Wednesday, March 19, 2008

NEWS WIRE for 3/19/08: All The News That's Fit To Link (Spotlight - Las Lomas

Las Lomas project decision looming
With a $20 million investment on the line, the Las Lomas Land Co. won the first round Tuesday in a fight to keep its proposed 5,553-home mini-city near Santa Clarita moving forward.

If anyone has been the public face of the Las Lomas housing project, a controversial plan to build 5,500 homes in north Los Angeles County, it is Hillary Norton Orozco.

Bratton sitting on SWAT findings
LAPD Chief William Bratton refused Tuesday to divulge findings of an independent report that calls for changes in the department's elite SWAT team, including altering the unit's selection process to allow women to join for the first time.

Field thins for Núñez Assembly seat
What was billed as a three-way surrogate struggle for the Assembly between Latino political powerhouses has thinned to two candidates, as a top aide to Sen. Gil Cedillo is dropping out of the race. And rumors swirled of the field thinning even further.
A $19-million program would seek to cut pollution by persuading shippers to burn cleaner fuel near the coast.

The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach on Tuesday unveiled a $19-million plan to persuade shippers to burn cleaner fuel when vessels are near the California coast, a move expected to slash local air pollution by 11%.
Ordinarily I don't get carsick, but Zev Yaroslavsky was behind the wheel, and the L.A. County supervisor was in a lather as he zoomed from one neighborhood to another.

ALL-YOU-CAN-DOWNLOAD: APPLE talking to labels about unlimited music;
The near collapse of investment bank Bear Stearns, and the wave of layoffs it threatens, could mean hard times ahead for an already-worrisome New York City economy.

City Council Meeting - Tuesday - Mar 18, 2008

It's tough out there for day laborers as jobs dwindle with the slumping economy. The workers outside a Home Depot in north San Bernardino say fewer contractors and homeowners have been driving up looking for gardeners, plumbers, painters and carpenters.
Proposals to increase the Department of Water and Power's electricity and water rates were forwarded to the Los Angeles City Council Monday without recommendations.
Amid opposition from neighborhood council activists and lingering concerns about DWP management, two City Council committees declined to vote Monday on whether to support the utility's proposal to raise water and power rates.

ZumaTimes.com:
One link for all ZD sites: ZumaTube, LA Daily Blog, Strategy Update and all ZD links.