 US
States
Los Angeles, California
LA
News
Looking for the other "LA" see: Louisiana
News
;-)
|
 /Los
Angeles
LA News:
LOS ANGELES CALIFORNIA NEWS:
20080729
 Homes
-  Nevada
-  Florida
- Phoenix
-  Arizona
- Los
Angeles - San
Diego - San
Francisco - California
- Florida
-  Michigan
-  Minnesota
-  Illinois
-  Ohio
-  Georgia
-  New
York - Seattle
-  Washington
-  Massachusetts
- Portland
-  Oregon
-  Colorado
-  Texas
-  North
Carolina
"Home
prices down 15.8% in past year, S&P says: Seven
of 20 cities tally monthly price gains in May, Case-Shiller data show."
... "Prices in 10 cities fell 16.9% in the past year." ... "Prices thus
are at the same levels as they were in the summer of 2004, which means
four years of appreciation have been effectively wiped out. Prices are
down 18.4% from peak levels seen two years ago." ... "Here's a list of
the 20 cities in the Case-Shiller index with the annual decline through
May: Las Vegas [Nevada], down 28.4%; Miami [Florida], down 28.3%; Phoenix
[Arizona], down 26.5%; Los Angeles [California], down 24.5%; San Diego
[California], down 23.2%; San Francisco [California], down 22.9%; Tampa
[Florida], down 20.2%; Detroit [Michigan], down 17.4%; Washington [DC],
down 15.4%; Minneapolis [Minnesota], down 14.8%; Chicago [Illinois], down
9.4%; Cleveland [Ohio], down 8%; Atlanta [Georgia], and New York [City,
New York], both down 7.9%; Seattle [Washington], down 6.3%; Boston [Massachusetts],
down 6.2%; Portland [Oregon], down 5.2%; Denver [Colorado], down 4.8%;
Dallas [Texas], down 3.1%; and Charlotte, N.C. [North Carolina], down 0.2%."
-By Rex Nutting -MarketWatch
20080414
-
 Corporate
-  Politics
- Illinois
- Los
Angeles - California
-  US
-  Global
- "Murdoch,
Zell Appointed to AP Board." ... "Rupert Murdoch
[owner of News Corporation/Fox] and Sam Zell, two media figures who led
major newspaper acquisitions in recent months, are among four new members
joining the board of directors of The Associated Press, it was announced
Monday at the news cooperative's annual meeting." ... "Murdoch completed
his acquisition of Dow Jones & Co. last December, adding The Wall Street
Journal to his global media conglomerate." ... "The same month, Zell took
control of Tribune Co. after leading a buyout that resulted in the publicly
traded company becoming private. The company owns the Chicago Tribune [Chicago,
Illinois], the Los Angeles Times [Los Angeles, California], nine other
daily newspapers and 23 television stations."
-AP via -HuffingtonPost.com
20080312
-
 John
McCain
- Corporate
- Politics
-  European
- Built
-  Planes
- US
-  Military
-  Government
-  Space
- Arizona
- Los
Angeles - California
- Texas
- 2008
Election - "McCain
Advisers Lobbied for Europeans to Win Air Force Tanker Deal."
... "A co-chairman of [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate
and Arizona] Senator John McCain’s presidential campaign and other top
campaign advisers and supporters were lobbyists for the European Aeronautic
Defense and Space Company, part of a group that beat out Boeing for a $35
billion contract to build aerial refueling tankers for the Air Force."
... "Boeing, which has filed an appeal with the Government Accountability
Office, is expected to focus at least in part on Mr. McCain’s role in the
deal, including letters that he sent urging the Defense Department, in
evaluating the tanker bids, not to consider the potential effects of a
separate United States-Airbus trade dispute." ... "That contract was won
by the European Aeronautic Defense and Space Company, known as EADS, the
corporate parent of Airbus, and Northrop Grumman, the military contractor
based in Los Angeles [California]." ... "Mr. McCain’s campaign co-chairman,
former Representative Thomas Loeffler, a Texas Republican, also runs a
lobbying firm, the Loeffler Group, which earned $220,000 working for EADS
in 2007. Mr. Loeffler was the McCain campaign national finance chairman
when his firm was hired to lobby for EADS." ... "Two other Loeffler executives
who were registered to lobby for EADS are now top campaign advisers for
Mr. McCain: Susan Nelson, the finance director, and William L. Ball III,
the former Navy secretary. Ms. Nelson and Mr. Ball left the lobbying firm
to join the campaign." ... "Another major money raiser for Mr. McCain,
Wayne Berman, who was named vice chairman of the campaign last year, also
worked for EADS through another lobbying firm, Ogilvy Government Relations,
where he is a partner. Ogilvy earned $240,000 from EADS in 2007." ... "Also
supporting Mr. McCain and lobbying on behalf of EADS was Kirk Blalock,
a national chairman of Young Professionals for McCain and a former aide
to [Republican] President Bush. Mr. Blalock’s lobbying firm, Fierce, Isakowitz
& Blalock, earned $320,000 from EADS in 2007, according to disclosure
forms required by Congress. " -By David
M. Herszenhorn with contributions by Michael Cooper and Steven R. Weisman
-NYTimes
20080307
-
John
McCain
-
 France
- European
Union - US
- Military
- Aircraft
- Manufacturers
- Money
-  Jobs
- 2008
Election - Arizona
- Los
Angeles - California
- Seattle
- Washington
- Illinois
- "Boeing
backers blame McCain for losing deal." ... "Supporters
of The Boeing Co. blame [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate
and Arizona Senator] Sen. John McCain, the presumptive Republican presidential
nominee, for the company's failure to win the lucrative $35 billion contract
to build new Air Force aerial refueling tankers." ... "The Air Force last
week awarded the contract to a team of Airbus parent EADS and Northrop
Grumman Corp., triggering a firestorm from Boeing advocates who said the
victory by the European-led consortium ignored American national security
interests and would cost U.S. jobs." ... "Boeing advocates say McCain was
a major force behind the Air Force decision to ignore the issue of government
subsidies to Airbus when the tanker contract was put up for competitive
bidding last year." ... "The issue of European government subsidies for
Airbus has been raised for years by Boeing supporters who claim that those
financial breaks have allowed the Toulouse, France-based company to undercut
Boeing's prices and thus gain market share in the global competition between
the two aircraft manufacturers. (Both the U.S. and the European Union,
which claims Boeing also receives subsidies, have filed cases with the
World Trade Organization.)" ... "Boeing advocates assert that those same
subsidies helped European Aeronautic Defense and Space Co. and Los-Angeles[California]-based
Northrop Grumman win the Air Force tanker project, with a value that could
eventually top $100 billion." ... ""The only reason that (Airbus) could
even bid a low price is because they receive a subsidy," said [Washington
Democratic Representative] Rep. Norm Dicks, D-Wash., whose Seattle-area
district includes thousands of Boeing workers. "Senator McCain jumped into
this and said that they (the Air Force) could not look at the subsidy issue,
which I think is a big mistake," he told PBS." ... "McCain himself has
received support from the EADS North America executive suite. He has received
more than $12,000 in campaign donations from some of the company's top
U.S. officials, support that continued even as his presidential campaign
was foundering in mid- to late 2007." ... "McCain's donors include EADS
North America Chief Executive Officer Ralph Crosby and Senior Vice President
of Government Relations Samuel Adcock." ... ""The person that stopped (the
tanker) from going to a U.S. company was Senator McCain," said [Illinois
Democratic Represenative Rahm] Emanuel, "and now we are going to send major
high-paying jobs overseas."" -By Eric Rosenberg with
contributions by Daniel Lathrop -SeattlePI
20080212
-
 Antonin
Scalia - Torture
-  Terrorism
-  Intelligence
- Politics
- Los
Angeles - California
- US
-  Britain
- "US
Judge Scalia on 'So-Called Torture'." ... "[Republican
President Ronald Reagan appointed] Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia
said that aggressive interrogation could be appropriate to learn where
a bomb was hidden shortly before it was set to explode or to discover the
plans or whereabouts of a terrorist group." ... ""It seems to me you have
to say, as unlikely as that is, it would be absurd to say you couldn't,
I don't know, stick something under the fingernail, smack him in the face.
It would be absurd to say you couldn't do that," Scalia told British Broadcasting
Radio Corp." ... ""I suppose it's the same thing about so-called torture,"
he said in the interview. "Is it really so easy to determine that smacking
someone in the face to find out where he has hidden the bomb that is about
to blow up Los Angeles [California] is prohibited by the Constitution?""
... ""Is it obvious, that what can't be done for punishment can't be done
to exact information that is crucial to the society? I think it's not at
all an easy question, to tell you the truth."" ... "Scalia, a judicial
icon among American conservatives, an acerbic wit and often abrasive personality,
said Europeans had no business "smugly" decrying those techniques as torture."
-By Raphael G. Satter
-AP via -ChicagoTribune
20080204
-
 Babies
-  Health
- Corporate
- Manufacturers
- Los
Angeles - California
- Washington
- "Study
finds high levels of chemicals in infants using baby cosmetics:
Babies exposed to lotion, shampoo and powder had more than four times the
level of phthalates in their urine as those whose parents had not used
the products. Previous research found that the substances altered the children’s
hormones." ... "Infants and toddlers exposed to baby lotions, shampoos
and powders carry high concentrations of hormone-altering chemicals in
their bodies that might have reproductive effects, according to a new scientific
study of babies born in Los Angeles [California] and two other U.S. [United
States] cities." ... "The research, to be published today in the medical
journal Pediatrics, found that as the use of baby care products rose, so
did the concentration of phthalates, which are used in many fragrances."
... "The lead scientist in the study, Dr. Sheela Sathyanarayana of the
University of Washington's Department of Pediatrics, said the findings
suggested that many baby care products contain a variety of phthalates
that enter children's bodies through their skin." ... "Manufacturers do
not list phthalates as ingredients on labels, so it is unknown which products
contain them." ... "In their report, the scientists advised parents who
want to reduce their baby's exposure to stop using lotions and powders
unless their doctors recommend them for medical reasons. They also suggested
limiting use of shampoos and other products. Many adult lotions and other
personal care products also contain phthalates." -By
Marla Cone -LAtimes
-
Emergency
- Politics
- Federal
- Animal
-
 Environmental
-  History
-  Underwater
- Military
-  Technology
- California
- Los
Angeles - "Judge
rejects Bush attempt to skirt law protecting whales."
... "A federal judge rejected on Monday [Republican] President Bush's attempt
to exempt the Navy from environmental laws protecting endangered whales
from sound waves caused by underwater sonar blasts during anti-submarine
training off the Southern California coast." ... "Bush issued an order
Jan. [January] 15 that sought to override the judge's order limiting the
Navy's use of sonar in Channel Islands waters frequented by whales and
other marine mammals. The president said the restrictions would interfere
with military exercises that are essential to national security.'" ...
"But U.S. [United States] District Judge Florence-Marie Cooper of Los Angeles
[California] said Monday that Bush lacked authority in this case to suspend
the National Environmental Policy Act, on which her earlier order was based."
... "That law requires federal agencies to examine environmental damage
that their actions might cause and propose measures to prevent the harm.
Cooper - who had found that the Navy failed to follow those requirements
- said federal regulations, in place since 1978, allow the president to
override the environmental law only in an emergency." ... ""The Navy's
current 'emergency' is simply a creature of its own making ... its failure
to prepare adequate environmental documentation in a timely fashion," Cooper
said in a 36-page ruling. " -By Bob Egelko
-SFGate.com
20080122
-
 Newspaper
- Politics
- Los
Angeles - California
- Illinois
- "Editor
Fires Parting Shot at His Chain." ... "The ousted
editor of The Los Angeles Times [based in Los Angeles, California] on Monday
offered a scathing critique of the newspaper industry and specifically
his longtime employer, the Tribune Company [national media conglomerate
based out of Chicago, Illinois], arguing that cost cuts, a lack of investment
and an aversion to serious news was damaging the business." ... "The editor,
James E. O’Shea, left after he refused to carry out another in a series
of newsroom budget cuts sought by the publisher in Los Angeles, David D.
Hiller — 15 months after Mr. Hiller fired the previous editor over the
same kind of dispute." ... "The current showdown and Mr. O’Shea’s parting
comments made for a remarkable statement by an editor who was seen as a
Tribune loyalist and was sent to Los Angeles to calm a rebellious staff."
... "“I disagree completely with the way that this company allocates resources
to its newsrooms, not just here but at Tribune newspapers all around the
country,” Mr. O’Shea wrote in a memo to the newspaper’s staff, echoing
farewell remarks he made Monday morning in the newsroom." ... "The chairman
and chief executive who took control of Tribune a month ago, Samuel Zell,
sided with Mr. Hiller." ... "[Mr. O'Shea asserted:] "“Even in hard times,
wise investment — not retraction — is the long-term answer to the industry’s
troubles,“ he wrote, while suggesting that Tribune executives have been
unable to see the logic of anything but budget cuts."
-By Richard
Pérez-Peña -NYTimes
20080121
-
Newspaper
- Los
Angeles - California
- Illinois
- "L.A.
Times editor fired, "significant changes" ahead."
... "The editor of the Los Angeles Times [Los Angeles, California], James
O'Shea, has been fired over a budgetary dispute only 14 months after he
took over the post, the newspaper said on Sunday." ... "O'Shea, a veteran
of the Chicago Tribune [Chicago, Illinois] who was hired by the Times in
November 2006, was fired by publisher David Hiller after he refused to
carry out some $4 million in cuts, said the newspaper on its Web site,
citing an unnamed source." ... "O'Shea's firing comes one month after the
paper's parent, Tribune Co, completed an $8.2 billion buyout led by Chicago
real estate tycoon Sam Zell." (1, 2)
-By Alexandria Sage with contributions by Paritosh
Bansal and Kim Coghill -Reuters
20080110
-
 John
Ashcroft -  Michael
B Mukasey
-  Alberto
R Gonzales -  Debra
Wong Yang -  Criminal
- Corporate
- Government
-  Lawyers
- US
Attorneys - Politics
- Medical
-  New
Jersey -  Indiana
- New
York
- Los
Angeles - California
- "Ashcroft
Deal Brings Scrutiny in Justice Dept.." ... "When
the top federal prosecutor in New Jersey [Christopher J. Christie] needed
to find an outside lawyer to monitor a large corporation willing to settle
criminal charges out of court last fall, he turned to [Republican] former
Attorney General John Ashcroft, his onetime boss. With no public notice
and no bidding, the company awarded Mr. Ashcroft an 18-month contract worth
$28 million to $52 million." ... "That contract, which Justice Department
officials in Washington learned about only several weeks ago, has prompted
an internal inquiry into the department’s procedures for selecting outside
monitors to police settlements with large companies." ... "The contract
between Mr. Ashcroft’s consulting firm, the Ashcroft Group, and Zimmer
Holdings, a medical supply company in Indiana, has also drawn the attention
of Congressional investigators." ... "The New Jersey prosecutor, United
States Attorney Christopher J. Christie, directed similar monitoring contracts
last year to two other former Justice Department colleagues from the [Republican
President] Bush administration, as well as to a former Republican state
attorney general in New Jersey." ... "Officials said that while there had
been no accusations of wrongdoing on the part of Mr. Christie or Mr. Ashcroft,
aides to Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey were concerned about the appearance
of favoritism." ... "Mr. Mukasey, a former federal judge who was sworn
in as attorney general in November, has vowed to remove political considerations
from decision-making at the department in the wake of a series of scandals
under his predecessor, Alberto R. Gonzales." ... "In the Bush administration,
federal prosecutors have increasingly relied on out-of-court settlements
with large corporations in criminal investigations that in the past might
have resulted in indictments and trials." ... "Mr. Christie directed similar
contracts in settlements with other medical-supply companies to two other
former Justice Department colleagues — David N. Kelley, the former United
States attorney in Manhattan [New York], and Debra Wong Yang, his counterpart
in Los Angeles [California] — and to David Samson, the former Republican
attorney general in New Jersey." (1, 2)
-By Philip Shenon -NYTimes
20071110
-
Los
Angeles - California
- Police
- Government
-
 Mapping
- Religious
-  Peoples
- Race
- Civil
Libertarians - Scientific
- Terrorism
- Intelligence
- Law
- "LAPD
defends Muslim mapping effort: Police call program
an effort to improve relations with Islamic community. Civil libertarians
criticize profiling while other skeptics note that population is dispersed
and defies easy classification." ... "The [Los Angeles, California] LAPD's
plan to map Muslim communities in an effort to identify potential hotbeds
of extremism departs from the way law enforcement has dealt with local
anti-terrorism since 9/11 and prompted widespread skepticism Friday." ...
"In a document reviewed Friday by The Times, the LAPD's Los Angeles Police
Department's counter-terrorism bureau proposed using U.S. census data and
other demographic information to pinpoint various Muslim communities and
then reach out to them through social service agencies." ... "LAPD officials
said that it is crucial for them to gain a better understanding of isolated
parts of the Muslim community. Those groups can potentially breed violent
extremism, the LAPD said in its plan." ... ""This is not . . . targeting
or profiling," Police Chief William J. Bratton said Friday in defending
the program. "It is an effort to understand communities," he said." ...
"But the effort sparked an outcry from civil libertarians and some Muslim
activists, who compared the program to religious profiling." ... "Others
noted that the effort faces enormous practical difficulties. The U.S. Census
Bureau is barred by law from asking people for their religious affiliation.
As a result, there is no scientific data on the size of the nation's Muslim
population, let alone its location, with estimates of the population nationwide
ranging from about 1.4 million adults in a Pew Research Center study this
year to the 7 million or more claimed by some community organizations."
... "Census data on ancestry also would not yield accurate Muslim estimates,
because significant numbers of ethnic Iranians are Jewish and many ethnic
Lebanese, Palestinians and Syrians are Christians." (1, 2)
-By Richard Winton, Teresa Watanabe, and Greg Krikorian
with contributions by Jean-Paul Renaud -LAtimes
20070925
-
Transportation
-
 Auto
- Industry
- Environmental
-  Air
- Law
- Enforcement
- Politics
- Los
Angeles - CA
- "E-mails
show DOT chief fought state on emissions: Official
lobbied against letting California enforce own standard for tailpipe exhaust."
... "U.S. Secretary of Transportation Mary Peters, with the knowledge of
the [Repuublican President Bush] White House, directed a behind-the-scenes
effort to block California's request for its own, more stringent tailpipe
emission standard, according to documents released Monday by a congressional
committee." ... "A trail of e-mails show Peters prodding her staff this
spring to persuade members of Congress and state governors to oppose California's
request, now pending with the Environmental Protection Agency, to enforce
its own standards. To contact members, DOT staffers used a list of congressional
districts with auto facilities provided by the auto industry." ... "Secretary
Peters "asked that we develop some ideas A.S.A.P. about facilitating a
pushback from governors (esp. D's) and others opposed to piecemeal regulation
of emissions, as per CA's waiver petition," Jeff Shane, Peters' undersecretary
for policy, told staffers in a May 22 e-mail about the California request.
"Esp. D's" meant "especially Democrats."" ... "In another e-mail, a DOT
staffer told Peters' chief of staff that Marty Hall, chief of staff at
the White House Council on Environmental Quality, was "OK with (the secretary)
making calls" to lobby Congress." ... "The e-mails were released Monday
by [California Democratic Representative] Rep. Henry Waxman, chairman of
the House Oversight Committee. Waxman, a Los Angeles [California] Democrat,
said the documents, along with interviews with Hall and other staffers,
showed that "the administration is trying to stack the deck against California's
efforts to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from motor vehicles" and that
"political considerations — not the merits of the issue" — will determine
EPA's decision." ... "California is allowed under the Clean Air Act to
set its own emissions standards if it secures a waiver from the EPA. At
least 11 other states are waiting to adopt the California standard, designed
to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 30 percent from new models in 2016,
which has made this a major environmental issue." -By
Frank Davies -MNG
via -MercuryNews
20070914
-
 University- Free
Speech - Terrorism
- Intelligence
- Law
- Los
Angeles - California-
"GOP
politician sent email asking how to stop naming of dean."
... "A conservative [Republican] Los Angeles County politician asked about
two dozen people in an e-mail last month how to prevent the University
of California, Irvine from hiring renowned liberal scholar Erwin Chemerinsky
as its founding law school dean, a spokesman for the politician said Friday."
... "Making Chemerinsky the head of the law school "would be like appointing
al-Qaida in charge of homeland security," Michael Antonovich, a longtime
Republican member of the county Board of Supervisors, said in a voicemail
left with The Associated Press." ... "He was not available for further
comment on why he was getting involved in the situation at a campus located
outside his jurisdiction in Orange County [California]." ... "Chemerinsky,
a frequent legal commentator who represented exposed CIA [Central Intelligence
Agency] agent Valerie Plame, has repeatedly said Drake told him he was
out because he was "too politically controversial" due to his liberal activism."
-By Gillian Flaccus -AP
via -SFGate.com
-
Justice
-
 Food
- Politics
- Los
Angeles - California
- "Taxpayers
eat $7 million government lunch tab." ... "Hungry
attendees at [the Republican President Bush run] Justice Department conferences
have been enjoying millions of dollars in meatballs and other goodies courtesy
of U.S. taxpayers, according to an inspector general's report released
Friday." ... "The report cited $5 meatballs and cans of soft drinks each
costing $4.55 among reasons 10 conferences during 2005 and 2006 cost nearly
$7 million." ... "One four-day conference of 1,500 people in Los Angeles
[California] cost the Justice Department $394,000 in August 2005." ...
"In addition to the platters of Swedish meatballs and soda pop, the Justice
Department paid more than $13,000 for cookies, according to the inspector
general's office." ... "A Senate committee requested the report on Justice
Department conferences, which, in fiscal year 2006, cost taxpayers nearly
$46 million, including travel, programming, food and associated costs.
Year to year costs show such meetings have totaled from $33.8 million in
2001 to a high of $58 million in 2004." -CNN
|
|
Los Angeles News Sources:
DowntownNews
LAtimes
LAweekly
 /
Los Angeles California Television
Stations:
KABC ABC 07
KCAL CBS 09
KCBS CBS 02
KCET PBS
KCOP UPN 13
KDOC
KLCS PBS
KMEX 34
KNBC NBC 04
KTLA WB
KTTV FOX 11
Los Angeles TV Channels
LA TV
|
Search Los Angeles News:
News
Search
<Los
Angeles>
in:
<AllTheWeb-[News]>
<AltaVista-[News]>
<Google-[News]>
<MSN-[News]>
<RocketNews>
<Teoma>
Specialty search:
<Google's
U.S. "Uncle Sam," .gov and .mil>
Search:
<Los
Angeles News>
in:
<Google>
<MSN>
<Yahoo>
Search Los Angeles California News:
News
Search
<Los
Angeles California>
in:
<AllTheWeb-[News]>
<AltaVista-[News]>
<Google-[News]>
<MSN-[News]>
<RocketNews>
<Teoma>
Specialty search:
<Google's
U.S. "Uncle Sam," .gov and .mil>
Search:
<Los
Angeles California News>
in:
<Google>
<MSN>
<Yahoo>
Search Los Angeles CA News:
News
Search
<Los
Angeles CA>
in:
<AllTheWeb-[News]>
<AltaVista-[News]>
<Google-[News]>
<MSN-[News]>
<RocketNews>
Specialty search:
<Google's
U.S. "Uncle Sam," .gov and .mil>
Search:
<Los
Angeles CA News>
in:
<Google>
<MSN>
<Yahoo>
|
China
- 
Land
- 
Coal
- 
Weather
- 
South
Korea - 
Japan
- 
Mexico
- 
Electronic
- 
Emergency
- 
Cunningham
- 
Renzi
- 
Gibbons
- 
Jerry
Lewis - 
Miers
- 
Griffin
- 
Rove
- 
