restructuring of the Department of Water and Power.
The Los Angeles Police Department's largest youth program came under fire Tuesday for its links to the Boy Scouts of America, which condemns homosexuality, and the department is looking into possible replacements. Rachel Uranga in the Daily News.
Every year, hundreds of youths participate in the department's Explorer program in an effort the LAPD sees as key to recruiting.
But the program was assailed by departing and openly gay Los Angeles Police Commissioner Shelley Freeman and other commissioners for its ties to the Scouts.
A brief online survey could help chart a new course for an agency charged with diverting airline traffic from Los Angeles International Airport to other local airfields. Art Marroquin in the Daily Breeze.
Or, as some have predicted, the survey could spell the demise of the on-again, off-again Southern California Regional Airport Authority, more commonly referred to as SCRAA.
It's been a year since Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa reintroduced SCRAA amid much fanfare in the hope that the group would fulfill a campaign promise to cap the number of flights coming into and out of LAX.
With the presidential primary less than three months away, Los Angeles County supervisors will ask California's secretary of state today to allow the county to use a vote-counting system that has not yet been reviewed by the state. Troy Anderson in the Daily News.
The request - with just 77 days to go before voters head to the polls - comes after vendor Premier Election Solutions failed earlier this year to submit its vote-counting equipment and software quickly enough for a statewide review of election systems.
With little time left, Board of Supervisors Chairman Zev Yaroslavsky said the county has to move forward to seek approval to use its existing, county-owned Microcomputer Tally System.
The Antelope Valley's population growth is driving the region's economic engine, adding more households with spending power and fueling local job growth. Karen Maeshiro in the Daily News.
Nearly 2,150 additional households a year have moved to the Antelope Valley since 2005, and the average household income of those living in the region less than four years is $67,900 - 3.5 percent higher than the overall area's average household income, a study has found.
"It's household economic stimulus to the economy and the job market," said Alonzo Pedrin, who led the study. "Every dollar spent by new households generates $1.28 in economic activity in the Antelope Valley."
Salaries, pensions and benefits for Los Angeles city workers have soared in the past seven years, outstripping revenue growth and pushing the city toward a serious budget crisis, according to a Daily News study. Beth Barrett in the Daily News.
Since 2000, Los Angeles workers' costs have surged 53 percent - to $4 billion a year - rising an average 7.5 percent every year.
General fund revenues also grew strongly but only at an average 5.7 percent a year.
The result is a swing of almost $1 billion, pushing the city from a surplus to an anticipated shortfall of $300 million next year.
When traffic backs up, it takes LAPD Officer Janet Zunstein 25 minutes to get from the West Valley station to West Hills, where she's the community's primary link to the police. Rachel Uranga in the Daily News.
Gripping the wheel in frustration, she lists things she could be doing with the time she wastes on the road - finishing reports, attending community meetings or just getting to a crime scene faster.
But next year, with the opening of an LAPD station in Canoga Park, she said she will finally be more efficient.
"I can't get there quick enough. Say you need an ambulance. You want them there in two minutes not 10 minutes," she said.
As costs continue to soar on the new Los Angeles police headquarters, City Controller Laura Chick said she wants to look at what is being done by city overseers and subcontractors to catch any mistakes before they happen.Daily News.
"I want this to be a story of how we got where we are and, if we can, catch some mistakes and see if we can fix them," Chick said.
Chick has issued a $200,000 contract with KPMG to complete an audit of the project by February as construction proceeds on the 11-story building at First and Spring streets that is set to replace the aging Parker Center.
When President Jimmy Carter came to town in late October for a weeklong Habitat for Humanity project in South Los Angeles, the city's Housing Department encouraged employees to volunteer. Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.
And 31 department employees responded to the challenge, "volunteering" during regular work hours on the project for full pay.
In addition, some 14 employees in Councilwoman Janice Hahn's office volunteered half or one full workday at the San Pedro project site.
Already the best-paid city government officials in the nation, Los Angeles' mayor, city attorney, controller and council have seen their paychecks increase 20 percent in the past two years, thanks to a policy that ties their wages to judges' salaries. Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.
And the most recent increase, a 4.16 percent raise retroactive to July 1, marks their fourth major salary hike in three years because of a California effort to boost the pay of Superior Court judges.
With the city in a financial crisis and service cuts looming, several council members and the mayor have offered to forgo the most recent pay raise. But officials can activate the increases at any time - and if they accept the next pay hike, they'll also get any raises that they have skipped.
Math and reading scores of Los Angeles Unified's fourth- and eighth-graders showed no improvement over last year and continue to lag behind both state and national averages, according to a national report released today. Naush Boghossian in the Daily News.
In reading, performance of students in fourth and eighth grades in the Los Angeles Unified School District was the worst among 11 of the nation's largest urban school districts, according to the report card by the National Assessment of Education Progress.
In math, fourth-graders ranked eighth among peers in districts including Boston, Houston and New York, while eighth-graders fared better than peers in just two districts: the District of Columbia and Atlanta.
Reversing itself after generating national controversy, the Los Angeles Police Department announced Thursday that it is officially abandoning a program to map the city's Muslim community. Daily News.
"In police parlance, it is DOA - dead on arrival," Police Chief William Bratton said at a late-afternoon news conference at Parker Center after a more than two-hour closed-door meeting with religious and civil rights officials.
"We police this city with the consent and cooperation of the community. We did not have that here, and we will not go forward with this program."
Police officials
While his old nemesis O.J. Simpson sat in a Las Vegas courtroom Wednesday, Gil Garcetti sat on a concrete bench outside UCLA's Fowler Museum in Westwood waiting for a class of elementary schoolchildren to arrive. Dennis McCarthy in the Daily News.
The former Los Angeles County district attorney, now a successful photographer, had a two-gallon bucket of water with him to help the kids understand what it's like for children living on the other side of the world in poor West African villages.
For young girls who never get the chance to go to school or visit a museum because their days are spent walking miles in scorching heat and dust storms carrying large jugs of contaminated water on their heads.
Defying opposition from the teachers union, Los Angeles Unified Superintendent David Brewer III on Wednesday released a final plan to reform nearly three dozen schools that includes key elements vehemently decried by the union. Naush Boghossian in the Daily News.
Despite union-leadership opposition to proposals including reassignment of teachers, merit pay and scripted teaching at middle and high schools, Brewer kept all of the concepts in his final plan.
The move sets up a critical showdown with the union, which now will target Los Angeles Unified School District board members, expected to vote on Brewer's plan later this month.
The LAPD dropped plans Wednesday to map the city's Muslim community as part of a counterterrorism initiative, less than a week after prominent Muslims and the ACLU decried the move as racial profiling. Rachel Uranga in the Daily News.
A day ahead of a meeting with Muslim leaders and the American Civil Liberties Union, the LAPD said it would not go ahead with plans to keep detailed records of neighborhoods with significant Muslim populations.
"It's been put aside," said LAPD spokeswoman Mary Grady. "It became clear to us they were not comfortable with the word `mapping' and what they believed it meant: racial profiling."
In the midst of a financial emergency, Los Angeles' mayor, council, controller and city attorney are set to get annual raises worth $7,000 to $9,000 each. Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.
The 4.16 percent salary hike takes effect as Los Angeles faces a severe financial crunch, and city leaders are considering cutting services to balance the budget.
The city also is asking voters in February to preserve the telephone users tax, worth $270 million a year.
In May, saddened that she had failed to stop the war in Iraq that took her son's life and made her the face of opposition, Cindy Sheehan tearfully quit the anti-war movement. Tony Castro in the Daily News.
She had concluded that her son Casey, a 24-year-old Army specialist killed in an April 2004 battle in Baghdad, had died for nothing.
"Casey died for a country which cares more about who will be the next 'American Idol' than how many people will be killed in the next few months," Sheehan wrote in an online diary.
Investigating tips and ferreting out water wasters, a team of Drought Busters will hit streets across Los Angeles beginning today. Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.
The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power resurrected the successful Drought Buster concept from the early 1990s - the last time Southern California suffered a major water shortage.
This time, however, the 15 Drought Busters are dispensing warnings and water-conservation advice instead of tickets.
Amid growing nationwide controversy, Islamic leaders called on the Los Angeles Police Department on Tuesday to abandon plans by its counterterrorism bureau to create a map detailing Muslim communities across the city. Daily News.
The plan, revealed earlier this week, has drawn accusations of racial profiling and concern that it could be used with other communities, even as LAPD officials have said their efforts are being misinterpreted.
"As an African-American, we know what it is to be profiled," said the Rev. Eric Lee, president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference of Greater Los Angeles.
Just months after environmental concerns killed a proposal to locate a liquefied natural gas terminal off the coast of Malibu, a proposal for an even larger plant off Oxnard and one off the coast of Los Angeles are under review. Harrison Sheppard in the Daily News.
Houston-based NorthernStar Natural Gas Inc. is seeking to convert an oil platform 12.6miles off the coast of Oxnard into a liquefied natural gas terminal that could produce up to 1.4billion cubic feet of gas per day.
Meanwhile, Woodside Natural Gas is hoping to establish a plant 27miles off the coast near Los Angeles International Airport using an offshore buoy system.
Tipoffs: When political enemies become your friends, upcoming political conflicts.
At the one-year mark as superintendent of Los Angeles Unified, David Brewer III has had a rocky initiation into city and union politics as well as the massive bureaucracy at the nation's second-largest school district. Naush Boghossian in the Daily News.
He has grappled with glitches in a $95 million electronic payroll system that created a teachers union uproar as thousands of employees' pay was affected for more than nine months.
He was hit with pay raises for teachers and administrators, and new health care benefits for some workers that forced him to cut $300 million from his budget over three years.
The Space Age-style Encounter Restaurant at Los Angeles International Airport is scheduled to reopen Monday, allowing visitors to look out the window and catch a glimpse of construction workers shoring up the iconic Theme Building. Art Marroquin in the Daily News.
But the restaurant's 360-degree, panoramic views of runways, airplanes and the Pacific Ocean will be partially eclipsed by scaffolding that now envelopes the spidery structure.
While construction continues on the outside of the Theme Building until fall 2008, improvements are finished inside the Encounter, complete with a fresh coat of paint, new multicolored carpet and a new set of blue and red chairs in the dining room.
Threatening to veto any move to limit police hiring, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa won a showdown with the City Council on Friday when it voted to move forward with expanding the force even as the city faces growing budget constraints.Daily News.
But while the council voted to let Los Angeles Police Department hiring continue, it also added a provision that it must be notified when hiring exceeds 226 new officers beyond the existing force.
"What we are saying is we are pro-police, but we are also concerned with our budget," said Councilwoman Wendy Greuel, who was key in negotiating the deal with the Mayor's Office.
The 11-0 vote comes as Villaraigosa and the council had been at odds over the issue for a week after Councilman Bernard Parks suggested that the LAPD reduce officer hiring amid slower attrition in the department.
Citin
Los Angeles officials on Friday defended a plan to detail the city's Muslim community, saying it is an effort to increase understanding and knowledge and not a move to profile people based on race or religion. Daily News.
"I would urge people to step back and not get involved in the rhetoric," Los Angeles Police Chief William Bratton said.
"We are doing a good-faith effort in a transparent way to increase understanding. We are meeting with various groups and will continue to have a dialogue.
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and Police Chief William Bratton spoke to a packed press conference Thursday, downplaying reports of possible terrorist attacks on Los Angeles shopping malls. The information wasn't credible and there was a low-level threat, if any.
So with no real danger, the mayor urged Angelenos to get back out there and do what we do best. Hit the mall and shop! Great message, but perhaps not the best choice of words. Here's what he said:
“Al-Qaeda has made this threat with this intent of disrupting our way of life and damaging our local economy during the holiday season. We have a responsibility to make sure they fail,” he said.
"I want people to know that they can shop in this city till they drop" (long, awkward pause) "From shopping."
A controversial plan to move forward with an expansion at Providence Holy Cross Medical Center in Mission Hills won tentative approval Wednesday from the Los Angeles City Council. Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.
In an 8-5 vote, the council paved the way for the hospital, without further study, to add 101 beds to the San Fernando Valley's badly stressed health-care system.
The decision fell two votes short of the 10 required to force a delay in the project, and marked a defeat for Councilman Richard Alarcon.
Two Los Angeles County supervisors called Wednesday for the firings of children's services workers who spent tens of thousands of dollars meant for foster children on meals and entertainment.Troy Anderson in the Daily News.
"I think they need to be dismissed and made to pay restitution to the county," Supervisor Gloria Molina said. "These are not people who should be around children. It's like stealing candy from children."
The findings were detailed in a new report by Auditor-Controller Tyler McCauley who found a lack of controls and inappropriate use of gift cards in the Department of Children and Family Services.
Despite grim budget forecasts, a divided Los Angeles City Council delayed deciding Wednesday whether to back Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's efforts to move ahead with hiring more police. Daily News.
While asking for continued monitoring of police hiring, the council said it was reluctant to rein in spending on the LAPD.
The Los Angeles Police Department is the city's largest department and is also facing a $16 million shortfall this coming year - most of it for officer overtime.
Calling on Los Angeles residents to be more civil to one another - and inserting the City Council in a nationwide debate - Councilman Bernard Parks is calling for a moratorium on the use of the "n-word." Daily News.
Parks noted that Nov. 17 is the one-year anniversary of the much-publicized eruption by comic Michael Richards with the use of the word that prompted a national discussion about the word and its impact on society.
Escalating a dispute over police hiring, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said any cuts in his goal to expand the Los Angeles Police Department "will come over my dead body Daily News.
"I cannot overstate the importance of fully implementing the city's police hiring plan to build the Los Angeles Police Department to 10,000 strong," Villaraigosa wrote in a letter to City Councilman Bernard Parks, who chairs the council's Budget and Finance Committee.
"I will veto any effort to place an arbitrary cap on police hiring."
The City Council will vote today on a committee's decision that an environmental impact review should be completed before work is allowed to begin on the proposed expansion of Providence Holy Cross Medical Center.n Kerty Cavanaugh in the Daily News.
Following hours of testimony, Councilmen Ed Reyes and Jose Huizar of the Planning and Land Use Management Committee voted yesterday to overturn a Planning Commission decision allowing the expansion to move forward without an EIR.
The full Los Angeles City Council will vote on the issue today.
Despite vowing that a trash-fee hike last year would be used only to hire more police officers, Los Angeles City Councilman Bernard Parks is suggesting reducing officer hiring and diverting the funds to balance a shaky city budget. Daily News.
Citing overspending by the Los Angeles Police Department, Parks said Monday that he plans to suggest the moves to Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa as a way to rein in spending and balance the city's budget.
"This is one of the things that happens when departments don't live within their budget," said Parks, a former LAPD chief and one of the department's sharpest critics.
The rows of quaint town houses of the Dronfield Villas used to be a nice place to live.
But now they're covered in tags: Astoria Garden Locos, Langdon Street, San Fer. And, increasingly, "For Sale" signs. Brent Hopkins in the Daily News.
In the past few years, three street gangs have claimed the sprawling, 64-unit complex on Dronfield as their turf. They tag their slogans on every wall - even the trees get defaced. They sling drugs in its gardens and have sex next to its pool.
A San Francisco company bidding for work on a planned LAX parking facility has withdrawn amid questions of a potential conflict of interest between the firm and former airports Executive Director Lydia Kennard, the Daily News has learned. Beth Barrett in the Daily News.
Kennard was still a city consultant to Los Angeles International Airport when URS Corp. was talking with her about joining its board - which she did one day after leaving LAX. Rather than answer questions about that relationship, the global engineering design firm pulled its bid as a subcontractor.
"Questions were raised about a potential conflict of interest, and URS was asked to provide information on their dealings with Ms. Kennard. They chose to walk rather than resolve those questions," a city official said.
It was a bitter and divisive battle that threatened to tear Los Angeles in half, pitting the city's political powerbrokers against a long-simmering backlash of discontent in the San Fernando Valley. Daily News.
In the end, the Valley's bid for greater recognition and its fair share of city resources led to the polls Nov. 5, 2002.
And the result was predictable given disparity in campaign resources and the requirement that both the Valley and the city overall had to approve secession.
After years of contentious discussions about plans for a long-awaited propeller park, officials at Van Nuys Airport say construction on the 39-acre site will begin by March. Connie Llanos in the Daily News.
Plans for the park, hailed as a key for small-plane owners and the businesses that cater to them at the nation's busiest general-aviation airport, have faltered for years while airport officials have sought an operator.
But now, despite not yet having an operator, officials said they are moving forward with plans anyway.
It's a project everybody says they support, but the proposed expansion of Providence Holy Cross Medical Center in Mission Hills has divided neighbors, labor unions and city leaders. Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.
This week the City Council will consider the expansion, which would add a 101-bed wing, a larger maternity ward and a new intensive-care unit for newborns.
Providence has the support of the Mission Hills Neighborhood Council, county health officials and business groups, who say the region needs more hospital beds now.
Putting more agents on Southland streets to carry out sweeps, immigration officials said Friday that they have made a record number of arrests this year of criminal immigrants and those who ignored deportation orders. Rachel Uranga in the Daily News.
Nearly 2,700 were arrested during raids from the San Fernando Valley to San Bernardino during the year ending Sept. 30 - a 63 percent increase over the previous year.
"In the past, there wasn't a concerted effort to identify and locate people," said Jim Hayes, Los Angeles field office director for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's detention and removal operation. "That has changed."
Transit officials said in remarks reported today that they will need an additional $145 million to build the Exposition light rail line from downtown Los Angeles to Culver City. Daily News.
The rise in the cost of the the project, which broke ground in August, once again underscores the huge financial stakes involved in constructing a rail system to the Westside.
Rapid increases in construction costs have ballooned the project's original $640 million budget to $785 million, officials said, and threaten to shorten the line before it reaches Culver City.
The California Supreme Court has ended a long-running legal battle over sexual abuse allegations against a former high-ranking official of the Los Angeles Police Department. Daily News.
Thursday's unanimous ruling upholds two lower court rulings that held that the alleged victims waited too long to sue the city of Los Angeles over abuse that allegedly occurred in the 1970s.
The lawsuits were filed after several former Explorer Scouts in 2003 accused former Deputy Chief David Kalish of abusing them.
In an attempt to rein in city spending, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa directed city managers Thursday to submit no-growth budgets in 2008 and prepare for a potential 8percent cut. Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.
While the city begins preparing for next fiscal year's budget in December, the projections are already grim.
Some city departments have already overspent their budget this year and the city recently approved a five-year salary deal with six Los Angeles unions that includes incentives that could boost the cost of the contract to nearly $300million.
Television and movie screenwriters said Thursday they will go on strike for the first time in nearly 20 years, which economists said could push the San Fernando Valley into a recession if it lasts for several months. Julia M. Scott in the Daily News.
Four writers told The Associated Press that Writers Guild of America President Patric Verrone made the announcement in a closed-door session Thursday night, prompting loud cheers from the crowd.
"There was a unified feeling in the room. I don't think anyone wants the strike, but people are behind the negotiation committee," said writer Dave Garrett.
City Attorney Rocky Delgadillor returns to his alma mater, Columbia Law School, on Friday to discuss what his office has done over the past six years to fight gangs.
The City Attorney's office said he will "discuss effective prosecution approaches and techniques for the 21st
Century, including being more progressive, proactive and community
-focused."
During his years, Delgadillo has expanded the use of gang injuctions as well as develop a neighborhood prosecutor program to assist police in deterring gang activity.
Just two weeks after announcing an ambitious effort to reform Los Angeles Unified middle schools, Superintendent David Brewer III finds his plan already foundering amid fierce opposition from the politically powerful teachers union. Naush Boghossian in the Daily News.
Brewer, who proposed creating a special district of 44 low-performing schools, already has had to eliminate 10 of the sites and still faces opposition from teachers over the remaining schools. Only one San Fernando Valley school remains on the list.
And new rumblings have surfaced that union leaders and teachers in the proposed schools intend to kill the plan entirely.
Continuing to pressure area hospitals, Los Angeles city officials announced plans Wednesday to develop criminal penalties for dumping homeless patients on Skid Row. Daily News.
City Councilwoman Jan Perry, whose district includes Skid Row, said the toughened law is being sought after Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed a statewide measure that would have applied criminal penalties.
"This is a statewide problem, a national problem," Councilman Bill Rosendahl said. "Because they refuse to deal with it, we have to."
In a major concession involving a 14-year-old case alleging harassment in the hiring and promotion of gays and lesbians in the Los Angeles Police Department, the City Council agreed Wednesday to reinstate policies banning discrimination. Daily News.
In a 12-0 vote, the council also agreed to pay $695,000 in attorneys fees for former LAPD Sgt. Mitch Grobeson, the first openly gay police officer who won a suit in 1993 requiring the department to change its policies.
"This is a great day for the City of Los Angeles and a great day for the gay and lesbian community," said Theresa Traber, Grobeson's attorney.
It's back to work today for Waste Management Inc. truck drivers and mechanics who ended a two-week strike and have a new five-year labor contract containing the same provisions they had previously rejected. Daily News.
An estimated 225,000 customers in areas such as Inglewood, Carson, Rolling Hills, Rancho Palos Verdes, Manhattan Beach, South Gate, Long Beach, Huntington Park and portions of the San Fernando Valley, were affected by the strike, which began Oct. 19.
The strike did not affect residents in the city of Los Angeles, but an estimated 29,000 businesses in the city contract with Waste Management for garbage collection.
Six months after the violent May Day confrontation between LAPD officers and hundreds of immigration protesters, internal affairs investigators told a skeptical Police Commission today they have identified most of the officers who used excessive force that day and expect to start discipline proceedings by next year. Rachel Uranga in the Daily News
Deputy Chief Mike Perez, who is overseeing the internal investigation, would not reveal how many officers or supervisors have been singled out for discipline but said 48 officers have been interviewed.
"We have a good idea of which officers used force," he said. "Our problem is matching officers who used force with complaints."
Even as the Los Angeles City Council weighs a proposed DWP rate hike, surcharges for natural gas, renewable energy and imported water are expected to push ratepayer bills even higher. Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.
While the surcharges pass along the fluctuating costs of power and water purchases and are already in place, they are expected to increase again next year.
And the charges come on top of the Department of Water and Power's base rates, which are proposed to increase 9 percent over three years for power and 6 percent over two years for water.
After a 20-year standoff with the Coastal Commission, the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved a plan that - if approved by the commission - would allow the county to take over coastal development permitting responsibilities in the Santa Monica Mountains. Troy Anderson in the Daily News.
Los Angeles County is the last major jurisdiction in the state that hasn't complied with the 1976 Coastal Act, which required local governments to take responsibility for issuing permits.
The county plan will now go to the commission for its approval.
Classrooms will become bedrooms for the Santa Clarita Valley's homeless under a deal approved Tuesday by the county to buy up to four modular buildings for the community's winter shelter. Patricia Farrell Aidem in the Daily News.
The county Board of Supervisors, acting as the Community Development Commission, unanimously approved the $20,000 purchase of surplus modulars from the Hart Union High School District to house the homeless.
"It's a great step in the right direction," said Tim Davis, executive director of the nonprofit Santa Clarita Community Development Corp., which has tried for more than a decade to open a permanent shelter.
In a modern-day twist on a Wild West battle over land, a Los Angeles County plan for an 81-mile swath of the Santa Monica Mountains is set for a showdown with the Coastal Commission today. Beth Barrett in the Daily News.
The plan bans construction in the most-sensitive habitats - including riparian areas along streams and canopied oak areas - and limits development in other significant woodlands, savannas and watersheds.
But critics - including the commission's staff - say the plan doesn't go far enough to protect sensitive areas from overdevelopment.
After years of struggling to raise money, the Children's Museum of Los Angeles has landed a $10 million donation that provides a key boost toward building the San Fernando Valley's first major museum. Kerry Cavanaugh and Brent Hopkins in the Daily News.
The anonymous donation is the largest single contribution and means the museum board is closer to reaching a price tag that has soared to $53 million for construction and exhibits at the Hansen Dam Recreation Area facility.
"This definitely gets us on track," said Cecilia Aguilera Glassman, the museum's chief executive officer who was brought in this year to spur fundraising.
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's pick to lead the Department of Water and Power pledged Monday to promote openness and transparency in the massive utility's $3.9 billion budget and proposed rate increases. Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.
The naming of attorney and environmentalist H. David Nahai for the job came just three days after longtime chief Ron Deaton announced his retirement.
Nahai, who served two years in a voluntary post on the Board of Water and Power Commissioners, vowed to push for reform at the nation's largest public utility.
Los Angeles city officials were urged Monday to put tight restrictions on hiring and spending as the city grapples with projected shortfalls of $75 million this year and upward of $300 million within two years. Daily News.
City Administrative Officer Karen Sisson said officials are concerned about the impact of a slowing economy - including a sharp downturn in the housing market - that will reduce revenue to the city.
Even as firefighters battled last week against the raging infernos encircling communities from the mountains to the sea, officials and experts were debating whether stronger local regulations would have averted the disaster. Kerry Cavanaugh and Lisa Friedman in the Daily News.
While analyses after previous wildfires have led to construction of more fire-resistant homes, few communities have limited or prohibited development in high fire-risk areas.
New subdivisions continue to sprout near wind-blown canyons, while dream houses spring up in the brush-covered hills above Malibu and the forests of the San Bernardino Mountains.
Tipoffs: Chief William Bratton defends record at swearing in; Councilman Bernard Parks and Sen. Mark Ridley-Thomas prepare for face off.
During the ninth Congress of Neighborhoods on Saturday, the question was not how the city's 89 neighborhood councils can get power, but how to wield their increasing influence. Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.
Some 350 people attended workshops at the four-hour convention on themes ranging from how to get what you want from city departments to how to craft a media message - signs that neighborhood councils are getting more sophisticated and flexing their political muscles.
Coastal San Pedro Neighborhood Council President Doug Epperhart said some neighborhood councils are ready for graduate-level workshops on empowerment.
After months of controversy and several meetings drawing standing-room-only crowds, a grass-roots group has launched a recall drive against three Lancaster City Council members accused of trying to fire the city manager. Karen Maeshiro in the Daily News.
Mayor Henry Hearns, Vice Mayor Andy Visokey and Councilman Ron Smith were served with recall notices at Tuesday night's council meeting, when they were slated to discuss a buyout offer extended to City Manager Bob LaSala.
"They have insisted they want to fire our city manager, and every time we turn our backs they try to have a meeting to fire him, and people keep showing up to let them know it's not going to be that way," said Darleen Peterson, a recall leader.
Ending a four-decade career as one of the most powerful figures in Los Angeles city government, Ronald Deaton announced Friday that he will retire as head of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.
A longtime City Hall insider and an ultimate behind-the-scenes dealmaker, the 64-year-old Deaton has been on medical leave since July after suffering a severe heart arrhythmia while vacationing in Costa Rica with his family.
Since then, there has been speculation that he would soon retire. Attorney H. David Nahai has even resigned from the DWP board in a move seen as preparation to be named the new general manager by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.
On Friday, Deaton made his resignation official.
Taking another step in the fight against street gangs, Los Angeles city officials vowed Friday to redefine prevention versus intervention and spend more money on programs to quell the most serious gang crimes. Rachel Uranga in the Daily News.
Councilman Tony Cardenas, head of the city's Ad Hoc Committee on Gang Violence, said he and more than 30 groups that work with gangs came up with a new plan after months of frustration about how the city spends roughly $78million a year on gang prevention, intervention and suppression.
"At the core of what this comes down to is credibility," he said.
In summer 2003, Brenda Piedra was getting supplies in the streets of Baghdad - "shopping," as she calls it. Alex Dobuzinskis in the Daily News.
But it was nothing like a trip to the mall. As an Army private on a supply mission, Piedra came under fire that August day. A soldier in the Humvee in front of her was killed, and Piedra spent a long 20 minutes dodging bullets, pulling injured soldiers out of the street and firing back.
Before leaving active duty in 2005, Piedra rose to the rank of sergeant, pulled guard-duty shifts and supervised crews of Iraqi construction workers.
Still feeling the anger
LAPD Chief William Bratton's BlackBerry went off over the weekend after a car-to-car drive-by shooting in Arleta left a 23-year-old man dead. Rachel Uranga in the Daily News.
Investigators were sending Bratton details of the homicide, as they do with every such incident shortly after it happens.
Since taking the helm of the department in October 2002, Bratton has received 2,455 such messages and thousands more about shootings that fail to kill.
Chief touts success
Los Angeles Police Chief William Bratton earlier this week touted his achievements to the new Police Commission and laid out future goals. Crime is down in all categories since he took office in 2002, with violent crimes down 31percent and property crimes down 25percent, he said. Daily News.
"The credit goes to the men and women of this department who have been able to achieve this with virtually no increase in the size of the department," Bratton said. "We are only beginning to see the impact of new hires on the department."
Even as San Diego County touts its use of a "Reverse 911" system to send out automated evacuation phone calls to thousands of residents, Los Angeles County relied on personal evacuation notices by hundreds of sheriff's deputies and other officials. Troy Anderson in the Daily News.
That's because Los Angeles County hasn't purchased the new system yet, although officials say requests for proposals have been issued and they are evaluating the bids.
But while some are questioning why Los Angeles County hasn't taken better advantage of new technologies, county officials are defending their handling of the evacuations.
Concerned that Angelenos selling their condos have been hit with a $150 fee under an old, unused affordable-housing ordinance, the City Council voted Wednesday to study whether to update or repeal the law.Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.
Under the 33-year-old ordinance, the city has the right of first refusal to buy condos built after 1974. But with little extra money, the city has almost always waived its right to purchase units.
Earlier this year, the Los Angeles Housing Authority enacted a $150 fee to process the waivers.
But R
Sparking fears that the San Fernando Valley could lose another hospital, the head of Encino-Tarzana Regional Medical Center has asked the community to pressure the landlord to sell the complex to another hospital operator.
Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.
The operator, Tenet Healthcare Corp., put the two-campus hospital up for sale nearly four years ago and wants to find a similar company to take it over before its lease on the buildings expires in February 2009.
But a complicated legal battle between Tenet and HCP Inc., the landlord of the Tarzana campus, has stalled a potential sale. One of the key issues is whether the landlord or tenant will have to pay for the millions of dollars in seismic upgrades that must be completed before 2013.
Former Rep. Geraldine Ferraro, the first woman to run on a national ticket for vice president, will see the "Geraldine A. Ferraro" hybrid tea rose created in her honor by Ferraro by Jackson & Perkins, the nationally renowned rose hybridizer
Sale of the flower will reaise funds for multiple myeloma research.
The presentation will take place Wednesday at the Exposition Park Rose Garden outside the Natural History Museum Councilwomen Wendy Greuel, Janice Hahn and Jan Perry will be hosting the event.
Taft High School will get a royal visit on Wednesday when Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah of Jordan visits the Woodland Hills campus as part of a trip sponsored by the Los Angeles County Human Relations Commission.
The queen is the world's youngest monarch and will meet with student leaders regarding their efforts to reduce and eradicate prejudice and promote more cross-cultural understanding.
Councilman Bernard Parks and City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo approved a $95,000 payout Monday to former Department of Transportation General Manager Gloria Jeff, who complained she was unfairly fired by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.
The mayor personally recruited Jeff to head the DOT in March 2006, but fired her last month amid complaints from city and community leaders about her management style.
Under the Los Angeles City Charter, the mayor has the right to hire and fire general managers, but Jeff decided to fight her termination.
Facing a dwindling number of available phone numbers for a growing number of San Fernando Valley residents, California officials began holding a series of public hearings Monday on how to introduce a new 747 area code within the 818. Alex Dobuzinskis in the Daily News.
Officials are weighing whether the Valley should be split into two zones - one area keeping 818 and the other getting 747 - or whether to "overlay" 747 across the region by assigning the new area code only to new users.
Michael Evans, a regulations analyst for the PUC, said that if a new area code is not introduced, the Valley will run out of available phone numbers by summer or fall of 2009.
Tipoffs: Foreshadowing the campaign for telephone tax, how Neighborhood Councils will play a key role.
The Los Angeles Economic Development Corp. is giving one of its Eddy Awards to its own chief economist, Jack Kyser
The LAEDC announced Sunday it was honoring Kyser at its 12th annual awards show on Nov. 6 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel, for his years as being the "go to" economist to explain Southern California to the world.
In their announcement, the LAEDC called Kyser the "godfather" of economists and noted:
"This is truly an honor no one could refuse him. Whenever anyone wants to know anything about the Los Angeles economy from runaway TV/Film production to fashion, housing and Wall Street issues, Jack Kyser is the man with the answers," said Bill Allen, president and CEO, LAEDC. "This is his silver anniversary as a business leader."
Kyser has been the chief interpreter and storyteller for the regional economy for the past 25 years. His annual forecast report has been ranked #1 by the Wall Street Journal and his analyses of key industry sectors and economic trends have helped both the public and private sectors better understand the diversity and dynamism of the greater Los Angeles area.
From his 12th-floor suite in an office complex in Westwood, Eli Broad looks over acres of million-dollar homes, soaring towers along Wilshire Boulevard and clogged swaths of freeways and thoroughfares.
Tony Castro in the Daily News.
It is the disjointed, cacophonous Los Angeles in which Broad lives. But it's not the coherent, organized Los Angeles he envisions for the future.
"We've got a great city and have a lot of great communities, whether it's the Valley or whether it's the Westside or whether it's Pasadena," he says. "But you need one place where people from all communities can come together, whether it's for the arts, culture, sports, whatever.
os Angeles officials have refused to talk about it, but the NFL flat out told them three months ago that a professional football team will not be coming to the Coliseum, the Daily News has learned. Daily News.
According to letters obtained by the Daily News, the city's latest hope of luring an NFL team involved pleading for Los Angeles to host a Super Bowl to try to regenerate interest in moving a team to the city.
Despite an apparent lack of interest from the National Football League last year, Coliseum Commission President and City Councilman Bernard Parks just months ago wrote again to invite the league to Los Angeles.
A week after the governor announced an agreement to preserve the Santa Susana Field Lab as public parkland, some environmentalists warned Thursday that the deal could let the Boeing Co. leave much of the radiologically contaminated soil on site. Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a bill by Sen. Sheila Kuehl, D-Los Angeles, on Friday that requires Boeing to clean up the 2,850-acre hilltop lab to the strictest environmental standards.
However, the governor's support came with a condition: Kuehl must introduce legislation next session that could allow a less stringent cleanup standard in exchange for Boeing dedicating the land for open space.
September home sales throughout California sank to their lowest level in two decades as mortgages became harder to get, a real estate research firm said Thursday. Associated Press in the Daily News.
A total of 24,460 new and resale houses and condos were sold statewide last month.
That was down 45.2 percent from September 2006 and 26.8 percent from August, according to DataQuick Information Systems.
In addi
A marine biology research complex may be built as part of an effort to revitalize the Harbor Area's economic and education base, according to a plan by Los Angeles port officials. Art Marroquin in the Daily News.
The proposed 28-acre oceanfront laboratory at City Dock No. 1 would serve as a new home to the Southern California Marine Institute, which would likely share the space with government researchers, marine-related businesses or environmental groups, said port Executive Director Geraldine Knatz.
Costs, construction timelines and potential tenants are being worked out as part of an ongoing "visioning process" funded by a $50,000 matching-fund grant from the Annenberg Foundation, Knatz said.
The Los Angeles metropolitan area remained the state's most expensive rental market in the third quarter, an industry tracker said Wednesday. Gregory J. Wilcox in the Daily News.
During the July through September period, rents increased an annual 5.5 percent to an average $1,630 in the Los Angeles/Long Beach/Santa Ana metropolitan area, said RealFacts.com. The occupancy rate decreased an annual 1 percent to 96.5 percent.
The region's been the most expensive market for more than three years, said RealFacts spokesman Chris Bates. He's not surprised that apartments here are in demand.
Surprising developers and housing advocates alike, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa announced Wednesday that he wants to resurrect a controversial proposal that would require developers to include affordable housing in new residential projects. Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.
Speaking to the Los Angeles Business Council's Mayoral Housing Summit, Villaraigosa said the city must consider mandatory affordable-housing programs, such as inclusionary zoning, to sustain the middle class and keep jobs in Los Angeles.
"People can't afford to live in the city of Los Angeles," Villaraigosa said. "This is an opportunity for us to figure out a problem that has reached crisis proportions, and I'm prepared to lead that effort."
Billionaire Eli Broad is being honored today for his years of philanthropic work by the Carnegie Foundation.
Broad is among four honorees who are saluted every two years with the award that is given to families and individuals who have "dedicated their private wealth to the public good and who have sustained impressive careers as philanthropists" in the spirit of Andrew Carnegie.
The others to be honored at the Pittsburgh ceremonies today include the Heinz family, the Mellon family and the Tata family.
Broad, a major player in Los Angeles, is known for his philanthropic work in the cultural, education and scientific fields. Among his donations is $200 million for the creation of the Eli and Edythe Broad Institute for Biomedical Research.
Setting up a showdown with voters, the Los Angeles City Council unanimously declared a revenue emergency Tuesday and agreed to ask voters to approve a 9 percent telephone users' tax that would expand the levy to many new technologies. Beth Barrett in the Daily News.
The 14-0 vote to place the tax on the February presidential primary ballot comes amid concern that a judge could soon invalidate the current 10 percent phone tax - which brings in $270 million of the city's $7billion budget.
San Fernando Valley council members Dennis Zine and Greig Smith, who had questioned the urgency of the measure, met privately with Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa after learning, to their surprise, that the measure would tax new technologies such as Voice over Internet Protocol and private communication services used by large companies.
Minutes after the City Council voted Tuesday to put a telephone users' tax on the February ballot, Councilwoman Janice Hahn pulled her proposal for a $40 a year parcel tax to fund gang-prevention programs. Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.
Despite championing the anti-gang tax for months, Hahn said the telephone tax - worth about $270 million a year - is more important to pass sooner than her proposed tax for intervention programs.
She's now aiming to put the anti-gang tax on the November 2008 ballot.
Neighborhood activists and Councilman Jack Weiss rejected a proposal Tuesday that would make it easier for developers to cut the number of parking spaces included in new apartment and condo projects. Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.
The idea is to reduce parking requirements when developers offer tenants or buyers transit alternatives, such as van pools, bike storage, transit passes or flex cars.
But Weiss and others argued that Los Angeles is no Manhattan or San Francisco or London, cities where people can easily get around without their own vehicle.
Los Angeles, they said, is still a city of cars and reducing the parking requirement will just lead to more crowded curbs.
Looking to bottom feed in this depressed real estate market?
Try finding a foreclosure because you might snap it up for about 20 percent or more under its recent market value.
Take a foreclosed home in Winnekta on the market for $404,900. The asking price is 24 percent lower than what the former owner paid in June of 2006, according to Realtor Steve Smallson. Gregory J. Wilcox and Rick Coca in the Daily News.
It's an example of some of the deep discounts that are now popping up in this down market that is reeling from the subprime mortgage crisis.
Calling it a message to Congress and President George W. Bush, the Los Angeles City Council on Tuesday adopted a long-debated resolution urging the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq. Daily News.
The 12-2 vote makes Los Angeles the largest city in the nation to adopt such a stance. The council said it approved the resolution because it wants the federal government to end the war, which is diverting money from local governments.
"We want to let our congressional delegation know we are speaking for the people of this country who want to see an end to the war in Iraq," said Councilman Bill Rosendahl, a Vietnam-era veteran who has been pushing for the measure for months.
Los Angeles' beleaguered traffic system received a boost Tuesday, with officials announcing that the city will get $150 million in bond funds to synchronize all the city's traffic signals. Daily News.
"I want to say to the people of Los Angeles: Promises made, promises kept," Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said at a news conference with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez and state and local elected officials.
"When I campaigned for mayor, I said we would synchronize the traffic signals and it would be expensive. Thanks to the governor and the speaker, now we have that money."
The funds are coming from Proposition 1B, which was part of a $40 billion package of bonds approved by voters in 2006 for transportation and infrastructure improvements across the state.
Wear pajamas, that is.
That was the question on Tuesday for Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa during a news conference with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Speaker Fabian Nunez.
The governor was praising Villaraigosa for his lobbying efforts on behalf of Los Angeles.
"We saw him up there (in Sacramento) with his toothbrush and cute little pajamas," Schwarzenegger joked.
Nunez quickly piled on. "I, too, saw him in his pajamas when he was up lobbying us."
To which, the mayor issued a denial.
"With all our sleepovers, the governor knows I don't wear pajamas," Villaraigosa said.
This all might fall in to the category of too much information.
The effort to recall Los Angeles City Councilman Jack Weiss was abandoned Monday after organizers said they are unable to collect the number of signatures needed from registered voters to force an election. Daily News.
In a letter to City Clerk Frank Martinez, the Committee to Recall Jack Weiss said it is several thousand signatures short of the 23,000 that are required to be submitted Thursday.
"While we expect several hundreds of additional signatures to come in over the next several days, it is our belief we will not be able to gather sufficienct signatures to qualify for the ballot," wrote Kevin Singer.
In an ambitious effort to transform one of the San Fernando Valley's most blighted areas, community and business leaders will release a plan todaycq that calls for commercial "villages" and eco-friendly industrial parks where scrap heaps and auto shops now stand. Alex Dobunzinskis in the Daily News.
The 130-page blueprint by the Economic Alliance of the San Fernando Valley aims to end decades of pollution and eyesores in Sun Valley, the Northeast Valley's dumping ground for trash and "dead" cars.
"I'm not going to say Sun Valley is going to become Beverly Hills anytime soon," said Bob Scott, director of the Mulholland Institute and one of the authors of the report, titled "Sun Valley Renaissance."
Los Angeles officials voiced frustration Monday with the status of the city's $15 million red-light camera enforcement program amid installation delays and other problems. Daily News.
Designed to catch motorists who speed through red lights, the program was supposed to have installed cameras at 32 intersections by June.
But six intersections still do not have cameras, and the success rate in issuing tickets to motorists who are photographed is about 65 percent - far below the 80 percent that had been promised.
Comedian Drew Carey, making his debut today as host of the "Price is Right," is also being featured in the first of what is expected to be a series of online videos for the Reason Foundation on ReasonTV.
In his first feature, Carey focuses on traffic in Los Angeles, finds the commuter with the worst drive to work and proivdes a helicopter trip for him.
Carey's conclusion: It is only going to get worse and, "I wish I owned my own freeway"
In future videos, Carey is expected comment on drug laws, immigration and eminent domain.
TIPOFFS: Mayor, council look at establishing ground rules to avoid lawsuits from fired department heats, Rocky Degladillo, more.
Warning that a potential loss of $270 million in next year's budget could threaten Los Angeles municipal services, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa appealed Saturday to neighborhood council leaders to support the city's plan for a 9 percent telephone tax. Daily News.
But the outline of the challenges facing the city's $6.8 billion budget drew sharp criticism from the more than 150 community leaders gathered at City Hall for the annual presentation.
Many questioned the timing of the proposal, which comes as the Department of Water and Power is seeking to raise electric rates by 9 percent over three years and water rates by 6 percent over two years.
In a landmark deal cautiously hailed by community and environmental activists, the Boeing Co. agreed on Friday to donate its contaminated Santa Susana Field Laboratory site to the state of California for use as open space after cleaning it up to state standards. Harrison Sheppard in the Daily News.
The deal - culminating an 18-year controversy since the Daily News disclosed toxic contamination of the research site - was negotiated by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's administration.
It calls for the company to contribute $22.5million over 30 years to an endowment fund to pay for maintaining the property in the hills above Simi Valley and Chatsworth as parkland.
A builder has unveiled plans for two Victory Boulevard developments worth nearly $400million that would revitalize the mid-San Fernando Valley area with new commercial, residential and retail space over the next several years. Connie Llanos in the Daily News.
The projects - replete with Italian-inspired walkways, fountains and a trolley - are expected to cover 16 acres on the north side of the boulevard between Ethel and Atoll avenues, marking the largest development in the community to date.
"This is going to change the face of this side of the Valley and will raise the bar for future developments," said Christopher Alan, owner of Dasher Lawless Inc., based in Van Nuys.
The Los Angeles City Council on Friday rejected a proposed $16 million settlement in a case involving four police officers who were key figures in the Rampart Division scandal. Daily News.
After a closed-door meeting, the council voted 10-0 to reject the settlement in cases brought against the city by Officer Paul Harper, suspended Sgt. Edward Ortiz, former Sgt. Brian Liddy and former Officer Michael Buchanan.
"We were told we stand a good chance of winning at trial," said Councilman Ed Reyes, whose district is in the Rampart Division.
Facing perhaps the heaviest criticism of his political career, Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez on Thursday defended using campaign funds to pay for international travel and extravagant purchases - and insisted he hasn't abandoned his working-class mentality. Edwin Garcia in the Mercury News.
"The fact that I've been successful, that I'm the speaker of the Assembly, and I've represented California around the world is something I'm very proud of," Núñez said. "But that doesn't mean that I've walked away from my humble roots and humble beginning. I'm going to fight each and every day, as I have in the Legislature, for the people I most care about: the underprivileged, the poor, those who don't have a voice in government . . . "
Núñez's comments come at a critical time for a politician whose Capitol clout is arguably second only to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's. For the past six days, the 40-year-old Democrat with an affable reputation has been pummeled by news reports of lavish spending that contradict the image he cultivated over the years as a champion for the working poor.
***Nunez office late Friday put out these links to his news conference where he discussed the issue:
The number of homeless in Los Angeles County dropped 17 percent over the past two years - and was down more than 40 percent in the San Fernando Valley alone, according to a report released Thursday. Troy Anderson in the Daily News.
But while Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority officials said their biennual count found the estimated number of people homeless on any given day dropped from 88,345 to 73,000, many questioned the findings.
"Where did 15,000 homeless people in Los Angeles go? Clearly we did not build that number of affordable housing units and/or shelter beds," asked Joel John Roberts, chief executive officer of PATH Partners, an organization working to break the cycle of homelessness. "So 15,000 homeless people either left on their own, or the number is inaccurate."
After months of political and personal turmoil, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa started to refocus his administration on practical accomplishments Thursday as he prepares to drum up support from neighborhood councils this weekend for a phone tax and utility-rate hikes. Daily News.
Under the "30-30" program launched Thursday, Villaraigosa and his new transportation chief, Rita Robinson, said the city will install 30 left-hand-turn signals at 13 intersections across Los Angeles over the next 30 workdays.
"Make no mistake about it," Villaraigosa said, shouting over the noise of traffic at an intersection near Los Angeles International Airport where the announcement was made. "This is a start of reinvigorating the Department of Transportation and us looking at bold measures to improve traffic.
Two weeks after Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa abruptly fired Department of Transportation General Manager Gloria Jeff, some city leaders are trying to negotiate a settlement to persuade Jeff to drop her appeal and avoid a high-profile, racially charged hearing over her termination.
Kerry Cavanaugh in t he Daily News.
Villaraigosa has been criticized by African-Americans for his handling of Jeff's firing - namely giving her an immediate ultimatum to resign or be fired, with no explanation, after he personally recruited her from Michigan.
Jeff hired an attorney, rallied the support of African-American groups and has appealed her firing to the City Council.
Goodbye, Burbank; hello, Universal City.
That was the word Wednesday from NBC, the network that introduced the world to "Beautiful Downtown Burbank" and helped make it the "Media Capital of the World." David Kronke and Gregory J. Wilcox in the Daily News.
"The Tonight Show," local news operations and "Access Hollywood," along with other programming, will be relocated to Universal City, which includes Universal Studios, its theme park and CityWalk.
"This is part of a long-term strategy on the West Coast, centralizing our businesses in one location in Los Angeles," said Tom Smith, senior vice president of West Coast Real Estate for NBC Universal.
A judge on Wednesday tentatively rejected a bid by a Department of Water and Power union that had sought a temporary restraining order to bar the Daily News' online publication of workers' names, salaries and positions. Beth Barrett in the Daily News.
Superior Court Judge Dzintra Janavs set a Nov. 1 hearing for preliminary injunction arguments for the Daily News to show cause why it should not be restrained from disclosing the salaries.
In the meantime, the move means the newspaper can keep the names and salaries of all 8,500 DWP workers posted on its Web site, dailynews.com.
Janavs noted in her ruling that the information already has been online since Sept. 30.
Casting aside threats of international retaliation by Turkish officials, the House Foreign Affairs Committee voted Wednesday to unconditionally declare the killing of thousands of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire at the end of World War I a "genocide." Lisa Friedman in the Daily News.
The 27-21 vote came after more than four hours of searing debate pitting calls for America to take a moral stand against the realpolitik of offending Turkey, a major route for air cargo, fuel and other supplies for U.S. troops in Iraq.
Turks, including three members of parliament who flew to Washington for the hearing, looked on grimly as the vote tally was read.
Los Angeles officials on Wednesday released details of a proposed settlement with the ACLU that will end a contentious lawsuit over treatment of the homeless on Skid Row and throughout the city. Daiily News.
"This brings to an end one suit, but not the problems we face in dealing with the homeless throughout the city," said Councilwoman Jan Perry, whose district includes Skid Row and who had opposed previous efforts to settle the lawsuit.
"This allows the city to retain its prerogatives on dealing with the homeless and gives us a certain time to deal with the issue."
That's the introduction Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa had for a group of Virgil Middle School students gathered at the neighboring Bresee Youth Foundation in the Hollywood area on Thursday during a tour with Sen. Dianne Feinstein.
The center, which offers after-school programs including computer training, math tutoring and other programs for upwards of 100 children, was cited as an example of a gang-prevention program Feinstein wants to see funded with her $1 billion anti-gang bill that is pending in the House of Representatives.
Feinstein said it has been a 10-year fight to get the measure through, which includes $400 million for supression, $400 million for intervention and $130 million for witness protection.
" Conservatives wanted more money for crime suppression and liberals wanted more money for prevention," Feinstein said. "I think we have a balance with this bill."
The students were given a few hours off from classes to attend the event where they posed for pictures with Feinstein and Villaraigosa.
The LAPD's poor planning, weak leadership and disjointed communication led to the chaos that unfolded during the May Day melee at MacArthur Park between riot gear-clad officers, immigrants-rights protesters and the media, according to a scathing internal report released Tuesday. Daily News.
The long-anticipated report presented to the Los Angeles Police Commission revealed that Metropolitan Division officers assigned to keep the peace hadn't been trained in crowd control in more than 18 months; that many of them had no idea who was in charge; and that the department was caught off guard despite a similar protest a year earlier in which hundreds of thousands more people participated.
And when things spun out of control, "not a single supervisor or member of the command staff involved attempted to intervene," according to the report.
Water wasters, watch out!
Over-irrigate your lawn or hose down your driveway and you could soon receive a visit from the Drought Busters.
With a shortage of imported water exacerbating the problems caused by another dry year, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power may revive its conservation cops - a crew of employees who cruise the city in search of people wasting water. Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.
Ending a contentious lawsuit that brought the city's efforts to deal with the homeless at Skid Row into question, the Los Angeles City Council and the American Civil Liberties Union reached a tentative settlement Tuesday that will allow the homeless to remain on city streets overnight. Daily News.
Under terms of the settlement described by officials, a "10-foot rule" is to be put into place prohibiting the homeless from sitting, lying or sleeping within that distance from any business or residential entrance.
At the same time, police will be prohibited from arresting the homeless between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m. if they are in any other location.
The agreement will remain in effect until the city builds 1,250 new units of affordable housing, including 50 percent of them on Skid Row.
The union representing nearly all 8,500 Los Angeles Department of Water and Power employees sought a temporary restraining order Tuesday against the Daily News over online publication of the workers' names, salaries and positions. Beth Barrett in the Daily News.
Also named in the court filing by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 18 were the city of Los Angeles and the DWP Board of Commissioners.
Notice of the filing was sent to the Daily News' corporate headquarters in Denver. The newspaper was given 30 days to respond.
KABC has an amusing video of Speaker Fabian Nunez fleeing a television news reporter asking why he used campaign fund to pay for his extravagent lifestyle.
Nunez is facing questions from contributors and constituents after a Los Angeles Times story revealed expenses charged to his campaign account, including $8,745 at the exclusive Hotel Arts in Barcelona, Spain; $5,149 for a meeting at Cave L'Avant Garde, a wine seller in the Bordeaux region of France; a total of $2,562 for two "office expenses" at Vuitton, two years apart; and $1,795 for a "meeting" at Le Grand Colbert, a venerable Parisian restaurant.
Nunez has refused to answer questions about how those expenses relate to his job representing a Los Angeles community where more than 80 percent of families earn less than $50,000 a year. (That 1999 figure comes from his Web site.)
H. David Nahai resigned his post as president of the Los Angeles Board of Water and Power Commissioners last week, raising speculation that he is positioning himself for the job of general manager of the nation's largest municipal utility.
DWP General Manager Ronald Deaton's contract expires in December, but he has been out on medical disability since suffering heart problems while on vacation in Costa Rica.
Nahai, an attorney appointed to the DWP board by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, is said to be the mayor's pick for the job but the nobody can make a move until Deaton says whether he wants to stay or go.
Competition for the $62.5 million annual contract to police the city's mass transit system is heating up among some law enforcement agencies, months before bidding wars begin. Sue Doyle in the Daily News.
Metro's five-year agreement with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department will expire June 30, 2008, and officials do not yet know if they will renew it. The transit agency is reviewing other security options that could dismantle the sheriff's grip on the mass transit system and save about $4.7 million.
Roger Snoble, Metro's chief executive officer, said at a recent workshop that the security-program review should not be considered a criticism of the Sheriff's Department and its staff assigned to the transit agency.
Five months after LAPD officers drew scorn by firing rubber bullets into crowds of women and children and roughing up journalists at a peaceful May Day rally, the department is expected to release its long-awaited report this week on what went wrong. Rachel Uranga in the Daily News.
Widely seen as an overreaction to a few troublemakers, the LAPD's response at the May 1 MacArthur Park rally prompted more than a 100 lawsuits and claims, two demotions and creation of a special LAPD crowd-control unit.
The report is expected to detail the LAPD's account of what happened at the rally and why. So far, LAPD officials have refused to discuss its content, saying only that it will not name officers involved.
Tipoffs: Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and the City Council will be tested with a number of issues in coming weeks.
More hikes in electric and water rates. A ballot scheme to save the phone tax. A plan to tax Los Angeles property owners to pay for gang intervention and prevention programs.
The people of Los Angeles are City Hall's targets even as city workers have gotten recent double-digit salary increases and the city budget has soared nearly 60 percent to $6.8 billion in just seven years. Kerry Cavanaugh and Beth Barrett in the Daily News.
To some, the trend is evidence that the nation's second-largest municipality is in trouble.
"The hole just keeps getting deeper all the time," said David Fleming, chair of the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce.
Neighborhood council members Saturday questioned a controversial Department of Water and Power rate increase that many said was confusing - and misleading. Connie Llanos in the Daily News.
"Our council voted down this increase because there was just too much we didn't understand," Woodland Hills representative August Steurer said at a monthly neighborhood council congress in Hollywood.
"The average person doesn't understand the DWP; (it has its) own language."
This week, the DWP board approved its first rate increase in 15 years. The plan would increase electric rates by 9 percent over the next three years, and water rates would increase 6 percent over two years.
Consultant Sue Simone is not poor by any measure, but recently she felt like she was. Simone was struggling to pay her mortgage, buy groceries and secure child care during a three-hour role-playing game designed to simulate poverty. Julia M. Scott n the Daily News.
"I ultimately lost my house and everything in our lives," said Simone, whose office is in Tarzana. "When the kids came home and asked me where we were going to go, I said the car."
The Los Angeles chapter of Social Venture Partners held the simulation to promote a wider awareness of poverty. Many of the group's events, like the one in L.A., draw people by word of mouth as Social Venture Partner members encourage friends, family and work colleagues to attend and learn.
Los Angeles County's total legal costs jumped 17 percent from $86 million in 2005-06 to $101 million last fiscal year, just shy of a record high reached several years ago, officials said Friday. Troy Anderson in the Daily News.
The $51 million in settlements and judgments was 20 percent higher than the average paid in the past five years and 32 percent higher than the previous year.
The disclosure is expected to be presented to the Board of Supervisors this month, but some already expressed concern.
They are some of the questions pondered by great thinkers: Who am I? Why am I here? Do I exist?
Well, the San Fernando Valley community of Lake Balboa got the answer Friday to at least one of those questions.
It exists.
Nearly a year ago, city functionaries discovered that - despite the unveiling of Lake Balboa's blue neighborhood signs in 2002 - the community was never made official at City Hall. Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.
And when West Van Nuys residents petitioned to join Lake Balboa, the City Clerk's Office threw into doubt the existence of the 4,000-person community.
A pharmacist who beat his schnauzer to death, then stuffed him in the freezer. A drunk who dragged his German shepherd behind his pickup. A teen who tried to drown his Shih Tzu for soiling the carpet.
Animal-cruelty cases that once fell through the cracks are now pursued by the Los Angeles Animal Cruelty Task Force - the first in the nation to team up prosecutors, police and animal-control officers. Dana Batholomew in the Daily News.
Two years old this month, the force has doubled its officers since April. Since its creation, it has bumped up criminal investigations from a handful a year to more than 200 this year alone, most of them felonies.
"We are putting a dent in animal cruelty in the city of Los Angeles," said Los Angeles Police Department Lt. Tony Lomedico, head of daily operations for the task force. "We are putting people in jail."
Los Angeles officials and six unions have negotiated a contract that will give the bulk of the city's civilian work force up to a 23 percent pay hike at the end of five years, the Daily News has learned. Beth Barrett in the Daily News.
The deal means thousands of city workers will see salary increases even greater than a controversial 16.8 percent salary deal recently negotiated for Department of Water and Power workers.
Details of the six-union deal have remained secret since the tentative pact was reached late Sunday.
Sources familiar with it say the package includes a 14.25 percent raise over five years for all of the unions' 22,000 workers.
Just a week after being fired by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, former Department of Transportation General Manager Gloria Jeff has hired a high-profile attorney to fight for her job. Kerry Cavaanaugh in the Daily News.
Recruited by the mayor 18 months ago, Jeff was fired last Friday after refusing to resign amid mounting complaints from employees and city leaders about her management style.
Villaraigosa has said only that he wanted the department to move faster and in a new direction. But attorney Gloria Allred said Jeff was callously fired with no review and no documented performance issues.
"It does not speak well for our city that she was fired with less than one day notice, without provisions for adequate severance and in a manner which was designed to inflict maximum career damage on this hardworking, skilled and dedicated city employee," Allred said in a statement.
The city of Los Angeles quietly sued its residents in April in an unusual maneuver aimed at ensuring that surplus Department of Water and Power revenue could be transferred to the city treasury and used for other purposes. Beth Barrett in the Daily News.
The April 9 filing of a "complaint for validation" in Los Angeles Superior Court gave the public just 90 days to challenge the city's attempt to transfer $30 million from the DWP to the general fund.
It was intended as a pre-emptive strike to win a nearly decade-long battle over the legality of such transfers that in recent years have ranged from $100 million annually to twice that much.
Los Angeles officials sought to get the court to declare the transfer legal and allow them to proceed without the threat of a lawsuit, although a state Supreme Court ruling last year raised questions about the practice's constitutionality.
Despite concerns about the last-minute maneuver, the Los Angeles City Council voted Wednesday to draft emergency ballot language that would ask voters in February to endorse a 9 percent tax on telephone and cell-phone users. Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.
The decision is a step toward rewriting the city's telephone users' tax regulation to keep it legal and ensure that the city continues to rake in more than $200 million a year.
The revenue is being threatened because wireless companies recently won a lawsuit challenging the 10 percent tax, meaning the city could lose $162 million a year generated by cell-phone taxes. Meanwhile, another critic is challenging the tax on long-distance phone calls.
A shortage in air-traffic controllers led to 55 runway incursions reported at Los Angeles International Airport since October 2001, eight of which occurred during the past year, according to a study released this week.n Art Maroquin in the Daily News.
An understaffed control tower at LAX means longer work hours and more duties for fatigued air-traffic controllers, leading to an increased likelihood for serious mistakes on the runway, according to a report by the National Air Traffic Controllers Association.
"Quite often, controllers are the last line of defense and we see pilots doing something that they are not supposed to do, so part of our job is to stop them," said Michael Foote, president of NATCA's membership at LAX.
In a decision that will bring federal oversight of the embattled Los Angeles Fire Department, investigators for a national agency said Tuesday that the LAFD has violated civil-rights laws by allowing harassment of female and African-American firefighters. Kerry Cavanaugh and Beth Barrett in the Daily News.
The decision by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission stems from at least two complaints filed by female firefighters who said they were treated unfairly on the job, then suffered retaliation after they complained.
But as the agency looked into the incidents, investigators said they found evidence of broader problems in the department.
Los Angeles Department of Water and Power officials unanimously approved water and electric rate hikes Tuesday, despite criticism that the massive utility has for years mismanaged its money. Beth Barrett in the Daily News.
Under the plan, electric rates would increase 9 percent over three years and water rates would increase 6 percent over two years.
But the plan comes amid increased scrutiny of the DWP in the wake of a Daily News review of salary data that show that the average DWP worker makes $76,949 a year - or nearly 20 percent more than the average civilian city worker.
Assailed by critics who say the number of San Fernando Valley police officers has slipped dangerously low amid rising gang violence, LAPD officials said Tuesday that response times have dropped by more than 30 percent and overall crime is down. Rachel Uranga in the Daily News.
But while Deputy Chief Michel Moore said he will do everything he can to keep response times low, data provided by the Los Angeles Police Department also showed that the number of permanently stationed officers in the Valley has dropped to its lowest level in four years.
"The results speak of a balanced score card," Moore told the Los Angeles Police Commission while presenting a 15-page report on the issue.
More than three years after the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted to remove a tiny cross from the county seal, officials at a national public-interest law firm said Tuesday they are taking the case to the U.S. Supreme Court. Troy Anderson in the Daily News.
If the high court decides to hear the case, it could become one of the first to clearly establish what religious symbols will be allowed in the public square.
Robert J. Muise, a trial attorney at the Thomas More Law Center, said some of the Supreme Court justices have expressed interest in hearing the issue on the Constitution's "establishment clause."
Los Angeles officials on Tuesday gave preliminary approval to a five-year contract covering some 22,000 city workers, the largest wage settlement of its kind. Daily News.
The contract includes a unique cost-savings provision in its final two years that forces employees to find savings in the way they work or face penalties.
The contract will now go before a union vote and then return to the council for final approval. Contract details were expected to remain secret until the first union meetings, tentatively set for Friday. But it is believed to be for at least a 13 percent increase over the life of the contract. The deal would cost the city an estimated $30 million a year.
Los Angeles officials and six unions representing 22,000 city workers reached a tentative five-year, double-digit salary deal just as the current contracts expired, officials said Monday. Daily News.
The deal ended days of intense negotiating in which the unions sought parity with Department of Water and Power workers, who are among the highest-paid employees in the city.
City and union representatives confirmed the five-year contract but declined to discuss details.
Sources said the contract would amount to about a 13 percent salary hike.
The historic Van Nuys Library fared well on the auction block Monday as a longtime admirer doled out $1.52 million to become the building's new owner. Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.
Winning bidder Tony Nasr with NTR Consultants said he's admired the 1926 Spanish Colonial Revival-style building for more than 20 years and used to frequent the building for business when the Fire Department used it as an office.
"I was in love," Nasr said after placing the winning bid during an auction at City Hall.
"I studied in Greece and I love the history of the buildings. I respect historic things. I want to keep the building as it is."
The story on salaries paid Department of Water and Power workers has prompted a lively debate among readers. The Reader Response section has drawn high interest. You can read the comments, or add to it, by going here:
One year ago, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa planted the first of a million trees meant to turn arid Los Angeles into the greenest and cleanest big city in America. Dana Bartholomew in the Daily News.
The ceremony, including such Hollywood greens as Daryl Hannah and Ed Begley Jr., celebrated Million Trees Los Angeles and hopes for cool boughs over hot concrete.
One year later, city officials tout 110,000 new trees - but can't say where they're planted or how the city will pay for their upkeep.
An effort to reduce diesel emissions at Southern California's ports by imposing stricter regulations on the trucking industry could lead to an economic crisis reminiscent of the 2002 dockworkers' lockout, a new study warns.Kristopher Hanson in the Daily News.
The strike five years ago shut down all major West Coast ports for 10 days, costing the national economy an estimated $10 billion as ships backed up in harbors and containers piled up at waterfront marine terminals.
Similar backlogs may result in the first weeks of the Clean Trucks Program that could begin Jan. 1 at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, says a study by economist John Husing.
Tipoffs: Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villarioga and the scandal tha won't die, EAA seeks revenge, other politcal odds and ends.
As the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power seeks a hefty taxpayer rate hike, a Daily News review of salary data shows the average utility worker makes $76,949 a year - or nearly 20 percent more than the average civilian city worker. Beth Barrett in the Daily News.
More than 1,140 of the utility's employees - or about 13 percent - take home more than $100,000 a year. And General Manager Ron Deaton, who is on medical leave, rakes in $344,624 a year - making him the city's highest- paid worker.
DWP salaries are on average higher than city and far higher than private-sector workers' even as the utility has come under fire for recent power outages and another round of rate hikes: A 9percent, three-year electric-rate hike and a 6 percent, two-year water-rate hike
Even more:
.
Go here, for a complete data base on the salary of all DWP workers.
With the glut of advertisements hitting airline passengers everywhere from terminal walkways to in-flight magazines, companies will soon reach new heights in hawking their wares. Art Marroquin in the Daily News.
Signs the size of three football fields are expected to appear along the flight paths of Los Angeles International Airport and other international aviation hubs as part of a marketing blitz crafted by Ad-Air, a London-based advertising agency.
The signs are designed to lie flat on the ground and be spotted by passengers on inbound and outbound flights, said Kate Rosser, an Ad-Air spokeswoman.
Efforts to halt the planned auction of the historic Van Nuys Library failed Friday when the Los Angeles City Council rejected pleas to retain the building as a cultural landmark. Daily News.
"We have done all we can to keep this, but the city Library Department and other agencies have determined this is the best course of action," said Councilman Tony Cardenas.
"I am not happy about the loss of any services to my district, but I have been assured the money raised from the sale of this building will come back to the residents of the 6th District."
Frustrated at the lack of progress in improving Los Angeles' traffic gridlock, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa announced a major restructuring in the city's transportation department Friday. Daily News.
At a City Hall news conference, Villaraigosa said he is moving Rita Robinson from the Bureau of Sanitation back to temporarily take over transportation. The current general manager, Gloria Jeff, resigned, he said.
Robinson had been a deputy general manager in the department before being named to head the Sanitation Bureau.
A budding "lights out" movement could darken Los Angeles County for one hour next month. Allison Hewitt in the Daily News.
The plan is to turn off as many lights as possible - in homes and offices, government buildings and public landmarks - to reduce pollution and raise awareness about energy conservation. Lights needed for safety reasons, such as streetlights and stoplights, would remain on.
The effort began in Australia, gained momentum in San Francisco, and got a boost this week when county Supervisor Yvonne B. Burke introduced a motion supporting Lights Out Los Angeles.
Los Angeles County beaches had the worst water quality in the state over the summer, despite record-low rainfall and improvements at the notoriously polluted Santa Monica Bay, an environmental group reported Thursday. Daily News.
Heal the Bay assigned letter grades ranging from A to F to 494 beaches along the California coast, based on bacteria pollution levels detected at monitoring stations from Memorial Day through Labor Day.
According to the group, 17 percent of Los Angeles County beaches earned F grades during the summer, making it the worst county in the state for beach water quality.
A $1 billion development that would shape the North Hollywood skyline took a big step forward Thursday as the Metro board approved negotiating with Lowe Enterprises for the massive mixed-use project. Daily News.
Details of the plan will be worked out over the next six months, but the initial deal for the NoHo Art Wave includes more than 1.72 million square feet of retail, commercial and residential development.
The complex on Metro-owned land at Lankershim and Chandler boulevards would revitalize 15.6 acres near a San Fernando Valley subway and bus hub and include 562 housing units - with 15 percent set aside for low-income residents.
Calling same-sex marriage a civil right, more than a dozen San Fernando Valley clergy members joined a statewide effort Wednesday to pressure the California Supreme Court to end the ban on gay marriages. Sue Abram in the Daily News.
Ahead of what is widely expected to be the next major state Supreme Court ruling on same-sex marriage, reverends, pastors and rabbis met at St. Matthew's Evangelical Lutheran Church in North Hollywood to announce they would file 30 amicus briefs, formal documents intended to persuade courts on an issue.
The religious leaders, who were joined by 90 civil-rights organizations across the state that also filed briefs, are hoping to influence the court's decision on an upcoming review of a lawsuit seeking to overturn the ban on gay marriage.
Warning that residential neighborhoods are at risk of being overbuilt, Los Angeles city officials on Wednesday said they will seek to limit future development and bonuses to developers who provide affordable housing. Daily News.
The move comes after county Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky sent a four-page letter to Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa indicating his concern that protections approved by voters to limit the height of buildings are in jeopardy.
Yaroslavsky said the density bonuses permitted under a 2005 state law are a "poorly thought-out effort" to increase affordable housing at the expense of residential areas.
Los Angeles' $15 million, high-tech camera system designed to catch red-light runners let nearly half of all violators in the San Fernando Valley off the hook last year because the drivers couldn't be identified, according to police data. Rachel Uranga in the Daily News.
While officials had hoped the cameras would result in a citation rate as high as 80 percent, in the Valley that was running at only 55percent last year.
While the rate citywide is slightly better at 60 percent, critics question the gaps and note that the project is now nearly five months behind schedule with only 26 of 32 cameras in place.
Citing last week's $1.4 million settlement in the hazing of a former firefighter, Los Angeles city officials renewed efforts Tuesday to review the costs and process of hiring private attorneys to represent the city. Daily News.
Councilman Dennis Zine - who opposed the settlement with firefighter Tennie Pierce, served spaghetti laced with dog food - said the case highlights the need to control the cost and activities of city-hired lawyers.
In addition to the $1.4 million settlement, the city is spending an estimated $1 million for Jones, Day, Reavis and Pogue to provide analysis and representation in the Pierce case.
In what would be a a multibillion-dollar plan to ease congestion at Los Angeles International Airport, city officials on Tuesday proposed extending the Gold Line light-rail system to provide direct service to Ontario Airport. Daily News.
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, joined by officials from San Bernardino County and Ontario, said he will urge the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and federal officials to consider funding the line's extension from Azusa to the airport to help increase passenger access to the facility.
"Right now, Ontario has 7.9 million passengers a year," Villaraigosa said at a City Hall news conference. "We hope to see it grow to 30 million a year to take some of the traffic from LAX.
City leaders challenged the faith-based community Tuesday to spearhead efforts to turn young people away from gangs. Rick Coca in the Daily News.
Recently appointed Los Angeles gang czar Jeff Carr told about 200 people at Shepherd of the Hills Church that the presence of about 39,000 gang members in the city means political leaders have failed to resolve the gang problem.
"We are failing, and we have been failing for almost 30 years," Carr said at the fourth annual San Fernando Valley Faith Coalitions Community Summit.
Amid growing concerns about the effectiveness of Los Angeles' network of neighborhood councils, the City Council on Tuesday began reviewing broad changes that could reinvigorate the panels and strengthen the system of grass-roots democracy. Daily News.
After a two-hour presentation in which council members voiced their own frustrations with neighborhood councils, the proposed changes were sent to the council's Education and Neighborhoods Committee for analysis.
"We will bring this back as quickly as we can, but we have to realize we are a long way from perfection," said Councilman Richard Alarcon, who chairs the committee and has been a longtime supporter of neighborhood councils.
Violent crime in Los Angeles fell for the fourth straight year in 2006, bucking a national trend and putting the city on track this year to have its lowest murder rate since 1970. Rachel Uranga in the Daily News.
Violent crime fell by 4 percent in L.A. last year, while nationwide it crept up 2 percent, according to figures released Monday by the FBI.
And so far this year, the city has recorded just 293 homicides, a staggering drop from five years ago, when 656 killings prompted Chief William Bratton, who had just been appointed to head the Los Angeles Police Department, to vow a crackdown on violence.
One year after the LAPD flooded Skid Row with dozens of officers to crack down on crime, a study has found that crime in the area plunged 40 percent but the city has failed to develop any long-term solutions. Daily News.
The UCLA study also found higher crime in communities adjacent to the nearly one-square-mile Skid Row area, as well as an increase in the number of transients in other parts of the city.
It also found that monthly arrests averaged more than 750, with more than half minor drug offenses. Of the 1,000 citations issued month, the majority were for such infractions as loitering and jaywalking.
Defending last week's settlement of a harassment and hazing case involving a former Los Angeles firefighter, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa on Monday said the city sent a message that it would not be an easy mark for payouts. Daily News.
Villaraigosa and the Los Angeles City Council signed off Friday on a $1.49 million payout to former Firefighter Tennie Pierce. The deal included $60,000 in back salary that guarantees his pension.
It also includes an additional $1 million to his attorneys and city payments of about $1 million to the private firm of Jones, Day to investigate the case.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said on Monday he would support legislation to have the state pull its support from investing in Iran.
Here is his statement:
"California has a long history of leadership and doing what's right with our investment portfolio. Last year, I was proud to sign legislation to divest from the Sudan to take a powerful stand against genocide. I look forward to signing legislation to divest from Iran to take an equally powerful stand against terrorism."
After more than a year of study, the panel charged with reviewing Los Angeles' network of neighborhood councils is recommending a myriad of changes to make life a little easier for those who volunteer in the name of grass-roots democracy. Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.
The panel is urging streamlined elections, simpler bill-paying rules, more intelligible bylaws and an expedited grievance process.
The Neighborhood Council Review Commission rejected the concept of"mini city councils" concept but didstressthe needcalled for less bureaucracy - a move that could significantly reshape the council network.
An ambitious plan to re-establish a passenger-rail line between Santa Clarita and the Ventura coast faces serious hurdles, although all sides agree an alternative is needed to the region's increasingly congested freeways. Patricia Farrell Aidem in the Daily News.
A draft study commissioned in part by the Ventura County Transportation Commission recommends extending the existing east-west Santa Paula line to the north-south railroad that runs through Santa Clarita. There, planners hope to reclaim an abandoned rail corridor through the city's commercial and business hub.
"The most important thing is that we think about it and do some long-range planning so maybe in 30 years, if we start reserving the right-of-way now, we can do something," said Kerry Forsythe, the commission's deputy director.
TIPOFFS: A proposal to review the City Charter again and an urging to look at creating a boroughs system. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa finds support at fundraiser.
He's known as `The King' of Skid Row.
But it's not the baseball cap crowning his head or the karaoke microphone he carries like a scepter that earned Roland Burris the nickname. Tony Castro in the Daily News.
It's the voice - the pain of poverty and addiction coming out in the ballads and blues - that spark comparisons to that world-famous singer.
"He sure sounds like The King, doesn't he?" says Billy Blade, a neighbor of Burris at the Lamp Lodge, a transitional housing complex in the heart of Los Angeles' Skid Row.
Capping a high-profile case that had pitted the mayor against the city attorney, Los Angeles officials agreed on Friday to pay nearly $1.5 million to settle a racial-discrimination lawsuit filed by a black firefighter whose colleagues put dog food in his spaghetti. Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.
Under the deal, the city will pay Tennie Pierce $1.43 million. He also will get $60,000 in back salary, which makes him eligible to receive his 20-year service pension.
With attorney fees and legal expenses, the cost of the case is expected to be about $2.7 million - about the same settlement that had been proposed by City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo and approved by the City Council last year.
Alarmed that the annual taxpayer tab for teachers' and state workers' pensions and health benefits has soared from $1 billion to more than $5 billion since 2000, California officials called on Friday for fixes to stem the financial outpouring. Troy Anderson in the Daily News.
The calls come amid growing concern about California's pension crisis, which has deepened over the past seven years as the average county fund has gone from being flush with cash to being at least 9 percent underfunded.
And officials are worried that the state's already massive unfunded liabilities for pensions and retiree health benefits - estimated as high as $300 billion combined - will only continue to grow.
The Los Angeles City Council moved Friday to ask voters in February to approve a $30 parcel tax on every city property owner to raise funds to fight gangs. Daily News.
In a 12-0 vote without comment, the council instructed the City Attorney's Office to craft language for a ballot measure on the plan.
The move comes despite public opposition this week from City Controller Laura Chick, who has vowed to fight the measure if the council sends it to voters before her audit of city gang programs is completed.
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa will announce today that longtime Los Angeles Fire Department Capt. James Featherstone will take over as general manager of the Emergency Preparedness Department. Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.
Featherstone takes over from Ellis Stanley, who announced his retirement this week and is expected to get a four-month, $60,000 consulting contract to help the new manager transition into the job.
Featherstone already has experience. He is a captain in the LAFD's tactical training division and he was the assistant general manager of the Emergency Preparedness Department from January through July 2006.
A plan to tax Los Angeles property owners $30 a year to fund gang programs drew new fire Thursday as City Controller Laura Chick vowed to fight its placement on the February ballot. Daily News.
Proposed earlier this year, the plan would generate about $30 million for gang-intervention and -prevention efforts. But Chick told a meeting of the city's business leaders that she will oppose the measure if it's placed on the ballot before she completes her audit of existing gang programs.
"Before we ask taxpayers to give up more of their hard-earned dollars, we need to look at what we're doing, at what works and what changes we are making," she said.
Battling the stigma of being unfriendly to business, Los Angeles officials pledged Thursday to step up tax-reform efforts, develop policies to boost growth, and seek to draw up a comprehensive economic plan for the city. Daily News.
The emphasis comes just two days after a study found that neighboring cities are siphoning off Los Angeles business with better incentives and policies.
"We need to have a partnership if we are going to succeed," Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa told more than 400 business leaders who converged at City Hall in an annual Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce event.
Los Angeles Unified School District officials announced Wednesday they have hired the company that successfully implemented the city's payroll system to help the district fix accuracy problems in its own payroll network. Naush Boghosian in the Daily News.
Hess & Associates Inc. will be paid $100,000 to improve the accuracy of LAUSD's new payroll process, which has overpaid and underpaid thousands of employees for more than eight months.
"When it comes to paying our teachers accurately and on time, the district cannot be too proud. If we cannot fix the problem here, then we must look elsewhere for help," said school board member Tamar Galatzan, who sought the city's help with the payroll problem.
"Our primary goal is to have the payroll system operating so smoothly that everyone is paid the correct amount. But until that great day is here, we must have the capacity to verify quickly whether an employee is getting paid correctly."
Clearing the final hurdle for construction to start, the Los Angeles City Council on Wednesday routinely approved an environmental report and zone changes for the $2.5 billion Grand Avenue redevelopment project. Daily News.
"As long as I've been in Los Angeles, people have been talking about how there is no heart to downtown, no center," said Councilwoman Jan Perry, who represents the area where the project is to be built.
"This will change all that. This will be a redefinition of downtown and I want us to do it right."
With graffiti on the rise, city officials on Wednesday said they are deploying high-tech security cameras to the east San Fernando Valley to catch vandals in the act. Alex Dobuzinskis in the Daily News.
The FlashCam, a solar-powered gizmo being used at spots heavily hit by graffiti, shines a light and uses a recorded voice to warn potential vandals to move along.
When motorists drive through an intersection and see a flash from a similar camera, they know they've run a red light and that "a ticket is on the way," City Councilwoman Wendy Greuel said.
"This is the same concept," she said.
The city is putting three new FlashCam cameras in Greuel's East Valley district, where graffiti crews' work has tripled this year. She is putting up $35,000 in matching funds to help buy an additional 10, with residents and businesses expected to put up another $35,000 to buy those cameras.
Foreclosures soared nearly 400 percent across the greater San Fernando Valley in August as the residential real estate market sank further and lenders tightened credit standards, a research center said Tuesday. Gregory J. Wilcox in the Daily News.
Last month, 289 families from Glendale to Calabasas lost their homes, 231 more than in August last year, or a 398.3 percent increase, said the Economic Research Center at California State University, Northridge.
So far, there have been 552 foreclosures in the first two months of the year's third quarter, and the final number will likely top the 632 foreclosures in the second quarter, said Daniel Blake, the center's director.
Business is thriving in a half-dozen cities ringing Los Angeles thanks to a mix of tax incentives, employee-training programs, shortcuts through red tape and even personal tour guides coming from the various city halls. Patricia Farrel Aidem in the Daily News.
Burbank, Lancaster, Palmdale and Santa Clarita earned kudos Tuesday as four of the finalists in a contest to determine the most business-friendly of Los Angeles County's 88 cities. Long Beach and Cerritos also made the cut.
"I think what we see here is that cities are successful when they are close to their business community. It shows the city of L.A. and the county what can be done," said Carrie Rogers, vice president of business assistance and development for the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp., the nonprofit advocacy group sponsoring the competition.
Setting a broad agenda for reform, Douglas L. Barry was sworn in Tuesday as the city's 23rd fire chief and the first African-American to head the Los Angeles Fire Department. Daily News.
Barry, 54, was sworn in by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa at a plaza across from City Hall after receiving unanimous support from the City Council. Barry has been serving as interim chief since December, when Chief William Bamattre retired.
Hoping to head off more studies that would stall its $143 million expansion plans, Providence Holy Cross Medical Center launched a public-relations campaign Monday to try to win community support and pressure city officials to give the project final approval. Daily News.
The first full-page advertisements appeared in Monday newspapers and featured former LAPD SWAT Officer Bruce Hunt's story of how the hospital saved his life after he was injured in an off-duty car crash.
"We think we have a message about what we do that we want to get out to the community," said Kerry Carmody, administrator for the Mission Hills hospital. "We want to educate the public and public officials about the need for the expansion."
Providence Holy Cross Hospital is putting on a full court press to pressure Los Angeles
Councilman Richard Alarcon to drop his call for a frull environmental review of its planned expansion.
The hospital took out a full-page advertisement in today's Daily News featuring a former LAPD SWAT officer, who says the hospital saved his life and urged readers to contact the councilman.
Alarcon has said he does not oppose the expansion, but believes further studies are needed on how to dela with traffic,a position also embraced by several homeowner groups.
Tipoffs: Los Angeles City Council urged to put anti-war resolution before voters; Washington, D.C., protests and bad timing for diversitty program.
Following three recalls of Mattel Inc. toys from China, parents concerned about the health of their children are paying a premium for toys made in the good ole USA. Julia M. Scott in the Daiily News.
Almost two-thirds of parents say they will no longer purchase toys made in China - where factories cut corners on millions of Mattel toys by using toxic lead paint - according to shopping Web site Shopzilla. There's evidence many parents are putting their money where their mouths are.
Several makers and sellers of American-made toys say they have seen a surge in sales since the recalls, the last of which was announced two weeks ago.
When Dave Beaty tells children about NASA's plans to send astronauts to the moon by 2020 - and to Mars, perhaps as early as 2030 - he almost always gets the same response. Troy Anderson in the Daily News.
"When I go into kindergarten classrooms and ask students, `How many of you want to be the first person on Mars?' all their hands go up," said Beaty, chief scientist for the Mars Exploration Directorate at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena.
"I think it's a great frontier. It's something humans have never done before. The people who do it will be regarded as heroes ... These people will get engraved in history."
Call it an animal shelter for a kinder, gentler era.
At least that was the description officials gave the new East Valley Animal Care Center in Van Nuys as they unveiled it Saturday. Alex Dobuzinskis in the Daily News.
City Councilman Tony C ardenas was reluctant to even call it a shelter - a term that he said isn't good enough for this $12.3million state-of-the-art animal pound, which actually opened in May.
"In the old days, we used to call these shelters, and as you can see we've built a sanctuary," Cardenas said.
The facility has a synthetic grass enclosure with a yin-yang shape, where prospective dog adopters can get a good look at the charges they might be taking home.
Concerned about recent federal limits on the region's water supply, a Los Angeles city official called on Friday for a review into whether usage restrictions should be set for new developments. Daily News.
"We have a serious problem statewide and before we get to mandatory rationing here, we need to know where we stand," Councilman Dennis Zine said. "We need to look at all new developments, conversions and additions to make sure we have enough water."
Long Beach imposed mandatory water rationing this week, including limits on daytime watering of lawns and using water to clean driveways, sidewalks and patios.
San Fernando Valley neighborhood councils are getting dueling letters over the proposed Las Lomas mini-city - even before the 5,500-home development in the Newhall Pass has been considered by city leaders.Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.
Hoping to block the project, Councilman Greig Smith sent a letter to Valley neighborhood councils this week calling the project a "tsunami of sprawl" and asking them to officially oppose it at their next meeting.
"It is too big, too dense, and in the wrong location," he wrote. "The impacts of the proposed Las Lomas development are simply impossible to ignore."
Long under fire as the "sheriff to the stars," Lee Baca now faces accusations from his deputies that most of the officers he promoted to his command staff contributed to his political campaigns. Troy Anderson in the Daily News.
The issue was first raised by the Association of Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs, which claimed that Baca has sharply increased the number of senior leadership positions since being elected in 1998 and that a large number of those positions are now held by campaign contributors.
A Daily News analysis of promotion and campaign-contribution records bear out the claim.
Of 62 sheriff's employees with ranks of captain or higher who were promoted in the past three years, 45, or 73 percent, made campaign contributions to Baca. Many did so shortly before or after their promotions.
A key Los Angeles City Council committee took a step Wednesday toward putting on the February ballot a $30 million tax measure to fund gang prevention programs. Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.
The measure would levy a parcel tax on property owners, averaging about $40 a year.
The council's Rules and Elections Committee asked the city attorney to draft ballot language that would spell out how the $30 million a year would be awarded to gang prevention and intervention programs and how the city would ensure the money is spent
The measure, introduced by Councilwoman Janice Hahn, is scaled back from an earlier $50 million parcel-tax proposal in order to make it more appealing to voters.
Home sales plunged across Southern California to their lowest level in 15 years and prices declined in all but two markets as the nation's growing credit mess bogged down more buyers, sellers and lenders, an industry tracker said Wednesday. Gregory J. Wilcox in the Daily News.
The big Los Angeles County market also saw a steep sales drop, but it did post the region's biggest price gain, according to DataQuick Information Systems.
Last month, sales in the six-county region plunged 36.3 percent to 17,755 transactions and slipped 0.6 percent from July, the La Jolla-based company said.
A proposed DWP rate hike is drawing an outcry from grass-roots neighborhood councils as the giant utility defends itself over recent power outages that left thousands of Los Angeles residents sweltering amid a summer heat wave. Daily News.
While Department of Water and Power officials are seeking a 9 percent boost to pay for upgrades to a rapidly aging electric system, a neighborhood council oversight panel is opposing the move and questioning the high pay of DWP workers and the limited time available to review the potential impact of a rate hike.
Members also wonder why a rate hike is needed when the utility transfers about $200 million each year to the city's general fund.
In a battle over turf and authority, the Los Angeles City Council voted Tuesday to consider overruling a Board of Public Works decision that gave permits to a controversial El Sereno hillside subdivision after the council put the development on hold for more study. Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.
The vote involves a 25-home project on one of the last major swaths of open space in Northeast Los Angeles, but the unanimous decision to assert jurisdiction touches on long-simmering frustration among some council members that commissions and department heads answer more to the mayor than the council.
"There are times we've discussed on council floor ... the tensions we've felt and at times the disregard, if not disrespect, from city department heads, from city staff, in how they respond to this council," Councilman Ed Reyes said.
As Los Angeles prepares to open the new County/USC Medical Center next spring - the largest, most expensive and complex project in county history - county officials on Tuesday lambasted project overseers for tens of millions of dollars in unanticipated cost overruns and change orders. Troy Anderson in the Daily News.
The project to replace the downtown hospital, made famous in the opening scene of TV soap-opera drama "General Hospital," was expected to cost $818 million when the Board of Supervisors voted in 2001 to seek bids from contractors.
But Department of Public Works officials on Tuesday said the cost of the project has risen to $899 million - mostly due to rising construction costs but also due to about $100 million in change orders.
The slumping housing market and rising foreclosures will continue to erode California's economy until late next year or early 2009, but UCLA forecasters still maintain it will not tug the state into recession, according to a report released this morning. Gregory J. Wilcox in the Daily News.
That's because most business sectors will experience job growth, albeit anemic, said the quarterly UCLA Anderson Forecast that takes a more cautionary tone than past assessments.
"With housing as weak as it is, the rest of the economy is going to keep its head above water. This is the glass is half full kind of a take," said University of California, Los Angeles, senior economist Ryan Ratcliff, author of the California report.
Los Angeles City Council members Monday ordered an independent audit of the city's power needs after accusing DWP officials of misleading them and being woefully unprepared for this summer's heat wave. Daily News.
Four council members said they were led to believe that the replacement of thousands of transformers over the past year would allow the city to get through a heat wave this summer without massive outages like those in 2006.
Painting a picture of a city in terror despite reductions in crime, a Los Angeles city official called Monday for a review of a controversial police work schedule and its impact on getting more officers on the street. Daily News.
City Councilwoman Jan Perry took her complaints about the schedule - under which officers work three, 12-hour days - to the council's Public Safety Committee.
"I recognize this is not just a South Los Angeles problem, that it exists in the Valley and the eastside," Perry said. "But I have families that live in fear. That they tell their kids they can't ride their bikes in their front yards in the afternoon. That their kids sleep in bathtubs so they don't get hit when someone drives by and shoots into their house.
Nearly two decades after neighbors learned the hilltop Santa Susana Field Lab was rife with toxic and radioactive contamination, the long-delayed cleanup is at a critical crossroads. Kerry Cavanaugh at the Daily News.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is now considering signing a bill that would force Boeing and the federal government to clean up the former nuclear and rocket-engine test lab to the highest environmental standards.
Under judge's orders, the federal Department of Energy is about to begin a new study of the radioactive and chemical contamination at its former nuclear research facility.
Tipoffs: Naming rights being studied for Coliseum to pay for improvements; pension wars, Zine-staff tunovers.
After her son was shot in front of her apartment complex in 2003, Lela Jones started making a list of suffering.
Jones began collecting the names of young people lost to gang violence, and she put them in a book. On Saturday, more than 70 names were posted on a tall board at Hubert Humphrey Park in Pacoima, and Jones experienced what she called a personal victory - bringing young people together to hear a message of hope. Alex Dobuzinskis in the Daily News.
Calvary Baptist Church of Pacoima, where Jones worships, organized the Youth & Young Adult Love Summit, which brought together former gang members and youths from the street.
Faced with a flood of claims and lawsuits in the wake of a melee at a May Day rally in MacArthur Park, City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo on Friday asked for $1.1 million to create a special unit of attorneys to review the cases. Daily News.
The proposed May Day unit would consist of eight attorneys and support staff to review and process the more than 200 claims and lawsuits already filed against the city.
"If additional staffing is not provided, outside counsel would be required to handle these cases," Delgadillo wrote to the City Council.
In a twist worthy of a Hollywood legal drama, the official credited with saving Los Angeles County taxpayers millions of dollars in legal costs has quietly been paid $450,000 to settle his wrongful-termination suit. Troy Anderson in the Daily News.
Los Angeles County supervisors on July 31 approved the settlement with Robert Nagle, the former litigation cost manager who filed a $2.2 million suit in April and accepted the deal late last month.
In the year since the 58-year-old Agoura Hills attorney was fired, the county's costs for judgments, settlements and outside legal fees have begun to creep back up.
County legal costs hit a high of $109 million in 2002-03 but dropped to $74 million in 2003-04 and $75 million in 2004-05 during Nagle's tenure, according to the County Counsel's Office. They are projected to total $89 million for 2006-07.
Hours after multimillionaire Richard Riordan sued billionaire Ron Burkle on Thursday over a business deal gone sour, the Beverly Hills supermarket magnate settled a long-running dispute with the former Los Angeles mayor that had wrecked their friendship. Beth Barrett in the Daily News.
Riordan's suit claimed that Burkle, who recently tried unsuccessfully to buy the Los Angeles Times and The Wall Street Journal, had refused to let him sell his investment in a high-tech firm he had become disenchanted with. He accused Burkle of being motivated by money and ego, accusing him in the lawsuit of breach of fiduciary duty, fraud, deceit, and violation of state business and professional codes. Riordan sought damages in excess of $5 million, as well as punitive damages.
Stunned by the filing, which came after at least two years of rancor, Burkle told the Daily News he would buy out Riordan's investment interest, originally valued at $5 million.
Forget living in "The 818." Overwhelmed by demand for new lines, the telephone area code that has defined the San Fernando Valley for more than two decades is quickly running out. Harrison Sheppard in the Daily News.
And the California Public Utilities Commission now is considering adding a 747 area code to the Valley because the remaining 818 numbers are expected to be used up within the next two years.
Options include dividing the Valley geographically into two area-code zones, roughly along east-west lines, or simply assigning the new 747 code to all new phone lines no matter where they are in the Valley.
An equestrian center on six bucolic acres is at the center of a bitter dispute over whether the panel charged with protecting California's coastline bent the rules and could be endangering public health.Beth Barrett in the Daily News.
The California Coastal Commission recently agreed to allow Malibu Valley Farms Inc. to continue operating stables and riding arenas near a stream that drains into Malibu Lagoon, even though it didn't get a permit before building the facilities about six years ago.
Its decision prompted the Coastal Law Enforcement Action Network to accuse the commission of ignoring environmental laws intended to protect the coast from pollution, and to file suit to shut down the thoroughbred breeding facility.
Disputing statements by Los Angeles police that demonstrators started the melee that erupted at the May Day immigration rally in MacArthur Park, attorneys for 152 people filed additional claims Thursday for damages. Daily News.
"We are providing video clips and evidence that the problems that developed that day were not caused by demonstrators, but by the police themselves," attorney Carol Sobel said at a news conference outside City Hall where the claims were filed.
The claims, the precursor to a lawsuit, now total more than 240, and Sobel and other attorneys are asking federal courts to allow a class-action suit to be filed.
Los Angeles County children's services workers pocketed at least $100,000 in unwarranted overtime and bonus pay amid lax oversight and a payroll system riddled with problems, according to an audit released Wednesday. Troy Anderson in the Daily News.
In the second review of the Department of Children and Family Services in the past month, auditors cited numerous instances of overpayments and underpayments because of incorrect timecards, errors in payroll-system input, and misapplications of payroll rules and regulations.
In one case, auditors reviewed 30 employees who work at the 24-hour Child Protection Hotline or the Emergency Response Command Post who each averaged $26,000 in overtime in 2005.
After years of struggle, efforts to require stricter standards for cleaning up the Santa Susana Field Lab site gained momentum Wednesday as state lawmakers sent new legislation to the governor's desk. Harrison Sheppard and Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.
The bill by Sen. Sheila Kuehl, D-Los Angeles, would prevent the Boeing Co. site in the hills above Chatsworth and Simi Valley from being transferred or sold unless it is cleaned up to federal Superfund standards.
Kuehl and co-author Assemblywoman Julia Brownley, D-Santa Monica, believe the federal Department of Energy is currently using lower standards for cleanup that could leave some contamination in the area and endanger local residents.
"If they don't clean it up, it can't be sold and developed," Brownley said. "That becomes critically importa
Concerned that the region is slowly using up a vast reserve of water stored beneath the San Fernando Valley, Los Angeles, Glendale and Burbank have agreed to limit the amount of groundwater they pump so the basin can refill. Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.
Under the proposed agreement approved Tuesday by the L.A. Board of Water and Power Commissioners, the cities can still pump their annual allotment of groundwater - which is the cheapest water available.
But they won't use most credits that would allow the cities to draw extra water during dry years and save millions of dollars spent on purchased water.
For now, hybrid cars can keep zooming along in California's car-pool lanes. But other solo motorists who have been sneaking into the lanes are going to have to go. Sue Doyle in the Daily News.
That's because, under federal pressure to speed up sluggish car-pool lanes, California transit officials said Tuesday that they will seek to crack down on motorists who use the lanes illegally and boost the fines for violators.
The beefed-up enforcement push comes as federal officials had set a deadline this month for Caltrans to develop strategies to deal with the traffic-clogging lanes that were supposed to be speedy options for drivers.
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Tuesday to create a searchable, online database of campaign contribution data for all county offices going back to 1996.
The database, once its ready in several months, can be accessed through the Registrar-Recorder's Office Web site at http://lavote.net.
“I think this provides an added level of accessibility to people who want to look at this information without having to traipse down to the registrar's office in Norwalk,” Board Chairman Zev Yaroslavsky said. “Other jurisdictions are doing it. The cost to input the data is negligible and it's a service we're providing to the general public.”
The folks at L.A. Observed and L.A. City Nerd remind us that today is the 226th birthday of the City of Los Angeles.
Where is Councilman Tom LaBonge when you need him to remind us of this historic event?
They weren't working on Labor Day.
Even so, labor union members on Monday had one good reason to wipe their brows. Donna Littlejohn in the Daily News.
Thanks to the sticky, miserable heat wave hovering over the Southland, thousands of workers enjoying the day off had to cope with abnormally high temperatures Monday at the traditional labor union picnic in Wilmington.
"It's a good thing this is a park with a lot of trees," remarked Vanessa Valles of San Pedro after staking out her family's spot with a blanket under a huge tree in Banning Park.
L.A. County's largest and most powerful labor organization is bracing for one of its busiest years in recent history as contracts for more than 200,000 union workers are up for renegotiation. Daily News.
Workers in high-profile industries ranging from entertainment and education to health care and shipping are set to sign new deals, and the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO, will be the central organizing point for building coalitions.
While Maria Elena Durazo has kept a low profile this past year as the new secretary-treasurer of the county federation, she has used the time to solidify her position - and the union's - for the discussions ahead.
Ingela Dahlgren enjoyed the benefits of a strong nursing union in her native Sweden before becoming a U.S. immigrant nearly 30 years ago. Julia M. Scott in the Daily News.
For more than two decades after her arrival, Dahlgren worked nonunion hospital jobs, but she was intent on one day using her experience with unions in Sweden to organize American nurses.
She eventually got her chance, and in 2002 a nurses union she helped start at the Northridge Hospital Medical Center negotiated its first contract.
When Southern California's residential real estate market began to slow down, it forced developer John Young to make some tough decisions. In the past year, he's laid off about 40percent of his workers at Rancho Cucamonga-based Young Homes. Daily News.
"Unfortunately, in our whole division we've had layoffs," said Young, the company's president. "They're all over the board. It's progressively gotten worse."
He said there's no telling whether more jobs will be lost, but he hopes the company can keep its current work force, which builds homes in Rialto, Fontana, Riverside, Moreno Valley and Perris.
In neighborhoods where congestion is bad and development and density are dreaded words, nothing gets homeowners' groups more riled up than traffic studies. Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.
The reports - prepared by consultants for developers and fact-checked by city staff - are supposed to analyze how much traffic the project will create.
But residents complain the studies often underestimate the real impact new apartment buildings, office towers or malls will have on local streets so developers don't have to spend as much money on traffic fixes. Despite assurances from city leaders that the studies are legitimate, residents are suspicious of reports ordered and paid for by developers trying to get their projects approved.
A commissioner on the Board of Animal Services resigned from the volunteer post Friday, citing concerns about how the mayor's aides and General Manager Ed Boks are running the city's shelters and animal-rescue department.
Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.
Maria Atake, a businesswoman and head of Forte Animal Rescue, was appointed by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa in 2005.
But in a letter to the mayor Friday, Atake complained that Boks makes "false, misleading and inflammatory comments" and that Villaraigosa's deputy chief of staff, Jimmy Blackman, refuses to rein him in.
Public health professionals and environmentalists on Thursday urged the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to strengthen ozone-pollution-control standards in Southern California, saying it would dramatically reduce the death rate caused by smog. Troy Anderson in the Daily News.
At an EPA hearing in Los Angeles - one of five hearings scheduled nationwide to consider strengthening proposed air-quality standards for ozone pollution in smog - speakers said the higher standard would reduce the mortality rate from 14 to two people per 1 million residents.
"Here in California, we have eight of the 10 most ozone-polluted counties in the entire nation," said Jason Barbose, an advocate for Environment California.
The Children's Museum of Los Angeles has been bogged down by poor planning, little oversight and lack of donations, raising concern that local taxpayers might get stuck with the bill, according to an audit released Wednesday. Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.
The cost has ballooned to $53 million for construction and exhibits for the San Fernando Valley's first major museum, pitched to city leaders seven years ago as a $10 million public-private partnership.
Public dollars have covered nearly 70 percent of the cost so far, and the building is expected to be completed within a few weeks.
Now, the museum's board needs to drum up $22 million in less than two years to install the exhibits for an opening by March 2009.
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and L.A. Unified will unveil a partnership today that calls for the mayor to oversee two families of schools under a five-year contract that will not be renewed if the schools don't meet goals for test scores and graduation and dropout rates. Naush Boghossian in the Daily News.
The partnership - which if successful can be expanded to include more low-performing schools - appears to model charter schools, giving each campus greater control over budget, hiring and curriculum.
The schools in the partnership will report to a nonprofit created by the mayor - the Partnership for Los Angeles Schools - rather than the local districts, but the LAUSD board and the superintendent will maintain ultimate control.
The city and county of Los Angeles are showing strong signs of improvement after a wrenching recession early this decade, as poverty has begun to decline and median household incomes are on the rise, according to Census Bureau data released Tuesday. Beth Barrett in the Daily News.
Median household income in the county rose 6.3 percent from 2005 - to $51,315 - while the percentage of residents living in poverty dropped from 16.3 percent to 15.4 percent last year.
The county improvements, mirroring similar gains in the city and statewide, also are expected to be reflected in the San Fernando Valley when Census Bureau figures for the region are released.
Foreclosures soared an annual 246.8 percent in the greater San Fernando Valley during July as trouble with adjustable rate loans continues to mount, a university research center said Tuesday. Gregory J. Wilcox in the Daily News.
"This is an ominous sign," said Daniel Blake, director of the Economic Research Center at California State University, Northridge. "There are a lot of possible (loan) resets out there, and we don't know the extent of them."
The foreclosure spike is happening to a great degree because many homeowners with spotty credit took out adjustable rate loans with low initial payments and they are not able to afford higher payments with their interest rate increases.
And credit-worthy buyers who extended their finances with adjustable rate loans so they could buy better homes are also encountering trouble, said Blake.
A new federal law now being implemented in California will require nearly 1 million Medi-Cal beneficiaries in Los Angeles County to submit proof of citizenship and identity to obtain or maintain their benefits, officials said Tuesday. Troy Anderson in the Daily News.
The benefit reductions, a result of the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005, were intended to prevent undocumented immigrants from receiving health benefits.
But county officials, who are preparing to implement the program in the next few months, say the law has had the unintended consequence in other states of preventing many U.S. citizens and legal residents who can't locate the required documents from obtaining or continuing to receive health benefits.
Expressing frustration with the decertification of Los Angeles County's voting system, Registrar-Recorder Conny McCormack said Tuesday she will retire at the end of the year.Troy Anderson in the Daily News.
McCormack, who has been in public service for 30 years and run county elections for the last 12, said she decided to retire for several reasons, including frustration with what she believes are unwarranted concerns about the vulnerability of election systems to hacking and tampering.
"My mission has been to expand voter services, and I don't want to preside over the dismantling of popular voting services," she said.
A Los Angeles city plan that would make it easier for residential developers to put up bigger buildings is being decried by a county supervisor as a trigger for a "demolition derby" that would reshape the face of the South Valley and Westside. Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.
The city's proposed "density bonus" rule would let developers build taller, larger buildings if they include low-income units.
Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, a former city councilman who spearheaded a successful anti-density ballot measure in the 1980s, predicts the density bonus would "take a wrecking ball to some of the most beautiful, quaint neighborhoods in Los Angeles."
City planners and developers say Yaroslavsky is exaggerating the potential impact.
Tipoffs: Ed Boks feeling heat; Rocky Delgadillo getting no respect.
Immigrant rights activists' attempts to rally around the recently deported Elvira Arellano met with little success Saturday when a downtown march failed to generate broad support for the second week in a row. Tony Castro iin the Daily News.
A crowd estimated at only 500 to 1,000 people, carrying large photographs of Arellano and her 8-year-old son, Saul, and signs reading "I Am Elvira" and "Keep Families Together," marched from Broadway and Olympic Boulevard to a rally at the U.S. Federal Building on Saturday afternoon.
"We are here in solidarity with Elvira to re-energize the movement for immigration reform," said college student Mary Lou Cabral, one of the marchers.
With less than two years left in office, Los Angeles City Controller Laura Chick said Friday that she's concerned that many of her office's recommendations from previous audits of city agencies have not yet been enacted. Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.
And after eight years on the City Council and six years as controller, Chick said she's tired of city leaders wringing their hands over the same problems - gangs, affordable housing, traffic - without coming up with long-term solutions.
"The clock has always been ticking and now it's a time bomb," Chick said. "I do not want to leave City Hall as a frustrated person. I want to feel I was successful in the things that matter the most to me. I'm not going out defeated."
An ambitious effort by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa to sell surplus property to help ease Los Angeles' strained budget has been stalled for nearly a year as City Council members have balked at parting with sites in their districts. Beth Barrett in the Daily News
While Villaraigosa had touted the plan as a way to generate as much as $58million over the next few years, council members' reluctance means that not a single parcel has been sold out of 252 properties tagged for potential sale.
"People feel territorial about property in their district and want to be part of the process," said Gil Duran, the mayor's spokesman
The outgoing head of the Federal Aviation Administration urged business leaders Thursday to "get going" and express their opinions about modernizing Los Angeles International Airport, but some saw her comments as a thinly veiled effort to support expansion. Art Marroquin in the Daily News.
While using such phrasing as "I'm not going to tell you what to do," FAA Administrator Marion Blakey gave some audience members the impression that she supports a plan to move one of the airport's northern runways toward Westchester.
"Fix the airfield now," Blakey said during a luncheon hosted by the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce.
The Metropolitan Water District will begin adding more fluoride to Southland drinking water - including in the San Fernando Valley - despite concerns by some activists that too much of the chemical may cause health problems. Susan Abram in the Daily News.
State and federal officials have long advocated fluoridated water to prevent tooth decay, and MWD officials voted to add fluoride at district plants four years ago.
In October, officials will begin retrofitting five treatment plants - including one in Granada Hills serving the San Fernando and Santa Clarita valleys - to boost the fluoride levels.
Community College Trustee Warren Furutani, a former member of the Los Angeles school board, announced his candidacy today for the state Assembly seat vacated with the election of Laura Richardson to Congress.
“I am excited at this opportunity to run for the 55th Assembly District,” said Furutani. “I believe that my 40 years of experience working in our community and 15 years as an elected official make me uniquely qualified to represent the District in Sacramento.”
Furutani is currently serving his third term on the Los Angeles Community College District Board of Trustees – the largest community college district in the country. He also served two terms on the Los Angeles Board of Education – the largest school district in California.
Housing experts painted a grim picture of Los Angeles' real-estate market Tuesday as City Councilman Richard Alarcon called for city, state and federal funds to help bail out city homeowners who can't pay their mortgages. Kerry Cavanaugh and Gregory J. Wilcox in the Daily News.
Warning that the region is embroiled in a foreclosure upheaval, Alarcon said he's also considering asking lawmakers to declare a state of emergency to direct state and federal money to counseling and loans for people about to lose their homes.
"We're in a crisis. We don't need bureaucrats who are going to sit on their thumbs and not get things done. Who do we go to in federal government to ask for emergency assistance to help solve this crisis?" Alarcon asked city housing officials Tuesday during an emergency hearing on foreclosures.
"It seems to me we'd better kick the federal government in the butt to get into action to help us solve the problem, and I don't think we're doing any kicking now."
The hearing came as economists were chewing on new default numbers that show the trend is worsening. Foreclosures hit a record level in California last month and officials said 1,074 homes were foreclosed on in Los Angeles County - up more than 600 percent from last year.
Less than two years after legal battles were settled over the proposed expansion at Los Angeles International Airport, opponents charged Tuesday that officials are using recent safety problems to revive debate about the need for enlarging LAX. Beth Barrett in the Daily News.
The controversy erupted after airport commissioners voted this week to broaden a $2 million, six-month study on the safety of the north runway to include what LAX needs to accommodate a new class of jumbo aircraft.
But Los Angeles City Councilman Bill Rosendahl and critics said the move opens the door for relocating north runways closer to businesses in Westchester, disrupting the heart of that area's business district and violating the "spirit" of the legal settlements in 2005.
"This just increases the suspicion that the safety studies are really about justifying expansion," Rosendahl said of the new study parameters. "They changed the focus of the new study from safety to enhancement and capacity.
Los Angeles. Department of Animal Services officials said Tuesday they've reached milestones with a high number of number of stray pets adopted and a low number euthanized - claims immediately refuted by critics of the agency. DailyNews.
At a City Hall news conference, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa praised the department and its general manager, Ed Boks, who was hired 18 months ago with the goal of making Los Angeles a "no-kill" city.
"We knew it wouldn't be easy or fast to become a no-kill city," Villaraigosa said. "But we are seeing that Los Angeles Animal Services is the No. 1 animal-adoption agency in the United States. We have adopted out more animals than we have euthanized. We are euthanizing fewer animals than at any time in our history."
As one of four undocumented immigrants taking refuge in churches across Los Angeles County, Juan hasn't been able to step outside the four walls of San Pablo Lutheran Church in more than three months.
Connie Llanos and Rachel Uranga in the Daily News.
But for the Guatemalan immigrant, who has lived in Los Angeles for the past 15 years, the hardest part has been not spending more time with his two young daughters.
"It is hard not to get that laughter when you come home from work, or those hugs," he said Monday at the church.
Juan, whose last name church officials would not disclose, has been thrust into the heart of a nationwide debate after 32-year-old Elvira Arellano was arrested and deported late Sunday when she left the sanctuary of a Chicago
Do you think churches should provide refuge to illegal immigrants?
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Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa will announce today that he wants Interim Fire Chief Douglas Barry to take over the post permanently and continue efforts to reform the beleaguered Los Angeles Fire Department. Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.
After interviewing candidates inside and outside the LAFD, Villaraigosa decided he wanted Barry and persuaded the 32-year department veteran to stay on the job, sources said.
Barry's performance since being promoted to interim chief in December was praised by individual firefighters and their union.
"If the last eight months are any indication of Chief Barry as fire chief, I'm extremely optimistic," said Steve Tufts, president of the United Firefighters of Los Angeles City.
Los Angeles City Councilman and former Los Angeles Police Chief Bernard Parks announced today that he intends to run for county supervisor. He pulled the paperwork necessary to fundraise for the June 2008 primary and November 2008 election to fill retiring Supervisor Yvonne B. Burke's seat.
Parks, who is the council's budget watchdog, said he is eager to work on the county's health care, human services and foster care. And despite the challenges _ including potentially overseeing the reform of King-Drew Hospital _ Parks, 63, said he is willing to postpone retirement.
"I have some relaxation scheduled somewhere about 2012," Parks joked. "The last thing I want to do is not use the time and energy now, when I can, and look back and see that there was something I could have done but didn't."
Tipoffs: Gov Arnold Schwarzenegger goes local in trying to get state budget passed; Home Depot and neighborhood councils.
An illegal immigrant who sought sanctuary in a Chicago church to avoid deportation and separation from her 8-year-old American son left for the first time in a year to campaign Saturday for immigration reform.
Associated Press.
Elvira Arellano, speaking at a downtown church, said she was not afraid of being taken into custody by immigration agents.
"From the time I took sanctuary the possibility has existed that they arrest me in the place and time they want," she said in Spanish. "I only have two choices. I either go to my country, Mexico, or stay and keep fighting. I decided to stay a
About three dozen members of the Los Angeles National Impeachment Center brought their case to try to get the Los Angeles City Council on record in favor of impeaching President Bush and Vice President Cheney _ but failed to get the council to vote on the matter.
Councilman Bill Rosendahl, who said he favored seeking impeachment, was unable to get another council member to second his plan to have the council take a stand. Eighty-one other cities have endorsed impeachment, including San Francisco, West Hollywood and Culver City, the activists said.
"I do favor impeachment," Rosendahl said. "I have said from the start that this president and vice president brought us into this war based on lies."
At the same time, Rosendahl urged the activists to take their case to federal officials.
"They are the one who will decide this, not us," Rosendahl said.
Los Angeles may have won the court fight over sludge, but Kern County folks aren't happy that L.A. will continue sending its treated human waste to Green Acres Farm, south of Bakersfield, where it's used to fertilize city-owned land.
Bakersfield Californian Columnist Dianne Hardisty took aim at Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa this week, firing off a letter reacting to his statement that he hoped the two communities could "work together to address the best interests of the residents of Kern and Los Angeles counties."
Dear Antonio,I hope you don't mind me calling you Antonio. After all, you want to be our good neighbor. And we simple folks in these here parts don't stand on much formality.
Good neighbors around here don't dump our problems on our neighbors. Just because the feds told you to quit dumping your crap into the ocean because it was killing the fish, you shouldn't come up here and dump it on us.
Go figure, Antonio. (Are you sure you don't mind me calling you that? Trust me; some folks around here are calling you much worse.) If your crap was killing the fish, what do you think it is doing to us?
To make sure the tsunami-sized population surge headed our way doesn't cripple the regional transportation system, Los Angeles County officials said Thursday we may have to start paying road tolls, higher gas and sales taxes and steeper transit fares. Sue Doyle in the Daily News.
With fewer transportation dollars coming from Sacramento and Washington, D.C., transit officials say the very motorists and passengers who will be clogging the system are a reliable source of money for new projects.
The bill?
Officials said some $30 billion for transit and highway projects is needed by 2030 to address the county's congestion problems.
It could mean adding tolls, increasing regional sales and gas taxes, raising public transit fares and developing public-and-private partnerships to expand the transportation infrastructure. The projects will be needed to accommodate the county's expanding population, expected to grow from 9.6 million to 13 million residents by 2050.
Countrywide Financial Corp.'s financial trouble deepened Thursday, forcing the nation's biggest mortgage lender to tap an $11.5 billion credit line to fund operations. Gregory J. Wilcox in the Daily News.
Company officials issued reassurances that they were dealing with the credit crunch, and that homeowners with Countrywide mortgages would not be affected.
Still, the move sent the company's stock - and worldwide financial markets - on a roller-coaster ride that saw the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunge more than 340 points before finishing down just 15.
Billed as a chance for San Fernando Valley political and business leaders to address common issues, Thursday's annual VICA luncheon focused on concerns about the impact of the nation's weakening economy on the local business climate. Julia M. Scott in the Daily News.
During the fast-paced Q and A session at Beverly Garland's Holiday Inn, many business owners worried about the potential ripple effect of layoffs at Amgen in Thousand Oaks, credit troubles at Countrywide in Calabasas, and the roller-coaster stock market.
The fate of AmeriTel in Northridge is tied to the health of the local economy as the company installs and upgrades telecommunications systems for area businesses, owner Scott Murphy said.
"If they cut back from fear, then we lose," Murphy told the 250 participants at the Valley Industry and Commerce Association luncheon.
Thirty-five years of political indifference, bureaucratic mismanagement and professional incompetence, coupled with happenstance and whimsy, brought me full circle last week from the March 27, 1972, opening of Martin Luther King Jr. General Hospital to its Aug. 10, 2007 closing. Betty Pleasant in the Wave Newspapers.
I was there when that hospital — such a towering source of pride and jobs to a community in dire need of both — was dedicated and formally opened in 1972, and I was there again when it died from the incurable disease of abject failure. The hospital is located a couple of blocks from Sweet Alice Harris’ home and she, too, attended its opening ceremonies. And as luck would have it, the hospital’s final day found Sweet Alice, Eldora Winston and me on a serendipitous odyssey that ended with us being the unwitting witnesses to another historic moment.
Giving Sunland-Tujunga residents a huge victory in the nearly three-year fight to keep Home Depot out of their community, the Los Angeles City Council yanked the improvement center's building permit Wednesday, sending it back to the drawing board to come up with a better plan. Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.
The decision will delay the project up to a year while the company mulls whether it wants to install more traffic controls, add landscaping and limit operating hours or abandon the Foothill Boulevard site.
"It's really refreshing to see our council totally and completely understand us," said Debby Beck, a Sunland-Tujunga resident. "I just hope it's a new era for the Building and Safety and Planning departments taking a more careful look at projects."
Home Depot, which has threatened to sue if its permit was revoked, would not say Wednesday what it would do next.
And the vote drew sharp criticism from business leaders, who said the city was changing the rules in midgame and sending a bad message to companies and retailers that want to locate in L.A. and provide sales tax revenue.
With near-gridlock squeezing Los Angeles motorists, city officials called Wednesday for development of a strategic plan to try to ease the problems. Daily News.
Council members Wendy Greuel and Jack Weiss introduced the proposal, calling on the city Department of Transportation to work with Caltrans and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
The plan would review everything from freeways to traffic lights to try to help untangle traffic woes consistently identified as one of the most significant problems facing the city.
"We have the MTA and its overall regional plan, but there is nothing we can point to as our overall vision for dealing with traffic," Greuel said.
Wearing pink arm bands to show their support for the use of medical marijuana, the Los Angeles City Council on Wednesday asked for information on other cities' success in stopping clinic raids by federal agents. Daiily News.
Voicing frustration with city efforts to develop operating guidelines for the clinics and protect them from raids, the council also asked the Los Angeles Police Department to review its policy on cooperating with the federal Drug Enforcement Administration.
"We know we have no control over the federal government, but I don't think we should play a role in helping them raid clinics we have authorized," Councilwoman Janice Hahn said.
He can't stand spending one more minute in traffic.
And after commuting all week to work at Warner Center, Divine Hicklin usually stays home on weekends to take a break from battling the bulging bottlenecks on the roads. Sue Doyle in the Daily News.
"When the weekend comes, I want to stay home, in my pajamas, in front of my computer and away from traffic," said the downtown Los Angeles commuter. "I do it all the time."
Whether behind the wheel or sitting on a bus, Los Angeles commuters spend about 93 hours a year stuck in traffic. And those like Hicklin often end up feeling so wiped out by the gridlock, they're becoming increasingly inclined to stick - whenever they can - to their own little neighborhoods on weekends.
Home sales across Southern California remained weak in July, falling an annual 27.4 percent to their lowest level for that month since 1995, but the median price did move up to match March's record, an industry tracker said Tuesday. Gregory J. Wilcox in the Daily News.
Despite the sales slide, the median price gained 3.7 percent from a year ago to $505,000 across the six-county region, driven by more transactions in the market's higher-priced areas, said La Jolla-based DataQuick Information Systems.
Los Angeles County was the only market to see an annual price increase, rising 5.3 percent to $547,500, the second-highest median on record.
City help on the way?
With a growing number of homeowners facing potential foreclosure in a slowing housing market, Los Angeles officials agreed Tuesday to study creating a special emergency loan fund. Daily News
As part of the move, the City Council's Housing, Community and Economic Development Committee also said it wants to find $100,000 to help pay for a second effort by Operation Hope to educate and help at-risk homeowners.
But reluctant to follow a proposal by Councilman Richard Alarc n to tap into the city's Affordable Housing Trust Fund, the panel said it instead wants to review whether to develop guidelines and look for other sources of funding.
Cynics often complain that lobbyists own City Hall, and on Tuesday they acted like it.
During the council meeting Tuesday morning, some council members were surprised to find lobbyists for Home Depot encamped in the backroom of the City Council chambers, talking with council staffers and summoning council members and staffers to meet with them.
Councilwoman Jan Perry saw the lobbyist meeting and asked them to leave, adding that it seemed rather inappropriate.
The City Council is set to consider Wednesday whether to let Home Depot continue construction on its new Sunland-Tujunga store or revoke the building permit and order the company to spend up to a year studying the traffic and environmental impacts of the new location.
In the first half of the year Home Depot spent nearly $600,000 lobbying City Hall. On Tuesday the company had as many as six lobbyist wandering the third and fourth floors (where council members meet and have their offices.)
Also lobbying this week, is the Do-It-Center, a competitor in Sunland-Tujunga that has sought to block the big-box store from moving into the neighborhood.
San Joaquin Valley Senator Dean Florez questioned Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's "green credentials" Tuesday, arguing that the mayor isn't being so environmentally friendly by sending L.A.'s treated human waste to a farm in Kern County.
His comments come after a judge overturned a Kern ballot measure that banned the import of L.A.'s sewage sludge. An ambitious fellow Democrat, Florez led the ban-the-biosolids campaign, which portrayed L.A. leaders as "sludge peddlers" dumping their unwanted waste in rural Kern County.
But Villaraigosa and other officials have argued that the city's sludge is safe and that using it to fertilize farmland is the environmentally-friendly way to deal with it. And he expressed hope this week that the two counties can work together on the sludge.
The high-stakes fight over a Home Depot in Sunland-Tujunga will reach a showdown Wednesday when the City Council decides whether the giant retailer can open its new store or must go back to the drawing board. Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.
Community activists have been sending e-mails and handwritten letters to council members, hoping to persuade them that Home Depot should have to further study the environmental and traffic impacts before converting a vacant Kmart on Foothill Boulevard into a home-improvement store.
Home Depot lobbyists, meanwhile, have been calling individual council members to explain that the retailer followed city rules and shouldn't have its building permit revoked.
Moving forward with plans to convert Martin Luther King Jr.-Harbor Hospital to a clinic, Los Angeles County supervisors ordered Monday that workers at the beleaguered center be evaluated for competency before they are reassigned to other facilities. Troy Anderson in the Daily News.
After a special three-hour public hearing, the supervisors took the initial steps to get the hospital reopened within a year, but said they first had to guarantee its 1,600 workers are qualified.
"We can't allow the poison we had at MLK to poison the rest of our facilities," Supervisor Gloria Molina said. "I know it's a tough thing to say, but somebody has to say it.
Hoping to fire up a residential building boom in downtown Los Angeles, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa signed a measure Monday streamlining city zoning law and offering developers incentives to build bigger buildings in the city's urban core. Daily News.
The measure creates an urban planning zone for downtown that runs from the Harbor Freeway to Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and allows residential developers to construct larger buildings if they provide units for low-, moderate- and work-force-income residents.
It also establishes basic regulations eliminating setbacks and other existing zoning requirements, which have generally been waived for new construction.
Read on for full article:
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors will convene a special meeting today to discuss the future of Martin Luther King Jr.- Harbor Hospital, which failed its latest federal inspection and is being reduced to an urgent care center. Daily News.
A 13-member team from the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services inspected the hospital for more than a week in late July. The county was notified Friday that the hospital, formerly known as King-Drew Medical Center, failed to meet eight out of 23 conditions of compliance with federal standards.
The failure means the federal agency will not renew the hospital's participation agreement, which expires Wednesday, resulting in the loss of $200 million in federal funds a year -- more than half the hospital's annual budget.
The developers of a 5,800-home transit utopia proposed for the Newhall Pass want to include a futuristic people-mover that would transport commuters 30 stories down to a subterranean Metrolink platform. Judy O'Rourke in the Daily News.
The plan by Palmer Investment envisions commuters living in the Las Lomas project, perched atop the San Gabriel range between Sylmar and Santa Clarita. They would reach the Metrolink platform on elevators cored through a mountain to an already-built rail tunnel 100 yards below.
The concept is unique, say Metrolink officials, who have seen sketches but no actual plans and are taking a wait-and-see attitude.
Tipoffs: Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and the dog days of summer; state legislators cash in on lack of budget.
Developers have paid nearly $5million in traffic fees over the past two decades to help ease congestion on Ventura Boulevard, but the city hasn't spent a dime of it on actual transit improvements, the Daily News has learned. Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.
While the Department of Transportation spent $120,000 to plant trees and install furniture along the San Fernando Valley's main drag, some $1.4 million went for administrative expenses - nearly triple what the city law allows, according to a review of records.
The rest of the money has gone unused.
Most council members and community activist groups said they had no idea the large pot of money was available, nor did they know why it hadn't been used to improve traffic flow on the Valley's main east-west artery.
Federal officials dealt a fatal blow Friday to long-troubled King-Harbor Hospital, announcing that the public medical center had failed a critical inspection and would lose the $200 million it needed to continue operating. Troy Anderson in the Daily News.
The emergency room was permanently closed late Friday, and Los Angeles County officials plan to halt in-patient services at the landmark hospital within two weeks.
"It's very distressing to have to close a hospital that we worked so hard to preserve," said Dr. Bruce Chernof, director of the county Department of Health Services. "It's a blow to patients, my staff and the community at large.
The impact of California's six-week overdue budget has trickled down to the community level, with $3 billion in paychecks and bills going unpaid by month's end. Harrison Sheppard in the Daily News.
Among the most vulnerable are nursing homes, child-care providers and other small operations that depend on the state for the bulk of their income.
Some 11,000 nursing homes and adult day health care providers have missed one weekly Medi-Cal payment totaling $228 million and will miss another totaling $212 million today. That makes it tough, operators say, to pay salaries or other bills.
"We are hurting really bad right now," said Eduardo Gonzalez, owner of the Fillmore Convalescent Center in Ventura County, which has missed a $46,000 Medi-Cal payment due from the state.
Los Angeles Department of Water and Power officials said Wednesday that the utility has begun an internal review into its safety and oversight roles at the Crandall Canyon coal mine in Utah that caved in Monday and trapped six miners. Beth Barrett in the Daily News.
While the DWP has no ownership interest in the mine, the department is part of a two-member oversight panel for the mine as the representative of the Intermountain Power Agency.
The Intermountain Power Agency is a group of Utah utilities and other power customers - including the DWP. The other panel member is Utah America Energy, co-owner and operator of the mine that collapsed.
high-desert dog rescuer slated to run a controversial pit bull "academy" for Los Angeles has said she would reopen a Nevada cathouse to fund her fledgling doghouse. Dana Bartholomew in the Daily News.
Tia Torres of Agua Dulce told a Nevada newspaper of plans to restore her defunct bordello property, which burned last week, into a "Garden of Eden-type" brothel.
While the owner of Villalobos Pit Bull Rescue says she was joking, she could easily become the brothel's next madam if funds aren't forthcoming.
"If things don't happen soon, I may have to open up a cathouse to take care of my doghouse," said Torres, 47, whose comments had L.A. talk shows buzzing this week.
City Controller Laura Chick called Wednesday for major belt-tightening at City Hall, saying a year-end spending spree had drained reserve funds and left Los Angeles in precarious financial shape. Daily News.
In her report on the fiscal year ended June 30, Chick said the city's contingency fund had been depleted; its emergency fund is $11 million short of the $122 million required under city policy; and its reserve fund is $90 million short of expectations.
The Los Angeles County agency charged with protecting the region's children has misspent millions of dollars on unnecessary and overpriced supplies, violated county spending limits, and has such a shoddy inventory program that it can't account for all its equipment, according to an audit released Tuesday. Troy Anderson in the Daily News.
In one incident, auditors said, the Department of Children and Family Services bought more than 3,000 toner cartridges for $800,000 in June 2006 - enough to last for three years.
Yet auditors noted that the agency still ordered an additional $450,000 in cartridges the same month, paying 15 percent more per cartridge.
It was only a 132-mile trip to Tijuana, but for Pedro Guzman of Lancaster and his family, it seemed more like a journey to hell and back. Tony Castro in the Daily News.
A developmentally disabled U.S. citizen, Guzman was wrongly deported to Mexico by his own government three months ago. During his time there, the 29-year-old survived his ordeal by eating out of trash cans as he wandered more than 100 miles along the border, desperately searching for a way back to his family in the United States - only to be turned back by Border Patrol agents.
He was finally reunited with his family Tuesday, capping an emotionally exhausting journey that lawyers say raises serious questions about the behavior of federal immigration officials.
In a big win for Sunland-Tujunga activists, the City Council's planning committee ruled Tuesday that Home Depot should do a traffic and environmental study before opening its new store on Foothill Boulevard. Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.
The recommendation means the full City Council is more likely to side with residents and Councilwoman Wendy Greuel, who have tried to block the big-box home improvement giant from converting a vacant Kmart into a Home Depot.
"This is exactly what we've been fighting for for the last three years," said Abby Diamond, with the Sunland-Tujunga Alliance and the No Home Depot campaign.
The state's decision to decertify Los Angeles County's election system could jeopardize the county's ability to provide tens of thousands of voters with early touch-screen voting in the upcoming presidential election, Registrar-Recorder Conny McCormack said Tuesday. Troy Anderson in the Daily News.
McCormack told the Board of Supervisors that Friday's decision by Secretary of State Debra Bowen requires all votes made on computer touch-screen systems to be hand-counted after the election to ensure accuracy.
Normally, only 1 percent of those votes are manually recounted.
The developer planning the 5,800-home Las Lomas mini-city in the Newhall Pass wants to pay the city of Los Angeles to focus city planners on the project and help speed up review. Kerry Cavanaugh and Judy O'Rourke in the Daily News.
It's not uncommon for developers of large projects to cover the cost of city staff time, which can add up to hundreds of hours.
But the proposed agreement between the Las Lomas Land Company and the city is unusual because the project has been stalled for several years amid political and environmental opposition.
Tipoffs: Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa hoping worst of controversy behind him, more City Hall lobbyists and other odds and ends.
The starlet, the cardinal, the baseball slugger and the mayor make an unlikely quartet, except possibly in a summer when scandals have rocked everything from entertainment and religion to sports and politics and produced a virtual morality play on a public stage. Tony Castro in the Daily News.
Lindsay Lohan's moment in the spotlight may have been the most poignant. On the night she was arrested for driving drunk and with a suspended license and carrying cocaine, the 21-year-old actress was quoted by companions in the SUV as boasting:
"I can't get in trouble. I'm a celebrity."
Shades of gray
America's headed down the tubes and Julianne Spillman believes she has found proof in the U.S. flag. Brent Hopkins in the Daily News.
The retired Glendale resident, who used to work on a Ford assembly line, now buzzes around on a scooter that proudly sports the Stars and Stripes on the front basket.
But it attracts notice from the wrong kind of people - moral reprobates.
"You know what happens to me? People steal my American flag," she growled. "This is the sixth flag I've had to buy. We've lost our way."
For the first time since admitting the affair that broke up his 20-year marriage, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa on Saturday publicly talked about asking for forgiveness, using a religious rally attended by 7,500 former gang members and ex-drug users on the south lawn of City Hall to express faith in a "loving, forgiving God." Tony Castro in the Daily News.
"Someone asked me yesterday, `How many times should a sinner ask for forgiveness?' and I said, `As many times as he has to! God is a forgiving God,"' Villaraigosa told thousands of the faithful of Victory Outreach International, a nondenominational church focusing on turning people's lives around.
Trying to put revelations of his affair with a Telemundo reporter behind him, Villaraigosa has previously said his personal life is a private matter and apologized for the harm he has caused his family.
An effort by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa to tightly control a press conference and put his affair with a Telemundo reporter behind him backfired Friday when a port police officer protecting the mayor shoved a Spanish-language reporter against a steel container. Rachel Uranga in the Daily News.
It was the first public appearance for the mayor since Telemundo announced late Thursday that it was suspending Mirthala Salinas for two months without pay for doing lead-ins to news stories about the mayor's breakup with his wife while Salinas was dating him.
Three of her superiors were also punished for allowing her to continue reporting on the mayor.
"I am not going to comment or speculate on the decision of Telemundo or their investigation," Villaraigosa told a crowd of more than a dozen reporters and news cameras at a press conference on port cleanup programs.
How difficult is it find a Republoican in Los Angeles?
LA Observed notes that the Fox News Network has teamed up with the Los Angeles Republican Alliance to show their colors.
"LARA is authorized to compensate conservative audience members $15 for their participation in the taping of the Half Hour News Hour." the website said. The official announcement reads:
If you are a conservative and want to get paid for attending as many show as available you can RSVP here: xxx@xxxx.com. Just make sure the email has the words "LARA RSVP" and the date of the show you are interested in attending, in the subject line. Please provide your mailing address for your check and pay attention to the deadline.LA Observed also said folks can make $20 for papering the house at a special Aug. 13 taping that will air on Fox after Bill O'Reilly, "very important because millions more people will be watching and will help in determining if the show will be picked up for another season. Having a show like this during election time will be a great comic relief for all American conservatives."
Television newscaster Mirthala Salinas, who was having an affair with Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa when she broadcast news of his separation from his wife, received a two-month suspension from the Telemundo network for violating the station's conflict-of-interest rules, the network said Thursday. Beth Barrett in the Daily News.
Salinas, 35, whose romantic relationship with the mayor was disclosed by the Daily News on July 3, was among four NBC-Telemundo (Channel 52) employees disciplined after a three-week investigation by Telemundo executives with involvement of its parent company NBC Universal.
The findings were broadcast on the network's national newscast Thursday night.
Avoiding a public hearing over four-year-old ethics violations, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's office said today he will pay a $5,200 fine to settle 30 accounting errors and filing delinquencies from his 2003 campaign for City Council.
Villaraigosa could have faced up to $150,000 in penalties, but Ethics Commission staff recommended the smaller amount because he cooperated with the investigation and had no prior penalties at the time of the violations.
Plus, commission staff agreed to withdraw the most serious charge against Villaraigosa _ that he accepted $39,000 over the limit on contributions from corporations _ after he was able to show the donations were from individuals, not corporations.
“At the end of the day, we were able to prevail on a number of allegations in the original complaint, and basically what remains now are administrative errors that the mayor has taken responsibility for,” said Stephen Kaufman, who is Villaraigosa's attorney.
Termed out of his office last year, Former Assemblyman Paul Koretz announced Thursday he plans to run for the Los Angeles City Council in the seat to be vacated by Councilman Jack Weiss.
Koretz, a former councilman in West Hollywood, said he now lives in the Beverly-Fairfax area and has long wanted to run for the Los Angeles City Council in the area.
“When I was 19, I thought about running for the City Council in the fifth district, but I ran for the school board instead,” said Koretz, who was termed out of his Assembly seat last year.
Former City Controller Rick Tuttle also has said he is interested in running for the seat.
Weiss has announced he plans to run for City Attorney in 2009.
After leaving the Mayor's Office to start his own firm and partner with two lobbyists in a public- affairs consulting venture, Marcus Allen is returning to the city to serve as Controller Laura Chick's special consultant. Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.
Chick has offered Allen a one-year contract for up to $85,000 to advise her on auditing plans and how to improve audits.
Allen was Chick's chief deputy before becoming Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's deputy mayor.
"Marcus Allen is one of the brightest and most experienced minds in Los Angeles city government," Chick said. "His work for the mayor (chief legislative analyst) and controller gives him a wealth of knowledge that will be put to good use not only for myself and city government as a whole, but also for the taxpayers of Los Angeles."
Some of the San Fernando Valley's top political leaders are demanding that the LAPD give a full accounting of officer deployment in the region as gang crime escalates and response times lag. Rachel Uranga in the Daily News.
Five of the six Los Angeles City Council members who represent the Valley are pushing the department to provide specific data on how many officers are patrolling the Valley daily, with some saying they are frustrated by the LAPD's "creative staffing methods."
They accuse the department of pulling patrol officers from the streets and placing them in special details or other parts of the city, putting Valley residents' safety at risk.
Medical marijuana clinics
Pitting itself against the U.S. government, the Los Angeles City Council approved plans Wednesday to limit new medical-marijuana dispensaries, regulate existing ones and urge a moratorium on recent clinic raids by federal agents.
Despite warnings that it is treading on legally treacherous ground, the council voted 10-2 to adopt the plan amid concerns that hundreds of illegal clinics have sprouted up since 1996, when California voters approved Proposition 215 allowing the use of medicinal marijuana. Daily News
Smoking in parks
Smokers, beware.
After prohibiting smoking near playgrounds, picnic areas, sports fields and beaches, the city of Los Angeles has banned puffing tobacco in the city's 390 parks. Kerry Cavanaugh and Sue Doyle in the Daily News.
In a unanimous vote Wednesday, the City Council approved a "curb-to-curb" ban on smoking in city-owned parks that slaps violators with fines up to $250.
Angeles City Councilman Richard Alarcón sought $5million in foreclosure assistance Wednesday for residents in danger of losing their homes as the housing market continues to unwind. Gregory J.. Wilcox n the Daily News.
Alarcón's Emergency Foreclosure Assistance Program would be administered through the city's Housing Department, providing loans and grants to residents threatened with foreclosure. The loans would likely average from about $5,000 to $10,000.
So, with the final figures showing Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa spent $3.5 million to elect three new members to create a new majority to the Board of Education _ a record amount for a mayor to elect a board over which he has no direct authority.
That works out to $46.50 a vote for the 76,258 ballots cast for the four spread over two elections. In the primary election, the mayor's choice, Yolanda Flores Aguilar, won handily to join School Board President Monica Garcia as supporters of the mayor's reform proposals.
It took the mayor two elections, the March primary and June runoff, to win the other two races by Deputy City Attorney Tamar Galatzan and retired educator Richard Vladovic.
United Teachers of Los Angeles spent about $2 million in their races and backed off on spending in the final days as polls showed Villaraigosa's candidates leading.
Businesses in the eastern San Fernando Valley are eligible for thousands of dollars in tax credits as part of the Los Angeles Enterprise Zone, but fewer than 20 percent use them, according to the Economic Alliance of the San Fernando Valley. Julia M. Scott in the Daily News.
Few businesses know about the credits and the expanded eligibility. And if they do, many don't think they are qualified to use them.
So the alliance, a nonprofit group dedicated to improving the Valley's economy, asked two accountants to explain how businesses can reduce their tax bills by claiming the credits. Almost 40 business owners and employees gathered Tuesday at the Burbank Commerce Center to learn how the credits work.
Council members Wendy Greuel and Tony Cardenas, who represent parts of the enterprise zone, also attended.
Armando Jamjian, a partner at Rivera & Jamjian LLP in Pasadena, and his partner, Luis Rivera, detailed for which expenses businesses can and cannot claim credits.
"If you're a profitable business, it definitely makes sense to look into these credits," Jamjian said. If not, sit back and wait a few years until the red turns to black.
Seeking to exert control over flights at LAX, the City Council on Tuesday again delayed deciding whether to back United Airlines' efforts to begin nonstop service to Shanghai, China. Daily News.
"We all recognize the importance of this service, but we also want to send a message to United about concerns we have that they are paying workers a decent wage," Councilwoman Janice Hahn said.
"This is a multimillion-dollar project for United and we don't want to leave behind those workers who clean the airplanes and the terminals and live in Los Angeles.
"Let's not allow this to be a money-maker for the company and leave the workers behind."
United has been seeking the council's backing to persuade the U.S. Department of Transportation to approve the flight plan to Los Angeles International Airport.
Ensign Eric Garcetti is off these next two weeks as part of his Naval reserve duty,
Garcetti, who in his other life is president of the Los Angeles City Council, is scheduled to be promoted this week to lieutenant, junior grade, as he completes his training in intelligence work.
Last year, Garcetti did his annual two-week summer stint in Pensacola, FL., and this year is assigned to Dam Neck, VA., at the Oceana Naval Air Station.
Suspicious that new residential and commercial projects in Los Angeles are creating more traffic than developers and city staffers had predicted, Councilwoman Wendy Greuel wants the city to set new traffic calculations that will generate more money to help fix congestion. Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.
Now, the Department of Transportation uses national averages to estimate traffic from proposed projects. Then, developers must make improvements themselves, adding traffic signals and turn lanes, or cut a check to cover the cost of mitigation, including public transit or freeway ramps.
But in car-crazy L.A., new supermarkets, big-box stores and high-rise condo projects could create more vehicle trips than similar projects in Miami or Phoenix, Greuel said.
Steve Bruck eyed the car-maiming, jagged scar down the alley's middle, wiped his brow, and went to work.
His yellow Unibelt Asphalt Patcher had a steaming 5-ton load to wage war on the potholes that marred this quiet strip off Ranchito Avenue. Henry Magdaleno stood next to him, sweating under his hard hat. One pulled a lever, and the truck belched forth a steady stream of 250-degree asphalt into the cracked mess of the 40-year-old street. Brent Hopkins in the Daily News.
In half an hour, the crew's asphalt Whacker had smoothed the 3-foot-by-25-foot series of craters like a Zamboni on ice. The crew raked it like a Zen garden and then pounded it flat and even.
"Henry and I take pride in this," Bruck said. "If you're going to do it, you might as well do it right. Sometimes, we'll drive by a big patch and say, `Hey, I did that one.' It just makes you feel good."
Having used up the entire $2.2 billion taxpayers gave them to modernize nine campuses, Los Angeles Community College District officials failed to deliver many of the big projects and admit they spent a lot of money on little jobs. Susan Abram in the Daily News.
While completing 70 percent of the 658 projects they promised, the nearly 200 projects that remain will cost an additional $2 billion or more - highlighting a focus up to now on design planning, project reviews and smaller efforts such as marquees, landscaping, tree trimming and exterior waterproofing.
"There's no doubt in my mind that they've mismanaged the money," said former board of trustees member Patrick Owen, who served on the board from 1989 to 1993 and organized a slate of candidates that failed to unseat incumbent board members this year.
Big projects that never were built included a $45 million media arts building at Los Angeles Valley College, a $56 million consumer science building at Mission College and $37 million for a new technology center at Pierce College.
Attorneys for Home Depot's public-relations firm, Dakota Communications, have sent letters to two Sunland-Tujunga residents asking them to remove from a Web site an internal memo outlining a strategy to stack the City Council chambers with supporters. Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.
The memo from Dakota Communications Principal Rick Taylor to Home Depot managers was obtained by the Daily News and posted on www.dailynews.com.
On Saturday, attorneys for Dakota Communications sent cease-and-desist letters to Joe Barrett, who had posted the memo on the Web site for his group, No Home Depot, and Doc DeMulle, editor and publisher of The Foothills Paper. DeMulle said he still plans to publish a copy of the memo in his paper this week.
eeing progress in efforts to combat gang violence in the San Fernando Valley, a city panel voted Monday to continue a pilot program teaming probation officers with cops. Daily News.
Deputy Chief Michel Moore of the Los Angeles Police Department said he is encouraged by a 30 percent drop in gang crime during the past month in the Valley, and he hopes to reduce the violence even more.
"I think that any number above zero is too high, and our intention is to strengthen the tools across the San Fernando Valley to come to terms with gangs," Moore told the City Council's Public Safety Committee.
The pilot program is expected to cost city taxpayers about $250,000 for a full year, with Los Angeles County also kicking in funds. In the program, a probation officer works at each of the Valley's police stations with uniformed and anti-gang officers. Reaching out to gang members and families, the officers try to avert violence and keep younger siblings from joining gangs.
No, it wasn't a state budget, a health care plan or a new environmental policy for the governor, who turned 60 on Monday.
But, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger was told the CHIME Charter Elementary School in Woodland Hills was renaming itself after the one-time bodybuilder and actor.
CHIME school officials said the decision was made because of the governor's commitment to education.
"I am honored to have a high-quality institution like CHIME Charter Elementary named in my honor. The CHIME Institute shares my commitment to educating all children," Schwarzenegger said in a statement.
No word on whether there will be any official ceremony to mark the change. CHIME was named "Charter School of the Year" by California Charter School Association in 2005 and in the same year was recognized by the U.S. Department of Education as a leading model of inclusive education.
Tipoffs looks at Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa reaching out to community leaders to tell them what he has accomplished during his first two years in office and ask what they want to see this accomplished during this coming year. Also, Councilman Jose Huizar reaches out to school officials for better relations and Airport officials seek to mend fences with airlines.
Since April, homeowners selling a condo in Los Angeles have had to pay a $150 fee to the city under a 33-year-old affordable-housing ordinance that has never produced a single affordable unit. Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.
Few condominium owners know about the new fee or the arcane law, which gives the city the right of first refusal to buy most condos built after 1974.
Without money to purchase units, the city has always waived its right. But, short on cash, the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles voted earlier this year to begin charging condo sellers $150 for the waivers.
Build monorails. Forget monorails. Double-deck the freeways. Get rid of car-pool lanes.
From Santa Clarita to Studio City, commuters around the region have resoundingly spoken out about what drives them crazy getting around Los Angeles - and how to make it better.Sue Doyle in the Daily News.
The ideas on how to ease the Southland's persistent bottlenecks come even as a recent state report projects California's population will balloon to 60 million by 2050, further straining already jammed freeways and roads.
But while transit officials grapple with funding issues and dwindling space, nearly 100 readers who outlined their transit visions to the Daily News were quick to target two key areas: public transportation and freeways.
And the short of it is: M
Amid criticism that Los Angeles County is fostering a culture of secrecy, County Counsel Ray Fortner on Friday recommended making public again some information his office had recently ruled was confidential.Troy Anderson in the Daily News.
Fortner, who is expected to give a report to the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday, recently decided to end a long-standing practice of releasing details about lawsuit settlements contained in Claims Board documents.
But the decision drew the ire of Supervisor Gloria Molina, who said the policy change was made without input from the supervisors or the public.
In a memo to the board, Fortner wrote Friday that he is proposing the Claims Board documents provide basic information about settlement proposals while maintaining the confidentiality of his office's detailed legal analysis.
They are both public hospitals in low-income communities, where poor and uninsured residents line up for hours to see a doctor. Susan Abram in the Daily News.
And they are both in the middle of gang territory, where the patients frequently include victims of violence.
But that is the end of the similarities between Olive View-UCLA Medical Center in Sylmar and King-Harbor Hospital in Willowbrook, according to officials, community leaders and even some patients.
"The difference is (Olive View) operates with positive political support," said Los Angeles County Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich, whose district includes the Sylmar facility,
Corina Villaraigosa, the estranged wife of Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, spoke out for the first time on Thursday to a group of young women. KNBC Video,
Mrs. Villaraigosa received a standing ovation Thursday when she spoke at a mentoring group's fundraiser.
The public speech was her first since the announcement in June of her divorce from the mayor.
"Know that when you keep commitments to yourself, it's easier to keep commitments to others," Corina Villaraigosa told the group "Girls Today, Women Tomorrow," a mentoring group, at the downtown Los Angeles fundraiser.
City officials admitted Thursday what many residents of Panorama City and North Hills know and feel every day - there is fear and loathing of increased crime in their community. Tony Castro in the Daily News.
Los Angeles City Councilman Richard Alarcón, who represents the area, and Capt. Jorge Villegas, commanding officer of the Los Angeles Police Department's Mission Division, said they were surprised by the wave of fear depicted in a Daily News story Monday on crime in the neighborhood. But they conceded that it is justified.
Alarcón and Villegas both spoke at a news conference where they unveiled a series of measures they said will help reduce crime in the Panorama City/North Hills area.
The Daily News article revealed that the year-old Safer Cities Initiative had not only failed to cut violence in that community, but that residents have become so afraid of gangs and drug dealers that they don't even report crimes they see.
After winning some concessions, the Los Angeles Planning Commission gave its unanimous approval Thursday to a $143 million plan to expand Providence Holy Cross Hospital in Mission Hills. Daily News.
The panel issued a conditional-use permit for the 101-bed, four-story tower at 15031 Rinaldi St., after Providence officials agreed to develop a traffic management program and revise its parking plans.
"We are doing this, not because of the wonderful work you do as a hospital, but after studying all the land-use aspects," commission President Jane Usher said at the conclusion of a 90-minute hearing.
In a bid to strengthen services and revitalize its image, the United Way of Greater Los Angeles is set to announce about $13 million in funding today to groups around the region, including a range of new programs. Daily News.
Nearly 140 agencies will receive grants from the area's largest charitable group, down from 188 as the United Way seeks to hone its focus and boost the effectiveness of its grants.
The plan will give dozens of agencies funds for the first time even as the United Way separates from others that have received support for years.
The move targets key areas - fighting homelessness, improving education and providing child care - and comes amid a broader United Way effort to become more involved in public-policy issues.
Saying she wanted to clear up reports that she no longer lives in her district, Los Angeles County Supervisor Yvonne Brathwaite Burke issued a statement Thursday saying she is still living in the Second District.
“In an effort to clarify an issue regarding my residency in the Second District at the time I campaigned for a fourth term and at present, I want to assure everyone that I have always maintained my primary district residence and I intend to remain a resident of the Second District,” Burke said.
On Wednesday, Burke, 74, said she was “accosted” by two reporters at her Centinela Avenue residence, who demanded to know why she had not been spending the evenings there and why she met a staff member there and allowed him to park his car in the garage and drive her to work.
“Unfortunately, I was running late for an appointment and did not have time to provide the reporters with a full explanation,” Burke said. “However, I did invite them inside where I indicated that I had been remodeling and had a partial wall removed and installed a new kitchen. I also found out that, without identifying themselves, the same two reporters earlier approached my sister-in-law at her car when she was leaving the property, asking her if she lived at the residence. Her initial thought was that she was being carjacked.”
Burke said a lock box contains a key to the front door, which has been there for several months to allow the workmen to have access to the house.
“I suspect as the workmen left the property and returned the key to the lock box, the reporters saw them leave the property,” Burke said.
Burke's spokesman James Bolden said the supervisor and her husband, Los Angeles Marathon Chair James Burke, have owned a house in Mandeville Canyon in Brentwood since 1981, which was rented out for a number of years and then was remodeled.
“I often spend weekends there and have been staying there during the termite work and remodeling of my Centinela Ave. town home,” Burke said. “I had hoped that the remodeling would have been complete at my Centinela Ave. residence by now.”
Bolden said the Burkes rented a town home from 1992 to 1995 in Marina del Rey, which is in the Second District. In 1995, they purchased a different town home in the same complex and lived there until 2005.
They sold that town home in 2005 and rented a condominium, also in the Second District, until June 2006. That's when they purchased the Centinela Ave. town home. Bolden said the supervisor has been living there during the week, and spending the weekends at their Brentwood home with her husband.
Burke, who has served as a supervisor in the Second District for 15 years, will become chair of the Board of Supervisors next year. Following four decades in office, Burke plans to step the end of next year, Bolden said.
Boeing Co. faces a nearly half-million-dollar fine for allowing excessive levels of lead, mercury and other toxins to flow from its Santa Susana Field Lab into the exclusive West Valley community of Bell Canyon and the Los Angeles River, regulators said Wednesday. Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.
If Boeing is forced to pay it, it would be among the largest fines levied against the lab owner for environmental violations.
Following up on a directive earlier this year from state regulators, Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board staffers proposed fining Boeing $471,190 for 79 water-quality violations over 15 months.
Staffers doubled the mandatory minimum penalty because of the toxicity and frequency of the pollution violations from October 2004 to January 2006.
"Really, the issue here is that they should have been able to stop the violations a long time ago," said Michael Levy, senior counsel to the L.A. water board.
Plans to expand Providence Holy Cross Medical Center could hit a snag today when hospital officials seek city Planning Commission approval to build a $143 million, four-story tower that would include 101 beds. Daily News.
City Councilman Richard Alarcon, who represents the area, said many community residents want Providence to conduct a full environmental impact report that would analyze the effects of traffic and other factors - but could delay the project for 18 months.
"This is a tricky part of the area, with only one access road into the hospital," Alarcon said. "We need to look at that, as well."
But hospital officials say they have studied the issues and found there would be no significant impact on the neighborhood. And they say Alarcon is stalling for time to give labor unions a chance to organize workers, something they tried to do three years ago.
Organizing, busing and outfitting residents to testify at City Hall in support of Home Depot's planned Sunland-Tujunga site could cost the retail behemoth more than $24,000, according to a memo written by the public-relations firm working for the store. Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.
The memo by Rick Taylor with Dakota Communications lays out a game plan for getting 150 supporters in orange T-shirts to pack the council chambers Tuesday when the City Council is set to vote on whether to reconsider a Home Depot store on Foothill Boulevard.
The two-page memo sheds new light on the high-stakes, behind-the-scenes orchestrations of companies seeking to sway city leaders and win approval for their projects.
As the turf war between the federal government and local officials over medical marijuana continues, the Los Angeles City Council voted Wednesday to block more medicinal pot shops from opening over the next year. Kerry Cavanaugh and Brent Hopkins in the Daily News.
City officials aim to weed out dope peddlers who are ignoring the intention of 1996's Proposition 215, which allows Californians to obtain marijuana for treatment of chronic pain, anorexia, cancer and other serious illness.
Since Los Angeles doesn't currently regulate or license shops - estimated at several hundred - the City Council voted to temporarily halt new stores while it develops a policy to separate ones selling the drugs for medical use from ones masking recreational sales under the banner of compassionate care.
A Los Angeles City Council committee gave its initial OK to a new mansionization ordinance that would limit the size of big homes on smaller lots. Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.
The Planning and Land Use committee asked the City Attorney's Office to draft the ordinance, which will come back to the commitee in September for approval and then pass to the full City Council for a vote.
The Baseline Mansionization Ordinance would limit square footage on homes based on their lot size and neighborhood zoning. For example, on a typical 5,000-square-foot lot, a property owner can now build a 7,000-square-foot house. The proposed ordinance would restrict a house on that lot size to between 2,500 to 3,000 square feet.
Buoyed by momentum to help the nation's largest homeless population, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors gave initial approval Tuesday to providing an array of services designed to stabilize transients' lives. Troy Anderson in the Daily News.
County action comes after an announcement in March by Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa that he plans to spend $137 million to build 18 affordable-housing projects citywide, including six in the east San Fernando Valley.
The funds are part of more than $329 million recently allocated by city and county officials to address the homeless crisis. Some of the money is now being spent, and requests for proposals have been issued.
Foreclosures soared an annual 799 percent in Los Angeles County and California in the second quarter - a record 17,408 homeowners couldn't make their mortgage payments and lost their property in the state. Gregory J. Wilcox in the Daily News.
In the county, 2,581 properties went into foreclosure, up from 287 a year ago, DataQuick Information Systems reported Tuesday.
Parts of the booming Inland Empire area were hit even harder, with foreclosures jumping 986.9 percent.
"The housing industry is in a recession, pure and simple, and it's going to last until 2009," said Jack Kyser, chief economist at the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp.
Foreclosures are important to state and local governments as impacting a major source of revenue to operate programs.
In an attempt to convince Los Angeles County lobbyists to file their quarterly reports as required, the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday voted to take action against contractors that fail to comply with the county’s lobbying policies by mandating higher financial penalties and the creation of a progressive discipline mechanism.
That ultimately could include permanent barring from future contracts with the county and the cancellation of existing contracts for companies with a proven pattern of non-compliance.
“The current ‘no harm, no foul’ attitude needs to change,” Supervisor Gloria Molina said. “Companies that do business with Los Angeles County need to respect our policies and it is up to us to hold them accountable. That’s not going to happen as long as the penalty for violating our rules is only a tiny fraction of the total contract the offending company holds with us.”
Molina’s action was prompted by the county’s most recent experience with Maximus, which has a $23 million contract with the Department of Public Social Services to administer the county’s welfare-to-work program. The county code requires all entities doing business with the county through contract, permit, grant license, or franchise to file quarterly lobbying reports.
Maximus failed to so from Jan. 1 through March 31. Consequently, after five separate attempts through certified correspondence and numerous telephone calls, the county’s Executive Office formally moved to bar Maximus from receiving future contracts, Molina said.
Only when threatened with debarment did Maximus respond to the Executive Office, submit the required reports, and pay the required penalty fee of $2,000, Molina said. Under the county’s current ordinance, Maximus cannot be prohibited from seeking additional county contracts.
The motion approved Tuesday directs the county’s chief executive officer, county counsel, and the Executive Office to report back in four weeks with a set of recommendations to enact more stringent enforcement of the county’s lobbying ordinance.
These options should include higher monetary penalties—including a percentage of a company’s existing contracts with the county, whichever is greater—and a mechanism for progressive discipline. This could include permanent barring of a company from future contracts with Los Angeles County and even the cancellation of existing contracts for those companies which demonstrate a pattern of non-compliance.
“Maximus is not the first company to ignore Los Angeles County’s lobbying rules and they’re not likely to be the last if we don’t take serious action now,” Molina said.
Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky said he doesn't understand what the firm was thinking.
"It raises the question that, if on this minor issue they can't comply, it makes me wonder how compliant they are on the big issues. So actually, from my point of view, this has raised more questions than it's answered. It's just stupid with a capital 'S.'"
More than 87 percent of Southern California grocery workers approved a new contract that regained many benefits, including a pay raise, lost during previous negotiations, union officials announced Monday.Julia M. Scott in the Daily News.
Vons, Ralphs, and Albertson's agreed to the costly deal because they have reaped billions of dollars in profits since the last strike and because United Food and Commercial Workers were well prepared for a strike, according to several analysts.
The four-year contract includes salary hikes, expanded health coverage, and the ability for new workers to earn as much as veterans.
"The financial condition of the industry is in much better shape," said Ajay Jain, an analyst for UBS. "The union was more mobile this time...I think they learned a lot from that experience three-and-a-half years ago."
Stock prices for the three chains have climbed dramatically since the 2003-2004 strike, increasing by 50 to 100 percent. Sales and profits also surged.
Taking over Monday as Los Angeles County's chief executive officer, William Fujioka said he wants to use the authority of the newly restructured CEO's Office to promote open government, improve services and fix long-standing problems.Troy Anderson in the Daiiy News.
Fujioka, who retired last year as chief administrative officer for the city of Los Angeles, sat down with reporters at the county Hall of Administration. Here are highlights of the interview:
Question: As CEO, what do you plan to do?
Answer: Having the ability to make an impact on the quality of services, a direct impact, was very, very important for me. I don't plan to be an autocrat. I'll try not to be much of a bureaucrat. I'm going to help in many ways by being a facilitator.
Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa continued to be dogged by questions Monday over his relationship with a Telemundo reporter as he voiced confidence in her ethical standards.Daily News.
During a news conference at which he unveiled the third area of the city to be served by the TIGER teams to improve traffic, the mayor again was asked about Mirthala Salinas, their relationship and whether Telemundo would be taking any permanent action against her.
Salinas has been on leave since her relationship with the mayor was disclosed. Telemundo officials said they were investigating all the circumstances around the relationship and whether she violated journalistic ethics by reporting on the mayor's separation from his wife of 20 years.
Affter sharply questioning the impact on Los Angeles Police Department operations, a city panel on Monday reluctantly recommended adding 44 police officers to a counterterrorism task force. Daily News.
Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca and FBI Deputy Director Steve Tidwell appealed to the City Council Public Safety Committee for the additional officers, saying the growing terrorist threat must be addressed.
"The threat is always going to be high here," Tidwell said. "Historically, terrorists have said they will hit here, and they always complete the loop. It becomes almost a matter of honor. "
But it's not the one you think.
Former Los Angeles City Controller Rick Tuttle said he's "carefully considering" a run for the 5th district city council seat, which will be vacated by Councilman Jack Weiss in 2009. Weiss is running for city attorney. Tuttle, who lives in Palms, would have to move into the district, which stretches from the Westside over the hill into Encino and Sherman Oaks. Candidates for 2009 can start raising campaign money in September.
Current City Controller Laura Chick announced in January that she was considering running for the seat, but she's changed her mind. In a statement released Monday, Chick said "At this point in time I have no intentions to run for 5th council district."
Too bad, we were looking forward to a head-to-head controller showdown. Now that would be a campaign. Who's the most efficient? Who can write the most scathing press release? Who can find the biggest waste of taxpayer dollars?
Victoria Castañeda saw an unconscious woman sprawled over a washing machine in her apartment building's laundry room last December - and walked away.
Too afraid to call police, she did what all too many of her neighbors do when confronted with trouble or possible crime: absolutely nothing. Rachel Uranga in the Daily News.
Afraid that gangsters and drug dealers in her building would think she was a snitch, she quietly slipped back into her one-bedroom unit, closed the door and began playing with her four children.
"I was just scared for the children," the 33-year-old said. "If they find out I called the police, I will have nothing to defend me."
It is just such resistanfce -- a community wall of silence -- that police say they need to break through to be able to control crime.
Also, the Skid Row Safer Cities Initiative draws mixed reviews. Daily News.
Preliminary results show grocery workers across Southern California overwhelmingly approved a new contract Sunday, avoiding a repeat of the prolonged supermarket strike of 2003-04. Julia M. Scott in the Daily News.
The four-year contract with Vons, Ralphs and Albertson's includes retroactive raises, improved health benefits and the end of a two-tier seniority system.
Support for the new contract "was really powerful," said Rick Icaza, president of United Food and Commercial Workers Local 770, after announcing preliminary results. "It even shocks me."
Nearly 70,000 members were eligible to vote across the region. Polls in Burbank, Palmdale, Harbor City and Montebello were open 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. The contract required a simple majority to pass.
Mayor Antonio Villlaraigosa, fresh off his redemption tour, now is offering thanks to other Los Angeles city officials for their not comending on his personal woes.
Also, presidential politics and City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo comes out. Tipoffs in the Daily News.
In the past five years, Los Angeles Unified School District officials have been forced to return all but a fraction of $62 million in state reimbursement funds because of flawed or incomplete applications.Harrison Sheppard in the Daily News.
Reviewing nine separate programs, auditors with the State Controller's Office ruled that out of the district's total claims it must return nearly $58 million to the state - or more than 90 percent.
Auditors cited a range of problems with the district's claims, including a lack of supporting documentation and failure to file paperwork on time.
But education experts said districts throughout California face similar problems, and frustrated LAUSD officials fault a complicated state reimbursement and auditing process.
Former District Attorney Gil Garcetti knows firsthand what it takes to win political office and - after five years on the city Ethics Commission - says he has learned how the process can be corrupted. Daily News.
"Money. It is the biggest ethical challenge facing Los Angeles," Garcetti said in an interview last week after term limits forced him to step down from the ethics panel.
"The whole appearance of whether there is a conflict of interest by an elected official is based on money. We have the means to change that, but we have to make the case to the public."
Los Angeles City Councilwoman Wendy Greuel said Friday that she will ask the City Council to overturn a Planning Commission decision to let Home Depot open a store in Sunland-Tujunga without further traffic or environmental studies.Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.
Planning Commission decisions usually are final, although the council can assert authority over a case with a two-thirds vote.
Greuel said she believes the North Valley Area Planning Commission erred in its decision late Thursday to let Home Depot continue construction.
"The bottom line is, if you don't follow the rules you don't get to move ahead," she said, adding that she told Home Depot early on: "If you do one thing against the specific plan, my community is watching and I'm watching. Fair warning."
What's in a name?
Well, one San Fernando Valley neighborhood hopes renaming itself "Reseda Ranch" will send a strong message to developers and land speculators to stay away if they intend to cram suburban houses onto the community's large, agricultural lots.Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.
Frank Daryt said his neighbors are already pretty tenacious in opposing developers seeking to subdivide local lots, which are generally 17,500 square feet and larger.
But he hopes adding the word "ranch" to "Reseda" will reinforce the community's unique character and provide added protection against development.
"We're trying to keep a reputation in the area that says if you're buying a house in here, know that we intend to keep it an agricultural area," Daryt said.
More than 700 rowdy backers and opponents of a proposed Home Depot in Sunland-Tujunga packed into a school auditorium Thursday to argue their cases before city planners. Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.
The North Valley Area Planning Commission was expected to vote late Thursday night on whether to require Home Depot to conduct a thorough traffic and environmental study before opening its new store.
The decision would cap months of fighting over the future of a big-box retail space on Foothill Boulevard.
The U.S. Department of Energy said Thursday that it will stop its controversial cleanup at the Santa Susana Field Lab and conduct a long-awaited comprehensive environmental review of the former nuclear research site. Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.
The decision to abide by a recent court order means the department has stopped demolition of the last two buildings at the site for at least two years while the agency prepares an environmental impact statement.
A federal court judge in May said the department's cleanup plan for the site broke the law, and he ordered the agency to complete a detailed analysis of contamination at the site and how it will be removed.
Longtime lab watchdogs lauded the department's decision to comply with the judge's ruling.
Also, on Thursday, federal lawsmakerm frustrated that hundreds of sick former Santa Susana Field Lab employees have been denied benefits under a program to aid former nuclear workers called for a new law to help workers and their families get compensation. Daily News.
Signed into law in 2000, the Energy Employee Occupational Illness Compensation Act pledged billions of dollars to government employees who got sick from their Cold War-era jobs.
The Southern California grocery union and three major chains made key concessions to reach a tentative contract agreement after more than six months of contentious negotiations, officials revealed Thursday.Julia M. Scott in the Daily News.
The United Food and Commercial Workers agreed to chip in $250million of a $500million employee reserve to help pay for health care, said Greg Conger, president of Local324, the second-largest branch of the UFCW in Southern California. The union has almost 70,000 members across the region.
Vons, Ralphs and Albertsons agreed to eliminate a two-tier system that gives richer benefits to veterans than new workers. That system led to higher turnover, reduced wages and long waiting periods for health care.
Under the new four-year deal, all workers can reach the top pay scale. The markets wanted that process to take nine years, but the union "reduced that dramatically," Conger said.
A frustrated Los Angeles panel on Thursday called for more detailed information on the costs of fighting gangs and questioned whether city agencies are adequately prepared to respond to the growing community crisis. Daily News,
Earlier this week, Los Angeles Police Chief William Bratton said gang crime remains a concern. Despite a crackdown, gang crime in the San Fernando Valley has risen 15 percent in the first six months this year.
"We keep getting the same reports over and over again and nothing is working," Councilwoman Janice Hahn said in a sharp exchange with Sharon Morris of the Community Development Department.
Los Angeles-area leaders on Wednesday blasted federal officials for slashing anti-terrorism funding to the region by 10 percent even as new reports suggest that the terrorist al-Qaida network is strengthening and may be poised for another U.S. strike. Rachel Uranga and Lisa Friedman in the Daily News.
Under the plan, the Long Beach-Los Angeles region - a previously acknowledged 2002 terrorist target - will get $73 million, or $8 million less than last year.
Noting that other areas such as Orange and San Diego counties saw increases, Los Angeles-area officials called the cuts a punch in the gut and warned that they will undermine efforts to build intelligence gathering, upgrade radio communications and train hundreds of officers in anti-terrorism.
A mayor business group on Wednesday urged the city of Los Angeles to implement planning and development reforms that will encourage the private sector to adopt green building standards. Gregory J.Wilcox in the Daily News.
The Los Angeles Business Council, at its inaugural Sustainability Summit, called for the creation of a city sustainability team that would assist green projects through the permitting process.
It also called for city leaders to establish sustainability awards, to recognize and encourage outstanding green projects and practices, and to support federal and state legislation that provides tax credits for energy-efficient buildings.
What does it take to run a national presidential campaign more than half a year before the Iowa caucuses? New finance reports show that the candidates are already building up their operations in several states whose early primaries have forced a burst of spending that is severely taxing the campaigns. New York Times.
The candidates are opening offices in states like California, Florida, Michigan, Nevada and others that now expect to hold nominating contests by early February, according to the reports, which were filed last weekend. In past elections, candidates focused their early resources largely on Iowa and New Hampshire.
The filings paint a portrait of what the campaigns think it takes to become president, including the 508 people who appeared on the Barack Obama campaign payroll, the $4.6 million that Senator John McCain paid his consultants and the $300 Mitt Romney spent on makeup around the time of his first debate.
The San Fernando Valley will soon boast one of Southern California's biggest shopping centers with construction of a $750 million outdoor retail complex connecting the Topanga and Promenade malls, The Westfield Group said Tuesday.Julia M. Scott in the Daily News.
The Village in Warner Center will include a 300-room, four-star hotel, 150 condominiums and apartments, offices, and 550,000 square feet of shops and restaurants.
At 3.8 million square feet, the three-mall behemoth - including its hotel and residences - will be larger than South Coast Plaza in Orange County and Del Amo Fashion Center in Torrance.
"It will create a heart for this whole district," said Ken Wong, president of Australia-based Westfield's operations in the United States.
Gang crime in the San Fernando Valley has jumped almost 15 percent since the start of the year, despite a highly publicized effort by Los Angeles Police Chief William Bratton and Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa to aggressively crack down on street gangs. Rachel Uranga in the Daily News.
Vowing to head off the rising crime rates, released Tuesday by the LAPD, Villaraigosa said the Valley will be among the top priorities for recently appointed gang czar Jeff Carr as he tries to tackle a dangerous, entrenched culture.
"After last year's surge in Valley gang activity, we knew that combating violence from Canoga Park to North Hollywood would remain one of our toughest challenges," Villaraigosa said. "We will get Valley communities the resources they need to implement new innovative and effective intervention programs."
Capping months of legal battles, a judge on Tuesday upheld a controversial ethics-reform measure that also gives Los Angeles City Council members the option of seeking a third four-year term in office. Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.
Opponents said the measure - approved by 59 percent of city voters last November - violates the California Constitution by combining two separate issues.
While Superior Court Judge David Yaffe suggested that voters probably would not have passed the term-limit extension on its own, he said Los Angeles leaders did not break the law by combining it with ethics reforms in one measure.
Union leaders announced late Tuesday that a tentative agreement has been reached to head off a threatened strike at the three major supermarkets in Los Angeles.
Here is the statement released by the union:
Today Representatives of the Grocery Workers Union and the Management of Albertsons, Ralphs and Vons reached a tentative contract agreement. Details of the agreement are not being released until grocery workers vote to ratify the deal Sunday, July 22nd. All seven locals covered by the contract will recommend ratification to their members."Negotiators have continued talking under contract extensions since the original contract expired on March 5th. The successful negotiations were mediated by Deputy Director Scott Beckenbaugh and Commissioner Joe Mansolillo of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service.
Some 300 DWP employees packed the Board of Water and Power Commissioners meeting Tuesday to protest what they say is the dramatic underfunding of infrastructure projects needed to keep the lights on. The rally, organized by the IBEW, which represents the majority of DWP employees, coincided with their release of DVD titled LADWP Crisis.
"Our members are angry and frustrated," IBEW Business Manager Brian D'Arcy said. "They feel an obligation to warn the public about the threat to their ability to continue to deliver reliable power and safe drinking water."
But DWP Commissioner Nick Patsaouras , who is pictured above, was not having it.
"I'm offended today," he declared. He blamed the union for refusing to allow the utility to contract out needed infrastructure work and for creating "World War 3" stand off between the management and the union.
Led by D'Arcy, IBEW members booed Patsaouras and walked out during his tirade. Outside the DWP headquarters, D'Arcy said he was offended by Patsaouras's comments, adding "All he wants to do is talk about outrageous things."
In the middle of the scuffle was DWP Board President David Nahai, who politely thanked IBEW for the DVD and for drawing public attention to the need for more staff, more infrastructure investment, and ultimately, higher power rates.
With the historic $660 million settlement Monday ending the clergy sexual-abuse scandal against the Los Angeles Roman Catholic Archdiocese, attention turned to the future of the central figure in the case - a man who never molested children nor was charged with a crime. Tony Castro in the Daily News.
But Cardinal Roger Mahony may forever be linked to the scandal, which he tried to cover up by first transferring known molesters from parish to parish, then fighting prosecutors - all the way to the Supreme Court - to keep church records of the abuse a secret.
Despite a tight budget to build and maintain affordable homes, the Los Angeles Housing Department has lost millions of dollars by failing to ensure borrowers comply with loan promises and sometimes lends money to developers who have defaulted on previous city loans, according to an audit released Monday. Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.
The Housing Department has made big improvements in how it manages and monitors loans, but the agency still loses an estimated $6 million a year in potential income because it doesn't have the staff to review annual financial statements submitted by borrowers, City Controller Laura Chick wrote in the audit.
"These very important public dollars are needed to provide safe and livable neighborhoods through the development and preservation of decent and affordable housing," Chick said. "It is essential that we ensure the public that these monies are meeting their intended targets."
The Ho
The union representing Department of Water and Power workers is questioning the utility's reliability as it faces what is expected to be record demand during a hot, dry summer.Daily News.
In a DVD called "LADWP Crisis," the IBEW, Local 18, which represents some 8,000 workers, questioned whether the utility is ready for the demands it will face this year.
Brian D'Arcy, the union's general manager, will be presenting the DVD to the Water and Power commissioners today to demonstrate his concern about whether the agency has prepared for problems and has sufficient numbers of workers available.
More than $3 billion in improvements planned for some Los Angeles County freeways will reduce congestion on those roadways, but the region needs 10 times that much before drivers will see an end to traffic jams, a Caltrans official said Monday.Sue Dpyle in the Daily News.
Within the next five years, construction will start on widening highways and building five car-pool lanes and some new freeway ramps, California Department of Transportation officials said during a meeting to preview upcoming projects.
But it's still not enough to accommodate all the cars on the road.
Variety takes a look at presidential campaign donations and notes that N.Y. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton has won back the big names from Illinois Sen. Barack Obama.
Here is part of the Wilshire and Washington column:
"Superlatives are being attached to the huge sums that Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton
raised in the second quarter, with Obama edging out Clinton in the overall total, and nearly
matching her with current cash on hand."With yesterday's deadline to file campaign finance reports, word is trickling in on who gave
to whom. According to the New York Post, "Clinton pilfered from Obama such A-listers as
Tom Hanks, comedian Ben Stiller and "Spider-Man" star
Tobey Maguire, who all gave to
Obama at the start of the year but switched to Hillary in the past three months. Clinton also
collected cash from actress Jodie Foster and actor-director
Danny DeVito."
" They also reported that Obama counted Will Smith, Chris Rock and
Jean Smart. (The latter being recently fired from "Grey's Anatomy").
Paul Newman gave to both. "
Calling sexual abuse by clergy a "terrible sin and crime," Cardinal Roger Mahony apologized Sunday to hundreds of people who claim they were molested by priests in the nation's largest archdiocese.Susan Abram in the Daily News.
The apology came during a news conference following Sunday Mass and a day after the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles agreed to pay a record $660 million in a settlement with 508 victims.
"There really is no way to go back and give them that innocence that was taken from them," Mahony said. "The one thing I wish I could give the victims ... I cannot.
"Once again, I apologize to anyone who has been offended, who has been abused. It should not have happened and it will not happen again."
Mahony said he has met with dozens of victims of clergy abuse in the past 14 months and those meetings helped him understand the importance of a quick resolution to the lawsuits.
The cardinal is scheduled to be in court this morning to go over the final settlement. He said the church's decision to settle on the eve of the trials - which were set to begin today - had nothing to do with keeping him from testifying.
"My own testifying would not have been a problem," he said.
For the past several weeks, Los Angeles has been treated to two juicy City Hall soap operas as Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa split from his wife and confessed to having an affair, and City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo admitted that his wife was uninsured when she drove his city-issued car and got into an accident. Tipoffs in the Daily News.
And it's been interesting to see how the key players in the dramas have handled their roles.
Villaraigosa resurfaced after a weekend in seclusion, appearing at a couple of tough news conferences where he was badgered by reporters for details, then allowed to move on to other issues.
But reality surfaced again Friday when he appeared at the much-hyped welcome of soccer star David Beckham. Rather than the cheers he normally receives, Villaraigosa found himself on the receiving end of boos from the crowd.
However, Villaraigosa now appears tired of answering all the questions, passing up his monthly appearance on KABC-TV. Daily News.
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles will pay a historic $660 million to more than 500 victims who were abused by clergy during the past 70 years, sources said late Saturday.
In what would be the largest payout in the church's sex-abuse scandal, sources close to the archdiocese and a lawyer for the victims said Saturday that terms of a settlement are being worked out this weekend. If the agreement holds, each victim would receive between $1.2 million and $1.3 million. Tony Castro in the Daily News.
The news came just two days before the first of more than 500 clergy abuse cases is scheduled for trial jury selection Monday.
Ray Boucher, attorney and negotiator for the victims, confirmed late Saturday that a settlement had been reached, but he declined to provide specifics.
He said a news release will be issued today (Sunday) about the formal announcement of the settlement, which will take place on Monday morning.
Saying she believes today's immigration laws are "broken," a Simi Valley pastor will be the first in Ventura County to open her church to illegal immigrants facing deportation. Eric Leach in the Daily News.
The Rev. June Goudey is having her congregation at the United Church of Christ join the national New Sanctuary Movement, offering a place to live and other support to people appealing to stay in the country, especially those whose families might be torn apart by deportation.
While the church members want to help people in need of assistance, they will not be breaking any laws by trying to hide anyone or forcefully resist immigration officials, Goudey said. The people who receive sanctuary will not be fugitives or hiding from the law.
They've snuffed out cigarettes in Calabasas, Santa Monica, Burbank and Beverly Hills — and now a group of local residents has started pressing for a public smoking ban in Glendale. .Eugene Tong in the Daily News.
Advocates behind the "No Butts Glendale" campaign have been pushing the City Council since June to consider outlawing smoking in parks, lines and within 25 feet of sidewalks and business entrances.
They also have started an online petition, which has collected 66 signatures since July 7.
Earvin Chapman is used to getting harassed by gangsters on the Fourth of July. His relatives even refuse to attend his front lawn barbecue. Gene Maddaus in the Daily Breeze.
He held it anyway this year and, surprisingly, nothing happened. At night, he heard fireworks instead of the gunfire he often hears as he is trying to fall asleep.
But the next morning, he saw Corona bottles on the sidewalk and fresh tagging on the vacant corner house near his Harbor Gateway home. In large numerals had been written "204."
"They wrote up the whole neighborhood," he said.
On Jan. 18, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa vowed to dismantle the 204th Street gang, two members of which had been charged in the death of 14-year-old Cheryl Green. A task force was assembled. Extra patrols were dispatched.
Six months later, some progress has been made. Gang members have gone indoors, while kids have tentatively come out to play. Crime is down: there have been 34 aggravated assaults so far this year, compared with 170 for all of 2006. Of those 34 assaults, only two were connected to the 204th Street gang. Police reported that the Fourth was unusually quiet.
In a win for neighborhood council activists seeking a greater say in development decisions, Los Angeles City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo said Friday that city law can be changed to allow local boards the right to appeal land-use rulings. Daily News.
Currently, the City Charter does not give neighborhood councils the right to appeal planning decisions, and that's frustrated councils that want to challenge projects in their community.
"This is an issue of fairness. We are seeking the same appeal rights as virtually every other stakeholder in the city," said Jill Banks Barad, founder and chair of the Valley Alliance of Neighborhood Councils and president of the Sherman Oaks Neighborhood Council.
Seven years ago, when the fig ht was heating up to convert the old Taylor Rail Yard into open space, Melanie Winter quit her job to advocate full time for a park along the Los Angeles River. Kerry Cavanaugn in the Daily News.
She started The River Project nonprofit agency, and worked seven days a week organizing a coalition of 36 community groups, flying to Sacramento to lobby for funding and backing a lawsuit to block commercial development on the site.
She did it all without pay, charging her living expenses on her credit cards.
The work paid off.
In April, activists helped cut the ribbon on the Rio de Los Angeles State Park - a pristine 40-acre park with soccer fields, walking trails, picnic tables and natural habitat that marked the first major swath of green in a paved, crowded community.
Now a core group of activists say it's payback time.
Spectators booed LA Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa this morning when it was his turn to speak at the welcome press conference for international soccer star David Beckham.
According to Daily Breeze soccer columnist Nick Green: "Embattled Carson Mayor Jim Dear received a better reception than embattled Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who was roundly booed."
Ah, but the mayor's office said the negative reaction had nothing to do with Villaraigosa's recent admission that he cheated on his wife of 20 years with a television reporter. Rather, the mayor is an avid fan of Chivas USA _ rival of the LA Galaxy.
"He's been booed before by Galaxy fans," explained Matt Szabo, spokesman for the mayor.
Of course.
* So maybe it wasn't Chivas after all. Daily News sports columnist Tom Hoffarth said the crowd's anti-Antonio mood probably was related to his sexcapades. Amid the boos as the mayor stood to speak, reporters heard someone yell, "Is your girlfriend here to cover this?"
One year after a heat storm knocked out power to 80,000 homes, Los Angeles officials said Thursday the city is better prepared but warned that electric cutbacks could be required unless residents voluntarily conserve energy. Daily News.
And officials also warned that, despite their efforts to boost the system, a 9 percent electricity rate hike is needed over two years to fund a $1 billion upgrade to the city's outdated utility network.
The Department of Water and Power announced last month that the two-year electricity rate increase would be needed, along with a 6 percent hike for water.
"We have always spoken honestly with the public, and the fact of the matter is we are going to need that money to improve the system," Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said during a news conference at the DWP Maintenance Yard in Van Nuys. "We are committed to making sure we have a reliable energy system, and it costs money."
A key House panel approved $405 million Thursday toward reimbursing California and other states for the costs of jailing criminal illegal immigrants.Lisa Friedman in the Daily News.
The amount is equal to what Congress approved last year - but it also comes in the wake of boasts by California Democrats that their rise to power in the House this year would mean greater funding for the state.
California last year received $85.9 million under the program. Los Angeles County alone, however, spent about $100 million on jail costs for illegal immigrants, but received only about $1.2 million.
The House Appropriations Committee approved this year's money Thursday as part of a bill funding the Justice Department and other agencies. Known as the State Alien Criminal Assistance Program, the money primarily goes to border states where high numbers of illegal immigrants are arrested for local crimes and incarcerated.
Faced with an onslaught of passionate opposition, a San Fernando Valley lawmaker withdrew a bill Wednesday that would have forced most California pet owners to spay or neuter their dogs and cats.Mike Zapler in the Daily News.
State Assemblyman Lloyd Levine, D-Van Nuys, pulled AB 1634 just hours before a key Senate committee vote he was certain to lose.
While the measure is dead for this year, Levine vowed to revive it next year, but in what could be a vastly scaled-back form.
"While I'm disappointed," he said, "I'm optimistic ... we're going to be able to solve the problem."
The move was a clear setback for spay-and-neuter advocates who say a statewide law is the only way to reduce the hundreds of thousands of pets euthanized at shelters each year.
Southern California Republicans vowed Wednesday to continue backing President George W. Bush's war policy despite a growing number of their Senate colleagues breaking with the White House on Iraq. Lisa Friedman in the Daily News.
Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Huntington Beach, and Rep. Elton Gallegly, R-Thousand Oaks, said the troop increase Bush ordered in January deserves more time to show results.
Each said he plans to vote today against a House bill that would set a firm deadline to withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq.
"If we should capitulate at this point and cut and run, what kind of message would that send - not only to our enemies, but to our friends around the world?" Gallegly said.
The Senate fell four votes short Wednesday on a procedural vote that would have allowed passage of Iraq-withdrawal legislation.
A lack of training and adequate oversight of passenger-service workers at Los Angeles International Airport is endangering public health and security, according to a study set to be released today. Daily News.
In its report, the Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy said the airlines subcontract passenger-service operations to private firms with little regard for training or the quality of equipment provided to accommodate disabled passengers.
"The airlines have allowed their contractors to put the security and the health of the public at risk, while failing to provide adequate services to passengers with disabilities," the report said.
In case you were wondering, Councilman Richard Alarcon's office sent out a three-page press release today outlining what he was has done in his first 100 days in office.
Among the highlights, Alarcon has created an Ad Hoc Committee on Poverty, initiated a study on child safety and pushed for a redevelopment vision for the Northeast Valley. In total, the release highlights 17 initiatives he's tackled.
Alarcon, who held the 7th Council District seat from 1991 through 1997, was re-elected to the job after Alex Padilla left for the California Senate.
Read on for the full release:
Former Los Angeles City Administrative Officer Bill Fujioka, who retired last year, apparently can't stay away from pressure.
Fujioka, 55, has been hired by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors _ at $310,000 a year _ to take over for County Administrative Officer David Jannsen, who has been trying to retire for more than a year from his post.
Fujioka served as the City Administrative Officer for eight years and under three mayors, Richard Riordan, James Hahn and Antonio Villaraigosa.
In returning to the county _ he had once served as head of its Personnel Department _ Fujioka will be faced with a number of challenges from the King-UCLA Medical Center to overcrowded jails, but will have broadened powers approved by the Board of Supervisors to allow him to have greater say over how individual departments operate.
It's not easy being a Los Angeles City Council member.
Sure, they each represent about 260,000 constituents and hold the strings of the city's $6.8 billion budget.
But, sometimes, department general managers and city commissioners don't even return their calls.
Faced with hundreds of urgent little problems, they struggle to make an impact on the big issues of Los Angeles - such as gangs and traffic. And when they do accomplish something, the public and the media don't seem to know or care much about their triumph. Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.
Take, for example, the first-ever City Council retreat that kicked off Tuesday at the San Pedro Doubletree Hotel. The innovative session designed to help the 15-member council focus on priorities and improve its effectiveness drew exactly one television camera.
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa had 10 cameras filming him Tuesday morning when he swept a street and announced a summer jobs program.
And while City Council members generally feel upbeat about their work, there is also a sense that they're not doing all they could be.
Under fire for fostering a culture of secrecy, Los Angeles County supervisors split Tuesday over whether a growing number of county documents and meetings should be labeled confidential and closed to the public. Troy Anderson in the Daily News.
As the board voted to approve a $390,000 settlement in a foster-child sexual-abuse case, Supervisor Gloria Molina broke ranks with the majority and questioned why the five-member county governing board had ended a long-standing practice of disclosing settlement details.
A decision to keep details of settlements secret was recently made by the county counsel without input from the supervisors or the public.
"I'd like a written report to find out what the heck is going on," Molina said. "By providing this information to the public, we have held ourselves, our departments a
Continuing his redemption tour around the city, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa promoted summer jobs for youths Tuesday as he reiterated his hope that voters will overlook the drama in his personal life and focus on his accomplishments as mayor. Daily News.
At an event in Chinatown, where he was greeted by more than a dozen young people who have their first jobs under city programs, Villaraigosa also insisted he will play a visible and active role in the presidential campaign of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y.
"I'm here today to focus on jobs for young people," Villaraigosa said after being asked about the impact of his extramarital affair on support from Latinas.
Los Angeles County's racial makeup is expected to change dramatically by 2050, with Hispanic and Asian populations doubling to account for more than 80 percent of residents as the number of whites and blacks shrinks in half. Harrison Sheppard in the Daily News.
The county's population will grow from 9.6 million in 2000 to 13 million in 2050, with Latinos growing to 8.4 million, or 65 percent of the total, according to state population projections issued Monday.
The number of Asians will double to 2.1 million, overtaking whites, whose numbers will fall to 1.5 million. The African-American population is expected to decline to 583,000 in 2050 from 910,000 in 2000.
L.A. County magnifies a statewide trend. Almost 60 million people will live in California by 2050 — and most of them will be Latino.
Even as Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa re-emerged Monday vowing to fix the city's schools and streets after spending the past few days in seclusion, he faced a barrage of questions about his infidelity.Daily News.
Trying to put last week's firestorm over his extramarital affair with a television news reporter behind him, Villaraigosa announced a grant for charter schools in the morning, then rolled up his sleeves to fill potholes later in the day.
But all anyone wanted to talk about was how he cheated on his wife.
"I am not perfect ... and want to get back to the work the people of Los Angeles elected me to," Villaraigosa said as he found himself once again facing questions about his relationship with Telemundo reporter Mirthala Salinas and the breakup of his 20-year marriage to wife Corina.
"I made a mistake. I've always said that when you do something that undermines your support in some way or causes people to lose faith in you in some way, you've got to get back and accept your responsibility and do your job."
The Los Angeles metropolitan area ranked second-worst in California for volunteerism in a study released Monday, with fewer residents than one out of four donating time to give back to the community. Susan Abram in the Daily News.
Researchers from the Corporation for National and Community Service said just 22 percent of L.A. residents participated in volunteer activities, compared with 29 percent in San Francisco and in San Diego, as well as 27 percent in Sacramento and San Jose. The statewide average was 25 percent during the two-year period that was studied.
Despite the numbers, leaders of most nonprofit groups in the San Fernando Valley, long praised for the extent of its volunteerism, and the rest of the L.A. area say they believe residents are generous with their time.
Los Angeles is losing the race to create and preserve affordable housing in part because the city's housing agencies don't track the number of low-rent units that are needed, built and lost every year, according to an audit released Monday.
The audit of the Housing Department by City Controller Laura Chick faults the city as a whole and elected leaders for failing to develop a coordinated, comprehensive approach to building and protecting low-cost housing for the city's poor and working class.Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.
There will be no touchy-feely icebreakers at the Los Angeles City Council retreat in San Pedro today.
But there will be a segment called "Me and My District," in which council members share their proudest accomplishments and "help others understand what it's like to walk in your shoes, around your district."
In a two-day goal-setting, team-building workshop at the Doubletree Hotel, the 15 council members will discuss citywide priorities and how they can be more effective legislators. Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.
Tackling one of the most contentious issues facing Los Angeles' neighborhood council system, the panel charged with reviewing the grass-roots network is weighing who should have a voice on the councils.Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.
Residents and business owners are obvious stakeholders. But what about a real estate agent? Should one be allowed to run for a seat on a neighborhood council in an area where the real estate agent is selling homes?
Should a Northridge resident be able to serve on a committee of the Sherman Oaks Neighborhood Council because his child goes to school in that community?
What about someone who lunches three times a week at Pink's Hot Dogs? Should that person be allowed to vote on the Mid City West Community Council?
Ultimately, the definition of "stakeholder" is at the heart of the debate over the entire neighborhood council system: What role do the boards play in Los Angeles city government, and who is allowed to represent a neighborhood?
With Police Commission President John Mack prepared to step down later this month, it appears the newest member of the five-member citizen panel, attorney Anthony Pacheco, is being tapped to succeed him. Tipoffs .
Ever since he was elected as mayor, the state's political insiders have been salivating at the prospect of an Antonio Villaraigosa run for governor.
Perhaps spoiled with the Arnold Schwarzenegger governorship and the celebrity clout he brings, they are looking to keep the same star power alive in coming years with all that Villaraigosa brings.
Now, with the mayor embroiled in a personal scandal involving Telemundo reporter Marithal Salinas., it has set them off in a tizzy about Villaraigosa's prospects.
But, a Villaraigosa run for governor will have a bigger problem _ history.
Quick, name the last govenror who also served as mayor of Los Angele in modern times.
Former Mayor Tom Bradley came the closest, but he was edged out by then-Attorney General George Deukmejian.
Here are two other views:
Sacramento Bee
Don't dismiss Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa from the 2010 governor's race just because he revealed Tuesday he had an ongoing extramarital relationship, political analysts say. Sacramento Bee
Many believe Villaraigosa's revelation will have only a marginal impact on the Democrat's chances to win the state's top office in three years. The former Assembly speaker is still considered among the early front-runners in a large field once Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is termed out.
Los Angeles Times.
Larry Gerston believes that Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa may have written the first lines of his political obituary this week by acknowledging a long-running affair with a television newscaster who covered City Hall
"All I can say is that if I were him, I wouldn't make any plans to run for the Democratic nomination [for governor] in 2010," said Gerston, a political science professor at San Jose State.
California's secretary of state is considering decertifying an "essential" new part of Los Angeles County's voting system because a vendor missed a deadline to provide key information about it. Harrison Sheppard in the Daily News.
Decertification would be a blow to the Golden State's largest county, leaving it struggling to comply with federal regulations for the state's first February presidential primary.
Secretary of State Debra Bowen said the action comes as her office reviews voting systems statewide, and the vendor repeatedly refused to provide the source code for software used in Los Angeles County's InkaVote Plus system.
Taking the next step in its efforts to control gangs, the Los Angeles City Council on Friday approved spending $500,000 to audit and gauge the effectiveness of existing anti-gang programs. Daily News.
The council's 12-0 vote provides Controller Laura Chick with the money she needs to analyze the dozens of city programs, which cost taxpayers more than $178 million a year.
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who has made reducing gang violence a top priority, has promised to cut funding to programs that do not work.
Los Angeles Police Chief Bill Bratton reflects on his career and the difficulty in running the LAPD where the Christian Science Monitor asks him about the image problems of the department.
"Sixteen years after the beating of Rodney King made the Los Angeles Police Department the international poster child for police abuse, Chief William Bratton sits in his office fielding a question that never seems to go away.
"Hasn't anyone been able to change the warrior-style police culture here – often caught on videotape for the world to see? The latest headline-grabbing incident: Riot police dispersed immigrant demonstrators and reporters with batons and rubber bullets in a downtown park May 1, injuring at least 32.
"Pointing out the window at low buildings and sprawl, the former chief of the Boston and New York police departments explains why policing in L.A. is different from anywhere else. With 50 percent more area than New York and half as many cops, the city averages only a third as many officers per square mile, which keeps them in cars – not walking beats.
"The unofficial motto here is, 'too few who for too long have been asked to do too much with too little,' " says Chief Bratton, seated at a long oak table in dress blues."
The ex-boss of a black, lesbian firefighter who won a $6.2 million discrimination suit this week against the city was slapped with a $2,500 fine Thursday in the biggest total payout in Los Angeles Fire Department history. Kerry Cavanaugh and Eugene Tong in the Daily News.
The jury award for Brenda Lee is more than double the $2.7 million settlement proposed for Firefighter Tennie Pierce, an African-American whose separate case against the LAFD will head to trial in September.
Pierce sued after he was fed dog food during what colleagues said was a prank. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa vetoed the deal in November after photos revealing the firefighter engaging in firehouse horseplay himself caused public outcry.
The Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, looking to bolster its negotiating position with international corporations, said Thursday it has signed a historic agreement with unions representing 6 million workers in Shanghai, China. Daily News.
Maria Elena Durazo, executive secretary-treasurer of the 600,000-member County Fed, compared the agreement to a sister city relationship and said there may be opportunities for joint efforts with the Port of Los Angeles.
"The primary reason for this relationship is that Shanghai and Los Angeles have the two biggest ports," Durazo said. "We are both dealing with multinational global corporations and we have to act globally to protect our interests.
Telemundo newswoman Mirthala Salinas has been placed on a leave of absence pending a job review in the wake of news that Salinas is in a romantic relationship with Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, station officials said today. Beth Barrett in the Daily News. L.A. Times.
The move comes as questions swirled over Salinas' coverage of the mayor and Los Angeles politics. Station officials had said Salinas was removed from political coverage about 11 months ago.
But in a statement today, Manuel Abud, vice president and general manager of Telemundo (Channel 52), said the station will conduct an investigation.
"As we have stated, we are committed to journalistic excellence. Given the seriousness of the allegations that have been made, we have decided to conduct an internal review of the decisions and events that led us to where we are today," Abud said in the statement.
"In the meantime, Mirthala Salinas has been placed on a leave of absence from her duties pending this review."
It was not known whether the leave of absence is paid or unpaid.
CBS 2 anchor Paul Magers took a detour Wednesday from his rather canned emcee script at the Rose Bowl music and fireworks festivities to crack wise about a local hot topic.
"I do not have a personal relationship with Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa," he said. "I just wanted to get that off my chest."
The city's mayor, riding a wave of unprecedented popularity, suddenly was hit with one of the oldest indiscretions in politics. His long marriage was in trouble. Worse, the faithful wife had filed for divorce. Worse still, there was another woman. Tony Castro in the Daily News.
For the man once regarded as a front-runner to succeed the incumbent governor and possibly even reach a national office, the future was in crisis-control mode.
Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa?
Not quite. The man in trouble was then-New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, now the front-runner among Republican presidential candidates - showing there can be political success even after divorce, infidelity and scandal.
"Giuliani broke the mold," said national political watcher Steve Benen, who writes for Washington Monthly magazine. "Giuliani marched in a St. Patrick's Day parade with his mistress and then announced that he was getting a divorce in a press conference - before his wife knew anything about it."
That candidates have been able to overcome the stigma of infidelity should encourage Villaraigosa backers and give pause to naysayers who suggest that Villaraigosa's marital breakup - and subsequent admission that he is seeing another woman - could dim his rising political star.
Drivers might soon have to pay for the privilege of using the Southland's increasingly crowded car-pool lanes. Fred Ortega in the Daily News.
Metropolitan Transportation Authority board members asked staffers last week to look into "congestion pricing" to reduce traffic while raising funds for local transportation projects.
Measures being considered include a truck-only toll lane on the Long Beach Freeway and charging drivers for entering downtown Los Angeles during rush hour.
A similar program already in place in London, where drivers heading into the city center are charged the equivalent of $16 a day, is being examined as a possible model for future congestion pricing programs in L.A., Metro spokesman Marc Littman said.
As three newly elected members took their posts on the Los Angeles Unified school board Tuesday, pressure mounted to give Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa oversight of a cluster of low-performing schools. Naush Boghossian in the Daily News.
The ceremonies officially swearing in Tamar Galatzan, Yolie Flores Aguilar and Richard Vladovic were upstaged by a media frenzy over Villaraigosa's revelations of a romantic relationship with a television news anchor.
In the school board meeting that followed, Monica Garcia also was elected president in a 6-0 vote.
But the formal ceremonies marked a win for the mayor, who now has majority support on the LAUSD board. Garcia immediately highlighted the challenges faced by the district including low graduation rates and overcrowded schools.
Garcia introduced motions to boost accountability, parent engagement, graduation rates, smaller community schools and help for English learners.
"It's about action, it's about accountability, it's about let's have the plan," Garcia said. "The direction is set."
And despite firm statements Friday from Superintendent David Brewer III that the mayor won't get oversight of a cluster of low-performing schools before September 2008, the new board members
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa on Tuesday defended his romantic relationship with a Telemundo newswoman, saying it is a "friendship that evolved over time" and has had no effect on his performance as mayor. Beth Barrett and Naush Boghossian in the Daiily News.
Amid a media frenzy after swearing-in ceremonies for new Los Angeles Unified school board members, Villaraigosa reiterated that his relationship with Mirthala Salinas is a personal matter and he appealed for privacy.
"I believe that the vast majority of people base their sense of trust on what you do in your public life, whether or not you keep your promises," the mayor said. "I'll leave the speculation to others. I'm not going to get into every detail of my relationship, nor should I."
The relationship came to light in a Daily News story published Tuesday after the mayor had dodged months of questions about the breakup of his marriage to his wife of 20 years, Corina.
The new majority of Los Angeles Unified board
members backed by the mayor officially took office today, with the three
newcomers indicating a desire for change and a disdain for the status quo, City News Service reports.
.
Yolanda Flores Aguilar, Tamar Galatzan and Richard Vladovic join
incumbent Monica Garcia in giving board members backed by Mayor Antonio
Villaraigosa a 4-3 majority.
Aguilar, Galatzan, Vladovic and second-term incumbent Marguerite
Poindexter LaMotte took their oaths of office in a ceremony at the Dorothy
Chandler Pavilion.
Vowing to steer a bolder direction, the Los Angeles City Council unanimously re-elected Eric Garcetti as its president for two more years.Daily News.
"This place is an idea factory and it's time to put some of those ideas into action," Garcetti said after the 15-0 vote by the council at its annual reorganization meeting.
Councilwoman Wendy Greuel was re-elected as president pro tem.
Garcetti said he believes the council is prepared to be more aggressive on a variety of fronts and take advantage of the smooth relations it has had with Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa in the two years since Villaraigosa's election.
After months of dodging questions about the breakup of his marriage, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa acknowledged Monday that he is involved in a romantic relationship with television newswoman Mirthala Salinas.
Since January, the mayor has repeatedly faced questioning that began when reporters noticed he and his wife, Corina, had stopped making public appearances together and his gold wedding band was missing from his ring finger.
The mayor glibly rebuffed all probes when the questions reached a peak in January, and aides said he had been working out a lot and lost weight so the ring was at the jeweler's getting resized.
But with the Daily News set to publish a story about his relationship with Salinas, an anchorwoman and reporter for NBC-Telemundo (Channel 52), and his mother-in-law's account of the climactic moment in his marriage, Villaraigosa issued the following statement:
"It is true that I have a relationship with Ms. Mirthala Salinas. As I've said I take full responsibility for my actions, and I once again ask that people respect my family's privacy. For my part, I intend to stay focused on my job, and to work as hard as I can every day to be the best mayor I can be."
Salinas did not respond to repeated request. Beth Barrett in the Daily News.
L.A. Times calls for Rocky to resign
City Atty. Rocky Delgadillo came to office with sterling credentials and the support of some of Los Angeles' most esteemed leaders. He had a captivating personal story — Eastside kid who did well, went to Harvard, then to Columbia, then on to one of the nation's most impressive law firms and City Hall, where he worked for Mayor Richard Riordan. In short, Delgadillo had the drive, the education and the support to be one of this city's leading public officials. Instead, he has squandered those advantages on egocentrism and bad judgment, falling well short of the high standards required of an office that prosecutes others for offenses such as he has committed. He should resign. L.A. Times.
Despite MTA Fare Hike, Riders Stay on Board
What can you say about a $2 bus fare increase when you can't buy a gallon of gas for that much or park downtown anywhere near City Hall — and that's assuming you can afford to own a car?
No riders aboard the Metro buses and trains on the first workday of the new fare hike said they were happy about it, but they weren't boycotting either.
"I don't know what the big deal is," said North Hollywood writer Jordan Halverson, waiting for an Orange Line bus to take him to Sherman Oaks for a story meeting after a ride back from downtown on the Red Line. "I think they've done amazing things with the bus system, and the quality of service is good." Tony Castro in the Daily News.
Valley Leaders Say Count Us In
San Fernando Valley leaders called Monday for Uncle Sam to scrap a plan to wipe the region off the U.S. Census map.
The plan by the U.S. Census Bureau not to provide fought-for data on Valley population, ages, racial makeup, jobs and other matters could cost the region tens of millions of dollars in federal and private grants, officials said.
"It's about big fat checks; it's all about money," Los Angeles City Councilwoman Wendy Greuel said during a news conference by business leaders and local, state and federal officials representing the Valley. "The (census) numbers provide it." Dana Bartholomew in the Daily News.
Councilwoman Janice Hahn sent out an update today on our favorite, formerly-free alligator, Reggie. He's doing just fine at the LA Zoo, waiting for his new enclosure and feasting on quail.
Reggie, as you may recall, was first spotted in Machada Lake in August 2005 and repeatedly eluded gator wranglers who tried to capture him. His freedom ended on May 24 when people spied him near a partially eaten chicken leg. He was nabbed shortly thereafter and taken to the LA Zoo.
Since his arrival at the zoo, Reggie managed to update his blog, where he thanked supporters for their love and urged them to visit him at the zoo. Scroll down his blog and check out Reggie's response to a survey. So is this chicken-chomping reptile a lover or fighter? A lover.
Call it a B+, with room for improvement.
Midway through his term, L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is getting generally solid marks from local business leaders for his performance. Howard Fine in the Los Angeles Business Journal.
The popular mayor has won praise for his lobbying for more state and federal funding and for boosting the city’s profile both here and abroad. He’s also credited with sustaining the city’s development boom as several mega-projects have steamed ahead even as the local housing market has stalled.
But, local business leaders say, the mayor could do more to aid existing enterprises coping with the high cost of doing business and to bring Los Angeles International Airport into the modern era. And they lament the mayor’s inability or unwillingness to rein in the pro-union tendencies of the City Council.
“Looking back on the first two years, he deserves a lot of credit for leading on transportation and education. He has a very good track record on development. But there could also be a little more balance with labor interests and we’d like to see more attention on an economic strategy for the future of jobs in this city,” said Brendan Huffman, president of the Valley Industry and Commerce Association.
Mayor and schools
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's two-year drive for a role over Los Angeles schools has hit another obstacle: District officials say they won't give him even a small group of schools to oversee until the fall semester 2008. Naush Boghossian in the Daily News.
With Villaraigosa now having support from a majority of the new board in the Los Angeles Unified School District, it was widely assumed — even by the mayor — that he would gain control of some campuses this fall.
But school officials said in interviews Friday that such a partnership would require extensive planning, and the earliest it could begin would be September 2008.
The new mainstream in L.A. politics
Almost three decades ago, a politically connected Hollywood restaurateur and her husband organized a massive rally to show Latino support for several Latino elected officials who had become the targets of negative news coverage. Tony Castro in the Daily News.
Then-Gov. Jerry Brown headlined the dinner of about 7,000 at the Los Angeles Convention Center on behalf of then-State Education Secretary Mario Obledo, who was battling allegations of ties to the Mexican Mafia, and Congressman Ed Roybal, who was the subject of a corruption scandal.
Today, that Hollywood restaurateur continues to lobby for Latino issues and candidates, but she said she has no misgivings about the recent negative coverage of Southern California's top three Latino elected officials: Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Sheriff Lee Baca and City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo.
Singing his way out
It's time for political farewells and welcomes in the Los Angeles Unified School District. Tipoffs.
The changing of the guard was particularly nostalgic for school board member David Tokofsky, who decided not to seek re-election after serving four terms in office.
Tokofsky, who says he's now weighing various options in education or youth programs, was feted at his final meeting last week.
Among the tributes was a musical parody (sung to the tune of "Officer Krupke" from "West Side Story") that took note of Tokofsky's defense of LAUSD against Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's vocal criticism:
At the midpoint of his first four years at Los Angeles' helm, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa finds himself at a personal and professional crossroads. Daily News.
In contrast to a first year burnished with high-profile successes such as winning funds for a 405 car-pool lane and a legislative measure giving him more control of Los Angeles public schools, his second year has seen smaller gains and some setbacks.
Courts struck down the school legislation; he failed in a bid to make Los Angeles the host city for the 2016 Olympic Games; and personal troubles have taken their toll on his marriage.
But Villaraigosa likens any setbacks to bumps in the road as he maintains a nearly breakneck pace of appearances across the city and continues to press an optimistic outlook.
"For every setback, I have had a victory," Villaraigosa said. "You are not going to win everything. But when you lose something, you find a new way to do things."
And there have been successes: He won a majority of seats on the Los Angeles Unified school board. He reduced the city deficit from $296 million to $130 million. And he announced a major initiative to quell the spread of gang violence.
Report update
The mayor's office said the two-year report on his accomplishments was delayed in getting on line. They hope to have it available by late Monday or early Tuesday at www.lacity.org.
Take a walk down the 20100 block of Marilla Street in Chatsworth and you see kids playing dodgeball while their parents hover over barbecue grills and set up picnic tables for an early start to the Fourth of July. Dennis McCarthy in the Daiily News.
The 12-home, tree-lined, cul-de-sac built in the early 1960s has the all-American feel of the Cleavers' old neighborhood in the TV series "Leave It To Beaver."
But the Beav and his brother, Wally, and their parents, Ward and June, never lived on a block like this.
And that's too bad, the people on Marilla Street say. They would have been so much richer and wiser if they had.
"I grew up on this street in the '60s when it was all white," says Chuck Bunnell, who now lives with his wife, Beth, in his parents' old home.
City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo. beset with problms over issues related to his wife's driving of his car, became the latest public official facing a recall threat.
Former county employee Andrew Ahlering — who is also organizing the effort to recall Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca — said Friday he has started a Web site: www.recalldelgadillo.com.A recall drive also has been launced against Councilman Jack Weiss by unhappy residents in his district.
Delgadillo admitted last week that he allowed his wife, who had a suspended license, to drive his city-owned SUV. She damaged the vehicle in 2004 and Delgadillo had it fixed at city expense and only reimbursed the city $1,222 for the repairs last week after questioned by reporters.
The Los Angeles County Grand jury on Friday blasted county departments for failing to fund an abuse-prevention program and share crucial information on children in county custody even as the number of slayings of abused children more than tripled.Troy Anderson in the Daily News.
Despite efforts to reform the child protective system, jurors wrote in their report that they are profoundly concerned that the number of slayings soared from 15 in 2003 to 53 in 2006.
"The Grand Jury concludes that the threat to abused and neglected children within the county remains a serious concern," jurors wrote.
"It recognizes the efforts ... to provide care and security for such children, but it has determined that the existing system of information exchange is not adequate, and, indeed puts some children unnecessarily at risk."
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is off this weekend on another quick trip -- this time to Philadelphia to address members of the National Education Association, kicking off the organization's minority community outreach campaign during a keynote address.
The NEA Grassroots and Media Minority Community Outreach Campaign is designed to engage minority communities in support of public education. Villaraigosa will headline the official launch of the new initiative, aimed at efforts to reach out to the American Indian, Alaska Native, AsianPacific Islander, African-American, Latino, Carribean and African populations in cities across the United States.
Since taking office, Villaraigosa has made education reform a top priority. Even though legislation giving him broader powers in the school district was invalidated by the courts, he supported a number of candidates who agreed with him on educational issues and who are taking control of the Los Angeles Board of Edudation.
The Los Angeles County Grand Jury released its annual report today, finding continuing problems with the children welfare system, medication errors at public hospitals, a "lack of any sense of urgency" to prepare for terrorist attacks or other disasters and other problems with county government.
Some of chapter titles include:
- Avoiding Code Blue -- Safeguard for Patient Medications
- Juvenile Custodies: Are We Paying Twice
- Crisis in Communication -- Preventing Child Fatality and Maltreatment
- Emergency Rooms and Clinics -- Who Pays?
- Triple Jeopardy-- Abandoned, Neglected and Abused Children of LA County
- LAHSA -- the Struggle to Serve
- Sanitation Districts of LA County -- From Problems to Progress
- Solar and Alternative Energy - An Idea Whose Time Has Come.
The Los Angeles Unified school board unanimously adopted a $6.2 billion budget Thursday that eliminates hundreds of administrative positions, mostly from the district's downtown headquarters.Naush Boghossian in the Daily News.
Superintendent David Brewer III said his goal for the 2007-08 fiscal plan, his first, was to keep the focus on teaching while trying to make up for a $95 million shortfall and find money for his plans to reorganize and transform the district.
Meanwhile, over at the MTA:
Featuring eight more Rapid bus lines and 100 new 60-foot buses, Metro's $3.1 billion budget was approved Thursday by its board for the upcoming fiscal year, which begins Sunday. Sue Doyle in the Daily News.
Sunday is also the start of fare increases on Metro's buses and rails — a hike that some groups this week unsuccessfully challenged to stall in court with a restraining order.
The Los Angeles anning Commission adopted a "mansionization" ordinance Thursday that limits the size of prospective "McMansions" and mini-palaces in most communities. Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.
While some residents complained that the rule would still allow new houses to tower over their bungalow and ranch neighbors, planning commissioners said the law would balance the demand for big homes with the need to preserve neighborhood character.
"Los Angeles has an excellent, diverse heritage, socioeconomically, culturally and ethnically," said commission President Jane Usher. "We are all looking to this ordinance to help us preserve that richness."
The proposed ordinance now goes to the City Council for review.
Called the Baseline Mansionization Ordinance, the new rule would limit house size based on the lot size and zoning. For example, on a typical 5,000-square-foot lot, a property owner can now build a 7,000-square-foot house. The proposed ordinance would allow a house on that lot size to range from 2,500 to 3,000 square feet.
Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez, a child of the Los Angeles labor movement, is getting some heat from his former bosses.
The Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO, where Nunez once served as political director, is putting pressure on him to oppose the measures approving several Indian gaming compacts because they lack enforceable worker protections.
The labor unions long have been trying to organize the casino workers.
The Assembly is scheduled to vote today on four measures.
Union leaders say none "have had a public hearing, no opportunity for worker representatives to publicly express their strong concerns with them. These compacts lack enforceable worker protections, will leave a generation of workers in California’s fastest growing service sector without the protection of state and federal laws or a union contract. "
Former Lt. Gov. Mike Curb, who had a brief fling in politics after building a career with what was known as bubble gum pop music, is getting his own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Curb will receive the 2,341st star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Friday, honoring his work as a songwriter, producer and record company owner.
Singer Pat Boone and disc jockey Casey Kasem will join Curb in speaking in the late-morning ceremony in front of Capitol Records.
Curb will receive his star on the day Curb Records releases the soundtrack for the film "Evan Almighty," last weekend's box office champion.
Born Dec. 24, 1944, in Savannah, Ga., Curb began performing with his own bands as a student at Grant High School in Van Nuys.
As a freshman at what is now Cal State Northridge, working in the practice rooms of the Department of Music building, Curb wrote, "You Meet the Nicest People on a Honda," which help boost its motorcycle sales.
Curb was lieutentant governor ujnder former Gov. Edmung G. (Jerry) Brown and sparked controversy for, among other things, trying to make judicial appointments when Brown traveled out of the state.
In a tense exchange with county supervisors, Sheriff Lee Baca defended his handling of celebrity heiress Paris Hilton on Tuesday and said Hilton's 23-day prison stay was longer than most inmates with similar sentences. Troy Anderson in the Daily News.
The confrontation came little more than 12 hours after Hilton strode out of jail, renewing public criticism about Baca's defiance of a judicial order earlier this month when he let the celeb go after serving just three days of a 45-day sentence for driving offenses.
An angry judge ordered Hilton returned to jail, where she stayed until Tuesday just after midnight.
But Baca vehemently denied any favoritism Tuesday and said he feared for Hilton's life when he released her early.
He also cited data that show an overcrowded prison system in which many inmates serve far less time than their actual sentence.
"The data shows there wasn't any preferential treatment," Baca said. "In fact, the preferential treatment given to Paris Hilton is that she served more time than anyone else for this offense."
OK, so City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo has taken some hits lately. There was his wife's suspended license, his year-long lack of car insurance and city staff baby-sitting his kids. But the clouds parted briefly for him on Tuesday when filmaker and provocateur Michael Moore gave Rocky a big shout out for prosecuting Kaiser Permanente for patient dumping on Skid Row.
During a press conference on the steps of City Hall to promote the release of his documentary, Sicko, on the nation's health care crisis, Moore singled out Delgadillo's effort to penalize medical providers for dropping homeless patients (some still wearing their hospital gowns) downtown.
"I'm so proud of the city attorney of this city for going after (Kaiser) on criminal charges," Moore said. "These are large million-dollar and in some cases billion-dollar hospital corporations, and to treat people like that, well, it's not the way we were raised was it?"
Under a settlement with Delgadillo's office, Kaiser agreed to establish new discharge rules and protocols for handling the release of homeless patients.
City Ethics Commissioner Bill Boyarsky talks about the eduction he is receiving constantly in his role as a city Ethics Commissioner as well as being on the other side of the news business. He writes on his blog:
The Rocky Delgadillo story is another milestone in my education as an ethics commissioner. We have a rule on the commission: We five commissioners are not supposed to comment
publicly—maybe even privately—on alleged violations that may come before us for a vote.
No other city commission is so restricted. We’re supposed to be like judges. "
If the grocery union's vote to authorize a strike against the chain markets has you running out to stock your pantry, breathe easy. Julia Scott in the Daily News.
The strike vote passed overwhelmingly Sunday, according to a United Food and Commercial Workers spokesman, but a strike against Vons, Ralphs and Albertson's is not imminent. Neither is a worker lockout.
Both sides have many ways to up the ante without locking out workers or striking.
The unions can:
Call for a sick-in.
Disrupt the work flow by following job descriptions to the letter of the law. Baggers could meticulously sort goods before packing items and stockers could spend so much time aligning canned goods that the shelves would be half empty.
Cancel the contract, but not strike. This worked for Dallas and Houston grocery unions, which got a contract after canceling the deal, according to a union Web site www.respectufcw.com.
The chains can:
Make workers nervous by hiring new, nonunion workers. Boosting the ranks is important because unemployment is so low the chains will have a hard time finding replacement workers at a moment's notice.
Stockpile goods so the flow of deliveries is not affected by a job
Advertisement
action.
In the wake of Sheriff Lee Baca's decision to defy a judge's order and let Paris Hilton
out of jail early, a poll released Monday found more than 50 percent of Los Angeles County residents are dissatisfied with the sheriff's leadership, management and judgment. Troy Anderson in the Daily News.
The KRC Research poll of 303 adults from June 12-14, conducted at the behest of the 8,000-member Association of Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs, found 68 percent thought he showed poor judgment in releasing Hilton to home confinement and 80 percent believe people with money, power or celebrity get better treatment from the Sheriff's Department than the average citizen.
The survey follows a similar one taken prior to the Hilton brouhaha in which nearly 70 percent of sheriff's deputies said they disapproved of Baca's management of the department and only 14 percent said they would support the sheriff for re-election.
"Taken together, these surveys are disturbing," ALADS President Steve Remige said. "The message to the sheriff from the people he serves and from the deputies who serve under him is that he needs to do a lot better. We are willing to work with the sheriff to help improve the department and rescue his reputation."
The survey surprised political analyst Sherry Bebitch Jeffe. Baca was re-elected to his third term last June with 67 percent of the vote.
"When it's a private poll, I'm very skeptical of taking the results at face value," Jeffe said.
A new poll from the Survey and Policy Research Institute at San Jose State University ahows that Sen. Hillary Clinton, with overwhelming support among women and non-white voters, holds a commanding lead in the California Democratic Party primary, while former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards and Illinois Sen. Barak Obama are tied in a distant second.
Amid a more divided field, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani leads in the
California Republican Party primary while actor and former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson, not
yet formally in the race, has edged his way to second place, with a statistically insignificant lead
over Arizona Sen. John McCain. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney trails far behind.
Meanwhile, President George Bush’s approval rating among Californians remains near
historic lows, driven by corrosive dissatisfaction with the war in Iraq, a staggering lack of
credibility and deep pessimism about the direction the country is headed. For GOP candidates in
California, Bush is no asset.
Southern California grocery workers voted Sunday night to authorize a strike against Vons and Ralphs, six months after contract negotiations with three major chains began, according to union leaders. Daily News.
"The vote was a mandate to authorize a strike," said Rick Icaza, president of United Food and Commercial Workers Local 770. Icaza called the results "preliminary" and did not release specific tallies. Turnout was about 50 percent, Icaza said.
The union already authorized a strike against Albertson's. The vote gives union leaders and negotiators the power to call a strike at any time. The chains agreed to lockout all workers if one market is targeted for a strike.
Members also voted down a contract proposal from the markets Sunday.
Both sides have been bargaining since before a three-year contract covering almost 70,000 grocery clerks expired March 5.
The union members were also voting on some of the markets' contract proposals for pay and health coverage.
Most of the vote count was expected to be completed by late Sunday, although some workers in inland areas were scheduled to vote early Monday.
After disclosures that the Los Angeles city attorney and his wife were lax about getting car insurance and paying parking fines, the Department of Motor Vehicles might want to consider creating the Rocky and Michelle Delgadillo Trust Fund for unpaid tickets.Tipoffs in the Daily News.
With the city attorney continuing to draw heat over his wife's driving problems and the couple's failure to carry mandatory liability insurance - or apparently to keep up with business taxes - other officials in City Hall and their staffs have been scrambling to ensure their own driving records are clean.
"Everyone is joking about it, but you know we are all checking to make sure we don't have anything that could embarrass us or our boss," one aide said.
There is something wrong with our politicians, and it could be spreading. Mariel Garza takes a look at the latest political fever in the Daily News.
Did Rocky Delgadillo imagine that his job as the top law enforcer for Los Angeles exempted him from the rules that he applies to everyone else?
Did Sheriff Lee Baca honestly think that he could give special treatment to another celebrity and no one would notice?
Did Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa truly believe that the public wouldn't assume Corina filed for divorce and moved out of Getty House because he was fooling around?
And does Ed Jew really believe that he could live outside his district and it wouldn't get found out?
You might not know who Ed Jew is, but you should. He's a San Francisco supervisor under investigation by the FBI for shaking down businesses in his district for thousands of dollars. His very job is in jeopardy as the San Francisco city attorney tries to force him out for not living in the district - or even in the county.
But more importantly, he is one of those who have been infected in an outbreak that's raging through
City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo's troubles mounted again Friday when state tax officials disclosed they suspended the license for his wife's consulting business and have no record that she paid taxes on it.
The disclosures prompted Michelle Delgadillo to write a check for an undisclosed sum to the city for failing to pay back taxes, saving her husband the embarrassment of having to pass the prosecution of her case over to the District Attorney's Office.
City Ethics Commission records show Michelle Delgadillo earned between $10,000 and $100,000 a year from her home business from 2002 to 2006.
The California Franchise Tax Board said it had no tax records for her business and suspended the license for her corporation, CRD Inc., in February 2005.
In a statement, Delgadillo's office said Michelle Delgadillo, 36, "reported and paid income taxes" on all of her home-based business income. The city attorney was not available to comment directly and the nature of her clientele was not disclosed.
California Franchise Tax Board spokeswoman Theresa Gray said the business is breaking the law if it is continuing to operate.
"They can't legally do business in the state of California. They need to file forms and come back into compliance," she said.
Rocky Delgadillo's foibles have tarnished the city attorney's reputation as a clean government leader and placed his standing as Los Angeles' top prosecutor and legal adviser in jeopardy. Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.
The latest reports that Delgadillo's staff baby-sat his kids and ran personal errands follow a litany of embarrassing ethical breaches that have put the prosecutor on the defensive.
Delgadillo first came under fire for having city taxpayers pick up the cost of repairing his city-owned SUV. His wife, who is not permitted to drive the vehicle, dented it. He paid the $1,222 in repairs only after the incident was reported in the press.
Political observers say Delgadillo's contention that his staff voluntarily helped him out by running errands and baby-sitting his kids does not get him out of hot water.
Watch out, Los Angeles, we will be inundated with hundreds of mayors from across the country over the next few days when the U.S. Conference of Mayors holds its 75th annual meeting at the Century Plaza Hotel, with our own Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa serving as host.
Vilaraigosa, who chairs the groups panel on poverty issues, is one of the featured speakers at the event that begins Friday and runs through next Monday.
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., is scheduled to address the mayors today and other presidential candidates include Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, and New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson. Other speakers include House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco, and FEMA Administrator R. David Paulson.
Grocrey talks
A noon deadline has been set for a new contract between Southland grocery market chains and union workers appear to be very slim. Union representatives set a noon deadline for a contract agreement.
Union negotiators set the deadline earlier this month for reaching a contract with Albertsons, Ralphs and Vons.
Gang czars galore
Los Angeles met its new gang czar on Wednesday, with minister Jeff Carr talking abou this experiences in East Hollywood and the difficulty in dealing with gangs. Daily News.
Also, the joint Senate-Assembly committee mulling Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's proposed budget said Wednesday it agreed to a statewide anti-gang czar but changed the focus of the anti-gang package to prevention rather than suppression. Oakland Tribune
Rocky controversy
City Attorney Rocky Degladillo and his wife continued to remain in the spotlight on Wednesday with new developmetns and disclosures.
Michelle Delgadillo pleaded no contest to charges that resulted in a bench warrant issued against her in 1998 and received one year summary probration and a $431 fine. ahref="http://www.dailynews.com/search/ci_6190791">Daily News.
And, Delgadillo admited he had enlisted members of his office staff to run personal errands and baby-sit his two young children, including taking them to museums and other local attractions. Los Angeles Times.
City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo's mea culpa Monday over misuse of his city vehicle continued to raise questions Tuesday after later admissions that he also broke state law and city policy by driving without insurance for more than a year. Kerry Cavanaugh in today's Daily News.
And, it turns out that a bench warrent for Michelle Delgadillo remains in effect. Los Angeles Times.
After stonewalling reporters for more than a week on whether his wife damaged his city-assigned SUV and had city taxpayers cover the $1,222 in repairs, Delgadillo's apologetic news conference Monday afternoon was supposed to address all concerns.
But he got facts wrong, denied he ever lacked insurance and had to send out a correction and apology a few hours later.
Among the admissions, Delgadillo conceded that his wife did not have car insurance in late 2003 and early 2004 when she was involved in a crash.
Her driver's license was suspended from July 2004 through March, yet she continued to drive - a misdemeanor for which law enforcement could have arrested her and impounded her vehicle.
And by allowing his wife to drive his car while she had a suspended license, Delgadillo also broke the law.
The incident raised questions about the credibility of the city's elected law enforcement officials and the man tasked with giving legal advice to all city employees.
"You're starting to see that every time someone looks a little further they find more, and that will pique the attention of law enforcement officials," said Rebecca S. Lonergan, an associate professor at the University of Southern California Gould School of Law and a former federal prosecutor of public corruption cases.
In the city's continued fight against gangs, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has tapped an ordained minister with decades of experience creating youth programs in poor neighborhoods as the city's first gang czar. Rick Coca in today's Daily News.
Although Jeff Carr is not well known by some in City Hall, his appointment, expected at a press conference today, demonstrates the mayor's push for prevention and intervention programs in the battle to rid the city of its decades-old gang problem.
"In a sense, we're in a war with gangs and gang leaders," said John Mack, president of the Los Angeles Police Commission. "If we're going to win the large majority of young people, they're going to have to see they have some other options ... than life on the street with gangs. The selection (of Carr) says that the mayor recognizes that."
Mack said that, although he doesn't know him "extremely well," Carr appears well qualified for the appointment with his background as a minister who worked with the Bresee Foundation, an L.A. faith-based organization that offers health, academic and employment services.
Most recently, Carr worked as the chief operating officer and chief of staff for Sojourners/Call to Renewal in Washington, D.C., managing 50 employees and overseeing the finance, personnel and marketing development for the organization. The organization's mission is to "articulate the biblical call to social justice, inspiring hope and building a movement to transform individuals, communities, the church and the world," its Web site states.
Noting that crime is at a record low, the Los Angeles Police Commission on Tuesday confirmed William Bratton for a second five-year term as police chief.
The 5-0 decision came after months of deliberation, stalled by a review of his response to the May Day incident at MacArthur Park. He earned high marks from the commission for his quick actions in taking responsibility, ordering inquiries and demoting command officers after that incident.
"Chief Bratton's response ... represented an important demonstration of enlightened, decisive leadership," Commission President John Mack said.
In appointing him to a second term heading the Los Angeles Police Department, Mack said Bratton should continue the work he has begun toward the "transformation of the LAPD culture and accountability that will ensure we do not have another MacArthur Park incident."
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who on the day after his election in 2005 went to Bratton and asked him to stay on the job, said he was pleased with the commission's decision.
From walking elephants and banning light bulbs to legalizing suicide and recycling plastic bags, Van Nuys Assemblyman Lloyd Levine has championed some of the most controversial and offbeat issues in the Legislature. Harrison Sheppard profiles the Assembly member in today's Daily News.
Now in his third term and eyeing a state Senate run, Levine has gained a reputation as a passionate but oddball lawmaker - an energetic liberal who bounces from topic to topic and proposes out-of-the-box ideas that spark sharp reactions ranging from outrage to admiration.
This year Levine has proposed banning incandescent light bulbs; regulating the treatment of captive elephants, including using GPS monitoring to ensure they are walked at least five miles a day; and requiring pet owners to spay or neuter every dog and cat.
He also has reintroduced a bill that would legalize doctor-assisted suicide and touched on other measures, from the environment, energy and taxes to acupuncture, telecommunications and political debates.
Several of his more-controversial proposals, including light bulbs, elephants and assisted suicide, died in the Legislature recently, but the spay/neuter bill was approved in the Assembly and is now pending in the Senate.
After ducking questions for more than a week, City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo admitted Monday that his wife was behind the wheel of his city-assigned SUV and driving with a suspended license when she damaged it in an accident three years ago. Kerry Cavanaugh n the Daily News. L.A.Times.
Delgadillo also admitted he allowed taxpayers to foot the bill for $1,222 in repairs to the SUV after the 2004 incident.
His voice cracking with emotion, Delgadillo said he made a mistake and should have been more open about the collision and repairs. Under city policy, family members of employees are not allowed to drive city-assigned vehicles.
He wrote a personal check to the city Monday to cover the cost of the repairs.
"Like any husband, I love my family and have tried to keep them out of the public eye," he said. "But as an elected official I am accountable to the public and I realize I should have spoken up earlier. That was a mistake."
"I am saddened that my wife's life has become a public issue. I mishandled the situation and I apologize."
Delgadillo has been dogged for more than a week by questions over whether his wife, Michelle, occasionally drove his city-assigned GMC Yukon and damaged it when she used it to go to a doctor's
Correction on an earlier post. The promised interview with a Los Angeles Times reporter and columnist Steve Lopez, who ripped Rocky in his Sunday column was nixed today by City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo's aides. Apparently aides were not pleased that Lopez mentioned the pending interview and they decided it would be more fair to hold a general media availability sometime today. Probably a good idea, since three television trucks have been staking out the city attorney's office today.
Delgadillo, as you may recall, turned in his damaged city-owned SUV for more than $2,000 in repairs in 2004. But sources told the Times that Delgadillo's wife, Michelle, may have been driving the GMC Yukon at the time (possibly on a suspended license). Rocky has refused to answer questions or even send out a statement explaining who was driving the SUV. And that's raised eyebrows among city officials.
When Los Angeles civic leaders talk about building taller structures and more multifamily homes along transit lines, they're probably not envisioning projects in placid, suburban Tarzana. Daily News staff writer Kerry Cavanaugh explores the proposal.
But that's just what the Tarzana Neighborhood Council has proposed for the area around the Orange Line station on Reseda Boulevard.
Tarzana Crossing would be what some call a transit village or an urban village - with shops, restaurants, offices and apartments or condos within one-quarter mile of the station.
It would be an environment ideal for walking. Buildings could reach up to six stories in the core, with shops on the ground floor attracting those on foot to window-shop and people-watch.
A couple of our local elected officials just had a really bad week, their images tarnished by events in their personal lives. In today's Daily News Tipoffs.
Obviously, the biggest issue was Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and his impending divorce from his wife of 20 years, Corina.But City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo also foudn himself under scrutiny over an accident involving the city vehicle issued to him and who was driving.
After announcing the separation in a press release issued late Friday, June 8, the mayor called a news conference for the following Monday to deal with any questions and avoid disrupting future events.
While Villaraigosa took responsibility for the situation, he refused to address whether he'd been involved with another woman, and his request for privacy served only to fan City Hall gossip about the breakup of his marriage.
When a photo surfaced early this year showing Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and a flirtatious Paris Hilton schmoozing at a post-Grammy party, their pairing was written off as Los Angeles' two biggest publicity hounds capitalizing on yet another photo op. Tony Castro in today's Daily News.
LAObserved.com, a media Web site that focuses on the city's movers and shakers, even ran a contest seeking the wittiest caption, then published a Letterman-like Top 10 list of what the mayor and the celebutante might be saying.
Few, however, gave any serious thought to the significance of the moment - the obsession Villaraigosa and Hilton have about being in the public eye and society's corresponding fascination with the politician who has sold himself as the poster child for the American Dream and the heiress who has lived it every day of her life.
A Huffington Post blogger thinks so. In a column today, Mona Gable writes on the progressive news/opinion Web site that presidential candidate Hillary Clinton should give back Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's endorsement if she wants to win in California.
Antonio, she says, just isn't very popular any more. There's the failed school reform bill, the May Day melee with LAPD, the loss of the 2016 Olympics to Chicago and, apparently, he's not very nice to waiters (?). But it's the announcement of his pending divorce with his wife of 20-years, Corina, that's the final straw for Antonio.
"And now we have the split from his wife Corina over an alleged affair. Ah, me. When Antonio was Assembly Speaker, I covered him for a brief time in Sacramento. You could hardly walk down a Capitol hallway without hearing titters about his philandering. So when the mayor's office issued a press release last week announcing the breakup with his wife, it was hardly earth shattering. And that's where Antonio should have left it: with a nice dignified press release. But no. He had to hold a press conference, he had to bring in the cameras. He loves the cameras. And he had to trot out two daughters from previous relationships to stand beside him."
Bob Stern, president of the Center for Governmental Studies, will speak about state political reform issues on Thursday from 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. at the City Club on Bunker Hill, 333 S. Grand Avenue on the 54th floor in downtown Los Angeles.
The talk, entitled, "Political Potpourri: A Review of California's Political Reform Issues" will address campaign financing, the initiative process, term limits, redistricting, and voter information, among other things.
The free talk will address proposals in the state Legislature to establish an independent redistricting commission, extend term limits and establish public financing of campaigns.
Those wishing to attend can register at www.PatBrownInstitute.org.
Free parking is accessible below the Wells Fargo Building.
Former President Bill and Hillary Clinton have dissolved the blind trust that has managed their investments since they entered the White House in 1993, converting all stocks to cash to avoid financial conflicts as she runs for president, according to documents to be filed today with federal ethics officials according to the Washington Post.
The documents reviewed by The Washington Post provide the most complete accounting of how the Clintons accrued the $5 million to $25 million in the trust -- nearly all since leaving the White House -- through investments in foreign companies, oil giants and drugmakers without their input or knowledge and without public disclosure.
The former president has also derived substantial income from speeches to companies and interest groups as his wife runs for the White House, earning nearly $6 million in the first five months of this year on top of the $40 million he earned over the previous five years, the documents show.
In one such engagement this March, the Boys and Girls Club of Los Angeles paid Bill Clinton $150,000 to hear him speak, the papers show.
While he has been deluged with personal issues over the past week, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa
will receive a rare honor today from his alma mater.
Villaraigosa, who is a featured speaker at the UCLA commencement ceremony, will be presented with the UCLA Medal, the university's highest honor created to salute those individuals "who have made extraordinary and distinguished contributions to their professions, to higher education, to our society, and to the people of UCLA."
Past recipients have included Kareem Abdul Jabbar, former Mayor Tom Bradley and former President Bill Clinton. Others who have been honored with the award are heads of state, renowned scientists, artists, scholars; peacemakers; social
reformers; and visionaries in the realm of commercial enterprise.
Councilman Greig Smith was named "Legislator of the Year" by the Valley Industry and Commerce Association and is to be honored at its annual "Best of the San Fernando Valley" dinner tonight.
More than 400 of the Valley’s top business leaders and elected officials are expected to attend the dinner, where Smith will receive its "Legislator of the Year award.
VICA said Smith was selected becasue of his work on the RENEW LA waste management plan, reductions to business taxes, and for his opposition to the City-only sales tax hike and to the living wage proposal for private hotels.
For the first time in more than 30 years, a cityhood bid for East Los Angeles will be considered, beginning with an economic viability study expected to be announced today.
The Local Agency Formation Commission is due to announce it will study whether East Los Angeles meets economic criteria to become the 89th city in Los Angeles County.
The LAFCO study would take about nine months, after which backers would have to collect signatures from about 10,000 registered voters.
L.A. looks at change
To entice Angelenos back to the polls after record-low turnouts in recent years, the city is mulling a host of changes, including new election dates, more mail-in voting and instant runoff voting, staff writer Kerry Cavanaugh reports in today's Daily News.
In this year's elections, 10 percent of registered voters participated in the March primary and 7 percent turned out for the May general election.
The reason? Voter education groups cited voter fatigue from too many elections, complicated initiatives, language barriers, negative campaigning, lack of interest in local races and a growing belief that voting doesn't matter.
Does the Valley count anymore?
The San Fernando Valley could be wiped off the U.S. Census map under a proposal that threatens its recently granted designation as a distinct demographic region, staff writer Lisa Friedman in today's
Daily News.
Claiming that few people use the data, the U.S. Census Bureau is seeking to completely eliminate the nationwide category under which the Valley was granted its federal statistical status just two years ago.
But the move has prompted outrage from lawmakers and others who battled for five years for the designation and hailed it as giving the region the detailed demographic information needed to achieve the economic and political clout it has sought for decades.
Paris' special treatment?
As the heiress was moved from the medical ward to the Lynwood Correctional Institute, a pair of stories regarding treatment of L.A.'s most famous prisoner.
While in custody, Hilton could be dining on octopus in oil, crab meat in brine and fish steak in Louisiana hot sauce during her stay at the Twin Towers Correctional Facility, staff writer Troy Anderson in the Daily News..
Those are just some of the gourmet food items Hilton and other inmates can purchase in the jail's store.
While sheriff's spokesman Steve Whitmore declined to get specific Wednesday about what Hilton is eating because of "privacy issues," he said she's on a "special diet, ... but it doesn't include seafood."
Meanwhile the Los Angeles Times is reporting that it looked at more than 2 million records and found Hilton is serving more time than most.
Hilton will end up serving more time behind bars than the vast majority of inmates sent to L.A. County Jail for similar offenses, according to a Times analysis of jail records.
Whether Hilton received special treatment from the Sheriff's Department has become the subject of much debate since Sheriff Lee Baca last week allowed the hotel heiress to go home after less than four full days in jail, despite a promise that she would serve 23 days of a 45-day sentence.
Councilman Bernard Parks is renewing his effort to stall the reappointment of Police Chief Bill Bratton,
Parks, who has been a consistent critic of Bratton's style and policies, said he did not believe the Police Commission allowed adequate public comment.
And, in a letter to the commission, he cited a request from the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and others to delay action.
"The Southern Christian Leadership Conference, Community Coalition, and many of the Block
Clubs and Community Based Organizations listed in a letter SCLC recently wrote to the
Commission are constituents of the 8th Council District.
" Due to the failure of the Police Commission to participate in an appropriate outreach effort or to create any criteria for reappointment, it is mandatory that the Commission allows the community to do its own due
diligence and objectively discuss Chief Bratton’s entire term as the LAPD Chief of Police before
the City invests an additional $1.5 Million to $2 Million into another 5 year term.
"The issues that confront the Department and the City are most acute in the area I represent. The
collective history of the LAPD under Chief Bratton requires that the Commission abide by this
community’s request."
CityWatch is asking readers to grade Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa on his accomplishments during his first two years in office.
Few question that he’s popular with the public, is photogenic and has made his popular presence felt during his first two years. The debate starts when the conversation gets around to what he’s accomplished on the priority promises he made.
The verdict so far? They either love him or hate him. Some 45 percent of respondents say the mayor should get an A, while 36 percent say he should get an F.
The poll continues at CityWatch , under LA Pulse.
DWP ordered to pay back
The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power overcharged the school district, county and other government agencies for more than a decade and now must return more than $220 million, a judge ruled Thursday.
Six government entities sued in 2000, saying that under state law the DWP can only charge them for the cost of producing the electricity they use - less than what the utility had billed them. Kerry Cavanaugh
reports the decision.
Villaraigosa divorce started
Just four days after Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa publicly announced his separation after two decades of marriage, his wife promptly filed for divorce late Tuesday.
Wasting little time, Corina Villaraigosa filed a standard, 10-page petition in Los Angeles County Superior Court seeking dissolution of the marriage because of "irreconcilable differences." Troy Anderson reported the details.
The bare-bones filing had few details, noting assets and liabilities were yet to be determined. But the speed with which it was filed highlighted what some have said has been a longstanding and growing estrangement between the couple.
The filing came just one day after a somber mayor held a news conference in which he deflected inquiries about the reasons for the split but said he took responsibility for the breakup and felt "a personal sense of failure."
"When you've been married for 20 years, that's a big thing," he said at the time. "It's been a stable kind of anchor for the family, and so when you're not able to continue, it's difficult."
But the mayor also refused to say whether he'd been romantically involved with other women since he took office July 1, 2005.
LAUSD graduation rates continue decline
Los Angeles Unified has the sixth-lowest graduation rate among large school districts in the nation, according to a study released Tuesday by the Editorial Projects in Education Research Center.
The study, whose findings are disputed by LAUSD officials, said the district has a high school graduation rate of 45 percent, compared with a national average of 70 percent. Details reported in today's Daily News by Harrison Sheppard and Naush Boghossian.
In a city where racial politics is alwasy simmering beneath the surface, a former network news producer has started a blog devoted exclusively to the dicussion of racial issues.
Carmen Dixon, at www.allabout race.com, sees her site as the place to " talk about race in America. And by talk I mean share, discuss, argue, learn, teach, laugh and understand. This is a place for personal stories about how the vagaries of racial conflict affect each of us. Too often, race is the unaddressed “elephant in the room,” even at a time when our “melting pot” is spilling all over the stove."
Dixon said she s tarted the site out of a frustration over the lack of recognition of racial issues and how most of oir problems are based on stereotypes.
"I’ve always enjoyed talking about race even if getting the conversation started was uncomfortable. We comfortably talk about sexuality, gender issues, and money, but just mention a story in the paper with a racial component, particularly in a mixed race crowd, and everybody clinches," she writes.
" Many times I’ve avoided racial topics because I was afraid to discover that someone I like has racial views completely incompatible with mine. It hasn’t happened often, but it has. Like the time I found out one of my good friends at the time was “passing” because she thought it would help her career. Or the couple of times I chose to explain to a white friend why they could not use the “n-word” and had to strike it from their vocabulary."
Even as Los Angeles leaders cut services to balance the budget, tens of millions of dollars in bills owed to the city were going uncollected, Controller Laura Chick said Monday. Staff writer Kerry Cavanaugh in today's Daily News.
Her audit of L.A.'s billing and collection systems found that some $98 million was written off as uncollectible over the last three years, primarily because the city failed to send bills or follow up on delinquent payments.
"We are potentially losing out on millions of dollars that could hire more police officers and firefighters, fill potholes, trim trees and buy library books, Chick said.
"How can the city of Los Angeles, that has so many unmet needs and demands for services, not care about collecting all the money legitimately owed it?"
Chick listed 35 recommendations, including the creation of a centralized billing system in the Office of Finance and hiring more contractors to collect on unpaid bills.
Under renewed fire for freeing Paris Hilton, Sheriff Lee Baca faced racism charges Monday from the Rev. Al Sharpton, a lawsuit from a double-amputee incarcerated in the same jail as the celebrity heiress and a campaign to boot him from office. And, today, he appears before the Board of Supervisors to explain his decision ro release her early. Details from staff writer Troy Anders.on in today's Daily News.
Baca has survived a barrage of controversy since taking office in 1998, ranging from releasing dangerous criminals early to kowtowing to celebrities - including last year's handling of actor Mel Gibson's drunk-driving arrest and anti-Semitic tirade.
Hilton is now back in jail after a judge ordered her to complete what is expected to be a 23-day sentence. And political observers doubt whether she'll be Baca's downfall.
Councilman Jack Weiss has enlisted Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, former Mayor Richard Riordan and other of the city's heavy hitters to help him fend off a recall attempt. Weiss' team put out their formal recall response Monday and it says:
"WARNING TO VOTERS: SIGNING THIS PETITION WILL COST YOU AND YOUR FELLOW TAXPAYERS $1.5 MILLION FOR AN UNNECESSARY SPECIAL ELECTION" (their excessive caps, not mine)
The message and pleas from Villaraigosa and others to "Please don't sign this petition" will appear on the paperwork recall supporters must circulate and get signed to qualify for the ballot. Supporters need about 23,000 signatures.
Every politician in the state - except, maybe, Sheriff Lee Baca - should be thanking Paris Hilton. Tipoffs in today;s Daily News.
It is fairly amazing how a 115-pound celebrity suddenly became the 800-pound gorilla of public policy. She has become the queen of distraction politics with an early jail release that has beco Los Angele
Te National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ) will gather to mark its 25th anniversary next week in San Jose and look at the changing role it plays today. Details of the conference are available here.
NAHJ 2007 will convene in the midst of great flux in the industry, with the demise of Knight Ridder and other media consolidations and buyouts. "We believe there will be a fair number of people looking for jobs," said NAHJ executive director Ivan Roman. "There will also be people with jobs who are trying to figure out how they need to reinvent themselves as journalists, given all the changes in the industry."
Issues related to immigration, including anti-immigrant backlash and the language used to describe undocumented workers, take the forefront at this year's NAHJ convention.
In the months leading up to the convention, the May Day immigration rally in Los Angeles that turned into a melee, the events that led to the firing of Don Imus and the rise of hate crimes against immigrants form the context for several panel discussions.
"I think it's important that we bring to light issues that are important to us and at the same time improve the situation for many Latino journalists," said NAHJ 2007 co-chair Veronica Villafane. "We can have some serious conversations and not just affect us but other people."
Los Angeles Police Chief William Bratton will appear on the panel, "MacArthur Park and Beyond: Can the LAPD, Immigrant Groups and the Media Ever Trust Each Other Again?"
With heiress Paris Hilton returning to custody today, she might want to take advantage of a new website started by the ACLU of Southern California,
Saying it want to provide information and maintatin basic standards of living for inmates and ensure the safety
and health of inmates, security guards, and jail staff, the ACLU said the website includes links for families and inmates.
Nearly 20,000 Angelenos call jail home every day. Approximately 90 percent have not
been convicted of the crime they are charged with. Yet inmates lack medical services and
basic sanitation and face disease and violence.
The website includes information on:
• How to locate and visit an inmate
• How to file a complaint about jail conditions
• Information on inmates’ rights, including basic living standards and the right to vote
• A glossary of basic jail terms
• Press releases on recent jail news
• Further resources, such as links to information on public defenders, parole, and
probation
• How to volunteer to help our work
the porn industry is made up for families. How they reconcile their jobs with thier lives is explored in the final part of the Daily News series examining the porn industry.
Karen Stagliano talks to her 6-year-old daughter about nearly everything - how her brain works, how astronauts breathe in space - but they never talk openly about mommy's job.
Stagliano, 32, formerly appeared in X-rated movies and now works as a spokeswoman for Evil Angel, an adult-film company in Van Nuys run by her husband, John.
"She definitely doesn't know that I was a model," Stagliano said of her daughter. "She's seen some pictures of me in bikini-type things, very innocuous, less racy than you would see in Maxim. She's seen that but doesn't think anything of it. She just says, `Mommy, that's a pretty swimsuit.
During the past few years, Craig Gross and Ron Jeremy have grown close and, despite diametrical career choices, have come to respect and appreciate each other. the firfth part of the series in today's Daiily News.
Gross is an ordained minister who leads the anti-porn crusade XXXChurch.com and considers masturbation a sin. Jeremy is a secular Jew who has performed in 1,900 porn flicks.
"I have nothing against Ron Jeremy," Gross said as the two men drew a crowd while chatting at the Adult Entertainment Expo here earlier this year, singing "We Are the World." "I love this guy. I love hanging out with him."
How the war on porn has changed. While some still rail against the industry, others like Gross try to reach out to it and change the lives of those who earn their living in it, or those who have been touched by it.
Members of a Chatsworth church pray for the end of pornography and the healing of those it has harmed. Christian men gather to confess their Internet-fueled addiction. Rehab centers in Colorado and Kentucky provide short-term and months-long escapes more commonly used to treat drug abuse.
In the adult-ente
In recent years, public relations and marketing firms have increasingly embraced astroturf or phony grassroots community groups to support corporate causes and counter real community opposition.
So some Sunland-Tujunga residents were suspicious when two groups _ Stop Racism and Friends Involved in Restoring Sunland-Tujunga _ popped up to support a proposed Home Depot that has been blasted by the local neighborhood council and Councilwoman Wendy Greuel. The Web sites looked awfully similar. They were created around the same time and they're hosted by the same Web hosting company.
Is it real? Or is astroturf?
Dakota Communications, one of Home Depot public relations and lobbying firms, said it's real. Yes, the founder of the group, Daniel Haro, worked for Dakota a month ago. But he quit the well-paying job to form Stop Racism because he was troubled by the hateful, anti-immigrant, anti-Mexican sentiments he encountered as he tried to drum up support for Home Depot.
Rick Taylor, a principal with Dakota and political advisor to Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky and former LA Council President Alex Padilla , was appalled that people would question the group's motives.
"Here's a guy who leaves a paying job to come and fight the fight for people," Taylor said. "He should get an award, not get criticized."
The Daily News story today covers the debate. The North Valley Area Planning Commission makes the final decision on the Home Depot today.
Los Angeles residents would pay 6 percent more for water and 9 percent more for electricity over the next two years to cover the cost of replacing the city's outdated utility systems, DWP officials said Tuesday. Staff Writer Kerry Cavanaugh reports on the proposal in today's Daily News.
The rate hikes are part of a $4 billion budget for fiscal 2007-08 that was tentatively approved by the Board of Water and Power Commissioners. While the agency plans to consult with neighborhood councils and hold at least six
public hearings before adopting the rates in October, board members indicated they support the proposed hikes.
"I think we have to face up to the investments that we must make. We have to have a very honest conversation with the people of Los Angeles that those investments don't happen for free," said board President H. David Nahai.
"When people realize you have choices to make between outages on the one hand and investing in reliability on the other hand, I think the people of L.A. will vote for the investments we're proposing.
"I think I can, with a very clear conscious, support it."
The rate increases come as the DWP launches a five-year, $1 billion plan to upgrade its power system, which suffered massive outages during last summer's record-breaking heat wave.
Much of the DWP's power system - poles, cables and circuits - were installed in the post-World War II building boom and need to be replaced.
Amid concerns that a plan to expand the authority of Los Angeles County's chief executive would revive the days of "back-room deals," the County Counsel's Office issued a report Tuesday detailing how the plan would comply with the state's open-meeting laws. Staff Writer Troy Anderson details the concerns in today's Daily News.
But even as officials sought to reassure the public that new authority for the office would be open and transparent, the counsel's office stamped its report "confidential."
County Counsel Ray Fortner said virtually all memos to the Board of Supervisors are considered confidential communications between the board and its attorney.
"This was just following our standard practice," Fortner said.
The porn industy has gone mainstream.
Nautica Thorn was strolling the aisles at Blockbuster one night, just browsing for a video, when she did a double take.
There, on the shelf amid the action films and romantic comedies, sat a sex-laden adventure on the high seas starring porn stars Jesse Jane and Janine.
"I was just getting a movie to watch and I saw `Pirates.' I thought, `Wow, that's cool,"' Thorn said. "When I was a kid, I remember staying up late at night with the cable box, watching the little squiggly lines, hoping you could see something. You were like, `Ooh, I think I can see something."'
Thorn's shock is surprising, seeing as how she's a porn actress herself. And she knows firsthand how the adult industry flirts with mainstream appeal and exposure.
The 23-year-old star of "Teeny Tarts 4" and president of Hollywood-based Nautica Thorn Productions made a name for herself getting naked on camera. That name pushed her into mainstream consciousness recently as she appeared on the Fox reality show "My Bare Lady," which featured four porn performers trying to make it in London theater. Produced for a major network and now available for sale on iTunes, the series completely relies on the idea that people like to watch sex on TV.
City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo reached a proposed settlement with the Ethics Commission over reporting errors with his officeholder account. He will pay a fine of $11,450 to settle the charge.
The agreement states that Delgadillo's campaign treasurer didn't provide a detailed itemization of 25 officeholder expenditures and that five expenditures were during the 2005 election blackout period when he wasn't supposed to use the account.
The commission will consider the settlement at its June 12 meeting.
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa will again join television and film stars the 49th annual Hollywood Stars Game on Saturday at Dodger Stadium. The celebrity game is scheduled to begin at 5:15 p.m., prior to the Dodgers taking on the Toronto Blue Jays.
Fans are invited to watch from Dodger Stadium's outfield grass and warning track to watch their favorite Hollywood celebrities play. FSN Prime Ticket's Steve Lyons and Patrick O'Neal will coach both teams of stars.
In addition to Villaraigosa, others scheduled to play include Michael Clarke Duncan, Luc Robataille and James Denton, among others. Kevin and Bean from KROQ will emcee the event.
Full press release from the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Joining in the local effort to honor former Mayor Tom Bradley, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday urged the U.S. Postal Service to issue a stamp in his name.
The request was sent to the federal Citizens' Stamp Advisory Committee, which is considering the proposal that was first made by the City Council. The committee selects 20 to 30 subjects for commemorative stamps from a list of about 50,000 suggestions a year.
Bradley was mayor of Los Angeles from 1973 to 1993 and was the first African-American mayor elected in a major city. He is credited with boosting international trade and overseeing the city's hosting of the 1984
Summer Olympics.
A native of Texas, Bradley's family moved to Los Angeles and he graduated from Poly High School and attended UCLA, where he ran track. He became a lieutenant in the Los Angeles Police Department, making
him the highest-ranking black member of the force at the time.
He went on to a successful career in city politics, winning election to the City Council in 1963 before defeating former Mayor Sam Yorty for mayor in 1973.
Bradley died Sept. 29, 1998, of a heart attack at the age of 81.
Gina Marie Lindsay, the new executive director of Los Angeles World Airports will be paid $305,015 a year, the maximum allowed under the City Charter, under an action by the city Airport Commission.
Lindsey was hired to succeed Lydia Kennard, who left in January to become chief executive of a new aviation-related real estate company.
Lindsey served as managing director of Seattle-Tacoma International Airport for 11 years.
Nearly a year after a heat wave triggered mass power outages across Los Angeles and exposed problems in the city's aging electrical system, the DWP has replaced thousands of transformers, repaired hundreds of problem circuits and hired private crews on standby. Staff writer Kerry Cavanaugh details the challenges in today's Daily News.
But as Los Angeles prepares for another potentially record-breaking summer, some are questioning whether the repairs will be enough to keep the power on.
"There will be widespread outages in the West Valley, West Los Angeles and downtown," predicted Brian D'Arcy, business manager of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 18, which represents more than 80 percent of DWP employees.
"They've done pretty much nothing since last summer. They need to hire people. They need to start doing load-testing.
"At the very least, they need to warn people in Los Angeles that there is a plan if they lose power."
Department of Water and Power managers, backed by the board overseeing the utility, dispute D'Arcy's assertions and say they are confident this summer will not be a repeat of last year.
General Manager Ronald Deaton said the DWP has replaced problem equipment, hired extra emergency crews and improved customer response.
The soap opera that has surrounded Assemblyman Llloyd Levine, D-Van Nuys, and his decision to fire his chief deputy, Stuart Waldman, continutes to reverberate throughout the Valley.
It has has sparked controversy within San Fernando Valley political circles, as activists debate whether the lawmaker is putting politics over personal loyalty as reported by Sacrfamento bureau staff writer Harrison Sheppard in today's Daily News..
Levine, fired Waldman last month and later withdrew his endorsement for Waldman to succeed him in his Assembly seat. Instead he is now backing Bob Blumenfield, an aide to Rep. Howard Berman. Levine, who is termed out of the Assembly, is seeking a state Senate seat next year.
Levine has not given a public explanation for the firing, calling it a confidential personnel matter. Waldman and his backers say it was all part of a political deal to get Levine the support of the influential Berman in his state Senate run.
Political consultant Larry Levine, the assemblyman's father, is advising Blumenfield in his Assembly bid.
Waldman said he was "disappointed in Lloyd Levine," but not deterred from continuing his campaign.
"It's a shame," Waldman said. "It's very disheartening. It's a situation like this that is the reason people are turned off by politicians and politics."
He's been home for a couple of weeks now and Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is off again this week for another lobbying trip to Washington, D.C., this time with Police Chief Bill Bratton joining himm.
The two are scheduled to testify on Tuesday before a congressional committees to urge adoption of a comprehensive gang reduction legislation that would provide more money to local jursidictions.
Villaraigosa and Bratton will testify before the Judiciary Committee of the U.S. Senate to voice support for Senator Dianne Feinstein*s Gang Abatement and Prevention Act of 2007, which would establish tougher federal penalties for gang violence and provides more than $1 billion in funding for prevention, intervention and suppression programs over five years.
Villaraigosa said the money is critical to supplement his gang reduction plan.
The Daily News continues its examination of the porn industry in a week-long series.
The danger and continuing threat of HIV-AIDS is explored and how the industry has responded -- or not -- to the peril.
Also, an interview with Sasha Gray, not your typical girl next door who fell into porn and the downside for those once worked in the industry.
A special forum for readers comments also has been established.
Iin troday's Tipoff column, we take a look at Councliman Jack Weiss and his effort to fight the recall campaign launched against him with an appeal for help from his colleagues -- without much success.
Weiss was formally served with a recall notice last week and has three weeks to publish a response. Recall proponents will then have 120 days to collect 23,000 signatures that are needed to qualify a recall — a daunting task in the best of circumstances.
In the meantime, Weiss' colleagues are watching with fascination and a bit of guilty pleasure at the troubles Weiss faces even as he prepares to run for city attorney in 2009.
"Jack is getting what he deserves," said one council member who asked not to be identified. "If he treats his constituents like he treats us, this is no surprise."
One recent example came last Tuesday when Weiss passed on attending a City Council meeting to instead attend a Police Commission meeting.
The council was nearly forced to adjourn for lack of a quorum and the council had to wait nearly 30 minutes before starting.
"There was no reason for J
Somewhere in a garage, a guy, a girl and a camera are chipping away at the San Fernando Valley's great, unspoken business - pornography.
The Daily News on Sunday began a series looking into the porn industry _ the business everyone knows about but few talk of.
Nearly everyone knows it's there. Nearly everyone has a story about it, about running into a porn star at the gas station, a neighbor who used to do scenes, a preschool parent who looked strangely familiar.
The industry rakes in billions in revenue each year and has become increasingly mainstream. Actors show up on talk shows. Its showcases take over swank Hollywood hotels and the Los Angeles Convention Center.
UCLA will bestow the UCLA Medal on four people this commencement season in recognition of their exceptional contributions as leaders in the fields of public service, architecture and legal affairs. The award is the university's highest honor.
At separate UCLA commencement ceremonies in June, the UCLA Medal will be presented to Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, a UCLA alumnus who is also a former speaker of the California Assembly; former U.S. Secretary of Transportation Norman Mineta, who also served in the House of Representatives for more than 20 years; Chien Chung ("Didi”) Pei, who with his father, I.M. Pei, designed the new Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center; and Morgan Chu, a leading attorney and UCLA alumnus.
UCLA Acting Chancellor Norman Abrams said the medal is awarded to those who have made extraordinary and distinguished contributions to their professions, to higher education, to society or to UCLA.
The video shown by Councilman Bernard Parks during the Wednesday City Council meeting regarding the LAPD's handling of the May Day parade is drawing more and more attention.
Jack Dunphy, the pseudonym used by an author who says he has been involved with the LAPD, writes on the Patterico Pontifications blog that while he has problems with Chief Bill Bratton, they are nothing compared to his experience with Parks when he served as chief.
Dunphy writes:
Rank -and-file officers on the LAPD certainly have their reasons for being disappointed with Chief William Bratton. I have expressed some of those reasons in my columns on National Review Online, most recently here. But disappointed as we might be with Bratton, you’d have a hard time finding anyone on the department lamenting the fact that L.A. city councilman Bernard Parks was ousted from the job.
So it’s laughable to see Parks insinuating, as he did at a recent city council meeting, that the LAPD would be in better shape today if he had been retained as chief. During a discussion of the LAPD’s handling of the May Day protest at MacArthur Park, Parks played a video supplied by “community members” that portrayed the May Day melee as merely the latest in a series of abuses committed by LAPD officers during Bratton’s tenure. Among these were the videotaped arrests of Stanley Miller, who was struck with a flashlight after fleeing from a stolen car, and William Cardenas, who was punched in the face by officers attempting to arrest him for a felony warrant. For Parks to suggest that these incidents would not have occurred had he been in command of the LAPD is beyond absurd.
But, on second thought, maybe not so absurd after all, but not for the reasons Parks would wish. Under Parks’s autocratic stewardship, morale in the LAPD was abysmal. Officers were leaving the department in droves, far outpacing recruiting efforts. So perhaps it’s true that those controversial arrests would not have occurred, but only because there wouldn’t have been any cops left to make them.
William Bratton could do better, but even on his worst day he’s a better chief than Parks was on his best.
In one of the more unusual moments of LA City Council's three-hour discussion of the MacArthur Park melee Wednesday, Councilman (and former LAPD Chief) Bernard Parks aired a short video highlighting some of the police department's missteps since Chief William Bratton arrived.
There was television news coverage of Stanley Miller, thumped with a flashlight. (Miller ultimately received a $450,00 settlement)
There was Parks and Bratton going at it in a City Council meeting over whether Bratton's harsh words for criminals were insensitive to minority communities.
There was the YouTube.com video of police repeatedly punching suspect William Cardenas in the face.
Parks explained the video was prepared by community members, who were concerned the May Day event was "not an isolated incident but a gradual deterioration of discipline in the department."
On the council floor the video was met with dead silence, a few shocked expressions and a feeling that just maybe Parks might still be a little upset that he was ousted as LAPD chief and replaced by Bratton.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger announced Wednesday that he's teaming up with Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty to cut global warming. The two will sign an agreement to work together on climate change initiatives. Who knew California and Ontario were so close? McGuinty answers:
"Today, Canada's most populous province and America's most populous state have joined together to tackle one of our greatest challenges - as business partners, as places that share a legacy of innovation and progressive thinking, and as friends."
Now that Police Chief Bill Bratton has made his initial report to the Police Commission on the May Day melee, look for that panel to once again get on track of discuss the chief's reappointment to a second term.
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa told reporters on Tuesday that while he still wants a more detailed accounting of what happened at MacArthur Park, his support for Bratton serving a second five-year term has not wavered.
"He is the best qualified to be chief," Villaraigosa said. "I expect the Police Commission will now be acting soon to make that appointment."
The panel had been set to push through the appointment until the problems developed at MacArthur Park and they have put the decision on hold until Bratton completed his preliminary assessment.
Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who has managed to keep his team together for nearly two years, is losing one of his top aides.
Deputy Mayor Marcus Allen, who has overseen the administrative side of the mayor's office in working with city agencies, told the mayor he is leaving to go into private business with Arnie Berghoff, one of the top lobbyists in the city.
"We are going to miss him," Villaraigosa said. "I didn't want to lose him, but it was a matter of money. He has a family and the city could only pay so much."
Allen came to Villaraigosa after working as chief deputy to City Controller Laura Chick. Before that, he worked in the chief legislative analyst's office after having worked for then-Councilman Zev Yaroslavsky.
***
Allen is joining a joint venture with Berghoff and Harvey Englander and will be a partner with the two. He is scheduled to leave his city service and start with the new firm in early July.
Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's endorsement of Hillary Rodham Clinton's presidential campaign -- it'll be official Wednesday -- is the politically shrewd move, coalition politics and Sanjaya-like Obama passion aside.
And it has nothing to do with presidential politics. Gubernatorial politics, maybe. Or, for sure.
By giving Hillary the biggest Latino political endorsement to date, which will be especially helpful in the suddenly important California presidential primary, Antonio assures himself of being able to call in a quid pro quo for Bill and Hillary's endorsement when the mayor announces his 2010 gubernatorial campaign, as everyone expects him to do.
Those Clinton endorsements will mean a lot more in Antonio's anticipated statewide run than anything that Barack Obama or any of the other Democratic presidential hopefuls can offer.
Even as it scrambles to add 600 officers by 2009, the LAPD has slashed its recruiting budget by nearly 70 percent, which some fear will hamper its ability to compete for top-quality applicants, by staff writer Rachel Uranga in today's Daily News.
While the 2007-08 budget the City Council approved last week boosts funding for the Los Angeles Police Department by 4.5 percent - to $1.2 billion - it also cuts money for recruiting from $3.2 million to $1 million.
Those trying to identify and lure qualified candidates say their task will become more difficult with such tight resources.
"It's going to be tough because the name of the game in recruitment is advertisement," said Cmdr. Kenneth Garner, who heads the LAPD's recruiting operation.
Members of the LAPD team find themselves sitting shoulder to shoulder with other peace-officer recruiters at job fairs and reading federal recruiting ads on the backs of buses as they sit in traffic.
"We are going to have to be even more aggressive than we are now," Garner said. "You almost have to be like an athletic recruiter because the best candidates have their choice of where to go."
It's starting to be an anxious time for Los Angeles City Council leadership.
Council President Eric Garcetti, winding up his first two-year term as head of the 15-member body, is looking over his shoulder for potential challengers, in Tipoffs this week..
Garcetti, who succeeded former Councilman Alex Padilla by promising he'd allow other members to play a greater role, is particularly concerned at the prospect of a challenge by Councilman Herb Wesson.
Wesson, a former state Assembly speaker who is no stranger to power politics, demurs on the subject but can't help grinning at the possibility.
It all started after Wesson said he will not run for Yvonne Burke's seat on the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors and was happy being a member of the City Council.
"I haven't decided what I want to do," Wesson said. "I'm not unhappy with Eric as president, but I have to say I don't mind people thinking about me as running for mayor or council president. It makes them take you more seriously."
The council is set to elect its new leaders at the first meeting in July.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is showing some California pride and putting his support behind the Anaheim Ducks as the team enters its first Stanley Cup playoffs with a bet against Ottawa Premier Dalton McQuinty, who is supporting is Ottawa Senators
"California is the proud home to the best of the best - that's why I am confident that the Ducks will bring the legendary Cup to the Golden State," said Schwarzenegger, who is scheduled to be at the game and drop the ceremonial first puck.
In the best, Schwarzenegger is betting a custom-made jacket by California clothes designer Tony Nowak, a cornucopia of California's bounties including: Anaheim chiles, the home of the Ducks' Sesquicentennial oranges, famous boysenberry jam from Knott's Berry Farm, extra virgin olive oil from UC Davis, California grown rice, strawberries, peaches, plums and nectarines, California Grown giveaways and a case of California wine, including red and white selections.
McQuinty is wagering a one month supply of Tim Horton's Coffee, a popular Canadian doughnut and coffee chain, a variety of high-quality, world-renowned Ontario wines, including a bottle of ice wine, a sweet wine made from grapes harvested when frozen on the vine, and * a Roots sweater.
On Tuesday, Schwarzenegger will be in Canada for a trade mission to develop and promote California's economic and political ties with Canada. Over the course of three days, the Governor will meet with business, agricultural, academic and government leaders and will visit the Canadian cities of Toronto, Ottawa and Vancouver.
It's one of those lists that everyone loves to read.
The Los Angeles Business Journal compiled its list of wealthiest Angelenos in 2007and it has some familiar names heading the list.
Coming in at first is investor Kirk Kerkorian, followed by Sumner Redstone, Eli Broad and David Geffen.
In all, the list has 41 billionaires with the "poorest" coming in at 50th place with a worth of only $715 million.
Can I get quorum? Anyone? Anyone?
In his CityWatch column, Former Department of Neighborhood Empowerment General Manager Greg Nelson takes city council members to task for skipping too many Education and Neighborhood Committee meetings. The committee oversees neighborhood council issues.
"Is it unreasonable to ask City Council members to show up for work? For the second meeting in a row, and for the umpteenth time, the chair of the Education and Neighborhoods Committee (Richard Alarcon) sat alone and went through the agenda. Without explanation, the other two members (Janice Hahn and Jose Huizar) were absent."
"Let’s keep track of who shows up for work," Nelson urges. "There was a time when you could walk into the City Clerk’s office and view attendance records, but no more. I can’t think of another workplace where attendance isn’t kept."
Now, here's something that should come as no surprise: Councilman Jack Weiss doesn't want to be served with papers to recall him.
Supporters of the recall effort complained Thurday that Wily Weiss is refusing to accept service of the notice of his recall, making it more difficult for them to start their effort.
What did they expect?
To recall supporters, Weiss' behavior is validating their claims that he "displays disdain for his constituents."
The group said a process server was rebuffed by a Weiss secretary when they went to his office, and was told the councilman would not meet with him.
"The server suggested to Weiss's secretary that it would be better for the councilman to receive these documents in the privacy of his own office, rather than be confronted at a public meeting or event, but it was to no avail," the recall organizers said in a statement.
Can't we all get along?
That's the question that Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg will try to answer at a forum they are convening next month with leaders from government, media, business, labor, philanthropy, religion and the non-profit sector to explore ways to improve political dialogue and decision-making at all levels of government.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is scheduled to be the keynote speaker at the conference to be held June 19.
The conference, " Ceasefire! Bridging the Political Divide," is organized by the Center on Communication Leadership at the USC Annenberg School for Communication.
Despite concerns the system would bring back the days of "backroom deals," Los Angeles County supervisors voted Tuesday to grant vast new authority to CAO David Janssen and to give him a whopping pay raise from $242,116 to as much as $399,000 a year, staff writer Troy Anderson
reports in today's Daily News.
Under the $1.7 million reorganization approved 4-1 by the board, Janssen's title will be changed to chief executive officer, and he'll have five deputy CEOs who will oversee clusters of departments. On July 1, department heads will begin reporting directly to Janssen rather than taking orders from the supervisors.It was less than a year ago that Janssen had submitted his retirement, agreeing to come back only after supervisors promised to increase his power.
The supervisors plan to ask voters next year to approve the reorganization as part of the County Charter.
Advocates said the plan would allow the supervisors to hold one person accountable for fixing many of the county's problems.
" This plan has a lot of promise," Supervisor Gloria Molina said. "That doesn't mean there aren't things I worry about. This is a very big and bold step. But it makes me nervous and I know I'm not the only board member who is nervous about putting this in the charter and not being able to go back later and change it."
At Tuesday's meeting, advocates for open government and Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich
blasted the proposal, saying the new structure would allow many decisions to be made behind closed doors.
"Our chief administrative officer stated that the new governance will be `better' because policy discussions will be exempt from the Brown Act," Antonovich said. "This is a step backward toward the old days of backroom deals and catering to an all-powerful bureaucrat."
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa will lobby state leaders for critical gang reduction and public transportation funds today.May 23 at the State Capitol, Sacramento, CA 95814.
Villaraigosa will also join Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez for a to make his case that legislators reject Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's Revised Budget Proposal that would divert hundreds of millions of gas tax dollars to pay for non-transit expenditures.
The mayor will urge state legislators to restore the funding, which is critical to maintaining current Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) bus service without massive fare increases.
Is Los Angeles safer today from terrorists than we were on 9-11?
No, according to a panel of experts at a forum Monday at University of California, Los Angeles.Staff writer Troy Anderson reports on the forum in today's Daily News.
America is just as vulnerable to attack as it was on 9-11, with street gangs funding terrorist groups and also draining resources from law enforcement agencies working to head off future attacks.
The experts said the war on terrorism has been replaced by the war on gangs - a huge concern in Los Angeles, which has an estimated 40,000 gang members and is an attractive target for terrorists.
"We are not safe and we will not be safe for many years," LAPD Deputy Chief Mark Leap said at the forum sponsored by the university's School of Public Affairs.
"There are many, many more people who consider themselves jihadists now. And criminal enterprises are being used to support terrorist activities."
I thought I was done with journalistic profilers when I left public office nearly seven years ago. I can't even remember the last time I held a press conference, since I no longer need to let the voters know of my existence. Nor do I need to serve up quotes that fit neatly into stories that someone already has prepared. My guard is down. I am de-toxing from living in the media. Now I simply blog away and work on books. But when my friend Connie Bruck called a few months ago to discuss Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, I said yes, thinking it was an important subject and that she would be, as they say, fair and balanced.
Hayden writes about what he says was left out in the New Yorker profile of Villaraigosa in this essay on the Hufington Post.
Printing and binding city reports: $6 million.
Calligraphers to decorate proclamations and honors: $550,000.
Pet food for animal shelters: $529,000.
The cost of running Los Angeles city government: pricey.
The expenses are just a few among millions of detailed items that make up a $6.8 billion budget the City Council is set to consider today.
Daily News staff writer Kerry Cavanaugh examines some of the expenses that draw little attention in this report.
With a majority of the Board of Education now backing his reforms, Mayor Antonio Villaraigos has dropped his lawsuit to get greater control of the district, but what lies ahead for the troubled district.
Most specualation is about school board member Monica Garcia replacing Marlene Canter as board president and, in today's Daily News Tipoffs we also look at plans by the new board to meet over the next 45 days to map out a 100-day strategy.
At the same time, the mayor is preparing to announce which clusters of schools he wants to take direct responsibility for.
Its 200-foot ramp stands ready to beckon giddy children through a wonderland of fun.
Its leaders stand determined to keep the Children's Museum of Los Angeles from becoming a derelict hulk at Hansen Dam.
And the clock is ticking.
The museum has less than a month to produce $1.25 million in cash and pledges to get a matching city loan to pay its builder. After struggling for years to raise money, officials say they are revamping their strategy to try to win community support.
"It's a call to action. We're almost there," said Cecilia Aguilera Glassman, the museum's new chief executive officer. "We are extremely confident that we'll reach our initial goal."
Staff writer Dana Bartholomew reports on the museum's problems in Sunday's Daily News.
Growing up in Sun Valley, Joselyn Arroyo saw firsthand the heartbreak of trading a bright career for sweat and sacrifice.
It happened to her parents - both professional engineers from Mexico, who were reduced to backbreaking jobs as bakers and housecleaners after they crossed illegally into the United States with her when she was just 3.
And it almost happened to her.
Although she earned a bachelor's degree from California State University, Northridge, the diploma was as good as blank without a Social Security number or U.S. citizenship to go with it.
Staff writer Susan Abram details the story in the Sunday Daily News.
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's spending plan to combat gangs fails to make any significant investment or strides in quelling violence, Los Angeles' leading anti-gang expert told the Daily News in a report by staff writer Beth Barrett.
The criticism surfaced Friday as City Controller Laura Chick said she has notified the mayor that she will not proceed with a planned audit of the city's anti-gang programs.
The review had been hailed by the mayor as a key to streamlining the effectiveness of city anti-gang efforts, but Chick said the audit grew politicized, funding for it never materialized and council members set an unrealistically short deadline.
"I've never had so much active participation on the part of so many people telling me what the scope should be," she said. "I have to defend the independence of the Controller's Office."
The setback came as noted civil-rights attorney Connie Rice criticized the mayor's $168 million budget for youth and anti-gang efforts, saying much of the money is actually tied up in salaries, facilities management and equipment costs. about $19.5 million.
As Los Angeles officials sought to mend fractured community relations Thursday by joining a march denouncing the police confrontation at a May Day rally, the ACLU filed a scathing petition asking a federal judge to consider expanding a consent decree against the LAPD.
The strongly worded petition - which calls for a special hearing before the judge - argues that the violent police action earlier this month exposes an entrenched, aggressive culture despite years of hard work to turn the Los Angeles Police Department around.
"The LAPD's apparently deliberate and widespread use of excessive force on May 1 suggests an institution permissive of excessive force - a suggestion that is all too familiar regarding the LAPD," says the petition filed by the American Civil Liberties Union and constitutional lawyer Erwin Chemerinsky.
The federal consent decree was imposed on the LAPD in 2001 after the Rampart scandal revealed widespread police abuse and corruption.
Details from staff writer Rachel Uranga in the Daily News.
The Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO, announced Thursday the naming of a new political director.
Glen Arnodo, who began work in labor in 1974 as a shop steward and has held various positions since then, including as lead organizer with the United Electrical Workers in South Dakota, was named to the post by secretary-treasurer Maria Elena Durazo.
Arnodo worked with Durazo beginning in 1989, when he was hired by HERE (now UNITE HERE) where he was instrumental in rebuilding its largest affiliate, the Culinary Workers Union Local 226 in Las Vegas, Nev.
As part of the Culinary’s leadership team, Arnodo had both internal and external organizing responsibilities. He played a role in concluding a six year strike at the Frontier Hotel, now known as one of the longest successful strikes in the history of the Labor Movement.
Most notably, as the unions’ Nevada Political Director, Arnodo was instrumental in shaping the Culinary into one of the most respected and politically active unions in the state. Prior to coming to the Federation, Arnodo served as Political Coordinator for UNITE HERE in Southern California.
A native of Cleveland Ohio, Arnodo resides in Culver City with his 11 year old son Connor.
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa was in New York City for the summit on climate hosted by former President Clinton this week.
While there, he went out to dinner with the Clintons and they ran into talk radio host Rush Limbaugh, who reported on it in his blog.
Surging immigration is transforming the San Fernando Valley into a tapestry of communities with widely divergent ethnicities, incomes and education, according to a demographic report analyzed by Daily News staff writer Beth Barrett in today's paper.
In one of the most detailed looks at the Valley to date, the report shows that the region has become a multicultural port of entry, where more than 40 percent of the 1.8 million residents are immigrants.
The trend is expected to continue, along with annual population growth of 1 percent annually, for the next several years.
"This is `Welcome to the United Nations.' It's a very culturally diverse place," said Dan Blake, director of the San Fernando Valley Economic Research Center.
Felipe Fuetne might have had more key endorsements and more contributions than his four opponents, but he says in today's Daily News it was plain hard work that got him elected to the 39th Assembly District.
In the month-long campaign, he said, he walked precincts, worked telephone banks and met for coffee with voters.
"If I had an advantage, it is that I grew up in this area and I have been working in this district almost nonstop since 1999," said Fuentes, a former top aide to former Mayor James Hahn, chief deputy to Sen. Alex Padilla when he was on the City Council and a consultant to current Councilman Richard Alarcón.
"This is the kind of work I wanted to do ever since then. I think having the support I did was helpful, but it didn't match the hard work I put into this."
Unofficial returns showed Fuentes with 50.86 percent of the vote, followed at 20 percent by Jose Bonilla Sr., the only Republican in the race. Rounding out the ballot were F. Philip Siordia with 12.4 percent; Eric Rothenay with 11.4 percent; and Margie Carranza with 5.2 percent.
Displaying their unity and flexing their political muscle, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's four allies on the LAUSD board appeared together Wednesday as they promised a bold new era of leadership, innovation and collaboration for the school district, Daily News staff writer Naush Boghossian reports today.
Their visit to the troubled 9th Street Elementary School in downtown Los Angeles served as a victory lap for Tamar Galatzan and Richard Vladovic, who were elected Tuesday to represent the San Fernando Valley and South Gate, respectively.
It also symbolized their budding partnership with board members Yolie Flores Aguilar, who was elected to the board in March, and Monica Garcia, both of whom share the mayor's vision of reforming and improving the 707,000-student district.
"What the four of us have in common is a vision for reform and a sense of urgency," said Galatzan, a career city prosecutor and the mother of two young children.
The group of constituents in Councilman Jack Weiss' 5th District are taking their nascent campaign to recall him to the internet with a flashy Recall Jack Weiss website with the song "Hit the Road, Jack" playing prominently.
The group has yet to file any papers with the City Clerk's office to officially launch a recall, but they say they are close to beginning a formal campaign.
Weiss, who was elected to his second term in 2005, has announced plans to run for City Attorney in 2009 when Rocky Delgadillo will be forced out by term limits.The link is courtesy of Curbed LA.
The Democratic National Committee announced Wednesday that Los Angeles will serve as the host of one of the six sanctioned debates by presidential candidates.
The DNC sanctioned California debate is set to take place Dec. 10 in Los Angeles, and will be sponsored by CBS.
“Today’s announcement by the DNC is a step forward for the people of California and a step forward for the Democratic process," state Party Chair Art Torres said.
"California is home to nearly seven million Democratic voters, a global economic power, and the most culturally and ethnically diverse state in the nation. With our Feb. 5 primary and now the White House hopefuls set to debate the issues that matter to Californians, it is ensured that our terrific field of candidates will be responsive to California’s great diversity of ideas and needs. For that reason all Americans will benefit.”
The six DNC sanctioned debates and the media sponsors announced today are as follows: July 23, YouTube/Google and CNN* in Charleston, SC.; Aug. 19, ABC in Des Moines, IA; Sept. 26, NBC News/MSNBC in Hanover, NH; Oct. 30, NBC News/MSNBC** in Philadelphia, PA; Nov.15, CNN* in Las Vegas, NV, and Dec. 10, CBS in Los Angeles, CA
The two school board candidates backed by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa for the Los Angeles Board of Education won election on Tuesday, giving him the majority of school board members overseeing the nation's second largest school system.
Deputy City Attorney Tamar Galatzan and educator Richard Vladovic won i n their respective districts in the San Fernando Valley and the Harbor Area in what turned out to be a more than $3.3 million campaign between the mayor and the United Teachers of Los Angeles.
The two are scheduled to take office on July 1.
In other elections, City Council Deputy Felipe Fuentes narrowly avoided a runoff to take the seat in the 39th Assembly District that had been held by Councilman Richard Alarcon. Incumbent Community College Trustee Georgia Mercer was in a tight race for re-election.
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, using the packaging of his Green L.A. program as a talking point, will be going to New York City on Wednesday to take part in the Clinton Climate Initiative C40. He is scheduled to return to Los Angeles on Thursday.
Villaraigosa is scheduled to talk on the Risks and Economics of Climate Change.
C40 is a group of the world's largest cities committed to tackling climate change. Through effective partnership working with the Clinton Climate Initiative, C40 will help deliver emissions reductions and increase energy efficiency.
The purpose of the C40 Summits are to create long-term international collaborations among large cities in order to drive down carbon emissions and encourage cities to work with businesses and national governments to accelerate action on climate change.
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Read the report on the mayor's plan by Daily News staff writer Kerry Cavanaugh here.
Operating from a Glendale office, Global Human Services shipped everything from milk and salad dressing to medicine and clothing in a humanitarian effort designed to help the needy in Eastern Europe, the Daily News
reported today in the final part of a series.
But the organization was also a front, authorities say, for an international fraud and car-theft ring that stashed at least $5million in stolen luxury vehicles into the same shipping containers with the relief supplies.
The organization was broken up a year ago, with 17 people arrested on suspicion of grand theft and insurance fraud. Authorities said at the time they thought the group had ties to organized crime.
Now, police say the group also was funneling money to Chechen terrorists - the same group that raided a school in Russia three years ago and killed 331 innocent men, women and children.
"The concern was they were using some of the proceeds to support terrorist activities elsewhere," Los Angeles Police Chief William Bratton said in a recent interview. "We had an organized gang creating crime and havoc here, but some of the proceeds
All but three of the 60 LAPD officers who were sidelined after the May1 melee returned to street duty as the investigations continued into the clash between police and demonstrators, officials said Monday.
The three officers, identified only as members of the BPlatoon, have not been suspended but are not allowed on duty, officials said.
"There is no disciplinary action right now; they have just been taken out of the field," LAPD spokesman Sgt. Lee Sands told the Daily News.
As a Los Angeles city budget panel looks at its $7.8 billion spending plan for next year, the Daily News it reports that an appellate court ruling that the city illegally hiked cell phone taxes leaves a $167million hole in next year's city budget - and the gap could widen if the courts strike down a second tax that voters did not approve.
The state Court of Appeal decision issued last week said the city violated the California Constitution when it imposed what amounted to a unilateral tax increase on cell phone use without first receiving the voter approval required by Proposition218.
That leaves the city without $167million it had counted on. An additional $100million is threatened by a ruling affecting the telephone excise tax levied on Los Angeles residents.
"We have to look at this as the potential loss of a major source of revenue now," said City Councilman Bernard Parks, who chairs the council's Budget and Finance Committee, which is reviewing the $7.8billion budget Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa proposed.
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is introduced, again to an East Coast audience, with a lenghty profile in the new New Yorker Magazine. (Thanks to LA Observed for the link to the article.
One of the key points raised in the article is this:
"Sometimes the Mayor seems to think that he can wrest the ideal city into existence through sheer kinetic energy. In the Villaraigosa administration, governing looks a lot like campaigning. The Mayor spends a great deal of time away from his office, appearing at half a dozen events most days, and holding multiple press conferences, in both English and Spanish. In times of crisis, his talent for connecting with people is a boon, but at other times it can appear contrived—as when, not long ago, he stepped into a busy major thoroughfare and started knocking on car windows, trying to hand out flyers to startled drivers. At a press conference recently, he noted that there were only five television cameras, and said, irritably, “We had sixteen cameras at the last event!” At a Greek festival, a woman approached Villaraigosa and exclaimed, “You work so hard! How do you do it?” He took her hands in his and replied, “Do you know what’s happening? Your energy is flowing through me!”
"The pleasure that Villaraigosa derives from contact with people calls to mind Bill Clinton—an impression that Villaraigosa cultivates. In one of several conversations we had, he mentioned a column about him by George Skelton in the Los Angeles Times, in 2001. Skelton wrote, “Working a room, Villaraigosa is in a league with President Bush and Bill Clinton.” Just before the mayoral election in 2005, Villaraigosa called his friend and supporter Nick Patsaouras to talk about the opposition’s tactics. Patsaouras recalled, “Antonio told me, ‘They’re going to hit us with everything they have. But I see where I’m going. They are not going to get me. I am like Clinton!’ ”
Oppressed in their native Ukraine, Konstantin and Mayya Grigoryan came to the United States a dozen years ago in search of the American dream.
In the second part of a three-part series, Daily News staff writer Jason Kandel reports on the struggles of one family in their native Ukraine and what they said drove them into crime here.
They didn't speak English, struggled to pay the bills and relied on family and friends to make ends meet. Eventually they found jobs and began to acquire wealth, opening a restaurant, starting a string of medical clinics and finally buying a $661,500 home in a gated community in Altadena.
But this American dream was built on a crooked foundation, authorities say. Indicted by a federal grand jury in 2004, the couple was convicted of leading a Russian-Armenian organized crime ring that paid kickbacks to doctors, recruiters and patients and defrauded the U.S. government out of $20 million over five years.
"The Grigoryan case is quite representative of a major problem in the area," said Assistant U.S. Attorney Bruce Searby, who prosecuted the case. "It's widespread. Medicare expenses generally are busting the federal budget.
"If the government is being defrauded of that money, it's contributing to a great strain on an important public program."
Former Mayor James Hahn has taken umbrage at the notion that he was "missing in action" after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and wants to set the record straight.
"For the umpteenth time, I've had to read how I `made no effort to immediately return' to Los Angeles from Washington, D.C., after September 11th," Hahn wrote to the Daily News. "That is simply not true, and in fact, is demonstrably false.
"To this day, I don't know why, without exception, every reporter continues to repeat this deliberate falsehood."
That and more politicals odds and ends in today's Tipoff
Flamboyant and ostentatious, they drive luxury cars, unwind in multi-million dollar mansions, flaunt designer clothes and flash dazzling jewels.
But behind the glitz lurks what law enforcement officials say is a brazen new breed of organized criminal - Eurasian mobsters who carry out brutal murders, stockpile assault rifles and launder cash around the globe.
And the burgeoning Eurasian crime syndicates are increasingly funding their international empires by siphoning billions of dollars from taxpayer-funded health and welfare programs across the United States.
"It's a huge problem, and Los Angeles is the hot spot for this type of crime," said Assistant U.S. Attorney Consuelo Woodhead, who oversees health care fraud prosecutions.
Daily News reporter Troy Anderson explores this problem in a three-part series that began Sunday.
To no one's great surprise, Councilwoman Wendy Greuel made it official on Thursday -- taking out papers to run for City Controller in 2009 when Controller Laura Chick is forced to give up the office for term limits.
Here is Greuel's campaign statement:
"Citing her record as an independent leader who has cut wasteful government spending and reformed city government, City Councilwoman Wendy Greuel filed papers to run for Los Angeles City Controller today.
“I am running for City Controller, because I have a strong record of fiscal discipline and I believe I can be the fiscal watchdog that Angelenos need to ensure that decisions are being made on behalf of the people, not the powerful” said Councilwoman Greuel.
`"Councilwoman Greuel is known for her bold proposals to reduce bureaucracy and corruption at City Hall, such as her ban on political fundraising for all City Commissioners, and working to create of the Waste, Fraud and Abuse Investigation Unit in the City Controller’s office.
"Councilwoman Greuel said “I believe that as City Controller, I can continue the work I’ve done on the Audits and Government Efficiency Committee and as Vice-Chair of the Budget Committee to be an independent voice fighting to cut waste, fraud and inefficiency in City government,”
`"As Chair of the City’s Transportation Committee, Councilwoman Greuel has developed numerous innovative policies to reduce traffic in Los Angeles. She has already initiated the ban road construction during rush hour, created anti-gridlock zones, which reduces traffic during rush hour, and traveled to Sacramento and Washington DC to fight for Los Angeles’ fair share of transportation funding. "
She is the first to take out papers for the race, which allows her to begin fundraising.
“My entire life has been dedicated to public service on behalf of the people of Los Angeles,” said Councilwoman Greuel. “I was born and raised in the San Fernando Valley, I grew up driving a forklift at my family’s trucking company, and whether it was the 10 years I spent working for Tom Bradley, or my time in the Clinton Administration, helping Los Angeles rebuild from the Northridge earthquake, I have made it my life’s work to make this city great for my husband Dean, my son Thomas and all of the people of Los Angeles.”
Councilwoman Greuel’s biography is attached.
Los Angeles County Supervisor Gloria Molina will host a town hall meeting Friday at 9 a.m. with New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, a candidate for president of the United States.
The program will include a discussion of the most pressing issues facing the nation, from the war in Iraq and current foreign policies to domestic issues such as education, healthcare and the economy.
That will be followed by a question and answer session moderated by Molina.
The event will occur at Luminarias Restaurant, 3500 Ramona Blvd. in Monterey Park.
The Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund announced Thursday it is joining the National Lawyers Guild in repesenting what it said will be thousands of people who participated in the May 1 immigrant rights rally at MacArthur Park.
“This lawsuit is the only way to afford justice to the victims of this outrageous assault on Latinos calling for comprehensive immigration reform,” said Annabelle Gonzalves, MALDEF Los Angeles Regional Counsel.
The suit, filed in federal court on behalf of individuals and organizers of the May 1 march and rally, seeks damages for injuries and significant changes in the policies and practices of the LAPD.
The suit alleges the LAPD disrupted the rally by, among other things, improperly declaring an unlawful assembly, shutting down the rally prior to the expiration of its permitted time, unlawfully dispersing participants with threats and actual use of force, and not giving people sufficient time or direction to comply with the order to leave MacArthur Park.
It is the second federal suit filed against the LAPD as a result of the confrontation along with three personal claims for injuries filed with the city.
After months of interviews and a nationwide search, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has settled on his choice for the next director of Los Angeles International Airport and the city's system of airports, it is being reported in today's Daily News and Daily Breeze.
Villaraigosa will announce he is naming Gina Marie Lindsay, a veteran airport manager who has overseen major improvement projects to run the the city agency that operates LAX and three other airports as it struggles to define the region's aviation future/
Lindsey, a Washington lobbyist who previously managed airports in Seattle and Anchorage, Alaska, emerged from a field of 70 candidates to win the job to succeed Lydia Kennard.
The task force of City Council members looking into the events on May 1 at MacArthur Park will return to the scene this week when it holds its first meeting.
The panel, co-chaired by Councilmen Jack Weiss and Ed Reyes, has scheduled its first meeting for 6 p.m. on Monday at Charles White Elementary School near MacArthur Park.
"Councilman Reyes thought it was important that our first session be in the area so the people most affected could testify," Weiss said.
Weiss said the initial meeting is designed to let the panel be updated on the progress of the various inquiries from the start and as the City Council considers any changes in police policy.
The long-anticipated new children's Museum of Los Angeles to be built in Lake View Terrace could grind to a halt next week because of a lack of money, the Daily News reported today.
Museum backers need either to raise $2.5 million to pay its contractor by Monday or stop work on the San Fernando Valley's first and only museum.
If workers pack up their tools, officials say it could cost $1.5 million more just to resume construction. And some say it could even spell the end of the museum.
"It would be so sad to see it close. ... In the end of the day, it's all about the kids," said Bruce Corwin, co-chairman of the museum board, who was scrambling Tuesday to raise money from sources around the city.
Of the $36 million raised to design and complete the museum, 70 percent has come from public funds.
The Department of Water and Power's primary contractor for dust-control work in the Owens Valley has overbilled the utility at least $3.3 million over the past eight years, according to a scathing audit released Tuesday.
The excessive billing by CH2M Hill, a Denver-based engineering firm with a $96 million contract for the project, included nearly $800,000 in markups on services that it improperly allowed subcontractors to pass on.
The audit by GCAP Services Inc., which comes more than a year after rising project costs drew widespread concern, also found that CH2M Hill lacked effective oversight of cost controls, subcontractor management and construction management.
Auditors and some DWP officials backed away from a preliminary finding that CH2M Hill had outlined a "strategy" in a 1999 company memo to circumvent limits on subcontractor markups.
The Los Angeles City Clerk's office today put out a reminder to voters that the May 15 election is a week away and urged registered voters to take the time to review their sample ballots to determine who they want to vote for and where their polling place is located.
"Holding an election takes the cooperation and support of hundreds of volunteers from the community to ensure that all voters have the opportunity to vote," City Clerk Frank Martinez said.
For this election, the city will have 2,258 precincts staffed by more than 9,032 precinct workers. In addition, there are more than 1,000 people who work on election night to staff ballot collection
depots, drive trucks and sedans, and tabulate the results of your voting.
Also, the location of your polling place, which is open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m., is shown on the back cover of your Official Sample Ballot.
Voters also can call the City Clerk Election Division at (888) 873-1000, log on to the Election Division’s website: http://cityclerk.lacity.org/election/, click on on “Find Your Polling Place and Sample Ballot.”
Election Night Results:
• Unofficial Election Night Results are released at Piper Technical Center, 555 Ramirez Street, Los Angeles and also will be on the city website at cityclerk.lacity.org/election/ and televised over L.A. CityView Channel 35.
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and Police Chief Bill Bratton are continuing their apology tour for the actions of the LAPD in the May Day confrontation at MacArthur Park.
Villaraigosa appeared on CNN to say the police used "bad tactics" in dealing with the protesters as Bratton is scheduled to appear at the LAPD Academy as part of the Police Memorial Day event.
A backlash from police supporters is beginning to develop in some quarters and it will be a delicate balancing act for the two in coming days in trying to control emotions over the event to prevent a new incident from developing.
The future of Warner Center, as well as how it came into being, is examined in today's Daily News, where reporter Kerry Cavanaugh found the area is at a crossroads.
Once hailed as a jewel of development and the "downtown" of the San Fernando Valley, Warner Center finds itself at a crossroads - torn between its urban ambition and suburban legacy.
On the drawing board in the 1970s, Warner Center was envisioned as a modern mini-city surrounded by suburban single- family neighborhoods. It would be larger than Century City but connected by mass transit and without the traffic gridlock.
The 1 -square-mile area evolved during the next 30 years, with a few high-rise commercial towers and blocks of low-slung offices and sprawling shopping malls.
Now, with the real estate boom sweeping California, there is new interest in Warner Center and visions of a dense mini- metroplis.
Back from Mexico and El Salvador, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa held a press conference at 5 p.m. in City Hall on the May Day melee at MacArthur Park.
"We don't need a long and lengthy investigation to speak the truth," Villaraigosa said. "What happened was wrong and we will make it right."
The mayor's press room was jammed with reporters and television cameras. So many city hall staffers wanted to hear Villaraigosa's response that the Information Technology Agency opened the city council chambers and showed the press conference on big-screen TVs. More than 60 people watched.
Villaraigosa was joined by Speaker Fabian Nunez, Supervisor Gloria Molina, Council President Eric Garcetti, Councilmen Ed Reyes and Jack Weiss. Also present was Chief William Bratton, who said "I'm embarrassed for the department and I'm embarrased for the people we serve."
After days of speculation, Mayor Atnoino villaraigosa decided Thursday night to cfut short hsi trade trip to Mexico because of the growing controvesy over teh LAPD.
His office issued this statement from the mayor:
"We've had excellent meetings with the Presidents of Mexico and El Salvador," Mayor Villaraigosa said. "We've made tremendous progress expanding trade ties and coordinating in the fight against trans-national gangs. The heart of our mission is complete. It's time to come home, roll up our sleeves and take on the tough issues raised by the May 1 incident in MacArthur Park."
"What happened on May 1 was wrong, and we're going to work to make it right."
Mayor Villaraigosa will hold a 3:00 PM press conference at City Hall.
Did you get the sense during Thursday night's first GOP presidential debate, that if Hollywood were going to cast someone in the role of John McCain at this stage of his life, it would have to be Clint Eastwood?
"We will capture him. We will bring him to justice, and I will follow him to the gates of hell."
Add that to "Go ahead, make my day," "Do you feel lucky? Do you?" and all of Clint's famous good-guy lines.
McCain did what he had to do in relaunching his campaign. He re-established himself as a swashbuckler, which is saying a lot for Republicans. And, in a setting in which every candidate tried to kiss up to Nancy Reagan, it was only McCain who went beyond being a knee-jerk conservative. He was the only candidate to whole-heartedly say he would back Nancy's personal campaign of getting funding for embryonic stem cell research.
It's not that some of the other candidates, most notably Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney, didn't impress in their own. But you expected that. You expect the top tier people to put their best foot forward -- and to have learned a lesson from Barack Obama's timidity in the first Democratic debate last week.
Some people say the ghost of Ronald Reagan still lives in the Oval Office. Well, this afternoon Nancy Reagan has been the supreme hostess in the Oval Office.
The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library's Oval Office -- an exact replica of how it was during the Reagan presidential years.
Nancy has been greeting each of the 10 Republican presidential candidates in tonight's first GOP debate at the library's Oval Office
Just in case you were missing your daily dose of Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and his appearances around the city, here's what his schedule for Mexico City looked like on Thursday.
At 3 p.m., he as to deliver the keynote address at a networking luncheon hosted by the U.S.- Mexico Chamber of Commerce in Mexico City.
At 4:45 PM, he is to meet with Grupo Gruma to discuss the company's investment in a Los Angeles-based factory.
At 8 p.m., Villaraiogs and Mexican President Felipe Calderon will have a private working dinner at the official presidential residence.
At 10:30 p.m., the mayor will be interviewed by renowned Mexican journalist Joaquin Lopez Doriga for live broadcast on the Televisa network.
They're off and running for one of the rarest of political trasures _ an open seat in the House of Representatitives.
The Daily Breeze reports that new Assemblywoma Laura Richardson has announced her candidacy for the seat of her former boss, the late Rep. Juanita Millender-McDonald, and took a couple of shots at her expected top competitor, state Sen. Jenny Oropeza.
Richardson, who served on the Long Beach City Council until she was elected to the Assembly in November, noted Oropeza had "failed to resolve the budget situation" in Long Beach during her tenure on the council. She also faulted Oropeza for spending her whole career in the public sector, unlike Richardson, who worked for Xerox Corp. for 14 years.Tony's on The Pier.
"I believe I have the best experience of what the voters are looking for," Richardson said. "Sen. Oropeza has, in her entire life, only worked from a legislative perspective."
Oropeza is expected to announce her intentions today in Compton.
Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is wearing many hats these days _ city chief executive, political rock star and salesman.
A report in today's Daily News by Sacramento reporter Harrison Sheppard takes a look at the city lobbying efforts in the state Capitol -- to the tune of $760,000 a year-- and its return to the city.
And, while the city has a full-time staff of lobbyists based in Sacramento, it turns out Villaraigosa -- former Assembly speaker -- is the most effective of all through his frequent visits and constant telephone calls to state officials.
"When he makes an appearance in Sacramento, he exercises a lot more clout than the lobbyists would - or past mayors," said Bob Stern, president of the Los Angeles-based Center for Governmental Studies.
"He knows how to push the buttons. He knows where the power centers are. On top of that, he's a very charismatic guy who has a future."
The corporation that runs the inmate stores at Los Angeles County's jails underpaid the county nearly $650,000 in profits while wining and dining Sheriff's Department employees, County Reporter Troy Anderson reports in toda's Daily News.
Compass Group USA Inc., which does business as Canteen Services, improperly spent $640,213 from 1999 to 2005 that should have instead been spent on inmate services, according to a report by Auditor-Controller Tyler McCauley.
The expenses included travel costs for Compass employees, meals and entertainment, along with $169,465 for "client hospitality," McCauley wrote.
The same audit also questioned why Compass contributed $304,291 to the sheriff's Youth Foundation - a crime-prevention program designed to reduce recidivism - and paid $147,233 to the Sheriff's Department for retirement parties, golf tournaments and the Baker-to-Vegas relay, the annual long-distance run in which Sheriff Lee Baca and other law enforcement officials participate.
The audit drew immediate criticism from taxpayer advocates, who questioned whether sheriff's employees are complying with the county's Political Reform Act.
While they have more areas of disagreement than issues to praise, the ACLU of Southern California on Monday issued a letter of support for the appointment of Police Chief Bill Bratton to a second five-year term.
A letter from ACLU Exectuive Director Ramona Ripston, delivered to the commission for it hearing later in the day on Bratton said it disagrees with the chief on the "broken windows" theory of policing, how the LAPD has dealt with the homeless on Skid Row and that the LAPD has a culture that permits excessive force.
But, even with all that, Ripston said Bratton has also shown a willingness to talk to critics, seek outside voices and been more open in his operations.
Concerned about a 15 percent rise in gang crime in Los Angeles County from 2001 to 2006, county Supervisor Yvonne Brathwaite Burke is expected to urge her fellow supervisors Tuesday to direct the Chief Administrative Office and other department heads to review the findings and recommendations in a city report on gangs and develop a plan to address the issue countywide.
Burke's motion, which also asks the Countywide Criminal Justice Coordinating Council to join the effort, directs officials to develop recommendations for a coordinated to the problem.
Gang violence in the county is taking a devastating toll on children, families, communities and schools, Burke said.
Recent tragedies, such as the fatal shooting of 23-year-old Demetrius Perry at Charles Drew Middle School and 14-year-old Cheryl Greene in Harbor Gateway, dramatically illustrates how innocent lives and communities are at the mercy of a gang culture focused on violence, intimidation and control, Burke said.
Overall gang related crimes increased 15 percent from 2001to 2006, with 1,076 documented gangs and 80,757 gang members countywide, according to the Sheriff's Department. While suppression of gang activity is a necessary approach to bringing about safety in communities, prevention and intervention efforts are equally critical in order to stem the tide of at risk youth seeking the refuge of gangs as a safe harbor and a group with whom they can identify, Burke said.
On Jan. 17, attorney Connie Rice submitted to the City Council’s Ad Hoc Committee on Gang Violence and Youth Development, the Advancement Project report: “A Call to Action: A Case for a Comprehensive Solution to L.A.’s Gang Violence Epidemic.”
The report, which focuses primarily on the city emphasized the need for a multi-jurisdictional, regional solution that would require close collaboration between the city and county.
Newly returned Councilman Richard Alarcon has wasted no time making his voice heard at the Los Angeles City Council.
Alarcon, in his second go-round as a councilman, has been using all the political skills he learned in eight years in Sacramento to begin to establish himself as a leader on a variety of issues and is looking to solidify support among Neighborhood Councils, who feel they have been left behind in the administration of Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.
For more on this, ready today's Tipoff in today's Daily News as well as about five secrets the mayor is keeping.
Does Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa plan to tell speakers at next week's Cinco de Mayo celebration that they are full of hot air and to limit their speeches to 30 seconds each? How about the speakers at the annual September 16 Mexican Independence Day celebration?
That's what he told speakers at Sunday's Israeli Independence Festival at Woodley Park in Van Nuys.
At Villaraigosa's request, officials and dignitaries at the event limited their remarks to 30 seconds in ceremonies that ran so fast that Israel Counsel General Ehud Danoch rushed to summarize almost six decades of Israeli achievements in half a minute.
In the mayor's own remarks, he said he had been attending the festival since 1998, and "the speeches are too long!"
It appears that the motivation for Villaraigosa demanding the 30-second speeches at the ceremonies that began well past 1 p..m. is that the mayor was rushing to get to the annual pre-Cinco de Mayo Fiesta Broadway downtown where he was scheduled to make a 2 p.m. appearance. The mayor didn't even stick around long enough for the Israeli National Anthem at the end of the unusually shortened Israeli Independence ceremony.
As part of a new program to warn school children of bad air quality using a color-coated flag system to match the levels of pollution on any given day, Los Angeles County Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich joined Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Southland air quality officials Friday to discuss reducing the impact of air pollution on children.
Antonovich, a member of the South Coast Air Quality Management District, spoke at the "Asthma Is a Small World” international conference at the Disneyland Hotel in Anaheim about the need to reduce the amount of pollutants in the air, and the alarming increase of asthma among the county's youth.
“It is especially important that we protect our children many of whom suffer from the debilitating effects of asthma,” Antonovich said. “Through continuing research we are meeting the challenge of reducing harmful emissions and protecting public health.”
Every school day, the proper color flag will be raised to alert students, parents, teachers, and the community when the air quality is bad and when preventive measures need to be taken.
The city's 50-50 program to repair sidewalks -- where residents pick up half the cost -- is so popular that it uses up all its money within six months.
Bill Roberton, director of the Bureau of Street Services, told the City Council panel reviewing the proposed $6.8 billion city budget, said he has a waiting list of more than 500 residents who want to participate in the program which is projected to pave 13 miles of sidewalks this coming year.
"The reality is we close the program off in December of each year because we don't have the money," Robertson said.
The city's aging street and sidewalk system has long been a source of despair among city officials and the public and the department now has a 50-year backlog of street repairs. Robertson said he would need $1.5 billion over 10 years to restore the street system.
The Candidates
Hillary Clinton A
No surprise. Nothing like tutorials from Bill.
Barack Obama B-
Sound bites, more style than substance and little else.
John Edwards B-
Could use another medical update.
Bill Richardson C
Should know that when Castro dies, Cuba will not be in a "post-Democratic" era.
Joe Biden C-
Leading contender... for The Comedy Store.
Chris Dodd C
Where's Bianca Jagger when you need her?
Dennis J. Kucinich C-
Who did this guy's hair dye job?
MIke Gravel D
I thought this guy was dead.
Moderator
Brian Williams D
Hardly Tom Brokaw. Nor Jim Lehrer, for that matter.
Signs are popping up in downtown Los Angeles about a protest that is expected to shut down many streets on Tuesday.
A year after more than 400,000 demonstrators flooded downtown streets in support of legislation that would give status to millions of undocumented immigrants, the Great American Boycott will return on May 1.
The Los Angeles Police Department and the city Department of Transportation have posted advisements regarding travel to downtown on Tuesday.
"The advisements have been provided to inform the community of an extraordinarily large demonstration and march," according to prepared statement from Los Angeles Superior Court. "Last year's event attracted over 400,000 participants and it is estimated that this year's crowds will meet or exceed that number. The affected area is bordered by the 10, 101 and 110 freeways."
Billed as the "Day Without Immigrants," rallies across the country on May 1, 2006 drew crowds totalling more than a million people and prompted many restaurants, ethnic markets, farms and other businesses that rely on undocumented workers to close. Thousands of Los Angeles Unified School District students skipped classes.
As a part of protests over immigration reform legislation proposed last year, organizers called for supporters to abstain from buying, selling, working and attending school to show the extent to which undocumented immigrant labor is needed for the U.S. economy.
You can tell its budget hearing time at City Hall by two things. There is even more paperwork floating through the council chambers and the candy.
If the paper is what fuels government bureaucracy _ with reports and requests for more funding _ it is the candy that fuels the staff who make the council chambrs their home for 10 to 14 hours a day for the next two weeks.
No one is sure when the tradition of providing the candy began, although it is has been around for more than two decades and the choices have remained constant – chocoloate, chocolate and more chocolate.
This is a political story only in the sense that throughout the country, a fairly new class of people is demanding its rights in legislatures and offices acoss America -- and succeeding in many cases, as they should. The group of people are transgenders, though it is interesting that some of them still refer to themselves by a label that is increasing going out of use within that community -- transsexuxals. Among them is Los Angeles Times sportswriter Mike Penner.
For most who have not known what he has been going through, through much of his life, Mike presents his first-person account today -- "Old Mike, new Christine."
"During my 23 years with The Times' sports department, I have held a wide variety of roles and titles. Tennis writer. Angels beat reporter. Olympics writer. Essayist. Sports media critic. NFL columnist. Recent keeper of the Morning Briefing flame.
"Today I leave for a few weeks' vacation, and when I return, I will come back in yet another incarnation.
"As Christine.
"I am a transsexual sportswriter." Read his story.
Eli Broad apparently isn't waiting on Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa to come up with an alternative to his seemingly defunct attempt to take over the LAUSD -- and he's found more upscale company with which to partner.
On the eve of the first presidential debate, Broad and the foundation he heads with wife Edythe Wednesday joined up with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for what they call "the Strong American Schools campaign" aimed at elevating American education to the top of the upcoming presidential campaign agenda.
Strong American Schools is a nonpartisan public awareness and action campaign designed to give a voice to every American who demands strong leadership to improve our schools.
"The American dream is slipping away, and unless our leaders dramatically improve our public schools, our standard of living, our economy and our very democracy will be threatened," Broad said in a statement touting the announcement in Columbia, S.C., where Democratic presidential nominees will square off in a debate Thursday night. "Our country's education system is no longer the best in the world. We need every American to demand better schools and specific policy solutions from presidential candidates. Our future depends on it."
Broad and Villaraigosa parted ways on the education front last year when the Los Angeles philanthropist and billionaire grew disenchanted with the mayor's backroom political compromises to get AB 1381 -- the measure to give the mayor control of the LAUSD -- through the legislature.
A funny thing happened on the way to the reappointment of Police Chief Bill Bratton _ his nemesis and predecessor, Councilman Bernard Parks.
The Police Commission has scheduled one public hearing on the reappointment of Bratton – for next Monday night at the DWP headquarters -- and Parks is questioning if that's sufficient.
“From the communities I represent, it looks as if there is no process in place at all and that it's a done deal,” Parks said. “The commission says it wants an open hearing, but they all say they want to reappoint Bratton in a month. They have 90 days to make a decision, they should take their time and hear from the communities of interest.”
Parks introduce a formal resolution this week requesting the Police Commission to consider additional hearings.
Police Commission President John Mack has said he is willing to hold more hearings if they are necessary and will determine if more are held based on public interest.
With speculation booming over who will run to succeed Rep. Juanita Millender McDonald, D-Compton, who died last week, one person not interested -- so far -- is Los Angeles Councilwoman Janice Hahn.
"I have the best political job in the world," Hahn said. "I was born to be a city council member."
Hahn said she had not considered the prospect of running until she heard her name metioned as a potential candidate.
"I still have time left here to serve," Hahn said.
She is up for re-election to the City council in 2009.
Maybe it is time for a new police headquarters.
Councilwoman Jan Perry and LAPD Assistant Chief Earl Paysinger were trapped in a Parker Center elevator for 20 minutes Tuesday, delaying a press conference to announce the arrest of four people involved in fatal drive-by shooting last year.
Built in the 1960s and now too small and outdated for the LAPD, Parker Center is being replaced by a $400 million headquarters on First Street.
After being released from the elevators, an exasperated Perry quipped: "I'm very glad I voted for construction of the new police headquarters."
By Tony Castro: New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson may not have the money to compete with the "rock stars" of the presidential campaign, but he showed he has the sense of humor Monday night at a Hollywood fundraiser.
Richardson entertained supporters -- among them City Councilman Tom LaBonge -- at Lucy's El Adobe Cafe with an anecdote about his 93-year-old mother -- who is Mexican and still lives in Mexico.
"My mom, God bless her, is getting along in years, and sometimes she has difficulty remembering. Well, I called other day she asked me, 'Are you still governor?" Richardson recounted. "'Yes, mother, I'm still governor. They didn't impeach me yet.' And then she says, how's your sister? And I said, 'Fine.' And then she asked, 'Are you still governor?' And I said, 'Yes, mother.' And I said, 'Mother, in fact, I've told you this, but I'm going to tell you again. Two months ago, I announced for president.' And she said, 'El presidente de que, hombre!'"
Richardson also cleared up his California roots. He was born in Pasadena, but it turns out his California residency was brief.
"Most of California doesn't know that I'm Hispanic, but I'm working on it," he said, explaining that he had appeared on several Spanish radio shows, "and I'm going to be with George Lopez Saturday."
"My father was an American, and he had this complex -- that he wasn't born in the United States. He was born in Nicaragua... So he said, I am not going to permit my son not to be born in America. We lived in Mexico. He was working there. So what they did (when my mother was due) was to get in the car and drive up here. So I was born where (my father) had a sister -- at Huntington Hospital in Pasadena.
"So I was born there and we went right back. Right after I was born, we stayed a day and we went back. And last night, there was a fundraiser for me at (filmmaker) Moctezuma Esparza's. He's in Pasadena. He has a house there. And this woman from Huntington Hospital say, 'Well, governor, we'd like to do a fundraiser here at Huntington Hospital, and you can talk about your roots in Pasadena.' My roots were about four hours!
"But now that California is one of the first primaries, my roots are going to increase. I'm a native son!"
As officials at County Hall are putting the final touches on a plan to give Chief Administrative Officer David Janssen broad new executive powers, insiders say a lot of department heads are getting heartburn.
"Now they are going to be third down in the food chain," a source said. "They were reporting directly to the Board of Supervisors. Now they will be reporting to an assistant chief administrative officer. So the big question now is who are going to be the assistance chief administrative officers who are going to tell them what to do. They were masters of their domain and now they are a ways down the list."
The queasiness comes as the Board of Supervisors voted recently to give Janssen the power to make hiring and firing recommendations and to oversee department heads. Up until recently - after two CAO candidates turned down the chance to fill Janssen's shoes - the supervisors were soley responsible for hiring and firing non-elected department heads and overseeing departments.
In fact, some supervisors seemed to relish the opportunity at Tuesday's weekly board meetings to put department heads on the hot seat and grill them about the latest faux pas.
But Janssen is now in the process of deciding on who will serve as "junior CAOs" to take over that responsibility, overseeing clusters of departments. That means department heads will report directly to these officials and not the Board of Supervisors.
The supervisors are expected to vote next month on Janssen's plan overhauling the county's power structure.
The upcoming trip by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa to El Salvador and Mexico is proving to be a hot ticket.
A large delegation of city officials and business leaders is on board to travel with him and this time, unlike his last two major trips to Asia and Washington, D.C., he will be accompanied by a large troup of television reporters.
Details are in today's Tipoffs column n the Daily News.
Next weekend is Big Sunday, the second annual coordinated effort between the mayor's office and Temple Israel to bring together a hoped-for 50,000 volunteers to take on projects throughout the city.
The program has grown so big that it actually takes up the entier weekend with projects scattered throughout Southern California. It could be as simple as sitting with an elderly person or reading to kids to more intense projects. It is all being coordinated through the Big Sunday organization.
To try to convince people that volunteering is good, the group is taking a new approach and released a study saying volunteerism is good for your health.
And, it also notes that California is not doing so well in terms of voluntering compraed with other states. In a separate study, it says that California ranks 38th out of the 50 states.
As part of his new anti-gang strategy unveiled this week, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said he will hire a "Director of Anti-Gang and Youth development". When reporters asked about the new gang czar position at a press conference, Villaraigosa was quick to correct. It's not a gang czar.
"I didn't want to use the word czar," Villaraigosa said. "It sounded too military to me. I don't like the connotation of the word czar."
The director will be " the individual who will have authority to coordinate prevention, intervention, re-entry services in the City of Los Angeles. So they would function in that capacity. But that wasn't the term we wanted to use."
Civil rights attorney and author of the city's gang reduction strategy report Connie Rice urged the mayor to hire a gang czar, and has said recently that she thinks there may only be five people in Los Angeles qualified for the job. But she too doesn't care for the czar title.
"In light of the sad demise of the real Czars, and the abject failure of every federal "Drug Czar," we are reluctant to use that title," Rice's team wrote in their report.
Sorry mayor. Sorry Connie. We're still going to call him or her the gang czar.
In his declaration of war against street gangs this week, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa defiantly said he and the city woudl combine forces to protect the new East Valley High School in North Hollywood from being taken over by gangs.
The school, he said, was being targeted by four separate gangs vying to decide which one will rule the six-month old campus. "We shall stop them," he declared.
One problem.
Schooll officials and LAPD gang officers say that isn't the case.
While there are four gangs operating around the school, none of its members are enrolled at the school and students say the threat is overrted.
Daily New reporter Naush Boghossian talked to the officials and provided a report here.
Los Angeles Councilman Bill Rosendahl, whose district includes Los Angeles International Airport and is no stranger to the politics of airport operations, is taking to the tarmac to complain about neighboring Santa Monica.
Rosendahl is joininng Assemblyman Ted Lieu, D-El Segudo, and various residents in protesting the increase in private jets at Santa Monica Airport _ a longtime local issue where residents have complained about the greater number of private jets flying in and out of the facility.
Rosendahl insisted he is not trying to lecture Santa Monica, but offering to "raise awareness" about air pollution, noise and safety concerns. The event will begin at noon on Saturday.
The man who makes a living seeking questions to answers will be honrored this week by the Los Angeles City Councill.
Alex Trebek, the host of the popular game show "Jeopardy," will be honored by Councilman Bernard Parks for his 23 years as host of the show and his involvement with numerous organizations.
Trebek, who has received four daytime Emmy's for his work, is active in a numbe rof organizations, including World Vision and United Services Organization.
The reason for Parks decision to honor Trebek, however, might be because the show is planning on taping its Jeopardy Colelge Championship sreies at USC's Galen Center later this week.
Continuing his emphsis on gangs, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa will be proposing a $168 million anti-gang program designed to deter young people from joining gangs and convincing gang members to quit.
The details of the program, expectged to include a plan to create gang reduction zones throughout the city and administered by a gang czar in his office, will released when he speaks at 5 pm.at East Valley High School in North Holllywood.
How well do you keep up with the news?
Convinced you know more than your wife? Neighbor? Brother-in-law?
The Pew Institute has a news quiz making the rounds of the internet that lets you test yourself against the natiion.
You can get to it by clicking here. Have fun.
Even though they saw their dreams dashed of a return of the Olympic Games to Los Angeles in 2016, local organizers say they are now looking to the prospect of a bid for the 2020 Games.
Although it would be unlikely for the U.S. to be chosen for two Games in a row if Chicago is chosed by the IOC for the 2016 event, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and Barry Sanders of the Southern California Committee for the Olympic Games were not discouraged.
“We still believe Los Angeles would have been the best city, but Chicago made a wonderful presentation and we will do all we can to help them,'' Villaraigosa said.
But, if Chicago falls by the wayside, Los Angeles will be ready to step in if other problems develop and is looking to update its presentation for a 2020 Games.
Sanders said the SCCOG is in the process of opening up the details of its bid to residents and hopes to post it in the next few days on the SCCOG website.
If you are looking of an example of how power politics is played in Los Angeles, Daily News reporter Kerry Cavanaugh explains it in today's paper with a story on the DWP and a decision before the board to hire and additional work crew to install trunk lines _ even though the cost is higher than contracting out.
It is a testament to the skill of IBEW leader Brian D'Arcy, who had managed to maintain a low public profile while exacting concession after concession from the city.
Newly elected City Councilman Richard Alarcon is bringing a voice of political reality to Los Angeles City Hall.
With an Ethics Commission proposal being discussed in the council's Rules and Elections Committee, Alarcon was quick to find some problems.
While he has supported similar proposals in the past, Alarcon noted a proposal developed by the city Ethics Commission could end up being little more than a pot of money for people to take advantage of.
The proposal by the commission would provide up to $350,000 to a candidate who meets the minimum standards for qualifying for an election.
“I could just get a group of people together to qualify for the election and wecould pile up $2-$3 million and not run a campaign,'' Alarcon said. “I look at this and see it as something where someone could work the system for money. It would be better than the lottery.”
How's this for government efficiency?
The Los Angeles County Economy and Efficiency Commission, a group of unpaid volunteers who look at the county's operations and has been credited with pushing through a number of savings, almost went out of business because of what was described as an administrative oversight.
An ordinance creating the adivsory panels had been adopted that excluded the panel.
The Board of Supervisors, after being chided for the irony of failing to include the organization adopted a special measure on Tuesday to keep them in business through 2011.
In my real life, I am a reporter and columnist for the Daily News and have a weekly column of political odds and ends called Tipoffs, that runs on Mondays.
In today's column, I note that Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has completed interviews with the three top candidates – all women -- for executive director of the vast Los Angeles World Airports system and is expected to make an announcement soon on his choice.
What I didn't note _ and it struck me over the weekend _ is how far we have come in so short a period of time. When you think of the aviation industry, it's the Chuck Yeagers, John Glenns and Clark Gable movies from the 1930s that comes to mind.
Yet, here, all three finalists are women, Gina Marie Lindsay from Seattle-Tacoma Airport, Thella Bownes, president of the San Diego Airport Authority and Susan Kurland, a former associate administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration.
And, they will succeed women who have served as the last executive directors in Lydia Kennard (twice) and Kim Day.