Law Enforcement

8-hour standoff with armed man locked in luxury hotel room ends with SWAT breaking down door
An eight-hour standoff between LAPD officers and a man who said he was armed with a gun inside a room at the Bonaventure Hotel in downtown Los Angeles ended early today when police broke down the door and arrested him. The incident began Wednesday evening after a security guard said an armed man was believed to be barricaded inside a room, Officer Karen Rayner of the Los Angeles Police Department said. Some guests were evacuated and crisis negotiators responded. No one was hurt.
Los Angeles Times

Police in Los Angeles step up efforts to gain Muslims' trust
Los Angeles, home to one of the largest and most diverse Muslim populations in the country, has one of the most assertive multidepartmental efforts in the country, along with New York, to overcome mistrust and engage Muslims as allies in preventing terrorism, according to law enforcement experts. The Sheriff's Department and the Police Department have formed such strong personal relationships with Muslim leaders in the last few years that these ties have helped overcome some bad patches, such as when Muslims discovered that the FBI had placed informants in mosques on nonspecific intelligence-gathering missions.
New York Times

State Budget Crisis

Jerry Brown asks for budget vote delay, says he's 'on track' for deal
Gov. Jerry Brown, citing progress in budget talks with Republicans, asked Senate and Assembly Democrats on Wednesday to delay budget votes that were planned for today, missing his self-imposed deadline but giving him more time to negotiate. Brown, who resumed meetings with a splinter group of Republican senators Tuesday, said Wednesday he is "on track" for a deal. "I'm getting some optimistic comments from some of the Republicans," he said, "but we haven't nailed down what it takes to close the budget."
Sacramento Bee

City Election 2011

Turnout by voters is a weak statement
Our streets are crumbling, fewer cops and firefighters are on hand and basic city services are well below basic - all to save money. With a whopping $350 million deficit next year, Los Angeles could still face bankruptcy. So many problems and so much dissatisfaction with City Hall, yet fewer than 12 percent of registered voters bothered to cast a ballot in Tuesday's city election.
Los Angeles Daily News

Pensions

Pension reform activists meet to plan statewide movement
A group of pension reform advocates stealthily met Wednesday in San Francisco to discuss how to spark a regional fire under the hot-button issue of reducing public employee retirement costs. The meeting was called by San Francisco Public Defender Jeff Adachi, who pushed a measure onto last November's ballot that would have required that city's workers to contribute more toward their pensions and benefit costs.
Palo Alto Daily News

Prisons

Governor should consider commuting sentences for medically incapacitated inmates, state auditor says
Gov. Jerry Brown should consider commuting the sentences of prison inmates who are permanently incapacitated by medical conditions, according to the state auditor, who said Wednesday that releasing them could save tens of millions of dollars. The proposal by auditor Elaine Howle was one of 10 ideas offered in response to a request by Brown for ways to help trim the state's $26.6-billion budget shortfall. Howle made the recommendation a week after The Times reported that despite a change in the law allowing the release of incapacitated inmates, the process has been delayed as prison officials work out the rules for paroling prisoners.
Los Angeles Times

Collective Bargaining

Conservatives push back against 'infectious' Wisconsin public unions
There is no carnival so vulgar that it cannot be made more so by the presence of Jesse Jackson, who told ABC News that he found the spirit of the assembled protesters in Madison "infectious." All those cops, firefighters, nurses, and teachers aren't doing themselves any favors by marching with this bunch. They may be having a jolly old time singing and banging their drums and reliving the Sixties there in the capitol, but outside the doors it's 2011. They'd better get their clocks fixed.
Jack Dunphy/Pajamas Media