economy

Just a few more days before you go to the polls.  Let’s review, shall we?
We’re in the final stretch, so here’s some information you need to know about the candidates and propositions before you punch, pull or bubble-in that ballot.
KCRW’s Warren Olney, host of Which Way, LA? and To The Point joined us, as did KCRW reporter Saul Gonzalez, who’s been covering some of the campaigns …

This Tuesday is the Los Angeles general election. Thousands of paid canvassers have taken to the streets to get out the vote. And there have been lots of TV ads that have been increasingly negative.
Much of the money for these efforts isn’t actually coming from the campaigns. They’re coming from outside expenditure groups – PACs. They can pretty much say and do whatever they …

 
Campus threat. A 19-year-old student has been detained as a “person of interest” in connection with threats to Santa Monica College and East L.A. College and lockdowns have been lifted at the schools. 

Police got a call around 8 o’clock this morning from a man identifying himself as a student, saying he was going to bring an assault weapon to the schools and shoot up …

Governor’s budget. Gov. Jerry Brown’s latest budget proposal includes more money for schools, and less money for just about everything else. Even with state revenues surging, Brown’s revised budget trims $1.3 billion from the plan he presented in January.
Brown says there’s no guarantee the surge in tax revenue will last. And he says California’s finances remain unstable because of the federal sequester budget cuts …

Dealing with defiance. The L.A. Board of Education is due to vote tomorrow on a landmark resolution that would ban suspensions for what’s called “willful defiance.” The move comes amid a growing belief in some quarters that suspending students for disruptive behavior is counterproductive.
“Willful defiance” can involve anything from cursing at a teacher to incessant talking or failing to wear a school uniform. The …

Neck and neck. A new poll finds a virtual dead heat in the L.A. mayor’s race with less than two weeks to go before Election Day.
The results are good news for Wendy Greuel. The City Controller trailed in earlier surveys, but the new poll by the Pat Brown Institute at Cal State L.A. gives her a one-point lead over City Councilman Eric Garcetti – …

Green light for rail yard. Depending on whom you ask, the $500 million port railway yard that’s planned four miles from the docks will either solidify the local ports’ position as the key West Coast hub for international shippers and reduce pollution – or unnecessarily put tens of thousands of South Bay residents at risk of noxious emissions.
Despite objections from environmental groups and neighboring …

The peer-to-peer file sharing service BitTorrent is introducing a new gated system that could, in theory, allow studios and record labels to charge users for access to movies, music and shows. They’re calling it the BitTorrent Bundle.
“The Bundle format allows creators to require an action before users can download. That means creators can require a payment, a pay-what-you-want fee, or email registration, for example. …

Immigrant tally. A new study confirms that the national debate over immigration reform is as important in Los Angeles as anywhere in the country.
One in 10 adults in L.A. County either crossed the U.S. border illegally or overstayed their visa, according to a report by USC researchers. In some parts of Koreatown and South L.A. that number is 1 in 3.
The report by USC’s …

Remaking LACMA. The Los Angeles County Museum of Art will unveil a planned $650 million makeover next month that would require demolishing much of the current museum.
LACMA Director Michael Govan says a new design by Dutch architect Peter Zumthor – a Pritzker Prize winner – will redefine the encyclopedic museum for the 21st Century. To do that, the L.A. Times reports LACMA plans to …

Another week has passed in LA politics and the race for mayor is getting uglier between City Councilman Eric Garcetti and City Controller Wendy Greuel.
The runoff is Tuesday, May 21.
Both attacked each other’s integrity in Monday’s debate and now are running TV ads. Garcetti’s the newest entrant on the ‘boob tube’. (Can we even call it that anymore? There are no more tube TVs.)
But …

Actor Zach Braff wants to raise $2 million to make a sequel to his cult hit “Garden State.”
But instead of going to Hollywood producers or a studio with his idea, the star of the TV show “Scrubs” went directly to fans on the money-raising website Kickstarter.
Cash those fans can shell out for the forthcoming flick – “Wish I Was Here” – but for which …

Safe(r) at home. Foreclosures in California are way down. The improving economy and rising home prices are factors in the downturn. The real estate firm DataQuick says lenders are also struggling to adjust to a new state law known as the “Homeowner Bill of Rights.” During the first three months of the year, the number of defaults in the Golden State dropped by more …

Patient dumping. L.A. is investigating allegations that Nevada’s main psychiatric hospital has been busing indigent patients to California cities. L.A. County mental health officials say no patients from Nevada have been identified so far. But they plan to take a closer look. The Sacramento Bee has reported that more than 200 patients released from the Nevada facility were given one-way bus tickets to L.A. …

Conversion therapy. In San Francisco today, a federal appeals panel will hear arguments on a new state law that outlaws so-called “conversion therapy.” The treatment, which is aimed at making gay and lesbian teenager straight, has been dismissed as ineffective and dangerous by many mental health professionals. But critics say the ban violates the civil rights of practitioners and parents. Governor Jerry Brown signed …

Vigilance. Like cities from Washington, D.C., to London, Los Angeles is on high alert in the aftermath of the Boston Marathon bombings. Both the LAPD and the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department have opened emergency operation centers. From LAX and the ports to Dodger Stadium and Union Station, Southlanders can expect a heavy police presence today. Law enforcement officials say there’s no indication that Los …

Meningitis scare. The AIDS Healthcare Foundation is offering free antibiotic vaccines today at its pharmacies and offices in West Hollywood and Hollywood. A 33-year-old West Hollywood man died after attending an annual Easter weekend gathering of gay men in Palm Springs known as the White Party. Brad Shaad is believed to have contracted meningities from other men attending the event from New York City. …

Disney today confirmed it is laying off about 150 staff members at its movie studio. The cuts affect the studio’s marketing, home video and theatrical distribution divisions. Disney’s movie operation employs roughly 7,000 people.
The move comes just a week after Disney’s recently-acquired Lucasfilm subsidiary announced that its video game unit, LucasArts, would stop developing games. The cuts also come despite a high stock performance …

Day of activism. Marches, rallies, prayer vigils and voter registration drives are taking place up and down California and nationwide today as activists work to shape the immigration reform debate.  A major rally is also scheduled in Washington, D.C., where bipartisan groups in the House and Senate are putting the finishing touches on reform proposals. The activists want to make sure those proposals include …

Gov. Jerry Brown is heading to China this week to promote California to Chinese investors and expand our economic ties.
On the agenda for the six-day trip is the opening of a California trade and investment office in Shanghai, the first since the state closed its two Chinese trade offices a decade ago.
Brown and his entourage will also visit electric car-maker BYD in the southern …