Congressman Joe Baca

Liset Marquez, Staff Writer
Created: 05/18/2012 12:01:03 PM PDT

Rep. Joe Baca has introduced a bill to expedite the transfer of L.A./Ontario International Airport to local control.

The Transfer Control of Ontario Airport Now Act gives Los Angeles World Airports, which manages ONT, 60 days to turn over operations and ownership.

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LAX/Ontario International Airport Terminal (Courtesy: The P-E)

By Liset Marquez
Created: 05/16/2012 03:23:20 PM PDT

DIAMOND BAR – A lively discussion about LA/Ontario International Airport, which was supposed to focus on the medium-hub facility’s importance to the region’s economy, quickly turned into a debate on the merits of local control.

For more than an hour Wednesday, a five-member panel discussed a bevy of issues and circumstances facing ONT at the Four Corners Coalition 2012 Economic Summit at the Diamond Bar Center.

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Liset Márquez, Staff Writer
Created: 05/10/2012 09:11:14 AM PDT

ONTARIO – There are two entrenched sides in the L.A./Ontario International Airport ownership saga.

Ontario officials contend regaining local control of the airport could reverse a five-year trend that has seen passenger traffic increasingly drop.

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Liset Marquez, Staff Writer
Created: 05/07/2012 05:31:41 PM PDT

A marketing plan that was supposed to address the steep decline in passenger traffic at LA/Ontario International Airport was criticized by Los Angeles World Airports’ governing body Monday.

Los Angeles Board of Airport Commissioners, a seven-member civilian board that governs LAWA airports – such as ONT – and staff, including a longtime airline industry expert, discussed marketing strategies that could turn things around at the struggling airport.

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State Senator Bob Dutton

Liset Márquez, Staff Writer
Created: 05/03/2012 06:01:14 PM PDT

ONTARIO – A local senator may soon revive a bill aimed at helping this city gain autonomous control of the struggling LA/Ontario International Airport.

Sen. Bob Dutton, R-Rancho Cucamonga, created Senate Bill 446 in early 2011 in an effort to move discussions along between officials from Ontario and Los Angeles World Airports, which operates ONT under a 44-year joint-powers agreement.

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May 3, 2012 | 4:30 pm

Moving swiftly after a judge dismissed its case, the district attorney’s office refiled 24 perjury and voter-fraud charges late Thursday afternoon against Councilman Richard Alarcon and his wife, Flora Montes De Oca Alarcon.

The new charges make the same allegations as a case thrown out by Superior Court Judge Kathleen Kennedy on Thursday morning, accusing the Alarcons of lying about living in a house in Panorama City so that the councilman could run for his 7th District office.

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State Senator Bob Dutton (File Photo: The P-E)

By PE Politics
April 16, 2012 4:37 PM

State Sen. Bob Dutton stood up from his table at a recent economic forecast event to announce he planned to push ahead with his long-tabled bill that would create an Ontario International Airport authority made up of local leaders and facilitate the transfer of the Inland airport from the city of Los Angeles to that local authority.

It sounded imminent, but it’s more like a maybe.

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In a March 2 hearing in the case against Richard Alarcon, Deputy Dist. Atty. Jennifer Lentz Snyder was scolded for being ‘very dismissive’ of defense evidence submitted to a grand jury in 2010. A lawyer says Alarcon and his wife are ‘heartened’ by the turn of events. Councilman Richard Alarcon (Irfan Khan, Los Angeles Times / August 4, 2010)

By Catherine Saillant, Los Angeles Times
April 8, 2012, 8:51 p.m.

A high-profile perjury and voter fraud case against Los Angeles City Councilman Richard Alarcon and his wife could be in trouble based on a judge’s warning at a court hearing last month, transcripts show.

In the March 2 hearing, L.A. County Superior Court Judge Kathleen Kennedy sharply criticized the prosecution’s case and scolded Deputy Dist. Atty. Jennifer Lentz Snyder for being “very dismissive” of defense evidence submitted to a grand jury in 2010. Those jurors returned a 24-count felony indictment against the Alarcons, who have pleaded not guilty.

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L.A. NOW
Southern California — this just in
April 6, 2012 | 4:18 pm

Los Angeles’ top budget official raised the specter of bankruptcy on Friday in a sweeping report in which he called for new taxes, major pension reform and possibly layoffs.

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Developer Philip Anschutz is ready to write a check for a downtown stadium and a team if he can get a good deal with the NFL, his top executive says.

By Kate Linthicum and Sam Farmer, Los Angeles Times
April 2, 2012, 9:31 p.m.

Billionaire developer Philip Anschutz is committed to the idea of an NFL stadium in downtown Los Angeles and is willing to buy a team himself in order to make the deal work, his top executive said Monday.

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Los Angeles Dodgers owner Frank McCourt has announced an agreement Tuesday to sell the bankrupt team for $2 billion to a group that includes former Los Angeles Lakers Magic Johnson and former Atlanta Braves and Washington Nationals President Stan Kasten in Los Angeles on Tuesday, March 27, 2012. (Keith Birmingham/Staff Photographer)

By J.P. Hoornstra, Staff Writer
Posted: 03/27/2012 11:13:05 PM PDT
Updated: 03/28/2012 12:15:12 AM PDT

The road was rocky, but the end was Magic.

A saga for control of the Dodgers more than a year in the making culminated with Tuesday’s announcement that a group led by Magic Johnson had been selected to purchase the team from outgoing owner Frank McCourt.

The group, Guggenheim Baseball Management LLC, will acquire the team for $2 billion upon completion of the closing process, according to a joint statement released late Tuesday. The group includes Johnson, former Atlanta Braves and Washington Nationals president Stan Kasten, controlling partner Mark Walter, Mandalay Entertainment chief executive Peter Guber, Bobby Patton and Todd Boehly.

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Liset Marquez, Staff Writer
Created: 03/19/2012 05:19:46 PM PDT

ONTARIO – A Los Angeles City Council committee is set to discuss Ontario’s proposal to transfer control of LA/Ontario International Airport in a special meeting Tuesday morning.

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By Liset Marquez, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin
Created: 02/18/2012 04:36:28 PM PST

Ontario officials produced 600 flash drives bearing the slogan “SetONTariofree.com” on one side and “local control” on the other. The flash drive is packed with information on the city’s three-year campaign to take back ONT. City officials are in the process of giving away 600 of the USB flash drives to city managers and mayors throughout Southern California.

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Liset Marquez, Staff Writer
Created: 03/02/2012 02:42:46 PM PST

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has said he would not approve the sale of LA/Ontario International Airport until the real estate market bounces back. The mayor cited his financial obligation to taxpayers as a reason.

The mayor made the comments to City News Service.

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Liset Marquez, Staff Writer
Created: 02/22/2012 06:18:30 PM PST

View: Ontario’s response to financial request

ONTARIO – It was a figure that turned many heads – $250 million – which was what Ontario was willing to offer in hopes of gaining autonomy of LA/Ontario International Airport.

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By Liset Marquez, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin
Created: 02/18/2012 04:36:28 PM PST

Ontario’s efforts to wrest control of LA/Ontario International Airport from Los Angeles is gaining traction with a wave of cities throughout Southern California — spanning Laguna Niguel to Barstow and various cities in between, all passing resolutions backing the Inland Empire initiative.

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Liset Márquez, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin
Created: 02/13/2012 06:16:20 PM PST

Los Angeles World Airports says it wants to set the record straight about its management of the struggling LA/Ontario International Airport.

It is doing so through a newly launched page on its website called “LA/Ontario – The Facts.” The launch is an effort to debunk any misconceptions the public may have about the situation at ONT and LAWA’s management of it, said Gina Marie Lindsey during the Los Angeles Board of Airport Commissioners meeting on Monday.

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BY KIMBERLY PIERCEALL
STAFF WRITER
kpierceall@pe.com

Published: 24 January 2012 09:02 PM

The last time a Los Angeles councilman proposed taking a serious look at what it would take to transfer control of Ontario International Airport back to the city of Ontario, the Inland city didn’t have a serious proposal.

Now it does.

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LA/Ontario International Airport has has suffered a 32 percent decline in airline passengers since 2007. The airport had once been projected to server 30 million passengers by 2030. (Bulletin file photo)

Liset Márquez, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin
Created: 01/19/2012 09:15:13 AM PST

ONTARIO – The battle has begun in earnest.

Officials on both sides of the LA/Ontario International Airport dispute this week lashed out at each other for information they say is misleading and a misrepresentation.

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A survey from the city of Ontario asked LA voters what they knew about Ontario International Airport’s control. Los Angeles officials accuse the city of wanting to buy the airport at a “foreclosure” price

BY KIMBERLY PIERCEALL
STAFF WRITER
kpierceall@pe.com

Published: 17 January 2012 09:27 PM

The Los Angeles agency that owns and operates Ontario International Airport fired back Tuesday evening at leaders of the city of Ontario for offering to buy the airport back, “at a foreclosure price,” according to a statement from Los Angeles World Airports.

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Customers are few at ticket counters inside Terminal 4 at Ontario International Airport.

BY KIMBERLY PIERCEALL
STAFF WRITER
kpierceall@pe.com

Published: 21 November 2011 09:44 PM

Two Inland congressmen, fed up with the increasingly empty terminals at Ontario International Airport, on Monday asked U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood for help.

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BY KIMBERLY PIERCEALL
STAFF WRITER
kpierceall@pe.com

Published: 25 October 2011 03:54 PM

Traffic at Ontario International Airport dropped 5.15 percent in September compared to a year ago, according to statistics from Los Angeles World Airports. The airport had a total of 360,307 passengers use the airport last month.

Read the rest of this entry »

At the Los Angeles Convention Center on Tuesday, Gov. Jerry Brown announces a new law that will help speed AEG’s plan to build an NFL stadium downtown. (Katie Falkenberg / For the Los Angeles Times / September 27, 2011)

By Kate Linthicum and Sam Farmer, Los Angeles Times
September 28, 2011

Tim Leiweke, the chairman and chief executive of Anschutz Entertainment Group, stood in front of the West Hall of the Los Angeles Convention Center on Tuesday and told a roaring crowd: “Tear it down!”

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The city’s Fire and Police Pensions board has been advised that retiree healthcare benefits are guaranteed, prompting one employee group to ask that a cap on benefits be blocked from going into effect.

By David Zahniser, Los Angeles Times
September 28, 2011

The cornerstone of L.A. City Hall’s recent plan to fix its finances and rein in soaring retirement costs has been thrown into jeopardy.

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L.A. NOW
Southern California — this just in
September 7, 2011 | 4:29 pm

The state Assembly on Wednesday approved legislation to smooth the way for construction of a $1.2-billion football stadium in downtown Los Angeles after Democratic leaders promised it would provide thousands of jobs for an economically distressed city and would set new standards for reducing traffic and air pollution.

Read the rest of this entry »

Liset Marquez, Staff Writer
Created: 09/06/2011 03:45:17 PM PDT

ONTARIO – City officials have once again discussed the possibility of suing Los Angeles World Airports over control of LA/Ontario International Airport.

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California official says developer AEG probably overstated the financial boost. He speaks at a hearing on the fiscal effect and a possible bill to let AEG curtail legal challenges on environmental issues.

By David Zahniser, Los Angeles Times
August 27, 2011

The office that advises the California Legislature voiced doubts Friday about the level of economic benefit that would come from an NFL stadium in downtown Los Angeles, saying studies commissioned by the project’s developer “likely overstated” the financial boost it would deliver.

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The rating firm recently downgraded L.A.’s $7-billion investment portfolio to AA from AAA. ‘We have really lost faith in S&P’s judgment,’ Interim Treasurer Steve Ongele said.

By Kate Linthicum, Los Angeles Times
August 18, 2011

Los Angeles, which recently saw its $7-billion investment portfolio downgraded by Standard & Poor’s, has decided to no longer hire the rating company to rate the soundness of the city’s investments.

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By Art Marroquin Staff Writer
Created: 06/30/2011 08:25:49 PM PDT

For decades, Los Angeles World Airports had managed a relatively happy family, leading four airports under a single banner.

But that relationship has fractured in recent years amid allegations that LA/Ontario International Airport and two smaller siblings are neglected while all the attention is lavished on the agency’s breadwinner, Los Angeles International Airport.

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By Liset Márquez and Art Marroquin, Staff Writers
Created: 06/30/2011 08:22:12 PM PDT

ONTARIO – City officials are not fretting that their self-imposed deadline to regain control of LA/Ontario International Airport has passed without success.

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The Dodgers announce they have filed for bankruptcy protection for the financial good of the team. If the court approves interim financing, owner Frank McCourt could meet Thursday’s payroll and remain in control of the Dodgers through bankruptcy proceedings.

By Bill Shaikin
June 27, 2011, 7:24 a.m.

The Dodgers filed for bankruptcy protection Monday in a move that owner Frank McCourt said would stabilize the financial future of the team. The move also could extend the battle for ownership of the Dodgers well beyond this season.

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L.A. NOW
Southern California — this just in
June 24, 2011 | 9:13 pm

Despite the city’s ongoing fiscal woes, Los Angeles police officers will receive a considerable pay raise in the coming years, according to a tentative contract agreement reached Friday.

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LAWA will pay $1.66M to Aero Ontario cargo
Liset Marquez, Staff Writer
Created: 06/20/2011 08:39:06 PM PDT

A proposed settlement has been reached in a $5 million dispute over a planned cargo facility development at L.A./Ontario International Airport.

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Local agencies vie for a piece of the MWD action
Mediha Fejzagic DiMartino, Staff Writer
Posted: 06/18/2011 10:12:16 PM PDT

When it rains, it pours.

Now that California’s drought is officially over, local cities are scrambling to find money to buy part of 225,000 acre-feet of water unexpectedly up for sale by the Metropolitan Water District.

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By Art Marroquin Staff Writer
Posted: 06/17/2011 09:58:17 PM PDT

The Los Angeles City Council this week opposed state legislation that calls for establishing an Inland Empire-based authority to take control of LA/Ontario International Airport from the city of Los Angeles.

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By Dan Weikel, Los Angeles Times
June 16, 2011

The Los Angeles City Council on Wednesday decided to oppose state legislation that would shift control of L.A./Ontario International Airport from the city of L.A. to an authority made up of Inland Empire officials.

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Dutton

Liset Marquez, Staff Writer
Created: 05/31/2011 06:27:29 PM PDT

ONTARIO – A bill by Senate Republican Leader Bob Dutton of Rancho Cucamonga that would create a regional airport authority to oversee operations of LA/Ontario International Airport has been sent to the Assembly.

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Liset Marquez, Staff Writer
Created: 05/16/2011 09:21:29 PM PDT

Despite efforts by Los Angeles World Airports officials to squash discussions over the transfer of L.A./Ontario International Airport, Ontario Councilman Alan Wapner refuses to back down.

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Agency says city has to pay
Liset Marquez, Staff Writer
Created: 04/10/2011 08:08:51 PM PDT

ONTARIO – Control of L.A./Ontario International Airport could be the city’s for the right price, according to the head of the organization that runs it now.

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10:40 PM PDT on Tuesday, April 5, 2011

By KIMBERLY PIERCEALL
The Press-Enterprise

The city of Ontario offered no details on how it would solve two of Ontario International Airport’s biggest problems — rising costs to carriers and plummeting passenger traffic — according to its proposal to control the airport, obtained this week by The Press-Enterprise through the California Public Records Act.

Read the rest of this entry »

L.A. NOW
Southern California — this just in
April 1, 2011 | 2:33 pm

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has agreed to pay nearly $42,000 in fines to resolve state and city investigations into his practice of accepting tickets to sports events, concerts and pricey entertainment activities without reporting them as gifts, officials said Friday.

Read the rest of this entry »

Liset Marquez, Staff Writer
Created: 03/22/2011 04:05:51 PM PDT

LOS ANGELES – Despite her doubts about a timely transfer of LA/Ontario International Airport, Gina Marie Lindsey is optimistic about its future growth in passengers.

Speaking to the Board of Airport Commissioners on Monday, Lindsey, LAWA’s executive director, predicted a better year for the struggling airport, which hasn’t seen traffic levels so low since the 1980s.

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LAWA leader: Switching airport could take years
Liset Marquez, Staff Writer
Created: 03/21/2011 06:37:47 PM PDT

LOS ANGELES – Los Angeles World Airports Executive Director Gina Marie Lindsey expressed doubt Monday that there could be a timely transfer of control of LA/Ontario International airport.

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Liset Márquez, Staff Writer
Created: 03/09/2011 08:44:46 PM PST

A presentation recently released by Los Angeles World Airports is critical of the city of Ontario’s proposal to run LA/Ontario International Airport.

A PowerPoint presentation was released to the media for a Board of Airport Commissioners meeting on Monday, although discussion on the issue was postponed until March 21, LAWA officials said.

Read the rest of this entry »

By Ed Mendel
March 7, 2011

Los Angeles leads off Tuesday with a modest ballot measure aimed at curbing pension costs, which are threatening to take a big bite out of the budgets of California’s three major coastal cities.

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10 firms express interest in airport
Liset Marquez, Staff Writer
Created: 03/05/2011 02:52:00 PM PST

LOS ANGELES – Los Angeles World Airports officials will explore the idea of selling LA/Ontario International Airport.

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Liset Marquez, Staff Writer
Created: 03/01/2011 08:33:04 PM PST

LOS ANGELES – Several national and international firms have expressed interest in managing L.A./Ontario International Airport.

Officials at Los Angeles World Airports, which operates ONT, received 10 inquiries since the submission process opened Jan. 4 for “expressions of interest.”

Read the rest of this entry »

By PE Business
on February 17, 2011 10:27 AM

State Sen. Bob Dutton, R-Rancho Cucamonga, has introduced legislation that would transfer control of Ontario International Airport to a regional airport authority.

Read the rest of this entry »

By Jason Song Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
February 11, 2011, 6:35 p.m.

Los Angeles school officials unveiled a plan Friday to send preliminary layoff notices to more than 5,000 teachers and other staff members to help close a projected budget gap. This is the first time that the nation’s second-largest district will protect some campuses that previously had been hit hard by layoffs.

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By Patrick J. McDonnell, Los Angeles Times
February 9, 2011

The head of the entertainment conglomerate seeking to build a National Football League stadium in downtown Los Angeles shot back at skeptics Tuesday and reiterated his pledge that “not a penny” of taxpayer money would be spent on the mega-project.

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Thomas Himes, Staff Writer
Created: 02/05/2011 07:10:46 AM PST

Anschutz Entertainment Group President and CEO Tim Leiweke confidently proclaims he is the man who can bring the National Football League back to Los Angeles by building a state-of-the-art, multi-use stadium downtown, near Staples Center.

But despite Leiweke’s bravado, building a 64,000- to 72,000-seat stadium won’t come cheap. Leiweke knows that. And that may explain why the stadium’s reported price has more than doubled since November.

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Kevin Modesti, Staff Writer
Created: 02/01/2011 06:42:50 PM PST

Farmers Insurance may have tipped the scales in favor of a football stadium in downtown Los Angeles, dashing hopes of bringing a professional team to the edge of the Inland Valley.

Farmers Insurance has agreed to pay $700 million to attach its name to the proposed downtown stadium.

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City wants local control of airport
Liset Marquez, Staff Writer
Created: 01/10/2011 08:33:17 PM PST

LOS ANGELES – Los Angeles World Airports officials have begun the process of looking for private interests to possibly contract out the operation of LA/Ontario International Airport.

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Liset Marquez, Staff Writer
Posted: 01/09/2011 09:46:42 PM PST

ONTARIO – Los Angeles World Airports officials said they are not concerned about the city’s threat to sue as an option in their fight for L.A./Ontario International Airport.

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Liset Márquez, Staff Writer
Posted: 12/22/2010 03:32:39 PM PST

ONTARIO – The city appears ready to roll up its sleeves and do battle with Los Angeles over control of LA/Ontario International Airport.

The Ontario City Council this week gave City Manager Chris Hughes the option to sue Los Angeles for violation of its joint powers agreement over the airport.

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The ruling finds the law’s provision outlawing all dispensaries except those that registered under the moratorium unconstitutional. It leaves the city with little power to control pot shops. City officials vow to quickly address the concerns.

By John Hoeffel, Los Angeles Times
December 11, 2010

A judge handed Los Angeles a setback in its faltering drive to limit the number of medical marijuana dispensaries, granting a preliminary injunction on Friday that bars the city from enforcing key provisions in its controversial six-month-old ordinance.

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By Mitchell Landsberg, Los Angeles Times
November 7, 2010

Teachers unions have a well-deserved reputation for exercising political clout. With a nearly unparalleled ability to raise cash and organize their ranks, they have elected school boards, influenced legislation and helped set the public school agenda in major American cities for decades.

Now, that clout is in question.

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Villaraigosa

Officials will be required to list receipt of free tickets to concerts and sporting events they attend as part of their duties. The rules come amid outcry over Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s use of gift tickets.

By Patrick McGreevy, Los Angeles Times

September 18, 2010

Reporting from Sacramento —

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and other officials will have to disclose on the Internet their receipt of free tickets to concerts and sporting events that they attend as part of their ceremonial duties.

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Villaraigosa

Southern California — this just in
September 14, 2010 | 12:57 pm

The Los Angeles City Ethics Commission voted Tuesday to propose that high-level officials be barred from receiving free entry to concerts, sports events and other cultural activities if the donor of the ticket has business pending before the city.

On a 4-1 vote, the panel said such a ban should apply even in cases in which an elected official, city commissioner or high-level manager is performing a ceremonial duty, such as handing over a city proclamation.

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Maxine Waters

By Susan Crabtree – 09/03/10 04:56 PM ET

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) has established a legal defense fund to pay for any expenses associated with her full-throttled battle against ethics charges that she used her position to help a bank in which her husband owned stock.

Waters filed paperwork with the ethics committee to form the fund in late August. Her office did not comment about whether she had already held fundraisers to help fill the fund’s coffers or has events planned.

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L.A. NOW
Southern California — this just in
September 3, 2010 | 5:31 pm

A medical marijuana dispensary that Los Angeles was seeking to shut down under its three-month-old ordinance has won a court order allowing it to stay open, the first ruling from a local judge to favor one of the hundreds of stores affected by the new law.

On Thursday, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Anthony J. Mohr granted a temporary restraining order to allow DTPG to stay in business pending another hearing.

Read the rest of this entry »

11:02 PM PDT on Wednesday, September 1, 2010

By KIMBERLY PIERCEALL and DUG BEGLEY
The Press-Enterprise

PDF: SCAG letter to LAWA

Inland officials are not the only ones clamoring for Los Angeles to cede control of Ontario International Airport. The Southern California Association of Governments, spanning all of Southern California outside San Diego, is poised today to approve a letter urging Los Angeles to give up oversight of the airport.

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By Mitchell Landsberg, Los Angeles Times

August 19, 2010

The head of the American Federation of Teachers said Wednesday that she believed parents have a right to know how well their children’s teachers are rated on employee evaluations, but strongly disagreed with The Times’ decision to publish data showing how individual teachers may have influenced the standardized test scores of students.

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Two months after launching a probe of the mayor’s acceptance of free tickets, one of the panel’s members warns that the commission might actually be about to weaken, rather than strengthen, gift laws for elected officials.

By David Zahniser, Los Angeles Times

August 11, 2010

The Los Angeles City Ethics Commission failed Tuesday to approve a plan to tighten rules regulating free tickets received by elected officials, with one member warning that the panel is on the verge of weakening, not strengthening, its own gift laws.

Two months after the agency’s enforcement team opened an investigation into Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s practice of accepting free tickets to major sports and cultural events, commissioners found themselves at odds over a proposal to bar high-level officials from receiving any gift from companies with business pending before them.

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California Watch
A Project of the Center for Investigative Reporting
Money and Politics

California WatchBlog
August 9, 2010 | Chase Davis

New amendments up for debate by the Fair Political Practices Commission this week could soon prove fitting bookends to a recent flap involving Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who has accepted upward of $50,000 in free tickets to concerts and sporting events since 2005 without disclosing them as gifts on his conflict of interest reports.

Read the rest of this entry »

By Sam Quinones, Los Angeles Times
August 7, 2010

In response to the pay scandal roiling nearby Bell, Los Angeles City Controller Wendy Greuel unveiled a public database that she said made Los Angeles “the largest City in America to post a comprehensive list of city employee salaries.”

Although it is unusual for a public agency to reveal all employee incomes in database form — even though the information is public under California’s open records law — at least two private entities had previously posted similar city salary information. And both included each employee’s name, which Greuel’s list does not.

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LOS ANGELES, California, April 1, 2009 (ENS) – An demonstration project by the City of Los Angeles that turns biosolids into clean energy has been named as a semi-finalist for the 2009 Award for Innovations in American Government. The award is presented annually by the Ash Institute for Democratic Governance and Innovation at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

The Terminal Island Renewable Energy, or TIRE, project is the nation’s first aimed at producing green energy from a renewable bio-resource. The resource is biosolids – the organic materials remaining after treatment of domestic sewage at a wastewater treatment facility.

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Alarcon

L.A. NOW
Southern California — this just in
August 4, 2010 | 3:28 pm

A grand jury has handed down a 24-count felony indictment against Los Angeles City Councilman Richard Alarcon and his wife, Flora Montes de Oca, accusing them of perjury and voter fraud stemming from their assertion in that they lived in a home in Panorama City.

In an indictment unsealed Wednesday, the Los Angeles County Grand Jury said Alarcon and his wife falsely claimed that they lived in a house within Alarcon’s 7th Council District in the San Fernando Valley.

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City administrative officer reports that benefits for retired police, firefighters, DWP workers and other city employees could grow by $800 million in the next five years.

By David Zahniser, Los Angeles Times

August 3, 2010|7:35 p.m.

The cost of retirement benefits for Los Angeles city employees will grow by $800 million over the next five years, dramatically eroding the amount of money available for public services to taxpayers, according to a report issued Tuesday.

In a bleak assessment delivered to members of the City Council, City Administrative Officer Miguel Santana said pensions and health benefits for current and future retirees would jump from $1.4 billion next year to at least $2.2 billion in 2015.

Read the rest of this entry »

Art Marroquin, Staff Writer
Created: 08/02/2010 09:11:31 PM PDT

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa does not want to sell control of L.A./Ontario International Airport back to the city of Ontario, despite projections that passenger traffic won’t rebound to pre-recession levels until 2040, officials said Monday.

In the meantime, an outside consultant said officials with Los Angeles World Airports should consider a series of money-saving options, including consolidating airline operations into a single terminal at L.A./Ontario International.

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THE WEEK

Those are the two things Californians give their elected officials.

By Cathleen Decker, Los Angeles Times

July 18, 2010

Even a cursory look at events last week was enough to show the concept of “public service” being turned on its ear.

On Tuesday, the Los Angeles Ethics Commission took up the issue of elected officials getting freebie tickets, in the wake of investigations into Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s acceptance of tickets to dozens of sought-after events, sometimes from companies doing business with his administration.

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By Joel Fox
Editor of Fox & Hounds and President of the Small Business Action Committee
Wed, July 7th, 2010

Despite Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s success in negotiating some concessions from state unions on the pension front, heated action in the battle for pension reform is happening in California’s cities.

Yesterday, initiative petition signatures were filed in San Francisco to require thousands of city employees to contribute 9% of their salaries towards their pensions and health care plans. Currently, many (but not all) contribute nothing. The initiative would also boost public safety workers contributions to 10% of salaries. Police and firefighters just saw their contributions increased to 9% by voters in the June election.

Read the rest of this entry »

PolitiCal
On politics in the Golden State

June 29, 2010 | 2:43 pm

The Fair Political Practices Commission has begun an investigation to determine whether Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who has accepted thousands of dollars in free tickets to sporting events, awards shows and concerts, was engaging in his “ceremonial role or duty” when he accepted those gifts, officials said Tuesday.

Read the rest of this entry »

Villaraigosa

Can the mayor drive a hard bargain with entities like AEG, the Dodgers and the motion picture academy if he has also been the recipient of tickets?

By David Zahniser, Los Angeles Times

June 29, 2010

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has argued for weeks that his acceptance of free tickets to concerts, awards shows and athletic events is not subject to state gift disclosure law because his attendance is part of his official duties.

Yet beyond the thorny legal issues, Villaraigosa faces a political question: Can he drive a hard bargain with entities that do millions of dollars in business with the city if they are also giving him access to pricey entertainment?

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Villaraigosa

By David Zahniser and Phil Willon, Los Angeles Times

June 26, 2010

Lawyers for Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa named the Los Angeles Dodgers as the most frequent donor of his free tickets, but they struggled to identify many of the other entities that have let him appear at athletic and cultural events without paying, according to documents released Friday.

The 422 pages of records were assembled as part of Villaraigosa’s effort to show that he was performing official and ceremonial duties while going to concerts, sports events and award shows over the last five years. The mayor says that distinction relieved him from having to report the tickets as gifts under state law.

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