Left: Senator Mark Ridley-Thomas, Right: City Councilman Benard Parks | Photos from their respective websites Yesterday's most contentious race was that for the seat for the 2nd District on the County Board of Supervisors. Considered a highly-paid and powerful lifetime position once you're seated, the race between California State Senator Mark Ridley-Thomas and LA City Councilman (former LAPD Chief), Bernard Parks was extremely heated. With a mostly South LA constituency, no candidate took the......

"Sister Cities" | Photo by Stephanie Asher via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr An update on yesterday's Harbor-Gateway shooting of a 6-year-old in a car. LAPD Chief Bratton announced: "We are very confident that we have the people who were involved in the actual shooting in custody." For the Lakers fans out there, LA City Councilman Bernard Parks declared today as "Derek Fisher Day." 1,817. That's the number of teacher layoffs so......

The general consensus about last night's one-hour Golden Globes "Awards Show" (quotation marks make for great sarcasm indicators, yes?): Less than stellar. The snorefest reading-of-the-nominees and "the winner is" naming was about as thrilling as the reading of a will, with Time's Richard Corliss declaring in his post-mortem that the reporters delivering the news "all sank into a sea of blandness and blondness." Local Latino politicians are endorsing Barack Obama in his Democratic Presidental......

While the rains yesterday helped alleviate some of the dryness under which southern California has been hampered, it did little to lessen the worries of those in fire-stricken areas. Streaming rivers of rain created mudslides and prompted officials to call for mass evacuations. Flash flood warnings remain in effect. But, hey, it's LA, and today was clear and beautiful. A woman who poisoned her Marine husband to buy a boob job with the insurance......

Los Angeles has over 180 official neighborhoods. These are those communities designated with the city sealed blue sign. However, if you tried to figure out your neighborhood and its official boundary, there's a good chance you are going to come upon a) conflicting information b) no information, or c) confusing information. Trust us, we know. We've been digging into official Los Angeles city neighborhoods with our Neighborhood Project and have yet to come upon......

At last night's 10th Annual Los Angeles Political Roast, a fundraiser for the American Diabetes Association, there was more than just poking fun at the no-nonsense East Coast talking LAPD Chief - William Bratton. The LA Times did not get into it (LAObserved did), but there was a little tiff between Mayor Villaraigosa and District Attorney, Steve Cooley. The DA took a swing at the Mayor's supposed marriage situation and later while Mayor V......

This March, we will vote again. All even-numbered Los Angeles council districts will be up for grabs. Well... sorta. A few will be running unopposed: CD2: Wendy Greuel CD4: Tom LaBonge CD12: Greig Smith Competition will be found in: CD6: Tony Cardenas CD8: Bernard Parks CD10: Herb Wesson CD14: José Huizar (a story about this race) And since Alex Padilla will resign his seat in CD7 to go to the State Senate, there will......

"The Coalition works to develop a safe, integrated, cost effective and environmentally sound public transportation system for the greater Los Angeles Region." The Transit Coalition's Weekly Transit eNewsletter is like putting a vegetarian in a tofu festival (err, a kid in a candy store). The eNewsletter, written like a blog with links throughout, feels interminable, yet exciting if you actually are a transit nerd. Highlights from yesterday's e-mail include Councilman Bernard Parks' fight to......

As of right now, we are en route to the Aqua Line (usually referred to as Expo Line) running between Downtown and Culver City. But city councilman Bernard Parks doesn't like it. And there are so many more choices: amber, copper, olive, plum, rose, sienna, gray, lemon, lime, pink, purple, salmon, sky, tan, teal and violet. What would you name it? The Amgen Tour of California bicycle race will finishline in Long Beach next......

Chief of Police, William Bratton, has been making headlines after a July 6th KTLA interview where he said that councilmen Dennis Zine (former police sergeant) and Bernard Parks (former Chief of police) didn't "know what the hell they're talking about" when both disagreed with Bratton's loosening of hiring standards when it comes to drug use in the "distant past." LAist asks you: Does it matter to you that there are some police officers in......

LA County Supervisor Yvonne Braithwaite Burke will retire after 40 years in politics. She was the first African-American woman elected to the California State Assembly. While there will be many heartfelt farewells for the 73-year-old, more interesting will be the race for her seat. The 5-member Board of Supervisors controls the pursestrings for the County and is vastly powerful; so far, Mark Ridley Thomas, Herb Wesson and Bernard Parks are rumored to be possible......

When the biggest splash your public relations firm makes involves getting itself itself in the headlines on charges of fraud, that’s probably not a good sign. Two former executives at the Fleishman-Hillard public relations firm, Douglas R. Dowie and John Stodder Jr., were accused yesterday of inflating the number of hours for which they charged the city for the firm’s work, and of working on projects for former mayor James Hahn on a contract......

Although we don't know who's winning the first round of the mayor's race -- which will likely end up with two finalists facing off on May 17 -- we do know that tonight two candidates will be celebrating. The three who don't make the finals may share their sadness with the people who worked hard to make their campaigns come to life. Who's sharing where the parties start? Richard Alarcon: Cha Cha Cha in Encino......

Much like the New England Patriots, Taft High School seems like a team of destiny. The two time national Academic Decathlon champions have won the district tournament and move one step closer to another national championship. Their win comes on the same day that Governor Schwarzenegger called for the breaking up of LAUSD while throwing his support in the Mayoral race to Bob Hertzberg. In other Mayoral news, former police chief and current councilman......

As promised, LAist looks at the other two “major” candidates for office. Walter Moore deserves (and will receive) his own post in due time. Bernard Parks Bernard Parks is indeed St. Bernard, the patron saint of Villaraigosa and Hertzberg. His sole purpose in the race at this point is to draw off votes from Hahn’s black base in order to make Hahn miss the runoff, or if he makes the runoff, to support the......

Editor's Note: Darren Faulk joins LAist to cover the politics beat. Ho, hum, you say? Keep reading... Contrary to popular belief, LA politics isn’t boring, it’s just really poorly covered. That’s somewhat a problem with the structural nature of news coverage. There’s quite a lot actually going on, and quite a lot of really interesting personalities, each with their quirks, closeted (and not-so-closeted) skeletons, and dreams of power. It’s just hard to fit all......

The first LA mayoral debate, hosted last night at the Museum of Tolerance, probably wasn’t on the radar of local voters. Many are still worn out from the long presidential campaign that ended just a month ago; others are simply wrapped up in the holidays. KNBC forged ahead, though, sponsoring and airing the debate, which featured the station’s Colleen Williams as moderator. She was joined by panelists Jose Ronstadt of KWHY, which also aired......

City Council approves the Hahn - Miscikowski "compromise," two-phased LAX expansion plan in a 12 – 3 vote. They’re already in it for $130 million, so what’s another $10,870,000,000? Organized labor – whose endorsements are heavily coveted come next year when eight City Council seats are up for grabs – throws its weight behind the plan. The Fourth Floor blog errs on the side of caution and professional self-preservation, bidding a bittersweet farewell following......

The Daily News and the Times are both reporting on the Federal investigation into allegedly corrupt City Hall bidding and contracting practices, a probe that has led prosecutors to subpoena Mayor James Hahn's emails. This development will add a juicy subplot to the political drama of the upcoming city primary election, which already features the much-hyped Bernard Parks vs. James Hahn Cage Match and a growing feeling among Valley voters that the DWP hornswaggled......

Rick Orlov, the Dean of City Hall reporters, levels with Mayor Hahn in his Daily News column. His message? Between the nascent police scandals, political controversies, and a tough field of rivals, it looks as if Jimmy's got a tough row to hoe. Orlov outlines the substance of Hahn's political peril: ...he alienated two of his key areas of support. He forced Parks out as chief, angering many in the African-American community, and he lost......

Will he or won't he? City Hall watchers are breathlessly waiting for Councilmember Antonio Villaraigosa to electrify the race for Mayor by entering the ring for a rematch with Mayor Hahn. The Times reports he's getting close. Local media aficionado Kevin Roderick chimes in at L.A. Observed, noting Antonio's hints that his decision would come soon (in between flashes of his trademark smile). Over at Change L.A., Bob Hertzberg continues to enjoy financial success......