Saturday, August 23, 2008

LA City News Scan (8.23.08/9AM Update)

via LAist by Zach Behrens on 8/23/08

valleycheckpoing345.jpgThe LAPD has announced a checkpoint in an effort to get more drunk drivers off the road. Tonight from 6:00 p.m. to 2:00 a.m., the intersection of Sepulveda Blvd at Nordoff in Panorama City will be host to that checkpoint. Why this location? The LAPD says that "during the past year, Panorama City has experienced over 82 collisions involving an intoxicated driver. In addition, as of July 19, 2008, there have been over 485 “Hit and Run” traffic collisions in the Mission Area."


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Thousands live in trees, under freeways, in caves on the fringes of wilderness. Some have TVs, grills, pets.

To most people, it's just trash: A scrap of dirty blanket visible under some stairs. A glimpse of blue tarp peeking out of a bush. A bag of recyclables parked discreetly behind a concrete column.

via Zuma's LA Daily Blog by zumadogg@gmail.com (zuma dogg) on 8/22/08
Pictured: Zuma Dogg Breaks Biden News! HOW DO I DO IT!?!? HOW DO I DO IT? Zuma Dogg confirmed Biden as the VP pick on my blog at 9:29 PM this evening. I was kinda nervous cause I didn't see...

Go to LADailyBlog.com for full story.

via News by editor@dailynews.com (Amy Taxin, The Associated Press) on 8/22/08
IMMIGRANTS: Agency says it ended volunteer deportation because turnout was low in participating cities.

The central bank chief says he and other Fed members believe inflation will ease on its own.

Prices may be rising unpleasantly fast, but what really worries the Federal Reserve is the weak economy, Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said Friday.

via KNBC.com Video on 8/22/08
Members of several unions protest the labor practices used on American Idol and other shows.

via NYT > U.S. on 8/23/08
Harold Simmons, who donated nearly $2.9 million to the group running the advertisements, also helped finance the Swift boat ad campaign against Senator John Kerry in 2004.

via Streetsblog by Damien Newton on 8/22/08
  • CA Moves to Ban Texting While Driving (LAist, Times)
  • Metro Investing $100,000 a Year in Lockers at Red and Orange Line Stations (Daily News)
  • Big Blue Bus Rolls Out Rapid Lines (SM Lookout)
  • Oil Prices Won't Dip for Long (Gristmill, Times)
  • Rep. Jackie Speier Proposes Lowering National Speed Limits (SF Chron via Planetizen)
  • D.C.-Area Planners Don't Want Bike Path Next to Highway Through the Woods (WaPo)
  • Prodigious Bike Thief "Easily the Most Hated Man in Toronto" (NYT)
  • Portland Looks to Expand Streetcar Network Despite Lack of Support from Feds (Portland DJC)
  • Seattle's Car-Free Sundays Start This Weekend (Seattle PI)
  • Vancouver Transit Agency Responds to Demand With Huge Service Increase (Vancouver Sun)

via NYT > U.S. on 8/22/08
Only eight of some 457,000 “fugitive aliens” who would have been eligible for the program took advantage of the government offer to safely return home.

via LA Observed by Kevin Roderick on 8/22/08
With Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, City Council President Eric Garcetti and assistant president Wendy Greuel headed to Denver for the Barack Obama investiture, Councilwoman Jan Perry is in charge. The Downtown News explores why and what (if anything) it means.

via LA City News by Zuma Dogg on 8/21/08
8:02 PM (3 minutes ago)
Text Messaging to be IIlegal While Driving...
from LAist by Zach Behrens
... if Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signs a bill that's headed to his desk.
Senate Bill 28, that begun making its way around the capitol in 2007 seeks to "prohibit drivers from sending or reading text messages while operating a motor vehicle. The law would go into effect on January 1, 2009, as an adjunct to the existing prohibitions against the operation of a cell phone without a hands-free device," according to State Senator Joe Simitian's website, who represents parts of Northern California.
The bill is headed towards Schwarzenegger's desk, says the Associated Press. Currently, the hands free law is silent on text messaging while driving for adults.
Photo by benimoto via Flickr

8:00 PM (6 minutes ago)
ALERT: Zuma Dogg Busts LA City Water Wasting!!!
from LA Daily Blog.com by zumadogg@gmail.com (zuma dogg)
Popout
Will someone please write Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa for this massive water wasting. I think Schwarzenegger should be on the next high speed rail from Sacramento to L.A. to yell at the mayor over...Go to LADailyBlog.com for full story.

4:09 PM (3 hours ago)
Not Everyone Happy To See More West Hollywood Affordable Housing
from Curbed LA by Dakota
"More Development, More Traffic?" wonders Melrose Action, a neighborhood web site that posts an undated construction photo of the new Tigh Architecture-designed affordable housing development on Sierra Bonita and Santa Monica Blvd in West Hollywood. This project, a five-story mixed use development with 42 one-bedroom units, is also geared towards the disabled and those with HIV, but that's not going to stop some anti-development comments on the site..."over-development planned in our area...it's choking us with traffic etc."· More Development, More Traffic? [Melrose Action]· WeHo Affordable Housing In Fully Rendered Webby Glory [Curbed LA]

4:09 PM (3 hours ago)
California Could Soon Ban Texting While Driving
from CBS 2 - KCAL 9 - Los Angeles - Southern California - LA Breaking News, Weather, Traffic, Sports
California would outlaw text-messaging while driving under a bill that's headed for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's desk.

4:09 PM (3 hours ago)
LA Times Memo Reveals Why They Suck!
from LA Daily Blog.com by zumadogg@gmail.com (zuma dogg)
Was scanning the LA City News blog and I caught this memo on the LA Observed website. (LA Observed is a neutered, fluff-ball, lap-pussy...but here is actually the first thing I ever saw on the site...Go to LADailyBlog.com for full story.

3:07 PM (4 hours ago)
Obama Says He's Made His Veep Choice
from knbc.com - Local News
Sen. Barack Obama says he's decided on a running mate, but he won't say who.

12:36 PM (7 hours ago)
Gov.'s budget calls for tax hike
from L.A. Times - California Local News
Schwarzenegger announces three-year tax hike and his formal plan just after a judge ruled to hear a dispute between the governor and Controller John Chiang over state worker pay cuts on Sept. 12. Hoping to break a partisan logjam and prevent the Legislature from borrowing its way out of a state spending crisis, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger went public Wednesday with his own budget blueprint, the backbone of which is a tax hike and a large rainy-day cushion.

12:35 PM (7 hours ago)
LAX Union Service Workers Vote To Authorize Strike
from CBS 2 - KCAL 9 - Los Angeles - Southern California - LA Breaking News, Weather, Traffic, Sports
Members of a service workers union at Los Angeles International Airport have voted to authorize a strike. A union spokesman said Thursday that the 2,500 workers of Service Employees International Union Local 1871 voted overwhelmingly Wednesday night to give its leaders the authority to call for a strike. Leaders cited inadequate training, lack of proper equipment, lack of health care and low pay as reasons for the potential walkout.

12:35 PM (7 hours ago)
Charter school leader joins Milken venture
from News by editor@dailynews.com (George B. Sánchez, Staff Writer)
After years of fighting the education establishment to expand rights for charter schools, the head of the California Charter Schools Association announced her abrupt departure Wednesday to join an international education company.

12:34 PM (7 hours ago)
AUDIO: Zuma Dogg Discusses Leimert Park Task Force Run In With Shaw Family on Kevin James Show
from LA Daily Blog.com by zumadogg@gmail.com (zuma dogg)
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Zuma Dogg discusses his day's worth of research investigating the "task force" run in with the Shaw Family in Leimert Park this past Sunday with Kevin James on KRLA AM 870. (Also, Jamiel Shaw, Sr....Go to LADailyBlog.com for full story.

12:33 PM (7 hours ago)
California's ballot billions
from Los Angeles Times - Opinion
No matter what budget Sacramento comes up with, California voters will probably increase the deficit in 10 weeks. There's little chance that the state budget eventually passed in Sacramento will actually rid California of its stubborn $15.2-billion deficit. But in the improbable event that the Legislature and governor balance the budget without resorting to such gimmicks as raiding other accounts, enjoy the moment. In just 10 weeks, California voters will likely throw it out of whack again.

12:32 PM (7 hours ago)
Leimert Aftermath: Throw Bernie Under the Bus?
from Mayor Sam's Sister City - Home of Los Angeles Politics by noreply@blogger.com (Michael Higby)
As we continue to dig deeper into the raid on Leimert Park Sunday and alleged harrassment of the Shaw Family by City officials, something kept coming up. The desire to place responsibility for the raid on Council Member Bernard Parks. According to Zuma Dogg, police officers told him that...

12:30 PM (7 hours ago)
Two Economic Indicators Show Continued Weakness
from CNBC Top News and Analysis

12:29 PM (7 hours ago)
LAX Service Workers Vote to Strike
from KTLA The CW Where Los Angeles Lives - News
LAX-- An overwhelming vote has authorized a strike of the Airline Service Workers at Los Angeles International Airport, the union said today.

12:28 PM (7 hours ago)
Considering Griffith Park's Future: Today's the day that the city's...
from Curbed LA by Dakota
Today's the day that the city's Cultural Heritage Committee will review an application to make Griffith Park historic: Griffith Van Griffith and his family trust have applied for Historic Cultural Monument status, which if approved, would make the park the country's largest historic landmark. City Councilman Tom LaBonge is skeptical of the idea, worrying it could affect the park's maintenance and infrastructure (sewers, etc.); Ken Bernstein, manager of the Cultural Heritage Commission tells the LA Times' Joanna Lin a historical designation would not "freeze historic properties at a point in time." If the Cultural Historic Commission decides to formerly consider the application, they'll ultimately also have to decide whether to pass the matter to the full City Council. [LA Times]

12:28 PM (7 hours ago)
Griffith Park as a Historic-Cultural Monument?
from LAist by Zach Behrens
"Griffith [Van Griffith, great grandon of Col. Griffith Jenkins Griffith who the park is named after] is scheduled to appear today at Los Angeles City Hall to push for historic-cultural monument status for the park his great-grandfather gave the city 112 years ago," reports the LA Times. "At 4,218 acres, Griffith Park would be the largest such monument in the country. Griffith said the designation is needed to prevent commercial developments similar to those briefly proposed by city officials in a 2005 master plan." If the Cultural Heritage Commission vote to take in the application, they will spend the upcoming weeks touring the park and then decide to refer it to city council or not.

12:27 PM (7 hours ago)
'Subway to the Sea' Sneak Peak
from LAist by Zach Behrens
As of last May, these were the 4 remaining rail options (View Larger Image) Provided by Metro
Here's one of the maps that will be seen at the upcoming Westside Extension meetings that Metro will be holding in September. Metro won't say what routes/alternatives have made the cut, but we do know this: the above map shows all four remaining subway possibilities from last May and all four might remain as possibilities.
As for which ones are staying put as Metro's recommendation and which ones got axed, we won't know until September (or maybe the day before the first meeting). "Some or all of them will continue forward," explained Jody Litvak of Metro. "It will be four or less."
Some of the freshest news about the project is coming via their Facebook page, a first for Metro in social networking.

12:26 PM (7 hours ago)
LAT kudos itself for not running Rocky story
from LA Observed by Kevin
The Los Angeles Times got beaten on Tuesday by the San Francisco Chronicle's disclosure of an FBI probe into City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo. A memo...

12:25 PM (7 hours ago)
Southwest Museum Community College??
from Mayor Sam's Sister City - Home of Los Angeles Politics by noreply@blogger.com (Red Spot in CD 14)
These are the words of the "COUNCILMAN LAST SEEN CLAIMING VICTORY FOR THE SOUTHWEST MUSEUM AS JOSE HUIZAR", which were printed in his booklet "TOGETHER: Creating a Better Community", handed out to the masses at the "GREAT CD 14 FILIBUSTER EVENT". "In september 2007, Councilmember Huizar announced...

via Zuma's LA Daily Blog by zumadogg@gmail.com (zuma dogg) on 8/22/08
New editors at Daily Newsfrom LA Observed: Remember that name by Kevin RoderickMariel Garza moves up to editor of the editorial pages at the Daily News in Woodland Hills. Oscar Garza, formerly the...

Go to LADailyBlog.com for full story.

via Zuma's LA Daily Blog by zumadogg@gmail.com (zuma dogg) on 8/22/08
Not that this is a scientific poll, but when you see 90% one way, or the other (on a legitimate sample of this size), it's worth noting Councilmember Tom The Bong: Q: Do you think Griffith Park...

Go to LADailyBlog.com for full story.

via LA Observed by Kevin on 8/22/08
Mariel Garza moves up to editor of the editorial pages at the Daily News in Woodland Hills. Oscar Garza (no relation), formerly the editor of...

via Los Angeles Metblogs by lucindamichele on 8/22/08

This came across my desk this morning…I’m running out of town, so I confess to not researching this as thoroughly as I should have. However, it seemed appropriate to get this out here…but I thought the park was already a historic monument? Maybe not? Sorry–I should have been on my way this morning to get here. Will post pics from the road.

Here’s a quick and easy way to support Griffith Park. The LA Daily News is running a poll TODAY ONLY. You can vote to support Griffith Park’s Historic-Cultural Monument designation.

http://www.dailynews.com/

Scroll about half way down the page. It’s on the left side, Friday’s Online Poll.

Please vote to support the park!

During the three-day operation, police also pair with church groups in a door-to-door effort to encourage residents to report crime.

In a three-day sweep of a Santa Ana neighborhood, police arrested 85 people, many of them alleged gang members suspected of violating parole or possessing weapons and drugs, authorities said Friday.

New legislation helps police track down people who raid recycling bins or steal newspapers from newsstands.

lacitynews@gmail.com