Recently, the campaign to elect Carmen Trutanich for District Attorney released a press release, trumpeting the fact that 725,000 people had watched his campaign video YouTube. This huge number raised red flags (just for the purposes of comparison, note that Steve Cooley won his spot at the DA after receiving 573,236 votes in 2000, according to the county registrar-recorder). more ›

City attorney Carmen 'Nuch' Trutanich, who said he wasn't interested in seeking higher office during his 2009 campaign, has officially thrown his hat in the ring by announcing that he would run for District Attorney. more ›

Demi Moore's "people" want us to think the actress was suffering from exhaustion when her friend called 9-1-1 Monday, and now TMZ reports that Los Angeles City Attorney Carmen Trutanich is requesting any drug references be redacted from the audio recording of the call when it is released to the public. more ›

A full ban of medical marijuana dispensaries operating in the City of Los Angeles is one step closer to happening today after the City Council Public Safety Committee forwarded a draft ordinance prepared by City Attorney Carmen Trutanich's office to the full City Council, reports City News Service. more ›

In a preliminary vote taken today, the Los Angeles City Council has voted 11-1 in favor of an ordinance put forth that would require actors in adult films wear condoms. Adherence to the ordinance would be a condition of film companies receiving filming permits. more ›

Should adult performers be made to wear condoms in their films? The decision is going to be in your hands come June, after a signature-gathering effort secured the initiative a spot on the June ballot. more ›

The office of City Attorney Carmen Trutanich is considering filing a civil suit against Occupy L.A. protesters. Protesters could find themselves on the hook for damage to city property, the costs of remediation and clean-up, lost business opportunities and the loss of film permits. more ›

The city attorney's office is feeling abused. On Friday, it recommended that 46 of the 292 Occupy L.A. protesters who were charged with resisting arrest during the raid on City Hall earlier this week be barred from protesting at City Hall again, according to CBS Los Angeles. more ›

Los Angeles City Attorney Carmen Trutanich sought an injunction against the tagging crew known as the "Metro Transit Assassins" in 2010, and today his offices have announced that a judge has "has rejected a challenge" to the injunction. more ›

City Controller Wendy Greuel is working hard to stamp out counterfeiters, whose fake DVDs, CDs, and clothes glut the streets of Los Angeles and represent theft from hardworking Angelenos, explains a press release issued by her office regarding "Operation Chimney Sweep," the crack down by the Los Angeles Anti-Piracy Task Force hailed as "the largest raid on counterfeit goods in Los Angeles history." more ›

The L.A. City Council is considering putting a special tax on medical marijuana collectives, however the voters will have the final say. Today the Council is expected to be presented with the City Attorney's recently issued report on the tax measure, and they are being recommended to adopt the resolution and have the proposition put on the March 8th, 2011 ballot. more ›

Bicyclists in Los Angeles could soon be the beneficiaries of increased protection in the form of a new ordinance. The City Council is expected to take up a recommendation today from the Transportation and Public Safety Committee requesting "the City Attorney to prepare and present an ordinance making it a civil violation of the Los Angeles Municipal Code, including a fine of up to $1,000, for anyone to harass, threaten, or assault a bicyclist," according to today's Council agenda. more ›

So, does marijuana impair driving? That's the question City Attorney Carmen Trutanich wants to answer in his crusade against Prop 19, the November ballot initiative that seeks to legalize and tax marijuana in California. This week, Trutanich and the LAPD invited LA Times columnist Steve Lopez and... more ›

Not surprisingly, the process to award lucrative retail and food and beverage concessions contracts has been both drawn out and political. Loyalties, lobbyists, and complex economic and political ties have surfaced, and the battle continues. more ›

Lonnie Franklin, Jr., considered to be the "Grim Sleeper" serial killer, was arrested in the vicinity of a billboard erected to aid in his capture. Now the electronic billboards--updated to laud local law enforcement for their work on making the arrest--are caught in a crossfire of opinions about their role in the community. more ›

Nearly a year after the costly public funeral for Michael Jackson the costs incurred by the city of Los Angeles will be paid back, AEG and the Jackson Estate announced today. The issue last Summer became a controversy: Los Angeles was dealing with (and still is) a depleting budget and had just shelled out over a million dollars -- permits, street closures and mostly a boat load of police -- for an international event that AEG eventually turned into a movie. more ›

Have you noticed any new supergraphics around town? How about walls that usually carry supergraphics that are now blank. LAist reader Josh this morning took the above photo and asked "for as long as I can remember there's been an ad for Apple's latest iDevice covered the north face of this building. Is this the latest casuality in the supergraphic showdown?" more ›

City Attorney Carmen Trutanich and other public safety officials gathered yesterday to announce a plan to create an injunction in Skid Row to curb drug dealing in the area. "The single biggest criminal threat facing this area is the open and notorious drug dealing," explained Trutanich at a press conference yesterday in Gladys Park, where protestors from the L.A. Community Action Network surrounded him, chanting loudly against the proposal. more ›

City Attorney Carmen "Nuch" Trutanich today wrote a lengthy response to a lawsuit challenging the city's recent medical marijuana ordinance. It begins as such: "In response to civil lawsuits filed against shops illegally selling and distributing marijuana in Los Angeles, the advocacy group Americans for Safe Access recently claimed that the City Attorney's Office was misreading California law and should dismiss these actions. I respectfully disagree. These lawsuits are based upon the plain language, spirit and intention of these public health and safety laws. More importantly, these actions do not prevent or interfere in any way with a patient's right to obtain medical marijuana from lawful collectives or other means allowed under existing law." He goes on to cite case law and suggests voters expand the law to cover the sale of medical marijuana. more ›

As warned to the L.A. City Council by advocates during public meetings over the last year, lawsuits would be filed if an ordinance limiting dispensaries was approved. Now that an ordinance has been approved--it is expected to take effect on March 14th--advocates today filed a lawsuit on behalf of two dispensaries, reports the LA Times. more ›

10 percent of the 1,000 city hall employees to be laid off in a current budget saving proposal are city attorneys. It's safe to say, like any employee with a threat to the job, City Attorney Carmen Trutanich is not thrilled. So at last night's meeting of the Budget and Finance Committee, Chief Deputy City Attorney Bill Carter read a poignant statement on how losing city attorneys means costly unintended consequences. "Our office does not create liability, other departments do," he said. A portion of his statement is below: more ›

One has to wonder that if politics are involved with a current mid-year budget report, expected to be offiically released this afternoon, that in part examines 1,000 city hall layoffs as a budget solution. The City Attorney Office could see 100 members of his office go while the Mayor and City Council offices see a zero reduction and the City Attorney himself is ready to fight it, according to the LA Times. more ›

Love him or hate him, newly elected City Attorney Carmen Trutanich has definitely made a mark. He beat out Villaraigosa ally, former Councilman Jack Weiss, and quickly started rocking the boat--first with bringing up "criminal aspects" about the Michael Jackson memorial service (later being a bully to AEG) and most recently, his controversial proposals for medical marijuana dispensaries (during his inauguration, he did state he was "not here to win a popularity contest."). more ›

The elected City Controller has no authority to audit fellow politicians, namely the offices of the Mayor, City Attorney and 15 City Councilmembers, according a judge's ruling today. The issue comes out of a battle between the former Controller--Laura Chick--and former Attorney--Rocky Delgadillo. Current Controller Wendy Greuel believes the judge misinterpreted the law and plans to appeal. In part, city laws states that the Controller has the power to "exercise a general supervision over the accounts of all offices, departments, boards and employees of the city charged in any manner with the receipt, collection or disbursement of the money of the city." more ›

The people of Los Angeles and L.A. County have elected themselves a hot mess. District Attorney Steve Cooley and City Attorney Carmen Trutanich--both elected by the public--believe most all medical marijuana dispensaries are illegal. That's because their interpretation of state law is that marijuana cannot be just sold to those with licenses, but distributed to members of a nonprofit collective of people who carry licenses. more ›

This is local government at its finest, folks. Last year when then-City Countroller Laura Chick tried to audit then-City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo, a lawsuit against Chick was brought forth. At issue? Chick wanted to audit the City Attorney's workers compensation program, but Delgadillo balked, throwing a lawsuit in the way. More broadly, the question being asked in the lawsuit, does the elected City Controller have the power to audit another elected official? more ›

And the War of Words over use of taxpayer money for the Michael Jackson memorial continues.... “If going after your money is being a bully, then I’m a bully; I have no problem doing that,” City Attorney Carmen Trutanich said in speech to members of the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce at City Hall. “We wasted a lot of dough on the Michael Jackson memorial. We wasted a lot of money." more ›

In response recent promises of strict medical marijuana enforcement from City Attorney Carmen Trutanich and District Attorney Steve Cooley, the Marijuana Policy Project quickly hired an an independent firm to poll L.A. County voters on the issue. No surprises here, 74 percent support the California's medical marijuana law with 54 percent in support of marijuana being legalized for all, just the way Governor Schwarzenegger wants it. more ›