Mark Ridley-Thomas

Leimert Park Gets $120 Mil Metro Station

Chins were scratched and heads shook in 2011 when it was revealed that Metro's Crenshaw/LAX light-rail line would not feature a proper stop in the heart of African-American L.A., Leimert Park. There were accusations that the black community wasn't seeing the same kind of resources thrown at the mul ... More >>

Herb Wesson's Fiscal Commission Stacked With Wendy Greuel Supporters

L.A. Council President Herb Wesson today officially unveiled a new "L.A. 2020" Commission tasked with wading through L.A.'s finances and developing some recommendations to keep the city out of bankruptcy court.Though the commission's chair, Mickey Kantor, has said repeatedly that the commission will ... More >>

Ready To Pay $1.40 A Mile For Faster Lanes On The 110 Freeway?

Using the 110 Freeway through South L.A., which runs through some of the most economically challenged turf in Southern California, could soon cost you as much as ... $1.40 a mile. That's because Los Angeles County's first "High Occupancy Toll" system will spark up starting Saturday. You'll have the ... More >>

Assessor's Aide Seeks To Reassure Board of Supervisors About Brewing Scandal

As scandal continues to engulf L.A. County Assessor John Noguez, his office has begun a quiet campaign to reassure the Board of Supervisors that the situation is not as bad as it appears.The head of the effort is West Hollywood Mayor Jeffrey Prang, whom Noguez hired in March as a special assistant. ... More >>

Labor Groups Want MTA To Buy American On $900 Million Rail Car Contract

Update: MTA Board defies labor and votes to award the contract to Kinkisharyo. More below.The state's most powerful labor leaders are urging the MTA not to award a $890 million rail-car contract to a Japanese company, arguing that the money should instead be pumped into the U.S. economy.Labor leader ... More >>

Teflon Sheriff Lee Baca's Inmate Beatings Problem Puts Him in Hot Seat as County Commission on Jail Violence Meets

David MarklandLee Baca.​We call him the Teflon Sheriff because despite a decade's worth of allegations that deputies sometimes allegedly beat L.A. County Jail inmates (and visitors) for no good reason, Lee Baca keeps getting reelected by you, the people. Well, that nonstick coating will be pu ... More >>

Los Angeles County Gerrymanding: Did the Board of Supervisors' Redistricting Decision Violate the Federal Voting Rights Act?

By Hillel Aron After a seemingly endless session that included hundreds of public speakers, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors passed a redistricting plan, 4-1, with Gloria Molina the dissenting vote, yesterday. Why does this matter? Isn't gerrymandering -- the redrawing of the lines in ... More >>

Pro-Bernard Parks Mailer Touts Endorsements From Dead People, Misspells Magic Johnson's Name

Whoops: Earvin "Magic" Johnson's name is misspelled on a pro-Bernard Parks mailer​Unlike in Chicago, dead people can't vote in Los Angeles elections. But they can make endorsements, judging from the latest mailer to hit the streets in the hotly contested campaign between L.A. Councilman Bernard Pa ... More >>

David Israel, L.A. Coliseum Commission's Top Official, Says No to Electric Daisy Carnival Rave

Dennis RomeroColiseum commissioners Barry Sanders and Don Knabe.​After the L.A. Coliseum Commission voted late Tuesday to accept the resignation of its CEO, Patrick Lynch, the body's top leader said he would vote against allowing the controversial Electric Daisy Carnival rave that sparked turm ... More >>

Bernard Parks and Forescee Hogan-Rowles Trade Blows At Their First Debate

Bernard Parks​Councilman Bernard Parks traded attacks with his union-backed challenger, Forescee Hogan-Rowles. at their first debate this morning.Parks set out to highlight his opponent's inexperience, while Hogan-Rowles attacked his record on job creation and on managing the city budget."Do we ne ... More >>

Trish Ploehn, Head Of L.A. County's Embattled Child Welfare Department, Being Replaced

Ploehn left blowin' in the wind.​Trish Ploehn, the head of L.A. County's embattled child welfare department, is being replaced and will be offered a transfer to another position, county officials said. We reported recently about how Ploehn warned that a "smear campaign" had been waged against ... More >>

L.A. County Children And Family Services Might Have Had Incentive To Withold Information About Child Abuse Deaths

File photo from DCFS​Updated at 6:05 p.m. with comments, after the jump, from Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas. An examination of how Los Angeles County officials have restricted information about the controversial, abuse-related deaths of children under the jurisdiction of the Department of Chi ... More >>

Should Some L.A. Probation Officers Be Put On Probation?

​The new head of the Los Angeles County Probation Department this week vowed to investigate allegations that employees had used government-issued credit cards to buy what appeared to be personal items, including flat-screen TVs, DVD players, Sony PlayStations video games, and barbecues. The re ... More >>

Another Bratton Endorsement Bites the Dust

Outgoing Los Angeles Police Department Chief Bill Bratton once told the Weekly that he would never personally run for office . . . but it still didn't keep L.A.'s Top Cop from backing political candidates when critics said he should stay out of the endorsement business.Ted SoquiLAPD Chief Bill Bratt ... More >>

LAPD's Bill Bratton Will Join Altegrity Inc.

Chief Bill Bratton is expected to announce today that he plans to resign from the Los Angeles Police Department to take over as the top gun of a private security firm. According to radio reports, he has accepted a job at Altegrity Inc., which is based in Falls Church, Virginia. The company is owned ... More >>

Bill Bratton's Endorsements Spectacle

The LAPD chief's politicking has critics fearing a slide to the bad old days

Why L.A.'s Latest Billboard Fix Won't Work

There are signs that the Los Angeles City Council's just-adopted billboard moratorium, purportedly designed to give officials time to crack down on the forest of 10,000 billboards. One possible result is that pro-billboard factions in City Hall now see an opening to wipe out a billboard ban current ... More >>

Yvonne Burke's Crumbling Kingdom

She was hailed as a black pioneer and hero. Did she sell out?

People vs. the Police — Take Five

The Stanley Miller beating prompts more promises of citizen involvement. Haven’t we been here before?

Stadium Games

You want football in L.A.? Turn on the TV

Some Came Running

The 32nd District’s crowded track

Gas Attack

The district’s Belmont strategy heads for a blowup

Banners Yet Wave

City draped in ads — for cheap!

A Dream in the Works

Alliance digs in even as a movie studio honors its job-training pledge

Outbreak of Accountability

Shockley takes the pledge

On the Beach With Gray and Cybill

Taco Bowl

Carson meets Michael Ovitz

Autumn of the Ethnocrats

No Justice, No Growth

A new labor-left alliance scrambles L.A.'s growth politics - and creates middle-income jobs in a city where they're vanishing

Riordan's Back

And he's blasting his personal Saddam