Email Author Howard Blume

2003 Stories by Howard Blume

• Popping the Cork on Spending Cap

  published December 18, 2003

  There was good reason for long faces on the Republican side after Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger agreed to last week’s state budget deal: Th... More >>

• The Mayor Who Made L.A. Big

  published December 11, 2003

  Photo by Ted Soqui Tom Bradley’s 1973 triumph over Sam Yorty was the kind of cause the L.A. Weekly could have gotten behind: the blac... More >>

• Ruling by Referendum

  published December 4, 2003

  The new populist governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, believes in giving people what they want. And part of this package is his faith in direct... More >>

• Rebel With Many Causes

  published November 27, 2003

  Ron Curran, a dogged, award-winning investigator and unblushing idealist who helped establish the L.A. Weekly’s reputation fo... More >>

• Schools on Steroids

  published November 27, 2003

  Don’t bother to scan musty library shelves for treatises on education theory authored by the state’s new education secretar... More >>

• Fun in the Sun

  published November 27, 2003

  The Miami free-trade summit— a 34-nation gathering— ended a day early and fell well short of Bush administration goals last week. Instead ... More >>

• Distractions of Class

  published November 20, 2003

  Gray Davis finally won one last week: The outgoing governor scored in a court case that could affect hundreds of thousands of California... More >>

• The Anti-PATRIOTs

  published November 13, 2003

  Anti-tax guru Grover Norquist would be nearly the last person you’d expect to share a stage with traditional liberals. Unless, of course, th... More >>

• He’s Back

  published November 13, 2003

  Richard Riordan already sounded a lot like the incoming state education secretary more than two weeks before Governor-elect Arnold... More >>

• Blaming the Victims?

  published November 6, 2003

  It turns out that the San Diego County sheriff may have spoken too fast when he blamed victims of the wild fires for their own deaths. “Th... More >>

• Turf War

  published November 6, 2003

  Photo by Ted Soqui Call Joe Molina a believer: If he built it, he thought, they would come. So he and fellow Highland Park... More >>

• Fade From Gray

  published October 16, 2003

  Somehow, the Biltmore honchos knew the jig was up for Gray Davis. Last week, when the media and the governor’s staff assembled for a... More >>

• Pluggging the Latest Conspiracy Theory

  published October 16, 2003

  Call it the most electric scandal yet to circulate about the governor-elect. As the story goes, Arnold Schwarzenegger conspired with energy... More >>

• Governor Schwarzenovice

  published October 9, 2003

  With one post-debate poll showing 63 percent of voters favoring the recall of Governor Gray Davis and giving Arnold Schwarzenegger a 15-point... More >>

• Long Odds for Larry

  published October 2, 2003

  Forget the competing “clean money” voter initiatives proposed by gubernatorial candidates Arianna Huffington and Arnold Schwarzenegger. N... More >>

• Up On A Roof

  published September 25, 2003

  A school, a park and some family-sized apartments are just what the overcrowded Westlake neighborhood has needed. And that was the... More >>

• Recall's Side Effects

  published September 11, 2003

  Compelled by the uncertain outcome of the recall election, state lawmakers are pressing for legislation requiring private employers to... More >>

• A Great Soul of Tap

  published August 21, 2003

  The essence of a live Gregory Hines performance was not his rich, sensuous baritone, his palpable charm or even his percussive, hard-driving... More >>

• The Record of Gray Davis

  published August 21, 2003

  Illustration by Juan Alvarado The survival of Governor Gray Davis will depend on the willingness of progressives — Democrat and otherwise... More >>

• No Alternative to Higher Profits

  published August 7, 2003

  Seven staffers have lost their jobs in layoffs at The Village Voice, the largest economic reduction in years, perhaps ever, at the flagship... More >>

• More Antitrust News

  published July 10, 2003

  Remember that antitrust lawsuit? The one in which the federal government accused the owners of News Times L.A. and the... More >>

• State Flunks on Dropout Rate

  published July 3, 2003

  It’s not the sort of news about which state officials were likely to send out a press release — and they didn’t. But starting this fall, ... More >>

• What If . . .

  published July 3, 2003

  The fabled Ambassador Hotel — site of the RFK assassination and the Cocoanut Grove nightclub — stands as an unlikely survivor. No o... More >>

• Affirming Truth

  published July 3, 2003

  This week’s victory for affirmative action is real but precarious. The Supreme Court could well have chosen to end, not mend, efforts t... More >>

• The Fixer Is Out

  published June 26, 2003

  Anyone paying attention knew why Hal Kwalwasser was brought to L.A. Unified at the highest salary ever paid for the school district’s to... More >>