“It’s a great place to live, but I wouldn’t want to visit there.” —Will Rogers
My Philly Cheese sandwich at the Vegan Spot
LAist’s Zach Behrens blogs that The Vegan Spot in Silverlake is closed. The only thing that The Vegan Spot had going for it, was that it wasn’t another Thai-vegan-clone. Otherwise, it offered a harsh ambiance, an overpriced menu, and mediocre service. Goodbye.
Linda Boyd is out as LA County Republican Party Chairman. A whole lot of good that Prop 8 support did her. Mayor Sam, BoiFromTroy.
Sadly, the Right has ‘em too and similarly indulges them for election support. Politico:
Liberals are growing increasingly nervous – and some just flat-out angry – that President-elect Barack Obama seems to be stiffing them on Cabinet jobs and policy choices.
Obama has reversed pledges to immediately repeal tax cuts for the wealthy and take on Big Oil. He’s hedged his call for a quick drawdown in Iraq. And he’s stocking his White House with anything but stalwarts of the left.
Now some are shedding a reluctance to puncture the liberal euphoria at being rid of President George W. Bush to say, in effect, that the new boss looks like the old boss.
Meanwhile, I’m cautiously warming up to the guy.
Walter Moore emails me:
I just got off the phone with Althea Shaw, who told me that, shortly before 5:00 p.m. today, she and her family filed over 76,000 signatures to put Jamiel’s Law on the petition!
A last-minute push Friday from supporters of “Jamiel’s Law” resulted in more than 76,000 signed petitions that could get the initiative on the city ballot next spring. The family of Jamiel Shaw, a 17-year-old high school football player who was killed in March, gave the signed petitions to the City Clerk’s Office just before the 5 p.m. deadline.
Other media continue to report that the signature drive fell short. In order to qualify for the March ballot, 73,963 of the 76,000 signatories must be registered voters in the city of Los Angeles, which leaves little room for error—3% to be exact. Needless to say, today was an incredible finish, but the nail-biting will continue well into next week.
Photo by Dan Caroselli
Curbed writer Dan Caroselli made it out to LA Live’s grand opening last night. He noted that “the majority of the space in the square was reserved for VIPs at the event,” while “the rest of the public had to squeeze in at the sides and corners of the plaza.” Asked to respond to Christopher Hawthorne’s criticisms—in which he foretold this “velvet-rope urbanism” on display last night, Lisa Herzlich, VP of LA Live responded:
…we had a purpose when we developed LA Live: we really wanted to be a part of what we felt was the fabric of the community.
Anyone else notice a trend here? Previously: Earth to Urth
In Los Angeles, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, a longtime friend of the Nuñez family, said he was convinced of Esteban Nuñez’s innocence. “He’s a great kid,” Villaraigosa said. “I’ve known him since he was a little boy. He’s a great kid, a good boy.”
Convinced? Someone get this guy out of town. His stock is plummeting.
Or, so it was called less than six weeks ago:
Screen capture from October 24, 2008
The event has since been re-branded as the 3rd Annual El Sereno Winter Wonderland. So why the low profile this year, José? Could it be that in the current economic climate you don’t want your name on an event that is costing taxpayers $5,168?
Zuma Dogg spent the past few weeks collecting signatures to put his name on the ballot as candidate for mayor. Last night, he reached his goal:
I got my 1000th signature this evening in Silverlake in front of Trader Joe’s. Plus, I picked up the 30-40 signature petitions my other helpers collected. So that’s over 1000 by just enough to cross a few off. But I have been crossing off anything that didn’t look valid, all along. So out of the 1000…hopefully 500 people aren’t mistaken as to their registration address.
The absence of a high-profile mayoral contender will allow Zuma Dogg to attract far more media attention than would otherwise be possible.
Esteban Armando Nuñez, the 19-year-old son of former Assembly Speaker Fabian Nuñez, was arrested in Sacramento County on Tuesday in connection with the stabbing death of a 22-year-old college student in San Diego, police said.
San Diego Homicide Capt. Jim Collins said Nuñez was arrested along with three other men, all also 19. All four will be taken back to San Diego, where they will be jailed. Each faces one count of murder and three counts of assault with a deadly weapon.
How’s this for leadership: Councilmember Janice Hahn placed an ill-conceived parcel tax on the ballot, then kicked back and waited for it to pass with a cynical assumption that Obama’s voters would stick it to homeowners. Well, they certified the vote this morning and she miscalculated by half a percentage point. Orlov:
…a city parcel tax to generate $30 million annually to pay for gang prevention and anti-violence intervention programs received 66.27 percent of votes; it failed by less than half a percentage point. The parcel tax, Measure A, drew 712,039 yes votes and 362,396 no votes.
Ms. Hahn, consider this your cue to start working for us, not against us. The lazy approach didn’t work out this time. Meanwhile the problem isn’t solved, and you’re still sitting there empty-handed. I trust that if you really care about gang prevention, you’ll find $30 million in the existing budget. You and I both know it’s there.
