Photo by Susan Catherine via LAist Featured Photos on Flickr Earl Ofari Hutchinson, author, blogger and president of the Los Angeles Urban Policy Roundtable was the man behind the dream of the 40-hour murder moratorium that Los Angeles County and City put into place this past weekend. He defends his idea in the LA Times, the very same paper, who in an editorial, lambasted the proposal: In its editorial, "A moment for Martin Luther......

The courts once again sided with the Bush administration in its warrantless spy tapping program. This time, the liberal 9th Circuit Court of Appeals refused to rule against the government in its handling of the war on terror. Somewhere, Abbie Hoffman is crying. Following an incident at Cal State Fullerton, in which nooses appeared on a clothesline at an anti-hate rally, civil rights leaders are calling for a federal investigation. College officials quickly took......

Today in Traffic: The Gilroy Dispatch came south for Thanksgiving and took record of the trip in the ride; new lamps in Hollywood; Brad Sherman got a little money for the Valley's traffic goals last week; and, a future with a west side subway is still a possibility. Tookie Watch: Michael Ackley takes issue with the media. Earl Ofari Hutchinson writes his 4th or 5th editorial in a week urging clemency. - Franklin Avenue......

Local gang activity doesn't make the papers much anymore but the Crips and Bloods are still here. Maybe we've just grown accustomed to gang warfare as a part of our daily lives. Maybe we've just gotten good at hiding the problem. Maybe it's now just a part of our culture. That doesn't stop us from wondering about what Laura Bush is going to do as our newly appointed gang czar to deal with the......

Today, we as a nation celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Or do we? In a commentary by Earl Ofari Hutchinson in yesterday's Los Angeles Times, it was noted that nearly 40% of state and local public agencies remain open over MLK Day. Less than 30% of businesses give their workers the day off. "By contrast," Hutchinson writes, "about half of U.S. firms give their employees a day off on Presidents Day — after......