MASSIVE LA City News UPDATE

Be sure to hit "refresh" or click LA Daily Blog link to read original blog posts by Zuma Dogg. The links below are stories across the internet relating to LA City that I liked. Couldn't edit this post any more than this without losing all formatting, so you get extra. City Attorney Speaks On Alleged FBI Investigation from KNBC.com Video He just LOOKS guilty!

	4:28 PM (25 minutes ago) L.A. County board mulls hiring hospital inspector from News by editor@dailynews.com (The Associated Press) The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors is considering hiring an independent inspector to monitor the county's troubled hospitals and clinics.
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	4:28 PM (25 minutes ago) L.A. neighborhood councils may see gains from News by editor@dailynews.com (Rick Orlov, Staff Writer) Neighborhood councils got another step closer Tuesday to being able to put specific items like fixing potholes directly on City Council agendas rather than having to convince a council member to put it on for them.
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	4:27 PM (27 minutes ago) California stands to lose big as U.S. highway funds near exit ramp from *Los Angeles* Business News - View *Los Angeles* Local News California may lose up to $930 million in federal highway funds if Congress does not replenish the federal Highway Trust Fund.
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	4:27 PM (27 minutes ago) NAKED CITY, a daily news report from Ron Kaye L.A. by Ron Kaye The truth comes out about who owns L.A. -- Phil Anschutz, who did you think? How's this for an idea: Let's sell off signage rights for giant electronic billboards on public property throughout the city and subsidize some massive developments? Shame on you if you didn't already know that Phil Anschutz is the Denver billionaire who made a down payment on buyiing L.A. -- and City Hall -- when he built the Staples Center with subsidies from the public. Now while reaping the rewards of hundreds of millions of dollars in additional subsidies to the LA Live project nearby, Anschutz's AEG global sports and entertainment empire is coming cash in hand before the City Council to seek exclusive rights to put up more than 50,000 square feet of billboard and flashing electronic signs. Can you imagine it: Giant, ever-changing electronic billboards distracting freeway drivers 24 hours a day, defacing the architect's design for the convention center -- the pink elephant that has eaten the city treasury to make up for its huge losses.. For two million bucks a year plus a percentage of the revenue on some of the signs? How much would City Hall be worth? The DWP building? The parks? The Hollywood Sign? Griffith Park? And the money could be used to hire more cops. You can trust the mayor's word on that even though he says he's unfamiliar with the details of the Convention Center proposal. "You know, the L.A. Times supported LA Live. Virtually every business in the downtown area supported LA Live because it's going to bring tourism, new hotels, new restaurants and jobs to the city of Los Angeles," Villaraigosa told the Times. "I can tell you, it's not about political power, it's about the economic contribution they make to the city. OK then, we know we can take his word for it as a true Republican who believes what's good for downtown business is good for L.A.
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	4:21 PM (33 minutes ago) Found in LA: Goats in Downtown! from LAist: *Los Angeles* News, Food, Arts & Events by Lindsay William-Ross If you happened to see some serious goat-on-grass action Monday at 4th and Hill Streets in Downtown, your eyes were not deceiving you. There were, indeed, 100 goats put there deliberately--not as some Fraternity prank--to help clear the lot of overgrowth. LAist Featured Photos contributor Jonathan Alcorn (aka Sundogg) grabbed this great goat shot for us, and explains (via the LA Times): Sep 09, 2008 - Los Angeles, California, USA - A herd of goats has been hired by the Los Angeles Community Redevelopment Agency to clear away thick weeds on a steep slope at the corner of 4th and Hill streets, next to the Angels Flight. Agency officials said the goats were cheaper and more environmentally friendly than a human brush clearing crew with gas powered weed whackers. Downtown office workers and other passersby gather to watch the goats eating on the slope. It comes down to pure economics; renting the goats costs $3,000, whereas renting people would cost around $7, 500. The goats are expected to chow down on the hillside for ten days, but don't go near them--they are covered in poison oak (and surrounded by an electrified fence). Once the hillside is cleared it will become "the site of a third mixed-use California Plaza tower."
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	4:20 PM (33 minutes ago) LA County Spending $3M To Ease Jail Overcrowding from CBS 2 - KCAL 9 - Los Angeles - Southern California - LA Breaking News, Weather, Traffic, Sports Nearly $3 million is being spent on electronic monitoring devices so more nonviolent offenders can serve home detention and help ease crowding in Los Angeles County jails. The idea is to keep offenders in jail longer. About 350 of the county's nearly 20,000 jail inmates are currently serving sentences at home under electronic monitoring.
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	4:19 PM (35 minutes ago) Council Orders Nutrition Labels For Large Chain Restaurants from knbc.com - Local News Large chain restaurants will have to provide nutritional information on menus and menu boards under a plan approved Wednesday by the Los Angeles City Council.
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	4:03 PM (50 minutes ago) Mexico's Slim owns 6 percent of New York Times from Reuters: Business News NEW YORK (Reuters) - Mexican telecommunications tycoon and billionaire Carlos Slim has bought a 6.4 percent stake in The New York Times Co, the newspaper publisher said on Wednesday.
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	4:03 PM (51 minutes ago) High-speed rail plan a key ballot measure from SF Gate: *San* Francisco *Chronicle* by mcabanatuan@sfchronicle.com (Michael Cabanatuan) Californians will decide in November whether to make a hefty down payment on a flashy new ride that's swift, sleek and already popular in Europe and Asia. Proposition 1A on the Nov. 4 ballot would authorize the sale of $9.95 billion in bonds to help start...
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	4:02 PM (52 minutes ago) L.A. council approves controversial signs for convention center from Los Angeles Times - Top News The deal with AEG will bring in at least $2 million a year. Separate hearings will be held on the firm's request for 50,000 square feet of billboards and electronic displays. The Los Angeles City Council on Wednesday voted overwhelmingly to sell signage rights for the L.A. Convention Center to the owner of Staples Center, a move that could allow dozens of billboards and video displays to sprout on a public facility along one of the city's busiest freeway interchanges.
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	4:02 PM (52 minutes ago) Did Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa Just Turn LA City Hall Into A HUGE Money Laundering Facility? from LA Daily Blog.com by Zuma Dogg Alright, some folks will think this sounds outrageous, but someone mentioned it to me, and it ain't the first time. So the time is now, to post what is being discussed by members of the public regarding MAYOR ANTONIO VILLARAIGOSA and his new "youth development" programs. You see, the mayor just happened to conveniently consolidate all of the gang intervention money out of the hands of others, and into HIS hands at City Hall. And now, the mayor is in charge of dolling out these hundreds of millions of dollars to his short list of 64 connected non-profits who applied. Some people feel that since these are all non-profit programs (like the new Legacy L.A.) and all the existing programs... THERE IS NO TRANSPARENCY AND NO ACCOUNTABILITY. In other words, when one of these non-profits are handed over money by the mayor half-a-million dollars at a time, or whatever...ONCE IT GOES OUT THE DOOR AND INTO THE NON-PROFIT...there is no way knowing what happens to it, where it goes, what it is used for. And what does the mayor know about gang prevention and intervention? Is he an expert? This is outrageous!!! OF COURSE HE WANTS A NEW PROPERTY TAX FOR GANG PREVENTION AND YOUTH DEVELOPMENT!!! He gets to hand it right over to his crony non-profits and the money goes straight into a black hole of non-transparency. Some are saying that the mayor has just turned City Hall into the world's biggest money laundering ring. I bet the Federal Government is onto this guy. The story of the Mayor of Los Angeles would make for a really good movie...kinda like, "Scarface". Maybe Al Pacino can play Villaraigosa.
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	4:00 PM (54 minutes ago) L.A. falls in line to count calories from News by editor@dailynews.com (Rick Orlov and Susan Abram, Staff Writers) Mirroring a recent Los Angeles County proposal to post calorie information at fast-food and chain restaurants, the city now wants to let you know how much damage you're doing to your waistline when you pound that Big Mac or Whopper.
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	3:59 PM (54 minutes ago) City OKs deal for billboards at L.A. center from News by editor@dailynews.com (Kerry Cavanaugh, Staff Writer) Freeway drivers passing the Los Angeles Convention Center would get an eyeful under a business deal approved by the City Council on Wednesday that allows new electronic billboards on the center.
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	3:57 PM (57 minutes ago) Villaraigosa's calendar reviewed from LA Observed: Remember that name by Kevin Roderick During his last campaign for mayor, Antonio Villaraigosa slammed Jim Hahn for not releasing his appointments calendar. Now the LA Weekly has pored over Villaraigosa's calendar for a ten-week period this spring and summer. The analysis forms the basis for a swipe at the mayor as a politician more focused on his career and hob-nobbing with elites than on city business or paying heed to the "broad middle class," a new Weekly concern represented in the story by the concerns of ex-Daily News editor turned activist Ron Kaye. From the piece by Patrick Range McDonald: Los Angeles' mayor has not yet produced any results in improving schools, addressing greatly worsening traffic, keeping kids from joining gangs, cleaning the city's infamously filthy sidewalks, halting patently illegal clutter like 10-story building ads and thousands of illicitly constructed billboards, or controlling his spending in a time of family belt-tightening.... Yet his latest work schedule, from May 21 to August 1, which L.A. Weekly obtained from his office through a California Public Records Act request, shows the man has a peculiar way of using that time — which works out to 13 hours, not 16 or 18 per day. The document reveals that the mayor spends most of his working day flying in and out of town, holding staged press conferences, attending banquets, ceremonies and parties, raising political money and providing face time to high-powered special interest groups in a position to help his political advancement. [skip] The mayor's schedule — which was provided to the Weekly with fat chunks blacked out, despite his 2005 campaign vow to establish a new kind of "transparent" administration — clearly shows a man who's infinitely more preoccupied with his career and his press coverage than with shaking up the ossified City Hall bureaucracy or fighting threats to the quality of life in L.A. The period also included trips to Israel, Miami, Hawaii, London, New York City, Chicago, Oakland, San Diego, Washington, D.C., and San Francisco, as well as at least fourteen fundraisers. Interesting quote from Eli Broad, asked his opinion of Villaraigosa's working style: "Let's put it this way. Would I be more comfortable with a mayor like Richard Daley or Mike Bloomberg? The answer is yes. But Antonio doesn't rank at the bottom of the list either." And at LA CityBeat: Marc Haefele analyzes whatever happened to the Children's Museum, once "one of the city’s cultural gemstones...now it’s dark and empty."
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	3:50 PM (1 hour ago) NAKED CITY, a daily news report from Ron Kaye L.A. by Ron Kaye Antonio Exposed: "The all-about-me-mayor: Antonio Villaraigosa's frenetic self-promotion" Stop reading this now and go to the L.A. Weekly and read Patrick Range McDonald's devastating takeout on how the mayor spends his time working for himself -- not the people. But if you're too busy to read a long article right this minute, here's the short take on how he spent the 900 "work" hours in his daily calendar from May 21 to Aug. 1: "804 hours, or 89 percent of his work schedule, on ceremonial/PR, travel, blacked-out activities, gap time, fund-raising, personal issues and undisclosed "security" issues. On direct city business -- such as signing legislation and meeting with city-department heads -- his schedule shows the mayor spent 11 percent of his time." Got it? He's not doing the job. At a time when the city is teetering on the brink, when communities across L.A. are seething with resentment over City Hall's neglect, disrespect and failure to address the problems, the mayor is running around the world inflating his ego -- and his campaign treasury -- and doesn't have the time to manage the city's business or the inclination to listen to the people. Critics like Jack Humphreville, Greg Nelson, Bill Ring and myself have a lot to say in the article but the one that matters most is Eli Broad: "I think he'll realize his political success in the future relies on the job he does with the city...Let's put it this way, Would I be more comfortable with a mayor like Richard Daley or Mike Bloomberg? The answer is yes." McDonald describes Villaraigosa as being "so focused on the glitzy trappings of the job, and so distant from the sometimes dreary work inside City Hall," he's unlike any other mayor in recent years. The result is this: "Los Angeles' mayor has not yet produced any results in improving schools, addressing greatly worsening traffic, keeping kids from joining gangs, cleaning the city's infamously filthy sidewalks, halting patently illegal clutter like 10-story building ads and thousands of illicitly constructed billboards, or controlling his spending in a time of family belt-tightening." So ask yourself why not a siingle politician or potential candidate with the money to take Villaraigosa down has challenged him. And if they don't have the courage to do it now, should you really consider them for office in two years or four years when the city will be that much worse off? Who needs a mayor when there's a hard-working City Council tackling the big issues: * Council votes 15-0 to ban smoking in farmer's markets. * Council votes 14-0 to require fast food chains to post calorie information. * Council votes 12-1 to increase visual blight with massive electronic signs on Convention Center (more on that later).
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	3:41 PM (1 hour ago) Survey: L.A. gets bad rep from tourists from Eyewitness News: #1 in Southern California The city of Los Angeles is getting a bad reputation from tourists.
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	3:39 PM (1 hour ago) Can Someone Notify Zuma Dogg When LOCAL Talk Radio Hosts Stop Talking About "Lipstick"? from LA Daily Blog.com by Zuma Dogg Can someone please notify Zuma Dogg when the LOCAL talk radio show hosts stop analyzing the comments about "lipstick" unless it is a fashion segment. We can get the take on "lipstick" politics during the national shows. And in case anyone didn't notice, by tuning into Los Angeles talk radio; we have some local elections coming up, too. And I can tell already, by the committment of local radio stations; Villaraiogsa and his agenda/measures/taxes/bonds/candidates are going to have a clean sweep. ZD would like to think he can single-mouthedly defeat Villaraioga's slate in the name of national security and public safety. But in reality, it would take another show like Mr. KABC (Mark Germain) used to have, that allowed for daily discussion of local election issues.
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	3:08 PM (1 hour ago) Is Mayor Villaraigosa boasting false crime stats? from Mayor Sam's Sister City - Home of Los Angeles Politics by editor@antoniowatch.com (Antonio Watch) Walter Moore wrote yesterday that LAPD — and by extension, Mayor Villaraigosa — are understating the city’s crime rate by using an inflated population estimate. When I saw the number — 4,220,260 — it looked suspicious so I decided to do some digging. I pulled population estimates for 2000 through... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
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	3:07 PM (1 hour ago) State Unemployment Fund Deep In Deficit from CBS 2 - KCAL 9 - Los Angeles - Southern California - LA Breaking News, Weather, Traffic, Sports California's program that pays benefits to the jobless is facing a severe money shortage and a huge backlog of unresolved appeals. The unemployment insurance fund is expected to have a deficit of more than a billion and a half dollars by the end of 2009.
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	3:06 PM (1 hour ago) City council OKs signage deal with AEG for L.A. Convention Center from *Los Angeles* Business News - View *Los Angeles* Local News The Los Angeles City Council has approved a deal that would allow AEG to sell advertising and put up electronic billboards at the Los Angeles Convention Center, according to media reports.
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	3:04 PM (1 hour ago) I think Los Angeles City Attorney Dion o'CONnel will be thinking twice before he opens up his DUMB mouth, when Zuma Dogg is Addressing the City! from LA Daily Blog.com by Zuma Dogg I have always liked Dion o'CONnel. He's a very endearing, lovable guy. And up until this week, we have had a relationship that I enjoy between a speaker and the City Attorney. (He'll answer questions, or find an answer for me. He'll clarify. He's a good guy.) BUT AT THIS POINT, I CAN'T LET MY PERSONAL FEELINGS GET IN THE WAY: I THINK DION AND GARCETTI THOUGHT THEY COULD RUN A TAG TEAM ON ME AND SWEEP ME UNDER THE RUG!!! I DO NOT THINK O'CONNELL EXPECTED THE TYPE OF "FEEDBACK" HE RECEIVED FROM CITY HALL. AND I DON'T THINK THEY THOUGHT I COULD PUSH BACK, LIKE THIS WITHOUT AN ATTORNEY! I don't like the constant interruptions when I am speaking. And having to walk on some illegal, bullshit tightrope you make me walk on! So keep your fucking mouth shut, Dion, unless it's a slam-fucking-dunk! THE PEOPLE OF LOS ANGELES HAVE JUST REVOKED YOUR DUMB/UN-INFORMED "DISCRETION!" So if you think you have "discretion" just keep your ass leaned back in your seat and keep your mouth shut! CAUSE THIS STILL AIN'T OVER...AND ALTHOUGH I TRULY DID ENJOY MY CONVERSATION WITH GARCETTI OVER ALL OF THIS.. He's full of fucking shit, too. I hope he was just trying to deflect accountability. But I think he'll be back to his old self (in a good way), and not putting his whole career on the line for the PEOPLE LIKE JACK WEISS WHO PUT HIM UP TO ALL OF THIS. [Left to his own devices, Eric knows the difference between when it's time to quiet me down; or remind me to be more specific...and when it's just some cowardly, intentional sissy-shit, the way JACK WEISS would like it. SO DION GETS HIS PASS REVOKED, because although other people are making him behave like a dumb/un-educated and un-informed a-hole; he is not standing up and taking charge and telling the people breathing down his neck that they just REALLY opened things up for a civil lawsuit. YOU CAN'T SPIN IT. THE DAMAGE IS DONE! SO NOW JUST MAKE SURE YOU DON'T MAKE IT WORSE FOR YOURSELVES! I'm not saying you cannot do your jobs; and ZD is not going to try to get away with shit, off topic, just cause you now have to really WATCH IT! I will be operating in the spirit of being on topic, and not trying to turn an item about "Wink Martendale Star of Walk of Fame" into a discussion about density. AND MAKE SURE YOU DON'T ACT LIKE A DUMB A-HOLE; FOLLOW THE LAW; AND TELL YOUR PEOPLE WHO ARE BREATHING DOWN YOUR NECKS TO FUCK OFF... THEY UNDERESTIMATED ZUMA DOGG, AND THEY ARE COWARDLY PUSSIES IN COMPARISON. IF THEY HAVE SOMETHING TO SAY, TELL THAT COWARD TO SAY IT TO ME IN CHAMBERS, THEMSELVES. THEY WON'T! BECAUSE THEY ARE COWARDS! THAT'S WHY THEY ARE HAVING YOU DO IT! Here's the real headline: Some guy off the street brings the city to it's knees to where they have to violate the U.S. Constitutionon a daily basis with a two minute speech. (What a weak house of cards your gameplan must be founded upon. ANOTHER SIGN OF A COWARD, LIKE MAYOR ANTONIO VILLARAIGOSA. THEY CAN ONLY ACCOMPLISH THE GOAL THROUGH DEICIT AND PROMISE-BREAKING, AND MONEY-LAUNDERING AND RACKETEERING!
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	Sep 10, 2008 (yesterday) City Council Meeting - Wednesday - Sep 10, 2008 from City of Los Angeles: CLK Council Meeting Internet View (Videos Feed) View Download File Original video source
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	Sep 10, 2008 (yesterday) L.A. council approves controversial signs for convention center from L.A. Times - California | Local News The deal with AEG will bring in at least $2 million a year. Separate hearings will be held on the firm's request for 50,000 square feet of billboards and electronic displays. The Los Angeles City Council on Wednesday voted overwhelmingly to sell signage rights for the L.A. Convention Center to the owner of Staples Center, a move that could allow dozens of billboards and video displays to sprout on a public facility along one of the city's busiest freeway interchanges.
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	Sep 9, 2008 (2 days ago) California Can't Pay Its Bills from LAist: *Los Angeles* News, Food, Arts & Events by Zach Behrens The LA Times has been running a great daily feature that is minimalist but lovely: "Late state budget: Day 71. California can't pay its bills. The fiscal year began July 1." This is the longest in state history that the budget has been this late. Due to the drama of this late budget, state prison guards threatened to recall Governor Schwarzenegger. The late budget is affecting individuals all around the state.
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	Sep 9, 2008 (2 days ago) California Chamber Opposes High Speed Rail from LAist: *Los Angeles* News, Food, Arts & Events by Zach Behrens The California Chamber of Commerce announced yesterday that they oppose Prop 1a, the November ballot initiative that would authorize a $9.95 billion bond to partially fund the route between Southern to Northern California. A trip from Los Angeles to San Francisco would be under three hours. "There are other projects that mitigate congestion that should be a high priority," chamber president Allan Zaremberg was quoted saying in the Sacramento Bee. Usually, the Chamber is consistent in endorsements with Governor Schwarzenegger, who supports the high speed rail bond.
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	Sep 9, 2008 (2 days ago) City Council Meeting - Tuesday - Sep 09, 2008 from City of Los Angeles: CLK Council Meeting Internet View (Videos Feed) View Download File Original video source