Talk-radio crowd pumps up the volume on immigration
WASHINGTON — John and Ken, the Los Angeles-area radio talk-show hosts, were on the air. They discussed claims by the Homeland Security secretary that more guards had been stationed along the Mexico border. “Outright blatant lies!” John said. They trashed the Border Patrol chief. “A cardboard bureaucrat,” he added.
From the back of a crowded hotel conference room here, where the pair was broadcasting on KFI-AM, one listener couldn’t contain himself. “You betcha!” he roared, and the sympathetic audience erupted in laughter.
For four days this week, John Kobylt and Ken Chiampou joined more than 30 other radio hosts from across the country, broadcasting live from Washington to demand immigration laws that secure the border, punish employers who hire illegal immigrants, and deny citizenship to immigrants who sneaked into the country. . .
March to force downtown street closures
Navigating through downtown Los Angeles tomorrow will be tougher than usual as an immigrants rights march will force the closure of numerous streets in the heart of the city.
Bus routes, Metro Rail and freeways will be affected.
This year, estimates range from 15,000 to 150,000 marchers, according to the city’s Department of Transportation.
Most of the closures, which will begin at 8 a.m. and are expected to last through most of the day, could affect traffic on any street bounded by Cesar Chavez Avenue to the north, Alameda Street to the east, Washington Boulevard to the south and Flower Street to the west, transportation officials said. In addition, Broadway between 9th Street and Olympic Boulevard and Olympic Boulevard between Main and Hill streets will be closed beginning about 7 a.m. as part of the march assembly area. . .
Students are urged to skip rallies
State and local education officials, citing safety concerns and potential financial penalties for schools, urged students Sunday to shun this week’s May Day immigration reform marches and stay in class.
The Tuesday demonstrations include a downtown Los Angeles rally that local transportation and law enforcement officials anticipate could draw as many as 500,000 participants. Although that would be smaller than the roughly 650,000 who showed up at last year’s May Day march, it would be the area’s biggest immigration rally this year. And it threatens traffic tie-ups that have prompted officials to urge the public to avoid downtown.
State Supt. of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell, who appeared at a news conference with Los Angeles schools Supt. David Brewer and other local officials, said it was more important for students to be in class than to demonstrate. He urged educators to consider the day “a teachable moment” to address immigration and related issues. “I’m a strong believer in free speech … but not at the expense of educational opportunity,” he said. . .
Friday, April 27th, 2007
Referendum may overrule Anaheim council
ANAHEIM – A Disney-led business coalition on Thursday launched a referendum to toss out the City Council’s approval of residential zoning near its theme parks.
The coalition, called Save Our Anaheim Resort, took out petitions for the measure just one day after the council’s 3-2 vote on the plan that could pave the way for developer SunCal to build 1,500 homes in the Anaheim Resort area.
The referendum could go onto the February ballot, along with a previously announced initiative meant to deter all housing projects in the resort area geared for tourist uses. . .
Todd Ament from SOAR will be on the show at 3:00
Newport Beach moves to curb rehab housing
NEWPORT BEACH– In a move apparently rare among California cities, Newport Beach officials late Tuesday temporarily banned most types of new drug rehabilitation homes, a response to ongoing community alarm about perceived threats to neighborhood character.
Officials said such a step was uncommon, and that the inland suburb of Murrieta was the only nearby town to enact a similar measure in recent memory.
In deference to fair-housing laws that classify recovering addicts as handicapped, Newport’s 45-day moratorium is broad, affecting not only rehabilitation houses but also new bed and breakfasts, parolee homes and, most notably, the city’s thriving market for summer rentals. . .
Mayor Steve Rosansky will be on the show at 4:30
A family’s painful split decision
San Diego — EACH night, Leslie, 16, and Adilene Muñoz, 8, sleep restlessly in their parents’ bed while their brother Marcos, 13, covers himself with a blanket on the floor beside them.
Across the border in Tijuana, their parents lie awake in their small third-story apartment, feeling anxious and helpless.
The family has been divided by the U.S.-Mexican border since Feb. 22, when immigration agents arrested and deported Abel Muñoz and Zulma Miranda. The couple decided to leave behind their three U.S.-born children after a relative agreed to watch over them. . .
HOT FUZZ
Whether you like it or not, summer starts next week. In the movie world anyway – “Spiderman 3” will be released, and that means the rush of sequels and dumb “action” pictures begins. So, as one last farewell, here’s a movie that probably hasn’t been on your radar, for this may be the last time in a while I review something as unique as this one. This is a “British” movie, so be warned – that generally means the humor is very dry, and the performances rather restrained. Nicolas Angel is a London cop who tends to be a little too good at his job. In other words, he’s showing up the rest of the force. His superiors decide, for the purposes of image and morale, to transfer him off to the sleepy suburbs. So off he goes to the town of Sandford, a place where the worst crime appears to be underage drinking. (more…)
Thursday, April 26th, 2007
Forensics will refute prosecution’s case, say Spector’s attorneys
Scientific evidence will show that Phil Spector did not kill Lana Clarkson on the fateful February morning in 2003, defense lawyer Bruce Cutler said this morning as he completed his opening in the music legend’s murder trial.
Cutler started his opening statement late Wednesday and took almost 30 more minutes this morning before turning the opening to colleague Linda Kenney Baden. She gave more details on the scientific arguments to be presented in the coming weeks.
Spector, 67, is charged with killing Lana Clarkson, 40, in the morning hours of Feb. 3, 2003. If convicted, he faces 15 years to life in prison. . .
Legislature approves bill to ease prison overcrowding
SACRAMENTO — The Legislature today agreed to spend $6.1 billion in bond money to build new prison beds and beef up rehabilitation for inmates, a move they hope will ease overcrowding and discourage further intervention by federal courts.
The bill, which capped weeks of negotiations by Democratic and Republican leaders, passed without a single no vote in the Assembly but hit turbulence in the Senate, where the 27-10 vote barely met the two-thirds majority required to pass.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger praised the deal as a remarkable example of the cooperative spirit in Sacramento that he has dubbed “post-partisanship.” An urgency bill, it would take effect immediately, and the bonds do not require voter approval. . .
Wednesday, April 25th, 2007
At 1:45 p.m., prosecutors showed the first picture of the corpse of Lana Carkson in Spector’s house four years ago, slumped in a chair. Jackson said she “was immediately incapacitated, she was dead. She couldn’t breathe, she couldn’t blink, she couldn’t move a muscle.”
Spector slumped at the defense table, motionless.
Jackson pointed to crime seen photos showing that Clarkson died with her purse on her shoulder, suggesting, he said, that she was trying to leave. He said Spector’s coat, splattered with Clarkson’s blood, was found in an upstairs bedroom. Police also found a bloody rag in an upstairs bathroom—a “pathetic” attempt to clean her face . . .
Money at root of O.C. double killing?
Kevin and Joni Park’s erratic behavior in the hours before their deaths at a posh Laguna Beach resort may have been driven by the wife’s zeal to obtain the couple’s share of a family inheritance and the fear that someone would kill them to take it away, two officials told The Times on Tuesday.
Joni Park summoned sheriff’s deputies to the couple’s Mission Viejo home Friday to tell them the couple was set to inherit $1 million, according to an investigator who asked to remain anonymous because he wasn’t authorized to speak about the investigation.
The money was apparently to come from the estate of Kevin Park’s father, Oliver Park, who died March 29 at age 82. . .
Friday, April 20th, 2007
Va. gunman’s family feels hopeless, lost
BLACKSBURG, Va. – The family of Virginia Tech gunman Seung-Hui Cho told The Associated Press on Friday that they feel “hopeless, helpless and lost,” and “never could have envisioned that he was capable of so much violence
“He has made the world weep. We are living a nightmare,” said a statement issued by Cho’s sister, Sun-Kyung Cho, on the family’s behalf. It was the Chos’ first public comment since the 23-year-old student killed 32 people and committed suicide Monday.
The family reached out to Raleigh, N.C., lawyer Wade Smith, who provided the statement to the AP. Smith said the family would not answer any questions. . .
Relative Says Virginia Tech Shooter Was Autistic
SEOUL, South Korea — Virginia Tech gunman Cho Seung-hui was diagnosed with autism after the family emigrated to the United States, a relative in South Korea said.
“From the beginning, he wouldn’t answer me,” Kim Yang-soon, Cho’s great aunt, said in an interview Thursday with Associated Press Television News. He “didn’t talk. Normally sons and mothers talk. There was none of that for them. He was very cold.”
“When they went to the United States, they told them it was autism,” said Kim, 85, adding that the family had constant worries about Cho. . .
JUST IN: FAIR IS IN FULL SUPPORT OF TRUCKER’S RALLY
Susan Tully, the National Field Director for FAIR has reassured me that FAIR is in full support of our Trucker’s Rally protest and are very excited that we have united as a nation to bring the collective message of the American citizen to Washington and every capitol in our nation, that we want the NAU and NAFTA shut down, NO amnesty for aliens in our country illegally, and NO Mexican trucking companies, truckers and trucks in America. While FAIR has not participated in the organization of the Trucker’s “Truck Out” Rally, they have been fully supportive of all our efforts to do so. . .
Jury in Spector trial is chosen
The jury that will decide whether Phil Spector murdered actress Lana Clarkson in his home was sworn in Thursday, after three days of questioning that offered a glimpse of the trial to come.
The nine men and three women watched defense lawyers confront the fallout of four years of news reports on Spector’s history of violent threats against women, and the potentially incriminating statements he made in the aftermath of the Feb. 3, 2003, shooting.
Prosecutors appeared to be seeking jurors who would look critically at the famous forensic scientists whom Spector’s defense team is likely to present to argue that Clarkson was shot accidentally or in a suicide. . .
Listen to Alec Baldwin’s Threatening Message to DaughterFRAC TURE
I left that “fracture” in the word “fracture” on purpose – they do that in the opening credits. That is, they “fracture” the words. Slick, isn’t it? I was afraid this movie would just be a glossy extended version of a “Law & Order” episode and I’m afraid that’s where it ended up. But let me back up, because I was hooked for the first hour. I mean they had the goods here – a rich, brilliant man kills his cheating wife, completely covers his tracks, and then confesses. Confesses? Yep, he did it, but you’ll never prove it. Not a bad concept, and when you toss in Anthony Hopkins and hot young actor Ryan Gosling (“The Notebook” and that Academy Award nomination for “Half-Nelson”) you would seem to have the makings for one compelling drama. Almost – for it was like they crossed the fifty yard line, and were headed for the goal line when they dragged down from behind. Play over, and it wasn’t Tony’s fault. (more…)
