Judge says Coliseum panel apparently violated open-meeting law

A judge Thursday said the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Commission appeared to have repeatedly violated the state's open-meeting law during its months of closed-door deliberations on USC's lease of the taxpayer-owned stadium.

In pointed language, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Luis A. Lavin said he was prepared to issue an injunction against the commission that would restrict what it could discuss in secret sessions and require it to record all of its private meetings for three years.

Lavin said the commission had "driven a Mack truck through" a narrow exemption in the Ralph M. Brown Act that could allow government bodies to exclude the public from certain lease deliberations.

He said the commission had an "aversion" to conducting its business in public and singled out for criticism its interim general manager, John Sandbrook, who helped conduct the USC talks.

"I don't think Mr. Sandbrook has any interest in transparency," Lavin said.

The judge made his remarks in connection with a lawsuit filed against the commission last year by The Times and a 1st Amendment group. He said he would issue a ruling as soon as Friday, including on whether the Coliseum improperly withheld documents The Times sought under the Public Records Act.

Lavin said, however, he was not inclined to void the recently signed USC lease because of any Brown Act violations. As a proposed remedy, The Times and Californians Aware asked him to order the commission to tear up the 98-year agreement, hold a public hearing on its terms and schedule a new vote.

The judge said he did not believe invalidating the lease would be necessary because the commissioners eventually released its proposed provisions and later took public comments before it was approved in May 2012.

Lavin also indicated that, because the commission updated and reapproved the lease earlier this year, rescinding the first agreement would have little practical effect. Times attorney Jeff Glasser argued that tossing out the 2013 lease would be an appropriate penalty because it is almost identical to the 2012 version.

In rebuking the commission, the judge noted that it entered into the USC talks without putting the proposed lease out to bid. "We're talking about a public asset being transferred to a private entity with no public bidding," he said. "It looks like this was a train on a track to get this to USC."

The lease granted USC nearly total control of the Coliseum, the neighboring Sports Arena and their revenues. The private university, whose football team plays at the Coliseum, is not a party in the suit.

The commission is made up of representatives of the mayor's office, the City Council, the county Board of Supervisors and Gov. Jerry Brown. In 2011, the panel decided to renegotiate its lease with USC after running out of money to pay for stadium upgrades it had promised the school.

That happened shortly after a scandal erupted at the Coliseum, following Times reports on financial irregularities. A resulting investigation by the Los Angeles County district attorney's office led to the indictment last year of three former Coliseum managers and three other people who did business with the commission.

During Thursday's hearing, Lavin said there was "undisputed" evidence that the commission held many closed sessions on a range of lease provisions that should have been discussed publicly.

He cited a sworn statement from Councilman Bernard C. Parks, a commission member at the time, that the panel privately deliberated matters that went beyond what is allowed under the law for secret sessions. Generally, agencies can exclude the public only from deliberations that focus on the price and terms of payment of a lease.

Lavin questioned why, for example, the commissioners required secrecy to discuss the Coliseum's calendar and a plan to give themselves free USC football tickets, a proposal later dropped after The Times reported on it.

"How does event scheduling relate to price and terms of payment?" the judge asked. "Or 90 complimentary tickets to USC games?"

Coliseum attorney Deborah Fox said the commission and Sandbrook did their best to keep the public informed on the lease negotiations. Sandbrook did not respond to an interview request.

"This idea of secrecy, I don't think holds true," Fox said.

Regarding the documents The Times sought, Fox said the commission had a right to withhold a number of email exchanges between Sandbrook and USC. She said releasing them could hinder the panel's defense if the school sued the agency.

"I'm not buying that," Lavin said.

The judge also expressed skepticism about Fox's statement that the commission did not give The Times a financial report for more than a year because it contained errors and was considered a draft exempt from disclosure. The report confirmed a pattern of poor financial oversight, extending to a sloppy accounting of hot dog sales.

Lavin said it appeared the panel was concerned that the report would be "embarrassing."

"It's called a draft report because you don't like it?" he said.

The suit asks that all the requested documents be ordered released. The Times and Californians Aware also have requested that the commission pay their legal fees.

paul.pringle@latimes.com

ron.lin@latimes.com

12.56 | 0 komentar | Read More

Bell residents have mixed reactions to Rizzo's plea

As word spread quickly along the streets of Bell that the former leader of this small, working-class town had tossed in the towel and pleaded out to charges that he had stolen city money, falsified records and a host of other crimes, residents said they felt relief — and disappointment.

"I was hoping for him to go to trial and to put out in the open all the things he had done," said Marcos Oliva, a resident and activist in the southeast Los Angeles County city.

When Bell was thrust into the national spotlight three years ago because of the alleged misdeeds of Robert Rizzo and others, few believed the man once described by a prosecutor as the town's "unelected and unaccountable czar" would ever give in to the charges.

"Everyone was expecting a trial, that he'd fight 'til the bitter end," said Doug Willmore, who now fills the city manager's office Rizzo once occupied.

For some in the town of 40,000 residents, there was a sense of closure, a feeling that a difficult period in the city's history had finally ended. Others were left frustrated. For years, many here eagerly awaited Rizzo's trial in hopes it would finally shed light on exactly what happened under his watch.

Now, some said, that day may never come.

Rizzo, who served for 17 years as Bell's city administrator, was forced to resign in 2010 and was arrested later that year on suspicion of falsifying public records, perjury, conspiracy, misappropriating public funds and conflict of interest. Prosecutors said he has agreed to serve 10 to 12 years in state prison. He may also be required to pay between $1 million and $3.2 million in restitution to the city.

Oliva, like a few others in town, gathered outside City Hall on Thursday to take stock of the news.

Though disappointed that there would be no trial, he said "I'm glad that this is another chapter we can put an end to."

Mayor Violeta Alvarez said a trial would have allowed Bell's residents to understand how corruption had taken root and flourished in the city.

"We will never know exactly what happened, we will never be able to hear the details," she said. "This is a partial justice for the residents of Bell."

Alvarez, who was voted to the mayor's post earlier this year, said Rizzo's attempt to make amends with Bell's citizens by pleading and testifying against Angela Spaccia, his former assistant, was too little, too late.

"He should have done what was right from the beginning," she said. "Now he just wants to blame someone else for what took place in the city."

Councilman Ali Saleh — who was proclaimed mayor after a 2011 recall election that swept out all the old leaders — issued a statement, calling the announcement a "bitter sweet moment for the residents of Bell."

"There are still so many unanswered questions and a lot for the City of Bell to still overcome," he said.

The city continues to be saddled with massive legal fees from several lawsuits. And it is struggling to pay off bond debt incurred under the Rizzo regime.

"We're all tired and we want all of this left in the past. We want to forget the regime of corruption, Rizzo's regime, and focus on positive things," said Jose Vazquez, who owns Savas Tires and Wheels on Gage Avenue. "We have changed. But it's been slow."

Lorenzo Martinez, a local activist who was also drawn to City Hall after hearing the news, said he had hoped Rizzo's sentence would be much longer than the 10 to 12 years prosecutors say he now faces. He said the city continues to struggle financially from decisions made under Rizzo's watch.

"We're hanging by a thread," he said. "We don't know how long we'll be in this hole."

ruben.vives@latimes.com

paloma.esquivel@latimes.com

12.56 | 0 komentar | Read More

L.A. has worst big-city roads in the nation, a study finds

The roads in greater Los Angeles are the most deteriorated in the United States, which costs Southern California drivers more than $800 a year, according to a national transportation analysis released Thursday.

Los Angeles-Santa Ana-Long Beach ranks first among cities with more than 500,000 residents for the percentage of roads in poor condition, according to TRIP, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit group that studies transportation data and issues. According to the study, about 64% of roads in greater Los Angeles are in poor condition.

Potholes and rough pavement cost local drivers about $832 a year, TRIP said. The estimate includes the cost of repairs, tune-ups and tires, as well as faster depreciation of vehicles. The average urban driver pays $377 annually, according to the study. The nationwide cost of driving on deteriorated roads was $80 billion.

The analysis was based on the Federal Highway Administration's 2011 data, the most recent available. The federal government catalogs, on a scale of 1 to 100, the condition of major state and locally maintained roads and highways in urban and rural areas. The index includes potholes, utility cuts and various types of cracks.

Overall, L.A.'s sprawling network of roads received a C-minus grade, and a quarter received an F, according to recent city data. City staff members are studying the possibilities of a borrowing program to fix what officials say is a $3-billion, 60-year backlog of repairs. The cost has doubled since 2005 and is expected to double again in the next decade.

City Council members Joe Buscaino and Mitchell Englander hope to include a proposal to issue city bonds for the work on the fall 2014 ballot. A two-thirds majority of voters would have to approve issuing the debt.

Nationally, more than a quarter of major urban highways and streets are in poor condition, according to federal data. The same roadways handle about 78% of the 2 trillion miles driven annually in urban America.

"Without a significant boost in transportation funding at the federal, state and local level, conditions will continue to deteriorate, drivers will continue to pay the price, and our economy will suffer," said Will Kempton, executive director of Transportation California, in a prepared statement.

The second- and third-worst urban road networks are also in California. About 60% of roads in Oakland and San Francisco are in poor condition, as are 56% of roads in San Jose.

The ranking joins Southern California's growing collection of dubious traffic-related distinctions. Chief among them: worst congestion in the country. According to data and traffic-tracking company Inrix, the average Angeleno driver spent 59 hours, or about two and a half days, last year sitting in traffic.

laura.nelson@latimes.com

12.56 | 0 komentar | Read More

Brown signs bill that changes California trafficking law

SACRAMENTO — Gov. Jerry Brown approved a change Thursday to the state's drug trafficking law that could ease penalties for those caught with drugs meant for personal use.

The measure, by Assemblyman Steven Bradford (D-Gardena), redefines "transporting" narcotics to explicitly mean transportation for sale. Prosecutors will have to prove that a person caught with drugs meant to sell them in order to charge them with trafficking, which is a felony.

"Too many people are getting caught up in the prison system with nothing more than a small amount of drugs for personal use," Bradford said in a statement. "The broad interpretation of existing law wastes resources going after users instead of dealers."

The American Civil Liberties Union was among the measure's supporters. The bill, AB 721, was opposed by some law enforcement groups, including the California Police Chiefs Assn.

The governor also signed a new law that was born out of a scandal involving the U.S Justice Department snooping into the phone records of reporters at the Associated Press.

The legislation by Sen. Ted W. Lieu (D-Torrance) closes a loophole in California's Shield Law, which now requires law enforcement to provide five days' notice to news organizations when they subpoena information from those organizations.

SB 558 requires the same notice to news organizations when their records are sought from third-party vendors, including phone companies and Internet service providers.

In a recent investigation into security leaks, the Justice Department secured phone records from a phone company and other third-parties showing the numbers dialed by AP reporters in New York; Hartford, Conn.; and Washington, D.C.

"The government has shown on some occasions a disregard for freedom of the press," Lieu said, adding that approval of the new law "makes it clear: California will protect the 1st Amendment."

Brown also signed a bill giving the California State Athletic Commission oversight of full-contact martial arts contests for minors.

Assemblywoman Susan Bonilla (D-Concord), who authored AB 1186, said children as young as 5 years old have participated in Pankration tournaments, a form of mixed martial arts.

"I felt we needed to have some safety standards that would be statewide," Bonilla said.

Melanie.mason@latimes.com

Patrick.mcgreevy@latimes.com

12.56 | 0 komentar | Read More

Exide records excess lead emissions, despite cutbacks

Even after being forced to cut production last month because of high lead emissions, a Vernon battery recycler has continued to violate limits on releases of the potent neurotoxin, regulators said Wednesday.

A monitor on the north side of Exide Technologies' sprawling plant near the Los Angeles River registered emissions in violation of the South Coast Air Quality Management District's requirements for airborne lead Sept. 18, air district Executive Officer Barry Wallerstein said.

That came on the heels of another violation of lead standards in early September that prompted the air district to order the company to cut production by 15%, which it did Sept. 14. Days before, state and county officials had announced an unprecedented plan to offer Exide-funded blood tests for lead to about a quarter of a million people who might have been affected by emissions.

The problems with lead come as elected officials and community members across southeast Los Angeles County have been calling for the plant's closure amid an outcry over high emissions of potentially dangerous toxins. Exide, one of the world's largest recyclers of lead-acid batteries, has run the plant since 2000.

In March, the air district found that elevated arsenic emissions from the plant had increased the cancer risk for more than 110,000 people.

"You're probably wondering what the heck is going on, and what are we going to do about it," Wallerstein said of the latest violations. "At least that's what I'd be wondering."

He said air regulators plan to meet with Exide officials in the next few days to "discuss additional actions that we will ask them to take to help further control lead emissions from their facility."

Exide is investigating the cause of the latest elevated lead emissions Sept. 18 and whether they were the result of excavation work to repair a water pipe break on a neighboring site not owned by the battery recycler, said Sallie Hofmeister, a company spokeswoman.

"Exide immediately reported the water pipe repair cleanup and the monitor reading to regulators and continues to curtail production by 15% as required by air district rules," she said. "Exide is now in compliance with the regulatory emissions standard."

Air district officials said they do not believe the excavation work on the nearby property caused the elevated emissions. But officials did say repair work on a degraded wastewater pipe on Exide's property could be a factor because the digging might have stirred up lead dust.

Officials with the state Department of Toxic Substances Control, the agency overseeing the wastewater pipe work, said they had asked Exide to adopt additional dust control measures, including misters and monitoring equipment.

Bell City Councilman Nestor Valencia said "it boggles the mind" that the Vernon plant has continued to emit unacceptable levels of lead and, before that, arsenic.

"I can't imagine the damage it has done to the community over the years, " he said.

Frank Villalobos of East Los Angeles, a member of a church group that is concerned about the facility, said the company has "no regard for the community. All they want to do is make money."

Wallerstein emphasized that he doesn't "want people overreacting" to the latest lead violation, noting that the air district's rules are stricter than federal ones and that the facility has remained in compliance with federal standards for lead. Under the air district's rules, Exide's lead emissions cannot cause the outdoor air concentration of lead to exceed 0.15 micrograms per cubic meter based on a 30-day average

Still, he said that air officials are taking notice of "a mounting record of the facility's inability to comply with regulations on an ongoing basis. We are taking every step we can to bring them into compliance." Those steps, he said, include "immediate additional controls" as well as "new regulatory requirements that they will have to meet over the long term."

The air district is seeking to adopt controls on arsenic emissions that are specific to lead-acid battery recyclers such as Exide.

Environmental activists are not satisfied.

"I think everyone can say that the agencies don't know how to regulate this facility," said Yana Garcia, a lawyer for Communities for a Better Environment, an environmental justice group based in Huntington Park. She noted that her organization warned last month, the last time Exide violated lead rules, that the 15% curb in production ordered by the AQMD was not going to be enough.

jessica.garrison@latimes.com

kim.christensen@latimes.com

12.56 | 0 komentar | Read More

Keeping her feet on the ground

My high school cross-country T-shirt from my senior year had the word "Slow" monogrammed across the sleeve.

I'd finished more than my share of races in dead last. And I'd been photographed more than once with medal-toting teammates while I held up a participant ribbon.

So why I ran seven years for my little school — and why I continue a love-hate relationship with running to this day — baffles me.

I took up the sport in the sixth grade for no better reason than this: I wanted to get a medal to show off to my little brother, the baseball star who laughed at my only trophy, earned for selling Girl Scout cookies.

Running, I thought, would be perfect for a clarinet-playing klutz. There were no rules to learn. And I wouldn't have to worry about getting my braces hit by a ball to the face.

Problem was I was terrible.

Whoever said "slow and steady wins the race" clearly was delusional.

I'll always remember one particular race, during my freshman year of high school. Like many Oklahoma cross-country competitions, the two-mile course was mapped out on a flat piece of land that flooded with the slightest rain. It was cold and wet that day, and my teammates and I walked the course beforehand, using sticks to measure the deepest parts of the puddles.

Within the first hundred yards of the race, I was at the back of the pack. I was so far behind at the halfway point that the people stationed there to shout out the competitors' running paces already had put their stopwatches away. I heard them say, "We've still got one coming!"

At one point I tripped and fell into a pool of water; a teammate's dad had to help me up. I got so lost in a grove of trees that my coach yelled, "Just cut across to the finish line!"

When my mom saw me coming, she slowly lowered her video camera.

I was carried to her car, embarrassed. But I got an ice cream sundae out of the deal and wrote an overly dramatic essay about the experience in my English class that made my teacher think I had overcome some great adversity.

I flirted with other sports too. In basketball, the one time my coach pointed to me during a game was to have me fetch water bottles for the girls on the court. In golf, I accidentally hit another player in the back with an over-zealous swing during putting practice.

I thought about trying out for cheerleading once. But even I couldn't kid myself.

I always returned to running.

Even when a new cross-country coach handed me a walkie-talkie before practice because he needed to get a haircut and knew I'd be awhile.

Even when little old ladies driving through town offered me rides back to school during practices.

Even when I worked for my hometown newspaper and the sports editor wished me "Happy birthday, Slow!" in print.

My senior year, I qualified for the state cross-country race in my division only because they didn't have enough runners.

I beat two people out of 200 and celebrated my victory with another ice cream sundae.

In college, my roommate and I convinced ourselves we wanted to start running 5Ks. We got a subscription to "Runner's World" and bought matching pink running earmuffs to motivate us. We ran twice.

Since moving to California two years ago, I've taken up running again. And I enjoy it, truthfully, because it's impossible to be in a bad mood at the end of a heart-pumping run.

So when my husband agreed to do his first-ever 5K with me last year, I was delighted. He had never been a runner, and I couldn't wait to beat him to the finish line.

I finished less than a minute ahead of him. During a race last month, he beat me by five.

I'm not slow, he always tells me. But inevitably he starts laughing because he's lying.

At least you keep at it, I've had people tell me. It shows perseverance and it keeps you in shape.

They're usually other runners. And they're always faster than me.

hailey.branson@latimes.com

12.56 | 0 komentar | Read More

Gov. Brown OKs bills to tighten rules on schools' use of bond type

Gov. Jerry Brown signed legislation Wednesday cracking down on a risky method of financing that hundreds of school districts and community colleges in the state have relied on to pay for new construction.

The measure, authored by Democratic state Sen. Ben Hueso of San Diego and Assemblywoman Joan Buchanan of Alamo, will rein in the use of long-term capital appreciation bonds that can carry debt payments many times the amount borrowed.

In other action, the governor approved legislation ending the current state tests in favor of exams geared toward new learning standards. The Obama administration has objected to the move on the grounds that too few students would be tested and that a lack of test scores could prevent parents and the public from evaluating teachers and schools.

Meanwhile, fiscal watchdogs, including county treasurers and California Treasurer Bill Lockyer, have warned repeatedly that the bonds — which let school districts postpone the start of payments for decades — are reminiscent of the lending and Wall Street excesses that contributed to the Great Recession.

The bill "ensures that school districts no longer can heap outrageous debt burdens on the backs of future generations of taxpayers," Lockyer said. "The reforms are reasonable and balanced, and they won't harm districts' ability to meet their school construction needs."

The legislation reduces the maximum maturity of capital appreciation bonds, so-called CABs, to 25 years from 40 years and limits a school district's repayment ratio to no more than $4 in interest and principal for every $1 borrowed. It further requires that bond deals give school districts an early repayment option for CABs with maturities longer than 10 years.

Schools also must provide their boards with public reports that detail planned borrowings that involve capital appreciation notes. The analysis would include the cost of the bond issue, a comparison with conventional forms of financing, the reason for using capital appreciation bonds and disclosures by brokerages hired as underwriters.

Supporters of the bill say it should eliminate the heavy indebtedness that can come from issuing capital appreciation bonds with maturities of 25 to 40 years. The long-term notes can result in debt payments as much as 20 times the amount borrowed.

According to a Times analysis, at least 200 school and community college districts in California have borrowed billions of dollars using the long-term bonds since 2007.

The new state testing law will pay for school districts to shift quickly to new computerized tests that would be based on learning goals, called the Common Core standards, adopted by 45 states. The new approach is intended to emphasize deeper critical-thinking skills.

The legislation also has ended state funding for exams used since 1999. Unless school districts pay for their own testing, there will be no scores this year available to students, schools and districts because the new test is going through a trial period. The bill would permit a further postponement of scores, if needed.

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan supports Common Core efforts, but he also had said that providing test results is necessary to keep parents informed. He said such information is vital in determining whether teachers and schools are successful. The Legislature passed the bill despite Duncan's disapproval.

Brown consistently expressed strong support for the bill, but did not sign it right away, pending discussions with federal officials.

Duncan then took pains to praise Brown's overall record on education.

It was not immediately clear what effect, if any, the partial shutdown of the federal government had on Brown's timing.

In a message on Twitter, Brown talked of "taking decisive action … for California's students."

"With this new law, our schools can move away from outdated … tests and prepare students and teachers for better assessments that reflect the real-world knowledge needed for young people to succeed in college and careers," said Assemblywoman Susan A. Bonilla (D-Concord), who authored the legislation.

The critics include Bill Lucia, the head of EdVoice, a Sacramento-based advocacy group.

"The clock just got turned back 20 years to a time of no state testing in California and lack of accountability in public schools for actual student learning," Lucia said.

Also Wednesday, the governor signed 10 bills that his office said will help protect "the most vulnerable Californians — homeless children and adults and foster youth."

The measures include one that establishes "runaway and homeless youth shelters" as a new kind of group home and requires them to be licensed and overseen by the Department of Social Services. An estimated 200,000 minors in California are homeless, according to the California Homeless Youth Project, which operates under the California Research Bureau.

The governor also signed a bill that says the fact that a child is homeless or an "unaccompanied minor" is not, in and of itself, a sufficient basis for triggering the mandatory child abuse or neglect reporting laws.

dan.weikel@latimes.com

howard.blume@latimes.com

Times staff writer Patrick McGreevy in Sacramento contributed to this report.

12.56 | 0 komentar | Read More

Disbelief — and explanations — after AEG wins Michael Jackson case

For the dedicated Michael Jackson fans who came to the trial day after day, the singer still could do little wrong. They wore T-shirts expressing their love for the singer and their support for his aged mother. One fan even brought a bouquet of red roses to give Katherine Jackson and her attorneys.

So when the judge announced Wednesday that jurors had decided AEG Live was not responsible for Jackson's death, they weren't just stunned, they were angry. They didn't understand how a five-month trial that seemed to expose the concert promoter as caring little about the singer's well-being could end this way.

"My heart is broken," said Barbara de L'Orme, 42. "This was the greatest artist that we ever had, and they treated him like this. The evidence was right there."

When Marvin Putnam, AEG Live's lead attorney, stood in front of the scrum of TV cameras, microphones and notebooks, fans could be heard shouting, "Michael Jackson! Michael Jackson!"

Putnam told reporters AEG never considered settling the case, which could have cost it hundreds of millions — if not billions — of dollars in damages if a jury had voted the other way. "They wouldn't allow themselves to be shaken down," he said.

The attorney said that he didn't think the case should have gone to trial and that the judge should have dismissed it early on. He admitted the verdict was an emotional one for him, and some people in the courtroom said they saw a tear slide down his cheek.

Shawn Trell, AEG Live's general counsel, was asked if the concert promoter and producer would negotiate a deal with a doctor again if an entertainer made such a request. "I think that answer is self-evident," he said.

Several jurors explained how they answered "no" to the question on the verdict form that asked whether Conrad Murray, the doctor who gave Jackson the fatal dose of the anesthetic propofol, was "unfit or incompetent to perform the work for which he was hired."

Once they came to that conclusion, there was no need to answer the remaining 14 questions. Their work was done.

Gregg Barden, the jury foreman, said the verdict was not a vindication of Murray, who will soon be released from jail, where he is serving a sentence for involuntary manslaughter.

"Conrad Murray had a license; he graduated from an accredited college," Barden said.

Then he added, "It doesn't mean we thought he was ethical."

Juror Kevin Smith, 61, said he loved Jackson's music and his dancing. Still, he voted against the pop star's mother and three children.

"Murray," he said, "was fit and competent for the job he was hired for ... Michael Jackson thought he was competent enough."

He said AEG executives had tried to persuade Jackson not to bring Murray, who was supposed to be paid $150,000 a month, on tour with him. "Michael Jackson was very used to getting his own way.... If anybody said no, he would find somebody else," Smith said.

Barden said that when jurors were handed the case after closing arguments last Thursday afternoon, the first time they could talk about the case after spending five months listening to testimony, they spent several hours "letting off steam and talking about things."

They took three or four votes to answer the first question, "Did AEG Live hire Dr. Conrad Murray?" before agreeing unanimously that it had.

"Minds were changed," Barden said.

Some people felt that Murray was hired by both Jackson and AEG, he said.

On the second question, about whether Murray was incompetent, there was confusion when the court clerk polled jurors on their votes. However, after a couple of tries, they appeared to have taken a unanimous stand.

But outside the courthouse, Barden told a different story. He said jurors had started out 12-0 but finally came up with a 10-2 tally. Jurors in a civil case only need to vote 9-3, as opposed to the unanimous count needed in a criminal case.

victoria.kim@latimes.com

ruben.vives@latimes.com

jeff.gottlieb@latimes.com

12.56 | 0 komentar | Read More

L.A. County workers want their recession-era sacrifices honored

Hours after their labor contract expired, thousands of Los Angeles County workers took to the streets of downtown Tuesday morning, rallying for higher wages and accusing county leaders of failing to recognize the sacrifices they made during the recession.

Linda Dent, vice president of a union that represents 55,000 county employees, said the workers did without raises during the recession to help the county stay afloat.

"We sacrificed for the last four years for L.A. County," Dent told the crowd of SEIU Local 721 members gathered in front of the Hall of Administration and spilling into Grand Park. "We did everything we could and they turn around and do this to us? …. We have been neglected, rejected and disrespected by L.A. County."

SEIU officials say the last offer the county has made for a new contract would provide 4% in raises over two years, but increased medical costs means that low-wage workers' pay will effectively be cut. County officials say they have offered a 6% raise, similar to that signed onto by several other labor unions that represent county employees. Both sides will return to the negotiating table Thursday.

The protesting workers were joined by a handful of elected officials, including Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez (D-Los Angeles) and City Councilmen Curren Price and Paul Koretz. They began their march with a rally at California Plaza, where a loudspeaker blasted Public Enemy's "Fight the Power" and Aretha Franklin's "Respect."

"We're getting ready to march down to the Board of Supervisors, where we're going to raise some hell!" regional SEIU director Michael Green told the crowd from the flatbed of a pickup truck. "Are you scared?"

"Hell no!" replied the crowd, which waved signs reading "Fair Pay for Los Angeles" and "Fair Share from Corporations." The group included a variety of county workers, including a large contingent of social workers who called for lowering their caseloads, nurses in blue scrubs and public works employees in neon orange work shirts.

After weaving around Walt Disney Concert Hall, the crowd marched to the Hall of Administration, with some walking through the building, banging drums and chanting. The Board of Supervisors would typically be holding its weekly meeting at the time of the protest but had canceled this week's session because several members could not attend.

During the rally, union leaders met with county Chief Executive William T Fujioka, who agreed to personally attend a bargaining session "with the intention of trying to find a way to close negotiations," he said.

"What I impressed upon them was that the county has just exited one of the most severe recessions that have hit not only the nation but particularly our county, and we were able to manage the recession and successfully deal with it because of our fiscal discipline," Fujioka said. "What we have at the table now is a responsible, very reasonable salary increase [of 6%] that's been approved by over half of the county unions, including firefighters and deputy sheriffs."

Labor leaders said more than 5,000 people participated in the march. County officials said there were 3,400 unexcused absences Tuesday. Workers also took time off to participate in the event, which snarled downtown traffic Tuesday morning, closing streets around the Music Center and the county hall. There was no "significant impact" to county services, Fujioka said.

The county has not seen this large of a public protest by workers nor this level of tension with its biggest union in years. Next week, labor leaders will meet at the downtown convention center to decide whether to accept the county's most recent offer or move toward declaring an impasse or a strike vote.

Board of Supervisors Chairman Mark Ridley-Thomas, who has received deep levels of SEIU support in his campaigns, said he hoped the relationship would not become contentious.

"It is clear that the working men and women of the county have been both cooperative and long suffering over the course of the economic downturn. I certainly hope that the good fortune of labor peace we've enjoyed will continue," he said.

The event, however, ended in some chaos. Two women, not county workers, who were protesting social workers potentially getting raises in light of abuse and deaths of children under county supervision held large signs in front of the podium. SEIU members tried to take their signs, while other members tried to stop them. A tussle ensued, and an SEIU supporter was either pushed or fell to the ground. Paramedics were called, placed a brace around her neck and took her by ambulance to a hospital. Sheriff's deputies questioned at least one of the protesters.

seema.mehta@latimes.com

12.56 | 0 komentar | Read More

L.A. Unified's iPad rollout marred by chaos

At a taco truck near Maya Angelou Community High School in South Los Angeles, senior Ramiro Gonzalez showed off his school-issued iPad tucked into his backpack Tuesday, excited that he still has it.

"They're saying we might have to give them back now," he said. "But I hope we get to keep them."

Nearby, Eliazith Lorenzo, a senior at a different school on the same campus, had his iPad taken back only days after receiving it. He'd used it a little in class but said he'd mostly played a soccer game on it at home.

Ramiro and Eliazith represent the confusion and complexities in the Los Angeles Unified School District's $1-billion effort to provide all its students with the Apple tablets. The first rollout, at 47 campuses, has raised questions about whether the nation's second-largest district tried to do too much, too soon.

Teachers reported not being able to connect to the Internet in some classrooms. Students bypassed security measures and surfed prohibited websites. Parents aren't sure if they're liable if the $678 tablets get lost or break. District directives have been misinterpreted.

The latest: Students from three high schools — Angelou, Roosevelt and Westchester — have been told to surrender their iPads until further notice. Students elsewhere aren't being allowed to take them home.

The students themselves aren't even sure why some tablets were taken back while others weren't.

"They gave them to us, but then they said that we had to give them back," Eliazith said. "Somebody hacked into them or something."

Schools Supt. John Deasy, who has pushed for the iPads, remains undeterred and said the project is essentially on track.

"It's an astonishing success," Deasy said in an interview Tuesday. "I couldn't be more pleased to get [the iPads] in the hands of students and teachers. The feedback has been extremely positive.

"This is a civil rights issue," he said. "My goal is to provide youth in poverty with tools that heretofore only rich kids have had. And I'd like to do that as quickly as possible."

Others, however, have applauded the goal but not the execution.

"I think the district hurried the iPad rollout," said Scott Folsom, a member of the committee that oversees school bond spending. The tablets are being funded by bonds: about $500 million for the devices and the rest for wiring campuses and other costs.

"We strongly believe that students need access to technology as a tool," said Judith Perez, head of the association that represents principals and other administrators. "Nevertheless, there are unanswered questions regarding the iPad rollout, which need to be resolved before the distribution of additional devices."

She noted concerns about security, the curriculum on the tablets and what she called the need for a consistent, coherent policy on the use and handling of tablets.

Security issues emerged more than a week ago, when more than 300 students, including those at Angelou, Westchester and Roosevelt, evaded an Internet security filter when using the tablets off campus.

Technicians could tell which devices and which students were involved, but officials still were taken by surprise.

At Westchester, students reported that there were problems from the get-go, including tablets that were configured in different ways with different levels of security. Some students deleted the district security filter with two clicks. Others may have been unhindered in the first place from going wherever they wanted on the Web.

Principal Robert Canosa-Carr hauled in some of his best students, who were among the first to tinker with the filter, including Brian Young, a candidate to be valedictorian, according to students.

"He wasn't threatening me but he told me millions of dollars of technology had been compromised because of me," Brian said.

12.56 | 0 komentar | Read More