Paul Koretz

E-Cigarette Ban Would Target Teens in L.A.

You electronic cigarette smokers think you're all down-low and stuff, puffing in bars and clubs and just plain doing it in cases where a regular cig in the hand would get you busted. See also: E-Cigarettes Headed For a Smoking Ban. Well, it looks like the law is finally starting to catch up with y ... More >>

Swatting Celebrities Could Cost Pranksters $10,000 Under Proposed Law

See also: SWATting, a Deadly Political Game. Swatting has hit the homes of Rihanna, Justin Timberlake, Ashton Kutcher, Sean "P. Diddy" Combs and others. And, while it probably is pretty funny to the braces-wearing little buttheads who dial 911 with app-enabled masked numbers to report that their fa ... More >>

Pets To Be Left Unsupervised Overnight At L.A. Animal Shelters?

Updated at the bottom: The head of Animal Services is putting the idea off until at least next month. First posted at 9:08 a.m. Pets staying the night at L.A.'s city animal shelters might be left home alone. A proposal to nix graveyard-shift "night care" at the shelters has some labor leaders and ... More >>

3 Marijuana Ballot Initiatives Likely For L.A. In May

You might have three different medical marijuana initiatives to vote on during next May's city election. The L.A. City Council threw its own hat into the ring, seeing how much the people have loved its past attempts at regulating the pot-shop trade. (We kid -- the council's full-on dispensary ban w ... More >>

Hit and Runs? Readers Are Still Talking About L.A.'s Epidemic

Hit-and-Run $10,000 Reward Turns Sour

Marvin Rinnig gets stiffed after catching man who left Ben Zelman for dead

Food Trucks Booted From LACMA Area During Day

Food trucks, those ubiquitous attractions along Wilshire Boulevard's Museum Row for hipsters and tourists alike, are getting the boot. The L.A. City Council voted last week to prohibit the trucks from parking on Wilshire between Fairfax Avenue and La Brea Avenue between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. Is this a ... More >>

Pet Sales To Be Banned in L.A?

A proposal that could be heard this month by the L.A. City Council would basically outlaw retail pet sales in Los Angeles, at least for three years. The ordinance by Councilman Paul Koretz aims to ease overcrowding and the killing of unclaimed pets at city animal shelters. It would allow stores to ... More >>

Medical Weed's Stay of Execution in L.A.

LAPD could crack down before March ballot measure

LAUSD Expels Styrofoam Lunch Trays from School

For the past two years, 1,256 styrofoam school lunch trays -- much less than what most schools use in a day -- have hung suspended from an acacia tree in the garden located in the middle of a school campus, silently gathering grime. But most definitely not decaying. Strung up by and for the student ... More >>

Marijuana Dispensary Ban Starts Sept. 6: L.A. Moves Forward With Pot Shop Closures

Stock up now, people. The day Los Angeles dispensaries are supposed to close by city decree is Sept. 6. The mayor signed the City Council's dispensary ban last Thursday, and the ordinance was published today, giving it 31 days, or until Thursday, Sept. 6, to take effect, according to what the City ... More >>

Marijuana Dispensaries Banned in L.A. Per City Council Vote

See our updates, including a hail-Mary proposal to save some dispensaries, at the bottom. The L.A. City Council today voted to put an end to the city's infamous and numerous marijuana dispensaries, citing neighborhood concerns and court rulings that have questioned a city's right to regulate the re ... More >>

Marijuana Dispensary Ban Considered at L.A. City Hall Tomorrow

Updated at the bottom with the committee's momentous moves. First posted at 8 a.m. Hope you're getting your rest this holiday weekend. Because tomorrow's a big day for the medical marijuana scene in Los Angeles. The L.A. City Council's Planning and Land Use Management (PLUM) committee will take u ... More >>

Plastic Bag Ban Watered Down by L.A. Leaders

Updated at the bottom: The council approved the watered-down version of the ban. First posted at 6:04 a.m. The L.A. City Council almost brought home an unprecedented "double ban" on paper and plastic bags at your local market. But last-minute lobbying pressure might have caused the body to back do ... More >>

Fast Times at L.A. City Hall: Pot-Shop Ban Pushed Forward After Shady Closed Session

What happened behind closed doors at yesterday's L.A. City Council meeting? Given the whole closed-door thing, it's hard to say. What we do know is that before L.A. City Council President Herb Wesson formed a secret huddle that lasted for over half an hour, a soft/sane proposal for pot-shop regulat ... More >>

VIDEO: Laurel Canyon Residents 'Mad as Hell' at Hillside House-Flipper, Department of Building and Safety

The fuming neighbors along Grand View Drive should really give the rest of L.A.'s neighborhood activists a lesson in how to sway the city to your cause. They just put together this super-impressive YouTube saga, titled "We're Mad As Hell," to demonstrate what they consider to be an egregious lack o ... More >>

Paul Koretz, L.A. City Councilman, Threatens to Punch Man Over Hitler Comment

Updated at the bottom: Ron Kaye captured video of the clash! First posted at 1:38 p.m. Tuesday. L.A. City Councilman Paul Koretz threatened to "clock" a man who said "heil, Hitler" to the council during a public comments period at City Hall today, according to The City Maven. The Westside city lea ... More >>

L.A. Redistricting: Tom LaBonge's District 4 Looks Like a Losing Matador

This is the third chapter in a (badly Photoshopped) series on the L.A. Redistricting Commission's gerrymandered new voting districts. Previously: "Eric Garcetti's District 13 Looks Like an Evil Squirrel" "Bernard Parks' District 8 Looks Like a U.S. Army Tank" This has to be a joke, right? City Coun ... More >>

Porn Condom Battle Erupts in City Hall as Councilman Rosendahl Attempts to Block City Attorney From Stopping Voters From Deciding

FotoPhrogCity Hall is fighting for you.​When you mix porn, City Hall, and a City Council and City Attorney's office that don't seem to like each other, let alone work together, you have the makings of a juicy story. This week L.A. City Council members Bill Rosendahl and Paul Koretz filed a mo ... More >>

Brenda Barnette's Animal Services Mishaps

Do unproven groups and extremist Pamelyn Ferdin have City Hall's ear?

Plastic Bag Ban: L.A. to Out-Green WeHo, Santa Monica by Banning Paper and Plastic

Rakka via FlickrSay your goodbyes.​The West Hollywood City Council, not one to pass up PR- and Earth-friendly legislation, jumped on the bandwagon last night (the fuel-efficient, battery-powered, totally hybrid bandwagon, mind you) and banned plastic bags in Boystown. Santa Monica and unincor ... More >>

L.A. Council Threatens To Boycott Delta Airlines Over Non-Existent "No Jew" Policy

​The L.A. City Council is contemplating another boycott -- this time against Delta Airlines.Councilman Paul Koretz has introduced a resolution to boycott the airline over its controversial "no Jew" policy.Wait. What?

L.A. City Council Says You Don't Have to Pay Your Red-Light Camera Tickets (and Never Did)

F that.​Update: The L.A. City Council has unanimously voted to eliminate the city's red-light camera program. Tickets will cease to be issued this Sunday. (Not that you have to pay them up until then, either. Stupid.) For all y'all inquiring about other cities in L.A. County: Details at botto ... More >>

Warren Furutani and Paul Koretz: Separated at Birth? Why do People Who Parrot One Another Run for Los Angeles City Council?

Keith PlocekWarren Furitani, separated at birth from ... Paul Koretz?​Lots of folks want to run for the Los Angeles City Council District 15 seat being abandoned by Janice Hahn, recently elected to Congress. Voters will probably soon realize that several of the CD 15 candidates sound exactly t ... More >>

Antonio Villaraigosa's 2011-2012 Budget Debate Starts Today: Can the Mayor Stop City Hall's Overspending of $52,168 an Hour?

Firing the budget proposal debate: fire safety cuts​Last week, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa announced his proposed 2011-12 budget, designed to stop City Hall from overspending by $1.25 million per day, or $52,168 per hour. Next, the L.A. City Council must tell Villaraigosa thumbs up or ... More >>

Ryan Kavanaugh, Hollywood Tycoon, Wants His Hotel-Top Helicopter Landing Pad in WeHo Back -- and His L.A. City Council, Sheriff Friends Do Too!

Deadline HollywoodRyan Kavanaugh only lands in style​Oh, the lifestyles of the rich and famous. And of those with the misfortune of living beneath the noisy, whirly personal choppers of the rich and famous [Los Angeles Times]. See, Ryan Kavanaugh, head of Relativity Media, loves to fly. "I th ... More >>

Bath Salts: L.A. Councilman Paul Koretz Proposes Citywide Ban on Cocaine-Like Household Product

AirplaneLloyd Bridges demonstrates the bath-salt effect.​Being the kick-ass, $178,000-a-year-earning public servants they are, L.A. City Council members have attacked the hardcore issues of the day like cat declawing and an Arizona boycott that has gone nowhere while the LAPD makes do with few ... More >>

L.A. City Council Meeting Canceled Because Members Jose Huizar, Paul Koretz Were Late; Others Were Known No-Shows

The chambers of ACTION!​Ah, the great city of L.A. Shit gets done! Mountains get moved! The City Council ... cancels meetings because slacker members don't show up on time. Yeah, you heard right. For the second time in four months the second largest city in the nation's scheduled council mee ... More >>

L.A. City Schedule Cut to Four Days a Week? Out-of-Wack Council Meetings, More Euthanized Cats... But Less Traffic!

Legal PlanetWhy yes, I'd love the day off!​And on the fifth day, they rested. It's a wild notion: Would the Los Angeles City Council really go so far as to cut an entire day out of the workweek for all city-run agencies? The LA Daily News thinks it's a real possibility, and Councilman Bernard ... More >>

Top 10 Los Angeles Bans Of 2010: They Left Us Bagless, Smokeless And Puppyless, With Nary A Loko In Sight

​Updated after the jump: What kind of awards show would this be without a guest star? Nothing like a good hard ban to make life in this concrete jungle a little more oppressive. Between the L.A. County Board of Supervisors and most other governing bodies within county limits, politicians on ... More >>

LA Planning Commission to Reconsider AT&T's Plan to Build a Cell Phone Tower atop a Condo at 125 North Doheny

AT&T goes after cell phone tower proposal once again​ Here we go again... After defeating AT&T's efforts to build a cell phone tower on top of a condominium at 125 North Doheny, LA residents are downright pissed to find that the city will be revisiting the same cell phone tower proposal... ag ... More >>

L.A. City Councilman Paul Koretz Buddy-Buddies With Union Chief Brian D'Arcy To Kill Proposed Reform That Would Deflate DWP Worker Pensions

Councilman Paul Koretz received $40,000 from the DWP union for his 2009 campaign​[Updated after the jump with council-floor perspective from Bernard Parks, the L.A. City Councilman behind the push to gain city control of DWP pensions. Originally posted at 3:33 p.m.] Some of the highest-paid u ... More >>

Los Angeles Residents Fight Back Against AT&T Cell Phone Tower Atop Doheny Drive Condo On Border Of Beverly Hills

Life beneath a cell phone tower?​ Updated October 12 with a victory for the neighbors, on the next page. A mini-rebellion is brewing in one Los Angeles neighborhood against plans to construct an AT&T cell-phone tower on top of a condominium, even though the site, which borders Beverly Hills, ... More >>

Food Truck Battle: City Council Hears Testimony

​The Wild West era of Los Angeles mobile food trucks is likely coming to an end, as a City Council committee heard testimony today on how to regulate the 4,000 trucks that are a prandial delight to many but a nuisance to others. The transportation committee, led by Councilman Bill Rosendahl, ... More >>

Los Angeles Water And Power Officials Skip City Council Meeting; Councilmembers Outraged

​Los Angeles Department of Water and Power officials on Wednesday skipped a joint city council committee about a recent audit released by City Controller Wendy Gruel that accused the DWP of lying to push through a rate hike, according to the Daily News. The city council's Audits and Governme ... More >>

City Declares May 30 'Ronnie James Dio Day'

Dio and the devil horns.​The Los Angeles City Council has officially declared May 30 Ronnie James Dio Day. The announcement was made at Sunday's public memorial service for the recently deceased, eternally awesome metal singer. Event MC Eddie Trunk, the host of VH1 Classic's That Metal Show, ... More >>

UPDATE: Sending Trutanich to His Corner

In layoff roulette, mayor aims at city attorney but City Council won't pull trigger

Many On Council Admit To Having Smoked Pot

​As the Los Angeles City Council on Tuesday gave its final approval to a law that would shut down hundreds of medical marijuana dispensaries in the city, several City Council members recalled their own relationships with the drug. KPCC (89.9 FM) reporter Frank Stoltze queried the representati ... More >>

Mayor (Finally) Takes Stand Against Pot Sales

Mayor V.​As the City Council worked out a compromise to come up with an pot-shop ordinance that they and City Attorney Carmen Trutanich can agree on, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa took a stance against the kind of over-the-counter medical marijuana sales that that mark the city's several hundred ... More >>

Cat Declawing: Los Angeles City Council Tackles Monumental Issue, Sets Tone For Rest Of Century

You gotta give it to the Los Angeles City Council. It's a real go-getter of a group, ever progressive in its drive to make the city a better place.It has deliberated and debated for more than a year on regulating the 800 or so pot dispensaries in town for our own good -- to make sure that these reta ... More >>

Morning Sixpack: A News Roundup

Over the Rainbow Flags Between 3,500 and 5,000 gay-marriage supporters peacefully marched from West Hollywood to Hollywood tonight, protesting today's state supreme court ruling upholding Proposition 8's ban on same-sex matrimony. NBC, City News Service (subscription required)Koretz Claims Win As Pa ... More >>

May 19 Election: Schwarzenegger, Villaraigosa, Weiss, Bratton, Bass, Go Down in Flames

Even with one key Los Angeles City Council District race still hanging in the balance on the Westside, the political wreckage surrounding some of California's best-known politicians was waist-deep, leaving Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa to slog through the recriminatio ... More >>

Paul Koretz Gets Business Nod

Faced with choosing between a veteran politician who's heavily backed by labor, and a rookie candidate who's built his campaign on an anti-growth stance, the Central City Association has decided to back the veteran. The business group announced its support of liberal Democrat Paul Koretz, who has se ... More >>

Early election results: Los Angeles March 3, 2009 primary

Nobody is ever sure how closely absentee voters match the views of the voters who actually trek into the polls, but here is the first wave of election returns released by the City of Los Angeles elections division about 45 minutes after the polls closed tonight.In the four hottest races, top percent ... More >>

Fight for L.A.'s Ritzy Council District 5

Six candidates vow to bring back "slow growth"

Say It. Ain't So, Miguel.

L.A.'s top labor leader shills for the HMO vultures

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