oof oof
Mart 7,2007 — otvavAfternoon Roundup
- Court upholds California’s stem cell initiative. L.A. Times.
- Schwarzenegger dodges U.S. Senate question again. Or rather, says he honestly doesn’t know whether he would run for the office. S.F. Chronicle.
- New report based on Census data shows immigrants have boosted wages of California workers “It’s certainly not a negative.” SacBee.
- New legislation that would make companies developing genetically engineered crops liable for damages if their work results in contamination of other fields. AP.
- Full text of Chief Justice Ron George’s state of the judiciary address. “Courts have been forced to shut down civil courtrooms — in some cases countywide — because criminal cases facing dismissal have priority under the law and there was an insufficient number of judges to handle all the cases.”
- President George W. Bush gets a laugh at governor’s confab at the expense of his brother.
Schwarzenegger To Put His Jet On Global Warming Registry
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger leaves a big environmental footprint for one man, specifically with his frequent use of private jets to ferry him throughout California and the world. His two estates are large enough to house small villages. And the champion of environmental controls to curb global warming pumps far more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere than an ordinary citizen, by far. He is driven everywhere in a caravan of two black SUVs and, sometimes, a lead sedan.
Depending on the private jet he chooses from NetJets - usually it’s a relatively large one, to include staff and CHP bodyguards - Schwarzenegger and his posse could dump as much as 8,700 pounds of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere for a single one-hour flight from Santa Monica to Sacramento, according to data from TerraPass, the carbon retailer.
The governor has favored Gulfstream jets like the one pictured below, which he used in 1997 to promote “Batman and Robin.” Helium Report has a chart showing how much private jets like that can pollute. By contrast, a single person traveling alone on a commercial flight from L.A. to Sacramento contributes 477 pounds of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere.
Schwarzenegger is the most traveling governor in California history - sometimes twice-weekly flights to Sacramento and numerous weekend trips to his Idaho estate, to Maui, Las Vegas, Washington D.C. and other out-of-state places over the past three years. (His campaign picks up the multi-million dollar tab.) It should be noted that Schwarzenegger has unique security needs that probably require private travel. He is considered an icon of the Western world and he’s married to a Kennedy. Enough said.Given his needs, Schwarzenegger would have to spend a lot of money to be “carbon neutral.” He has tried to make up for it in other ways. Schwarzenegger signed legislation last year, AB 32, to curb global warming through state government regulations. Schwarzenegger made the macho, polluting Hummer a success, but lately he has tried to make up for it by developing a version that runs on hydrogen. Yesterday, he signed an agreement with four other Western governors to set up a regional trading system to curb emissions.
Celebrities and politicians have been fretting about their carbon footprint in recent years. Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez, author of the global warming legislation Schwarzenegger signed, himself was mindful of his carbon output when he traveled to the Davos conference in Switzerland. He purchased $136 in carbon credits for his trip, which helped pay for a mini hydro plant in West Sumatra, Indonesia.
Schwarzenegger now has another plan: offset the pollution created by his private jet travel. Spokesman Aaron McLear said the governor is developing a program that would calculate his carbon emissions from Jan. 1, 2007, forward. Cal-EPA confirmed they are looking at putting the governor’s travel on the California Climate Action Registry, which would offset his carbon emissions by planting or protecting trees and other efforts.
UPDATE: Cal-EPA says the governor will work with the Pacific Forest Trust to calculate the cost of his carbon emissions, including the damage associated with the crew, staff and anyone else traveling with him. The Pacific Forest Trust is included in the California Climate Action Registry. The cost of Schwarzenegger’s travel then will be “annually invested” in sustainable forest management projects, starting with the Fred M. van Eck Forest Foundation, which has 2,100 acres in Humboldt County.
Schwarzenegger is in Washington D.C. this week, but then flies to the Arnold Classic bodybuilding contest in Ohio. By private jet.
(Photo: Damian Dovarganes / AP; Charles Platiau / Reuters)
We’re Just Givers
Presidential candidates don’t just come to California because we’re rich. They come because we spend more money on national campaigns by proportion than any other state. Dan Morain cataloged the examples:“A UCLA linebacker shells out $11,100 to help a Republican senator in Pennsylvania. A businessman from the small Northern California town of Eureka spends $515,000 to defeat a powerful Democrat in South Dakota. A Silicon Valley couple funnels cash to elect Democratic secretaries of state in swing states like Ohio who will oversee voting in the coming presidential election”
That’s the gravy. Here’s the potatoes: “Californians spent at least $502 million on federal campaigns in the last four years, federal campaign records show — 24% more than runner-up New York and about 13 % of all federal campaign funds raised nationally.”
Read the story here.
Personnel Dept. Newsletter
Political reporter Ron Brownstein, who has been on book leave from the L.A. Times, is joining the newspaper’s opinion division to write a weekly column and longer pieces for Current, the weekend section, and for the website.Publisher David Hiller said Brownstein’s “mastery of both politics and policy, and his gift for taking the news of the day and framing it in a broader context, make Ron a natural columnist.” This fall, Brownstein is releasing “The Second Civil War: How Extreme Partisanship Has Paralyzed Washington and Polarized America,” published by Penguin Books. Former President Bill Clinton singled Brownstein out as the one reporter he respected the most in Washington D.C.
Other staff changes:
- Peter Ragone, the embattled press secretary to S.F. Mayor Gavin Newsom, is moving from his city job to the mayor’s re-election campaign. Ragone (pictured right) recently admitted posting favorable items about Newsom on blogs under different names. Nathan Ballard will start as the mayor’s new press secretary on March 5. Ragone, reached by the Chronicle last night, said about his new job: “It’s now getting to be campaign season, and I always get drafted.”
- Darius Anderson, the political and business consultant who was chief fundraiser for Gov. Gray Davis, has been hired as the Northern California finance chairman for New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, who is running for president. The well-connected Anderson also served as best man in the commitment ceremony for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s chief of staff, Susan Kennedy.
(Photos: AP file; Cindy Chew / The Examiner via AP)
Bad Metaphor Alert
Someone at the International Herald Tribune needs to see “Tora! Tora! Tora!”
On a story today about Asian-Americans becoming a powerful force in California politics, the headline reads: “The sleeping giant in California politics.” As many people will recognize, this is the phrase allegedly uttered by Japanese Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto after his forces attacked Pearl Harbor: “I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve.”
What Lawmakers Are Doing This Year, Part 3
Nancy Vogel of the Times found a few more bills introduced this session.
- Governor cannot use emergency powers to seize weapons. AB 1645, Doug LaMalfa (R-Yuba City).
- A teacher is prohibited from writing “sexually suggestive or romantic” notes to students. Also, school officials are allowed to use the public Attorney General website to check if school volunteers are registered sex offenders. AB 1594, Sam Blakeslee (R-Santa Maria.
- A portion of the Ma-le’l Dunes in Humboldt County shall be named the Senator Wesley Chesbro Coastal Trail, after someone who recently left the Legislature. AB 1568, Patty Berg (D-Eureka.)
- Computer technicians must report to police any depiction of child abuse or child sexual abuse that they find on someone’s computer when doing repairs. AB 1475, Cathleen Galgiani (D-Merced.)
‘American Idol’ Redistricting Ready To Go
A pool of 160,000 voters from California would be used to create a Citizens Redistricting Commission every decade that would draw legislative and Congressional districts - taking the power from the state Legislature. Well, it would mostly remove their power. Read the complicated plan below.
The initiative is supported by Ted Costa, who helped spearhead the recall of former Gov. Gray Davis. “We are determined until we do it right, until we have meaningful reform,” Costa said about the initiative, which was introduced this afternoon.
Costa (pictured) said he is attempting to convince other groups, such as Common Cause, to support the measure. Staffers from several do-gooder organizations helped draft the initiative but they have not formally endorsed it. The idea is to put pressure on the Legislature to produce “meaningful” reform, but Costa doesn’t hold out much hope for that.
Democratic political consultant Steve Maviglio, whose boss Fabian Nunez is developing another redistricting scheme in the Legislature, described the newly introduced plan as a “poor man’s American idol.” Costa said it was more like jury duty.
Hold on tight. Here’s how the initiative would work:
The Secretary of State would draw 2,000 voters from each Assembly district. All 160,000 people would receive an invitation and application to join the commission. Then the SOS would draw 10 names for each district from those who submitted applications. Members of the panel could not be an elected official, an officer of a political party, a lobbyist, staff member or consultant to an elected official, or have a financial interest with the governor, member of Congress or state lawmaker.
At this point, legislative leaders review the applications and can remove up to 20% of the nominees from the pool of 800 names. (They would not know their names, only their backgrounds.) Then, the pool would be reduced to 240 nominees chosen evenly among Republicans, Democrats and voters from other parties. Those people would be asked to attend a training seminar on redistricting. Another random drawing would reduce the pool to 120 nominees.The Democratic and Republican leaders of the Assembly and Senate could strike members from that list as well. A final random drawing by the SOS would reduce the panel to 11 members - with legislative leaders able to object only if the panel does not represent the diversity of the state.
Phew
Your Marathon Bottleneck guide.We told it could be bad. Here’s our last warning, with some resources:-Map showing times of specific street closures. (very helpful)-Timetable of street closures. (Useful, but a tad confusing and hard to read).-Map of detours during Marathon (detailed but dense)-Downtown L.A. detour map (very helpful, because downtown is hardest hit)
-Full LAT coverage, with maps, stories and message board (BB conflicted out)
Tell us about your Marathon driving tales. Gridlock? 1984 smooth? Hit the COMMENT button below!
Looks like work will begin soon on solving that notorious 101 bottleneck at the Ventura-Santa Barbara county line. But The Times’ Catherine Saillant says there are doubts about whether the new carpool lanes alone will work. The widening will begin in 2008 — but could last eight years. That means eight years of construction delays. Some are looking to rail:Many commuters say the problem won’t be truly solved until a widened freeway is combined with commuter rail service between the two cities. Rail advocates have been pushing for the service for at least five years, as rising home prices forced many Santa Barbara workers to buy homes in Ventura County. The sticking point has been the $126-million cost of getting such a service up and running, said Dennis Story, an advocate with CoastalRailNow.org. An attempt in November to raise Santa Barbara County’s transit tax failed. “It’s inevitable that we will look to trains as the real solution to these problems,” he said. “As soon as you widen the freeway, it fills up.”
Catherine notes that carpool lanes would give a boost to the popular bus service between Ventura and Santa Barbara. More on the coastal rail idea here.
What do you think: Rail vs Roads? Hit comment button and have your say.
Sunday’s traffic “disaster”
The Times’ Jean Guccione has a warning: It’s going to be bad. Very bad. The new L.A. Marathon route seems destined to make driving around L.A. even more difficult than most years:
“For a person who needs to cross the route to go to work, to the hospital or just leaving the Renaissance Hotel [at Hollywood Boulevard and Highland Avenue] for the airport, that’s a disaster for him,” said Ali Mahdavi, senior transportation engineer for the city’s special traffic operations unit. Vehicles parked along the marathon route will be towed beginning at 1 a.m. Sunday. Two hours later, street closures will begin. Some streets will be closed until about 5 p.m. Sunday.
-Street closure information is available online at trafficinfo.lacity.org. Transit schedules and maps are available at http://www.metro.net or by calling (800) COMMUTE. Marathon information can be found at http://www.lamarathon.com .Free parking
The city wants to help you do your civic duty. Didn’t pols used to do this in Chicago? According to CNS:
2016 Olympics: Another ‘traffic miracle’?
L.A. and Chicago are battling it out over the right to host the 2016 Olympics. Of course, L.A. wants people to remember the miracle of 1984 — the TRAFFIC miracle in which all the fears of massive gridlock failed to materialize. But traffic seems to be emerging as a “con” for L.A.’s bid this time. The mayor is fighting back:Another concern with LA– the locations are spread out and with traffic congestion, it could take 2 ½ hours to reach some venues in Long Beach. Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa spoke about the concern. “Those venues are more concentrated than they were in 1984. Those arguments are arguments that people make, but they don’t hold water,” said Mayor Villaraigosa.
The Times Lisa Dillman says L.A. officials are pulling out all the stops with Olympics officials in town this week. The mayor cited traffic success last time around. “In 1984, people talked about doomsday and Armageddon,” he said. “And yet traffic flowed. It flowed because there were leadership decisions made…. We expect full cooperation.”
What do you think? Hit the COMMENT button below and have your say.
Fed up with speeders
Fed up with drivers speeding through your neigborhood? In San Dimas, residents on one block have taken matters into their own hands — to the dismay of city officials. According to AP:
Residents on a street have disobeyed city officials by putting up speed-limit signs along their block to combat speeding drivers. Neighbors have been planting makeshift 25 mph signs for more than a year to slow down cars that routinely drive at 40 mph, resident Bryan Harmon said Thursday. The speed limit on the street is 25 mph but it is against the law for residents to put up signs in public areas, city maintenance superintendent John Campbell said. City officials are preparing to install speed humps on the street, he said. “We’re hoping to make things better for them,” he said. Danny Leivo, who said his 76-year-old father-in-law was nearly hit by a speeding car, said he will leave his signs as long as the high speeds continue.
Lane-splitting in Beverly Hills
Does this video make you jealous? Frightened? Angry? It shows a motorcyclist cutting through the gridlock of Santa Monica Boulevard in Beverly Hills — like butter — by “lane splitting.” Essentially, the biker squeezes between lanes of traffic — with a few very close calls. And he does make good time. On YouTube, reaction was mixed. One viewer posted: “dude you are crazy..isnt this illegal? If i was driving one of the cars you cam across i would have boxed you in to a crashing halt.” Many others reacted like this guy: “wow intense for sure what kind of bike are you on?”
Lane splitting is legal, according to the CHP, “but must be done in a safe and prudent manner.” But some fellow drivers don’t like it.
What do you think of lane splitting? Hit COMMENT below and speak out
Safe but expensive
There’s a new crop of cars out on the roads that according to the experts make major strides in car safety. Edmunds.com has a “Top Ten” list of safety features including smart cruise control that use radar to automatically slows a car when it is about to collide with something, “blind spot” detection systems that use tiny cameras and lane-change warning systems. Of course, these feature seems to come mostly on luxury cars. In that vein, the WSJ looks at the new (and expensive) Volvo S80:
[It has] a collision-warning system that’s similar in approach, working in concert with the car’s optional radar-based adaptive cruise control. The typical job of adaptive cruise control is to “see” the traffic up ahead and keep you traveling safely behind it, by operating both the brake and the throttle. But by also calculating the time gap between your car and that traffic, the S80 can alert the driver to an impending crash by sounding a warning and flashing a red light onto the windshield. When this happens, the brakes are primed to deploy full stopping power, regardless of how hard the driver presses on the brake pedal.
The next big thing in parking
“Please don’t tip the robot.” That’s the advice the NYT gives today in a fasinating story about automated parking lots. Ari Milstein describes his garage in New York City:
A driver pulls off the street into a room roughly the size of a one-car garage attached to a house. The car rests on a large pallet, a traylike area with shallow troughs for the wheels. “Lasers check that the car is aligned,” Mr. Milstein said, and determines that it is not one of the trucks or S.U.V.’s too big for the garage. The driver locks the car, takes the keys and picks up an electronic card from a nearby machine. A large door closes behind the car; motion detectors ensure that no children or pets are left behind. Then the pallet holding the car slides below ground level, into two subterranean floors of storage.
This is a photo of the famous VW automated garage for new cars in Wolfsburg, Germany.
The Santa Monica Expo Line
The Expo Line hasn’t even arrived in Culver City. But Santa Monica is already beginning to plan the rail line’s second phase into Santa Monica. The public is invited to share ideas on where the route should go and where stations should be placed. Of course, Expo Line, Part II still needs $800 million and would not start until at least 2010. Santa Monica officials are talking boldly to the Lookout News:
Remaking Sepulveda
Big changes are coming to Sepulveda Boulevard through the pass. According to the city, officials want to remake the stretch between Wilshire and Mulholland (long a 405 shortcut) with bike lanes, more turning lanes and even a reversible traffic lane. Here are some details:-Add right-turn pockets at Wilshire Boulevard-Add turning pockets between Moraga Drive and Church Lane/Ovada Place-Add a southbound right-turn lane at the 405 Freeway southbound onramp (405 Freeway overpass north of Getty Center Drive)-Install bike lanes between Skirball Center Drive and Bel Air Crest Road.-Add a northbound right-turn lane at Skirball Center Drive.-Add a third southbound through lane on the approach to Skirball Center Drive.
-Create a reversible lane in the Sepulveda Boulevard tunnel at Mulholland Drive.
Big delay for tollroad extension
Is the much-debated toll road extension in Orange County (through San Onofre State Beach) in trouble? The Times’ David Reyes reports a significant delay in the road project:Planners now say it will take at least two years longer than expected to get funding and permits for the controversial turnpike, which will complete Orange County’s network of toll roads and link Orange and San Diego counties. The Irvine-based Transportation Corridor Agencies had hoped to secure funding for the Foothill South by 2008, but underestimated complexity of the permit process progress. “There are realities that include getting the necessary state and federal permits and agreements, and that takes time,” said Lisa Telles, a toll road spokeswoman.
Environmentalists have long opposed the road because it cuts through a popular park and campgrounds area. David notes the state attorney is suing, saying the proposed alignment is too close to an ancient Native American burial ground. Supporters of so-called “Foothill South” argue the road is needed because of booming population in South O.C. and northern San Diego county.
The small guy loses out
Poor Fontana. It was set to finally get much-needed freeway upgrades through the state bond measure. Then L.A. step in and Fontana became a loser. The Times’ Jonathan Abrams reports:
Just a week ago, Fontana was a big winner in the fight for a new bankroll of state highway dollars when the California transportation officials set aside $85.7 million to widen a leg of Interstate 10 that slices through the mushrooming city. But that was before Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, upset that L.A. freeway projects were shortchanged, walked down Wilshire Boulevard urging motorists to complain to state leaders in Sacramento — and before other big-city politicians across California added to the chorus of complaints. In response, the California Transportation Commission recommended an extra $1.7 billion for freeway upgrades — for a total of $4.5 billion in projects funded by state bonds — but stripped away money for highway projects in Fontana and many other small towns and rural areas.
Said S.B. supervisor Josie Gonzales: “I think it’s definitely a sign of big government versus small government. As the Inland Empire is becoming a force, we are competing one on one with Los Angeles for the same funds. We are a metropolis in the making, and we are trying not to experience the same problems as Los Angeles.”
Another exotic car wreck
What is it about exotic cars on the Westside? Remember the Swedish businessman and his crashed Enzo Ferrari in Malibu last year? Now, in Santa Monica, CNS reports a crash involving a pricey Lamborghini:
A Lamborghini crashed into five parked cars in Santa Monica today, and the driver was booked on suspicion of driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol, police said. The accident at Ocean Avenue and San Vicente Boulevard occurred about 2:30 a.m., Santa Monica police Sgt. Shane Talbot said….A woman who lives near the intersection told a camera crew at the scene that she heard a high-powered car going up and down the street shortly before the wreck.
The Times’ David Pierson last year chronicled the teenagers who try to videotape all the exotic cars on the Westside. Dave found:[The teens have] become leading chroniclers of the Westside’s exotic car world. Here, the finest European sports cars — Ferraris, Lamborghinis and Porsches — can be found in abundance, thanks to a critical mass of celebrity, glitz and free-spending men in the throes of midlife crises. Some of them cost over $1 million and require down payments of around $400,000, and that’s only if you’re lucky enough to make it to the top of a waiting list.
More Times Ferrari coverage here.
A marathon for drivers, too
Sunday’s L.A. Marathon route is shaping up to be particularly hard on non-racers. Numerous bus routes are being detoured. About 320 intersections will be closed, compared to 212 last year. Here is the route map. According to CNS:The 26.2-mile race will start at Universal Studios and head south through Hollywood, mid-Wilshire, USC, West Adams and East Los Angeles. Runners will finish at Fifth and Flower streets in downtown Los Angeles. This year’s route was reconfigured after local ministers complained street closings might keep church-goers away…. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority will add more cars to the Red Line subway, which has stops located near the marathon’s start and finish lines. Metro typically runs nine four-car trains on the Red Line. On the day of the marathon, 14 six-car trains will run every five minutes and carry a maximum of 7,500 people an hour.
The LADOT has a breakdown of closure times during the race. And the MTA has details, too
A rise from the ashes — perhaps
Cedar Glen, near Lake Arrowhead, was charred in 2003, but few homes have been rebuilt. Some fear its identity may be lost.
By Sara Lin and Jonathan Abrams, Times Staff Writers
March 4, 2007
CEDAR GLEN, CALIF. — Four years after a raging wildfire all but reduced this small Lake Arrowhead community to ash, only 30 of 336 homes destroyed have been rebuilt, leaving residents to fear that the once-affordable mountain hamlet may never recover.
Instead of the settlement being an out-of-the-way pocket of cottages popular with vacationers and resort workers, some worry that the new Cedar Glen, high in the San Bernardino Mountains, may ultimately be transformed into yet another getaway for the affluent as former residents are unable to shoulder soaring reconstruction costs.
“Cedar Glen will never be what it was,” said David Stuart of Rebuilding Mountain Hearts and Lives, a group dedicated to assisting reconstruction efforts.
Other neighborhoods lost in the string of Southern California wildfires in the fall of 2003 — which were the worst in California history, scorching more than 738,000 acres and killing 25 people — have largely recuperated. Nearly all of the 300 homes lost in the San Diego communities of Scripps Ranch and Tierrasanta have been rebuilt, and more than two-thirds of the 330 homes destroyed in the San Bernardino neighborhood of Del Rosa are in the reconstruction process.
None of these areas, however, faced the unique problems confronting Cedar Glen, established 80 years ago as a camping ground for vacationing Angelenos. The 25-by-100-foot lots, known as tent lots, are not allowed under today’s building codes.
Here, residents seeking to rebuild also face narrow, decrepit roads; a bankrupt municipal water company; a substandard sewer system and modern building codes. Some insurance companies refuse to issue policies until roads and sewers are built. Many residents were underinsured and county grant programs designed to help have been slow to arrive.
“On a scale of one to 10, on the frustration level, it’s been a 17,” said Kevin Ryan, a Cedar Glen resident who lost his home but still hopes to rebuild. “It took three years to get things in place for them to decide what they would do over the next five years. Obviously, it’s not on the fast track.”
Ron Despars also lost his Cedar Glen house, but the 76-year-old was determined to rebuild.
Despars, a retired paper salesman, slept in the back of his van for six months before moving to the bare wooden floors of his slowly rising new house. He is among the lucky few to rebuild.
“It wasn’t easy,” Despars said, sitting on a stump outside his house smoking a cigarette. “I had to deal with building and safety about building too close to property lines and meeting new codes.”
Despars made his new house the same size as the last. A scattering of his neighbors’ houses are in various stages of repair. But for the most part, the destruction left behind by the arson-caused Old fire that raced up the mountain from San Bernardino remains untouched.
Scorched foundations and charred chimneys jut out of hillsides like tombstones. Towering forests of oak and pine have been replaced by blackened stumps. Some residents cut their losses and sold their lots to neighbors. Many who managed to come back, like Despars, had building experience, Stuart said.Amid the ruins are signs of hope. There are new structures surrounded by scaffolding and piles of wood and bricks. The noise of saws and hammers is welcomed by weary residents.
Some are using the opportunity to remodel their homes in grander fashion.
Frank and Hayley Orecchio’s new garage is as large as their old house. Frank Orecchio, an iron contractor, constructed a three-bedroom wood-planked house next to it after buying the adjoining lot. The couple live there year-round.
“It was almost a blessing in disguise,” said Hayley Orecchio, 29. “Everybody helped us out and instead of having an old, small, cold cabin, we have our dream house. I hope everybody who wants to come back is able to because it is a beautiful place to live.”
Wildfires in other areas also have spurred rebirth — and transformation.
After a 1993 Laguna Beach blaze destroyed more than 300 houses, many residents sold their lots to the wealthy, who replaced ranch-style homes with mini mansions. The new neighborhoods attracted a more affluent crowd who helped reshape the formerly artsy, bohemian town into today’s glitzy seaside community.
“You look back some years from then and basically all of the affected neighborhoods are upgraded,” said Laguna Beach City Manager Ken Frank, who also lost his home in the fire. “But it took a lot of pain and emotional suffering to get to that point.”
Uh Oh for L.O.
The Lakers have added another float in their ‘06-’07 Parade of Injuries. And not one of those fun, giant inflatable cartoon character types you see in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, either. Nope. Lamar Odom is back on the shelf after an MRI revealed a torn labrum in his left shoulder. It’s the same injury that caused Odom to miss 17 games in ‘05, and eventually required surgery and a four month jaunt to rehab. How much time he’ll be determined on Monday after Odom pays a visit to the doctor (maybe he can carpool with Luke Walton), though this doesn’t sound like something a hug and a lolly will cure.
Needless to say (but I’ll say it anyway), this isn’t a good development for the purple and gold. Yes, they came through the time Odom missed with his knee injury fairly well, but to expect that to happen again, especially in the face of a tougher schedule and a still thin roster, is a tall order.
Extra! Extra! (3.3)
There is a popular belief in sports that when a team is on a roll (as the Lakers were during their 3-game winning streak) that 72 hours idle with players going in and out of practice with various illnesses and injuries might bust up a good thing. During last night’s 116-108 loss to Sacto, the Lakers proved this philosophy to a tee. While some nice exercise can be had practicing 3 on 3 or 4 on 4 (because of the forced absenteeism, an NBA-wide thing), it just doesn’t cut the mustard when it comes to simulating the real dillio. About a thousand defensive breakdowns were on display, with players barely getting their own backs, much less the back a teammate. Thus, a Pacific division cellar-dwelling Kings squad was able to shoot the lights out. The Lakers mostly just shot themselves in the foot, turning the ball over 19 times, including a sextet in the first quarter. Even a positive (Kwame Brown finally in uni, although his rusty return was more a happy sight than the effective game changer one hopes for down the road) was offset by the worry that Lamar Odom may rejoin the injury brigade. His is a name the Lakers can’t afford not contributing to a box score.
Post Sacto Audio
It’s late, but not to late for some postgame sounds… ugly as they were. Start with P.J.’s presser, uncut. You can tell from his tone of voice, his speech patterns, etc. that he’s not in a chipper mood. PJ was disappointed with the team’s defensive effort, and their ability to avoid turnovers. And L.O.’s first half, and their focus and decision making, and, and and… Good quote in there at the end about what the team is missing without Walton.
Download phil_jackson_3.2 postgame Sacto.mp3L.O. talked about how the game was lost in the first half, no doubt. As for the contrast between his first and second halves, Odom said in part it was the refs that got him going… but since they got waxed it didn’t matter that he played well in the last 24. Incidentally, we were told he’ll be getting an MRI on the shoulder he dinged during the game. Fingers crossed it comes up negative.
Download lamar_odom_3.2 post Sacto.mp3
More noise to come later.
Your Carl’s Jr Star of the Game: Aaron McKie
Seriously. For reals.
And along those lines, in the category of other phrases not often typed, I give you “Lakers D.” Or perhaps I should rephrase. “Phrases not typed often during the course of tonight’s 116-108 loss to the Sacramento,” a contest that wasn’t nearly as close as the final tally would indicate. In a game where free tacos were in jeopardy before the halfway mark of the second quarter, the Lakers were pretty much listless in their attempt to keep Kings players from putting the biscuit in the basket. Whether the Cottonelle-soft protection was due to the absence of Mo Evans (out with a knee injury), interior D specialist Kwame Brown (who wasn’t terribly effective but had a couple nice moments of stoppage) working to shake off the cobwebs, or the lack of focus three days off (and half the team either sick or battling injury) can cause, Sacto met less resistance than Britney Spears trying to bolt from a rehab center.
Kobe and LO each notched double doubles (30 pts/10 dimes for Bryant, 26 pts/13 boards for Odom) and McKie earned his fast food trophy via a red hot 6-6 first half (and the sentiment sparked by seeing Old Man River dropping points). But offensive prowess don’t matter if you’re trading baskets, an unshakable hoops truth the Lakers learned the hard way.
Worst of all, the weird Sacto lady with the teddy bear got the last laugh. Chick was straight up creepy.
More to come later. (NOW ADDED, AFTER THE JUMP)
AK
Live From Staples - Lakers vs. Kings
Check out Ron Ron’s hair. It’s worth the price of admission alone.
AK
First Quarter
7:46 - Mike Bibby drains a three, putting the Kings up 15-6 early in the game. I don’t wanna say that the three days off (with players in and out of practice because nobody is healthy) has put this team outta rthythm… I just don’t know how to finish that sentence.
BK’s take on Artest’s hair: “It would be really impressive if he did that himself.”
Kwame In, Luke Out
And Bynum is in, as is Mo Evans, though he’ll be closely observed. Walton, we were told, is actually going to see a specialist (presumably of ankles, or nearby body parts) at USC, and won’t make the trip to Phoenix. Depending on how things go, he’ll either rejoin the team for the remainder of the roadie, or come back to L.A. But back to Kwame. He picked a good game to return, especially considering Bynum’s struggles with the flu bug this week. “I’ll probably start Andrew,” Jackson said, “but he’s probably going to be the less capable of the two of them because he’s been sick for three days. He’s pretty weak.” Brown’s return certainly won’t hurt a team experiencing something of a mini-defensive renaissance. “Our focus has improved, and the turnovers. We’re not shooting ourselves in the foot,” says Jackson. A healthy Kwame gives the Lakers more options on the defensive end. “We had good games where we played where we just missed that presence in the post. That confidence that we weren’t going to have to double team,” Jackson said.
Extra! Extra! (3.2)/Know Sonny Belfast’s Team
AK. BK. Shaun White. Vladimir Radmanovic. What do these four have in common? They all love to snowboard. Only one, however, digs a day of shredding so much that he’s willing to pay 500 large for the privlege. Hint? It ain’t AK, BK or Shaun White.
A half-mil is the reported amount Vlad ended up paying in fine dough levied by the Lakers for violating his contract. The front office decision should put an end to this drama, since Radmanovic has no plans to appeal. It’s hard to bitch when the team could have fined him more or even ripped up the paper with his name inked on it. Instead, all parties involved will put the incident behind them and concentrate on moving as far up the Western Conference standings as possible. And speaking of conference foes, some of y’all have gotten bent outta shape over this Hoopsworld opinion regarding the Lakers having zero chance against the Jazz come playoff time. Well, KCAL 9’s John Ireland has your back.
Vlad Rad Is Now Destitute
And by “destitute,” I mean, “wealthier than 9 out of 10 people receiving five lifetimes to earn their ducats, but banking less than he could have.”
As noted earlier, the Lakers reached a final decision regarding “The Artist Slowly Turning Back into Cat Stevens” (The requisite beard is about 3/4 full) and Snowboard-Gate. Shoulder-impaired forward Vlad Radmanovic will pay a fine he described as “a lot of money,” the actual dollar amount remaining undisclosed by the team (although from what I hear, it’s about half a mil). “I made a mistake and obviously there is a price for that mistake,” nodded Radmanovic, who acknowledged it would have been the “legal right” of the Lakers to void his contract. Vlad expressed gratitude for the decision to keep him around and has no plans to appeal a sentence he deemed “fair for what I did.” And having just watched former teammate Shaun Livingston come within whispering distance of a forced retirement, Vlad feels even worse about the foolish risk he took during the All-Star break. “I did a bad thing for myself and my team. I could have (ended) my career in Park City.” For that matter, the entire experience has been pretty sobering, especially his time spent under the microscope. “It’s tough. It’s not a nice feeling when people are looking at you a different way. But that’s part of life and there’s no way back. I have to find a way to put it behind me and learn from it.”
Lighter in the Wallet
Just got word from AK on the high-priority, secured Lakers Blog Purple and Gold Line* that the team has answered the question of how to punish Vladimir Radmanovic for his boneheaded snowboarding accident over the All-Star break. Those of you who had “voiding of contract,” “suspension,” “spanking,” or “time out” in your office retribution pools will be disappointed. He got off with a fine. Here’s part of the statement the Lakers released today:“The Los Angeles Lakers have fined forward Vladimir Radmanovic an undisclosed amount for violating his contract by snowboarding which led to a separated shoulder injury. It was announced today by General Manager Mitch Kupchak… “We discussed internally among our coach, ownership, and management a variety of disciplinary options and though that this was the fairest and most appropriate action,” said Kupchak. “We consider this a closed issue now and look forward to Vlade’s return to action, where he’ll be able to use his talents to help our team.”
And there you have it. If there’s more news on the matter AK will have it for you later, but in the meantime do you think the Lakers handled it the right way?
BK
*otherwise known as our cell phones…
Extra! Extra! (3.1)
For those concerned that Jerry Buss would lose his (bleep) and order Vlad Radmanovic flogged, stoned and boiled in oil (or even more extreme, waived) over “Not Ice/Actually Snowboarding-Gate,” take a breath and relax. It appears that a simple fine is more likely heading his way as punishment. Perhaps the next time he considers partaking in activity that could be defined as less than brilliant, he should seek the counsel of Shammond Williams and/or Aaron McKie, since they’ve been getting a lotta props for their smarts these days. On the flip side, Vlad could also ask youngsters Sasha Vujacic or Jordan Farmar, since they’ll likely have plenty of time during games to weigh any pros and cons. Or Lamar Odom, since he’s now rounding back into a form versatile enough to possibly include “Dear Abby” skills.
Disney ‘fairy tale’ isn’t for everyoneSome low-income workers at the resort share motel rooms as the theme park fights efforts to build affordable housing nearby.
March 4, 2007
The job description is simple: Make the customers believe that Disneyland is “a magic kingdom where life is a fairy tale and dreams really do come true.”
But at the end of the workday, many of the people who work at the “Happiest Place on Earth” sleep on air mattresses, in by-the-week motel rooms and in apartments shared with other families.
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“I’ve been at this motel since 1997,” said Derrick, a Disney security guard who pays $209 a week in rent. He spoke to me Thursday night while standing in the doorway of the room he shares with two elderly aunts at Arena Inn and Suites in Anaheim, about a mile from his job.Derrick said he would jump at a chance to live in a housing development proposed for a site across the street from his motel. As proposed, 15% of the 1,500 condos and apartments would be for low-income tenants such as Derrick, who earns $12 an hour. But his employer is doing everything in its power to crush the project.
First, Disney challenged the right of a council member to cast a vote on the housing because she intends to open a wine bar in the area and might have a conflict of interest. With the council member abstaining, a 2-2 split killed the development. The developer appealed, and last week Disney rolled out the heavy artillery, suing the city over an environmental study that had cleared the way for the project.
“We feel we have no other choice but to pursue this legal action to protect this vital area,” said Ed Grier, president of the Disneyland Resort.
The big cheeses insist that having several thousand of their own employees — or anyone else’s — live in the Anaheim Resort Area would dim the prospects for generating more business, jobs and taxes. When Mayor Curt Pringle pitched a hybrid of hotel and residential units, some of them for low-income tenants, Disney screamed from the top of the Matterhorn. Allowing people to live so close to the kingdom would set a “dangerous precedent,” said a Disney spokesman. Yeah, Mickey could get mugged on his way to Downtown Disney.
Scott Darrell, who runs a nonprofit affordable-housing agency called the Kennedy Commission, can’t understand why Disney is so opposed to the project.
“There’s already housing there,” said Darrell. There’s a mobile home park where the 1,500 residential units would be, and just down Haster Street are several dozen apartments.
Disney argues those were built in an earlier era, but new development should be all about tourism. And besides, Disney is thinking of building a third park — oh thank heavens, finally! — and wouldn’t want any normal activity in the vicinity, like their own employees walking home from work. Maybe Disney should just lock them all on the premises at night and let them sleep in the Haunted Mansion or the Enchanted Tiki Room.
To be fair, I think Disney has some reasonable arguments, despite the odious attempts to make City Hall do its bidding. Maybe a 1,500-unit mini-city, with several thousand residents, should be a few miles down the road. But instead of trying to torpedo housing proposals, Disney could earn a few PR points by leading the way in making sure that working stiffs like the ones it employs have a few more options.
Disney Resorts gave $11 million to community causes in 2006 (companywide profits were $1.7 billion in the last quarter alone), but none of it was for housing-related services. Why not throw a few bucks in the direction of the Orange County agencies that are in the business of finding housing solutions, such as the Kennedy Commission?
Among the 100 largest cities in the country, Anaheim was dead last in income growth between 1990 and 2000, according to Eric Altman. He’s with the Orange County Communities Organized for Responsible Development and said the combination of low wages in the hospitality business and extremely high real estate prices help make for widespread poverty in Orange County.
I met Altman and Cesar Covarrubias, of the Kennedy Commission, at the site of the doomed 1,500-unit housing development. At noon Wednesday, four women from the Peacock Suites Hotel’s housekeeping department walked by on their way to lunch, and we asked about their living arrangements.
They said they make $7 an hour, and all but one of them shares an apartment with members of another family. In one case, seven people live in a two-bedroom that costs $1,585 a month, and in another, eight people share a two-bedroom at $1,125 a month.
I later spoke by phone to a hotel switchboard operator who said that for 20 years she commuted from Riverside to the Hilton Anaheim, sometimes spending four hours on the road.
“I can tell you, there’s nothing cheaper than the Inland Empire,” said Lori Condinus, who is on leave from the hotel to work for the union representing hospitality employees.
Her one-bedroom apartment is $750, but the commute has taken years off her life.
“I just find it odd that corporate America will say it’s fine that you come and work here and help us prosper, but doggone it, you can’t live here. And now they’ve gone so far as to sue the city to make sure that we don’t live here.”
On my way to Anaheim on Thursday night, I spoke by phone to a woman who works in security at Disneyland and lives with seven family members — including a nephew who also works at Disney — in two motel rooms.
When I got to town I met up with Eddie, a Disneyland Hotel bellman who lives with his wife and children, and his parents. Eddie took me to see two friends who work at the same hotel.
Pedro and his wife live in a $950 one-bedroom with two teen-agers. He makes about $11 an hour, and his wife makes minimum wage in a cookie factory. Sometimes, Pedro said, he goes without the medicine he needs for a thyroid condition.
A few blocks away, directly across the street from the housing development that’s been scuttled, Antonio lives with his wife and 19-year-old son in a $900 one-bedroom. After 15 years working banquets at the Disneyland Hotel, he makes $11.27 an hour and fears he’ll lose this apartment if and when Disney builds its third theme park.
“The rent is 70% of my salary,” said Antonio, whose wife and son also work. Antonio himself cleans a house in Costa Mesa on one of his two days off. “My wife wants a two-bedroom, but I can’t afford it. My son needs privacy. He needs his own room. But I can’t afford it.”
Eddie asked Antonio to show me his envelopes, and Antonio removed several small white envelopes from his wallet. One had his mother’s name on it. One had the name of the bank where he took out a loan to buy his son’s computer. One said “Rent.” One said “luz” for lights, or electricity. He puts money in each of them throughout the month as it comes in, so he won’t come up short.
“I know a house near here where 18 people live,” Antonio said. “When am I going to get a house? It’s a dream that will never happen.”