News: July 2009 Archives

Metrolink has announced the addition of extra trains leaving Union Station to accommodate the expected mass of ticketed and unticketed popele that will hit the streets of downtown tomorrow. A 2:15 p.m. train will leave on the Ventura line ending in Chatsworth, a 2:30 train on the Antelope Valley line will go only as far as the Via Princessa Station and a 3 p.m. Riverside Line train will stop at the Industry Station. Additionally, a few morning downtown-bound trains that experience high volumes of passengers will have extra cars added to them. Those include Orange County trains 603 and 605 and Antelope Valley Line trains 204 and 206.

A brush fire is burning this afternoon in the Angeles National Forest near Little Tujunga Road, according to e-mail and txt alerts. The wildfire has burned 20 acres, and at this time is reportedly about 20% contained. Because the fire falls under the Angeles National Forest (ANF) jurisdiction, the firefighting response requires mutual aid. LA County says there are about 100 firefighters along with air support on scene, and winds are moderate. Earlier today the LAFD worked quickly to put out a small brush fire in Elysian Park.

If you happen to live within seven miles of where you find yourself too inebriated to drive home today, you can take advantage of The Automobile Club of Southern California's Tipsy Tow service. AAA is offering "free towing in an attempt to keep drunken drivers off the road during the Fourth of July weekend," explains the Daily Breeze. "The Tipsy Tow program will be available to intoxicated drivers through midnight tonight in the 13 Southern California counties served by the Auto Club." If you're in need of a ride (or you are taking the keys out of a tipsy driver's hands) call 1-800- 400-4AAA (1-800-400-4222) and ask for a Tipsy Tow, and a tow truck will haul your car and your drunk ass (not passengers) home (within 7 miles).

Orange County based Johnny Rockets is launching two mobile food trucks, but you won't find them in California until later. The fast food American fare chain restaurant is taking the mobile truck model and doing it franchise style. "Each mini-burger truck will have a 22 foot kitchen and a 14 foot trailer. Each is designed to provide a condensed Johnny Rockets menu consisting of hamburgers, shakes, fries, hot dogs, chicken tenders and maybe even onion rings," explains the Orange County Register. The first truck will hit the streets in Ashburn, VA, home of the Washington Redskins training facility--Johnny Rocket's parent company RedZone Capital also owns the football team. The second truck will found in... the Middle East.

Long Beach Press-Telegram Sports Columnist Doug Krikorian witnessed a little girl with her family riding along Long Beach's new green bike lane in Belmont Shore. He was a bit taken aback, worried for her safety among the potentially deadly cars on the road. Others shared that sentiment: "This is an absolutely crazy concept," says Long Beach resident Bernie Selmanson. "Who's going to accept the responsibility when someone gets seriously hurt? The first time that happens - and it inevitably will - that'll be the end of cyclists sharing the right lane with motorists in Belmont Shore." With our without the green painted lane, the law will always allow for bicyclists to share the road. As heard many times about this and other projects, serious education on bicycle laws need to happen in communities and at the DMV level.

The Foothill Transit agency approved $259,141 of federal transit money for two automated wheel polishers from Australia, the Pasadena Star News found. Watchdogs are obviously not happy, but the agency said no U.S. companies placed a bid, that the polishers will "dramatically" reduce time spent on prepping buses, therefore streamlining operations, and $72,000 a year will be spent on polisher supplies from the U.S. "If we were to look at the highest-priorities for FTA, I don't know that this would fit," said Tom Schatz, president of Citizens Against Government Waste, to the paper. Foothill said most of the money they received went towards expanding programs.

Although the city is fighting a $534 million budget deficit, they will dip into special funds for extraordinary events such as Michael Jackson's memorial service planned for next Tuesday. The situation is reminiscent of when the LAPD spent $25,000 on an operation escorting Britney Spears from her home to the hospital, about 6 miles away. Of course, if private donors want to help out as some did with the Lakers parade, the city welcomes them with open arms.

We may be cut short by 80 miles for the train to Vegas, but the one to San Francisco is moving along. Yesterday the California High-Sped Rail Authority met electing Anaheim Mayor Curt Pringle as the chairman and approving the scope of projects that qualify for federal stimulus funds. “We have obtained environmental certification for the general statewide alignment and station locations for the 800-mile system designed to carry over 100 million people by year 2030, as well as secured California state bond proceeds resulting from passage of Proposition 1A," explained Pringle. "These are the kinds of things that position the state very competitively to secure matching federal funds through ARRA to begin construction on three key segments and to complete the preliminary engineering work on the linking segments.”

After days of speculation, it was finally confirmed yesterday evening: Michael Jackson's public memorial will be held Tuesday morning at the Staples Center. 11,000 tickets will be distributed for free via a process yet to be announced. It's safe to say, ticket or not, hundreds of thousands of people will show show up. It's going to be quite a day in downtown Los Angeles.

A state board voted today to hand out IOUs that will be repaid on October 2nd at the earliest. Although Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's staff wanted a repayment date to be set for as last as next year June with an 1.5% interest rate, staff with Controller John Chiang said people need their money and next year would be too late. Ultimately, the Pooled Money Investment Board sided with Chiang and put the interest rate at 3.75%. "In 1992, CA IOUs were at 5% interest," twittered John Myers from KQED, noting that it will be interesting to see if people buy and sell IOUs hoping to make a profit. Wells Fargo and Bank of America have said they're willing to accept IOUs before July 10th. $140 million in IOUs will be sent to people expecting income tax returns. A full list of where IOUs will be going is here.

A transformer in a distributing station tripped this morning de-energizing some circuits causing some 6,000 customers to lose power in the Hancock Park/La Brea/South Hollywood area this morning around 7:40 a.m., according to an LADWP spokesperson. By 9:40 a.m., LADWP crews restored power to 3,300 customers and were working to 100% restoration. Kudos to the department for their first time use of Twitter to update real-time alerts on the situation. You can follow them at @LADWP.

In her inaugural speech as the City Controller, Wendy Greuel vowed to continue former Controller Laura Chick's quest to legally audit--financially or performance-wise--the offices of the Mayor, City Attorney and City Councilmembmers. Chick had tried to audit former City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo's office, but he balked and the matter went to court where Chick lost. “If there is any question about this, I shall take this issue to you, the voters of the city of Los Angeles,” Greuel said yesterday. If you follow city politics, answer this question: if she fills the role just like Laura Chick did for the past eight years, will we be soon calling her Mayor Greuel?

Unemployment increased from May to June, but only by one-tenth of a point, or 467,000 lost jobs, a 26-year high. Here's the breakdown: Professional and business services slashed 118,000 jobs, more than double the 48,000 cut in May. Manufacturers cut 136,000, down from 156,000. Construction companies got rid of 79,000 jobs, up from 48,000 the previous month. Retailers eliminated 21,000, up from 17,600. Financial activities cut 27,000, following 30,000 in May. The government cut 52,000 jobs, up from 10,000 the previous month. Leisure and hospitality cut 18,000 jobs, erasing a gain of the same size in May. One of the few industries adding jobs: education and health services, which added 34,000 positions last month and 47,000 in May." Statewide, unemployment numbers have not been calcuated--in May, it was 11.5%.

A new fiscal year means a new Metro Board chair at the helms of L.A. County public transportation. Meet Glendale City Councilman Ara Najarian, who has served the city since 2005 and once as the rotating Mayor from 2007 to 2008. “As the new Board Chair, I look forward to providing the leadership necessary to enhance transportation options throughout the region,” Najarian said in a statement. “This next year will be both challenging and rewarding as we move the agency through difficult financial times while at the same time, begin implementing transportation improvement projects voted by the public with the passage of Measure R, the half-cent sales tax initiative.” Damien Newton at StreetsblogLA notes that Najarian could be a plus for the pedestrian and bicycle communities.

Kat Odell just started her new gig as Editor of Eater LA a couple weeks ago, a nice change of pace for readers since Lesley Balla left the position in December. Then yesterday, she got some high exposure along with a downtown restaurant that became the focus of a post based on an anonymous tip. The Must Bar was using generic foods and charging high prices, the tipster asserted, adding possible health code violations. The LA Times' Daily Dish blog quickly jumped on to the story, interviewing the owners and finding that their thinking about legal action. But Ben Sheffner at Copyrights & Campaigns notes that the law is on Odell's side for the most part. For us, really, all this does is make us want to go support and check out The Must at least once to decide for ourselves. Time for a drink?

Shots broke out this morning at Family Dental Care around 10:38 a.m. this morning in Simi Valley. Exactly an hour later, the suspect shooter surrendered to police, but not before killing one, critically injuring three and leaving another with minor wounds. No word yet on the motive.

Oscar- and Emmy-winning actor Karl Malden, best known as Detective Lt. Mike Stone on the '70s TV series The Streets of San Francisco, has died of natural causes at the age of 97, Before entering television, "he won an Oscar for his portrayal of Blanche's earnest suitor Mitch in the 1951 adaptation of A Streetcar Named Desire (he'd previously played the part on Broadway), and received another nod for his role as streetwise Father Barry in 1954's On The Waterfront. He followed with acclaimed turns in Baby Doll (1956), How the West Was Won (1962), Birdman of Alcatraz (1962), and Patton (1970)," reported Entertainment Weekly.

As the case against Prop 8 goes to Federal Court, the presiding judge has warned that he will likely not approve an injunction against Prop 8 during trial. Even gay marriage supporters such as Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Attorney General Jerry Brown have warned of the confusion and uncertainty if that were to happen and Prop 8 was found to be law. However, the judge wants to get the trial going soon. "To avoid the procedural and practical problems surrounding a preliminary injunction," U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker, "the court is inclined to proceed directly and expeditiously to the merits" of the case. Tomorrow will be the hearing for the preliminary injunction. Walker will also explore whether or not Prop 8 was "discriminatory intent" and whether the "sole motivation for Prop. 8 was moral disapproval of gays and lesbians," according to the LA Times.

House Rep Henry Waxman was admitted to the hospital yesterday for "routine testing" after he was not feeling well Tuesday, according to the Associated Press. However, this morning he's "feeling much better," a Cedars-Sinai Medical Center spokeswoman said. Waxman, 69, has held office since 1975, representing California's 30th District, which covers the Westside, Malibu, parts of the Valley and into Beverly Hills, West Hollywood and Hollywood. He's the chairman of the all-powerful House Energy and Commerce Committee and just finished pushing through major climate change legislation and has been gearing up for a summer of health care reform.

In an era when traveling by air has become less and less comfortable physically, and sometimes financially, passengers might take it upon themselves to do whatever they can to make themselves feel at home while on board. Maybe that was what was going through the mind of a US Airways passenger who opted to strip down to his birthday suit during a flight from North Carolina to Los Angeles last night. His actions "caused a diversion in more than one way," explains abc7.com, who were sent photos of the naked air traveler by a fellow passenger. Rather than fly all the way to L.A., however, "the flight had to be diverted to Albuquerque," when the 50-year-old stripped-down passenger "was restrained by two off-duty law enforcement officers, who happened to be onboard," then "was taken into custody by airport police, who called the FBI." For the passenger, whose name has not been released, his trip ended in New Mexico, while the flight he'd been on resumed its course and landed in Los Angeles.

Later this morning on the south steps of City Hall, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and eight city councilmembers will take their oaths of office. City Controller-elect Wendy Greuel
and City Attorney-elect Carmen Trutanich will also take part with Los Angeles Laker guard Derek Fisher serving as the Master of Ceremonies. Among the councilmembers, only one is new, but not new to politics. Paul Koretz will take the reigns of Council District 5 (parts of Westside, Bel Air, Sherman Oaks, Encino, Hollywood Hills, Hollywood, South Robertson) bringing his experience as a West Hollywood councilman and State Assemblymember. Others coming back for another city council term include Ed Reyes, Dennis Zine, Richard Alarcon, Jan Perry, Bill Rosendahl, Eric Garcetti and Janice Hahn.