Pensions

Riordan's pension "reform" proposal withering under criticism in LA
It looks like former LA Mayor Richard Riordan's plan to slash the retirement security of that city's public employees is imploding. Riordan has finally acknowledged that the pension initiative that he's circulating for signatures was thrown together without any financial analysis behind it. To be blunt, Riordan has come clean that his claims of savings and plan costs from his initiative are made up and don't have a shred of actuarial support.
California Majority Report

Law Enforcement

Domestic dispute between two brothers prompts police action
Los Angeles Police Department officers armed with a beanbag shotgun entered a home near Eagle Rock High School on Yosemite Drive Tuesday evening to resolve a domestic dispute between two brothers. Four officers entered a single-story house on 1900 Yosemite Dr. after getting a 911 call informing them that a man was trying to beat up his brother with a stick, one of the officers on the scene told Eagle Rock Patch.
Eagle Rock Patch

Holiday safety tips from the LAPD
Here's a quick message from the Los Angeles Police Department wishing happy holidays and a reminder to stay safe and don't become a victim of a crime. Lock It: Lock your vehicle every time you leave it unattended and always lock your valuables in the trunk. Hide It: If you don't have a trunk, hide valuables under the seats, in the glove box, or other compartments within the vehicle. Never leave valuables in plain view.
Brentwood Patch

Pot plants recovered in vacant Panorama City office
Nearly three dozen marijuana plants were confiscated Tuesday after a maintenance worker discovered them inside a vacant office and called police. The 30 plants were found inside a 700-square-foot office space in the 8000 block of Van Nuys Boulevard that had been rented by two men who had posed as representing a moving company, police said. The office was across the street from Panorama High School. Anyone with information can call the LAPD's Mission Division station at 818-838-9820.
Los Angeles Daily News

Documentary: Former Van Nuys resident Glen Rogers may be involved in OJ Simpson case
A documentary says a Florida death row inmate might have been involved in the murder of O.J. Simpson's ex-wife and her friend, a claim being criticized by one victim's family and being looked at skeptically by a detective who has dealt with the convict. The Investigation Discovery show, "My Brother the Serial Killer," will air Wednesday. The film is a look at Glen Rogers, a carnival worker who had lived in Van Nuys and was convicted in Florida in 1997 for killing a woman in a Tampa motel room.
Associated Press

Homeland Security

News of terror plot in the Inland Empire develops, information continues to surface
With loud explosions and bright lights from flashbang grenades, heavily armed federal agents stormed a car near an apartment complex in Chino on Friday and arrested three men in connection with terrorist activities. The men, from throughout the Inland Empire, had plotted for months to join al-Qaida in Afghanistan and planned to carry out terrorist acts on government facilities and kill members of the armed forces overseas, according to a criminal complaint filed by the FBI.
Los Angeles Daily News

Public Safety & Health

LAFD looks at ways to speed up emergency response times
Los Angeles Fire Department officials, facing criticism over slow response times to 911 calls, are considering two new strategies that could get rescuers to the scene of medical emergencies more quickly. One program, known as "quick launch," reduced the time it took to get fire units moving by an average of 50 seconds - roughly in half - during a test period in 2006.
Los Angeles Times

Is your lobster for real? L.A. task force discovers 74 percent of seafood surveyed is mislabeled
That lobster roll you found so delicious might not be the catch you thought it was. A multi-agency "Seafood Task Force" surveyed 103 restaurants and grocery stores - even going so far as to conduct DNA tests on tilapia - and discovered that customers didn't always get what they thought they were buying.
Los Angeles Daily News

City Government

Los Angeles City Council puts sales tax increase before voters
Warning the Los Angeles Police Department would have lay off police officers without new revenues, the Los Angeles City Council voted today to place a half-percent sales tax increase before voters on March 5. The council, in an 11-4 vote, agreed to submit the tax hike to voters, if Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa signs off on the measure. It would need a simple majority of voters to approve the measure, which would increase the sales tax to 9.5 percent on all goods sold in L.A.
Los Angeles Daily News

Election 2012

Support for Measure J increases in latest ballot count, but still not enough
With more than 200,000 votes still to be counted, the November ballot measure to extend a county transportation tax inched closer Tuesday to the two-thirds majority needed to pass, but still remained behind by about one percentage point. Measure J, which would extend for three more decades a 30-year, half-cent tax for transportation projects voters originally passed in 2008, now has 65.33% approval, according to the latest update county officials released Tuesday.
Los Angeles Times