November 2009 Archives

According to Roll Call, Jane Harman's net worth dropped a whopping 50.4 percent in 2008 -- from $225 million in 2007 down to $112 million.

That's the second-biggest drop among Congress' 50 wealthiest members -- behind only the late Ted Kennedy, whose net worth dropped 67%.

But don't worry too much. Again according to Roll Call, Harman is still the third-richest member of Congress, behind John Kerry and Darrell Issa.

These figures should all be taken with a heavy dose of salt, as members of Congress only report their assets within broad ranges.

It wouldn't be the holiday season without a few words of from Steve Bradford:

Hello, this is Assemblymember Steven Bradford, representing the 51^st Assembly District.

With the leaves on the ground and the air becoming brisk, we are reminded that the holiday season is upon us.

Though this time of year takes on many different meanings for Californians, there are some universal themes that present themselves to all of us.

The holidays not only remind us to be thankful for what we have, but to remember those that are less fortunate, especially in the midst of our nation's greatest recession.

Audio:

http://democrats.assembly.ca.gov/Newsline/Audio/20091123RadioAddressEnglishThanksgivingBradford.mp3

Readers, wake up from your turkey and retail coma to catch up on local news:

Plans for a high-density senior housing complex in the heart of Torrance have resurfaced.  Again.

How did you spend Thanksgiving? Volunteers at Torrance church offered food, comfort and friendship to South Bay folks.

Bravo shoppers for bucking a dismal economy and flooding stores this morning in search of bargains. Our own business columnist Muhammed El-Hasan shares his Black Friday experience from last year.

And while you're out shopping, why not pick up an athletic ball to bring to the Breeze's annual holiday ball drive, which supports local youth-focused nonprofits?

A jury has found that William Sadowski was legally sane when he killed a Los Angeles International Airport police officer in 2005. Now, he's headed for a lifetime in parole, rather than a mental institution.

One Palos Verdes Estates young lady has reached what could be the highest echelon of academic honor, earning a prestigious Rhodes scholarship.

After more than a year of fighting for a dog park on The Hill, it looks like a Palos Verdes Estates couple is finally starting to see some success.

Thanksgiving is sooo yesterday. Bring on Christmas, and visits from Santa Claus throughout the South Bay.

The ACLU has obtained an index of CIA documents -- mostly e-mails -- that deal with the destruction of videotapes of interrogation sessions.

One of the notable findings is that the White House was involved in discussions in February 2003 on how to respond to a letter from Rep. Jane Harman. In the letter, Harman warned the CIA not to destroy the tapes. The newly released information shows that the CIA then consulted with the White House on how to respond to her -- marking the earliest known White House involvement in the matter.

The tapes were ultimately destroyed more than two years later, in November of 2005.

Harman reacts:

Those videotapes should never have been destroyed, and it's now clear the White House had early knowledge of my February 2003 letter warning against their destruction.  This is further evidence of the Bush Administration's disdain for Congress and due process.

The CIA has declined to release the actual email confirming this discussion. Instead, they've put out the following description of it, accompanied by an explanation of why the document itself cannot be disclosed:

This is a one-page email, discussing a meeting between CIA and the White House regarding the CIA's response to a congressional inquiry. The document also includes the draft text of a letter to Congress. This document contains information relating to the sources and methods of the CIA. The document also contains predecisional, deliberative information, CIA attorney work-product, and information provided by a CIA attorney to his client in connection with the provision of legal advice.

For much more on this, check out the ACLU's timeline of events, the index of undisclosed emails, and close coverage of the issue at Firedoglake.

Readers, we're so thankful for all this news!

What's a South Bay native, Oscar-winning screenwriter to do while in prison for a year? Tweet, of course.

More than 200 active military service men and women got their Thanksgiving eat on Tuesday at the Bob Hope USO at Los Angeles International Airport. See pictures of the festivities.

Meantime, volunteers Tuesday in San Pedro assembled baskets for the needy in anticipation of what will likely be the biggest giveaways ever for First Presbyterian Church's 14th annual tradition.

The former head of the Transportation Security Administration and LAX's first security director has died.

Toyota Motor Corp. is working to mute speculation that the car giant, whose sales and marketing and finance arms are in the South Bay, would move workers out of California.

Defensive back Sean Parker will help his Narbonne High team mates take on Venice in the CIF quarterfinals tonight. Be sure to check out pictures of the player.

Your turkey probably isn't even defrosted yet, but here are some ideas about what to do with all those tasty leftovers.

If you thought the Democrats would welcome the appointment of Abel Maldonado to lieutenant governor in hopes of picking up his Senate seat in a special election, think again.

Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg is saying today that such an election would be too costly. Here's his statement:

Senator Maldonado is a fine colleague, but I have grave doubts about filling this position with any sitting elected official for two significant reasons.

First, confirming Senator Maldonado will necessitate a special election to fill his Senate seat.  According to state elections officials, such an election would cost taxpayers more than $2 million.  Rather than using taxpayer money to pay for an avoidable election, it may be wiser to use that $2 million to defray recent fee increases in our higher education system.  For example, $2 million would significantly reduce the Winter/Spring 2010 fee increases for UC students, or it would cover the recent $6 per unit increase for 333,000 course units for community college students.  

Second, just months from now Californians will choose their own nominees for the job of Lieutenant Governor.  And the voters will elect a new Lieutenant Governor to a four-year term less than one year from now.  It may be both fiscally and politically prudent to permit the people to make their own selection for this statewide office next year and avoid the expense of a costly special election.

If Maldonado were a stock, now would be the time to sell. If only there were somebody out there who didn't hold an elected office...

UPDATE: The governor's office is calling b.s.:

If Senator Steinberg acts promptly and confirms Senator Maldonado as California's next Lieutenant Governor within 84 days, the Governor will consolidate the 15th district's special election with the statewide June election to save tax payer dollars. If Senator Steinberg is concerned about state revenues and college tuition hikes he should stop fighting his own pay cut.

UPDATE 2: Steinberg:

To fill the Maldonado seat, there will almost certainly be two elections:  1) a primary, and 2) a run-off.  It is only possible to consolidate one of those two elections with the June primary.  Thus, there will have to be at least one unconsolidated election for the 15^th SD, which would involve 5 separate county election offices.  The cost of administering one such election is estimated at $2 million.  That number is based on the most recent Senate special election to fill SD 26 (Curren Price) and what we've been told by the Secretary of State's office.

Readers, so much news this morning:

A Carson man was arrested this morning in connection to a Harbor College break-in, but another man escaped.

Trial began Monday for Brandon Manai, the Torrance man accused of throwing his wife of just 13 days over a Rancho Palos Verdes cliff in July 2005.

Los Angeles Unified School District leaders have instigated a a hiring freeze, and slashed other expenses like travel, conferences and eats at district meetings as the district faces a deficit of up to $60 million this year.

Looks like El Segundo's new fire station is almost finished after a few delays.

Los Angeles International Airport traffic in October increased for the second month in a row. Whoo hoo!

More than 2 million drop-side cribs manufactured by an arm of the El Segundo-based Mattel have been recalled.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger went on the Jay Leno Show today to name Sen. Abel Maldonado his lieutenant governor.

For our purposes in the South Bay, this is important largely because Maldonado is not Bob Hertzberg. Had Hertzberg gotten the nod, he might well have been the instant favorite in the Democratic primary. That would have been bad news for L.A. Councilwoman Janice Hahn, whose only competition for the nomination at this point is Sen. Dean Florez.

If he chooses to run next year, Maldonado, a moderate Republican, may have some trouble winning his party's nomination due to his vote in favor of the tax-hiking budget deal last February.

Another South Bay note: Maldonado picked a fight earlier this year with Controller John Chiang, who lives in Torrance, over some new office furniture. At the time it looked like Maldonado might have been setting the stage for a run against Chiang next year, but so far the only Republican who has expressed an interest in the race is Bill Leonard.

Despite high unemployment figures and a sagging economy, more than
17,000 travelers passed through the Port of Los Angeles World Cruise
Center on Sunday, breaking the previous record by about 2,500 people.

The Golden Princess and the Star Princess, each capable of holding
2,700 passengers, dropped off and picked up passengers bound for
Hawaii, Australia and New Zealand. The Mariner of the Seas, capable
of holding 3,150 passengers, dropped off and picked up travelers
headed to the Mexican Riviera.

Here are some photos from the port:

Readers, let's roll:

A teenage boy was killed in San Pedro after a fight this weekend. Check out pictures of the scene afterward.

Nearly 30 years after buying some coastal land from its school district, Rancho Palos Verdes is finally getting ready to build a park that isn't sitting so well with neighbors.

South Bay unemployment rates stayed mostly stable in October, bucking a downward trend across the county and state. Poor Torrance was the only city in the area to see an increase in the statistics released last week.

Local nonprofits are gearing up for record holiday needs, beginning with a massive food drive that starts Tuesday. Meantime, one San Pedro-based group is working on its first effort to give Thanksgiving baskets to families who have lost children to violent crimes.

What's that stench coming from the Walteria Sump in Torrance?

Rancho Palos Verdes city officials ponder why its hotel tax increase failed at the polls earlier this month, and what the possible ramifications could be.

Three former Hermosa Beach surf buddies are busy brewing beer.

S.F. Chronicle columnists Matier & Ross toy with the possibility that Dianne Feinstein will retire in 2012. And as long as they're speculating, why not float some names of potential replacements:

Those said to be looking include Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Rep. Jane Harman of Venice (Los Angeles County), Controller John Chiang and Secretary of State Debra Bowen.

As to Harman, Matier & Ross may want to check in with their colleague, Willie Brown, who had her running for governor a few weeks ago.

M&R note that Feinstein is 76, and may not want to commit to serving through her 85th birthday. (Though it hasn't deterred Robert Byrd or either senator from Hawaii.)

In keeping with the tradition of releasing bad news on a Friday, state officials put out the monthly jobs report today. The headline is that California's unemployment rate ticked up to 12.5%.

But the state also put out a bunch of data for local cities. Here, then, are the unemployment rates for the cities of the South Bay. As with many things, it gets worse the farther you get from the ocean.

- Carson: 12.7%
- El Segundo: 5.9%
- Gardena: 11.8%
- Hawthorne: 16.3%
- Hermosa Beach: 5.3%
- Inglewood: 15.7%
- Lawndale: 12.5%
- Lomita: 8.7%
- Los Angeles: 13.9%
- Manhattan Beach: 4.5%
- Palos Verdes Estates: 2.6%
- Rancho Palos Verdes: 4.4%
- Redondo Beach: 6.8%
- Rolling Hills: 1.2%
- Rolling Hills Estates: 3.4%
- Torrance: 6.4%

These numbers are based on a monthly federal survey of 5,500 Californians, so there's probably a pretty high margin of error when you get down to the city-by-city data. There's also some odd quirks in there, such as the purported fact that Rolling Hills has zero unemployed people, but an unemployment rate of 1.2%. Huh?

Steve Bradford, Sacramento's newest legislator, was given his committee assignments this week.

Like his predecessor, Curren Price, he will chair the Assembly Select Committee on Procurement. The committee is responsible for helping small and "disadvantaged" businesses to compete for state contracts.

Here's a statement from Bradford, which was released through the office of Speaker Karen Bass:

"A small business owner may not be aware of the process necessary to compete for state government contracts.  I hope that we can make that process more transparent and readily understandable."

Bradford was also appointed to serve on committees for Appropriations, Housing and Community Development, Insurance, and Governmental Organization.

L.A. Councilwoman Janice Hahn is gearing up to run for lieutenant governor, which means broadening her appeal beyond Los Angeles. She recently met (in what appears to be a hotel room somewhere in the San Diego area) with the folks at the state politics site Calitics, who came away impressed with her liberal positions on a range of state issues:

Ultimately I think she is a very compelling candidate - not just for this office, but for California Democrats as a whole. Whereas Jerry Brown isn't willing to offer a clear progressive path forward for the state, it seems Janice Hahn is very much interested in doing that.

The video, which Hahn's campaign has placed on her Web site, lacks a certain something in the way of production values. But here it is:

South Bay Reps. Jane Harman and Dana Rohrabacher have something in common these days: Both are sounding very skeptical about sending more troops to Afghanistan.

Harman returned yesterday from a trip to the region in a very pessimistic mood. Rohrabacher, who famously hung out with the mujahideen back in the 1980s, is sounding more and more like he thinks this is a lost cause.

In a recent speech on the House floor, Rohrabacher said he does not blame President Obama for taking his time to think about things. He also put much of the blame for the current situation on President Bush. He noted that while he supported the surge in Iraq, he believed the strategy was wrong:

I tried to be supportive but we were obviously doing the wrong thing. We obviously used the wrong strategy. The competence of the last administration in carrying out that war and building the peace was abysmal.

The video, as captured by Media Matters:

Readers, coming at ya:

A proposal to build a light rail line through the Crenshaw corridor that would also improve South Bay mass transit made it through a  Metropolitan Transportation Authority committee Wednesday.

Remember the owners of Hermosa Beach's Club Sushi who were on the lam for allegedly absconding with investors' cash? Turns out, they quietly turned themselves in at the Torrance courthouse last week.

El Segundo has finally approved revisions to its filming regulations this week.

Looks like Redondo Beach dog owners will face an uphill battle in getting the city to overturn a ban on pooches in city parks.

Our South Bay History blog recalls when residents at a Torrance apartment complex had a, um, swinging good time.

West High's Dan Henggeler says he's a bruiser on the football field. Check out pictures of the running back.

Rep. Jane Harman's tone earlier today on MSNBC echoed  this afternoon over on CNN, where she chatted with Wolf Blitzer about her recent trip to Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Rather than sending 30,000 to 40,000 additional U.S. troops to Afghanistan, the president should use his "leverage" to get the Karzai government to clean up its "rampant corruption," the El Segundo-based Democrat said.

"This kind of corruption is intolerable," Harman said.

Blitzer asked a couple times about when the government should pull out U.S. troops, but Harman avoided suggesting any deadline.

As an aside, the pair also talked a bit about Maj. Nidal Hasan, the alleged Ft. Hood gunman. Harman was reluctant to call him a terrorist, but said Hasan's alleged crime was an "act of terrorism."

When I can find some video, I'll post it.

Rep. Jane Harman has returned from a trip to Afghanistan and Pakistan with a fresh dose of what Washington calls "ground truth."

She went on Andrea Mitchell's show on MSBNC today and sounded a very pessimistic note, explicitly siding with Ambassador Karl Eikenberry, who has warned against sending more troops to Afghanistan.

Her bottom line: "I'm very, very skeptical that anything like the (Gen. Stanley) McChrystal recommendations make any sense in Afghanistan... I'm not for leaving Afghanistan, but what I am against ... is sending another 30,000 to 40,000 troops."

Watch the video:

Ted Lieu's one-man debate on Monday night, hosted by the Asian American Action Fund, was billed as a forum for all attorney general candidates.

But there was another element that may explain why the other candidates stayed away: the straw poll.

After Lieu debated himself for about a half hour, the guests -- an assortment of attorneys and API political hacks -- voted on their favorite candidate. The results are here. Lieu got 54 of 57 votes. Assemblyman Alberto Torrico, who had RSVP'd before backing out at the last minute, got 2 votes. San Francisco D.A. Kamala Harris (who, by the way, is the favorite) got 1 vote.

In other words, it was a pro-Lieu crowd. From the perspective of Torrico and Assemblyman Pedro Nava, who also RSVP'd before bailing out, it probably looked like an ambush.

What have we learned? That Lieu is capable of a certain amount of organization and guile, I suppose. Whether that will be enough to win this thing... well. It's a long way to June.

Redondo Beach dog owners are probably going to have an uphill battle getting the City Council to overturn a longtime ban on canines in parks.

City Councilman Bill Brand and Mayor Mike Gin raised the issue Tuesday night in response to two citizens' petitions calling for a change to a city ordinance that dates to 1979.

Even though Redondo has a popular off-leash dog run near Flagler Lane and 190th Street, at Dominguez Park, Brand said the area doesn't suit everyone and that he sees a "huge demand to allow dogs in parks."

The mayor and Brand, who represents District 2, suggested the city's Parks and Recreation Commission first consider a change for Czuleger Park, an open space area in his coastal district that sits near the densely populated Village condominiums.

And while the proposal ended up passing on a 4-1 vote -- with Councilman Pat Aust dissenting -- dog owners who want their pets to be permitted in parks citywide will have some heavy lobbying to do before the issue returns to the council early next year.

Although Councilmen Steve Aspel and Matt Kilroy indicated some support for a change only at Czuleger Park, they were opposed to opening other areas around town to dogs, as was Aust. Complaints focused on the owners not picking up after their pets and letting them either run loose or walk too far ahead on retractable leashes.

"Someone's leaving a thousand terds a day on top of the Esplanade. Ask our public works department," Aspel said.

"Parks are for people and kids," said Aust. "Zoos are for animals."

The council's response Tuesday angered one resident who wants dogs to be permitted in all city parks. Sydnee Singer, who said she's gathered signatures from 400 people who feel the same way, vowed not to give up.

Some councilmen have let their individual opinions about dogs supersede the desires of their constituents, she said.

"This is just disrespectful," Singer said afterward. "I will do what it takes to overturn that law."

Readers, we have so much news this fine autumn morning:

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors enacted sweeping measures in hopes of curbing obesity and smoking, and cashing in on stimulus funds, but stopped at banning soda at county venues.

A psychiatrist told a Los Angeles County Superior Court that William Sadowski was insane when he killed an LAX police officer by dragging him with his own car about four years ago.

A relatively controversial statue unveiled in San Pedro but boxed away in storage ever since, has found a new home on the city's waterfront.

Poor Gardena and San Pedro high schools: The schools drew significantly less interest from charters or outside groups in running them under Los Angeles Unified School District's Public School Choice Plan than the other three dozen or so schools open under the pitch.

Check out these cute pictures of Special Olympics athletes playing at Mattel in El Segundo yesterday.

A South Bay-based firm won a $10 million contract with the European planemaker Airbus.

Mira Costa High's girl volleyball team lost again for the second time this season to Los Alamitos on Tuesday. See pictures.

Here's a statement from the campaign of Alberto Torrico, who didn't show up at last night's AAAF forum, leaving Ted Lieu to debate himself:

"The Assemblyman regrets scheduling conflicts required him to return to
Sacramento rather than attending the straw poll," says consultant Eric Jaye. "He appreciates the invitation and he hopes to find the opportunity to meet with the sponsors in the future."

But here's some video of Torrico talking about his support for the Assembly prison reform bill, which both Lieu and Pedro Nava voted against:

Mike and Andrea Camarena visited a Torrance fire station on Tuesday to say "thanks."

Two weeks ago, a pregnant Andrea began having contractions. Figuring it took 14 hours for their first son, Nathan, to be born two years ago, the Camarenas didn't rush.

When the contractions started about midnight Oct. 30, Andrea called her mother to come over to watch their son. She packed a bag and got into a birth tub in the back yard to ease the pain before they left for the hospital.

Mike said they figured they'd head to the hospital in the morning. But about  2 1/2 hours into it, Andrea's water broke.

"I could feel the baby moving down and I started to push," Andrea said. "My mother then informed my husband to call 911. Within minutes the firemen at Station 6 were in my back yard."

Ted Lieu's Twitter feed today:

Sun Tzu: "To subdue the enemy without fighting is the acme of skill."

If that makes no sense to you, then perhaps you weren't at the L.A. Area Chamber of Commerce last night, where Lieu was scheduled to debate two Attorney General opponents: Pedro Nava and Alberto Torrico.

Torrico and Nava backed out at the last minute, so Lieu was left to debate himself.

They did not give a reason, but perhaps they sensed a trap. The debate was hosted by the Asian American Action Fund, which at this stage is officially neutral in the race. However, the moderator, Gautam Dutta, used to work as a tax counselor in the office of Controller John Chiang, who is a Torrance resident and a Lieu supporter.

Readers, we are brimming with news:

A large swine flu clinic in Carson saw a low turnout Monday, but workers at the Home Depot Center were prepared just in case.

Speaking of which, did you see this weekend's story about an otherwise strapping Redondo Beach man who nearly died of H1N1?

Los Angeles County Superior Court jurors found a man guilty of murdering an airport police officer, but now they must decide if William Sadowski was insane at the time of the 2005 crime.

A burglar  jumped from rooftop to rooftop to evade Hermosa Beach police, but was caught hiding under a tarp Monday. Whoops.

Movie industry groups are opposing El Segundo's proposed revisions to its filming ordinances, ironically designed to be looser and attract more production to down.

Check out this pretty public art installation in Redondo Beach.

Robinson Elementary student Dalton Phillips won a ride in a Manhattan Beach fire truck for his entry in a safety contest.

I don't know about you, the last things I wanted to be called in high school were "pit bull" and "beast," but these Bishop Montgomery volleyball players like their nicknames.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger says his wife, Maria Shriver, is not interested in running for governor.

This announcement comes after former Speaker Willie Brown mentioned Shriver and Jane Harman as potential Democratic candidates in his weekly column.

"Willie loves drama. Willie loves entertainment," Schwarzenegger told the Sacramento Bee's editorial board. "It fills his column, so God bless him. ... I can guarantee you that my wife has absolutely no interest in the job."

Ditto for Harman.

Keep that track record in mind when you read Brown's latest column, wherein he posits Dianne Feinstein as a potential candidate.

Having beaten the city of Carson three times in court, eccentric mobile home baron James Goldstein has the whip hand in ongoing settlement negotiations. Goldstein is demanding $150 million for the city's failed efforts to stop him from subdividing two mobile home parks.

So what does he plan to do with the money? Style Section L.A. has the answer (via LA Observed):

You've got the ultimate party house already, why build a nightclub?

I get requests all the time for parties here, and I'm also a person that's been going to nightclubs all my life, so it's something that I've wanted to do for a long time.  Whether I end up using it a lot or not, it's something I've always wanted to do: design my own nightclub.

It's not clear whether the negotiations will result in a deal. The latest concept is for the city to facilitate the sale of the two parks to a non-profit group, possibly using some redevelopment money to close the deal. Goldstein would get a significant fraction of what he's been asking for, but most of it would come from the sale of bonds. So far, however, the two sides are still pretty far apart on a sale price.

The parties have met twice with a professional mediator, but no meetings have taken place recently and none are scheduled. The city is waiting for a response to its latest offer.

Readers, so much news today:

The owners of the South Bay Galleria want to revamp a 11-acre piece of property adjacent to the Redondo Beach mall with a $32 million retail complex. This development -- curiously titled SouthBay South -- would replace the old bowling alley site, as well as buildings that once housed CompUSA and Thrifty Drug.

Boxing champ Mike Tyson was arrested at Los Angeles International Airport after a Wednesday night scuffle with the paparazzi.

Speaking of LAX, why don't you mosey over to our South Bay History blog to read up on the providence of the iconic Theme Building?

The heads of the west coast's six largest ports -- including Los Angeles -- are in China touting their facilities to Asian shippers in hopes of luring back business.

Two robbers who held up an Inglewood autoparts store who led Hawthorne police on a freeway chase in a high-jacked car are still at large after about nine hours of searching Wednesday.

Make sure you check out pictures of Hermosa Beach's candlelight Veteran's Day ceremony

Serra High's defensive end duo are best friends who place weekly wagers on who gets the most sacks.

A Manhattan Beach developer is responsible for the Santa Fe springs housing tract being touted as the largest solar-powered residential community in the United States.

Readers, here is your morning news:

A state panel Tuesday recommended keeping the Rocky Point area near the Palos Verdes Peninsula open to fishing despite urging from environmentalists to turn the area into a marine preserve.

El Segundo's aerospace community honored veterans of war Tuesday, and some Wilmington women are busy sewing blankets for wounded soldiers. Check out pictures of The Aerospace Corp. ceremony, as well as images of the ladies.

Speaking of which, check out our list of South Bay events that honor our military service people, and see what offices are closed today.

Lomita City Councilwoman Margaret Estrada was declared Tuesday the winner of a third contested council seat locked in a tie after last week's election. A hand recount of votes revealed she won her seat over a challenger by just three ballots.

Manhattan Beach-based Skechers has expanded its brand to reach health care workers.

Readers, let's hop to it:

Torrance will hold a swine flu vaccination clinic, but the city won't take any chances of a repeat of last month's high-traffic clinic in Redondo Beach.

The Los Angeles Conservancy hopes to raise awareness of local landmarks nearing their 50th birthday with "It's a Mod, Mod, Mod, Mod City" tour of the area's 1960s era architecture.

A Redondo Beach man has built in his garage an exact replica of a Pan Am 747 first-class cabin. The aviation enthusiast has spent 20 years collecting materials from 1960s and 1970s versions of the aircraft. Check out pictures of the set-up.

Get your skate on starting Tuesday at Redondo Beach's seaside ice skating rink. In its second year, the temporary facility will include more dine-and-skate nights, 80s night and a swimsuit weekend. Only in L.A., right?

A South Bay surf legend celebrates 50 years of board shaping with a special tribute. Check out pictures of Dewey Weber's son, Shea.

Three jurors who recently convicted a Lomita great-grandfather of molesting two neighborhood girls say they made a mistake and want to help the man get a new trial.

Carson city leaders have really muffled gadflies of late: Mayor Jim Dear has reinstated use of the mute button at City Council meetings, and the body voted to only allow government content on the city's public access channel, which used to feature activist programming that was often critical of the city.

A Rancho Palos Verdes man is working to compile a list of local charity, in hopes of increasing holiday giving and preventing scams.

Looks like Rep. Laura Richardson is embracing social media. Her new Twitter handle, effective yesterday, is CLRintheHouse.

Her first few posts came from the floor debate on health care, and so far it looks like she's willing to throw some partisan elbows:

Even they (the Republicans) aren't buying it or interested. They are looking around and they are bored. They realize it is over!

Some, though, you had to be watching C-SPAN to understand:

Re: Dingle; factual and embarrassing to other side of aisle said, "it's just not a substitute." Stands weak frame, not from age, but fight.

Looks like she's still getting her feet wet. No hash tags or bit.ly links just yet. For that, we turn to Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, who has been on Twitter for some time and is a full-fledged TCOT (Top Conservative on Twitter). What was he tweeting yesterday?

Dems are not giving us the right to a real debate on #healthcare for #illegals. Obamacare=Illegalcare #killbill #illegalcare #tcot

#Obamacare means more for #illegals, less for our #seniors. #illegalcare #killbill #tcot

#Obamacare cuts Medicare by 100s of Billions of $ & spends Billions of $ 2 provide #healthcare for #illegals. #killbill #tcot

The #Obamacare powergrab will take billions from our seniors & subsidize #illegals, but worse it will destroy our freedom. #killbill

When the Berlin Wall came down 20 years ago, we made the mistake thinking that socialism was defeated. #hcr #tcot

Richardson is going to have to step it up if she wants to keep pace with Long Beach's other congressman.

Though the House passed its health care reform bill last night on a 220-215 vote, it was not an entirely joyous moment for the body's liberal Democrats.

The House first passed an amendment, 240-194, that would prohibit coverage for abortion in the newly formed health insurance exchanges. Federal funding for abortion is already prohibited, and supporters of the Stupak amendment say they are merely extending that prohibition to the new health care plan.

But opponents of the amendment -- including the South Bay's three Democratic representatives, Jane Harman, Laura Richardson and Maxine Waters -- say it is a significant expansion of the Hyde amendment of 1977, and would prevent women even from spending their own money on health insurance that includes coverage for abortion.

Each South Bay Democrat voted against the Stupak amendment before voting for the full bill. (Waters cast the 218th vote for the full bill, putting it over the top.) The South Bay's lone Republican representative, Dana Rohrabacher, voted the for the Stupak amendment and against the full bill -- as did all other Republicans except one.

In a statement, Harman says she will have to reconsider her support for the health care bill if the Stupak amendment is contained in the version approved by the conference committee. Full statement after the jump.

Rep. Jane Harman has received assurances that she is not under an ethics investigation, following the disclosure last week that the House Ethics Committee looked into her wiretapped phone call.

Rep. Zoe Lofgren, who chairs the committee, wrote to Harman this week stating that "the Committee is not conducting an investigation regarding your conduct."

If that sounds familiar, recall that the Justice Department also sent Harman a letter in June stating that she is not the subject of a criminal inquiry into the matter.

This goes back to April, when CQ Politics published a story claiming that Harman had been taped agreeing to press for leniency in an espionage case against two former AIPAC officials in exchange for support in her bid to become chair of the Intelligence Committee. Harman has said she never intervened in the case and has called the disclosure an abuse of power.

According to a document obtained last week by the Washington Post, the Ethics Committee subpoenaed Harman's wiretapped call. The Post also reported that the Justice Department denied the request.

Recall for a moment that South Bay Reps. Maxine Waters and Laura Richardson were not initially investigated by the Ethics Committee, but rather by the semi-independent Office of Congressional Ethics. So why didn't the OCE also look into the Harman wiretapping? Who knows, but it's interesting to note that the co-chair of the OCE is Porter Goss, who has a not-insignificant role in the whole affair.

Read the full Ethics Committee letter after the jump.

Readers, for your informational pleasure:

The day after narrowly losing his bid for a seat on the Rancho Palos Verdes City Council, former Mayor John McTaggart died Wednesday. "He's gone out with flying colors," his wife Flo said. "As far as I'm concerned, he gave the city a boot in the you-know-where."

A mint-condition 1965 Volkswagen microbus stolen in the 1970s turned up in a cargo crate at the Port of Los Angeles this week. The pristine car has just 70,000 miles on it and is probably worth up to $30,000 more than it was 35 years ago. Some old hippie is probably totally stoked right now.

No one was injured Thursday when a power pole fell on a school bus carrying physically disabled children in Redondo Beach. Check out pictures of the scene.

Turns out that Carson's prediction of revenue for its new utility-users' tax is a bit too high. Like by at least $1 million.

A Manhattan Beach man rescued his bed-ridden neighbor from her burning home early Thursday.

A Gardena woman has turned her baking habit into a profitable business. Mmm. Cookies.

Two Carson High linebackers like to compare their approach to the game to that of their San Diego Chargers counterparts.

Coming at ya, readers:

Lomita's City Council race has ended in a tie for the third seat, a relative rarity in local elections. Also, check out our post-election coverage.

Say goodbye to bikini-clad baristas in Torrance. The controversial Bikini Espresso is closing.

The family of a man killed in a shootout that also injured a sheriff's deputy this week in Lawndale said the incident could have been avoided had a parole agent arrested Juan Carlos Aguilar for drug possession earlier that day. Check out pictures of the aftermath.

John Bogert opines about a rite of passage -- school dances.

Trial has started for the former Torrance plastic surgeon accused of working while on disability and double-billing for procedures.

Los Angeles city leaders have approved $1.3 billion worth of construction contracts to expand the Tom Bradley International Terminal at LAX.

Several South Bay cities and agencies will get nearly $13 million for various projects from Los Angeles County, Supervisor Don Knabe announced in his state of the county speech Wednesday.

Two Mira Costa High School girl volleyball players are glamming up the usually inglorious middle blocker position.

Politico goes there, citing unnamed black lawmakers who see a racial disparity in the recent actions of the House Ethics Committee. South Bay Reps. Laura Richardson and Maxine Waters were referred for full investigations last week, bringing the number of black lawmakers under scrutiny to seven:

What especially galled black lawmakers was that the ethics committee voted to move forward with the Waters and Richardson probes following the OCE referrals, while Graves -- who OCE also thought should be investigated by the ethics committee -- saw his case dismissed...

"It is kind of crazy," said an aide to one senior black Democrat. "How can it be that the ethics committee only investigates African-Americans? It doesn't make sense."

Waters, who voted against the creation of the Office of Congressional Ethics, is said to particularly livid that her case was referred.

With all seven precincts counted, Hermosa voters ousted one City Council incumbent, but kept another and added two new folks to the dais today.

With 24.8 percent of the vote, Howard Fishman was the top vote-getter. Following were Jeff Duclos and current Mayor Kit Bobko, respectively earning 18.3 and 15.8 percent of the vote.

Two-term Councilman Michael Keegan finished fourth with 13.7 percent of the vote.

Also trailing in the eight-candidate field were Josh Ochs with 10.6 percent; Kathleen Midstokke with 9.3 percent, Christopher Reed with 6.4 percent, and Marc Schoonover with 1.1 percent.

With absentee votes and three of seven precincts reporting in the Hermosa Beach City Council race, Howard Fishman is still leading in the race for three seats.

Fishman has 23.9 percent of the vote; Jeff Duclos has 18.7 percent, and current Mayor Kit Bobko has 15.6 percent.

Incumbent Michael Keegan is still trailing with 12.9 percent.

Readers, absentee votes are also in for the Hermosa Beach City School District race for three seats.

Here are the early results: Jack Burns leads with 28.3 percent of the vote, followed by Ray Waters with 25.3 percent and Carleen Beste with 24.2 percent.

Trailing are Sienna Tucker with 14.3 percent and Jake Pike with 7.9 percent.

There is so much more to come, so stay tuned.

We're off, readers.

Looks like absentee votes are counted in Hermosa Beach's race for three City Council seats.

Here's the so-far top vote-getters in a field of eight candidates: Howard Fishman leads with 23.64 percent; Jeff Duclos follows with 18.0%; and current Mayor Kit Bobko has 15.76 percent.

Incumbent Michael Keegan is trailing with 12.62 percent.

Laura Wehde, photographer at the Mitchell Republic newspaper in South Dakota, sent these photos she took at the funeral for Sgt. Eduviges G. Wolf, which is underway today in Alexandria.

Wolf, a Hawthorne resident who graduated from Leuzinger High School, was killed Oct. 25 while fighting with her Army unit in Afghanistan. We'll have coverage in tomorrow's Daily Breeze and later on dailybreeze.com. She left behind two children and a husband.

After Gavin Newsom dropped out of the governor's race last week, the search was on for Democrats who might try to impede Jerry Brown's clear path to the party's nomination.

Since this conversation is largely about money -- who has it, and who can raise it fast -- one of the names on everybody's list is South Bay Rep. Jane Harman. Harman, who ran for governor in 1998, visited the Breeze offices a couple weeks back and made it pretty clear that she has no intention of running again.

Harman is a security wonk, first and foremost, and has been focused lately on corruption in Afghanistan -- a topic that wouldn't be anywhere near the governor's portfolio. In the editorial meeting, she lamented that the office has been greatly diminished over the years as Sacramento has become more and more dysfunctional.

Nevertheless, the Great Mentioner isn't giving up so easily. Over the weekend, no less a mentioner than Former Speaker Willie Brown mentioned Harman in his weekend column.

No comment from Harmanland, so we take it that her earlier comments stand.

Also being mentioned: Dianne Feinstein, Bill Lockyer, Loretta Sanchez, Bob Hertzberg, and ... Maria Shriver?

Dr. Drew Pinsky, the radio and television personality, ran onto the Chadwick School football field Saturday to assist a seriously injured student.

The player, Jackson Allan, a sophomore at Polytechnic School in Pasadena, suffered a traumatic head injury that caused him to lose consciousness, according to a letter issued by Poly's Head of School Debbie Reed.

Pinsky, who hosts "Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew" on VH1, and the radio show "Loveline," is the parent of a Poly student. He and Chadwick parent, Dr. Roger Lewis, provided care for Allan until paramedics arrived at the Palos Verdes Peninsula campus.

Allan was taken to County Harbor-UCLA Medical Center where he underwent surgery to relieve pressure on the brain from internal bleeding.

Lewis is a faculty member and emergency room doctor at the hospital.

The Facebook page, "Get well soon Jackson Allan" provides updates on his condition, listed Monday as critical but stable.