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From the LA Times:

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Beating by LAPD Officer Airs on TV
The televised beating of a suspected car thief Wednesday by a flashlight-wielding Los Angeles Police Department officer was described by a top department official as "Rodney King-esque," drawing comparisons with the 1991 beating of an African American man by LAPD officers that led to catastrophic riots a year later.
<full story>

Schools Bar Anti-Drug Program
L.A. district warns against the use of presentations by a group linked to the Church of Scientology. The state plans an investigation.
<full story>

Site Near City Hall OKd for New Police Headquarters
The replacement for Parker Center will be built on 2nd Street, the council decides.
<full story>

Airport, Burbank Reach Deal on Growth
Declaring a "cease fire" and the dawn of a new era of cooperation, officials at Bob Hope Airport and in Burbank, who have long fought over expansion issues, have reached a tentative agreement that would place a 10-year moratorium on building a new terminal.
<full story>

Hospital Avoids Federal Funds Cutoff
Officials rescind threatened action after the King/Drew center agrees to limit use of stun guns to control psychiatric patients.
<full story>

Fire Plan Targets Illegal Parking on Hollywood Hills' Narrow Streets
City officials announced a new evacuation plan for the Hollywood Hills on Wednesday, targeting what they called one of the city's highest-risk areas for summer brush fires.
<full story>

L.A. Officials Call for Sales Tax Hike
Los Angeles City Council members and Mayor James K. Hahn on Wednesday unanimously called on county supervisors to put a measure on the November ballot asking voters to raise the sales tax by half a cent to pay for more police officers and sheriff's deputies.
<full story>

L.A. Plan for Owens River Is Criticized
Activists complain that the DWP's blueprint to restore a 62-mile stretch of the waterway was completed without Inyo County or U.S. help.
<full story>

City, Wal-Mart Step Up Hostilities
Following a federal judge's decision to authorize a class-action gender-discrimination lawsuit against Wal-Mart, the standoff between Los Angeles and the world's largest company is heating up again.
<full story>

Family of Strangled Inmate Seeks $35 Million From L.A. County
The family of a Los Angeles County Jail inmate, who was strangled in his cell while waiting to testify as a key witness in a murder trial, filed a $35-million federal lawsuit Wednesday against the Sheriff's Department.
<full story>

A new crack in the old neighborhood
The Windsor Square preservation debate has divided the area. Some fear friendships will suffer long after the issue has been decided.
<full story>

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From the Daily News:

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'Here we go again'
In an incident that recalls the Rodney King beating, a Los Angeles police officer was captured on camera Wednesday repeatedly hitting a car theft suspect with a flashlight after the African-American man appeared to have surrendered.
<full story>

Consent-decree protocols being used in investigation
The videotaped beating of a suspect Wednesday by a Los Angeles police officer came just days after the Police Department entered a period of heightened federal scrutiny of its efforts to curtail brutality and abuses under a consent decree.
<full story>

Felons could get extra 2 years on sentence for identity theft
Stealing a Social Security number or other identity data could land a felon in jail for an extra two years under legislation the House passed Wednesday.
<full story>

New Parker Center OK'd by council
Bowing to community and political pressure, the Los Angeles City Council on Wednesday approved building a new police headquarters building on a site less than two blocks from City Hall.
<full story>

Mayor Hahn insists he deserves second term
Faced with a strong field of challengers to his re-election, Mayor James Hahn defended his three-year record in the city's top office Wednesday by saying he has tried to do what's best regardless of the political consequences.
<full story>

Hillside dwellers warned: Don't block fire engines
Facing prolonged fire danger in the Hollywood Hills and other mountain areas of Los Angeles, city officials and firefighters have announced new evacuation plans for hillside neighborhoods and a crackdown on illegally parked cars.
<full story>

Board to step into mess on neighborhood council
The panel that oversees advisory neighborhood councils in Los Angeles has agreed to intervene in a months-long impasse that has paralyzed the Van Nuys Neighborhood Council.
<full story>

City Council backs raise in sales tax
The Los Angeles City Council on Wednesday unanimously endorsed county Sheriff Lee Baca's proposal to raise the sales tax by 0.5 percent to expand police forces countywide.
<full story>

Helping kids in need
In the past, the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services has taken more than its share of lumps -- usually for good reason. But it's now time to pay the DCFS a rare bit of praise.
<full story>

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From Atty General Lockyer:

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Attorney General Lockyer Obtains Judgment in First "Do Not Call" Lawsuit Filed in Nation
American Home Craft Must Obey Telemarketing Laws, Pay $100,000
<full story>
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