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The plan cooked up by politically connected investors to deliver water from a remote corner of the Mojave to thirsty Southern California cities refuses to die after more than two decades. In fact, Cadiz might be gaining impetus as cities down near the end of the California water straw get more desperate. The latest incarnation is to extract groundwater and ship it toward the coast. How the LA Times can do a new story on Cadiz without mentioning Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa or Arnold Schwarzenegger (and barely mentioning their pal who is at the center of things, Keith Brackpool) is a mystery. Especially after all the paper's previous reporting through the years on the Brackpool connection and Cadiz.
Previously on LA Observed:
Look who the mayor goes to the track with
Schwarzenegger makes flurry of last-day appointments
Was Brackpool on mayor's $120,000 European trip?
Pork and the water bond
Brackpool gets a gig
Details of mayor's Africa trip
Cadiz water project is alive
Who celebrated Mayor Villaraigosa's birthday?
Villaraigosa in the New Yorker
Photo of Cadiz Valley: Chris Clarke
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Previously on LA Observed:
Warrants served at home of L.A. Assessor John Noguez
Assessor's Office scandal is getting tougher to stomach *
Agent tied to Noguez got breaks for lots of taxpayers
OK, right about now the hockey fans of North America have to be getting a little itchy. Confused. Not sure they understand what they're feeling, but maybe just because they have never seen it before. The Los Angeles Kings have now won 10 of their 11 games in this year's NHL playoffs, including every game in the other guys' rinks. All of those teams were better than the Kings during the season — were faster, bigger and tougher — but the LA team is playing seamless, relentless hockey. They swarmed with such precision tonight in Phoenix, overwhelming the Coyotes 4-0, that their movements seemed choreographed, almost elegant. It was the Kings' most lopsided win yet in this improbable run, and in two games in Phoenix they outscored the Coyotes 8-2. They are getting better individually and as a team with each game.
Here's something you may not know about the Kings, but might find interesting. Four of them are just 22 years old. One is 21. Some who are trying to grow their playoff beards can't. Only two of the Kings who played tonight are over 30. Twelve of them are Canadian, six are American, a couple are Russian and their top scorer is Slovenian.
They now come home to Staples Center to play Thursday afternoon and Sunday at noon. If they win both games, the Kings are in the finals and will play for the cup against the best team from the east. This could be fun, LA.
Hockey weather: It was over 100 today in Phoenix.
Kings captain Dustin Brown after the game:
Previously on LA Observed:
Sportsageddon downtown this weekend
Residents of Grand View Drive in Laurel Canyon are mad as hell about a "scofflaw" builder who has already mansionized one lot on the street and started work on two other parcels. They banded together to make an informative video that could serve as a model to other neighborhoods on how to use YouTube to raise their voice. They even have a celebrity cameo, though most who watch the video won't know it's her (or care.) The blond woman in the white bathrobe who appears a couple of times is Jacqueline Fuchs, an entertainment attorney. Oh yeah — she's also known as Jackie Fox, the bass player for The Runaways. That was before she attended Harvard Law School with Barack Obama. (In a 2008 entry at the Huffington Post, she compared Obama and Joan Jett.)
In Sunset Strip lore, Fox was "discovered" by Rodney Bingenheimer while dancing at the Starwood. The unofficial mayor of the strip reportedly introduced her to Kim Fowley, who was looking to fill a vacancy in the band. Fox came on for a couple of records and tours. She did not agree to be depicted in the recent biopic on The Runaways starring Kristen Stewart.
On her Facebook page, Fox gives herself two thumbs up for her part in the Laurel Canyon video: "Yes, I'm awesome in no make-up and a bathrobe. And mad as hell."
Partial hat tip to the LA Weekly, whose young reporter Simone Wilson didn't pick up on Fuchs/Fox.
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The novelist, called in the New York Times obituary "Mexico’s elegant public intellectual and grand man of letters," died today in Mexico City. His death was confirmed by Julio Ortega, his biographer and a professor of Hispanic studies at Brown University, where Fuentes taught for several years.From the NYT:
Mr. Fuentes was one of the most admired writers in the Spanish-speaking world, a catalyst, along with Gabriel García Márquez, Mario Vargas Llosa and Julio Cortazar, of the explosion of Latin American literature in the 1960s and ’70s known as “El Boom.” He wrote plays, short stories, political nonfiction and more than a dozen novels, many of them chronicles of tangled love, that were acclaimed throughout Latin America.
Mr. Fuentes received wide recognition in the United States in 1985 with his novel “The Old Gringo,” a convoluted tale of the American writer Ambrose Bierce, who disappeared during the Mexican Revolution. The first book by a Mexican novelist to become a best seller north of the border, it was made into a film starring Gregory Peck and Jane Fonda, released in 1989.In the tradition of Latin American writers, Mr. Fuentes was an outspoken public intellectual, writing magazine, newspaper and journal articles that criticized the Mexican government during the long period of sometimes repressive single-party rule that ended in 2000 with the election of an opposition candidate, Vicente Fox Quesada. Mr. Fuentes was more ideological than political. He tended to embrace justice and basic human rights regardless of political labels. He initially supported Fidel Castro’s revolution in Cuba, but turned against it as Castro became increasingly authoritarian. He openly sympathized with Indian rebels in the southern Mexican state of Chiapas, and publicly skewered the administration of George W. Bush.
More at the NYT site. From a bilingual website devoted to Fuentes' work:
Carlos Fuentes, Mexico’s most celebrated novelist and critic, was born in 1928. He spent his early years in Washington, D. C., where his father was a member od the diplomatic corps.
Fifteen novels by Mr. Fuentes have been published in the United States: “The Death of Artemio Cruz”, “The Good Conscience”, “Where the Air is Clear”; “A Change of Skin”, “Aura”, “Terra Nostra”, “The Hydra Head”, “Distante Relations”, “The Old Gringo”, a national bestseller in 1985, wich was also made into a movie; “Christopher Unborn”, a bestseller in 1989; “The Campaign” in 1991, “Diana: the Goddes Who Hunts Alone” in 1995, “The Crystal Frontier” in 1997; “The Years With Laura Diaz”, 2000; and, in 2002, “Inez.”Among Mr. Fuentes’s other work, “Burnt Water”, a collection of short stories, appeared in 1980; “Myself with Others: Selected Essays”, in 1988, “Constancia and Other Stories for Virgins”, in 1990; “The Orange Tree”, in 1994; and, in 1996, “A New Time for Mexico”, a work of political commentary.
Los Angeles mayor Antonio Villaraigosa released a statement this afternoon:
I am saddened to hear of the death of Carlos Fuentes, a man I was truly lucky to know as a mentor and friend.
Carlos was a literary giant, a man of passion and principle; a great husband, father, and friend. His writing was a catalyst for “El Boom” and set a precedent that other writers still strive to reach. Carlos’ influence on literature goes far beyond borders of Latin America, and the impact of his intellect and activism will not be forgotten.His collection of essays in “En esto creo,” remains a personal favorite.
My thoughts are with his family and friends during this difficult time. He will be sorely missed.
KCRW page: Links to Michael Silverblatt interviews with Fuentes
What kind of a relationship do you have with the city of Los Angeles? What does L.A. mean to you?]]>
It’s a beautiful and confusing—or confusing and beautiful—relationship, depending on the orders of the factors, because it’s a very difficult city to understand. It doesn’t let itself be grasped easily. It’s not easily understood. I’m disoriented a lot of the time, but in certain barrios I feel very much at home. I’m immensely interested in the people, in what’s going on in the shops, the restaurants, the movies—in everything that is going on in this beehive of a city.
Admittedly, many Los Angeles Times print subscribers didn't know the Times still printed a magazine every month. Even some high-income zip codes didn't receive it with any regularity — we've never understood why. But now the magazine is gone again — just as it was killed back in 2008 (see our many links below) before being revived under a couple of different, less ambitious guises. Here's the memo today from LAT president Kathy Thomson.From: Thomson, Kathy K
Sent: Tuesday, May 15, 2012 1:04 PM
To: AllLosAngelesTimesEmployees
Subject: Los Angeles Times Media Group Updates
Colleagues:
I’m writing today to inform you of a key change we are undertaking and provide a few updates.
Many of you have been involved in the various incarnations of The Times’ Sunday magazine--it has taken on several different titles and wonderful forms over the years. However, the entire magazine industry has been faced with a very challenging environment. We are not immune to the challenges and have made the decision that LA, Los Angeles Times Magazine will publish its final issue on June 3rd.
I’d like to acknowledge Nancie Clare, Rip Georges, Mayer Rus and the entire LATM team’s excellent work and dedication these past few years. The magazine’s signature cover stories and stunning fashion photography have generated buzz among tastemakers, advertisers, readers and high-profile media outlets. LATM has garnered recognition including the RFK Center for Journalism Award for International Photography and multiple awards from the Society for News Design. Its unique juxtaposition of high and low culture and compelling mix of stories and essays has made it a definitive handbook for life in Southern California. The magazine’s website, Facebook and Twitter will remain active through the end of the June with clients, fans and followers gradually transitioned to the relevant lifestyle coverage in The Times.
We are in the process of developing a new special quarterly product focused on luxury, design, fashion and style. The publication will highlight seasonal trends and occasions with print, digital and mobile iterations intended to further enhance our feature coverage and deepen our connection with our members and advertising partners.
We also have a number of featured-related efforts underway or currently being planned, which include:
- · Saturday: advertisers and readers are increasingly embracing our go-to guide for food and dining, health and fitness and home and design. We have great feedback from our members who are connecting with the refreshing editorial tone and it is performing well financially.
- · Our fourth ebook, SoCal Close-Ups, will make our award-winning travel content available in a portable format well suited to exploration.
- · Rock/Style, our music and fashion extravaganza, enters its third year with Macy’s as its presenting sponsor and its second year at hipster hangout the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel.
- · The TASTE will further cement its Labor Day beachhead in its second year and our programming will reflect a heightened L.A.-centric “flavor” inspired by our outstanding food coverage.
Please join me in thanking the talented LATM team for their efforts and know that your continued hard work is appreciated.
Kathy
LA Observed contributor Denise Hamilton has had a column on perfume in the magazine for the last little while. And LAO author Eric Estrin also was a regular contributor to the magazine: he had an interview in the most recent issue with Heidi Murkoff, who wrote the "What to Expect When You're Expecting" book. This sucks for all involved. Good luck to them all.
Previously on LA Observed:
Ex-LAT Magazine publisher sues over redlining of readers *
New publisher at LAT Magazine
LAT magazine loses publisher, suspends weekly
Changes at Hoy, LAT Magazine
Reading the new LA Times Magazine
New LA Times Magazine, not like the old one
LA Times Magazine demise story finally lands
West editor out at LAT
Last week after City Attorney and DA candidate Carmen Trutanich was exposed for being less heroic than he'd like you to believe regarding a street encounter with gangs, his people accused the District Attorney's office of playing politics with his old employment file. Trutanich was a prosecutor in the office before turning pro as a politician. His complaint to the state AG alleged "suspicious political activity" by the DA's office, which gets your attention because the office is run by rival andidate Jackie Lacey.
Now comes the revelation by the LA Weekly's Gene Maddaus that Trutanich's campaign consultants knew as long ago as 2008 that his personnel file was missing — because they asked for it. They hired VR Research in Oakland to find out everything they could about Trutanich so the campaign could be ready for any attacks. The 100-page "opposition research" report noted then that the DA's office said it could not produce a Trutanich personnel file. At the time, Maddaus notes, District Attorney Steve Cooley was a big supporter of Trutanich so there's no evidence that politics made the file vanish. Now, of course, Cooley is backing Lacey and apparently has concluded that Trutanich isn't even up to the job of city attorney, let alone DA.
Trutanich's people dispute that the 2008 report contradicts them now.
Trutanich in the dunk tank
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The Metropolitan Transportation Authority has begun the initial phase of work to restore the 1896 Southern Pacific Railroad depot from the San Fernando valley farming town of Lankershim, now known as North Hollywood. The decaying wooden structure sits at the corner of Lankershim and Chandler boulevards. Local historians took up the cause of saving the depot more than a decade ago. It's now owned by Metro. The Daily News' Bob Strauss and photographer Andy Holzman check in on the much-delayed project. (Nice photo gallery.)"The building has 100-plus years of lead-based paint on it and asbestos shingles on the roof," noted Tom Lee, senior construction manager at Metro and resident engineer for the project. "Both are hazardous, and they have to be removed while trying to preserve as much as possible of the original structure."
The environmental cleanup phase is expected to be completed by the end of May. Anaheim-based Miller Environmental contracted to perform the work for $246,326, well below the Metro's original engineer estimate of $405,000.Metro will go out for bids again once the environmental cleanup phase is completed and phase two, the actual restoring of the building, commences.
"The structure itself needs extensive remedial work without damaging the original building," Lee said of phase two. "And depending on how much of the original materials can be salvaged - I'm sure we can't salvage it all - we'll have to go out and get reasonable reproductions of the original material."
Daily News photo by Andy Holzman
Friend and artist J. Michael Walker recounts in a piece for the LA Times op-ed page what happened when he visited artist Willie Middlebrook in the hospital last month. Middlebrook, who died May 5, had suffered a stroke in his Inglewood studio. As he lay in the hospital bed, describing for Walker how his newest show should be hung at the Avenue 50 Gallery in Highland Park, the Trayvon Martin killing in Florida overwhelmed him. Sample:From his bed, Willie recounted how Trayvon's killing had triggered a flood of memories — at once historical and personal — of race-related hatred and violence: Emmett Till, tortured and tossed into the Tallahatchie River; Laura Nelson and her son Lawrence, lynched off an Oklahoma bridge; Martin Luther King Jr. and Medgar Evers, assassinated; the four girls killed in a Birmingham church bombing; and most recently, young Kendrec McDade, shot and killed by police in Pasadena.]]>Willie choked up as he spoke and wailed, just wailed — long, mournful moans that caused us to worry he might bring on another stroke.
He connected this violence to the everyday racism he had encountered in his life, racism that extended even to his enviable role as a well-known artist. Invited to attend a showing of his work in the South a few years back, he was met at the airport by a representative of the arts center, who was visibly shocked to discover that the artist was a large black man with dreadlocks, and who then canceled his speaking engagements and interviews, explained there would be no reception, handed him his honorarium and told him to enjoy the rest of his stay at the hotel, no hard feelings.
It's not the economy that led to the dramatically bigger state budget deficit, just poor estimating. Sacto Bee
The 140,000-member Los Angeles/Orange County Building and Construction Trades Council endorsed Rep. Brad Sherman over Rep. Howard Berman.
Though not widely reported, Monday's Coliseum Commission vote on USC was accompanied by harsh words toward Councilman Bernard Parks from former ally Zev Yaroslavsky. "Wow, the anger and mistrust," said Channel 5's Jim Nash. KTLA
The City Council votes today on an ordinance to prohibit tents as well as sleeping bags, bed rolls and hammocks in city parks, timed to go into effect before the City Hall park reopens from post-Occupy repairs. LAT
Two retired Los Angeles County sheriff's supervisors painted a violent picture of life inside Men's Central Jail, "recounting tales of deputies beating prisoners, ignoring bosses, forming cliques and engaging in off-duty misconduct." LAT, KPCC
The LAFD's bogus response time stats can be blamed on bad software, a report concluded. LAT, KPCC
The city's fourth annual gun buyback collected 1,673 firearms, including 53 assault weapons, and a rocket launcher. DN, KPCC
Deirdre Hussey, the former Executive Editor at the San Francisco Examiner, is the new deputy chief of staff for Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom and will oversee communications and social media and assist in public policy and strategy.
Larry Kramer, another former editor of the SF Examiner, was named president and publisher of USA Today. Romenesko
Paul Steiger, a former editor in the LA Times business section, will step down as ProPublica editor-in-chief at end of year. Steve Engelberg will replace him. NYT
The New Yorker relaunched its online book coverage and books blog, Page-Turner, "supported by Amazon Publishing." TNY
Eli Broad guests on KPCC's "Airtalk" at 11:30 to talk about his new book with Larry Mantle.
Santa Monica's new "smarter" parking meters that wipe away left-over time when a car pulls out are the topic on "Patt Morrison" at 1:30 p.m.
Steve Soboroff's typewriter collections, in audio and photos, by John Rabe on KPCC. Off-Ramp
It's "Ask Chris" the video, on the Lakewood origins of the Denny's chain. Los Angeles
Thursday's "Treasures of Los Angeles" luncheon at the Westin Bonaventure will honor
Y.H. Cho, Hugh Hefner, Andrew Meieran, the LA Galaxy, the Good News Girls and Marilyn Ziering, with City Council President Herb Wesson as master of ceremonies. Info
An accomplished race car driver at home in Texas and later out here, Sports Illustrated twice named him driver of the year in the 1950s. Health issues made him give up racing, but he held a Goodyear Racing Tire distributorship in Southern California and in 1961 opened the Shelby School of High Performance Driving at Riverside Raceway. It was in '62 in Santa Fe Springs that Carroll and fellow hotrodder Dean Moon built the first prototype of the two-seat sports car, the Cobra, that would shape the rest of his career. The Cobras were originally built at the first Shelby-American assembly shop, which opened that March at 1042 Princeton Drive in Venice. "The first Cobra, CSX 2000, is painted pearlescent yellow and shipped to the New York Auto Show for the Ford display," the timeline at CarrollShelby.com says for April '62. The Venice building, adjacent to Marina del Rey and apparently well known to those knowledgeable of car racing history, was recently sold.
Dave Kunz, the automotive reporter for KABC-TV and co-host of "The Car Show" on KPFK, emailed that in 1964, with Shelby's new GT350 version of the Ford Mustang moving into production, his Shelby-American company moved to a bigger facility on Imperial Highway, on the south side of LAX. "They remained there through 1967, when the Cobra was discontinued and Ford took over production of the Shelby Mustangs in Dearborn," Kunz says. "That site is where Korean Airlines’ cargo terminal now stands."
He adds that there are photos of both locations included in a new exhibit called "Speed Merchants of Venice" at the Wally Parks NHRA Museum in Pomona.
Readers send updates:
Martin Greenberger: "The Shelby factory on Imperial Highway was on the west side of Sepulveda. The KAL terminal is on the east side. The buildings were originally party of the North American Aviation B-25 production line during WWII."
Jim Thurman: "Shelby also had some notable on-track accomplishments in Southern California. He won featured races at Torrey Pines, Palm Springs and Riverside, and also raced at Pomona (Fairgrounds) and Santa Barbara. Shelby also had perhaps the worst accident of his career during the opening weekend of Riverside International Raceway. Practicing on September 21, 1957, the Maserati he was driving crashed into an earthen bank at turn 6. Shelby suffered many cuts and a badly broken nose. One report claimed he needed plastic surgery on his nose and required 72 stitches. He returned to racing and won at Riverside in the Spring of 1960. Shelby's Cobra made its racing debut at Riverside International Raceway on October 13, 1962, driven by Billy Krause, then of Inglewood."
Shelby and his Cobras on Priceton Drive, via YoVenice.com
The new lease would give USC the right to control the facility until 2054, when the Coliseum Commission is set to dissolve and the assets are to be transferred to the state. The university wants the state to extend the lease through 2111.]]>USC would put $70 million into stadium upgrades under the deal, and take control of the Coliseum's revenue. The university would also assume the $1-million annual rent payment to the state, which owns the land under the stadium and the companion Sports Arena. A state report in 2005 valued the complex at $240 million to $400 million.
Sports industry experts have said the lease gives USC all the benefits of owning the stadium without forcing it to buy the facility. Coliseum Commissioner Bernard C. Parks, an outspoken opponent of the lease and Monday's lone "no" vote, said the deal fails to account for all the money taxpayers have spent building and repairing the facility since it opened in June 1923.
"Most of it is exclusively to benefit the university," said Parks, who is also an L.A. City Councilman. "We should have negotiated this with more interest to the community, and in the interest of the taxpayers."
Sports notes: The Dodgers placed their top hitter, Matt Kemp, on the disabled list with a hamstring injury. And the Angels excused outfielder Torii Hunter for an undisclosed amount of time after the arrest of his son in Texas.
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