Perata pulls plug on Denham recall

Senate leader Don Perata announced late Wednesday that he was dropping the recall campaign of Sen. Jeff Denham, due to his “best judgment about how to stop the long, slow slide into another long stalemate” on the budget.

Perata had initiated the recall last summer, after Denham, R-Atwater, sided with the majority of Senate Republicans in blocking passage of the budget during a 52-day standoff.

A campaign committee linked to Perata, D-Oakland, and the Democratic Party spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on the recall campaign.

At a late afternoon news conference on the steps of the Capitol, Perata said he decided not to pursue the recall after meeting Wednesday with Senate Republican Leader Dave Cogdill. . .

Federal prosecutors want Carona trial to stay in O.C.

SANTA ANA – There is no need to move the public corruption trial of former sheriff Michael S. Carona out of Orange County as suggested by defense attorneys – perhaps to San Francisco, Seattle or Portland – because of inflammatory on-air remarks by two radio talk show hosts, federal prosecutors argued in a brief filed Wednesday.

Carona’s lawyers, who filed for a change of venue last month, can not prove that comments on “The John and Ken Show” on KFI-AM, (640) and other pretrial publicity has prejudiced Carona’s right to a fair trial in Orange County, Assistant U.S. Attorney Brett A. Sagel argued in a 23-page brief.

And even if some jurors are swayed by remarks from talk show hosts John Kobylt and Ken Chiampou – who have told listeners that they think Carona is guilty and that their fans should lie to get on the jury to convict – there are other alternatives to insure a fair trial. . .

Crowing roosters ruffle feathers

If the City Council gets its way, Angelenos can still have chickens come home to roost – but only one of them can be a rooster.

Cock-a-doodle-do-ing in the wee hours of the morning, illegal backyard cockfighting and odors have led to a surge in neighborhood complaints from the northeast San Fernando Valley to Compton.

But the city has nothing on the books to control its noisy fowl problem.

“We deal with barking dogs, why can’t we deal with crowing roosters?” asked Janice Hahn, the councilwoman who proposed Wednesday limiting roosters to one per household.

Now, most Los Angeles residents can have only three cats and three dogs. But the sky is the limit on roosters. . .