Gene Maddaus

L.A.'s minimum wage will rise to $15 an hour by July 1, 2020, under a plan approved today by the City Council's Economic Development Committee. The measure — L.A.'s first city minimum wage — marks another victory for a fast-moving campaign to raise the standard of living for low-wage workers......

Mayor Eric Garcetti has hired a new spokeswoman. Naomi Seligman, a veteran communications consultant, will replace Yusef Robb as the mayor's communications director. She starts next week. Seligman currently runs her own consulting business. According to her website, she has worked for a number of liberal clients, including the Los......

Van Hibler is the grandmaster of a Masonic lodge based in South L.A. About 150 men belong to the group, which collects dues, makes charitable contributions, and performs community service. A while ago, one of the men, David Henry, approached Hibler about starting his own lodge. Hibler, 75, had known......

At a recent meeting of the Los Feliz Improvement Association, City Council District 4 representative Tom LaBonge was given a hero’s farewell. The three-term councilman, termed out after 13 ½ years on the job, got a trophy, a tribute video and a standing ovation. For David Ryu, it was not......

Antonio Villaraigosa was spotted leaving a West Hollywood restaurant on Tuesday night in the company of a tall, blonde woman. The former mayor, and likely candidate for governor, leads an active social life. So who's the new flame? Thanks to Google, we have an answer. She's Kristanna Loken, the actress......

One of the 54 fascinating Angelenos featured in L.A. Weekly's People Issue 2015. The Springs is a vegan restaurant that just opened in the downtown Arts District. It sits across from a bag warehouse, offers yoga classes and sells juice for $9. It's one of Sara Hernandez's favorite haunts. Hernandez,......

On Thursday, L.A. City Controller Ron Galperin issued a long-awaited audit of two training institutes at the Department of Water and Power. The audit followed 18 months of wrangling with Brian D'Arcy, the head of the union that represents DWP employees, who had fought bitterly to withhold the records of the two......

Mayor Eric Garcetti is kicking off his re-election campaign tonight with a concert fundraiser at the Avalon. The campaign previously announced that Michelle Branch and Miguel would be performing. Now they're unveiling the headliner: Stevie Wonder. Tickets are still available for $1,400, the legal limit for a citywide campaign. So who......

The collapse of the Time Warner-Comcast merger means there's no end in sight for the Dodger TV blackout. For more than a year now, only about 30 percent of the L.A. media market has had access to the games. Now, more and more fans are turning to online streaming. As......