This past Sunday I dropped by a fundraiser event for Barack Obama in Koreatown, invited by my friend who works for Senator Mark Ridley-Thomas. Not really having kick-started my analysis of candidates out there yet, my only real knowledge of Obama, silly as it may sound, was that he is a) Democratic and therefore b) NOT BUSH. Hey, these are the important things. Although we had difficulty parking, and we basically had to cram... more ›

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 successors. more ›

The LA Times held its first publisher's forum last night with an impressive panel gathered to discuss homelessness. LA Times columnist Steve Lopez, Sheriff Lee Baca, Bobby Shriver (Mayor pro tem of Santa Monica), LAPD Chief William Bratton, Lamp Community head Casey Horan and Dr. Marvin Southard, Director of the LA County Department of Mental Health sat in directors chairs as LA Times Editorial Page Editor Andrés Martinez moderated. That's Martinez in the picture. But first we had a nice opening from the Mayor. more ›

While we only watched a little bit of the Grammys last night, all the local papers lede with the results of the Awards ceremony. The Daily News notes that Ray Charles was the night's big winner with 8 post-humous awards while The Los Angeles Times's Robert Hilburn wonders if the accolades aren't just a little too late for a man whose most creative and significant years were decades ago. more ›

Today's edition in the series, is about former 49ers and Browns executive Carmen Policy, and how he might be the savior LA has been looking for to bring us back a team. Come on! Enough already! How many more saviors can we take? Add Carmen Policy to a list that includes Jerry Jones, John Elway, Larry Ellison, Eli Broad, Ron Burkle, Ed Roski, Tim Leiweke, Casey Wasserman, Mike Ovitz, Michael Eisner, Peter O'Malley, Mark Ridley-Thomas, Al Davis (again), Ken Behring, Alex Spanos, John Moag, Jim Irsay, and countless others as people who supposedly could have brought the NFL back to LA at some point. It hasn't happened yet. more ›

Los Angeles Daily News reporter and columnist Rick Orlov is a familiar face at City Hall. He should be—he’s covered the City Hall beat since 1988 and has been writing about politics for over 30 years. more ›