Politico is out with a speculative list of potential appointees in an Obama Administration, and South Bay Rep. Jane Harman is mentioned for two spots: CIA director and Director of National Intelligence.
This is, obviously, premature, but it is interesting to see that Harman's name is "being widely discussed in Democratic circles," per Politico.
Harman was the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee until 2006, when she was denied the chairmanship by Speaker Nancy Pelosi, presumably for being too much of a hawk.
Harman was among the "Gang of 8" -- Congressional leaders who were briefed on some of the Bush Administration's most controversial tactics in the war on terror, including waterboarding and warrantless wiretapping. Though Harman proposed at one point a system of "torture warrants," and initially defended the NSA eavesdropping program, since 2006 she has become more and more critical of the Bush Administration.
Lately she has clashed with the current DNI, Mike McConnell, over allegations that he has politicized intelligence. She endorsed Hillary Clinton in the Democratic primary, and probably would be a likelier candidate for the Executive Branch were Clinton the nominee.
Not to get too far ahead of ourselves, but a Harman appointment would create a vacancy in the South Bay's 36th Congressional District, which is strongly Democratic. Who would be interested in that seat?
Here's just a small listing of the many things going on out there today:
A naked man hanging out in San Pedro might be a normal Saturday night sight in some parts of town, but this time, it's officially endorsed: The city tomorrow will unveil a 5-foot tall bronze sculpture of a nude "Multicultural Man," a gift from its Italian sister city.
Visits from a Republican party official as well as the Secret Service helped convince that Redondo Beach woman to take down a bloody effigy of Sen. Barack Obama she had strung up outside her home.
Bernard Parks and Mark Ridley-Thomas face off again Tuesday for a seat on the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, in a race where each candidate is trying to prove himself the "real" Democrat.
Two left-handed quarterbacks meet up tonight when North Torrance High takes on El Segundo High.
Don't forget to turn your clocks back an hour this weekend, or you'll be early to church or brunch or whatever you like to do Sunday mornings.
If you're still looking for something to do for Halloween, why don't you peruse our database of ghoulish South Bay activities?
Hey, what's your costume today? I'm dressed as a serious journalist! Why don't you leave a comment and tell us?
As if the privilege of participating in a democratic government wasn't reward enough, some of your favorite sweets dealers are giving folks incentives to vote next week.
Show off your "I Voted" sticker at a Krispy Kreme shop Tuesday and you'll get a free star-shaped doughnut -- with red, white and blue sprinkles! The South Bay's doughnut hole is at 1199 W. Artesia Blvd. in Gardena.
Ben & Jerry's shops will hand out a free ice cream scoop to customers Tuesday from 5 to 8 p.m. The South Bay's cremery is at 350 N. Sepulveda Blvd. in Manhattan Beach. And to cash in on that sweet deal, you don't even have to vote. Just show up! But if you're out getting ice cream anyway, why not stop by the polls while you're at it?
El Camino College's Chikezie, also of American Idol fame, will be back performing Sunday with the college's Chorale. A story will be up later today. Get your tickets now at 310-329-5345 or 800-832-ARTS.
Here's some performances on American Idol and Ellen......
Here's a look at what's happening out there today:
Redondo Beach resident Lisa Castaneda strung up an effigy of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama from her balcony to complement a bunch of other Halloween decorations Wednesday. Hanging by a neck tie, the dummy was covered in blood and had a giant knife through his neck.
Most of classy Lisa's neighbors weren't pleased, and apparently neither were John McCain's people, who asked her to take the doll down last night. Check out the grisly pictures here.
Four former Torrance city employees have been charged with conspiracy and felony grand theft after allegedly embezzling more than $50,000 from the city.
A Lawndale man on trial for animal cruelty said the 10 decapitated animals found around his yard were sacrifices he made while practicing his religion, Santeria.
The Torrance gentleman who allegedly beat a gay man with a Yes on Prop. 8 sign has pleaded not guilty.
Hermosa Beach city leaders have approved elements of preliminary design
plans for its long-awaited, controversial overhaul to Pier Avenue.
Banning High takes on San Pedro tonight. Read all about the teams over at our Pure Preps blog.
I talked to Assemblyman Ted Lieu at the Torrance Chamber of Commerce luncheon today, and he says that despite the veto of his bill, AB 1830, mortgage reform is not dead yet in California.
On Nov. 5, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger will call for a special session of the Legislature to deal with the budget shortfall. Lieu said that the mortgage crisis would also be on the agenda, and that Speaker Karen Bass had named him the Assembly's point-person on the issue.
Lieu said he had already been in contact with the governor's office to try to work out a compromise. Lieu worked all year in the Legislature on AB 1830, which would have tightened up regulations on subprime loans, only to have the governor veto it. Lieu said the discussions would include some type of regulatory reform, plus some foreclosure relief. More TK.
I also talked to Rep. Jane Harman, who gave her annual State of the Region address at the luncheon. Harman is phone-banking against Prop. 4 -- the parental notification measure -- and doing her best to help out two Democrats in northern California: Rep. Jerry McNerney and Charlie Brown.
In her address, she mentioned the importance of electing centrists in order to get things done, so I asked her about Schwarzenegger's Prop. 11, which would turn over legislative redistricting to an independent panel. Harman said she had not studied the measure enough to have an opinion on it, but suggested there may be some flaws with the way the panel is set up. The Democratic Party is strongly against Prop. 11 -- which it sees as a power grab -- though some more moderate Democrats -- like Treasurer Bill Lockyer -- are for it.
Gardena City Council established a ban on medical marijuana dispensaries, approved changes to the Rent Mediation Board's bylaws, and authorized an entertainment permit for a karaoke restaurant on Tuesday. The council voted 4-0 to prohibit medical marijuana dispensaries in the city. A 2006 moratorium on the businesses expires next month. An entertainment permit to allow karaoke music at Hanabi restaurant, formerly Koreana BBQ, was approved 4-0 on Tuesday. The restaurant, at 1435 W. Redondo Beach Boulevard, has recently been renovated with a sushi bar and individual rooms for private karaoke parties. It will open in November. The council also amended the bylaws of the city's Rent Mediation Board, which arbitrates disputes between renters and landlords. The new rules limit mediation service to rent increases greater than five percent in one year, require landlords to submit reasons for rent increases prior to a mediation hearing, provide that the other side prevails if a party does not appear for a mediation hearing, and conforms rent increase notification periods to current state law.
A sad sign of the times: A Torrance man will be arraigned in court today on a felony charge of hate crime assault after he allegedly beat a gay man with a political placard advocating Prop. 8, a state ballot measure that would ban gay marriage.
Also, a neighborhood surrounding a Catholic church in Wilmington is crying foul after their own Yes on Prop. 8 signs keep going missing.
Maybe they should follow the lead of a Palos Verdes Estates man who made a 100-pound sign supporting Barack Obama in hopes it'd be too intimidating for the hoodlums he caught on video stealing his more subtle political signs.
Workers drained the pond in Torrance's giant Wilson Park for the first time in 20 years Tuesday, capturing and relocating more than 40 turtles, 200 fish and two ducks.
Redondo Beach police officers working a narcotics case Tuesday in Montebello arrested a fugitive wanted for killing two people in Denver about three years ago.
Two Torrance neighbors have teamed up to sell scary Halloween scenes online. The holiday is still a few days out, but get some scares at our gallery of the company's wares. And then, why don't you use our database to find fun Halloween stuff to do with the kids?
The Lakers made it to the finals last year, but now they have inserted Andrew Bynum back into the lineup with Pau Gasol. The season starts tonight. Look for Elliott Teaford's preview: Twin Tower Power. (Oh, and we got Kobe too.)
Ok, so I paid $2.95 today at Arco. (Hey station near my home: $3.29 is still too high!) Sandy Mazza reports on how gas prices have dipped to their lowest mark in eight months. Costco is selling the stuff for $2.74.
A court has ruled against a local tattoo artist who wants to open a shop in Hermosa Beach. Andrea Woodhouse reports that "John Anderson has no first amendment right to ink in Hermosa Beach."
You've probably figured out who you want for president, but then you
turn to that page in the ballot for water board. The Daily Breeze
chimes in today with its recommendations.
The National Transportation Safety Board has a preliminary report out on that plane crash that killed three people on Catalina Island. The victims included a cardiologist, his wife, and next-door neighbor. "Speed" and "Matrix" actor Keanu Reeves is set to testify in a trial in Los Angeles today. A celebrity photographer
sued Reeves, charging the actor's Porche struck him in
the knee and caused him a serious hand injury. Reeves says the paparazzi fell down on his own. The whole deal occurred March 19, 2007 on Avenida Tranquila in Rancho Palos Verdes.
Remember a couple weeks ago, when about a dozen pretend undead took over Manhattan Beach's Polliwog Park to practice the elaborately choreographed dance from Michael Jackson's "Thriller" music video?
Well, imagine that frightful spectacle multiplied by three hundred or so Saturday, when almost 3,400 fake zombies worldwide performed the line dance simultaneously as part of "Thrill the World."
Organizers behind the Los Angeles group reported that people in 65 cities scattered across nine countries danced the 80s pop hit, setting a new world record and topping last year's showing of about 1,700 dancers.
Almost 115 people performed with the Los Angeles contingent, which took over the Hollywood & Highland Center on Saturday, organizers said.
Check out our photo gallery of the practice session to see a smaller-scale version of what happened Saturday.
Here's a look at what's going on out there on this hazy Monday:
In exchange for pleading guilty to molesting some kids, former Peninsula High School coach Barry Sacks was sentenced this morning to 60 days in jail, five years of probation, permanent sex offender status, 30 days community service and 52 weeks of sex offender counseling. Courts maven Denise Nix will have a bigger story later today.
A man was found stabbed to death Sunday morning at Banning Park in Wilmington.
Despite an economic and real estate downturn, backers of the massive Terranea housing development in Rancho Palos Verdes are gearing up for its June development, which seemingly popped up overnight.
What's a senior citizen gotta do to get a smoke these days in El Segundo? After complaints of second-hand smoke at the city-run Park Vista retirement home, El Segundo has issued an immediate ban on puffing in common areas, and smoking in private residences is illegal as of December 2009.
The public can weigh in on redevelopment plans for San Pedro's waterfront at 6 p.m. tonight.
At home, Rancho Palos Verdes resident Lauren Palmer has a cat and two goldfish. At work in San Pedro, she cares for injured seals and sea lions.
And here some stuff you might have missed over the weekend:
A Manhattan Beach woman is working to build a 40-acre ranch that will provide work opportunities, group exercise activities and art therapy for children with disabilities, like her 15-year-old son who has long battled epilepsy.
Los Angeles Police Department's new $35 million station in Wilmington is set to open in January, but we give you a sneak peek.
Not to toot our own horns, but Daily Breeze photogs Scott Varley and Brad Graverson, as well as a former reporter were honored Saturday for their work by the California Newspaper Publishers Association. Also reporter Gene Maddaus received an honorable mention, as did staff artist Paul Penzella. Just think, you get all that talent for just a quarter a day -- or free online!
A Delta II rocket carrying the third of four planned COSMO Sky-Med earth satellites is scheduled to blast off at exactly 7:28 (and 21 seconds) tonight from Vandenberg AFB near Lompoc.
The launch should be visible for about 200 miles and evening launches can be spectacular as the accompanying picture taken from the Hermosa Beach Pier in 2006 illustrates.
Here's a look at what's happening out there on a lovely fall Friday:
If the presidential election were this week, and if ballots were cast in cookies at a Torrance bakery, Sen. Barack Obama would be our next president. Torrance Bakery is selling round shortbread cookies with pictures the presidential and vice-presidential candidates printed in icing. Obama this week was beating John McCain by about a 9-point margin a the bakery in Old Torrance.
Get a look at the cookies here, and decide whose head you'd like to eat. Mmmm, politicians.
While you have an appetite for politics, check out our one-stop shop for all that is election-related.
Two Torrance doctors are giving free medical care to existing patients who lost their jobs and medical insurance.
The Los Angeles Unified School District broke ground Thursday on a new $145 million high school located in Long Beach but will serve 1,800 Carson students. Long Beach is still fighting the 14-acre project.
San Pedro's and Narbonne's football teams face off tonight.
Y'all told news columnist John Bogert what it means to be an American.
The bad news: Harbor-UCLA Medical Center has seen a 54 percent spike in trauma patients since 2005, when King Harbor Medical Center closed. The good news: Fewer of those patients are dying.
Yuck: A Hawthorne-area daycare provider was charged Wednesday for allegedly molesting two girls, ages 4 and 6, in his care.
An elderly Rancho Palos Verdes man died earlier this month after contracting West Nile virus, and vector control officials found a dead bird infected with the disease in Manhattan Beach last week.
The owner of the swanky Shade hotel in Manhattan Beach has similar plans for a vacant Redondo Beach restaurant site.
With the housing market in the toilet, South Bay real estate agents are forced to adapt.
Next week, South Bay residents can tour "Hell Shire Farms," a maze set up in a private Redondo Beach home. To find more haunted houses set up around the area, check out our database of local haunted houses.
Here's another offering in our ongoing photo series of local politicians posing with national politicians.
This one shows Huntington Beach Mayor and Congress hopeful Debbie Cook posing with presidential nominee Barack Obama.
Cook, a Democrat, is vying against Republican incumbent Rep. Dana Rohrabacher for the 46th Congressional District, which runs from the Palos Verdes Peninsula to north Orange County.
With registered Republicans outnumbering Democrats by 50,000 in that district, Rohrabacher is favored to win, despite being out-fundraised by Cook two quarters in a row.
But Cook is smiling anyway!
If you're a local politician with a picture of you alongside a presidential or vice-presidential candidate, keep 'em coming!
The, uh, reassignment comes after a recent deal under which Dick's acquired 15 Chick's stores for about $40 million and the assumption of about $31 million in debt.
It seems the El Segundo store has been preparing for the change since late November, when executives announced Dick's acquisition of Chick's.
Dick's Sporting Goods operates almost 360 stores in 38 states, mostly in the country's eastern half.
The Breeze is starting a new feature in a couple of weeks that will highlight a South Bay child or teen who has done something good for the world. If you know someone who fits that bill, please send us a short bio and a photo. The feature will run on a new Web site for families and in print one day a week. Here's the official promo:
If your kid (or someone else's kid) is outstanding or has done something special lately, please send an e-mail to philip.lawrence@dailybreeze.com at South Bay Family Talk telling us all about him or her. Please attach a photo, too!
Many thanks to Larry Altman for keeping the Pipeline's morning update regular while I was out the past few days.
I'm back, and here's a look at what's doing out there today:
A retiring Los Angeles City Fire Department captain got a surprise Tuesday, when his San Pedro station colleagues presented him with a pimped-out version of his Volkswagen bug he got rid of a while ago.
You like that piece of good news? Well, see some good pictures of the surprise here.
A Catalina restaurant worker tried to help the three people trapped inside a burning plane Monday, but there was nothing Chris Arneson could do as flames engulfed the single-engine plane that crashed as it attempted to take off from the island's airport.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger stopped by Cal State Dominguez Hills to announce Tuesday a private-public partnership that will give 15 state universities affordable solar panel.
Mira Costa overtook rival Redondo Union in a girls volleyball match Tuesday night. See all the sets, spikes and serves in our photo gallery.
Grease's own John
Travolta and Olivia Newton-John were among the VIPs on a 2-hour flight
to San Francisco and back to show off the new gigantic Airbus A380. Our
own Thunderbird, Art Marroquin, was on board.
Danny: Summer lovin' had me a blast Sandy: Summer lovin' happened so fast Danny: I met a girl crazy for me Sandy: Met a boy cute as can be Both: Summer days driftin' away, to uh-oh those summer nights Everyone: Uh Well-a well-a well-a huh Thunderbirds: Tell me more, tell me more
Well this car is systematic, hydromatic, ultramatic Why, it could be Greased Lightnin'! We'll get some overhead lifters and some four barrel quads, oh yeah Keep talkin', whoah keep talkin'! Fuel injection cut off and chrome plated rods, oh yeah I'll get her ready, I need to get her ready! With a four-speed on the floor, they'll be waitin' at the door You know that ain't shit when we'll be gettin' lots of tit Greased Lightnin'
West Torrance's Kristine Kouyoumjian is taking her place as one of Southern California's top teen tennis players, but she's ready to help lead the Warriors and is welcoming being part of a team.
We go together like rama lama lama ke ding a de dinga a dong remembered for ever like shoo bop shoo wadda wadda yipitty boom de boom
Chang chang chang-it-ty chang shoo-bop That's the way it should be Wha oooh yeah!
Torrance Memorial Medical Center is newly certified to perform bariatric weight loss surgeries. More and more hospitals are getting into it. Melissa Evans reports.
Manhattan Beach school officials are pushing for voters to pass a $67.5 million bond measure to finish renovations at Mira Costa High School. Nguyen Huy Vu has the story.
Donna Littlejohn tells the story of plans underway to move St. Peter's Episcopal Church, built in 1884, from Harbor View Cemetery in San Pedro to Green Hills Memorial Park in Rancho Palos Verdes.
At 12:45 p.m. Thursday (that's Oct. 23), The Food Network will be out at Angels Gate Park to film a segment of the new series "Raw Talent." As in sushi.
From the flier:
The Food Network is crossing the U.S. to spotlight different styles of sushi preparation, sushi traditions and sushi etiquette. Americans can't get enough of sushi, so come on out and show your support for one of Los Angeles' best.
Be an extra on the set, and enjoy FREE SUSHI!
Producers say they're looking for a big audience, so come one, come all.
It all happens at the Korean Friendship Bell at Angels Gate park, 3601 S. Gaffey St., San Pedro.
Unless you live under a million-dollar rock in Hermosa Beach, you probably already know the city is moving along with plans to overhaul its main drag, Pier Avenue.
Residents, business owners and other stakeholders have another chance to weigh in on the plans Tuesday, when the city's Planning Commission is set to debate zoning elements of the plan.
Here's just a sampling of some of the things the body will consider:
Modified permitted and conditional uses to promote pedestrian friendly, resident-serving daytime uses
Architectural aspects like building height, setbacks, design standards and parking locations
Requiring buildings to have storefront facades that encourage street interaction
Reducing chain store-like architecture
You can read more about the plans on the city's web site.
And for a refresher, check out the final report drafted by the committee that developed conceptual plans for Pier Avenue.
So, what do you think about these things? Tell the commissioners at 7 p.m., at City Hall, 1315 Valley Dr., at 7 p.m.
Andrea Woodhouse is enjoying a break today, so let's fill in for her.
Here's a look at what's happening today:
The Redondo Beach Art Group is hosting Power of Art, a three-day festival at the AES power plant. "This will be the biggest and best cultural event Redondo Beach has ever seen," a volunteer told reporter Douglas Morino.
A couple of South Bay bad guys won't be getting out of prison anytime soon. The California Supreme Court upheld the conviction of serial killer Adolph Laudenberg, who was found guilty of killing a woman in San Pedro in 1972. He's suspected in at least two other murders. And the federal 2nd District Court of Appeal upheld the 18-year prison sentence for Aaron Franklin, who committed robberies in the South Bay. Denise Nix reports on that one.
Manhattan Beach police are coming to the aid of their colleague Mark Vasquez again. Back in December, they all shaved their heads to show support when he underwent a bone marrow transplant. Now they are holding a bowling event to raise money to help him pay for new procedures because his cancer has unfortunately returned.
Carson High School quarterback Daniel Torres, in his first full year as a starter, is considered one of the best in the South Bay. He's excited about tonight's game against San Pedro. Tony Ciniglio reports. What is going to happen with the Dodgers now that 2008 is history. Jill Painter talked to Manny Ramirez about whether he'll stay. (C'mon Manny, stay, pleeaaaasee!)
Andrew Bynum's agent, meanwhile, is talking tough about a huge payday with the Lakers.He isn't real optimistic about a deal by Oct. 31, Laker beat writer Elliott Teaford reports. Five years, $80 million? Wish I was tall.
The owners of the Valero gas station property at Hawthorne Boulevard and Granvia Altamira have appealed the Planning Commission's Tuesday denial of their plans to build a CVS/pharmacy on the site.
The City Council is set to hear the appeal on Nov. 6 (that's a Thursday).
Also: the final environmental impact report -- which has been a long time coming -- is available for the Marymount College expansion project. It's here. The commission hearing on that is set for Oct. 28.
If you hear gunfire Friday (Oct. 17) in San Pedro, don't panic. Not right away, anyhow.
The extra noise may be coming from a film crew shooting scenes for the upcoming crime drama "Once Fallen" starring Ed Harris.
Filming will be going on at 750 W. 33rd St. Area residents have been notified, production representatives said.
According to a Web site that mentions the film, the story is "set in the incredibly cinematic and visually stunning city of San Pedro California. 'Once Fallen' is a racy crime drama about rebuilding life after having everything ripped away from you by incarceration, falling in love with the forbidden and the twisted family dynamics of a violent crime family."
Filming began Oct. 8 and the release date is sometime in 2008. The film also stars Michael Madsen, Amy Madigan and Dennis Hopper.
The mood was almost giddy in August 2003 when an the award-winning architectural firm of Ehrenkrantz Eckstut & Kuhn were tapped to design San Pedro's new waterfront.
"To all of you who doubted, to the critics and the skeptics, this proves our dreams are becoming a reality," Los Angeles City Councilwoman Janice Hahn confidently declared a year later when the initial plans were approved afrter dozens of community meetings. "People have been wanting this for a very, very long time."
The project, however, unraveled after that, falling victim to bickering community groups, perhaps too many workshops (eventually there were six competing versions going around) and the 2005 city election that swept out all five of the sitting harbor commissioners overseeing the plan.
Now, the port has rolled out yet another draft environmental report, still scaled back from original designs but including a few more items than the last roundly-criticized bare-bones model.
Community members will be invited to speak at an Oct. 27 meeting at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in San Pedro. Written comments also will be taken.
The last draft EIR drew nearly unanimous ridicule so we'll see how this one fares.
But while residents remain hopeful that a project of some kind will eventually be done, the momentum and enthusiasm seem to have waned over the years.
"I think (people) have given up," said James Cross, a community member who was involved in the early efforts to plan the waterfront. "People get so tired. They get burned out."
You can go to the port's Project web page to see the new draft plan and more updates.
Here's a look at what's happening out there today:
It apparently worked in Iraq, so why wouldn't a surge work in Hermosa Beach? City officials there have deemed the police's summertime crackdown on obnoxious Pier Plaza behavior a success. And police tamed the party animals so well that they might try it again.
Hoping to lift spirits in a dismal time, Torrance dentist Gary Lam donated 10 percent of his clients' co-pays this year to non-profit groups. So sweet that I have a toothache now.
Los Angeles' and Long Beach's ports saw a combined 12 percent drop in imports last month, a figure that echoes retailers' concerns that holiday spending might be scant this year.
A Hawthorne Turkish restaurant cannot add live music and belly dancing to its offerings, the Hawthorne City Council decided Tuesday, amid concerns from a neighboring Mosque that the entertainment would hurt the neighborhood.
Think the South Bay housing market is bad already? Well, it's going to get worse. A forecast from the California Association of Realtors expects prices to drop 6 percent in the next year. Meanwhile, rents haven't changed too much, another report finds.
If a tanking economy, impending home foreclosure or the Dodgers' loss doesn't have you hiding under the covers already, use our database to find scares at South Bay haunted houses.
More in the Breeze's never-ending series of photos of local politicians with national politicians:
Today we have Gabriella Holt, Republican candidate for the 54th Assembly District, with VP nominee Sarah Palin. Holt, of Rancho Palos Verdes, was part of the delegation that met Palin at the Long Beach Airport about 10 days ago, when the Alaska governor spoke at the Home Depot Center in Carson.
Are you a local politician? Do you have a photo of yourself with Barack Obama/John McCain/Hillary Clinton/Ron Paul/etc.? Send it along!
Just days after a developer renewed his effort to bring a Trader Joe's to Rancho Palos Verdes' Golden Cove Center, news comes that the city's Planning Commission rejected a bid to build a CVS/pharmacy up the hill.
The Planning Commission voted last night to deny plans to build a location of the chain drug store in the place of a Valero gas station at Hawthorne Boulevard and Granvia Altamira.
Approval would have required a change to the city's general plan. We'll have more info as we get it.
Here's the reasoning given in an email from the city that was sent to residents:
Los Angeles police and city attorney officials have slapped a whole new batch of gang members in Wilmington's Ghost Town neighborhood with an order limiting congregating, drinking in public and other miscellaneous gang-banging.
Also, check out a map of the injunction area and a list of the defendants. What would your gang name be? Mine's A-Wood.
Riding the bus in Torrance could get twice as expensive for some riders. The agency that operates the city's transit line has proposed hiking adult fares from 50 cents to $1 -- the first increase since 1995. Senior citizens would ride for two bits, and students score with 50-cent fares.
Of course, no one has any money to spend these days, but a whole bunch of new South Bay retailers are moving down the pike anyway: A developer has resubmitted plans for a smaller Trader Joe's in Rancho Palos Verdes, and Carson broke ground Tuesday on its mall project.
Palos Verdes' boys water polo team overtook Mira Costa on Tuesday for the first time since 2005.
While you're in a sporting mood, check out our database that sees what former South Bay athletes are doing today.
Though they're burning miles away, the Valley brush fires are compromising South Bay air quality, and public health officials have urged people to stay indoors and restrict physical activity.
A nonprofit that helps kids cope with grief has set up offices in Torrance.
Marina del Rey will be dredged this fall to relieve clogging at the south entrance to the channel.
Seven athletes were inducted Monday into San Pedro's Sportswalk to the Waterfront; visit our gallery to check out photographs of the event.
Standout setter Brooke Fournier carries on the family name and reputation at South Torrance High School.
An El Segundo tech company ends its hostile takeover bid for a competing company.
The Breeze has endorsed Bernard Parks for Los Angeles county supervisor. Learn all you need to know about next month's election at our online election center.
Wanna know when your favorite high school football team is playing? Check out our prep football schedule.
On HBO's "Real Time with Bill Maher" on Friday night, conservative author Stephen Moore accused South Bay Rep. Maxine Waters of accepting $15,000 from Fannie and Freddie's political action committees (starting at 8:38):
Waters' response:
That is a lie and I challenge you to find $15,000 that I took from Fannie PAC...
Here is the report by the Center for Responsive Politics that shows that, yes, Waters took $15,000 from Fannie & Freddie's PACs since 1989, plus another $2,800 from employees of Fannie and Freddie.
Why she would deny something that's that easy to check is beyond me, especially when she got relatively little compared with other members of Congress. Waters is only 80th on the list of those who received funds from Fannie and Freddie, behind such Republicans as Minority Leader John Boehner (#14, $67,750), Chief Deputy Whip Eric Cantor (#24, $48,500), and Sen. John McCain (#62, $21,550).
All that proves is that Fannie and Freddie worked both sides of the aisle. Seems like Waters would defend Fannie and Freddie regardless. She even kept it up on Friday night:
We own Fannie and Freddie now, and we will continue with the mission. It was not that the mission was bad. The fact of the matter is they started to buy up these bad mortgages, just like all of their competitors did.
When challenged about her support for Fannie and Freddie back in 2003-2005, when they were under intense criticism, Waters said this:
I voted for regulation for Fannie and Freddie. I voted for the regulation that was championed by Barney Frank.
It's not clear exactly what regulation she was referring to, but it was probably H.R. 1427, which passed the House on a bipartisan basis in May 2007. (Waters was actually absent for the vote on passage, but did vote for the rule to bring it to the floor.) That bill was a compromise, in that it added extra regulatory authority over Fannie and Freddie, while also creating a $3 billion trust fund to buy or build affordable housing. Many Republicans liked the new oversight but balked at the trust fund, and tried (unsuccessfully) to strip the it out of the bill.
Waters, who had voted against earlier efforts to add oversight of Fannie and Freddie, praised the compromise on the floor of the House:
We have all worked very hard and we have compromised... The defenders of the GSEs [Fannie and Freddie] decided that it was time for strong regulation and that OFHEO [the GSE's regulator] had indeed not done the job and given the oversight that they should have given.
That was a significant departure from her position in 2003. Of course, by that point the horse was out of the barn.
Still, while it's clear that Fannie and Freddie played a role in the crisis, it's debatable whether earlier GSE regulation would have done much to prevent it. McClatchy took a look over the weekend and concluded that it wouldn't have:
Federal housing data reveal that the charges aren't true, and that the private sector, not the government or government-backed companies, was behind the soaring subprime lending at the core of the crisis.
Do not expect that to settle the debate. We have previously examined this issue here and here.
A Hawthorne mosque is opposing plans of a nearby Turkish restaurant to play live music and hire belly dancers. The religious community says the entertainment would be an affront to their faith, while the eatery's owner, also a Muslim, is just trying to keep his business afloat in rough economic times.
Southern California's affiliate of the American Civil Liberties Union just got brand new downtown digs, a big step up from its first home 85 years ago in San Pedro.
Work is ongoing to restore the military dog cemetery at San Pedro's Fort Mac.
One woman incorporates strollers into exercise to help new South Bay mummies stay yummy.
And some stragglers from the weekend:
Voters next month will decide on Prop. 5, a proposal to give $385 million in state funding to treat non-violent criminals with addiction problems rather incarcerate them. Check out video telling the story of one local man who found success in such a program.
What's that smell in Carson? Could be Cesar Encarnacion's beloved but stinky carrion flowers. Check out pictures of the blooms here.
A seven-member crew works 10-hour days year-round to keep the 6,062 foot-long Vincent Thomas Bridge looking so good. Check out pictures of the painting process here at your own risk of vertigo.
Avila, a San Pedro Realtor, was one of eight children who grew up in Hutchinson, Kan.
She had a son, Michael Avila and three grandchildren.
Avila and her boyfriend, Henry Sanchez, had been together about 10 years. Sanchez, whose sisters Loretta and Linda serve in Congress, had a son.
The couple regularly took the boat -- owned by Sanchez and Avila's son -- to Catalina Island. Last week, their boat and a barge collided. Sanchez and Avila died.
An El Segundo movie prop house is auctioning off a whole bunch of grisly and gory costumes, weapons and other memorabilia from popular horror movies Saturday with all proceeds going to charity.
Um, yeah: An ex-con on trial for allegedly raping and beating to death a 76-year-old great grandmother as she went on a morning walk says his DNA was found on the woman because they consensually hooked up a few days earlier.
The Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach seized $71.4 million in counterfeit and pirated loot so far this year. Bummer -- I was in the market for a fake Chanel purse.
Police are still looking for the Wilmington gang member who allegedly followed his estranged wife to her Carson office, shot her to death and then took off.
Undefeated Junipero Serra High School's football team faces off tonight against Taft's undefeated team.
Our libra news columnist John Bogert apparently has come to terms with his birthday this week.
South Bay Rep. Maxine Waters will be on "Real Time with Bill Maher" tonight at 11 p.m. on HBO. Also appearing will be Oliver Stone, who is promoting his George W. Bush biopic. Set your TiVo.
Well, not after your flesh -- but they do want your dance skills.
About 100 pretend-undead are holding a practice and teaching session Saturday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Polliwog Park to perfect the 1980s iconic line dance, "Thriller."
Anyone from the public is welcome to join in and learn the moves.
Saturday's session is practice for Thrill the World, an Oct. 25 event where folks all over the world get together and simultaneously perform Michael Jackson's ode to the undead.
The Los Angeles-area group, which so far includes about two dozen South Bay people, will do their performance in costume at the Hollywood & Highland Center.
For the first time ever, I'm bummed I don't work Saturdays. *Sigh*
For fun, check out the original Thriller video -- from way back when Michael Jackson didn't look like a zombie in real life.
And here's video of some inmates at a prison in the Philippines performing the dance.
Hollywood's most prominent conservative, actor Jon Voight, will be headlining a fundraiser this weekend for Rep. Dana Rohrabacher.
Rohrabacher, a ten-term incumbent, is facing Huntington Beach Mayor Debbie Cook in the November election. Though Cook managed to out-raise Rohrabacher for a couple of finance periods, she still looks like a long shot.
This will be two straight weekends in the South Bay for Voight. Last Saturday, he was one of the warm-up speakers for Gov. Sarah Palin at the Home Depot Center in Carson. He gave a speech that touched on several subjects with only a tangential connection to conservative politics, including Michael Jordan, Chekhov's "The Seagull," and his mother.
Voight will appear on Saturday, Oct. 11 somewhere in Palos Verdes Estates -- presumably at a private home. For details, send an e-mail to rhonda@rohrabacher.com.
Two bodies found inside the wreckage of a boat pulled off the coast of San Pedro this week have been identified as the brother of two local congresswomen and his girlfriend, both missing for about a week.
Also, check out video of this morning's press conference at the Port of Los Angeles.
A Wilmington gang member followed his estranged wife
to her Carson workplace Wednesday and shot her to death as she parked
her car.
Los Angeles World Airports may have illegally given more than $40 million to the city's convention and visitors bureau since 2002.
South Bay residents with any money left to spend can do so this week at new Target stores opening in Hawthorne and San Pedro.
Or you could shop at Redondo Beach's Riviera Village, whose shops have suffered hard in the declining economy.
Despite a loss, Palos Verdes High School's girls volleyball team put up a good fight Wednesday against Mira Costa's intimidating team.
If Proposition 8 passes, thereby ending gay marriage in California, expect some in the gay-rights community to lay some of the blame on their strongest ally: San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom. Here's what he said in May, when the California Supreme Court legalized gay weddings:
This door's wide open now. It's gonna happen. Whether you like it or not.
Pride goeth before a fall. Here is the ad that the pro-8 forces have turned that remark into:
And now a poll suggests that the ad is working. The new SurveyUSA poll shows Prop. 8 winning, 47-42. That follows earlier polls that showed it failing, 49-44 and 55-38.
Newsom, a Democrat, is planning to run for governor in 2010. This remark suggests a certain... lack of discipline, which could be a hindrance in that effort.
Sheriffs deputies are investigating this morning's fatal shooting of a woman in the parking lot of a Carson distribution company. We'll get you more details as they arise.
Sorry peeps, but there's no more smoking on Redondo Beach sands. Long the single hold-out on what seemed like an otherwise South Bay-wide snuffing of beach smoking, city leaders Tuesday passed its own ban, which includes puffing in public parks.
Instead of cigarettes, bust out your ice skates! The council also approved a wintertime ice skating rink for its Seaside Lagoon.
Malfunctioning electrical equipment sparked a 2-acre brush fire on a dry Rancho Palos Verdes hillside Tuesday morning. Firefighters quickly extinguished the blaze with the help of aircraft.
See the firefighters and water-dropping aircraft in action here.
Lawndale is getting a new park; Manhattan Beach is keeping their gas lanterns; and the U.S. Coast Guard is doing drills at Torrance's beach.
We told you in another entry about the U.S. Coast Guard training exercise today at Torrance Beach. So don't worry if you see helicopters and lots of people running around like something terrible has happened.
We didn't know that employees at the Chevron refinery in El Segundo also were training today off the coast of Manhattan Beach and El Segundo. They are practicing how to clean up an oil spill.
Rep. Maxine Waters was on the Tavis Smiley show last night, doing post-game analysis of the second presidential debate. The only new news out of the debate seemed to be John McCain's proposal to use $300 billion to restructure bad mortgages, but Waters said, no, that's not new, that's already part of the bailout bill that passed last week:
The centerpiece of this plan is the buyout: the purchase of the toxic paper, the bad subprime loans that are held in all these institutions and the modification of them, the workout. How will we work them out after we buy them up? We can write down the principal. We can write down the interest. We can get rid of the resetting of these loans, these adjustable rate mortgages, and we can stretch them out for 30 years. We can refinance them with FHA.
Is that true?
Yes and no.
The original Bush administration plan was aimed exclusively at curing Wall Street. The plan was to buy up toxic mortgage-backed securities and hold on to them until either A) the loans were paid off (aka "hold to maturity") or B) the market stabilized and they could be sold back to financial institutions. Democrats in Congress, however, urged the Treasury Department to help modify the underlying loans as well -- write down the principal, set a fixed interest rate, and avoid foreclosure. The Democrats put language in the bailout bill to "encourage" such restructuring.
So now that the bill has passed, is that happening?
No. Treasury officials still don't seem all that interested in reworking individual loans, and even if they wanted to, there's a problem, as the New York Times explains:
More than 90 percent of all subprime
mortgages are part of giant pools, or trusts, which sell
mortgage-backed securities to investors around the world. Before
the government would be able to modify any mortgage that was in a
trust, securities experts said, it would have to acquire agreement from
100 percent of the bondholders. But a senior Treasury official said the
government would probably want to buy no more than half of the
securities tied to a trust, which would hamper winning agreement from
all investors.
As it stands, the Treasury Department has its hands full just trying to hire outside enough contractors to help it buy up the toxic securities in a semi-orderly fashion. It doesn't look like the government will have bought anything before the election, and after that the whole thing will start to become the next guy's problem.
For what it's worth, Barack Obama has also called on the Treasury Department to directly buy up mortgages in order to restructure them, but unlike McCain he has not put a dollar figure on the idea. McCain says his $300 billion will come out of the $700 billion Congress has already appropriated to bail out Wall Street.
Monday night's Lawndale City Council meeting was pretty peaceful -- except when the dreaded "bond" word came up.
It was brought up by staff who wanted to open up the option of using Tax Allocation bond money to pay for part of the planned new community center, and the council approved it 5-0. It does not mean that TA bonds will be used, it just gives the city the option to use them down the line. And, TA bonds are different from General Obligation bonds. They don't require a ballot vote, and the money comes from existing property taxes.
But, several residents at the meeting were angry at the idea. One resident told the council: "As far as this bond is concerned, you can put it right there in that wastebasket where it belongs."
The community center was approved by about 75 percent of voters in an April ballot measure, with the promise that taxes won't be raised to pay for it. And the city maintains that taxes won't be raised for it and, in fact, staff is trying creative ways to finance it without drawing from the General Fund.
For one thing, the city has a Washington D.C. lobbying looking for ways to earmark some federal funds for the center.
The TA bonds are simply another pot of existing money to draw funding from, City Manager Keith Breskin said. "We have 8 or 9 different financing options. We do have the money now, but it may be more fiscally responsible to diversify where we get the money from," he said.
At any rate, the TA bonds were perplexing enough that the city will hold a Tax Allocation bond study group at 6:30 p.m. on October 27. Anyone who is interested in going should call the city at 310-973-3200.
If you see helicopters swarming over the ocean and U.S. Coast Guard officers storming Torrance Beach on Wednesday, don't worry.
It's just air crews conducting their annual "wet drills."
This training simulates the conditions rescuers might encounter in a survival situation at sea.
Here's what the U.S. Guard says will occur:
"Crew members will start by entering the 64 degree water in
the dry suits and life vests they routinely fly in. Once in the water,
they will swim 100 yards to a 6-man life raft and receive training in
survival techniques. Signaling devices, such as flares, will be
deployed for practice. Roughly 20 Pilots and 40 Flight Mechanics will
participate in the training conducted by the Helicopter Rescue
Swimmers."
Last week we pointed out that South Bay Rep. Maxine Waters has long been a vociferous defender of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in their affordable housing mission. Before the housing bubble burst, she was strongly supportive of no-money-down loans and "desktop underwriting," which streamlined the mortgage initiation process for under-capitalized homebuyers.
That's not the whole story of the housing meltdown, by any means, but it's certainly part of it. On Sunday, the New York Times took a deeper look at the role of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in the current crisis.
The story is generally sympathetic to Fannie and Freddie. It portrays the GSEs as victims of a sort of high-stakes peer pressure from Wall Street investment banks and mortgage lenders, who gave them a choice between adapting to a riskier mortgage market or dying off. Here is one especially creepy scene in which the CEO of Fannie Mae, Daniel Mudd, has a meeting with Angelo Mozilo, the CEO of Countrywide:
"You're becoming irrelevant," Mr. Mozilo told Mr. Mudd... In the previous year, Fannie had
already lost 56 percent of its loan-reselling business to Wall Street
and other competitors.
"You need us more than we need you," Mr. Mozilo said, "and if you don't take these loans, you'll find you can lose much more."
Then Mr. Mozilo offered everyone a breath mint.
Oooh. What a nice Bond-villain touch. Throughout the story it becomes clear that the people running the GSEs have, like most everyone else involved in this mess, become good at deflecting blame. If it's not Mozilo's fault, it's the investors, and if not the investors, then Congress:
"Everybody understood that we were now buying loans that we would have
previously rejected, and that the models were telling us that we were
charging way too little," said a former senior Fannie executive. "But
our mandate was to stay relevant and to serve low-income borrowers. So
that's what we did."
OK, so the takeaway of this account seems to be this: It was Wall Street that was driving the train off the cliff, but the GSEs knew it and didn't get off the train. With hindsight, it's easy to criticize. But it does seem like everyone could have used a mother's advice: "If everyone at school jumped off a bridge, would you jump too?"
When Sarah Palin was picked to be John McCain's running mate, it was obvious which song should be played at her rallies: Heart's "Barracuda." After a few days, though, Heart asked the campaign to cease and desist.
So at the Home Depot Center on Saturday, Palin took the stage to AC/DC's "Thunderstruck." It's a classic pump-up-the-crowd song and its lyrics are borderline-indecipherable. So far so good.
But who picked this song to keep the crowd entertained while they were waiting for the governor to speak?
The song is "Ain't No Reason" (2006) by Brett Dennen. It includes the line "Politicians lie and I am not fooled," which would make sense at a Palin rally only if you think he's referring to Barack Obama. The rest of the song makes that interpretation seem unlikely:
Keep on building prisons, gonna fill them all Keep building bombs, gonna drop them all
There ain't no reason things are this way It's how they always been and they intend to stay
In case the mordant irony of those lines was not clear, the video (above) includes images of a military veteran with an amputated leg and a shackled detainee in an orange jumpsuit. It's a protest song.
Was there no other track in the collection? Where was "Raisin' McCain"?
Gov. Sarah Palin was introduced at the Home Depot Center in Carson on Saturday by Shelly Mandell, the president of the L.A. Chapter of the National Organization for Women. Mandell introduced herself as a lifelong Democrat and women's rights activist who had decided to support the Republican ticket this year because of Palin.
"She's a reformer who will break up the old boys' network," Mandell said. "This is what a feminist looks like."
NOW has taken notice, and they are not amused. California NOW put out a statement on Sunday clarifying that NOW's political action committee has endorsed Barack Obama.
Ms. Mandell was speaking as an individual and was not authorized to
represent NOW, the NOW PAC or LA NOW in any capacity in connection with
a federal candidate endorsement. As NOW President Kim Gandy said upon
Palin's selection, "Not every woman supports women's rights."
The use of Shelly Mandell's Los Angeles NOW title was apparently
intended to mislead the public, and indeed has resulted in local
television outlets and internet reports misstating that LA NOW has
"endorsed" Sarah Palin or that she has a record of supporting women's
rights. This in fact is not the case.
There follows a vigorous discussion in the comments over whether Mandell is a traitor to the cause:
Shelly has no idea how many NOW women were right outside the door of
the Home Depot Center while she turned her back on us, embarrassed us
and twisted the knife in our hearts.
Some, however, were more supportive:
Palin is a woman who has gotten where she is on her own. Is it perfect?
No...but it is such a monumental step let's all at least give her a
chance. Don't tear her down - Shelly took a very, very brave stand in
favor of a (gulp, Republican) woman.
Happy birthday, Otis! The Westchester-based Otis College of Art and Design celebrates 90 years of adding culture to Los Angeles. Check out photos of the region's first public art institute.
The tiny Wiseburn School District is picking up long-running plans to add high schools to its kindergarten-through-eighth-grade program.
The Beach Cities Health District kids wellness program, LiveWell Kids, has expanded into all Redondo Beach elementary schools.
You know those ubiquitous Gerber ambulances racing around the South Bay? Well, their name comes from Robert Gerber, the man who has run the Torrance company for 20 years now.
Did you catch our coverage of Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin's visit Saturday to Carson? Also, get an idea of what the crowd was like by viewing our pictures gallery.
We're getting many calls and emails about how to get Sarah Palin tickets. I just talked to the McCain HQ in Torrance, at 23211 Hawthorne Blvd. and they say they still have tickets available. However they will be closing at 6 p.m.
So get over there asap if you want tickets to see the VP nominee tomorrow at the Home Depot Center in Carson. The rally is now scheduled for 2:30 p.m., doors open at 11:30 a.m.
If you don't have tickets, you may still get in, depending on how big the crowd is. Show up early.
Fresh from last night's vice presidential debate, Gov. Sarah Palin will be addressing a cheering throng at the Home Depot Center tomorrow afternoon. The HDC tennis stadium holds 8,000 people (expandable to 13,000 with bleachers, but it doesn't look like the bleachers will be installed). The rally starts at 2 p.m.
At right, you can see that workers have already set up the stage and the podium.
Tickets are still available at the McCain headquarters at 23211 Hawthorne Blvd. in Torrance. They are free. Parking is also free in the HDC lots. Doors open at 11:30 a.m. tomorrow.
If you can't make it to the Torrance HQ to pick up tickets, you can RSVP to the McCain campaign at california@johnmccain.com. However, the RSVP doesn't guarantee that you'll get in. Get there early and be at the head of the line. There will be an overflow seating area, but you don't want to get stuck there.
The HDC is at 18400 Avalon Blvd. in Carson. You can get there from the 405 by exiting at Avalon and going north, or from the 91 by exiting at Avalon and going south.
At left, a big "Country First" sign waits to be hoisted into place.
South Bay lawmakers voted the exact same way as they did on Monday, when the bill failed. This time, enough members changed their minds that the bailout rescue passed, 263-171.
Grant Johnson, a 13-year-old Manhattan Beach resident and yo-yo savant, will appear tonight on "Suite Life on Deck," a popular Disney television show, and compete this weekend in a national yo-yo competition. Check out video of Grant in action.
An appellate court has ruled that Rancho Palos Verdes couple does have the right to build on their land even if the ground is movin' and shakin' below.
In light of the current economic implosion, Carson is delaying its sale of $110 million in bonds to pay for its Boulevard at South Bay mall project.
South Torrance High's and West Torrance's football teams face off tonight at 7 p.m.
South Bay Rep. Jane Harman was on Fox News last night, prior to the Senate vote on the Wall Street bailout rescue. She took the opportunity to call out Sen. John McCain.
By the way, I
just heard that Senator McCain may not deliver remarks on the Senate floor. I
find that astounding. This is the critical vote of this term of Congress, and he
is AWOL. I don't understand it.
She also sounded the alarm about the impact of the credit crisis on state and local government.
The treasurer of
California has said we are going to run out of money by the end of the month and
we will not be able to pay nurses, teachers, firefighters, law enforcement.
5,000 counties and cities and school districts in California will have no money
to pay anyone. Millions of people, as you have heard, if the unemployment rate
goes up to 8 percent..
Indeed because the state runs on borrowed money until tax revenues come in, things could go south in a hurry if the state can't sell some bonds. Better explanation here.
The city of Torrance started Wednesday drilling its first new water well in 45 years.
Our local ports launched their clean trucks program Wednesday, and then made a big show by crushing an old truck.
Experts estimate the number Alzheimer's victims will more than double in the next 20 years, and 325,000 South Bay and Long Beach residents will be diagnosed with the disease by 2030, according to a report released by the county Wednesday.
North High takes the boy's individual race and team title; Chadwick took the girl's individual race; and Mira Costa took the girl's team title in the South Bay Cup cross country event Wednesday.
Now Bridget Jones can relax: A new Los Angeles-based magazine that celebrates the single life is hitting the newsstands, reports our L.A. Love Story columnist.
To get ready for tonight's vice presidential candidate debate, peruse the Breeze's online election headquarters.
The power was out in a section of Pedro where I live tonight, but the lights just came back on.
A DWP worker I talked to on my block says they think a squirrel or some other critter got "cooked" on a wire.
It's always so odd when there's no electricity -- you go around flipping on light switches anyway, forgetting. Having no fans was probably the biggest inconvenience this time around with this little heat wave we're having.
Still, everyone made the best of it. Before I even got home, the couples on both sides of me -- one long-time marrieds, the others, young marrieds -- enjoyed candlelight dinners.
And later, many of us congregated out front with our flashlights and dogs, catching up on each other's busy lives.
Liberals have tended to blame lax oversight of the financial industry, while conservatives have put the blame on the two federally backed mortgage banks, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
Fannie and Freddie exist to promote homeownership by providing liquidity to the home mortgage market. In 2003, they came under fire due to accounting irregularities that inflated the salary of CEO Franklin Raines. Republicans called for stricter regulation of Fannie and Freddie, while Democrats fought back. Leading the charge for the Dems was South Bay Rep. Maxine Waters.
Here is what she said at the House Financial Services Committee hearing on Sept. 25, 2003:
Mr. Chairman, we do not have a crisis at Freddie Mac, and in particular at Fannie Mae, under the outstanding leadership of Mr. Frank Raines. Everything in the 1992 act has worked just fine. In fact, the GSEs have exceeded their housing goals.
What we need to do today is to focus on the regulator, and this must be done in a manner so as not to impede their affordable housing mission, a mission that has seen innovation flourish from desktop underwriting to 100 percent loans.
Of course, 100 percent loans (aka "no money down" loans) are now seen as one of the many irresponsible lending practices that got us all into this mess. At the time, the argument for them went like this: poor people pay the rent every month, but they don't have enough savings to make a down payment on a house. As a result, they never build equity and they stay poor. If a mortgage could be structured to allow them to build equity without requiring a 20% down payment, they could lift themselves out of poverty. (Fannie offered Flex 97 and Flex 100 loan products, which allowed a 3% down payment and a 0% down payment, respectively.)
In retrospect, that argument doesn't look so good. Conservative commentators have pounced:
If anyone wants to find the people responsible for the current financial
meltdown, they need to look no farther than the Democrats -- Maxine Waters, Barney Frank and their Fannie Mae pal Franklin Raines -- to indentify the culprits.
The corruption of Fannie Mae was not simply partisan, but it was also racist in its own way. Just as Fannie and Freddie threatened to harm "racist" banks which didn't loan money to (unqualified) minorities, the leadership of the GSEs was clearly just as afraid of being called racist by minority (by race, not political party) members of Congress.
I asked Waters to defend her defense of Fannie and Freddie a couple days ago, and she put the blame at the feet of mortgage lenders (e.g. Countrywide):
"It's the products they put out there that hurt the
market," Waters said. "There should be products that evaluate the homeowners' ability to repay. Nobody has ever said 'Give a mortgage to somebody who can't pay it back.'"
Here too is liberal columnist Thomas Frank, making a similar argument in the Wall Street Journal:
Most of the mistakes for which we are paying now, Mr. Black told me, were actually made "by four entities that under conservative economic
theory should have exercised effective market discipline -- the appraisers, the originators of the mortgages, the rating agencies, and the investment banking firms that packaged the subprime mortgage-backed securities." Instead of "disciplining" the markets, these private actors "served as the four horsemen of the financial apocalypse, aiding the accounting fraud and inflating the housing bubble."
For those who want a more technical analysis, Tanta at Calculated Risk had a good discussion of the role of Fannie and Freddie in the housing crash a few months ago. Her summation:
I think we can give Fannie and Freddie their due share of responsibility for the mess we're in, while acknowledging that they were nowhere near the biggest culprits in the recent credit
bubble.
Not often you hear that admission from a journalist.
But North Torrance residents who have spotted a 75-foot-tall drilling rig derrick at McMaster Park near the corner of Artesia Boulevard and Yukon Avenue in the last couple of days may well understand the reference.
The city of Torrance began boring today what it hopes will be the first new water well in 45 years. The well is intended to reduce reliance on imported water. Those supplies are becoming more costly and less reliable because of the drought and environmental issues.
We'll have more details Thursday in a front page story in the dead tree edition (and on the dailybreeze.com Web site).
Torrance Engineering Manager David Ringland, below, explains the significance of the new city water well. Drilling began today.
A rolled ankle may have dashed my dreams of triumphing at Saturday's Manhattan Beach 10K Run, but you still have a few more days to sign up for the event.
Register in person at Manhattan Beach's Village Runner store by 7 p.m. Friday and get your spot in the race, now in its 31st year. The store is at 1840 N. Sepulveda Blvd., and registration costs $30 for adults, $25 for teens under 15.
The race starts at 7:30 a.m. and kicks off Manhattan's Hometown Fair weekend extravaganza, which will feature live entertainment, food, crafts as well as a dunking booth at Live Oak Park. . Make sure to stretch and hydrate!
This is a weird one. It appears that Rep. Dana Rohrabacher has an alternate theory of the Robert Kennedy assassination that he has been investigating in his spare time. In 2007, he even made a prison visit to RFK assassin Sirhan Sirhan, in an apparent effort to get him to implicate others in the crime. That story comes courtesy of the Pasadena Weekly, which has also been digging into the Sirhan case. In the story, Rohrabacher says:
I went to see him specifically because I believe he didn't act alone and that
the full story of Bobby Kennedy's assassination has not been known.
So what does the full story entail, in Rohrabacher's view?
It's more likely that Sirhan, being of Palestinian descent, was upset with Sen.
Kennedy for being a champion of F4 fighter jets to Israel. Before the 1967 war, the US didn't provide weapons to Israel, and Robert
Kennedy was the champion of the first arms sale to Israel.
I think it wasn't just one Palestinian who was upset but a group, that there
was a real conspiracy of some Palestinians to kill an American senator for
helping Israel.
Rohrabacher has investigated other conspiracies as well, most recently the theory that Al Qaeda played a role in the Oklahoma City bombing.
As for the RFK shooting, conspiracy theories have tended to center around the idea that Sirhan was brainwashed, Manchurian Candidate-style. But Rohrabacher thinks that's "leftist nonsense."
The story apparently includes a miscommunication between Rohrabacher and prison officials, which led Sirhan to believe he was being visited by a woman named "Diana" who wanted to help improve his conditions in prison. In an email, Rohrabacher's spokeswoman says that he made no effort to misrepresent himself:
"He was completely forthcoming about his visit and his intentions," says spokeswoman Tara Setmayer.
Rohrabacher also says he was at the Ambassador Hotel for another party on the evening of the RFK assassination, and bumped into an Arab-looking guy, possibly Sirhan, who was handcuffed 20 minutes before RFK was shot.
As I said, the whole PW story is quite strange. It's clear that the Sirhan case has attracted some oddball characters over the years, including Sirhan's new lawyer, who seems to believe there was a second shooter, and who was involved in trying to exonerate James Earl Ray.
So why is Rohrabacher getting involved with this stuff 40 years later?
I would like Sirhan Sirhan to finally, at long last, level with the Kennedy
family and the American people, whether to clear his soul as part of his
Christian beliefs or try to set the record straight.
And there you have it.
Rohrabacher, R-Huntington Beach, represents the Palos Verdes Peninsula.
Did you feel the earthquake last night? Me neither.
A new location is in the works for the Los Angeles Unified School District's San Pedro Skills Center, which has taught youth and retirees new job skills and apparently sits on land eyed by the district for a new magnet high school.
Regular electricity should be back up today for one Rancho Palos Verdes neighborhood that has been powered for the last month or so by generators after underground cables melted.
Politico is out with a speculative list of potential appointees in an Obama Administration, and South Bay Rep. Jane Harman is mentioned for two spots: CIA director and Director of National Intelligence. 
