Two demises on last Wednesday’s front page. One death was literal: Tom Bradley’s, at 80 years of age. The other was political: 14th District Councilman Richard Alatorre’s, at 55.What a contrast.Bradley died at 80 after over 50 years of public life: He came closer to representing most of this city than has any other mayor. […]
Category: LA Weekly
Dome of Renown
What, after all, do we mean when we say Hollywood? The rest of America speaks of a film capital, a land of cinematic dreams and commercial mythologies, of chancy but infinite opportunity. But we locals know this idealized zone really isn’t located anywhere. The real geography of movie and TV studios extends from the San […]
Sheriff’s Tariff
What kind of political race puts the challenger on the defensive? Exactly the kind of contest you had until recently for the highest-paid law-enforcement job in the county. In the battle for the almost $250,000-a-year post of sheriff, the hound – insurgent Lee Baca – seemed to be running from the hare – Sheriff Sherman […]
Taco Bowl
When you think Carson, you think car dealer Don Kott long before you think wheeler-dealer Michael Ovitz. Carson is a residential city that socially and geographically bridges the distance between Compton and Torrance. It’s got Nissan Motors’ U.S. headquarters, a Cal State campus, Kott’s sprawling auto dealerships and an IKEA-anchored mall, plus some of the […]
Remember Him?
Even if you knew Lawry’s California Center during the years when it flourished, it was kind of hard to explain it to out-of-town friends. But you had to explain, because you so often ended up taking them there.Why? Because it was so inexplicable. There on Avenue 26 off the I-5, hard by the Los Angeles […]
Next Up for Mader
The recent ejection of Inspector General Katherine Mader by the minions of LAPD Chief Bernard Parks was perhaps the department’s most retrograde move since the beating of Rodney King. I say this even though I never thought Mader showed extraordinary aptitude in the job she acquired two and a half years ago. But all she […]
Playa Vista Revisionism
Important admissions are best tenderedRecommended videosPowered by AnyClip NOW PLAYINGJustin Timberlake Shows Love To WifeNot All Children Have Been Reunited With Their FamiliesJames Gunn Fired Over Ancient Tweets?James Gunn Fired Over Old TweetsThe EU Reportedly Simplified Their Talk With Cue Cards For Donald TrumpWhat Happens With Julian Assange Rests On One Very Important Deal PointMichael Cohen […]
All Juiced Up and No Place To Go
Last August, the overcrowded City Hall East garage lost a row of parking spaces. Each of those spaces now has an “Electrical Vehicle Only” sign and a battery charger the size of a wall furnace. Since the row’s revamping, I’ve seen exactly one electric car parked there.As it happens, this is Year 1998, the year […]
Jersey West
Another tale of terror from the front page of the Daily News: Guess what? Those rascals downtown at City Hall have launched a sneak attack — by low-income apartments — upon the sorely-tried San Fernando Valley. Appropriately, the article appeared on Pearl Harbor Day.”Much of the growth is targeted for middle-income areas, which would dramatically […]
Shaw’s Ghost
He’s not on the membership lists, and, possibly because he’s dead, he’s been a no-show at meetings. Yet by now it is fairly obvious that the shade of former Los Angeles Mayor Frank Shaw is one of the determining forces on both of the current Los Angeles charter-reform commissions.Shaw’s been particularly influential when it comes […]