County and Federal Probes Into City Contracting Practices; Student Government Bickering Leads to Shut Down at Occidental College; Workers' Compensation Reform Developments; Las Vegas
County and Federal Probes Into City Contracting Practices
Last week, two Port officials testified before the county grand jury, which is investigating contracting practices awarded by the City of Los Angeles. Concurrently, there is an ongoing federal investigation into the same topic. In addition, three Deputy Mayors have resigned from Mayor Hahn’s office recently. What is going on? Joining Larry is Howard Fine, Staff Reporter for the Los Angeles Business Journal.
Student Government Bickering Leads to Shut Down at Occidental College
In a rare move last week, Occidental College president Ted Mitchell suspended the college’s student government and postponed student elections because of what campus officials called “personal disputes and nasty allegations” launched at the college staff and students by different factions within student government. Larry Mantle discusses the situation with students and takes listener phone calls.
Workers' Compensation Reform Developments
Governor Schwarzenegger and top lawmakers appear to be close to reaching a deal in workers’ compensation reform. They have been tackling the major questions of dispute resolution, disability evaluation, and choice of physician. Marc Lifsher, staff writer for the LA Times, joins Larry from Sacramento.
Las Vegas
Journalist Marc Cooper decided to forgo reporting on the war in Iraq to examine, instead, the pull that Las Vegas has always had on him. He spent a couple of years researching everything from the development of the Strip to the poor parts of Sin City to Mormons, strippers, union organizers, priests and the Las Vegas City Hall. Marc Cooper joins Host Larry Mantle to discuss his new book, The Last Honest Place in America: In Search of Paradise and Perdition in the New Las Vegas (Nation Books).
Marc Cooper will appear at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books on April 24th.