~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From the LA Times:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lower House Passes State Budget
The package wins overwhelming approval of both parties, despite warnings that problems are only put off. Senate action is still required.
<full story>

King/Drew Ignored Surgical Safety Checks
County health director says staff neglected in hundreds of cases to count instruments after operations. Clamp was found inside a patient.
<full story>

Hahn, Villaraigosa Speak Briefly at Convention
BOSTON — Los Angeles Mayor James K. Hahn got just three minutes to speak Wednesday at the Democratic National Convention, a midday performance watched by a handful of viewers back home on C-SPAN — if he was lucky.
<full story>

Gates Would Cut Off Public Access
Bicyclists, runners and others say a Brentwood neighborhood's plan would deny them entry to mountain parkland. Residents want security.
<full story>

Audit Faults Animal Services
Saying that the city's Animal Services Department is "stuck in a time warp," City Controller Laura Chick charged Wednesday that the department could be losing nearly $11 million a year by not enforcing penalties against people who fail to license their animals.
<full story>

Firm Pulls Plug on DWP
The company, which runs a purchasing system, says it has not been paid. http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-dwp29jul29,1,2956174,print.story?coll=la-headlines-california Students Restoring Damaged Campus A tree-planting marks the start of a North Hills school's recovery from vandalism.
<full story>

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From the Daily News:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Big-rig safety plan coming from CHP
Big-rig crashes cause some of the worst freeway tie-ups -- including a seven-hour jam Wednesday morning -- prompting the CHP to launch a $900,000 program to ticket truckers and other motorists whose bad habits can cause crashes.
<full story>

Chick says dogs have treed Hahn
Despite years of controversy and turmoil, Mayor James Hahn has failed to improve the Los Angeles Animal Services Department's record of getting dogs licensed and cracking down on scofflaws, Controller Laura Chick charged Wednesday.
<full story>

Assembly passes budget
SACRAMENTO -- Twenty-eight days into the new fiscal year, the state Assembly passed a $105 billion budget Wednesday night that cuts education and local government services and raises college fees but resists any tax increases.
<full story>

Tokofsky says school cops' costs hidden
School board member David Tokofsky on Wednesday denounced a top Los Angeles Unified administrator he accused of having hidden a $2 million increase in funding for school police during a budget process in which $500 million in spending was being cut.
<full story>

Firm shuts down DWP bidding
Los Angeles Department of Water and Power officials said Wednesday they have not yet decided whether to end a business relationship with an Inglewood company that shut down the utility's computerized bidding system last week in a billing dispute.
<full story>