As of July 1, patrons of the Original Pantry restaurant in Downtown Los Angeles have been asked to pay for a cup of coffee with their breakfasts for the firs time in the cafe's 87-year history. Now the cuppa joe runs 50 cents, says the L.A. Times, a price change "ordered by the Original Pantry's current owner, former L.A. Mayor Richard Riordan, to offset increased food costs." more ›

Former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan turned heads last week with his scathing review of the city's financial status and continued his opinions over the weekend with LA Times columnist Patt Morrison. Of note were his thoughts on police and bringing football to the region. more ›

On Wednesday, former Mayor Richard Riordan released a scathing op-ed in the Wall Street Journal explaining why Los Angeles was on the brink of bankruptcy and what the city should do to fix it. The problem with L.A., Riordan said, was pension reform and new employee hires. more ›

In the Wall Street Journal yesterday, former Mayor Richard Riordan and a president of a local investment advisory firm said Los Angeles is on the brink of Bankruptcy. That's not a surprising claim, but the two lay out why they think this and a how-to to fix it. They say the problems are related to two numbers: 8% and 5,000. more ›

The campaign for Chris Essel for Council District 2 has been gearing up for a big announcement this morning, but the LA Times scooped away what the press conference was supposed to announce later this morning. “In both the private and public sectors, Christine Essel has proven that she has the skills and the commitment to get the job done,” Riordan will say, according to a statement obtained by the Times. Essel has served Los Angeles as a mayoral appointee on several difference occasions. She was on the board of the Community Redevelopment Agency during the Bradley and Riordan administrations and on the Board of Airport Commissioners under Villaraigosa as well as the California Film Commission and the California Workforce Investment Board. more ›

Richard Riordan, who was Los Angeles' Republican Mayor from 1993–2001, has endorsed Barack Obama over John McCain in the presidential race. “When I was mayor I had dealings with McCain where I didn’t respect him,” he said to CBS per California Faultline. “I think [Obama is] a much more open person. He’s young, he has more energy, more electricity.” Obama was in Beverly Hills last night for a fundraiser. more ›

We interviewed Mike Davidson, CEO of Newsvine, at the EconSM conference at the Beverly Hilton today. We discussed everything from how anyone can make a cit-journalism hit on Newsvine (and take 90% of the revenues), to the details of the 13-month-old Web site's re-launch this week to Davidson's longing for the now-shuttered Mort's Deli in Pacific Palisades, where he grew up. This interview is not rudely cut-off, despite the distraction of the pool area below.... more ›

LAist thinks the Rose Bowl renovation plan is a good one for the city of Pasadena. It's important to remember Pasadena is not debating building a football stadium. The Rose Bowl is there and not going anywhere. The question is how to ensure the economic viability of a facility that loses $2 million a year. more ›

Before we get into what happened around here last week, we want to welcome Chris and Miwa, our two newest contributors. Chris watches lots of different things and has his own site. Miwa has the most interesting posts about our local environment. This week was all about the animals. more ›

An anonymous source queued up at LAX Terminal One witnessed a little political theater Thursday. Ex-mayor Richard Riordan ducked around a barricade through a staff entrance in an attempt to cut ahead of 500 people who were patiently waiting at a security checkpoint. Presumably, Riordan thought that airport employees would recognize him. They didn't. He was chewed out by Southwest security and sent outside to the back of the line. People end-running up escalators and around security have been known, of course, to shut airports down in the recent past. Still, although we never mind seeing politicians taken down a notch, we can't help finding ourselves bemused and somewhat saddened that the man who only a few years ago was running a joint like LAX can't even make it now through the side door. It's certainly a different world from the one Dick came up in. Shame, though, that the film crew from A&E's Airline wasn't readily on hand to document everyone's humiliation (including security's, when they finally figured out who they'd been yelling at.) Can anyone imagine this happening to Rudy Giuliani at JFK? more ›

LAist would like to localize a few rules on their list: more ›

Richard Riordan, showing all the kindness and compassion that Angelinos remember in our former mayor, has apologized for a rather tasteless joke he made last Thursday. A young girl visiting with State Education Secretary Riordan during an appearance in Santa Barbara asked our former leader if he knew that her name meant "Egyptian goddess." Riordan misunderstood the question and, thinking that she had asked him what her name meant, replied that it meant "stupid, dirty girl." more ›