Los Angeles Watch

Economic Crisis: Officials To Layoff 1,000 Los Angeles City Employees

CBS 2 news is reporting that approximately 1,000 Los Angeles City employees are facing layoffs to close the deal with the current budget deficit which seems to worsen as time goes on.  Those facing layoffs do not include thousands who may be furloughed in months to come.

But will this be enough to address the budget deficit?  No one knows but stay tuned.  

For the complete story, check out cbs2.com.

Ratings Soaring for O'Brien as Nasty NBC Exit Nears. Take That Dick Ebersol!

Story at ABC News:

Conan O'Brien's battle with his network certainly hasn't hurt his ratings. With his jabs at NBC network executives apparently resonating in a country filled with the unemployed, viewership has soared. O'Brien's ratings have been rising through the week, which was an extraordinary one in late-night television and saw O'Brien and David Letterman hurling barbed remarks at Jay Leno, and Leno firing back.

"Tonight" ratings Friday were 50 percent higher than they've been this season, and O'Brien beat CBS' Letterman, according to a preliminary Nielsen Co. estimate based on large markets. In the 18-to-49-year-old demographic that NBC relies on to set advertising prices, O'Brien even beat Leno's prime-time show.

And the funniest line goes to: Jeff Gaspin, Chairman of NBC Universal Television Entertainment. 

Mr. Gaspsin said that "the crossfire between hosts 'has definitely crossed the line.'"  Well, it seems that either Mr. Gaspin did not read comments made by NBC Sports Chairman Dick Ebersol or he is just being disingenuous.  

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L.A. agency moves to building at center of dispute between Villaraigosa and former official

Has Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's tenure been disappointing?  A big let-down? 

Ending a yearlong bureaucratic tug of war, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s office announced today that the city’s Community Redevelopment Agency would move out its longtime headquarters to an office on the western edge of downtown.

Rejecting a last-ditch offer from the current landlord, city officials signed a new lease Monday to move the agency into the Garland Building -- a site Villaraigosa spokeswoman Sarah Hamilton described as “less expensive and more reliable” than its current headquarters.

The move had been the subject of a protracted dispute between the mayor’s team and Cecilia Estolano, who left her job as the top executive of the redevelopment agency in November. Sources have told The Times that the disagreement prompted the mayor to push Estolano out, a scenario she has repeatedly disputed.

Source: Los Angeles Times

'Southland' Star Ben McKenzie Applauds Jay Leno's Prime-Time Exit

Image via Wikipedia

Great take on the cancellation of Jay Leno's Show at 10:00 PM.  And I could not agree more with Ben.  I personally never thought that Jay was funny or entartaining enough to deserve the 10 o'clock spot.

With the gritty cop drama "Southland," Ben McKenzie was able to put "O.C." bad boy Ryan Atwood behind him, tackling edgier story lines as rookie cop Ben Sherman.

But soon after the first season aired, "Southland" was canceled by NBC to make room for Jay Leno's now-defunct prime-time talk show. Now that TNT has welcomed "Southland" with open arms, McKenzie isn't feeling too bad about NBC's failed experiment.

"Well, they went with Leno at 10 o'clock. I'm not sure how it worked out. From what I hear, apparently he won't be on at 10 anymore," McKenzie told MTV News when he stopped by to promote the TNT premiere of "Southland" on Tuesday (January 12). "And NBC is now in need of high-quality scripted dramas. I wish we could help them out, but we are now on TNT, so everything works out for a reason, I guess."

Read Article at MTV

Kogi's Roy Choi Picks West LA Strip Mall Spot

VIA MSNBC:

The man behind Kogi -- of tweeting taco truck fame -- has staked out his next crazy idea that will probably be ridiculously successful.

Roy Choi, the Kogi BBQ chef, plans to open a restaurant at what is now Asian Rice Grill in a West Los Angeles strip mall.

It won't bear the Kogi name or serve the Korean BBQ taco. Choi has other plans.

"I see bacon-fat-studded chestnuts and fresh herbs on braised lamb; steak with a soft-poached egg and hand-crushed sesame seeds; organic rice, braised pork-belly, fresh-water spinach in a beautiful broth with sesame leaves," he told the Wall Street Journal.

We'll find out what Choi concocted in late February. That's when he plans to open the restaurant on Overland.

 

MOCA Names Jeffrey Deitch as New Director

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Manhattan gallery director Jeffrey Deitch was unanimously appointed as director for the LosAngeles Museum of Contemporary Art on Monday.

"Jeffrey Deitch is the perfect fit for MOCA New, and he has the vision and energy to make the museum the world's preeminent contemporary arts institution," said Board Co-Chair Maria Bell. "Jeffrey lives, eats, sleeps, and breathes art. He is passionate about contemporary art and is committed to the future of MOCA."

VIA MSNBC

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Miley Cyrus Shooting Last Season Of 'Hannah Montana'

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Miley Cyrus Shooting Last Season Of 'Hannah Montana' | ImNotObsessed.com

It is time for this show to go off the air.  Because I have a 10 year-old daughter, I have watched this show a few times and still do not understand the big fuzz about it.  This is a girl who cannot act or sing even if her life depends on it.  Is her dad (Billy Ray Cyrus) living vicariously through Miley?  Only he knows. 

It is clear,at least, to me that the show's saving grace is the boy (Jason Earles) who plays her brother on the show.  He is funny as hell.   

What remains to be seen is whether or not Miley will fade away just as Lizzie McGuire did or she will become another Christina Aguilera-- successful.

Regardless of how people (including myself) feel about the show, it is important to realize that Disney is such a wonderful marketing machine.  It has turned some of these kids into megastars.   

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Schwarzenegger Urges Broad Changes to Budget, Tax, Pension Systems

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, delivering his final State of the State address to lawmakers this morning, will ask them to work with him on broad changes to the state's budget, tax and pension systems, to require that more money be spent on higher education than on prisons, and to pass initiatives he says would create new jobs.

Read Whole Story at La Times

I do not always agree with the Governor but love one of his lines in this article where he says that we get back less than we put in.  Enough is enough.  I am tired of having to support other states (red states) with our taxes while our state gets lambasted by the same people we support.  

L.A. police chief protests felons buying body armor

L.A. Police Chief protests felons buying body armor - LA Daily News.

You got to be kidding me.  Felons owning body armor?  Allowing felons to own body armor is a recipe for disaster like the one in North Hollywood at the Bank of America (shootout-- anyone?), as the article points out. 

I am a liberal and all for protecting civil liberties.  But this is just ridiculous and pushing the envelope too far, too hard and too much.  If the 2nd District Court Appeals believes that the definition of body armor is too vague, then someone needs to step in and redefine the damn thing.  

I hope for two (2) things here: (1) that Los Angeles Police Charlie Beck does not let up on this issue.  It is way too crucial and important for public safety to just fade away; and (2) that ACLU does take up this and turn it into a media circus claiming to be a civil liberty deal.   

School bus driver sentenced for molesting and taking pornographic pictures of young girls

School bus driver sentenced for molesting andltaking pornographic pictures of young girls

There are times when you just wish that some people would be just thrown in jail with the general population after "accidentally" thinking said person belongs there.