Monthly Archives: July 2011

Throwing Good (Taxpayer) Money After Bad — LA Live and the NFL Stadium Deal

Posted on July 20, 2011 by

The scaled-back LA Times managed to marshal dozens of reporters, photographers and support staff for its extensive and often clever coverage of the Carmageddon non-story but has virtually ignored the extraordinary phone hacking scandal in Britain involving Rupert Murdoch and … Continue reading →

Posted in City Hall, Hot Topics, Los Angeles, NFL Stadium | Tagged , , , , , , , | 32 Comments

Come Again, Carmageddon: Leadership, Planning, Civility Ease Congestion — Who Knew?

Posted on July 18, 2011 by

EDITOR’S NOTE: If you have nothing better to do with your time and want some amusement, tune into CNBC at 8 a.m. Tuesday when I’ll be talking about media mogul Rupert Murdoch who is facing a Parliamentary committee in London … Continue reading →

Posted in City Hall, Hot Topics, Los Angeles | Tagged , , , , , , | 17 Comments

Advertisements for Myself: Newspaper Columns, Council Comments

Posted on July 17, 2011 by

The Starbird Philosophy That Guided Glendale for 14 Years Don’t bother saying thanks to Jim Starbird — he’s been living a dream for the past 14 years as Glendale city manager. A day after disclosing plans to retire at the … Continue reading →

Posted in City Hall, Glendale-Burbank, Hot Topics, Los Angeles, NFL Stadium | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

CARMAGEDDON? Please!

Posted on July 16, 2011 by

Carmageddon was not the end of the world. Here’s the traffic map at 4:30 p.m. Saturday: Carmageddon was not the end of the world. Here’s what it was like on Sepulveda Boulevard in the Pass southbound and northbound shortly before … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 23 Comments

Don’t Cry for Rupert Murdoch — He Had It Coming

Posted on July 14, 2011 by

Rupert Murdoch had it coming for a long, long time. I was there back in 1975 at the height of the greatest constitutional and political crisis in Australian history when Murdoch showed his contempt for truth, for journalistic integrity, for … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | 13 Comments

Credit Downgrade: The Bills Come Due for Mortgaging LA’s Future

Posted on July 13, 2011 by

It seems like it was just yesterday that Eric Garcetti beamed and preened as he boasted about how the City Council had done such a great job of financial management that LA was able to borrow a record $1.3 billion … Continue reading →

Posted in City Hall, Hot Topics, Los Angeles | Tagged , , , , , , , | 15 Comments

NFL Stadium Update: Grudging Progress for an Informed Public Debate Despite Resistance

Posted on July 12, 2011 by

Forced once again to spend 90 minutes of their precious time in circling around the issue of honest, open and thorough public debate on AEG’s NFL stadium/Convention Center deal, the queen of downtown subsidized development ended the discussion succinctly. “It’s … Continue reading →

Posted in City Hall, Community Activists, Hot Topics, Los Angeles, NFL Stadium | Tagged , , , , , | 22 Comments

A Litmus Test for City Hall: Showdown on AEG’s NFL Stadium Deal

Posted on July 12, 2011 by

LaCanada-Flintridge Democrat Anthony Portantino is being taught a lesson this week by his fellow Assembly Democrats — they are cutting off funding for his staff for daring to vote against their phony budget that already is running in the red. … Continue reading →

Posted in City Hall, Hot Topics, Los Angeles, NFL Stadium | Tagged , , , , , , | 17 Comments

Pay-to-Pray — The Latest Twist in City Hall’s Corruption

Posted on July 11, 2011 by

EDITOR’S NOTE: More than a century-old and located at the birthplace of the city on Olvera Street, La Plaza United Methodist Church is fighting for its life. It is under assault from City Hall even though a long-running dispute between … Continue reading →

Posted in City Hall, Hot Topics, Los Angeles | Tagged , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Karmageddon: Making traffic problems worse — My Sunday Column for the News-Press and Leader

Posted on July 10, 2011 by

No sooner did we survive a doomsayer’s warning of the rapturous Armageddon on May 16 then we were confronted with dire warnings of something worse: spending an entire weekend stuck in the worst traffic gridlock anyone, anywhere has ever seen. … Continue reading →

Posted in Glendale-Burbank | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments