Beth Barrett

Essential L.A. Weekly Guide to Education Conundrums and Screw Ups: Required Reading for Wendy Greuel and Eric Garcetti

Update: Greuel discovers education reform after mayoral lambasting, challenges Garcetti to debate. See on next page. Will political twins and L.A. mayoral candidates Wendy Greuel and Eric Garcetti -- a.k.a. "Greuel-Cetti" -- ever talk specifics, and not just platitudes, about the most serious probl ... More >>

YouTube Wars: Readers Weigh In

Good Judges and Bad Dogs: Readers Write In

Comments: Blood in the Streets

Mark Berndt's Settlement Document Exposed: Teacher Alleged to Have Sparked Miramonte Sex Scandal Got Paid

With reporting from Beth Barrett We already know that the L.A. Unified School District paid alleged student molester Mark Berndt $40,000 to go away. It's an astonishing fact, even though the district contends that the payoff was the only way to get him to leave as he appealed the disciplinary cas ... More >>

To Market, to Market

John Deasy LAUSD Union Contract Cave-in? New Superintendent has a Rare Chance to Force Teachers to Really Teach

LAUSD Superintendent John Deasy: Will he cave, or finally protect the kids?​Uh oh, John Deasy, the Los Angeles Unified School District Superintendent, is issuing glowing claims to the media that he is nearly ready to cut a labor contract deal with the anti-reform leaders at United Teachers of ... More >>

5 Local Farmers Who are Doing it Right

Felicia FriesemaThe Hollywood market earlier this year.​After reading Beth Barrett's piece about farmers markets this week, it might be tempting to hang up the locavore hat and head out for an angsty and cathartic mouthful at the local McDonald's. We're envisioning an army of market goers as ... More >>

More L.A. Leaders Come Out Against Teachers Union, in Support of 'Don't Hold Us Back' Reform at LAUSD

The L.A. Civic Alliance gives this ad -- which recently appeared in the Times, Daily News and La Opinion -- a big fat thumbs up.​In case you haven't heard, the door to much-needed education reform in L.A. will either be thrown open or slammed shut this fall. More specifically, the Los Angeles ... More >>

BrainCOCOA: L.A. Parent Lawrence Ross Starts Gawker-Like Blog To Fight Bad Education

British boy protests uniform policy and wears skirt​What does a fed up parent/journalist/writer do when he's sick and tired of bad education policies? He starts a hard-hitting blog, of course. Los Angeles writer Lawrence Ross, who recently fought a successful battle against a local charter s ... More >>

LA Press Club Awards Finalists Announced: LA Weekly Receives Several Nods

Journalist of the Year nominee Patrick Range McDonald.​LA Weekly dominated the design category of the Los Angeles Press Club's 53rd SoCal Journalism Awards Finalists, announced today. Staff writer Patrick Range McDonald was named as a Journalist of the Year finalist and saw his piece on parent ... More >>

Beth Barrett, Los Angeles Investigative Reporter, Wins Maggie Award for Best Public Service Series: The Dance of the Lemons

Award-winning Los Angeles journalist Beth Barrett​Investigative reporter Beth Barrett, the Los Angeles journalist whose scoop revealing that Antonio Villaraigosa was cheating on his wife caused him extensive political harm, has won the Maggie Award for Best Public Service Series, for her seari ... More >>

Barry Minkow Fraud: How He Duped the FBI to Tell Him Secret Info on Lennar Corp.

By Beth Barrett ​New details emerged in a plea deal signed by Barry Minkow showing how the ZZZZ Best con man-turned-fraud buster and pastor cleverly exploited the FBI to get proprietary information on home-builder Lennar Corp. -- then used that knowledge illegally to make huge secret trades ... More >>

Barry Minkow and Nicolas Marsch III Conspired and Manipulated FBI to Ruin Lennar Stock; Feds Reveal Details

Barry MinkowBy Beth Barrett Barry Minkow, mastermind of the ZZZZ Best carpet cleaning fraud 25 years ago who claimed redemption as a fraud buster and pastor after leaving prison, conspired with a San Diego developer to "artificially manipulate and depress" national home-builder Lennar Corp.'s stock ... More >>

Barry Minkow Will Plead Guilty to Federal Charges of Insider Trading over Scam Against Lennar Corp.

By Beth Barrett ​Federal prosecutors have struck an agreement with Barry Minkow to plead guilty to criminal insider trading for actions that damaged the stock price of one of the nation's largest home building companies two years ago, sources familiar with the case told the Weekly. Minkow, ... More >>

President Of Conman Barry Minkow's 'Fraud Discovery Institute' Apologizes Following 'Weekly' Article On 'ZZZZ Best' Mastermind's Latest Lies

Carpet cleaner, liar, corporate swashbuckler, Barry Minkow​By Beth Barrett The president of conman Barry Minkow's Fraud Discovery Institute (FDI) has apologized to "friends" and other followers, saying the company had "fallen away from our mission and our credibility and our sweat equity that ... More >>

FILM SCHOOL VS. FARMERS MARKET

Barry Minkow Destroyed Evidence And Lied To Court In Extortion of Lennar Corp., Judge Rules

Update: The judge's ruling is extraordinary, in that it that denies Barry Minkow a jury trial and orders him to pay sanctions estimated at up to hundreds of millions of dollars. By Beth Barrett Barry Minkow, bad boy.​A Miami judge has ruled against Barry Minkow in a libel and extortion lawsu ... More >>

A.J. Duffy's UTLA Cracks Further As Heather Kolodny Drops Los Angeles School Board Bid

A.J. Duffy's tiny pocket is full​Paranoid leaders at United Teachers Los Angeles seek anti-reform teachers to run for Los Angeles Unified School Board. That's right. They grimly resist after losing public confidence following the brilliant L.A. Times test score expose of 6,000 teachers. The Ti ... More >>

Barry Minkow Scheme: Documents Show He Trashed Lennar Corp., Sent Its Stock Down $500 Mil, Then Bought It Up

By Beth Barrett Bad Barry Minkow: Docs say he drove Lennar's stock down with ugly words, then bought it up​The Weekly reported last month that Barry Minkow, L.A.'s most famous convicted fraudster, once again isn't to be trusted. He was accusing major firms of fraud and financial crimes--and m ... More >>

LETTERS: MINKOW STINKOW

The Spiteful Dodger

Twist and Shout

Gloria Romero's Race to the Top

Can a scrappy L.A. reformist beat a big union to become Supe of California's schools?

What Made Max Mermelstein Run?

When Those Who Can't Teach, Do

2009: Just the Ticket

L.A. Weekly News Editor Responds to L.A. Times Hit Piece

LA Weekly News Editor Jill Stewart responds to LA Times' Jim Rainey

Here's the letter I sent out early this morning to friends and colleagues about the attack column published in the LA Times today and written by James Rainey. On the following page, you'll see some of the support I've received today from writers and others. I've emailed this letter to James Rainey a ... More >>

Emergency Response: Ambulance Feature Continues to Inspire

Plus, on Patrick Range McDonald’s Queer Town, Jonathan Gold, and our L.A. Infrastructure story

It Pays to Be Green: On Beth Barrett's Measure B Story

LA Daily News Sucks Up to Tennie Pierce

Today's front page Daily News prominently features a Q and A with Tennie Pierce, the former firefighter who sued the city of Los Angeles over a prank in which he was fed dog food, conducted by the paper's award-winning reporter Beth Barrett. Normally, Barrett is a great digger and reporter, very ... More >>

Villaraigosa's Media Affair

Telemundo, where his girlfriend is an anchor, lavishes him with free airtime

Acting Out

Like it or not, the school board seems, well, almost decisive these days.