State regulators came under fire from an angry crowd in East L.A. over a deal to let a controversial battery recycling plant in Vernon stay open. The Exide Technologies plant has been sending toxic emissions into the surrounding neighborhood for years. But now company officials are promising to clean up their act. Earlier this week, state regulators reached a deal with Exide. It allows the plant to keep operating in exchange for a promise by the company to spend about $8 million on new filters and other measures to reduce arsenic emissions. Activists are demanding the plant’s immediate closure….The L.A. County Board of Supervisors has voted to spend nearly $30 million on the first year of a three-year plan to prevent inmates from being abused by Sheriff’s deputies. The money will pay for new video cameras, expanding training and hiring more managers to oversee deputies working inside the jails. The move comes one year after a citizen’s commission found a pattern of inmate abuse by deputies in the jail system…L.A. School Board President Richard Vladovic is apologizing for violating the board’s so-called civility policy. The apology and admission came one day after the LAUSD made public two claims by employees accusing him of harassment. During yesterday’s Board meeting, Vladovic acknowledged he was guilty of bad behavior and said he is undergoing therapy for anger issues…
And Finally, you’ll be shelling out a few more bucks if you attend an event at the Hollywood Bowl next year. L.A. County Supervisors have approved price hikes of between one and five percent for Bowl seats. The price increases were requested by the Los Angeles Philharmonic, which operates the Bowl under a lease with the county.