This is an archival story that predates current editorial management.
This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click here.
Photo by Lush.i.ous via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr
Political Briefs and Dispatches from around California
TreePeople founder Andy Lipkis gets to throw around his ideas and dreams for Los Angeles and Southern California on the KQED California Report's last of a 7-part series on climate change and California's water. We've heard them before here on LAist, but here he is in audio format in Monday's report:
Senator Hillary Clinton chimed in while working the Potomac Primaries about the latest iffy Blue Cross practice that the LA Times disclosed this week about the health insurer asking doctors to look for medical conditions that could be used to cancel patients' insurance coverage. "[This is another] example of how insurance companies spend tens of billions of dollars a year figuring out how to avoid covering people with health insurance," the presidential candidate said.
Congressman Tom Lantos (D-San Mateo, San Francisco), who was the only survivor of the Holocaust to be elected to Congress, died Monday morning. The well respected Jackie Speier is said to be a "shoo-in" for Lantos' seat. Speier survived the Jonestown massacre in 1978 after being shot five times. At the time, she was a staffer for Congressman Leo Ryan, who died that day.
Yesterday, Governor Schwarzenegger announced the resignation of the California Highway Patrol top cop, Mike Brown. After three years on the job and vowing to restore order to the department, his own reign became a point of controversy with a high rate of officer suicides and contract purchasing mess-ups. Two Southern California legislators, Sen. Gloria Romero (D-Los Angeles), and Assemblywoman Bonnie Garcia (R-Cathedral City), "called repeatedly for his resignation," SacBee's Capitol Alert blog reported. Brown was the CHP chief of the Southern Division in Los Angeles County before moving up to the top job.
Mexican President Felipe Calderón Hinojosa, First Lady Margarita Zavala and members of the Mexican delegation will be visiting Los Angeles today, having dinner with Mayor Villaraigosa tonight at The Getty House. Later this week, the Mayor and President will meet to discuss trade opportunities.
