Don Shirley: Pianists make history
Iris Schneider on Annie Leibovitz
The Times also named the editor who will oversee presidential campaign coverage and hired LZ Granderson, formerly of ESPN, as a hybrid sports and culture columnist.
Archive: Politics
The Times also named the editor who will oversee presidential campaign coverage and hired LZ Granderson, formerly of ESPN, as a hybrid sports and culture columnist.
A Change.org petition by Rob Eshman asks Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti to make it happen.
Cities again barred from prosecuting the homeless. Hands across the aisle at USC. Much more.
The LAT also loses sports reporter Lindsey Thiry to ESPN and previously lost White House correspondent Brian Bennett to Time.
Fox 11 morning anchor Elex Michaelson will host the 10:30 p.m. show.
The mayor has now been to the four early nominating states for the 2020 presidential election. But Monday it's a speech in Los Angeles.
The LA Times staff voted union but there's a lot more going on. Val Zavala retires from KCET. Remembering Ed Moses and Greg Critser.
LA Times journalists vote on a union this week. Plus the most-clicked story of 2017, Hollywood women organize, notes on media politics and place, and selected tweets.
The scandal that won't go away. An LAT columnist apologizes. Job movies, an invite from the New York Times and other media notes.
LA Observed Notes: Covering Harvey, Dodgers flailing, an editor change in LA, media notes, Angels Flight shuts again
Today's Bullet Points include LA Times newsroom love for a fired editor, pink blobs in Echo Park, media notes and selected tweets.
Bullet Points: A horrific jail death. Food writers in Tuscany. The LA Times follows on Canter's. A media promotion, a hire, and the celebrity terminal at LAX. Plus a difficult long read.
Bullet Points: An LA Republican discusses Trump. Nazis in LA. A new reporter in town. Tommy Hawkins dies.
Bullet Points: Attacking the Jews in Charlottesville. Zócalo on the move. USC Village. Transitions at City Hall and the Times.
Nazi and racist scum in Virginia, Trump equates, and a nation shakes its head. Plenty of media and politics notes and selected tweets.
Our occasional gathering of notes on media, politics and place with selected tweets.
LA Times explains how many times it gave USC a chance to comment on a dean's secret life. Plus LAT buyouts, media people doing stuff and selected tweets.
The dean of newspaper science writers is apparently retiring at age 98. Slacker! Plus a ransomware attack at KQED and CalBuzz calls it quits for now.
NPR staffers won't face a strike. Obits for Martin Landau, George Romero, Bill Smith and Tenny Tenusian. Selected tweets.
Plus what some LA media people are doing and selected tweets from the past week.
Sen. Franken was on KPCC Friday and is talking about his new book in Beverly Hills (twice) and in Glendale.
Plus it's time to pay attention to the Dodgers, Roxane Gay is in town, media people doing stuff and selected tweets.
"Left, Right & Center is one of KCRW’s most popular shows, on air and as a podcast..."
Chock full of Monday observations on media and media people, politics, place and more. Plus a good week for selected tweets.
Our irregular compendium of media, police and place with selected tweets.
There will be yet another expensive and even smaller special election in Los Angeles later this year.
Our occasional roundup of news and observations from the media, politics and place. Plus selected tweets and more.
Walters says his politics column, around since 1981, will live on in a new home.
The total jumped 23 percent over last year despite many more homeless people being moved into housing. So it could have been even worse.
Our occasional roundup of news and observations from media, politics and place. With some selected tweets.
Our occasional roundup of news and notes on media, politics and place. Plus selected tweets.
Also: Monica Rodriguez elected to the Los Angeles City Council. Board of Education member Steve Zimmer lost.
Our occasional roundup of media, politics and place news and notes.
Our occasional roundup of news and observations on media, politics and place. Plus selected tweets.
Media and politics notes for the new week, plus selected tweets.
Challenger to Councilman Gil Cedillo says he remains in the race for May 16 runoff.
"As Mayor, there’s no issue I spend more time on," Garcetti says in his annual state of the city speech.
You probably have heard of David Fahrenthold by now. Ex-LAT journalists re-uniting at CNN. Octavia Butler, Bob Miller, politics notes.
"He is not merely amusing. He is dangerous," Monday's editorial says. "He has made himself the stooge...for every crazy blogger, political quack, racial theorist, foreign leader or nutcase peddling a story."
"Nothing prepared us for the magnitude of this train wreck," the Los Angeles Times says of Donald Trump in a full-page editorial. Plus: Paul Magers, the Groundlings founder and more.
Soon-Shiong looks to be moving on Ferro. Variety snags an editor. Another Los Angeles Magazine editor leaves.
He's under 50 percent in the final vote tally and becomes the first councilman since 1999 to face a reelection runoff.
Media and politics notes from all over, plus media people news, some place notes and selected tweets.
The county homeless measure and Gil Cedillo's reelection are too close to call, but there will be runoffs for the school board and in the Valley's council district 7.
Nick Ut's retirement. Key editors jump from the LA Times. Downtown News sold. Plus many more notes and observations.
Keith Boyer, a veteran with the Whittier Police Department, was 53 and a father. He was shot by a recent parolee.
The conservative talk show host and Chapman law professor is on a roll with Trump.
News, notes and observations of media, politics and place. Plus selected tweets.
Trump's orders to block refugees and travelers from Muslim countries - even U.S. legal residents - caught Homeland Security by surprise. Protesters and lawyers flooded the airport.
Hard to imagine a bigger change to the infrastructure and environment of the Westside.
Our occasional roundup on media, politics and place from multiple sources.
A few hundred thousand people on the streets all day and no arrests of any kind. Lots of great signs though.
Media, books, politics and place and a few tweets.
Our occasional roundup on media, politics and place from a variety of LA Observed sources.
Media notes to end 2016, plus politics, place, selected media tweets and more.
Media and politics notes, observations on place and much more.
A extra big helping of our occasional roundup of media, politics and place notes.
One candidate who might have had a chance against Eric Garcetti cites "our nightmare of a national election" in getting out of the 2017 race.
Our occasional offering of media, politics and place noted from assorted sources.
New attorney general appointed. An anchor leaves the news desk. What to do with P-45.
Councilman Jose Huizar has had enough already, tweeting "If we acquiesce to his falsehoods, we fall victim to tyrannical government."
Donald Trump tweets his way to the top item again by inventing a new conspiracy. Plus much more.
Our semi-regular column of media and politics notes, with other news and observations.
Some observations, plus a weekly dose of media and politics notes.
There's no surprise that Attorney General Kamala Harris was elected to succeed Barbara Boxer in the U.S. Senate. The news is that California voters also approved legal marijuana, kept the...
Franklin Pierce won with the help of early LA figures like the Californio Andres Pico.
Queuing to vote across LA, Trump's last stand, and why the sports department hates election night.
The second memo of the fall election cycle reminds reporters and editors that social media is on the record.
Gigantic Frank Gehry project on Sunset Boulevard approved. Kudos for LAT's Sea Breeze investigation. Notes on Campaign 2016, 2017 and 2018. And more.
LA Times investigations afflict the powerful. LA's homeless shame. Notes on media, politics and place.
LA Times loses a top Hollywood voice. Dodgers go home. More Trump and Clinton notes.
Author, activist and former California state assemblyman and senator Tom Hayden has died in Santa Monica after a lengthy illness.
Because there's more going on than Donald Trump's get-even war on America.
First time the f-word got in print since 1998, the paper says. The explainer is less revealing about the Trump tapes landing on Saturday's page 10.
Interesting news from downtown, sadness in Palm Springs and a bad week for Trump and his ilk. Plus much, much more.
Los Angeles can breathe again. The day no one wanted to come has passed.
Everywhere else the election is the main story, but here it's also about Vin Scully.
Our occasional roundup on media, politics and place.
Edelman represented the Westside and the Fairfax area for 29 years and led the fight for children's services, AIDS treatment, mental health services and the arts.
From his home on Rockingham Avenue in Brentwood, where he and his wife Betty hosted countless salons and strategy meetings, Stanley Sheinbaum played a key role in LA and world events.
Hillary Clinton's pneumonia takes her out of California to start the week. Inside the gentrification of Grand Central Market. More media, politics and place.
Joe Hicks, the co-founder of Community Advocates Inc. and a long-time media commentator on race and columnist in Los Angeles, died Sunday.
Herb Wesson has received five default notices for being late with mortgage payments.
The councilman from the northeast Valley stayed less than one term.
Villaraigosa was married to Patricia Govea at a hotel in San Miguel de Allende.
The Secretary of State gave Joe Shammas a certificate saying he finished second to Rep. Tony Cardenas. Then he took it away.
Villaraigosa talked down speculation that he might end the week as chair of the
Democratic National Committee.
"Don’t use your social media feed to pan or praise candidates, parties or their positions," a memo from the managing editor reminds reporters.
Donald Trump piñatas are a staple at shops in the Los Angeles piñata district these days.
After 3,304 morning newsletters since 2007, he's off to start a new media company with partners from Politico.
This is the kind of completely new development turn for Los Angeles that should get a thorough debate in the political arena but that rarely does.
Shooters apparently firing semi-automatic weapons hit at least 11 police officers in Dallas tonight at an otherwise calm protest over police shootings of unarmed suspects in other cities.
It's Kathryn Barger and Darrell Park in the 5th district.
People see what he backs as a politician, but they don’t see what he’s willing to fight for, says Los Angeles Magazine.
The Green Dot charter schools founder says he's in "to disrupt the political establishment and turn our city around."
There's nothing going on, but the trick is to make it look like there is for a few days.
President Obama and his family spent Fathers Day weekend in Yosemite Valley and appeared to be appropriately blown away.
Trump adds the very mainstream Post to the list of neutral orgs he doesn't want covering him.
Cherry picking of some results that stand out from the others.
$1 billion effort with the Republican National Committee kicks off here May 25.
We have a very beautiful state here. Absolutely beautiful.
Old friend of LA Observed Steve Greenberg offers up this take on Ted Cruz and his new running mate.
The time was 1972. Sanders says, "I would never vote for a bum like that!”
Assemblyman Roger Hernandez is accused of domestic abuse by his wife, a Baldwin Park City Council member.
Before the former Charles Manson follower could actually get parole, the full state parole board and Gov. Jerry Brown would have to approve.
Son of the former Assembly speaker got out of prison Sunday thanks to act by then-governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.
There's good news and bad news for Westside drivers in the president's schedule of fundraiser appearances this trip.
The first liberal 4-1 majority looks almost certain after this year's elections.
Women really, really detest the Republican frontrunner, who polls worse than Dick Cheney or George H.W. Bush at their lowest.
The longtime Westside councilman and television host entered hospice care last month.
Aides of the Valley councilwoman and their family members have been called into a grand jury over $5 and $10.
He breaks the news at a Town Hall lunch meeting then takes it to Twitter.
The California primary on June 7 is very much in play for Republicans.
The former LA County coroner will return on an interim basis to keep things running.
Organizers say the measure belongs on a city ballot to be locally debated.
With his convictions overturned on appeal, Alarcon says he is a candidate for Congress in the Valley.
Mark Fajardo was here less than three years and says the department is understaffed due to budget issues.
The mountain lion's long-term prognosis doesn't get any better on the news that he's probably preying on the LA Zoo's animals now.
Anthony Rendon becomes Speaker, Trump trouble in Silicon Valley, candidate trouble for the Democrats in Simi Valley and more.
"I’m hurting and I’m sad and mad...I’m beginning to feel the city isn’t good for me anymore," Gigi Graciette vents.
Los Angeles needs a mayor whose goal isn't climbing the ladder to the next office, Mitchell Schwartz says.
On its first day under a new publisher, though I don't know if it mattered, the Los Angeles Times editorial board used very strong rhetoric in an editorial blasting...
Competing ballot measures on housing in LA. Rising crime rates. Winter heat is back. And much more.
He is at home in Mar Vista and "gravely ill," his successor, Mike Bonin, announced on Facebook.
In an unexplained reversal, the state attorney general's office says it is reviewing the LA sheriff's department's handling of the substitute teacher.
The LA Times covers the political rift at the commission like a huge outrage story.
All other news: secondary.
The president has fundraisers in Hancock Park and a taping in Burbank for the Ellen DeGeneres Show.
Plea deal with federal prosecutors would cap prison time for Lee Baca at under a year, reports say.
O'Donnell, 47, pushed Gov. Brown to sign California's new right-to-die act, which won't take effect until later this year.
Catching up to a week's worth of media moves and hires, political notes and a whole lot more.
Allison Wisk has been deputy politics editor at the Dallas Morning News and has a J.D. degree. Also: New reporter in Sacramento.
"Bridging the Divide: Tom Bradley and the Politics of Race" runs Thursday night at 8 p.m. on PBS SoCal.
Carl Marziali is the former VP for media and public relations at USC.
After losing badly in his try to join the LA City Council, Davis is now on the media side of the presidential campaigns.
Trump's first test with actual voters falls short. Not a great result for Hillary Clinton either.
California's Secretary of State put his family in a Burbank hotel about six weeks ago.
Steve Barr in photo by Kris Krug on Flickr via LA Weekly. Add Green Dot Charter Schools founder Steve Barr to the menu of candidates that might run against Mayor...
He's a Democratic strategist and environmentalist and a neighbor of the mayor's in Windsor Square.
There could be a train to the Inglewood stadium but the current earliest date is 2035.
Some details are getting out about the federal criminal investigation that seems to involve City Councilwoman Nury Martinez and her staff. City Hall reporter David Zahniser reports in the LA...
Former LA City Councilman state lawmaker Richard Alarcon and his wife have already served their sentences in a case about where they officially lived for voting purposes.
Aides for elected officials get to go where news cameras can't. But the Gas Co. got Sherman to take the videos down.
Developments at Porter Ranch. Penske buys Indiewire. Univision buys the Onion. A fake Politico reporter. Local finalists for the National Book Critics Circle. And much more.
"If the wellhead fails," says a physical sciences professor, "It will be a horrible, horrible problem."
Majestic Yosemite Hotel and Half Dome Village just don't sound like Yosemite. Fix it.
The sidewalk on Prosser Avenue in Rancho Park has been a trip-and-fall waiting to happen since at least 2012. We have the pictures.
Wendy Greuel with Bill Clinton at Langer's Deli during the 2013 mayoral campaign. Photo: Gary Leonard. Eric Garcetti and Wendy Greuel were City Hall allies, and I believe friends, before...
Selected items from the media, our in box and other LA Observed sources.
It's the first time the LAPD chief has recommended charges in the killing of an unarmed suspect.
Next for Porter Ranch, Year 30 of the homeless crisis, a busy week for the LAFD and more.
Three stops including San Gabriel and at the Jim Henson studios on La Brea Avenue in Hollywood.
Managing editor will run the Neighborhood Integrity Initiative in LA. Also: what the LA Times wants in its next California politics editor.
Several state agencies are ordered to take a role in getting SoCal Gas to stop the methane venting above Aliso Canyon.
Notes and news items that amassed during the holiday break around here.
For the first time in a long while, crime is up in all categories and in all police divisions across Los Angeles.
The downtown civic push to (re)reinvent Pershing Square took a step forward today with the naming of four final design concepts from which the actual plan will be chosen.
Rep. Brad Sherman analyzes the language used, the likelihood that the writer was Muslim, and whether LA officials were right to act.
"It’s the climate equivalent of the BP disaster in the Gulf of Mexico," the Guardian says. More than 3,000 Angelenos remain out of their homes.
LA Unified closed all of its schools based on a crude email threat that many experts dismissed almost immediately as a probable hoax. Schools are open today.
Kuehl gets the last word after one of the regulars calls the Jewish supervisor an "anti-Semitic scumbag."
"If Los Angeles had another 100 Leonard Shapiros we'd be in a lot better shape than we are today," his wife wrote in a 1984 letter to the editor.
Catching up from the holiday on politics and media notes, plus a lot more.
New manager for the Dodgers. Growth politics in LA. Women in Hollywood. Lots and lots of media notes. And more.
Cannick was arrested by the LAPD while covering a Ferguson protest in DTLA as a reporter last November.
Two black women -- an executive rousted at gunpoint and the chief of police -- have varied perspectives of the same incident.
Another missile launch coming? That homeless state of emergency pledged in LA never happened. Plus more.
In the end he did endorse Clinton, but it took the mayor's staff a while to get there.
The short-term rental service defeated Measure F in Tuesday's election by 55% to 45%.
A weather change. Tarantino plans to apologize. A new spokeswoman for Kuehl. More politics, media and place.
There are openings for deputy director of communications, speechwriter and press secretary, per LinkedIn.
Yahoo Politics profile says LA's mayor may be the future of the Democrats. Plus Garcetti on the set of "Brooklyn Nine-Nine."
Water flows in the LA aqueduct again. Vin Scully repeats next year is his last season. Los Fezil. And more.
A drone knocks out power. La Opinión endorses Kamala Harris. Media notes. And much more.
Catching up to news from politics, media and place. Plus more.
Biden won't run. DWP rates to rise. 99.9 percent chance of an earthquake. Media moves, the Murdoch brothers and more.
A community forum in Jefferson Park was cut short by protesters and, in front of TV cameras, the mayor was hustled out through a pressing crowd.
At least 18 reporters on Hillary Clinton are women. "No one can remember a political press corps this heavily female," says Politico.
Catching up on politics and media news, job moves and some notes on place. Including: Metro losing riders.
He is a bean counter "actually worth writing about" and the point man in City Hall on the homeless issue, says the Downtown News.
The Center for Investigative Reporting got the story rolling. Now Steve Lopez is on the case.
Hoffenblum was a Republican strategist who created the nonpartisan and respected California Target Book.
Read the memo: Myers is the California political and government editor at KQED in the Bay Area and a longtime Sacramento media hand.
She will launch the California Playbook, Politico's west coast edition of Mike Allen's Playbook. "Within weeks," Politico says.
Andy Bales caught the trifecta of Skid Row infections — E. coli, strep and staph — and now uses a wheelchair. "Conditions on Skid Row are worse than they have ever been…"
That June gathering of power players and civic activists at Tony Pritzker's home is going public with a discussion event at LACMA.
Gregory Caruso was the unflinching young guy sitting just left of Jake Tapper and creating a lot of social media buzz.
Essential Politics so far looks as if it will aggregate Times coverage of the presidential campaign and other politics news, with some narrative and analysis tying items together.
Media moves, crime politics, fires, LA bike gangs observed and much more.
Byers will be the senior reporter for media and politics at CNNMoney and CNN Politics.
In early August we published a blogger piece about Williams, convicted in the murder of Los Angeles police officer Thomas Williams in 1985.
Mayor Garcetti and Council President Wesson will talk about the City Council's Olympics vote way out in Santa Monica.
Items include Donald Trump, Sarah Palin, Daniele Watts, Eric Garcetti, Frank Gehry, Aja Brown, Wes Craven, Serena Wlliams, Jessica Mendoza, Claudia Puig and more.
Jeff Millman is going to work for the effort preparing LA's bid for the 2024 Summer Olympics.
The City Council says OK but there are some official hurdles still to jump.
Politics and media moves. New homeless numbers. Stephen Colbert's guests. NYT newsletters. Kirk and Anne Douglas will give it away. And more.
Mayor Eric Garcetti on Monday signed an executive order ordering departments to report back with ways to reduce traffic deaths in Los Angeles -- to zero.
Jerry Brown on "Meet the Press." Toni Atkins on "News Conference." A crossword creator dies. And much more.
Dave Lesher named to run start-up CalMatters. News from City Hall and the county, and much more.
City Council members have other ideas on some of the mayor's favorite things. Plus: Calling the pols on setting impossible goals.
He heads out today to the Central Valley after last night's Hillary Clinton fundraiser -- which at least one neighbor didn't appreciate.
The city's utility overcharged by about $44 million while trying to roll out a new, apparently flawed billing system.
He's also the most influential City Council president since John Ferraro and possibly ever.
Can you help this ex-Marine get her old uniform back? Lots of politics, media and place for a desk-clearing Friday.
The Republican who goes back to the original community college board in LA wants to follow 36 years on the Board of Supervisors with a term on the state Senate.
At $100, it’s the hottest little ticket among Hollywood Democrats because it gives them a first chance to see the former mayor's new Hollywood Hills pad.
Statewide officials and the county Supes are next. Garcetti is an "earnest booster" who needs to get to the hard work, Times publisher says.
Trump vs. Megyn Kelly but not on Fox. Bernie Sanders in LA today. Amazing ratings for GOP debate but not "True Detective." James Poniewozik to NYT TV beat. Drone racing. And more.
"Unfortunately, our concerns are becoming reality," the LAT opinion side says in its latest report card.
City Hall politics, media items, books news and place notes, including Maria Sharapova at Gjusta.
Reports are that Ontario will reimburse LA for its investment at the airport and settle a lawsuit alleging poor management.
Council member Mitch O'Farrell jumped in the new Hollywood pool fully clothed.
Identity theft, manslaughter and driving under the influence were among the convictions of Uber drivers that would bar them driving an LA taxi.
Herb Wesson's report card, Ted Rall fights back and new mountain lion cubs in the Santa Monicas. Plus more.
Politics, media and place with a little news thrown in. Catching up from the weekend.
The narrative of Mayor Eric Garcetti as an overly cautious waffler continues to take hold.
As LA-based 3 Wire Sports urged last month, Boston is no longer an obstacle to Los Angeles getting the 2024 Summer Games.
Times editors give another letter grade. CBS2/KCAL promotes Amber Lee. Key and Peele to end their Comedy Central show. More politics and media notes.
Biden was in town. Ex-LA Times reporter takes a job in City Hall. Fernando Valenzuela becomes a citizen. And California's hangup on superheroes. Plus more.
The action brings the county in line with Los Angeles City Hall. Over to you Long Beach, Glendale and Santa Clarita.
The LA Times editorial board wants Controller Ron Galperin to think bigger and be noisier.
Los Angeles is getting credit for trying to fix the technology side of the old-fashioned and embarrassing way that the U.S. conducts elections.
Connie Llanos, formerly of the Daily News, works now for Councilman Curren Price and was a spokesperson for Wendy Greuel in the 2013 mayoral campaign.
Ridley-Thomas and more politics notes, DeAndre Jordan stays with Clippers, new hosts at NPR's All Things Considered and more.
Chief executive office is weakened and now if you run the hospitals or mental health services, you again have to report to an elected politician.
New LA Times analysis shows the downward trend in LA crime stats is over and that crime is up in all major categories except homicide.
The PGA Grand Slam of Golf is looking for another home, while conservative opinionist Jonah Goldberg calls out Trump for damaging the Republican Party.
Bill Cosby's old admission. Donald Trump coming to LA? Record audience for soccer as U.S. champions come to LA Live. Plus much more politics and media.
Dylan Byers of Politico reports the hiring of Roll Call editor-in-chief Christina Bellantoni to be Assistant Managing Editor for Politics -- a title that does not currently exist.
Marrero left La Opinión in December after 24 years to work for new LA County Supervisor Hilda Solis. She's going to back to work on election coverage.
Jim Newton will write the next book on Jerry Brown "and the creation of modern California." Plus Diana Wagman, Holly Madison, William Mulholland, Josh Kun and more.
On the eve of his second anniversary in office, the mayor faces a test on the homeless issue. He changed his tune last night on Warren Olney's show.
Parks and LaBonge check out of the City Council. SCOTUS to take on labor union fees. Gravel yards. Much more politics, media and place.
Supreme Court decides 5-4 that Americans do have a basic right to marry and that states can't single out same-sex couples.
The 13-0 vote allows construction to begin soon at the former May Co. building at Wilshire and Fairfax.
In a 6-3 decision with the majority opinion written by Chief Justice John Roberts, the Supreme Court ruled it was clear that Congress intended for healthcare tax credits to be available in all states.
UCLA and the Sean Combs arrest. Minimum wage, homeless camps and farewell to Tom LaBonge at City Hall. Plus more.
Catching up with a plethora of items on politics, media and place including news this morning from the Supreme Court.
Sarah Dusseault is fresh off guiding the unsuccessful supervisor campaign of Bobby Shriver.
The LAPD's street closure guidance for today and Friday stretches from Pacific Palisades to Pasadena and Highland Park.
Jim Dear, the former mayor, walked out of last night's city council meeting after an "incoherent rant" that included a "Lord of the Flies" reference.
The measure, which could come up next week, seeks to have LA County follow the city of Los Angeles in imposing a new, higher minimum wage.
The City Hall press corps seems to be tiring of the mayor's style.
Obama gets here mid-afternoon Thursday and Clinton has at least three local fundraisers the next day.
The mayor left the city at a tense moment for a Georgetown fundraiser, then obfuscated in the face of questions by the Times.
Politics, media, books and place for a new week, plus a couple of tweets.
A retired video technician is charged with steering $4 million in contracts to friends and back to himself.
Sure, you don't care and nobody you know in LA cares, but Page Six and Politico do care what Finke thinks about the presidential derby and who she has voted for.
The officers who shot and killed Ford in South LA were partly justified but also acted partly outside of department policy.
A judge says the media can have the calendars of two suspended senators facing federal charges. Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de Leon also halts late-night free rides.
Mayor Garcetti helps UCLA launch a new journal edited by former LA Times reporter and editor Jim Newton, with help from some former LAT colleagues. The first topic: policing and the science of safety.
Minimum wage. Drought shaming. A new head of LAX. Emmy nominees. Gawker unionizes. Plus media moves and much more.
Donna Bojarsky and friends unveiled a new group Future of Cities: Leading in LA at the hilltop Pritzker residence.
The former anti-Vietnam War activist and state lawmaker suffered the stroke May 21.
Obama heads over to Tyler Perry's place for a June 18 fundraiser, and Clinton stops in at Tobey Maguire's the next day.
Plans for the 6th Street bridge. Anne Gust Brown profiled. More talk of exemptions from the $15 minimum wage. How much do City Council members pay their help? Drivers for drunk senators. And more.
I've been storing up for a few days.
Santa Barbara oil spill. Norms gets status. Reaction to David Ryu's election and David Letterman's farewell. Plus much more.
Columbia co-author questions data provided in last year's news-making study by a UCLA co-author.
He become the first Korean-American elected to the Los Angeles City Council. The race wasn't that close.
The council votes 14-1 to tell the city attorney to draft an ordinance that would make $15-an-hour the minimum wage in the city of Los Angeles by 2020. Mayor Garcetti signed on to the final deal.
Marines die in Nepal. The City Council's new secretive ways. LANG parent no longer for sale. Another jab at LAT from Jeff Gottlibeb. Plus more politics, media and place.
Sanchez is running. Brown and Napolitano make up. A good point about almonds and water. Another LATimesman leaves for political PR. And more.
Seligman says she "has helped end the careers of some of the most corrupt members of Congress, targeted the NRA and its allies, exposed front groups covering for corporate interests, and rooted out misinformation in the media."
Plus Antonio Villaraigosa's new actress-girlfriend, restaurants come and go and a big day for a Dodger.
Nice one-day haul for the Democratic candidate, but she's also in the spotlight for agreeing to take money from even bigger donors.
The LA Times has tapped Washington bureau chief David Lauter to run the presidential campaign coverage. Read the memo.
So somebody else did. Screen grab from CarlyFiorina.org.
The ACLU drops its support after the policy allows officers to view footage before writing reports. Chief Beck also says he won't release footage publicly.
Decker "will become our signature voice on California politics," says today's memo from the top editors.
A morning roundup of politics, media and place plus some tweets of the day.
Hollywood checks are the main target, of course, with an evening reception hosted by Haim Saban and Casey Wasserman.
Politics, media, place and some tweets of the day.
The lead blogger for many years at Mayor Sam's Sister City died Wednesday after a visit to the dentist.
Garcetti has his night, but was anybody listening. Is Hollywood divided on Clinton or what? Politico to launch California Playbook.
Last week's emergency fund drive was just what it sounds like — full survival mode, says an analysis in OC Weekly.
The City Council has paid dearly to get some of the pending liabilities off its docket. They might still try to make you pay for their sidewalk damage.
News and notes from LA Observed on politics, media and place plus a couple of tweets of the day.
Jeb Bush to raise cash in Bel Air. Supes look to raise minimum age. A new column in Daily News. More notes on politics, media and place.
Consumer columnist David Lazarus has been getting more openly anti-Republican on his Twitter feed. So get ready for cat videos.
Some news and notes of politics, media and place to get the week started.
Hewitt is breaking stories, getting the GOP candidates on his radio show and filling the role of most respected pundit by the Republican establishment, a new profile says.
The Obamajam trope is old and tired, and even I'll admit it was kind of parochial to begin with. But today, the LA Times loves it.
There's been some shuffling in the lineup of political advisers to the stars and big donors. And a new candidate for the Board of Supervisors.
The president arrives Thursday afternoon to do Jimmy Kimmel and a fundraiser, then stays overnight.
Phil Washington is currently general manager of Denver's Regional Transportation District.
Bruce Feirstein, the Los Angeles-based contributor to Vanity Fair, devotes this month's investigative VF chart to a compare-and-contrast.
The mayor also filed the paperwork to begin raising money for 2017.
Read the memo: The mayor's top spokesman is off "to pursue new opportunities."
On the day after Tuesday's sleepy city election, everyone seems to be suddenly concerned that almost no one votes in Los Angeles anymore.
Councilwoman Nury Martinez also reelected and Marqueece Harris Dawson elected to LA City Council. One runoff awaits.
A year ago friends were saying the former mayor had no assets and was living in an apartment. Now he buys in the Hollywood Hills.
Some LA City Council, some U.S. Senate, some Republican state convention and more.
Ana Marie Cox is still writing about politics and in her latest piece talks about her faith and being a liberal Christian.
Kamala Harris doesn't poll well. Dinging Garcetti. Countdown to Tuesday's elections. Media notes on Harvey Levin, Bill O'Reilly and more.
State Sen. Isadore Hall is already running, so Buscaino said today "my future is here in Los Angeles, not 3,000 miles away."
Will the former mayor aim for governor in 2018 — or have we seen the last of Antonio Villaraigosa the candidate? Who will dare run against Kamala Harris?
Overtures to big D.C. law firms did not find a comfortable fit for the Democrat who battled Big Tobacco and Big Pharma.
The PAC is holding a Latino-flavored fundraising reception at City Club on Flower Street.
The Star Wars Episode VII director and his wife are hosting a Santa Monica fundraiser for Marqueece Harris-Dawson, who is a candidate for the open City Council seat in South LA.
A new Field Poll finds that would be Republican Condoleeza Rice. Villaraigosa doesn't stand out.
She has been deputy editor in Sacramento. Here she will be an editorial writer. Read the memo here.
Times endorses Cindy Montañez in the Valley. Why City Hall's special interests love shifting the election years. Garcetti on Snapchat. A final David Carr column. Kicking off Oscars week. Plus more.
Plus: Molina and Huizar debate. California's aging voters. LA's non-voters. And more.
Sometimes the choices newspaper editorial boards make are not fully predictable. Here are the latest in a few races.
"While Ethan has apologized for regrettable and insensitive comments, they do not reflect the views of Governor Bush or his organization and it is appropriate for him to step aside."
She has her first local campaign fundraiser for the Senate race tonight in Bel Air. Plus: Gavin Newsom forms 2018 committee.
Memorial service for Rick Orlov set. Janice Hahn may run for Supes. Promotions at KCRW. More politics, media and books notes.
No replacement host or centrist for the long-running show has been named.
We are more than a little offended, says the Sacramento Bee in an editorial.
One of the last of the original politics bloggers wants out before he burns out. He also hopes to write a book.
Ex-councilman could not go in the backyard, but he could drive downtown, take meetings and play a lot of online poker.
Willie Brown urges the birthday boy not to run. The national media is on the Villaraigosa beat now. Plus Gloria Molina.
Billionaire environmentalist says it was a hard decision, but climate change is his key fight -- it "will define the success or failure of our generation."
The former mayor sups with Eric Garcetti and Kamala Harris as he tests his prospects for 2016. Many links inside.
The former Daily News managing editor and head of Fleishman-Hillard in LA, now 66, has one client and some friends.
The state attorney general will make it official, via online post, that she's running for the Barbara Boxer seat in the Senate.
Newsom's exit makes the path more open to Attorney General Kamala Harris, but don't forget Democrats Antonio Villaraigosa and Tom Steyer.
Before moving on to Hollywood, Kaltman was a press deputy to Jim Hahn and Wendy Greuel in City Hall.
The former mayor said he might run for Boxer's Senate seat and scored a lot of coverage — some even favorable.
Sen. Barbara Boxer announced today that she will not seek another term in 2016. "I want to come home."
Jim McDonnell visits with Larry Mantle at KPCC, sits with Conan Nolan at KNBC and allows backstage access to photographer John McCoy of the Daily News.
Autopsy shows that the mentally ill black man in South LA was shot in the side, arm and back. LAPD Chief Charlie Beck met the media and took questions.
A glowing puff piece in the Columbia magazine declares Eric Garcetti the "very model of the modern mayor." He blogs, he tweets, he has a mountain bike and he speaks Spanish.
Garth, a small, pugnacious political consultant, always said that in a campaign Bugs Bunny beats Daffy Duck -- the smooth unruffled character beats the berserk fool.
The New Yorker takes a serious look at the future of Los Angeles taxicabs through the eyes of Eric Spiegelman, the president of Mayor Garcetti's taxi commission, and a believer that taxis can move into the app era.
None of it matters until this final certified list of the candidates who actually completed their paperwork to run for office and get on the ballot. Only one City Council member is unopposed.
Mayor Eric Garcetti and his advisor, seismologist Lucy Jones, unveiled an earthquake plan for Los Angeles that requires vulnerable pre-1980 apartments to retrofit within five years. Concrete buildings at risk get 25 years.
The longtime politics writer and columnist for Spanish-language La Opinión is leaving the paper to become the communications deputy for new county Supervisor Hilda Solis.
Richard Alarcon moved up his jail date but was sent home with an electronic monitoring device.
Solis' new chief deputy is a former reporter at the Los Angeles Times — and Solis' executive assistant was assistant to the LA Times editor. Plus more Solis and Sheila Kuehl staff news.
The seizure of 20 boxes of documents suggests the feds are investigating the contracts for iPads pushed by ex-Supt. John Deasy and approved by the Board of Education.
The deputy in Controller Ron Galperin's office will become Vice President of Projects at the Times. She was the youngest deputy mayor in the Villaraigosa administration.
Mayor Garcetti supports LAPD on protester arrests. Hillary Clinton got $300,000 to speak at UCLA. A political consultant advertises. An LA TV veteran retires. Plus Jian Ghomeshi, Cargoland, bacon-wrapped hot dogs and more.
Monday is the day when new county officials are sworn in. Sheila Kuehl has tapped a veteran of Zev Yaroslavsky's office to be her chief deputy. Details of the day inside.
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, in China on a trade mission, posed at the Great Wall with City Council members Joe Buscaino, Mike Bonin, Curren Price and Gilbert Cedillo
First-time candidate Patty Lopez has defeated Assemblyman Raul Bocanegra in a cliffhanger between two Democrats in the 39th Assembly district. Jeffrey Prang wins the Assessor race.
Former mayor says the current mayor "has a lot to learn” and is surrounded by weak people.
The LA Times veteran devotes his final column to a menu of proposed fixes, such as expanding the City Council, abolishing the school board and doing away with term limits.
Here is the video I mentioned the other day of Vin Scully's amusing send-off to termed-out county Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky. Also: A longer video celebrating Yaroslavsky.
Among the speakers were former mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, former supervisor Yvonne Burke and current board chairman Don Knabe, LACMA director Michael Govan, the former county CAO David Janssen and (via video) Vin Scully. Sheila Kuehl received a very warm reception.
The inexperienced candidate who appears to be unseating fellow Democrat Raul Bocanegra in the Valley's 39th Assembly district has expanded her lead to 235 votes.
I first wrote about negotiations between the Owens Valley and Los Angeles over the noxious dust that blows off of Owens Lake 25 years ago. So it seems a little bizarre that they finally have a deal both sides can live with.
They are both Democrats so there is not a whole lot at stake politically, but the still-continuing race in the Northeast Valley's 39th Assembly district is intriguing. Incumbent Raul Bocanegra could lose.
Reston will stay in LA and cover politics and the 2016 presidential campaign for CNN's digital side and the TV network.
Elizabeth Warren visits with LA and Hollywood progressives. City Council races start to take an interesting shape. Still counting in that Valley assembly race, possibly "the biggest political upset of the year" in LA. Monday columns and much more.
I haven't yet read former Los Angeles mayor Richard Riordan's autobiography, but Jim Rainey of the LA Times has. Rainey covered City Hall when Riordan was mayor.
After 20 years on the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, Zev Yaroslavsky is getting ready to leave his offices in the Hall of Administration.
This news from the state geologist won't be good for the developers of the proposed Millennium Hollywood tower or their friends in City Hall.
Kuehl got 52.8 percent of the vote and will form, with Mark Ridley-Thomas and another newcomer, Hilda Solis, a majority of public union-backed supervisors on the board.
Election results are coming in slowly despite the abysmal turnout. Sheila Kuehl and Ted Lieu are leading, McDonnell elected sheriff, more inside.
The Republicans will control both houses of Congress for President Obama's final two years in office.
The polls close in LA County today at 8 p.m. and mail-in ballots need to be received by today or dropped off at a polling place. A roundup of news items.
Supervisor Yaroslavsky says he remains neutral in the race between Sheila Kuehl and Bobby Shriver, and he asked Shriver to stop claiming otherwise. Plus more politics notes.
Mankiewicz died last week in Washington of heart failure. Among his many roles in public life, he announced the death of Robert F. Kennedy in the darkness of a Los Angeles morning.
Ramon Cortines, now 82, takes over the LA schools system for the third time. This time he's an interim while a search is made for a successor to John Deasy.
The school board is likely to name an interim replacement in the morning. LA School Report was first to report that Deasy was out.
The former councilman and state lawmaker is banned from ever holding office again and must perform 600 hours of community service in his old Valley district. Alarcon's wife gets no jail time.
Back from three weeks away from the routine with a hefty offering of items in politics, media, sports and more. Catching up will continue all week.
If publisher and Shriver backer Austin Beutner had any role in the decision, it doesn't show. The editorial says Sheila Kuehl "best embodies the qualities needed for the new era."
I'm still traveling and trying not to pay close attention to LA politics or media, but this is too intriguing to pass up.
Doug Dowie, the former Fleishman-Hillard executive and Daily News managing editor who went to federal prison, is back in business in the LA area with a new communications venture.
No campaign manager, advertising, debates or web page. But there is now a Tanaka campaign video on YouTube.
But neither will Perez commit to an endorsement either way. Coverage is starting to crank up for the showdown in the Eastside and Downtown district.
Roderick Wright says he'll leave the state Senate on Sept. 22. Two incumbent assemblymen announced they would run to fill his seat.
That's another Democrat going down for cheating on the residency laws. I wonder if that's going to keep happening.
"It has been 30 years since I have had a depression that has weighed this heavily on me, so I am in new territory," the California secretary of state told the LA Times. There also have been tax liens due to missed tax payments.
Termed out supervisor tells the LA Times that she has moved into the district and hired a campaign manager. "I am concerned that there is only one woman on the City Council."
The Hahnies came out for a reunion and Mayor Garcetti had nice things to say about the mayor who brought Bratton to the LAPD and defeated Valley secession.
Minimum wage raises are popular with the people, but Garcetti risks his image as a politico who can work with business and labor. Having Eli Broad at your kick-off event doesn't hurt.
After stories by KPCC and the LA Times, and a critical internal report, the LAUSD superintendent agrees to re-bid the hugely expensive project to equip classrooms with tablet computers.
David Montero, who got to the Register last year, will cover LA county government and some general assignment.
Retired school principal George McKenna won the vacant seat on the Los Angeles Unified school board in Tuesday's runoff, using his long name recognition and backing by UTLA to defeat Alex Johnson in the divisive runoff.
The LA Times' weekend revelation about under-played numbers of aggravated assaults has legs — the IG will look into years of LAPD stats and the department put out a statement. Plus more.
The Board of Supervisors voted 3-2 today to defeat a push by Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas to create a civilian oversight board that would help guide the troubled Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky cast the key no vote.
Garcetti was absent for a lot of local news during his summer vacation. Plus: Does Garcetti have a big enough vision for LA?
The City Council returned this week from a summer recess, but the office of Mayor Eric Garcetti informed the media that "Mayor Garcetti will be traveling with his family out of the state from July 25 until August 4."
Between the Brentwood high-roller breakfast and Trade-Tech, President Obama made a stop on Fairfax to have lunch and swap some stories.
Advantage Garcetti: He posts a YouTube message to officers since the union doesn't want him to speak at stations.
Former Councilman Richard Alarcon and his wife were acquitted on most charges, but convicted on enough. Alarcon said he would probably appeal.
Obamajam potential looks to be centered in Hancock Park and around the Four Seasons Hotel this afternoon and evening, then tomorrow in Brentwood and downtown at Trade-Tech.
Actually, what I received was an invitation from the Democratic National Committee to enter a contest to win a trip — to Los Angeles! — during President Obama's upcoming trip. I don't have to contribute to win, though they hope I will.
Assistant Chief Ralph Terrazas would be the LAFD's first Latino chief.
Neighbors were shocked to learn that the absentee owner of the decrepit shack on Eucalyptus Avenue was the mayor of Los Angeles.
John Duran got 16 percent of the vote in the Board of Supervisors primary, a bloc that was coveted by Shriver and co-finalist Sheila Kuehl. Now she says it's no big deal since she already won West Hollywood.
Shriver has effusive praise for California's groundbreaking law, but never mentions who sponsored it. Could that be because it's Sheila Kuehl and she's running against another Shriver?
The former speaker wants to start the recount in Kern County and go from there. Won't be fair if more counties are not included, says Betty Yee's consultant.
President Barack Obama is scheduled to visit the Los Angeles area again on July 23 to speak at a DNC fundraising dinner and reception.
Superior Court Judge Rolf M. Treu ruled Tuesday that the longstanding state laws which ensure job security for public school teachers are unconstitutional because of the harm done to students, especially low-income minority children, by incompetent classroom teachers.
The lineup didn't change overnight, but some of the November general election races came into sharper focus.
Sheila Kuehl leads the race for Zev Yaroslavsky's seat, Jim McDonnell comes close to an outright win for sheriff, and it looks like a Republican versus a Democrat in the final race to succeed Henry Waxman. Plus a lot more.
Nothing that you would probably call truly great is envisioned, but the idea is to freshen up the streetscape a bit — in one strip per City Council district.
Campaign 2014 primary races saunter toward the end, SCOTUS won't hear James Risen case, Isla Vista fathers meet, what the Academy will pay LACMA for May Co., Long Beach Register may cut back, and much more.
After being lobbied by Mayor Eric Garcetti and river activists, the Army Corps of Engineers said it would recommend an ambitious $1 billion makeover of 11 miles of the Los Angeles River upstream from downtown. "The greatest thing to happen to the river since it was paved over,” say advocates.
Garcetti, Yaroslavsky and others witnessed the signing of papers this morning in Washington. "As public transit milestones go, they don’t get much bigger than this," Yaroslavsky blogged.
Mayor Eric Garcetti's staff has posted another set of Facebook photos showing him as a regular guy. This time he's riding a bike to work in Koreatown
I guess nobody at the Daily Mail recognizes Steven Soboroff, the president of the Los Angeles Police Commission — dismissed as a "jolly older gentleman" and a "pensioner" in a Fail story on Rihanna attending a Clippers game while dressed.
She was a member of the Communist Party, a participant in the militant Black Panthers, and was prosecuted (and acquitted) for murder and conspiracy for a courthouse shootout. At 70, Davis is back as a regent's lecturer after a long career at UC Santa Cruz.
Bruce Springsteen played for the president and Conan O'Brien quipped about the traffic impacts of Obama's fundraising drop-ins in LA. Inside: The president's local day.
President Obama will fly into LAX on Wednesday and attend the USC Shoah Foundation’s 20th anniversary dinner in Century City, as well as Democratic campaign fundraisers.
The Donald Sterling story was featured on "Face the Nation" and in the opening segment of "Saturday Night Live," plus Barbara Walters interviewed V. Stiviano.
Howard Sunkin opens a new firm with City Hall lobbyist John Ek. Read the email inside.
Selective catching up after staying away from the LA news for a little while. Don Sterling fallout, politics, media, more.
Gov. Jerry Brown posted this photo to Facebook Monday. "Back to the future! Cruising in my old blue Plymouth."
Two of Politico's bigger names are relocating to Los Angeles from the East Coast. It sounds less strategic and more about personal situations.
Question: Can the New York Times Magazine cover LA Westside politics without saying "Botox Belt" or "Nate 'n Al's"?
Myers' Clinton ties could be a factor if Hillary Clinton runs for president. Before she became the first female press secretary at the White House, Myers worked in LA City Hall.
In his first State of the City speech, Garcetti doesn't make much news but lists some early accomplishments and some plans.
Before Mayor Eric Garcetti could give his first state of the city address this afternoon, the LA 2020 Commission appointed by Council President Herb Wesson stole his thunder a bit by announcing yesterday the civic group's ideas to improve LA. But that's OK, because everybody sounds underwhelmed.
Broad tells Los Angeles Magazine the city needs "better political leadership and better citizen and corporate leadership than it’s had." He also confirms he is still trying to buy the LA Times.
County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas' Twitter account posted this pic of the boss grabbing a pic of his own after a meeting with young Jewish leaders in the Crenshaw district.
Breitbart CA will be about "stories worth telling about the successes of the conservative movement in California and the failures of the left-wing establishment." Plus more.
Douglas Emhoff went to USC law school, Harris to UC's Hastings College of Law. Both are 49 and have not divulged a date.
David Letterman announces he will step down in 2015 and quips he always knew "when this show stops being fun, I will retire 10 years later."
President Barack Obama today nominated U.S. Attorney André Birotte Jr. to be a judge on the U.S. District Court
Los Angeles Magazine is posting the full video this week of a breakfast session with Mayor Eric Garcetti held last week at the Hollywood Roosevelt hotel. He chats in the free-flowing interview with editor Mary Melton.
The San Francisco area lawmaker, a Democrat running for Secretary of State, is due in federal court for arraignment right about now. Yee was arrested this morning along with a shadowy San Francisco figure known as "Shrimp Boy" during raids by the FBI and others.
The morning's news includes an obituary of Ron Smith, the mostly Republican political candidate who ran big campaigns in Los Angeles, San Francisco and statewide.
Warren Olney gets the party started at tonight's SPJ event. Next week it's the Press Club.
An April 5 fundraiser for Board of Supervisors candidate Sheila Kuehl is billed as "A Night at the Movies with Zelda" — and the contribution levels are right out of her old show, "The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis."
Los Angeles Magazine continues its series of "Big Shots" interviews by Giselle Fernandez with Rep. Xavier Becerra, who says the lack of immigration reform in Congress is frustrating but is not due to racism.
The mayor held a wide-ranging interview with reporters and editors and said the city cannot afford raises for workers for a few years.
Eric Garcetti picked a good few days to be in Mexico City on a trade mission (the subject of today's LA Observed segment on KCRW.) Toronto's goofy mayor was in town to do Jimmy Kimmel and take Twitter pictures at City Hall.
Celeste Fremon has covered for many years the foibles and scandals of Lee Baca's sheriff's department, and in the new issue of Los Angeles Magazine she gets more than 10,000 words to explain for newcomers the "morass" that formed under the management of Baca and top deputy (and now candidate) Paul Tanaka.
Ron Calderon's charges could bring up to 396 years in federal prison and Tom could face 160 years, if convicted. Tom surrendered this morning and Ron is expected in court Monday.
Obama talks California drought — then goes golfing on a lush green course in the desert? Brand-name consultants for Williamson, a Villaraigosa aide joins the LAFD and more.
The New York Times has been building a new politics and data team to replace Nate Silver's FiveThirtyEight blog. UCLA political scientist Lynn Vavreck will be a regular contributor. Plus more.
The race to succeed Rep. Henry Waxman in the 33rd congressional district just got more crowded. Miller will take a leave from KCRW and his Washington Post column.
The LA City Council wants action on the Weather Channel-DirecTV dispute — weather or not you agree.
For five years during the Great Depression, Shirley Temple was the most popular movie star in America of any age. Her popularity saved 20th Century Fox. She later became an ambassador and prominent Republican.
Greuel is going with old Villaraigosa hands to run her campaign this time, but Ace Smith and Sean Clegg also advised one of the so-called independent PACs that pushed Greuel for mayor last year.
Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky put out a statement this morning confirming that he will not run for the Henry Waxman seat in Congress. (In case you were going to ask.)
Mayor Eric Garcetti and LA Weekly politics writer Gene Maddaus have a different view of how the mayor is doing so far. "His head is swirling with ideas, but...his record is surprisingly thin," Maddaus writes.
CD 33 contributed millions to President Obama's election campaigns. The district hasn't been up for grabs for four decades. And it's home to the likes of Jeffrey Katzenberg and Haim Saban.
Peter Marx has been vice president of business development at Qualcomm Labs and vice president of the technology and digital studio at Mattel.
Los Angeles County District Attorney Jackie Lacey has revamped her media office with a trio of former journalists. Office veteran Jane Robison gets a new title and the office is on Twitter.
Ted Lieu gets in. Wendy Greuel pays down some debt. Remembering the Henry Waxman legacy. Ed Edelman endorses Bobby Shriver. The political tension between Gloria Molina and Kevin de Leon. Plus Dan Schnur, a City Hall move and more.
Greuel doesn't live in the Westside and coastal district, but the law doesn't mind — the voters may be another story. The list of other candidates still may be long.
Marcie Edwards, Mayor Eric Garcetti's choice to become general manager of the Department of Water and Power, worked at the utility for 24 years before taking a senior job in Anaheim. Most recently she has been the Anaheim city manager.
Rep. Henry Waxman's decision to retire rather than run for another term makes available one of the Democrats' most valuable congressional districts.
“At the end of this year, I would have been in Congress for 40 years,” Waxman said. “If there is a time for me to move on to another chapter in my life, I think this is the time to do it."
Barbra Streisand and Mayor Eric Garcetti were among the attendees at the Fremont Place home of "Everybody Loves Raymond" creator Phil Rosenthal.
John Scott and his wife both gave up Los Angeles sheriff's department careers out of concern about the direction under Lee Baca. Now Scott gets the rest of the year to leave his mark.
The Inglewood Democrat is the first member of the California legislature to be convicted in criminal court since the 1990s. He could face eight years for lying about his address.
For many Hollywood Democrats, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is apparently their number two choice for president in 2016, after Hillary Clinton. He was in Brentwood Thursday night for a fundraiser.
The mayor says anti-poverty money will go south of the 10 freeway, but there is a lot of upset and finger pointing.
Garza is going to Sacramento to be the... — well, you have to click and go inside to get her new job.
Buck McKeon, the Republican chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, won't go through another reelection battle this year, Politico reports. His district includes the Santa Clarita Valley area.
The city-owned SUV that Mayor Eric Garcetti rides around in struck and injured a female pedestrian at 2nd and Spring streets, outside the Los Angeles Times building. An LAPD driver was behind the wheel. The victim was taken to the hospital by LAFD ambulance.
"I might run for something in the future, but I just don’t think I want another campaign now,” former controller and mayoral candidate Wendy Greuel said Thursday. Here's who is in.
Mayor Eric Garcetti announced this morning that Ron Nichols, the general manager of the city's Department of Water and Power for three years, will leave at the end of the month. A letter from Nichols said he was going for personal reasons.
The California state geologist released revised earthquake fault maps today as required by state law — with possible big consequences for development in Hollywood and in the city of West Hollywood.
Media say that Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca informed the county's elected supervisors and his key staff that he will announce on Tuesday. Gone by end of the month. Long Beach police chief Jim McDonnell reportedly looking at getting in the race.
Skelton, the Los Angeles Times columnist in Sacramento, notes in his latest column that he had his first story in the paper 40 years ago — a front-pager about Ronald Reagan heading into the final year of his two terms as governor. "Unbeknown to most people outside this business, nothing is more important to a news reporter — short of accuracy — than landing on Page 1," he says.
Peter Dreier offers the New York City mayor some advice from the progressive side after eight years of Antonio Villaraigosa. Plus: Bill Bratton takes over (again) at the NYPD.
The hike means that most workers with the Coalition of L.A. City Unions have received increases totaling 24.5 percent since 2007, the Times says.
The editorial board of the New York Times refers to Edward Snowden as a "whistle-blower' and says it is time that the Obama Administration offer him a safe way home.
The director of USC’s Jesse Unruh Institute of Politics quit the Republican Party a few years ago and plans to run as an independent. Alex Padilla is already in the race.
Rep. Henry Waxman posted a letter today to Tribune CEO Peter Liguori asking for more information about the company's intended spinoff of its newspapers and how it will affect the Los Angeles Times. Plus: Two more LAT retirements.
When Orange County congressman Dana Rohrabacher and his family moved out of their rented Costa Mesa home last year, they reportedly left behind "a shockingly horrific pigsty, a dump worse than a college fraternity house."
While Mayor Eric Garcetti and his family are headed off to Australia today for a ten-day vacation, his staff has posted an invitation to suggest what the city can do better next year.
KPCC is continuing to hire in strategic areas, but the Sacramento bureau is closing and three reporter slots were eliminated. The growing newsroom is now 95 strong, one of the biggest in LA in any medium.
While today's indictments were not unexpected, Baca said, "it is nevertheless a sad day for the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. We do not tolerate misconduct by any deputies."
Angela Spaccia, the former assistant city administrator in Bell, was found guilty today on 11 of 13 counts of felony corruption, including misappropriation of public funds. She was found not guilty on one charge; another ended in a hung jury.
Barbara Jones, who covers the LA Unified School District and the Board of Education for the Daily News, is leaving the newspaper business to become the chief of staff to board member Tamar Galatzan.
LaMotte died this morning while in San Diego for the annual convention of the California School Boards Association. The longtime member of the Los Angeles Board of Education from South LA was first elected in 2003.
Clear Channel is moving Limbaugh from KFI to KTLK — which will drop 'progressive talk' and become The Patriot 1150, with Sean Hannity and Glenn Beck also on board.
This will make Bratton the only cop to have run the NYPD, the LAPD and the NYPD again (and be mentioned in London papers as a possible head of Scotland Yard.)
Sebastian Ridley-Thomas won outright tonight in the special election in the 54th Assembly District.
Former governor Gray Davis, former city attorney Carmen Trutanich and high-profile defense lawyer Mark Geragos are co-hosting a $1,500-per-napkin fundraiser for Baca next week.
Sacramento Bee opinion page columnist and senior editor Dan Morain is moving up to editor of the editorial pages. Morain, 58, previously worked at the Los Angeles Times and the Herald Examiner.
During a half-hour stop this evening at the Beverly Hilton before heading up the canyon to Magic Johnson's home, President Obama met with the family of Gerardo Hernandez, the TSA officer who was killed during this month's shooting at LAX. The President also met with two TSA officers who were wounded.
Los Angeles Magazine says in the new issue that Miguel Contreras, the labor leader who died in 2005, was having an extra-marital affair with a state senator for nine years.
After starting the day in Seattle and San Francisco, President Obama is scheduled to arrive at LAX this afternoon just about the time the peak traffic hits the streets. Here's what we know about how to reduce your risk of Obamajam.
President Obama is finally making up for the September trip he cancelled and will attend fundraisers next week at three homes, including Magic Johnson's, and speak at the DreamWorks campus in Glendale.
There is some unhappiness on campus that more students weren't invited to Tuesday's appearance by the ex-president and Laura Bush. But not a lot of unhappiness.
Amy Wakeland, the wife of Mayor Eric Garcetti, attended Thursday night's meeting of the Windsor Square Association to break the news. A new slate of events are on tap, she says.
Six members of the Los Angeles City Council spotted at Pike Place Market in Seattle.
Last night's Hillary Clinton for president fundraiser at the Exchange club on Spring Street featured addresses by former city controller Wendy Greuel and City Councilwoman Nury Martinez, among others.
In an joint opinion piece in the Los Angeles News Group papers, former mayor Richard Riordan and LANG columnist Tim Rutten write that the Los Angeles schools spend a lot more on students than district officials know or admit — with much lower results than they also will admit.
Al Jazeera America calls its scoop on a sealed FBI affidavit that accuses State Sen. Ron Calderon of taking more than $60,000 from phony Hollywood producers in exchange for legislation on better tax credits "an investigation that could become California’s biggest legislative scandal in more than two decades."
Days of backstage political drama end with the district's top official and the school board agreeing that he will continue to run the place until 2016.
This just in: Villaraigosa has been hired to replace Dodger manager Don Mattingly and will also take over as West Coast adviser for Cheetos.
One of Villaraigosa’s first projects will be to lead the newly-formed USC Villaraigosa Initiative for Restoring the California Dream.
Huizar spoke to Times reporter David Zahniser — in a stairwell — before today's City Council meeting.
LA's former mayor joins public relations firm Edelman as a senior advisor with no specific role disclosed. That's at least four gigs that we know about.
Vilma Martinez, until recently President Obama's ambassador to Argentina, is among the five appointees of varying political background who will guide things for the mayor at the Port of Los Angeles.
"I just couldn't resist," Garcetti posts on Facebook. Check it out.
City Council President Herb Wesson is billed as the "special guest" at a fundraiser on Tuesday to launch Councilman Jose Huizar's reelection campaign. Awkward timing, eh?
The suit says that Englander himself made offensive sexual comments and allowed the culture to permeate his office. Englander said he was "surprised" by her allegations.
Hours after former deputy chief of staff files job retaliation lawsuit, Councilman Jose Huizar admits having "an occasional and consensual relationship" but denies her allegations.
The current Los Angeles Fire Chief, Brian Cummings, will retire in February, Mayor Eric Garcetti just announced. An acting chief has been named.
Of the 84 people chosen by Garcetti to serve on boards and commissions, at least three-fourths are friends, former staffers, campaign backers or relatives of campaign backers.
Dowie is the former Daily News managing editor who went to federal prison in 2011 on charges arising from the overcharging of the DWP for PR work during the Hahn Administration. Dowie ran the LA office of Fleishman-Hillard.
First President Obama dropped his plans to come to Los Angeles when the Syria crisis heated up last month. Now the pinch hitter, First Lady Michelle Obama, has also cancelled....
Shopping center developer Rick Caruso told Los Angeles magazine that he was all set to run for mayor last year until his family hesitated. No longer a Republican, he says he still may run someday and he hopes that Eric Garcetti is bold enough to risk his job every day.
The ex-chief of staff to mayors Antonio Villaraigosa and Richard Riordan talks about not getting late-night calls from City Hall anymore, her last traffic ticket and the dearth of women at the City Council horseshoe. Plus Alice Walton too.
Only one holdover from the Villaraigosa planning commission — plus two key Wendy Greuel backers in the last election and some more Garcetti contributors.
"Due to a lapse in government funding, this account will not be active until further notice."
Insipid web listicle omits the inconvenient truths that Garcetti is married and a father.
Democrats who were disappointed they didn't get to see President Obama in Hancock Park last week will get the chance to open the checkbook for First Lady Michelle Obama.
The Legislature's flurry of last-minute approvals includes measures to raise the California minimum wage to $10 an hour, let undocumented immigrants obtain a legal driver's license and allow immigrant lawyers to practice law.
With the Dodgers heading to the playoffs, the former City Council member who helped get them to LA gets an award. Garcetti chief of staff Ana Guerrero is also dubbed one of ten LA women of the year. Here's the list.
From his initial comments, it sounds as if Soboroff intends to be heard from in the post.
The company has been battling allegations that it operates an illegal pyramid scheme and criticism from a national Latino group.
The president was to speak at the AFL-CIO national convention here and appear at yet another Hollywood fundraiser. Discussions over Syria take precedence, apparently.
It's not clear in Monday's LA Times story about the controversy over Airbnb rentals in Silver Lake that the editors realize that the neighborhood isn't a legal entity and doesn't have its own "officials."
President Obama's September 9 trip into Los Angeles isn't only to keynote the DNC fundraiser that night in Hancock Park. He also will address the national AFL-CIO convention that will be here for four days that week.
The layoff reaper finally came for ABC7's bureau chief in Sacramento. Now there will be no Los Angeles area TV stations with a presence around the state Capitol.
The council opted for the opt-in version of the mural ordinance, requiring that neighborhoods take an affirmatives act before murals would be allowed in areas zoned for residential use. A final vote is needed next week.
He talks with Giselle Fernandez of Los Angeles Magazine about leaving AEG, his breakup with Phil Anschutz, regrets about the NFL stadium deal and the leadership potential of Eric Garcetti.
Mayor Eric Garcetti has decided to reactivate the mayor's office of immigrant affairs, which existed briefly at the end of the Hahn administration. Linda Lopez, a political scientist who had been associate dean for diversity and strategic initiatives at USC's Dornsife College, will run the office.
Invitations went out today for a very exclusive sit-down with the president at a location not yet revealed, says The Hollywood Reporter.
Bob Filner signed a resignation letter and agreed to leave on Aug. 30. The San Diego City Council approved a deal with Filner this afternoon.
Mayor Eric Garcetti announced today that he will be concluding his active service with the Navy Reserve at the end of the year.
The LA Observed segment on KCRW tonight covered the database created by Controller Ron Galperin to compare the salaries paid at the Department of Water and Power to those paid to other city of Los Angeles employees. The LA Currents website has gone further and massaged Galperin's data a bit to tease out easier comparisons.
Boyle Heights, Wilshire Boulevard Temple and Gov. Jerry Brown all come in for some East Coast observation. Brown at 75 "is the oldest governor in the nation and about to become the longest-serving governor in the history of California."
Three photos from the Los Angeles Public Library collection show the emotion of the morning that Robert F. Kennedy died, a day after winning the California primary election and probably the Democratic nomination for president.
Steve Soboroff, Paula Madison and two other new faces will give the Garcetti police commission a new look. Emanuel Pleitez gets a pension commission slot.
Katz is vice president of the Brookings Institution and founder and co-director of the Brookings Metropolitan Policy Program. He contributes to The Atlantic Cities and has written a book, "The Metropolitan Revolution: How Cities and Metros Are Fixing Our Broken Politics and Fragile Economy."
Included on the politically important panel are close friend Sean Burton, former City Council member Jackie Goldberg and others with connections.
Francine Godoy, who left Councilman Jose Huizar's staff in April for a job with the Department of Sanitation, reportedly says in a complaint that she was harassed and endured retaliation because of her gender and "refusal to engage in sex." Huizar's spokesman said the councilman "strongly and emphatically denies the assertions."
Former Los Angeles mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has secured at least one university gig for the next phase of his political life. Harvard announced today that he will be a visiting fellow at Harvard's Institute of Politics.
When President Obama dropped off the news radar last night in the Valley, he didn't just go to bed and watch Showtime or Evelyn Taft. (Oh wait, they are not on most TVs in Los Angeles this week.)
We think so! Not counting Reagan in his acting days (because who knows, he was local for a long time, and a lot of actors lived in the West Valley.)
Jacobs is founder of the Courage Campaign, a big part of the effort to discourage Tribune from selling the Los Angeles Times to the conservative Koch brothers, and a big fundraiser for Garcetti.
All of the streets that the LAPD is warning drivers to avoid during President Obama's brief visit to the area today and Wednesday are out in the Valley. Obama lands...
I just glanced at the New York Times home page and there at the top were the faces of Wendy Greuel and Eric Garcetti, standing awkwardly at some long-forgotten debate in the mayoral race. No, it wasn't my web browser's cache or a mistake by the Times. It's a story by LA bureau chief Adam Nagourney.
The awkward bed that Mayor Eric Garcetti has made with former radio anger talk host Kevin James continues to be one of the weirdest pairings in City Hall. But it's those who believed in James' right-wing rantings who are the most upset.
There are a few new details now about President Obama's trip to the Los Angeles area on Tuesday to appear on the Jay Leno show. Here's what we know.
LAT puts staffers on the Garcetti beat, the Board of Supervisors, MTA and a new assignment to explore the use of power here and around California.
Former Los Angeles mayor Antonio Villaraigosa turned up on MSNBC on Wednesday talking with Chris Hayes about the new program, approved by the police commission this week, that lets accusers and cops voluntarily talk out accusations of racial profiling in front of a mediator.
President Obama is returning to California for a two-day swing that will include a stop at NBC in Burbank for his sixth appearance on "The Tonight Show."
San Diego Mayor Bob Filner continued today to hang on to the last remaining threads of his all-but-dead political life. The San Diego Democratic committee and DNC chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz added their calls that he resign.
The Los Angeles Times has made official what we noted back on June 18: Phil Willon has moved from the Riverside bureau to be the interim bureau chief in Sacramento. Plus more moves in Sacto and Washington.
This move on Wednesday by the City Council means that Martinez can handle some business for the council district in the Valley, before she is formally sworn in as the new council member. Also: how she won.
Martinez defeated Cindy Montanez tonight for the vacant seat on the Los Angeles City Council — in a battle of former San Fernando City Council members who represent rival factions of Northeast Valley Democrats. That's a 30-point swing from the primary election results.
Politico has some terrific detail on the year-long negotiations aimed at keeping data analyst-blogger Nate Silver at the New York Times — and on what the Disney-owned ESPN and ABC offered to reel him in. Silver's role at ABC will be more extensive than first reported.
Silver will be a regular on the Keith Olbermann show and contribute to ABC News during political seasons, according to the NYT's Brian Stelter.
A divided federal appeals court in Virginia ruled today that Pulitzer-winning New York Times reporter Jim Risen must testify in the criminal trial of Jeffrey Sterling, a former CIA staffer who the government charged under the Espionage Act with leaking classified material to Risen for his 2006 book, “State of War: The Secret History of the CIA and the Bush Administration." A previous judge had said the First Amendment protects reporters such as Risen.
The march of appointments by new Mayor Eric Garcetti continues. He names two city councilmen to the Metro board, plus activist "Jackie" Dupont-Walker.
Bryan Frank, who posts pics of the scene last night, regrets not being there when reporter Dave Bryan and photographer Scott Torrens were assaulted. Mayor Garcetti urges peaceful protest tonight.
Mayor Eric Garcetti's office announced this morning that the boss will be returning to Los Angeles several days early, "out of an abundance of caution." He also offers to help "resolve" a protest supporter's ticket.
Mayor Eric Garcetti's whereabouts as his police department is on tactical alert are not publicly known. The press schedule released to the media says only that he will be gone at least through Friday, July 19, ending up in Washington.
Archbishop Jose Gomez steps into the national debate on immigration reform in his new book. He reminds people that this land was Catholic and Spanish-speaking before it was American, but Daily News columnist Tim Rutten calls the work strange and confounding.
Mayor Garcetti announced his most interesting appointments so far. In addition to Kevin James and Matt Szabo on the public works board, he named former Pasadena mayor Rick Cole as deputy mayor for innovation and the budget.
Eric Garcetti knows his audience: When on HuffPost Live... Watch the whole interview here.
Buying Tribune newspapers is not on the front burner -- but possible, says the head of Koch Industries.
Perry was only out of a job for one day. Garcetti makes a bunch of other appointments as well. The whole list is inside.
Josh Joy Kamensky helped stage Eric Garcetti's first campaign for office out of his Silver Lake apartment. As an OG, and as a writer who can be amusing, he offers some suggestions to the new mayor.
Villaraigosa's press secretary joins the Garcetti administration. City Attorney Mike Feuer announces some key appointments.
Coleman was part of the big sex discrimination lawsuit by women at Newsweek in 1970, then became the newsmagazine's San Francisco correspondent, then the first female press secretary for a California governor.
Eric Garcetti took a ceremonial oath of office from Kenia Castillo, an 8th grader at Luther Burbank Magnet Middle School in Highland Park, on Sunday evening while his wife, Amy Elaine Wakeland, looked on. Garcetti will become the 42nd mayor of Los Angeles at midnight tonight. Excerpts from his speech inside.
Eric Garcetti will take the ceremonial oath of office in the 6 p.m. hour in the swelter on the west steps of City Hall. He intends to call himself the "salesman-in-chief" for Los Angeles and in his speech will pledge to bring more jobs to the city. Here's the program as scheduled.
Shot at noon Saturday outside the door to the mayoral suite in Los Angeles City Hall. Click for more.
Mayor-elect Eric Garcetti was sworn in for real today on the island in Echo Park Lake. The Sunday event is for show and includes the other new city officials and a public party in Grand Park.
The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals today abruptly lifted its injunction that barred same-sex marriages while Proposition 8 finished its course through the legal system. Soon after, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa married Paul Katami and Jeff Zarrillo in a ceremony at Los Angeles City Hall.
Deputy Mayor Torie Osborn addresses her note to the staff but uses it to defend the legacy of Antonio Villaraigosa, who she calls a great mayor and a better boss. Jane Usher sends her exit email to the media.
Gregory Rodriguez of Zocalo Public Square calls his exit essay on the mayoralty of Antonio Villaraigosa "Why I’ll Miss Our Flawed Mayor.".
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa made his most direct comment yet about his future political plans in a conversation with "Airtalk" host Larry Mantle on KPCC. He doesn't say when he would run for governor, which is kind of crucial. More inside.
Mayor-elect Eric Garcetti just announced that the chief of staff in his City Council office, Ana Guerrero, will fill the same role when Garcetti moves down to the mayor's third floor suite. "Ana was the key player in my work to cut budget costs and revitalize neighborhoods," Garcetti said in a statement. "Together, we're going to build on this foundation with new solutions to fix City Hall and strengthen communities citywide."
Councilman Paul Koretz interrupted Dave Davies' encore at the Canyon Club in Agoura Hills to present the former Kinks member with a proclamation — then he sang along on "Living on a Thin Line."
Mayor-elect Eric Garcetti has public events on his calendar most days already. On Sunday afternoon, he came to the annual Mar Vista Neighborhood Association block party on Barry Avenue with his wife, Amy Wakeland.
As I mentioned earlier, the Obamajam potential for Friday's short visit by President Obama is not bad. He's coming in mid-morning and leaving early afternoon so the driving disruption should be localized. But it's still Santa Monica in tourist season, so traffic could be a challenge.
Former assemblyman Dario Frommer and attorney David Fleming, a big player in the San Fernando Valley secession crusade a decade ago, are the co-chairs of Robert Hertzberg's bid to get back into elected office.
When his term ends July 1, making Villaraigosa a bachelor free agent, he apparently wants to move even further to the west. A source tells LA Observed that Villaraigosa is looking hard at Venice (or already there.)
The FBI isn't saying why, citing a court's seal on the search warrant, but media reports say it relates to a corruption probe in Los Angeles County. Calderon is from Montebello.
President Obama will drop into Santa Monica on Friday for a Democratic Party fundraiser, but he won't be stopping into the Santa Monica High School graduation like some students hoped. The White House schedule has Obama arriving at LAX about 10:30 a.m. and leaving via Air Force One around 2 p.m.
City Attorney-elect Mike Feuer named his transition team today. The co-chairs are police commission president Andrea Sheridan Ordin and former Assembly Speaker Robert Hertzberg. The co-executive directors are Miriam Aroni Krinsky and Alex Ponder. Inside: team members and the communications director.
Rich Llewellyn, currently the chief of staff to City Councilman Paul Kortez, was the first chief of staff for Eric Garcetti when he joined the City Council in 2001. Llewellyn moved over to City Hall East as chief deputy to City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo.
A long piece called Access Hollywood in the current Mother Jones examines Jeffrey Katzenberg as the latest deep-pockets kingmaker in American politics. The story starts with Katzenberg being wooed by Paul Begala and three other Democratic operatives in a private dining room in Beverly Hills. He goes on to give or raise $30 million for President Obama's reelection.
Former Assembly Speaker Robert Hertzberg finished out of the money when he ran for mayor in 2005, and until now has resisted the urge to run again. He announced at a reception up in Sacramento tonight and posted to Facebook.
The consultants for Wendy Greuel and Eric Garcetti talk to Warren Olney about what went right and what went wrong in the just-concluded race for mayor of Los Angeles — and John Shallman repeats his complaint that the LA Times coverage didn't help.
John Shallman, the Valley-based lead consultant for Wendy Greuel's campaign for mayor, didn't care for Times columnist Jim Newton's analysis of what went wrong. He also suggests the Times cheerled for Eric Garcetti, saying in a piece for the LAT website that "The Times was to Eric Garcetti what Fox News was to Mitt Romney."
You would be hard-pressed to find a more complimentary opinion piece about Eric Garcetti as the future mayor than Harold Meyerson's op-ed column in the Washington Post. Plus the LA Times looks at Amy Wakeland's role in Garcetti's political life.
A story with more anecdote and commentary than actual data or on the record sources argues that Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa will struggle to keep up his "one percent" lifestyle.
Gary took photos throughout the runoff campaign for mayor between Eric Garcetti and Wendy Greuel. Here is a selection of our favorites.
Quotes often tell the story. These are from a variety of sources, all uttered today as far as I can tell. "One of the worst run campaigns I've ever seen in my life," a veteran LA political strategist says of the Greuel campaign.
It's not just labor. Elected officials such as Gloria Molina and Jose Huizar backed Wendy Greuel, but Eric Garcetti "represents the 2.0 model of Latinos in LA," argues the former editor of Ciudad magazine.
Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky welcomes the election of Eric Garcetti, Mike Feuer and Ron Galperin as "a new generation of leadership for the city." He says he's comfortable with his decision last year not to run.
Eric Garcetti chose a playground in Echo Park for his debut as the mayor-elect of Los Angeles. He thanked Wendy Greuel for a good campaign and says they will always be friends.
The voter turnout in Tuesday's Los Angeles city election will be shamefully low by the time the ballots are all counted. But it won't be the 19 percent that some in the media are using.
In order to become the first woman mayor of Los Angeles, analysts believed that Controller Wendy Greuel needed to win a majority of female voters and pick up a solid majority in her home turf in the Valley and, as the somewhat less liberal of the candidates, win the niche of Republicans who vote in LA. Kevin James' endorsement was crucial in the end.
Today seems like a good day to bring back out the cute photo that Eric Garcetti posted to Facebook a few years ago, of him and his father Gil. "Nice mustache, Dad!," Garcetti wrote.
Eric Garcetti is 42 years old, the youngest mayor of Los Angeles in more than a century, and he will be the city's first Jewish mayor. He won with 53.9 percent of the vote to 46 percent for Wendy Greuel.
The Loyola Marymount exit poll conducted by students under the Center for the Study of Los Angeles forecasts Eric Garcetti will win the mayoral election with 54 percent of the vote. In actual votes counted so far, Wendy Greuel is slightly ahead.
Greuel and Garcetti vote. Both will hit the Apple Pan this morning — at almost the same time. A ton of Campaign 2013 links from across the US. More phone numbers for me to call from Greuel. Plus: Tanaka slams Baca again. Fox 11 promotes Pablo Pereira. KCET promotes Juan Devis. Sherwood Forest gets postal recognition. And SoCal firefighters head for OKC.
After two full weekend days of campaigning, Eric Garcetti and Wendy Greuel were back at it before sunrise this morning. Here's a snapshot of the day, the weekend and the final hours of Campaign 2013.
Before airing a documentary about the Park Avenue building where Koch and a lot of other rich people live, the president of WNET gave the mogul a call and offered to water things down. It didn't help: Koch still resigned from the station's board.
The ten-point Garcetti lead over Greuel that only the USC-LAT poll found last month has shrunk a bit. But it's better for Garcetti than the dead heat that the last major poll in the race found.
As Latinos’ numbers and influence continue to rise, they are feeling optimistic. African-Americans see their hard-earned political gains jeopardized by a declining population share. Whites are the most satisfied with how things are going in their neighborhoods.
The women's magazine thinks that Greuel's first politics mentor was Tom Brady, but gets to the bottom of her preferred "go-to look."
Gold will cover the money and politics beat for the WashPost. Before she started covering national politics and government, Gold covered the 2001 and 2005 races for mayor of Los Angeles between Antonio Villaraigosa and James Hahn and the City Hall beat.
As a user's guide for voters, the LA Weekly's Gene Maddaus summarizes some areas where there is daylight between Garcetti and Greuel. Such as on education, development, the DWP — minor issues like that.
Doug McIntrye of KABC and the Daily News comes out for Greuel, but after all her husband is his agent. Plus: The candidates fan out for Mother's Day and the Garcetti daughter makes a video appearance. And a roundup of media coverage.
There has never been an LA mayor who grew up on the San Fernando Valley side of the city's geographic and cultural divide. Good story in the Times on Greuel and Garcetti — but look what Austin Beutner says.
City Controller hopefuls Dennis Zine and Ron Galperin sat down with Warren Olney on "Which Way, LA?" to debate issues in the race. They are both trying to persuade voters they will continue the role of controller as watchdog of city spending, even though that is kind of an exaggerated image.
In the latest financial reports filed by the mayoral candidates, Eric Garcetti has a big edge in cash left to finish the final eleven days of campaigning. But in the end, more money may be spent on Greuel's behalf.
if you were hoping for an uplifting message about why you should vote for Wendy Greuel to be your mayor, you will be disappointed. At least she is on TV again. Clip inside.
In making my choice, says publisher David Abel, "I hope to prod many of my friends, who, like me, have remained uncommitted to date, to again engage in electoral politics and to vote."
Rosalind Wyman will throw out the first pitch before tonight's game with the Diamondbacks at Dodger Stadium. Roz Wyman was the youngest member of the Los Angeles City Council in 1957 when she joined with Brooklyn Dodgers owner Walter O'Malley and county Supervisor Kenneth Hahn to bring the team to LA.
The weekly's editorial hopes that Garcetti "would grow in the job," and says it's "a pity" that Greuel is too close to unions. It's the LABJ's first endorsement for mayor.
After Sunday, there are only two more weekends before the next mayor is chosen. I still don't detect much bubbling interest among the populace, but Garcetti did get about 150 people to come out to the Tapia Brothers farm in Encino on Sunday. Inside: The latest news and coverage.
A group of Jewish real estate men that migrated over from Nibbler's in the 1990s sits down every Sunday morning and receives politicians — including Greuel and a Garcetti — and has welcomed both Yitzhak Rabin and Vicente Fox.
When I was on Facebook tonight, this invitation popped up for a Wendy Greuel fundraising reception in Venice scheduled for Friday. Notice the ad next to the invite.
No one knows how seriously the Koch brothers might want to buy the Tribune newspapers — or how they might run them if they did become publishers — or even what kind of buyer the Tribune board is looking for. (If any.) But liberal groups have been campaigning on the prospect of a Koch-led LA Times, and now the candidates for mayor and controller have signed on.
Mark your Obamajam calendars. President Obama will fly in for a series of Democratic fundraisers, including a luncheon at Peter Chernin's home in Santa Monica.
Chad Molnar will be the chief of staff to incoming Westside city council member Mike Bonin. Laura McLennan will be deputy chief of staff. Both work for Councilman Bill Rosendahl, as did Bonin.
A new USC Price/Los Angeles Times Poll in the mayoral race is good for Eric Garcetti and bad for Wendy Greuel. The poll of 500 likely voters finds Garcetti in front, 50% to 40%, and with leads among Latinos, younger voters and women. Greuel also is not getting the solid base in the Valley she hoped for. Details inside.
Challenger Mike Feuer is sitting pretty good with a month to go in the runoff race for city attorney. Trutanich would need to win a big majority of the undecideds to keep his job.
All the electronic billboards I usually see on the Westside were turned off today. The companies that operate 77 digital boards in the city of Los Angeles, Clear Channel and CBS Outdoor, were told by a judge to darken the signs by 5 p.m.
Wendy Gruel's new TV spot in the Los Angeles mayoral race focuses on gun violence and says she will work with police and mental health experts to improve safety. She is shown driving and also mentions a murder-suicide at her family's hardware business. Watch inside.
Los Angeles Superior Court judge Terry Green has ordered that Clear Channel Outdoor and CBS Outdoor turn off most of their digital billboards in Los Angeles by 5 p.m. today. These are some of the signs that the City Council told the companies they could fire up as part of a controversial settlement deal in 2006 that allowed the conversion of up to 840 existing billboards.
Ed Leibowitz wrote the 2009 cover story for Los Angeles Magazine that pronounced Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa mostly a failure at the end of his first term. The cover image went a long way toward turning the mayor's media treatment at the time.
Padilla, the former president of the Los Angeles City Council, says that "last November, more than 10 MILLION Californians did not vote. I’m running for Secretary of State to change that."
Antonio Villaraigosa is scheduled to deliver his eighth and final State of the City speech as mayor starting at 5 p.m. in Royce Hall at UCLA. His people are billing the address as a call to mayoral hopefuls Eric Garcetti and Wendy Greuel to seriously address education issues. He also gets personal about his life arc. Inside: full text of the prepared speech and the opening video.
Controller Wendy Greuel will officially unveil the backing of Rep. Maxine Waters at a 10 a.m. media op on the City Hall steps. A couple of hours after Team Greuel alerted the media, Councilman Eric Garcetti's campaign posted to YouTube a video of Rep. Karen Bass endorsing him.
This has the looks of another quality endorsement day for mayoral candidate Wendy Greuel. Plus: She and Eric Garcetti talk about City Hall finances. And Garcetti to roll out Councilman Tom LaBonge.
White House spokesman Jay Carney said today that President Obama doesn't plan to weigh in on the Los Angeles mayoral race. Both Eric Garcetti and Wendy Greuel are Democrats and Obama supporters.
Mayoral candidate Eric Garcetti has a 10 a.m. presser scheduled with Kevin James, the former radio talk show host who came in third in the March 5 city primary election. They are doing the deed outside the Van Nuys city hall, officially the Valley Municipal Building, on Sylvan Street.
The chess game of South LA endorsements in the mayoral race continues. Today at 11 a.m., City Councilman Bernard Parks is scheduled to publicly endorse Eric Garcetti at the Garcetti headquarters on south Crenshaw Boulevard.
This is kind of fun to watch. Hours after Eric Garcetti put out the word that he was endorsed by City Councilwoman Jan Perry, and before the media op was even held, Wendy Greuel's team announced that she has been endorsed by Magic Johnson. That presser is scheduled for 1 p.m. outside the West Angeles Church of God in Christ on Crenshaw Boulevard.
Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky writes on his blog that his position on same-sex marriage didn't evolve so much as flip 180 degrees after a conversation with his daughter a decade ago. He says now that in 2008 he presided at the wedding of City Clerk June Lagmay and her partner.
They have called a joint media op for 11 a.m. "to discuss the LA mayor's race" at the 28th Street YMCA. It's an auspicious time for Garcetti to roll out an endorsement by Perry, if indeed that's what happens. People were starting to ask where Garcetti has been.
Greuel includes Mayor Villaraigosa as an example of a leader who has failed to bring jobs or fix the economy, just days after hiring one of his top deputies to be her campaign manager.
Gil Cedillo falls short of 50% and has to face Jose Gardea in the runoff. There's no change in the order of finish in the mayoral race or other contests, but as expected the low voter turnout to be moaned about creeps up to 20.79 percent.
Not unexpectedly, both Los Angeles mayoral candidates — Wendy Greuel and Eric Garcetti, or their staffers for them — showed their support for gay marriage by switching their Facebook profile images on Tuesday. As you can see from the screen grab, Councilwoman Jan Perry did not.
"I saw this strength of Wendy's first-hand in 1994, when she was a valued member of my administration's Department of Housing and Urban Development," Clinton says in a statement. "When the Northridge Earthquake struck -- causing so much loss of life and destruction -- Wendy sprang into action."
Controller Wendy Greuel's campaign for mayor made headlines for the wrong reasons in the past few days, losing four key operatives with experience on the Obama campaign, bringing in two new key people, then switching up campaign managers — against a backdrop of what the LA Times calls "missteps." She did, however, add the support of Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas.
Former Los Angeles mayor Richard Riordan signed on today as an unpaid adviser to Wendy Greuel, shortly after former mayoral candidate Steven Soboroff endorsed Eric Garcetti. Several months ago, Riordan dismissed all the candidates as a bunch of losers.
They are meeting any media that comes out on a Saturday afternoon at the Doll Factory, the Temple Street home of the Derby Dolls near downtown. Unless they are going to strap on skates, I'm assuming this is where Pleitez announces he is endorsing Garcetti in the runoff for mayor. Plus: Greuel gets Emily's List.
Former congressman, defeated last November in that costly and bruising battle in the Valley with fellow Democrat Brad Sherman, has signed on as a senior policy adviser with the largest law firm on Washington's K Street.
The County Federation of Labor's political unit voted to endorse Wendy Greuel for mayor after she told a closed-door meeting, "I'm gonna stand with labor, not stand up to labor." County Democrats, meanwhile, gave more support to Eric Garcetti but failed to make an endorsement.
Campaign consultants for Greuel, Garcetti and Perry dissect the mayoral primary races that are behind us — turnout is the story — and look cautiously ahead. Meanwhile, the Sacramento Bee's cartoonist lampoons Angelenos for not voting.
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa nominated the former state assemblyman, school board president and college board president -- and losing candidate for City Council -- to the Board of Public Works. That's the city's one true plum full-time paid commission.
On the day after Los Angeles voters eliminated the also-rans for mayor and other offices, the survivors began jockeying for position for the 11-week sprint to the runoff. Greuel got another union behind her, Garcetti dropped that oil lease in Beverly Hills and hands were wrung about voter turnout.
The New York Times was right on top of the Los Angeles mayoral election results, but they still have problems with the name of finalist Wendy Greuel. They only left out one letter.
The vote counting in Tuesday's City of Los Angeles primary election provided no real surprises. Eric Garcetti and Wendy Greuel will face off in a May 21 runoff for mayor, as every poll said that they would. There will be runoffs in the other citywide races, and in at least two City Council districts.
Mayor Villaraigosa "missed signals" from the NFL indicating problems with the AEG stadium plan, says a Yahoo football writer. "The problems with the plan are numerous, but the most essential one is the economics."
Front-runners Eric Garcetti and Wendy Greuel got out early Sunday and took the campaign for mayor to the streets. Unlike Saturday, at least a few TV cameras followed along — and LA Observed too.
Trutanich, who is running for reelection in Tuesday's election, has suspended campaign activities. His mother, Esther, died this afternoon at San Pedro Hospital from complications involving pneumonia.
SpaceX capsule in trouble, digital billboards ruling, California's dry winter, mayoral candidates and Hollywood, Pleitez still running, LA invites South Pasadena journo to vote, 99 essential LA restaurants and more.
Wendy Greuel called the media to her Van Nuys Airport-adjacent headquarters this morning to attack Councilman Eric Garcetti for endangering children and profiting from oil drilling near Beverly Hills High School. Except it appears that no oil has been drilled for under Garcetti's property, no children have been endangered, and any profit has been extraordinarily slim.
The pope leaves Rome, Bradley Manning pleads guilty, LA asks for OK to remove homeless property in TB fight, who will buy the LA Times?, indie spending tops
$3 million in mayoral race, Jan Perry's old tax liens and more from the campaign trail.
Wendy Greuel goes negative, Kevin James goes noir, Boxer urges history, Linda Griego recalls history and a roundup of media coverage in the race for City Hall. Election is next Tuesday.
Channel 7's long-time political reporter, John North, is retiring at the end of this week. The newsroom in Glendale got a memo announcing North's departure from news director Cheryl Fair.
How power works here, sobering wisdom on mayoral candidates from Mike Woo, a doctor spends $150K on Greuel, Jan Perry day in the media plus much more. Election Day is a week from today.
Yet another controversy over a mayoral campaign mailer by candidate Jan Perry. County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky released a statement this morning criticizing Perry's use of his name in a mailer. He does not endorse Perry.
Newton on Garcetti and UTLA, new union spending for Greuel, the Kevin James and Jennifer Aniston connection, Rick Orlov's Monday Tipoffs, the voters aren't voting, new endorsements and who the Socialists like (or don't like) for mayor — plus a roundup of more media coverage of the races.
Trying to trick voters with the fake Republican tag is a loser's move, said John Burton, chairman of the California Democratic Party. "To suggest that Wendy Greuel is anything other than a proud Democrat is absurd.”
Thursday's latest filing of campaign finance reports in the mayoral race shows the top two candidates essentially as matched in fundraising as they are in positions on the issues. There's no real news in the numbers.
There are at least two schools of thought on the long-standing practice of holding Los Angeles city elections in odd-numbered years. The former city controller argues that bundling with the national elections will raise voter participation. But maybe that's not the problem.
Debate carried on Channel 7 finds the candidates for mayor firming up their positions. Plus: A video spot for Greuel, Mr. D'Arcy's DWP, Zine's Mountaineer and links to media coverage galore.
Former Los Angeles city attorney Rocky Delgadillo's home in Wilshire Park was gutted by fire over the weekend. Delgadillo, his wife and two boys — and the family dogs — escaped the early morning fire.
The LAT praise is better than lukewarm, but not quite love. Garcetti has "the most potential to rise to the occasion and lead Los Angeles out of its current malaise.... At this time, out of this field, he's the best choice." Also this: "It is hard to see how [Greuel] would rise to the challenge..."
Former Dodgers owner Frank McCourt — I guess we should call him the Dodger Stadium parking lots owner now? — shows up in the filings as a donor of $50,000 to Working Californians to elect Wendy Greuel Mayor 2013. That's the officially independent committee that says it will use big contributions from labor and the entertainment industry to buy TV ads for Greuel.
A letter from the FAA to city officials says it would be within federal policy to charge the school just $1 a year rent for its facility on the west side of Van Nuys Airport at Saticoy Street. Although the city of Los Angeles airports department runs VNY, the FAA is allowed to dip its bureaucratic fingers into all kinds of policy areas at airports.
Spielberg, Katzenberg and Geffen lead the way with $150,000. Boxer will headline fundraiser at Haim Saban's Feb. 20. Plus: Will Ferrell video for Garcetti and more campaign notes.
Here is the second 30-second TV spot from the Wendy Greuel for mayor campaign. Script and video inside, plus a response from Eric Garcetti.
Councilman Eric Garcetti is the first of the mayoral candidates, I believe, to air a TV spot in Spanish. He calls it "Comprobado" and speaks in Spanish about his record. Watch.
I moderated a town hall of the five leading mayoral candidates on Sunday in Hancock Park, and their plans for Getty House — the official city residence — became an issue. Plus the cost to Wendy Greuel of her half-baked LAPD expansion plan, the Times endorses Galperin and more campaign coverage from the weekend.
Supporters of Measure A on the March 5 ballot say that Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa will take part in a Monday news conference announcing support for the sales tax increase, along with LAPD Chief Charlie Beck and LAFD Chief Brian Cummings.
Roger L. Simon was a novelist and screenwriter who went through a very public political conversion from left to right in the early 2000s. His blog hammering on the left turned into Pajamas Media and now into a conservative website and video outlet called PJ Media.
For Wendy Greuel's mayoral campaign, these were a couple of good if expected endorsements. She has campaigned hard in the Valley. The National Women's Political Caucus of Los Angeles County also announced its endorsement.
In the race for mayor of Los Angeles, Councilman Eric Garcetti doesn't have a record of accomplishment that stands out among the others, or better connections, or more popular positions, or much more money. One advantage, though, with some voters is his image as a blogger, bike rider, composer, chef and performer — like at last night's appearance alongside Moby.
The political adviser for Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg and other Hollywood figures signed a letter to industry activists asking for contributions of $15,000 to an independent expenditure committee that plans to air commercials pushing Wendy Greuel for mayor.
This cannot be called a surprise. Losing candidates for DA don't usually have happy careers in the office after taking on the boss.
Both Greuel and Garcetti have bases in Hollywood. The race is pitting mogul against mogul, agent against agent, says the Hollywood Reporter.
KPCC's press release last week for its mayoral debate coming up on Wednesday night talked about the "four major candidates for mayor" who would be taking part. I guess some discussions ensued. Here's how the release reads now.
Los Angeles Magazine in a new piece up today calls Kevin James "the surprise of the mayor’s race." The story, though, is really about how candidate James has softened the kinds of things he used to say when he was an anger talk radio host.
For some reason, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa sent out a statement on Friday trying to quash once and for all any talk that he will be taking a job with the Obama Administration before his term ends June 30. Which likely means he wasn't going to get an appointment.
Ex-mayor Jim Hahn is handling small claims cases in the Santa Monica courthouse, living nearby with his wife and enjoying not being in the spotlight. "It's a pretty great thing to be mayor of Los Angeles," Hahn tells KCRW's Saul Gonzalez. But, "I have to say this is the happiest time of my life."
Salma Hayek endorses Eric Garcetti for mayor: "He has the heart of a hero. He's romantic..." She also cites that he plays piano, gardens, cooks and speaks Spanish and French as well as English. Watch the video.
Wendy Greuel's platform to run for mayor is that, as city controller, the audits by her office found $160 million "in waste and fraud." It's the theme of her first 30-second spot going on the air today. Watch here.
Not every single story story out of Washington on Ray LaHood leaving the Obama Cabinet mentions Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa as a possible successor. Just most of them.
Tyrone Ricky Freeman, the former president of Service Employees International Union locals 6434 and 434-B, was convicted Monday on federal charges of embezzling tens of thousands of dollars from the union that represents home healthcare workers. "This was a case about abuse and betrayal,” said U.S. Attorney André Birotte Jr. of Los Angeles.
Fred Davis posts his first hit video on Garcetti, Greuel and Perry, plus barreling across the Valley with Dennis Zine at the wheel and Monday is TV debate night.
Jack Klunder, the president of the Los Angeles News Group and publisher of most if not all of the chain's newspapers, is not a voter in the city of Los Angeles. But he has given $750 to mayoral candidate Kevin James, in three separate contributions since 2011, and also reportedly provided him with tickets to Lakers, Dodgers and Kings games.
Teddy Davis, a top press spokesman for Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa since 2011, was announced today as the director of strategic communications for Maryland governor Martin O'Malley. Expect to see a series of these exits in the coming months.
Pity the poor tourists of the future. One of the most minor-league things about Los Angeles is that today's politicians too easily give in to the urge to name things — buildings, freeway legs, intersections — for people. Alive or dead, famous or not.
The reason that the office of city controller is viewed as a fiscal watchdog and audit factory is due largely to Laura Chick, who came before Wendy Greuel. Chick's endorsement helps City Hall newcomer Ron Galperin.
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Councilman Eric Garcetti and labor leader Maria Elena Durazo were among the select partiers. Inauguration celebrants danced past 3 a.m. to "Love Train" and "We Are Family."
Diversity makes the news, Times video of the candidates, a media coverage roundup and more — including a wonderful Steve Lopez line summarizing Antonio Villaraigosa.
The president of the Board of Public Works apologized for unspecified actions and said she has learned that her top job is "being a mom." Possible prosecution still looms for leaving her 11-year-daughter alone in City Hall to go drinking on a Friday night.
The union representing rank-and-file LAPD officers today gave its mayoral nod to Controller Wendy Greuel.
Kitty Felde, KPCC's reporter in Washington, connects the dots and sees an opportunity for Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa in the second Obama Administration, "should his personal life survive the vetting process."
Mayoral candidate Eric Garcetti is sitting today for what the Reddit online community calls an AMA. He posted about two hours ago: "Hi I'm Eric Garcetti, Los Angeles City Councilmember and candidate for Mayor. Ask me anything. I will be back around 4:00 PT to answer your questions."
Arrests in Nordstrom Rack robbery-assault, Murdoch quips about buying the LA Times, The Atlantic pulls sponsored blog post extolling Scientology, Councilman Alarcon says son is homeless in the Valley, Ace Smith to run independent expenditure campaign for Greuel, Lady of the Lake returns to Echo Park Lake and more.
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa did the talk show circuit in Washington on Sunday, then spent Monday there talking about immigration reform and telling reporters and Latino leaders that they will likely be seeing a lot more of him. He again evaded questions about taking a job with the Obama Administration, but KPCC's Kitty Felde said that as Villaraigosa listed what he's proud of doing here in LA, he "sounded more like he was auditioning for a job."
Daily News profiles Greuel, Perry hangs in, the mayor's hollow claim on LAPD strength, the energizer mayor and more notes for a Monday.
What you need to know about the fundraising race, coveting Obama and the Clintons, talking about housing, Greuel moves into South LA and more from around the campaigns.
Carmen Trutanich is, of course, the incumbent city attorney. I guess those future meetings with the mayor's office will be kind of chilly.
The former congresswoman from the Eastside and San Gabriel Valley is expected by many to run for the Board of Supervisors when Gloria Molina is termed out in 2014.
Sheen didn't say whether his comments about Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa partying with him in Baja for two hours and being able to "drink with the best of 'em" were untrue — but late this afternoon Sheen did apologize "if any of my words have been misconstrued.”
Actor Charlie Sheen tells TMZ that his photograph with an arm around Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa was taken in Sheen's suite at the new Hotel El Ganzo near Cabo San Lucas. He also says that this was not just a brief photo encounter as Villaraigosa suggested under questioning Sunday by NBC 4's Conan Nolan on "News Conference."
Controller Wendy Greuel's prospects of being elected mayor "depend largely on how effectively she can repel" criticism that her publicized audits are for show and that her record, including a vote for the big 2007 raise for city employees, mark her as a City Hall insider, LA Times political writer Michael Finnegan says.
Villaraigosa tells Conan Nolan on NBC 4's "News Conference" that he was in Cabo San Lucas on vacation, bumped into Charlie Sheen in the hotel, and that Sheen asked to take a photo. "I'm in the picture taking business. I've never said no to anyone that wants to take a picture."
The first of our regular updates looks at the Temple Beth Jacob debate, a Friday zing war between Garcetti and Greuel, who's covering the campaign for the LA Times and more.
Tonight's mayoral candidate forum from Beth Jacob synagogue will be live streamed on the website of the Jewish Journal. Good choice, since the forum moderator is Jewish Journal president David Suissa.
Rep. Janice Hahn has been profligate with the press releases recently — but this one is actually worth mentioning.
I'm catching up on some locally prominent deaths I've missed during the holiday slowdown. Video inside: 17 minutes of "In-a-Gadda-Da-Vida."
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa showed up in a Twitpic by Charlie Sheen from the actor's new hotel bar that opened last night in Baja California. A spokesman for the mayor confirms he is in Mexico until Jan. 2.
With a few days left in the year, the number of murders in the city of Los Angeles has crept up and will likely surpass 300 for the first time since 2009. Total crime declined for the tenth straight year.
Gun holders queued up in cars around the block at Exposition Park to exchange guns for Ralphs gift cards in front of the Sports Arena — no questions asked. Long lines were also reported at the Van Nuys Masonic Temple.
Longtime employes of Junior's Deli at the Rancho Park end of Westwood Boulevard were told today that the Westside landmark will close before the end of the year. A rent hike from the landlord is to blame, along with slumping business, say the sons of Junior's late founder.
In her editor's note introducing the January issue of Los Angeles magazine, Mary Melton doesn't sound too wowed by the candidates who are running for mayor. The next leader of...
The Los Angeles Times ran a Sunday editorial urging people to recognize that the election on March 5 is a big one that could shape the future of the city for years to come. They're right, you know.
With Rutten on the editorial page, and Al Martinez on the front page, the Daily News now offers its readers two columnists with something like 80 years between them at the Los Angeles Times.
Rick Orlov in the Daily News looks at the lineup of ballot argument signers for the City Council's proposed sales tax increase. Some members are for it, some against. Same with labor.
The certified names and ballot titles from the city clerk for mayor, city attorney, controller, city council, board of education and community college district board of trustees.
The current death toll in Newtown, Conn. stands at 28, 20 of them children aged five to ten.
Rep. Howard Berman won't go out quietly after most of three decades in Congress, ending as a respected senior member of the House foreign affairs committee.
A judge issued a bench warrant today for former city of San Fernando mayor Mario Hernandez, who failed to show up and testify at the trial of his ex-girlfriend, the former San Fernando City Councilwoman Maribel De La Torre.
The governor's office made the announcement this afternoon.
Board of Public Works president Andrea Alarcon's future as an LA political figure got a little more clouded today, at least temporarily.
And that's not even the most spent this year on a California congressional race.
Reaction to the news that Henry's will close has been swift and intense. Krekorian felt moved to post a lengthy statement denying that his office is aware of any development plans for the site.
I chatted briefly Wednesday with hospitalized city attorney candidate Mike Feuer. He said he's up and around, isn't in too much pain, and even got to drink some apple juice. He should be out of the hospital in a few more days.
It will remain a ticketing offense to park at a broken meter in LA. But for the first time, valet parkers have to be licensed and insured.
The jaws of life were needed to free city attorney candidate Mike Feuer from his damaged Toyota Prius, and he is in intensive care in stable condition, campaign strategist John Shallman now says. Feuer tweets his thanks to @LAFD and @911LAPD.
Of the 2,066 voters who mailed in ballots, 73 percent voted to tax property owners in order to obtain funding for the $125 million loop mostly along Broadway and Hill.
President Obama today tweeted that he would like Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz to remain as chair of the Democratic National Committee. That's one post Antonio Villaraigosa won't get.
Feuer's Prius was hit by a truck that ran a red light. The candidate for city attorney will remain in the hospital for a few days, but his campaign says the injuries are not life threatening.
When the Center for the Study of Los Angeles sent out undergrads to conduct exit polling of voters on Nov. 6, the center had them tack on questions about next year's mayor's race. Meanwhile: Garcetti wins the endorsement of Valley Democrats.
"Progress will continue as Metro remains focused on delivering a dozen new transit projects and 15 highway improvement projects that voters approved four years ago in passing Measure R."
Also: Measure J, the transit tax extension, ends with 66.11 percent of the vote, and needed 66.66 percent to pass. How close did it come? If you take the 2,863,951...
Richard Bloom leads Assemblywoman Betsy Butler by 1,705 votes in this afternoon's essentially final update on the Nov. 6 election from LA County Registrar-Recorder Dean Logan. Bloom posted a resignation message on Facebook.
Both the Times and Daily News are reporting, with somewhat differing details, that Board of Public Works president Andrea Alarcon was at the Doubletree Hotel in Little Tokyo when her unattended 11-year-old daughter was taken from City Hall to a nearby LAPD station about 11:45 on a recent Friday night, following a party.
Santa Monica mayor Richard Bloom said he expects to be sworn into the state Assembly on Monday. Measure J creeps closer yet, but almost certainly won't pass.
On Wednesday's show, I'm told that KCET's "SoCal Connected" digs into the ties between Supervisor Don Knabe, his son Matt Knabe, and the clients of Matt's lobbying firm, Englander Knabe and Allen.
Those signs are outdated and never were a perk, and they are coming down, says the spokesman for Councilman Mitchell Englander.
How Latino voters go could obviously be a big factor in deciding the next mayor, especially if the Latino vote falls heavily toward one candidate. Controller Wendy Greuel took a big step on Monday, announcing the endorsements of State Sen. Alex Padilla and two members of the City Council.
Interviewed by Warren Olney on KCRW's "Which Way, LA?," former mayor Richard Riordan rejected criticism by Mayor Villaraigosa and others that his pension reform plan would have cost the city money. Plus: Little digs at Herb Wesson, Wendy Greuel and Eric Garcetti.
Federal prosecutors in Sacramento intend to seek a prison sentence of 97 months for Kinde Durkee, the Los Angeles-area political campaign treasurer who pleaded guilty to absconding with more than $7 million in funds she managed for Democratic candidates, including Sen. Dianne Feinstein.
Really, America? Tomorrow is three weeks from the election, and they're still counting votes. For the first time — these are not recounts, folks.
Former mayor Richard Riordan and his Save Los Angeles group are shutting down the effort to place a pension reform measure on next spring's city of Los Angeles ballot.
At least one high-spending SuperPAC achieved its goal in the November election. That SuperPAC belongs to Michael Bloomberg, the media mogul and billionaire mayor of New York City. It spent $3 million to defeat Rep.Joe Baca.
The story on Board of Public Works president Andrea Alarcon being in trouble for the handling of her 11-year-old daughter inched forward a tiny bit on Friday.
"My daughter is my top priority and nothing could be more important to me than her well-being," says the president of LA's Board of Public Works. "In order for me to be the best parent possible, I have decided to seek professional help and treatment." Her 11-year-old daughter was found unattended in City Hall at almost midnight.
After the city Department of Building and Safety quietly posted the location and permit status of every billboard structure in the city, KCET mapped the data and drew some conclusions about billboards in Los Angeles.
The LAT's weekend story about Republican media adviser Fred Davis vowing to raise and spend $4 million in independent expenditures for mayoral hopeful Kevin James is the most interesting thing to happen in that race in awhile. Both Greuel and Garcetti are already using it to raise money. It's the subject of tonight's LA Observed segment on KCRW.
Former mayor Richard Riordan spent Tuesday night at St. John's for observation and tests after calling the paramedics because of dizziness and chest pains. Riordan was released the next day and says he did not have a heart attack.
Villaraigosa was in a forgiving mood about that "Failure" cover back in 2009. He even joked about his "General Petraeus moment."
Analysis by Gallup and UCLA Law's Williams Institute suggests that the gay and lesbian vote for Obama was big enough to matter. That would certainly add to gay political clout if the belief takes hold.
The New York Times statistical guru made a strong case at FiveThirtyEight for the Angels' Mike Trout to win the American League's Most Valuable Player Award.
One of the remaining unsettled California congressional contests has been won by Democratic challenger Ami Bera. Dan Lungren, the former Long Beach area lawmaker who has also been the state's attorney general and the Republican nominee for governor, lost by more than 5,000 votes. The margin on election night was fewer than 200 votes.
In which the third floor at City Hall fills up and numerous staffers and reporters post Facebook pictures of themselves with Snoop Dogg and a certain new Lakers center. Video from the office of Councilman Joe Buscaino.
Wilbur Woo immigrated to Los Angeles in 1921, became the head of his family's Chungking Produce Co., a vice president of Cathay Bank, and emerged as a top Chinese American community leader in Los Angeles. Woo, a Republican, was the top contributor when his son, Democrat Michael Woo, ran and became the first Chinese American elected to the Los Angeles City Council.
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is being talked up as a possible chair of the Democratic National Committee during President Obama's second term, should there be a change.
City Councilman and candidate for mayor Eric Garcetti up in the saddle, posted to his TwitPic account in October with the message "Happy Horse Day." While we're on the subject,...
Councilwoman Jan Perry's move last week to re-brand herself as the business-minded reform candidate in the race for mayor is at least "viable," Times columnist Jim Newton says. What choice does she have really?
On Sunday it was mayoral hopeful Wendy Greuel's turn to go for a trail ride with the equestrians of Chatsworth. It's a rite of political passage in LA: we even have a pic of Antonio Villaraigosa in the saddle.
Self-serving questions from constituents for the 'Ask Paul" column on AOL Patch are actually written by the councilman's press deputy. But let's hope you knew that.
The mayor vows he's staying, but his new reformer mode sounds a lot like a statewide candidate. This week he kisses and makes up with Los Angeles Magazine, three years after the "Failure" cover.
Men by a wide margin opposed requiring condoms on porn actors in LA County. Women, by an equally large margin, favored condoms. Blacks favored condoms. Whites opposed the new rule, strongly. Voters in the city of West Hollywood also rejected the condom mandate for porn films.
Patrick Frey and his wife, both veteran prosecutors in the Los Angeles County District Attorney's office, are victims of one of the more despicable political dirty tricks practiced in America these days. Over his blogging.
I know that it's already Thursday night and the election post-mortem period is all but over. But my wonky side is still eating up the numbers and inside analysis.
Snyder represented Northeast LA's 14th district on the Los Angeles City Council for 18 years, until 1985. He was a City Hall deputy before that. Born in Los Angeles, Snyder attended Los Angeles City College, Pepperdine University and USC. He became a lobbyist after leaving office and was living in Huntington Beach, where he owned Don the Beachcomber, when he died in his sleep on Wednesday.
Carmen Warschaw was a major figure in Democratic politics in Los Angeles and beyond for decades. Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky announced her death today at the Board of Supervisors.
Here are the stats from the Registrar-Recorder of Los Angeles County:
With 100% of the precincts counted, but not all of the ballots, Santa Monica mayor Richard Bloom leads Assemblywoman Betsy Butler by 218 votes. That's out of 138,342 votes already counted. The county hasn't said how many provisional and uncounted ballots it thinks it has.
California voters went 59 percent for President Obama, 39 percent for Mitt Romney. It's largely, but not totally, a coastal thing. But Obama lost 2.7 million voters in California since 2008.
The measure to extend the transit sales tax beyond our lifetimes in order to pay for projects now got almost 65 percent of the vote, but needed 66.67 percent. LA County Democratic Party chair Eric Bauman blamed the loss on "the special interests and conservative forces."
Howard Berman and Laura Richardson lose their seats in Congress, Councilman Tony Cardenas goes to Washington, Jackie Lacey wins DA of Los Angeles County, Prop. 30 leads, the death penalty stays, three strikes as we know it goes, and from now on LA porn actors have to cover up. Plus more.
NBC and CNN were first to declare Barack Obama the winner, I think. The LA Times sent out its tweet calling the race for Obama a few minutes later. At 8:30, it's pretty much a sweep of the major media.
The contributions came through two nonprofits with right-wing ties, Americans for Job Security and The Center to Protect Patient Rights, that do not have to report their sources of funds. The $11 million pumped into the fight against Prop.30 and for Prop. 32 is "the largest contribution ever disclosed as campaign money laundering in California history," the FPPC says.
Nate Silver, the polls and stats analyst whose FiveThirtyEight forecasts runs in the New York Times, wrote Saturday that President Obama is "now better than a 4-in-5 favorite to win the Electoral College, according to the FiveThirtyEight forecast. His chances of winning it increased to 83.7 percent on Friday, his highest figure since the Denver debate and improved from 80.8 percent on Thursday."
He has the complex algorithm to back up saying that President Obama is the favorite to win on Tuesday. But all he needs, he says, is this: Obama is ahead in Ohio.
As of Thursday afternoon, about 549,000 mail ballots have already been returned to the LA County Registrar-Recorder. Just over a majority, 50.59 percent of the ballots, have come back from Democrats. Some 29.65 percent have come in from Republicans.
The City Council's deal several years ago to introduce digital billboards to Los Angeles is likely to be invalidated by the 2nd District Court of Appeal, a panel of the court's judges told lawyers on Tuesday.
Measures to raise the California sales tax (Proposition 30) and to extend the already-higher sales tax in Los Angeles County (Measure J) are up for a vote on the November 5 ballot. Now City Council President Herb Wesson is floating the idea of an additional half-cent sales tax increase within the city of Los Angeles to be voted on next March.
A judge on Monday set Assessor John Noguez's bail at $1.16 million, the amount the prosecutors allege he cost taxpayers by lowering property tax assessments for the clients of a consultant accused of bribing Noguez.
The former City Controller sent out email this afternoon endorsing her successor in next year's mayoral election. Here's the full text of what she said.
Los Angeles-based political satire with a message from Lost Moon Radio, which has a show Friday night at Club Fais Do-Do.
DA investigators arrested embattled Assessor John Noguez this morning at his home in Huntington Park. Allegations include bribery and corruption. Two others were also arrested.
Maury Weiner was Mayor Tom Bradley's first chief of staff and a key figure in the black-Jewish liberal coalition that helped elect Bradley in 1973 and that was dominant in city politics for awhile. More recently Weiner was chairman of the Tom Bradley Legacy Foundation at UCLA. Weiner died on Sept. 30.
Well this can't be good. The heated acrimony in the bitter race between Reps. Howard Berman and Brad Sherman boiled over into something a bit more...unseemly. At one point, Sherman roughly grabs his more senior colleague and shouts, "Do you want to get into this?" Then a lawman arrives to calm things down. Videos inside
Statement just in from developer Rick Caruso, putting an end to speculation that he would join the mayoral race late.
The Coro community in Los Angeles is reporting online the death last night of John Greenwood, the president of Coro Southern California and a former president of the Board of Education. More details to come.
Candidates for mayor in next spring's election have already raised $9.2 million — including the $1.8 million collected by Austin Beutner before he dropped out. Reports filed on Wednesday show City Councilman Eric Garcetti with a slight lead in both the total money raised so far and in the amount taken in during the latest reporting period — as you can see in our handy charts.
Councilman and mayoral candidate Eric Garcetti is not only a Rhodes Scholar who plays jazz piano. He also was in a junior high school breakdancing group and has the moves to prove it.
LA Times City Hall reporter Kate Linthicum was struck by how many personal bridges that ailing Councilman Bill Rosendahl appeared to burn in a speech today about his decision not to run for reelection.
Here's the full text of the email that just landed around the 11th council district (Brentwood to LAX, basically) from Councilman Bill Rosendahl. He tells supporters that he intends to become a cancer survivor, but is dropping his reelection campaign and endorsing chief deputy Mike Bonin.
"One of the toughest, and strangest, congressional races in the country is between two Los Angeles incumbents...Democrats," the national audience learned on "All Things Considered."
"I try to advocate for a certain group. And not just for Latinos, but for immigrants," he tells Ana Garcia of NBC 4.
Councilman Bill Rosendahl, who has been fighting cancer, plans to announce in a letter to his district tomorrow that he will not seek reelection in the spring, the LA Times reports.
Mervyn Dymally served as California's lieutenant governor during Jerry Brown's first term as governor in the 1970s and also at various times represented the Compton area and southern LA County in Congress, the state Senate and the Assembly (twice.) His career as an elected office holder spanned four decades, starting with the Assembly in 1963.
President Obama arrived at LAX a little after 1 p.m. and went right to a private gathering of donors in Trousdale Estates before tonight's concert and exclusive dinner downtown.
After President Obama's fundraising concert in downtown Los Angeles on Sunday, he will travel up to Keene and formally establish a national monument on the site of labor leader Cesar Chavez's gravesite and former home.
A comedic message from the Fung Brothers urging Asian Americans in the San Gabriel Valley to vote.
Arnold Schwarzenegger, who recently paid $20 million for a think tank at USC, gets a segment on "60 Minutes" tonight to give just enough mea culpa on the whole cheated-on-Maria thing to sound like it was a blip. But at the Daily Beast, Ann Louise Bardach says the chronology given to CBS' Lesley Stahl and in Arnold's new memoir is anything but true
That story yesterday out of the Los Cerritos Community News tying developer Rick Caruso's properties to the emerging probe around tax reductions by Assessor John Noguez drew a strong objection today from the fill-in assessor appointed by the Board of Supervisors. "Several erroneous conclusions based on nonexistent evidence," says a letter to the paper's publisher from Santos Kreimann.
Garcetti gets Salma Hayek but few LA names, a bunch of other endorsements, what will be in the news today and more.
Rick Caruso, the wealthy developer who's mulling a run for mayor as a self-financed candidate, received special treatment and substantial property tax reductions from the office of county Assessor John Noguez, then donated thousands to Noguez's political efforts, according to the Los Cerritos Newspaper Group.
"When you meet with people in the legislature in Sacramento, the most striking thing is how stupid everybody is," says Bloomberg News' Josh Barro
Ad buyers have inquired about TV time in November, sources say, and Caruso also reportedly begged off a sizable commitment of money to pension reform citing large upcoming political expenses of his own. We'll see.
Former City Controller Laura Chick found herself in a feud with City Attorney Carmen Trutanich almost as soon as he took office in 2009 — with her endorsement, by the way. Now she's with Mike Feuer, and calling Trutanich a liar and a demagogue. There's a backstory.
The Los Angeles Times editorial page on Sunday endorsed Rep. Howard Berman in the big Democratic Party battle in the San Fernando Valley. "The Times supported Berman in the first round of voting, and we're sticking with him in the head to head" over Rep. Brad Sherman.
Gene Maddaus at the LA Weekly got the list of contributors to the account City Attorney is using to make good on his promise to raise $100,000 for after-schol programs if he broke his previous promise not to run for any office other than the one he now has. (Which he did.)
Politico reports that Rep. Laura Richardson, already under reprimand for pressuring her staff to work on her campaign, is now accused by the House Ethics committee of retaliating against and intimidating aides who cooperated with the earlier investigation.
Councilman and candidate for mayor Eric Garcetti plays the part of the Los Angeles mayor in the forthcoming film, "End of Watch." They got together with campaign supporters at a preview screening.
Washington, charged with defrauding banks by falsely claiming identity theft, is one of more than 40 arrests this year of staffers at the county probation department.
City Clerk June Lagmay just announced that the proponents of a referendum to undo the Los Angeles City Council ban on medical marijuana outlets submitted enough signatures to force the issue. Or, as Lagmay's office puts it, "has achieved sufficiency." One of three things now has to happen.
On Sept. 11 at the Hollywood Bowl, Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky narrated the Abraham Lincoln parts of it “A Lincoln Portrait,” by Aaron Copland. Watch the video.
The differences between Reps. Howard Berman and Brad Sherman are few, says the Daily News editorial, "but they're significant....We urge a vote for Howard Berman."
An email to Los Angeles area Obama donors says the concert evening will be "a large scale event with multiple performers and speakers preceding the President’s remarks," the Hollywood Reporter says. Good news on the Obamajam front: it's a Sunday night.
City Councilm