Man killed by shark in Santa Barbara County

A 39-year-old man surfing off the Santa Barbara County coast was killed Tuesday in a shark attack that occurred off the same beach where a bodyboarder was killed two years ago.

Francisco Javier Solorio Jr. of nearby Orcutt was dragged by a friend onto the beach after he suffered a massive bite on his upper torso that turned the water around him red, Santa Barbara County sheriff's officials said. He died at the scene.

"His friend saw the shark bite him," said Sgt. Mark Williams. "It was a pretty bad bite."

Solorio's surfboard also had bite marks on it, said Lt. Erik Raney. The Santa Barbara County coroner's office is expected to consult with a shark bite expert to examine both Solorio's wounds and the marks on the board.

The attack occurred amid light winds and 1- to 2-foot waves shortly before 11 a.m. off Surf Beach. The beach runs along the edge of Vandenberg Air Force Base but is a popular spot with local swimmers and surfers.

Authorities ordered beaches along the Vandenberg coast closed for 72 hours as officials try to determine the level of danger to public.

Officials said they are still trying to officially ascertain what kind of shark was responsible for the attack. One expert, however, said it had all the hallmarks of a great white.

"There is no other species swimming off of the coast regularly that could possibly do that kind of damage," said Andrew Nosal of the Scripps Institute of Oceanography in La Jolla. He added that great whites are responsible for almost all shark attacks off the California coast.

Solorio's friends told local TV stations in Santa Barbara County that Solorio had been surfing in the local waters since he was a boy.

"He was a really good surfer," Nathan Winkles told KEYT-TV.

Solorio's death marks the 13th fatal shark attack in California waters since 1950. Five of those have occurred since 2003.

On Oct. 22, 2010, Lucas Ransom and his friend were bodyboarding when a shark appeared and pulled the 19-year-old under, ripping his left leg off at the pelvis.

Ransom's surfing buddy Matthew Garcia told The Times that the shark was 18 to 20 feet long and that the attack was stealthy and sudden.

"It was all really quick.... Imagine a river of blood. That's what the wave looked like for a minute," Garcia said. "You would have never known there was a shark in the water."

Shark attacks declined in the United States last year, but worldwide fatalities doubled, according to a report released earlier this year.

Of the 75 shark attacks around the globe in 2011, a dozen were fatal, up from six the year before, according to the annual report by the International Shark Attack File, which is compiled by the Florida Museum of Natural History at the University of Florida.

Despite the publicity that comes with shark attacks, they are extremely rare, said Nosal of the Scripps Institute.

He said that the documented increase in shark attacks is largely due to higher volumes of people using the water for surfing and body boarding, and not because of an increase in the number of sharks.

"The population off of California is rather small," Nosal said, adding that the most recent survey placed the state's great white shark population at around 300. "The fact that people are reporting more shark sightings is due in large part to there being an increase in awareness."

But Peter Howorth, director of the Santa Barbara Marine Mammal Center, said there appears to be an uptick in the number of shark-related attacks on people and marine mammals in recent years in California. And he is skeptical of studies that suggest the shark population is declining.

A state ban on gill nets and a prohibition against "the taking of great whites" has led to an increase in the numbers of sharks, including species that prey on large marine mammals, he said.

andrew.blankstein@latimes.com

12.56 | 0 komentar | Read More

Clinton leads rally for 5 congressional candidates at UC Irvine

Former President Clinton used a Tuesday night appearance in Irvine to rip Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney and GOP congressional leaders for putting America's middle class, women's rights and the country's environmental health at risk, and urged Californians to send Democrats to Washington in next month's election.

Clinton fired up the young, friendly crowd at UC Irvine during a campus rally for five Democrats locked in tight congressional races in Southern California.

"It's very important to realize that, particularly in California, because you are the state of the future.… It's really important that we get the best Congress we can to make the most of the next four years and to turn back the reactionary tide," Clinton told a cheering crowd of 5,000 students and other supporters.

Shawn Singh, a 21-year-old business major from Anaheim Hills, didn't know or really care about any of the congressional candidates. He wanted to hear the former president speak.

"He's one of the most charismatic people alive," said Singh, an independent who says he plans to vote for President Obama. "I don't think Mitt Romney can relate. He can't relate to real people."

Clinton has been hopscotching across the nation for weeks, campaigning for Obama and Democratic congressional candidates to help energize the party's base. That's especially true in California, a state he won handily during his two presidential runs and visited 29 times during his first term.

Clinton spoke for just more than 30 minutes, spending most of his time skewering Romney and praising the five Democrats that shared the stage with him: Julia Brownley of Ventura, Alan Lowenthal of Long Beach, Scott Peters of San Diego, Raul Ruiz of Coachella and Mark Takano of Riverside.

The biggest applause came when Clinton said that a Democratic Congress would keep federal college loans affordable and ensure that climate change and other environmental concerns could not be ignored by Republicans who believe more in "ideology than evidence."

Clinton locked hands with all five candidates at the end of the rally, as "It's a Beautiful Day" by U2 blared over the loudspeakers inside the campus event hall.

Brownley praised the former president for leaving the nation with a budget surplus and working across the aisles with Republicans. She warned that the "Tea Party and their allies want to take us backward" on abortion rights and equal opportunity for women.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee sponsored the event as it works nationwide to pick up 25 additional congressional seats and recapture control of the House from the Republicans. The Democrats hopes to nab six to eight seats in California alone because of the state's redrawn political boundaries and a new primary election system — a projection the National Republican Congressional Committee has called "delusional."

Still, the Democrats have a chance to pick up 10 seats nationwide, and a net gain of two or three seats in California, said David Wasserman, who analyzes House races for the nonpartisan Cook Political Report.

Wasserman said the Democrats' two strongest chances of picking up seats in former GOP territory are in the wide-open Riverside race where Takano, an openly gay high school teacher and community college trustee, is running against Republican Riverside County Supervisor John Tavaglione; and the hotly contested race on the outskirts of Sacramento, where Democrat Ami Bera is challenging Rep. Dan Lungren (R-Gold River).

Voter turnout will be the wild card. The Democrats' strong statewide edge in voter registration could be muted by the absence of a major draw at the top of the ticket — Obama is expected to win easily in California — to attract people to the polls, Wasserman said.

Rep. Kevin McCarthy of Bakersfield, a top member of the Republican House leadership, said the GOP may pick up one or two seats in California.

He criticized the opposition leadership for bringing Clinton to Irvine, far away from the congressional districts where his presence may have helped rally Democratic voters.

"I don't think it'll have any effect because he's not going to individual districts," McCarthy said. "I would have used Clinton differently. I would have pinpointed a couple seats."

phil.willon@latimes.com

Times staff writer Jean Merl contributed to this report.

12.56 | 0 komentar | Read More

Judge rejects former Bell police chief's bid to double pension

A judge has rejected an effort by Bell's former police chief to more than double his pension to $510,000 a year, saying that the City Council never approved his extravagant contract and that city officials tried to keep his salary secret.

Randy Adams, who was fired as the city was engulfed in scandal, would have become one of the highest paid public pensioners in California had his request been approved.

The cost of doubling Adams' pension would have fallen primarily on Ventura, Simi Valley and Glendale, where he spent most of his career. Ventura alone would have been on the hook for nearly $2 million of Adams' future pension, according to state pension officials.

The ruling leaves Adams with a $240,000-a-year pension, the eighth highest paycheck in California's largest public employee retirement system

The decision follows a three-day hearing in Orange County last month in which Adams asserted his 5th Amendment right against self-incrimination 20 times.

"It's justice for the citizens of Bell and justice for the citizens of California who start to take a stand against pension abuse," City Manager Doug Willmore said. "It tells Randy Adams what he did was clearly wrong, and he knew it or should have known it."

Adams ran the tiny police department in Bell for just a year, but his extraordinary salary put him in a position to more than double his retirement pay. As chief, he was paid $457,000 a year, much higher than either Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck or the police commissioner of New York City. He and other municipal leaders in Bell were fired after The Times exposed their salaries.

Eight city officials now charged with public corruption are awaiting trial. Adams is not among them.

In his fight for a higher retirement check, Adams was appealing a decision by the California Public Employees' Retirement System that his short stint in Bell should not count toward his retirement.

CalPERS calculated that the higher pension would have cost an additional $3.1 million, with Ventura paying $1.93 million, Simi Valley $600,000 and Glendale $536,000. Bell would have owed $84,579.

Adams retired as police chief in Glendale shortly before taking the job in Bell. Although Glendale is roughly six times the size of Bell, his salary doubled when he took his new job.

James Ahler, the administrative law judge who heard the case, said that keeping Adams' contract secret was part of a plan by former City Administrative Officer Robert Rizzo and former assistant administrator Angela Spaccia to hide city salaries.

"Some emails demonstrate a conscious effort to shield salaries paid to certain City of Bell employees, including Mr. Adams, from public view," Ahler wrote.

The chief, the judge wrote, also wanted to keep confidential an agreement that would have eventually granted him a disability retirement, meaning that half his pension would have been tax-free. His decision included an email that Adams sent to Spaccia during contract negotiations. "I am looking forward to seeing you and taking all of Bell's money?!" he wrote. "Okay...just a share of it."

Greg Adam, the former police chief's attorney, said they had expected the ruling.

"It doesn't surprise me, given the political prism things in Bell are now being viewed through, that the judge found a way to rule against Randy," he said.

Adams can appeal the ruling to CalPERS' 12-person board or file a lawsuit.

Other legal fights await Adams. He has sued the city for severance pay. The city has sued him, saying that it wants Adams to return his salary and a portion of the $20 million Bell estimates it lost in the corruption scandal.

Besides the $457,000 salary, Adams' contract also called for Bell to pay his retirement contributions and to offer him and his dependents lifetime medical, dental and vision insurance.

Adams' attorney criticized CalPERS for waiting until the Bell scandal broke before acting. "CalPERS was accepting the contributions on this very large sum. They must have seen this was an inordinate amount of money, yet did anyone say, 'Wait a minute.' No. They took the money."

Rizzo, Spaccia and former Councilman George Cole — all of whom face corruption charges — are also fighting CalPERS' decision to cut their pensions.

jeff.gottlieb@latimes.com

12.56 | 0 komentar | Read More

Campaigns are largely silent on needs of military members, vets

President Obama, whose last visit to Los Angeles included a fundraising extravaganza at the home of George Clooney, is scheduled to return Wednesday evening for a guest appearance on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno." On his next visit, it might be nice if he could pull himself away from celebrities long enough to drop by the West Los Angeles Veterans Affairs campus, which seems unable to provide beds to veterans who sleep on nearby streets.

Several times in Monday night's debate with Mitt Romney, Obama mentioned his desire to make sure "our veterans have the kind of support they need when they come home." That was more of a mention than the vets got from Romney, but still, if the president wants to help, I'd like to take him to the VA and show him Building 209, which has sat vacant for years despite plans to open it for rehabilitative services and housing. Rep. Henry Waxman, who represents the area, told me again Monday morning that he has no idea why the VA doesn't get moving on the project.

Maybe Obama can get to the bottom of the matter, given that we've got about 8,000 homeless veterans in greater L.A. Otherwise, his alleged commitment to those who sacrificed for their country rings hollow, don't you think?

I'd also like to hear from the commander in chief, and Romney, too, about their plans for ending the continuing scandal of rape in the military. The numbers are staggering, with the Department of Defense estimating there were 19,000 sexual assaults in 2011, but that more than 80% went unreported because many victims believe that either nothing will be done or they'll be retaliated against or accused of inviting the rape.

Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta has called this "an outrage" and vowed to make changes. In the past, assault victims have been forced to report incidents to their unit commander, even if that person was the assailant or might be inclined to quash an investigation that would reflect badly on his command. In April, Panetta made a policy change in which the initial investigation will begin higher up the chain, but critics say that falls short of what's needed.

"Until it's out of the military chain of command, it's not going to" make a difference, said Ohio resident Kori Cioca, who served in the Coast Guard and says she was discouraged from reporting that she had been struck by her supervising officer and wasn't believed when she subsequently reported that he had raped her. "They're still going to keep predators in there and try to hide it as much as they can."

I was put in touch with Cioca by Kirby Dick, a documentary filmmaker and neighbor of mine. Cioca is one of many alleged victims of sexual assault in "The Invisible War," which was made by Dick and Amy Ziering and got the attention of Panetta, among other policymakers. Released this week on DVD, the movie examines the pervasive military culture of abuse, coverup and demonization of victims.

In the film, Cioca says her supervising officer would call her late at night, drunk at a bar, and order her to come get him. Once, she found him sleeping in her bed, but when she tried to complain, the officer she told about the situation was a drinking buddy of his, and her complaint was ignored. Cioca says her supervisor slugged her in the face after she resisted an advance, breaking her jaw, and later raped her. But he admitted only to hitting Cioca, and at court martial, he was restricted to his base for 30 days.

"To have your body trespassed in that kind of way, and for the military — with their reputation and honor — to just cover that up is disgusting," Cioca told me by phone this week. "It broke my heart. It shattered everything I believed in."

Cioca will undergo surgery next week to repair her jaw.

Marine Lt. Ariana Klay, who served in Iraq and was later assigned to the prestigious Marine Barracks Washington, describes in the movie a culture of drunken debauchery, as well as intimidation of women who didn't fall into line. She said she was raped by a senior officer and his civilian friend — a charge they denied — and Klay said she was accused of inviting advances by wearing makeup and running shorts. The officer she accused of rape was instead found guilty of adultery.

Klay left the corps and works as director of an arts institute while also carrying a full load in graduate school, even as she continues to struggle with an ordeal that led her to a suicide attempt.

"I've kind of regained and rebuilt my identity because I know the strengths I had didn't come from the Marine Corps, I was giving them to the Marine Corps," Klay said.

Her husband, also a Marine, resigned from the reserves, saying he could no longer serve an institution that had shattered his trust.

"The worst part was watching senior leadership engage in appalling characterizations of women, and in reprisals," Benjamin Klay said.

Rep. Jackie Speier (D-Hillsborough) has led a campaign for change, sharing shocking stories of abuse from the floor. She introduced a bill last year that would take sexual assault cases out of the chain of command and transfer them to a military investigative office made up of military and civilian members. But there's been opposition from the military, and Speier told me she'll reintroduce the bill next year.

Last month, Speier appeared with attorney Susan Burke in San Francisco, where 19 current and former service men and women sued military officials for failing to go after their predators. Burke told me she believes assault cases should be handled entirely outside the military, but she'd settle for the proposal by Speier.

"I don't know how you can know this problem exists and not immediately get rid of chain of command," Burke told me.

I don't know how, as the presidential candidates pander to military interests, they can leave so many wounded warriors behind.

steve.lopez@latimes.com

12.56 | 0 komentar | Read More

Noguez will stay behind bars a while longer

Los Angeles County Assessor John Noguez, who has spent the last six days in jail after his arrest on suspicion of taking bribes to lower property tax bills, will stay behind bars a while longer.

On Monday, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Shelly Torrealba refused to reduce Noguez's bail below $1.16 million —the amount the county allegedly lost in tax revenue because of the scheme, prosecutors claim.

Noguez's attorney, Michael Proctor, said Noguez would not be able to make that bail. He had asked Torrealba to consider a bail of about $400,000.

Torrealba also set bail at $1.16 million for Ramin Salari, a tax consultant accused of bribing Noguez to lower property taxes for his wealthy clients. Salari is expected to put up the money and be released, said his attorney, Mark Werksman.

Investigators are still poring over tax reductions granted by Noguez during his brief tenure as assessor, which began after his election in November 2010.

"There were other losses, other properties," Deputy Dist. Atty. Susan Schwartz told the judge Monday. "This is just the tip of the iceberg."

Noguez and Salari were arrested last week on dozens of corruption charges, including bribery and misappropriation of public funds. Prosecutors allege that Noguez took $185,000 in bribes from Salari, who charges his clients a percentage of any tax savings, typically 50%.

Salari is also accused of paying $100,000 in bribes to a lower-level assessor's office employee, Scott Schenter, to illegally reduce property values. Schenter pleaded not guilty to fraud charges in May.

Salari is a multimillionaire, court records show. But since he has to prove that the money he uses for his defense is not tainted by the alleged criminal conspiracy, his mother and sister are putting up their Encino homes as collateral for the bail, Werksman said.

jack.dolan@latimes.com

12.56 | 0 komentar | Read More

Campaign to abolish California's death penalty begins airing ads

The campaign to replace the death penalty with a sentence of life without parole launched radio and television advertisements Monday, depicting capital punishment as a futile exercise that costs taxpayers and coddles criminals.

With only two weeks left before the election, the Proposition 34 campaign is spending more than $2 million on ads that will air in San Diego, Los Angeles and San Francisco. Polls suggest the measure has been struggling but gaining ground.

"Do you know we have the death penalty in California?" actor Edward James Olmos asks in a radio spot for Proposition 34. "You might not, because we almost never use it."

The ads emphasize how few inmates are executed — 13 since 1978 — and suggest the money would be better used for schools and crime fighting. California's nonpartisan Legislative Analyst's Office has said the state could save as much as $130 million a year if the death penalty is abolished.

"Death row inmates get special legal teams that work for them, but they don't work or pay 1 cent to the victim's families, like other inmates do," Olmos says. "They just sit in private cells, watching TV."

The campaign's television ad focuses on Francisco "Franky" Carrillo, who served 20 years in prison for a murder he said he did not commit. A judge overturned his conviction and released him last year.

"It took 20 years to prove he was innocent," Olmos said, in English and Spanish ads. "With the death penalty, we always risk executing an innocent person."

Proposition 34 would commute the death sentences of the state's more than 725 condemned inmates to life with no possibility of parole. The inmates would be merged into the general prison population in double cells and be expected to work and pay into victim restitution funds, the sponsors say.

Opponents of the measure are fighting back, emailing "fact sheets," holding news conferences up and down the state and putting their position on mailed slate cards. The opposition has raised less than $1 million, but a campaign spokesman said media advertisements remain under consideration.

Peter DeMarco, a strategist for the No on 34 campaign, said it has relied on prosecutors, police and crime victims to get out its message.

DeMarco complained the advertisement about Carrillo was misleading because Carrillo was never sentenced to death.

"They have not been able to produce a single innocent person whose situation is directly impacted by Prop. 34," DeMarco said.

Opponents have said the projected savings from ending the death penalty are wildly inflated, and their ballot arguments suggest the measure could cost taxpayers. In addition to abolishing the death penalty, Proposition 34 would give local law enforcement agencies $100 million over four years for the prosecution of rapes and murders.

Opponents also complain the backers of Proposition 34 are to blame for the system's delays and predict executions will resume as soon as the state moves to a single-drug method of lethal injection. Court rulings have prevented any executions for six years.

The faces of the No on 34 campaign have been Marc Klaas, whose daughter, Polly, 12, was kidnapped from her bedroom, raped and murdered, and Kermit Alexander, a former pro football player whose mother, sister and two nephews were slain in a case of mistaken identity.

Most California newspapers, including The Times, have endorsed Proposition 34. Natasha Minsker, an ACLU policy director who is running the Proposition 34 campaign, said 40 to 50 volunteers are calling voters each night to ask for support. She said Roman Catholic bishops, pastors and rabbis also have urged their congregations to approve the measure.

"It all comes down to what happens in the next two weeks — if we are able to move the undecided voters," Minsker said.

maura.dolan@latimes.com

12.56 | 0 komentar | Read More

Charter to take over school in parent-trigger case

A high-performing charter school affiliated with the University of La Verne has been selected to take over a struggling Mojave Desert elementary school that has been a test case of the state's pioneering parent-trigger law.

After months of conflict and court battles over the law, Adelanto parents voted last week to select LaVerne Elementary Preparatory Academy to take over their Desert Trails Elementary School in August. The election was the state's first vote for a charter school under the law, which gave parents the power to petition for such charter conversions, staff overhauls or other sweeping changes at low-performing schools.

Parents said they had high hopes that the charter would at last bring help to Desert Trails, where only one-third of sixth-graders are at grade level in reading and math. The school's achievement score on a 1,000-point scale known as the Academic Performance Index fell by 13 points to 699 this year.

In contrast, LaVerne Elementary's score rose to 911 this year from 869. About two-thirds of its sixth-graders were at grade level in English and just over half in math. Only 17 sixth-graders were tested at LaVerne, however, compared to 95 at Desert Trails. LaVerne also has a student body with less poverty and higher parent education levels.

"I'm excited and happy that we're finally able to move forward and provide a better education for students," said Doreen Diaz, a parent who led the pro-charter campaign.

But some school officials and parents expressed concern that only 53 ballots were cast in the charter election. Although the school has about 400 families with 610 students, only 180 parents who signed the petition for a charter campus during the campaign last year were eligible to vote under the parent-trigger law.

"Fifty-three votes cast the direction of the school," said LaNita M. Dominique, president of the Adelanto teachers' union. "That's a little disheartening."

Carlos Mendoza, the Adelanto school board president, said the low voter turnout demonstrated that the pro-charter effort had lost most of its support.

He said, however, that the board would fully comply with the law and await the formal charter proposal for review. Before voting, Mendoza said, he intended to scrutinize LaVerne's educational plan and financial condition and seek answers to such questions as who would provide and pay for food service, transportation and other services. Charters receive public funds but are independently managed; most are nonunion like LaVerne.

Diaz blamed the low voter turnout in part on the community's high transiency; the Desert Trails Parent Union said it could verify only 180 current parents among 286 who signed the petition. But she said she was comfortable that such a small number of parents decided the school's fate because new families she spoke with were excited about the charter.

She also accused Principal David Mobley of discouraging parents from voting and the teachers' union of undermining the election by holding a school board election event at the same time. Voting hours were from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. last Thursday and the event, a skating party, was held from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

Dominique denied the allegations, saying she only learned of the election the day it happened, well after the union had planned its school board candidates event.

Mobley also said neither he nor his staff attempted to influence voter turnout. The woman whom Diaz said reported the alleged intimidation said Friday that her remarks were misconstrued. Kathy Duncan, a charter supporter, said she overheard Mobley tell a parent only that he was not bothered by the voting and "work is work and we'll be here tomorrow."

But Duncan said she was thrilled by the new charter — especially the chance for her two fifth-graders to wear LaVerne's school uniforms next year.

Parent Revolution, the nonprofit that lobbied for the law and aided Desert Trails parents, hailed the vote as a historic step. It came after 18 months of charges and countercharges of fraud and harassment in the petition campaign, two school board votes to reject the petition and two court rulings ordering the board to accept the parent requests.

"Their vote sends a powerful message to parents across America that they too can have a direct voice in reclaiming and transforming failing schools. No parent need ever feel intimidated when they look at what the parents of Desert Trails have achieved," Ben Austin, the group's executive director, said in a statement.

At least one parent who opposed the charter takeover said, however, that she would pull her children out of Desert Trails if the school was converted. Linda Yuan said the school community had put several reforms in place this year that should be given time to take hold. They include a new literacy program, extended school day and more computers — reforms that all teachers signed a written pledge to support.

teresa.watanabe@latimes.com

12.56 | 0 komentar | Read More

Santa Monica 'party house' gives neighbors a hangover

When it comes to flipping a 10,000-square-foot mansion on a prime piece of Santa Monica real estate, a simple open house with hors d'oeuvres and soothing background music has apparently become blase.

In what city staff calls "a new kind of commercial activity for Santa Monica," the designer who purchased a golf-course adjacent property has re-purposed it for parties and formed the House of Rock LLC to help market the estate.

Since hundreds of guests started streaming in and out of the home in September, residents on affluent La Mesa Drive have complained about everything from noise and lights, to traffic congestion and safety — and even naked partygoers sleeping off a long night in their cars.

On Tuesday, the City Council will decide whether to pass an emergency ordinance that could bar such festivities.

"These are the kinds of events that take place in a hotel ballroom, not in a single-family home," said Christopher Harding, a Santa Monica attorney representing two neighbors. "The disruption factor has been pretty extraordinary. This is a commercial-events venue that is operating on a quiet neighborhood street."

But Benjamin M. Reznik, an attorney for Greg Briles and Elaine Culotti, principal owners of the property, emphasized that neither marketing a home nor running charitable events qualify as commercial activity. City code enforcement personnel who have investigated House of Rock events say the company has not violated any city ordinances, he said.

"This is a sledgehammer approach to a nonexistent problem," Reznik said. "You're creating a law that infringes on every citizen's 1st Amendment right to free association."

If adopted as drafted, the city's emergency ordinance would prohibit residential property owners from hosting more than 150 people at one time for the purpose of selling a home. Violators could be slapped with a misdemeanor — which could carry a $1,000 fine, six months in jail, or both — or an infraction, which could bring a fine of up to $250.

Santa Monica Mayor Richard Bloom and several residents said community members want to make sure the ordinance is narrowly tailored to avoid targeting political fundraisers, bar mitzvahs or other smaller-scale parties.

"But at some point you cross into commercial activity and it appears to me that the House of Rock has crossed over that line," Bloom said. "This is a good opportunity for the city to create some standards."

Reznik said Culotti purchased the property in October 2010, undertaking an ambitious redesign. Many of the rooms are hard-wired with microphone panels, fiber-optic cables and other musical innovations. A professional recording studio is also built into the home, with ceilings soundproofed in cotton and silk. When the house goes on the market at the end of the month, Reznik said, it will be listed for more than $20 million.

High-end designers and furniture purveyors also donated their services for the parties in return for exposure and sales opportunities, according to the city's staff report. Event attendees and others taking virtual tours can purchase the furnishings online, the report said. The report also quotes Culotti calling the marketing scheme "a crafty way" to sell the house.

"Legal staff concurs with one member of the public, who observed … that people tend to push the limits and experiment (for their own benefit)," the report said. "Staff agrees that the marketing scheme for the House of Rock exemplifies that proposition."

Still, the charity events will continue into December. Three have taken place, and five more are scheduled, Reznik said. The most recent event last week involved about 350 guests and featured a musical performance and a silent auction supporting City of Hope's "Songs of Hope," charity officials said.

But it was the two events in September that drove dozens of people to an Oct. 2 City Council meeting in protest.

Dick Newman, who lives across the street from the House of Rock, said that the events clogged the street with catering trucks, Hummers and vans while spotlights illuminated the sky.

"People could not get in their driveways," Newman, 77, said. "Had there been any kind of emergency, it would have been chaos."

Reznik said he would sue the city if the ordinance is adopted and enforced.

matt.stevens@latimes.com

12.56 | 0 komentar | Read More

Porn condom measure may have trouble drawing voter interest

When Los Angeles County voters go to the polls on election day, the ballot will include a question they've never seen before: Should pornographic movie performers be required to wear condoms during filming?

From now until Nov. 6, analysts say, supporters and opponents of Measure B could have a tricky time convincing them to even consider the point.

"Not only is it an issue that's not particularly important to voters, but it's way down the ballot," said Darry Sragow, a longtime political strategist and attorney unaffiliated with either side of the campaign. "Most voters may say, 'This is not an issue I care that strongly about, or this is an issue I don't know much about,' and they may take a pass."

On one side of the question is the L.A.-based AIDS Healthcare Foundation, which has been a crusading advocate for protecting porn stars from HIV. They have cast the issue as one that protects worker safety — like requiring construction workers to wear hard hats — and keeps the public safe from outbreaks of sexually transmitted disease.

Opposing Measure B is a lucrative adult film industry said to generate hundreds of millions of dollars in sales while providing jobs to thousands of actors, makeup artists, camera crews, caterers and the like. If the measure passes, some producers suggest, the business could simply move outside the county.

The cost of the law would be paid for by porn producers, who would have to purchase a public health permit, much like tattoo parlors. Violators would be subject to fines and misdemeanor criminal charges.

"It is a health and safety issue," said Michael Weinstein, president of the AIDS foundation.

The AIDS group has lined up endorsements from health groups such as the Los Angeles County Medical Assn., while the porn industry has the support of the Valley Industry & Commerce Assn., which calls the measure "over-regulation."

A poll of 400 likely L.A. County voters conducted Oct. 2-3 for the pro-Measure B campaign found that 55% supported the condom requirement while 32% opposed it.

The AIDS group has poured $350,000 into the campaign to pass Measure B, paying for TV and newspaper ads, billboards and mailers. In addition, the campaign has spent more than $1 million to gather voter signatures so the initiative would qualify for the ballot.

One TV ad features two HIV-positive porn actors urging a yes vote. "No one else has to work without safety equipment. Why should performers in adult films?" asks Darren James, while Derrick Burts adds: "Stop the spread of diseases."

The porn industry has raised $111,375 for its "No on Government Waste Committee." Major funding has come from four porn producers: $75,000 from Manwin, a global adult entertainment company headquartered in Luxembourg and parent of Pornhub and Youporn, and $10,000 each from Vivid Entertainment of Los Angeles; Larry Flynt's Flynt Management Group of Beverly Hills; and PHE Inc. of North Carolina, which runs Adam & Eve, a leading erotic mail-order company and video production firm.

In mailers sent to voters, adult film producers have cast the issue as a "ridiculous waste of tax dollars," even though the measure is written to have enforcement paid by the filmmakers. "It's also unnecessary because the adult industry already has a strict, successful testing program," one mailer says.

James Lee, spokesman for Measure B's opponents, said the porn industry tried in 1998 to mandate condom use after sex film actresses tested positive for HIV. But the industry found that film sales fell by 30% across the board. The industry then required that porn stars be regularly tested to keep infected actors from working, a protocol they say works. They say they don't need the creation of an unwanted, ineffective county bureaucracy.

"People don't buy porn that features condoms," Lee said.

"If workplace safety comes at the expense of the task being performed, then it doesn't make sense to me," said Christian Mann, general manager of Evil Angel Video, warning that porn stars will leave the county.

He said when he lets his sons play Little League, he knows that they're at risk of being injured.

"I don't see that as a justification to outlaw Little League," he said. "The irony is that our industry is actually safer than Little League baseball."

Adult film actress Kayden Kross said she believed condom use for porn stars "should be a choice, not a mandate." She said she has a "huge amount of trust" in the testing protocol, but she acknowledged the risk. "There is some risk in having any sex," Kross said.

Backers of Measure B say the industry testing system has repeatedly failed. They note that performers can easily become infected between tests. Not only is the porn actor population at risk, but it's also members of the general public who have sex with them, Burts said.

It's easy for porn stars at the height of their career to think they're indestructible, said James, a prolific film actor who was in hundreds of movies from 1998 until he was infected in 2004.

"When you get something, trust me, you're going to regret it. Everyone is invincible now, but when you come crashing down and no one has your back, they're going to change their mind," James said. "As a performer, you're only as good as your last scene."

The idea that porn stars have a choice to use condoms is like saying "coal miners have a choice whether to go in the mines or not," said Dr. Jeffrey D. Klausner, a UCLA professor of medicine who backs Measure B. Klausner is a former director of STD prevention and control services in San Francisco.

"People unfortunately sometimes make these, quote, 'free choices,' and pay with their lives. Industry has a responsibility to protect workers," Klausner said.

Political strategist Sragow cautioned both sides on aspects of their campaigns.

Warning about a loss of porn jobs may not be persuasive among voters with a dim view of the porn industry, he said.

And ex-porn stars may not be the most effective spokespeople for the pro-Measure B campaign, he said. Research has shown voters respond to certain trusted messengers in TV ads, like doctors and nurses. "The message there could be, 'You can't be too safe about this.' … But that has to come from somebody who is not connected with the porn industry."

ron.lin@latimes.com

12.56 | 0 komentar | Read More

After Inglewood shooting, details on suspect and victims emerge

The body of the suspect in a Saturday morning rampage in which five members of an Inglewood family were shot — two fatally — was believed to be found in the ashes of his home, wearing body armor, clutching a revolver and bearing a gunshot wound to the head, police said Sunday.

A corpse was discovered among the remains of a torched house on West 99th Street inhabited by Desmond John Moses, a 55-year-old licensed security guard and the registered owner of the .38-caliber handgun. A positive identification of the body is expected in the coming days.

Police suspect that Moses indiscriminately opened fire on the family who rented a bungalow on the same property, blaming them for an eviction notice he had received from their landlord.

The family had called police several times asking them to conduct a welfare check after becoming concerned about Moses' increasing isolation and odd behavior, a relative said. The landlord said he had obtained an eviction order Tuesday that gave the man 15 days to move out.

Moses allegedly attacked the family around 4 a.m. Saturday while wearing a painter's mask, according to witnesses. Neighbors were jolted awake by the gunfire.

Filimon Lamas and his wife, Gloria Jimenez, tried to protect their four children, authorities said. Lamas was found slumped over three of them; Jimenez, despite being shot in both legs and her pelvis, jumped a fence and ran from the home cradling their 4-year-old son, who had been shot in the head.

Lamas, 30, and the 4-year-old later died. On Sunday, Jimenez, 28, remained in stable condition at UCLA Medical Center. The couple's 7-year-old daughter, shot in the chest, was "critical but stable," police said.

Their 6-year-old son, shot in the pelvis, was released from the hospital Sunday and was resting with family members, a relative said. Their 8-year-old son was not hurt in the attack.

Shortly after the shooting rampage Saturday, Moses' home was in flames. Authorities have said they believe he set it on fire.

Jimenez had worried that Moses was "not all there," her brother Jaime said. He said Moses grunted when the family greeted him and complained when the children played in the yard between their houses. Neighbors said Moses appeared to have no friends or family and had not paid rent in years.

Online records from the California Department of Consumer Affairs show that Moses has held a "guard/patrolperson registration" since 1984. He appears to have kept up with the renewal process, as the registration was valid through August 2013.

A spokesman said security guard registrations require renewal every two years. New applicants are fingerprinted and run through an FBI and state Department of Justice database. That does not happen when the license is renewed, the spokesman said.

Police said they did not know whether Moses was working as a security guard. The state does not keep track of where those who register as guards are employed.

Despite their problems with Moses, Lamas and Jimenez enjoyed a happy life, according to neighbors and friends.

The two met while attending Hawthorne High School, and Lamas supported his young family as part owner of Chips, a 1950s-style diner on Hawthorne Boulevard that serves $4.95 waffle specials and fresh pozole.

Eight years ago, the couple married and moved into the bungalow on West 99th Street — next door to Jimenez's childhood home, where her father still lives. All but one of her five siblings live on the same block in the modest, largely working-class Latino neighborhood.

Jimenez took care of her children, spending many hours at the local park where all but the youngest played soccer. She attended beauty school about four years ago and mostly used those skills to style her daughter's, mother's and sister's hair, her brother said. "She felt like she wanted to have something in case something happened that she could fall back on."

Meanwhile, Lamas "poured his heart" into Chips. "He felt this was what was going to make the family successful," Jaime Jimenez said. "It was his way to provide for the family."

When asked how the surviving family members will cope after the death of their breadwinner, Jimenez started sobbing. "All he breathed was his family," he said after regaining his composure. "All he did, all he talked about, was his family."

Neighbor Erica Gomez said the loving couple had only one complaint: that they didn't have enough time to spend with each other.

12.56 | 0 komentar | Read More