David Cogan

The French Connection

David Cogan
Earlier this year, a Los Feliz composer and Francophile ran a personal ad in a Paris newspaper in search of a pen pal. He’s still looking, although two weeks ago, a mysterious letter with no return address arrived for him at his local post office. Intrigued by the postmark from......
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Raves on the Run

David Cogan
It’s a club drug, a psychoactive party favor, and for the past decade, it’s fueled scenes and raves across the country. For a while it all occurred under the radar, touted by in-crowd hipsters and decried by only the most vigilant Drug War hawks. But in the past year, Ecstasy......

Family Feud

David Cogan
Hertzberg, Kathleen ClarkVillaraigosa, Slobodan Dimitrov It was one of those moments in which the shifting currents of power and allegiance were suddenly forced to the surface, and for those present, it signified a sea change in the Democrat-dominated state Assembly. The scene unfolded at a meeting of the Appropriations Committee,......

The Hidden Epidemic

David Cogan
Photo by Anne Fishbein It was a proud day at City Hall last month when two dozen police officers stood up to receive the city’s highest honor. Councilwoman Ruth Galanter presented decorative commendations to members of the Westside Task Force for their contributions in apprehending the “Westside Rapist,” the burglar......

Early Aspirations

David Cogan
Photo by Slobodan Dimitrov These days, every day begins and ends the same way for City Attorney James Hahn: campaigning. At breakfast, then at lunch, then after work, Hahn is spending all his available time meeting with potential contributors and attending community events, from Pacoima to Long Beach. No matter......

Who Is This Padilla Guy, Anyway?

David Cogan
Photo by Slobodan Dimitrov The way Corinne Sanchez tells it, two months had passed since she first tried to contact Mayor Richard Riordan. Now, finally, he was on the phone. A candidate for L.A. City Council from the northeast San Fernando Valley, Sanchez already had the endorsement of Richard Alarcon,......

The Graying of West Hollywood

David Cogan
Photo by Kathleen Clark The stage at the Pacific Design Center was crowded last Saturday as 13 aspirants for a seat on the West Hollywood City Council were on hand for a locally televised candidate forum. Yet despite the apparent competition for his job, Mayor Steve Martin brimmed with confidence......

Larry Flynt Scores

David Cogan
Photo by Pablo Martinez Monsivais "I want to talk to you about something I’m not proud of, something I wanted you to know," Bob Livingston, U.S. House Speaker designate said in announcing his resignation to a selected group of Republican Congressmen last Thursday. In short, he said, "I’ve been Larry......

Power Player

David Cogan
Photo by Virginia Lee HunterEd Roski Jr. looked a bit out of place one sunny March morning at the groundbreaking of downtown L.A.'s new sports mecca, the state-of-the-art, $350 million Staples Arena, future home of the Lakers, the Clippers and the Kings. As Kobe Bryant and Shaquille hammed it up......

Whitewater West gets public airing

David Cogan
Fully four years after the scheme was hatched and more than a year after the city controller released a damning report on the affair, the Riordan-administration scandal dubbed "Whitewater West" finally got a public airing last week at a hearing before the City Council's Commerce, Energy and Natural Resources Committee......