http://www.laobserved.com/ Los Angeles media, politics, news and place Copyright 2012 Wed, 16 May 2012 11:58:40 -0800 http://www.movabletype.org/?v=4.25 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Mark Lacter: The Port of Los Angeles had a strong April, as we posted on Tuesday, but the Port of Long Beach continues to see declines. http://www.laobserved.com/biz/2012/05/tale_of_two_socal_po.php http://www.laobserved.com/biz/2012/05/tale_of_two_socal_po.php Ports Wed, 16 May 2012 12:59:04 -0800 Mark Lacter: I pretty much gave up on the Laker center - and on the Lakers in general - after he was caught on camera parking in handicap spaces. The latest infraction is much tamer, but it's telling. http://www.laobserved.com/biz/2012/05/havent_we_had_enough.php http://www.laobserved.com/biz/2012/05/havent_we_had_enough.php Sports Wed, 16 May 2012 12:26:17 -0800 Mark Lacter: The ads connect Skechers Shape-ups with great sex, and federal and state regulators say that's false advertising (ya think?). Manhattan Beach-based Skechers has agreed to a $40-million settlement with the Federal Trade Commission. http://www.laobserved.com/biz/2012/05/_the_above_tease_fro.php http://www.laobserved.com/biz/2012/05/_the_above_tease_fro.php Retail Wed, 16 May 2012 12:13:21 -0800 Kevin Roderick: Some Valley voters are getting campaign mail that shows Rep. Brad Sherman with his wife and three young children. The lucky ones also get his mother, apparently photo-shopped in to the same scene. http://www.laobserved.com/archive/2012/05/brad_sherman_mailers_come.php http://www.laobserved.com/archive/2012/05/brad_sherman_mailers_come.php Berman-Sherman Wed, 16 May 2012 11:58:40 -0800 Mark Lacter: All fierce development battles have to end sometime. This one, which has pitted real estate interests and environmental groups for decades, appears to be drawing to a close. http://www.laobserved.com/biz/2012/05/is_groundbreaking_in.php http://www.laobserved.com/biz/2012/05/is_groundbreaking_in.php Beyond Newhall Pass Wed, 16 May 2012 11:47:59 -0800 Mark Lacter: Still no sign of a definitive turnaround, but there's enough going on to get our attention. For all of Southern California, the April median price was up 3.6 percent from 2011, the first time prices rose year-over year in 16 months. http://www.laobserved.com/biz/2012/05/somewhat_improving_h.php http://www.laobserved.com/biz/2012/05/somewhat_improving_h.php Housing Wed, 16 May 2012 10:26:33 -0800 Veronique de Turenne: She's out there somewhere, honest. See?... http://www.laobserved.com/malibu/2012/05/and_now_a_moment_of_maisie.php http://www.laobserved.com/malibu/2012/05/and_now_a_moment_of_maisie.php Wed, 16 May 2012 09:57:07 -0800 Kevin Roderick: 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. Note: No time for the Morning Buzz today.]]> http://www.laobserved.com/archive/2012/05/cadiz_project_to_mine_moj.php http://www.laobserved.com/archive/2012/05/cadiz_project_to_mine_moj.php Water Wed, 16 May 2012 08:31:50 -0800 Mark Lacter: Facebook ups its IPO, L.A. City Council looks to avoid layoffs, cellphones in flight (oy), and Aaron Sorkin to adapt Walter Isaacson's Steve Jobs biography to the screen. http://www.laobserved.com/biz/2012/05/wednesday_morning_he_267.php http://www.laobserved.com/biz/2012/05/wednesday_morning_he_267.php Headlines Wed, 16 May 2012 06:52:57 -0800 Steve Greenberg: The latest cartoon by Steve Greenberg. His LA Sketchbook archive... http://www.laobserved.com/archive/2012/05/la_sketchbook_jerry_reape.php http://www.laobserved.com/archive/2012/05/la_sketchbook_jerry_reape.php LA Sketchbook Wed, 16 May 2012 00:09:10 -0800 Kevin Roderick: District Attorney Steve Cooley made his first public comments about his unit's investigation into possible corruption in the operation of county Assessor John Noguez. If anything, it sounds as if the investigation is white hot. http://www.laobserved.com/archive/2012/05/indictments_coming_in_ass.php http://www.laobserved.com/archive/2012/05/indictments_coming_in_ass.php Politics Tue, 15 May 2012 23:32:27 -0800 Kevin Roderick: 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. Post-game video http://www.laobserved.com/archive/2012/05/kings_take_a_2-0_series_l.php http://www.laobserved.com/archive/2012/05/kings_take_a_2-0_series_l.php Sports Tue, 15 May 2012 23:15:42 -0800 Kevin Roderick: http://www.laobserved.com/archive/2012/05/runaway_construction_in_l.php http://www.laobserved.com/archive/2012/05/runaway_construction_in_l.php Canyons Tue, 15 May 2012 22:05:54 -0800 Mark Lacter: The Dow falls another 63 points, dropping to a four-month low. There are the usual concerns about Europe and banks and housing, but the broader question is whether these down days are more than a temporary blip. http://www.laobserved.com/biz/2012/05/lat_magazine_to_fold.php http://www.laobserved.com/biz/2012/05/lat_magazine_to_fold.php Markets Tue, 15 May 2012 16:06:50 -0800 Kevin Roderick: The novelist, called in the New York Times obituary "Mexico’s elegant public intellectual and grand man of letters," died today in Mexico City. 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.'" http://www.laobserved.com/archive/2012/05/carlos_fuentes_dies_in_me.php http://www.laobserved.com/archive/2012/05/carlos_fuentes_dies_in_me.php Obituaries Tue, 15 May 2012 15:53:40 -0800 Kevin Roderick: 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. But now the magazine is gone again. Here's the memo from LAT president Kathy Thomson. http://www.laobserved.com/archive/2012/05/la_times_kills_the_sunday.php http://www.laobserved.com/archive/2012/05/la_times_kills_the_sunday.php Read the memo Tue, 15 May 2012 14:55:14 -0800 Jenny Burman: The Elysian Park Variations. The Do Not Enter sign, top, is on Ewing Street. I have been walking past it... http://www.laobserved.com/echopark/2012/05/roadsign_attractions.php http://www.laobserved.com/echopark/2012/05/roadsign_attractions.php Tue, 15 May 2012 13:09:10 -0800 Mark Lacter: Three days before the big IPO, this can't be great news - and yet, it's not that surprising. From the start, institutional investors have been hesitant about the offering because ad revenue, while substantial, does not match the company's likely valuation. http://www.laobserved.com/biz/2012/05/report_gm_to_stop_ad.php http://www.laobserved.com/biz/2012/05/report_gm_to_stop_ad.php Tech Tue, 15 May 2012 12:23:31 -0800 Mark Lacter: The Legislative Analyst's Office is projecting $2.1 billion in revenue collections over the next 13 months as a result of the Facebook IPO - a good portion of that coming from CEO Mark Zuckerberg. But the money, while significant, won't come close to paring the state's $16 billion deficit. It's a reminder that the very rich can't do it all. http://www.laobserved.com/biz/2012/05/the_revised_facebook.php http://www.laobserved.com/biz/2012/05/the_revised_facebook.php California Tue, 15 May 2012 10:30:41 -0800 Mark Lacter: You might recall a recent PolitiFact post that debunked the often-cited 85 percent figure. Well, Pew Research found that among 25-34 college grads, just 21 percent were living with their parents or at least had moved in temporarily. http://www.laobserved.com/biz/2012/05/the_fact-checking_or.php http://www.laobserved.com/biz/2012/05/the_fact-checking_or.php Stats Tue, 15 May 2012 09:56:30 -0800