The Calderon family is a powerful political clan in southeast Los Angeles County.
But the local dynasty is now under scrutiny after FBI raids on the Sacramento office of Democratic state Senator Ron Calderon of Montebello.
Last week Calderon told reporters, “My intention at this point is to do my job I was elected to do, attend my hearings, get my bills passed out of committee …

Last week, the Anaheim City Council rejected a motion that would’ve placed the issue of district voting on the ballot next year.
The issue is currently in the news because the ACLU is trying to force the matter via the courts.
The activists who say Anaheim’s current at-large electoral system is discriminatory toward Latino voters have an unlikely ally: Mayor Tom Tait. He’s a Republican who …

Investigators are still piecing together the details of Friday’s deadly shootings in Santa Monica that killed 5 people. Police shot and killed the gunman in the library of Santa Monica College; he died on campus.
The first incident happened at a house north of the college, but culminated at the school. And that fact has led law enforcement to not label what happened on Friday …

The San Onofre nuclear power plant has been offline for 16 months, ever since a radiation leak was discovered to be caused by unusual wear on the steam generator tubes.
The plant’s operator, Southern California Edison, has been lobbying the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to allow the plant to re-open at lower power for a trial period.
But after heavy opposition from activists and lawmakers, So Cal …

The overall death toll from yesterday’s violence in Santa Monica stands at five, including the suspected gunman. But a sixth person, a woman, is in grave condition at a hospital.
The Los Angeles Times has identified the gunman as John Zawahri, citing five law enforcement sources in Washington and Los Angeles.
The Times reports the gunman was apparently angry over his parents’ divorce and had some …

Southern California Edison announced today that it will abandon its push to restart the San Onofre nuclear power station in San Diego County near the Orange County line.
Ted Craver, the chairman and CEO of Edison International, SCE’s parent company, says the 44-year-old plant will permanently shut down because of uncertainty about when federal regulators would allow it to start producing electricity again.
“We have concluded that the …

Today marks the 45th anniversary of Robert F. Kennedy’s assassination at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles. He gave his final speech, about unity and change, that night.
It was the day following Kennedy’s victory in the California Democratic primary, on June 4, 1968. But just after midnight, he was shot by assassin Sirhan Sirhan. Kennedy died early on June 6 at the hospital.
The assassination …

A UCLA economic forecast out today predicts California will see some income growth over the next two years, despite a national recovery the authors of the report call “bad.”
The new UCLA Anderson Forecast says the strength of California’s economy lies in technology and knowledge-based industries, although construction has also rebounded in coastal markets.
But the report casts doubt on whether the economy – statewide or nationally …

The California Film Commission says it’s received a record number of applications for state tax credits this year. 380 applications were filed by movie and TV productions, an 18 percent increase over last year.
The state awards $100 million in tax credits for the fiscal year running from July 1, 2013, through June 30, 2014.
Thirty-one projects have been approved for 2013. Among those are 14 …

In entertainment journalism, there is perhaps no voice as widely-feared, and read, as Nikki Finke. She’s broken countless stories, made legions of enemies and few friends, and boasts of having ended the careers of many a Hollywood executive.
But as of today, a source is saying that she’s been fired as editor of Deadline Hollywood. Its owner Jay Penske isn’t clarifying her employment status, and …

Over the weekend, the organization Latino Health Access – or LHA – opened a community center and park in downtown Santa Ana. It’s green space, in a city that doesn’t have a whole lot of it.
LHA’s earned national coverage and awards for its efforts in training Latino immigrants to teach healthy living practices to their neighbors. It’s what’s called in the Latino community, a …

Our weekly film critic Joe Morgenstern is out today. Joining us instead is Mike Pesca. You hear him regularly as a National Desk correspondent for NPR. He’s also a panelist on Slate magazine’s weekly sports podcast “Hang Up and Listen.” And he reviews movies for Backstage.com.
Mike went out and saw a movie this afternoon for us – so the review is fresh! The movie …

Surfers and ocean lovers in general are gathering in Santa Monica on Saturday, June 1st to honor the life of a surfer who died young, but inspired a generation of surfers from diverse backgrounds. While a student at Santa Monica College, Nick Gabaldón perished in a surfing accident at the Malibu Pier in 1951, at the tragically young age of 24.
Gabaldón is Los Angeles’ …

Researchers at a Los Angeles County AIDS clinic say they’re being unfairly booted out of their space by the University of Southern California.
LA County’s Maternal, Child and Adolescent/Adult Center has offered care to HIV-infected people since 1988. It’s been operating out of the USC-owned Health Research Association building on Marengo Street, near where the 5 and 10 freeways intersect, since 1996.
The center is a …

The clock is ticking away for outgoing Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.
The mayor is on one last big mission for the next few days: Better trade with China. He’s overseas looking to seal up some trade deals with that country.
But here at home, the mayor also leaves with very little decided about his future.
Kevin Roderick from LA Observed joined KCRW’s Steve Chiotakis to discuss …

A recent Orange County Human Relations Commission report noted that hate crimes against Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) people are on the rise.
The report came out the same week that the Orange County Board of Supervisors decided to issue a proclamation in honor of Harvey Milk Day for the first time ever.
In this famously conservative county, it seems like the LGBT community is …

Details of California’s new health insurance exchange were announced today. Thirteen insurance agencies will offer a variety of plans, with about five million people eligible for coverage.
Some critics claim the exchange will lead to higher prices. But Peter Lee, Executive Director of Covered California, the state agency that has been created to manage the insurance exchange, says the plans will offer quality choices to …

City Councilman Eric Garcetti is the next mayor of Los Angeles, beating City Controller Wendy Greuel by 54 percent to 46 percent.
That’s pretty much exactly how the Center for the Study of Los Angeles at Loyola Marymount University called it last night at 8 pm, just as polls closed. Among their findings – Garcetti won 63 percent of the Latino vote, and 54 percent …

After a less-than-spectacular end to the season, the Los Angeles Clippers are dumping Coach Vinny Del Negro. Clippers owner Donald Sterling waited until almost three weeks after the season was over to tell Del Negro that he wasn’t getting a contract extension. The Clippers’ season ended with a loss to the Memphis Grizzlies in the first round of the NBA playoffs.
Del Negro guided the …

Musician Ray Manzarek, keyboard player of The Doors, died today in a hospital in Germany. He was 74.
Manzarek’s chance meeting with Jim Morrison at Venice Beach in 1965 led to the band’s formation.  Manzarek, a Chicago native, moved to Los Angeles to study film at UCLA.  He met Morrison on the Westwood campus while the future Doors frontman was briefly studying there.
“[Manzarek] was the …