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Election wraps, accusations about a major City Hall department head, chilling news about a wounded LAPD officer and more—including a weird coincidence in the case of those older women accused of scamming (at least) two homeless men. Click on the Buzz for more.
♦ Andrew Adelman targeted: The LA Weekly's Jeffrey Anderson reports that "employees have charged that Adelman’s outbursts, intimidation tactics and deference to developers have eroded" the city's Department of Building and Safety he heads. Controller Laura Chick's auditors are "getting an earful," the Weekly story says:
Adelman has been accused of trampling on civil-service rules, instructing subordinates to mislead personnel investigators and insisting on building-permit approvals even when safety regulations are unmet. Though many in City Hall recognize his influence and enjoy his lavish Christmas party every year, featuring Persian delicacies from his native Iran, documents reviewed by the L.A. Weekly allege that he is a volatile man who savages employees critical of his regime.
♦ Serious condition: Wounded LAPD officer Kristina Ripatti appears to be paralyzed from the chest down, though possibly improving. The LAPD credit union has set up a fund for donations and blogger LAPD Wife reports on a community barbecue set for June 14.
♦ Judge shocker: Veteran Superior Court judge Dzintra Janavs may have lost her seat Tuesday because voters didn't like her Latvian name, the Times says. The winner, Lynn Diane Olson, is a bagel store owner and intermittent lawyer who was rated unqualified by the county Bar—but who spent $100,000 and was endorsed by the county Democratic Party.
♦ Election wraps: Villaraigosa's endorsements a split decision; County Fed flooded the zone for Kevin de Leon but may have lost elsewhere as a result; Montañez will move from San Fernando to run in L.A.; Monica Garcia ready for school board; Kern County bans Los Angeles sludge.
♦ Emailed factoid: "Olga Rutterschmidt, who is being held in the alleged insurance scam involving the deaths of two homeless men, lives at 1776 N. Sycamore, which is where pop singer Bobby Fuller was mysteriously killed in 1966 (he was found in his mother's car, beaten and doused with gasoline). Obviously a building with some seriously bad mojo." The Times reports a new wrinkle in the case today.
♦ Web plans: A job listing at Mediabistro mentions "KTTV/KCOP's soon-to-be-relaunched websites."
♦ Exposition Park showdown: The Museum of Natural History threatened to leave its longtime site over lack of a new lease in a dispute tied to the future of an NFL team in the Coliseum.
♦ Venice fallout: Some neighbors want the LAPD to apologize for tactics used to keep residents out of the Oakwood section following the fatal shooting at Venice High, the Venice Paper says. The local LAPD captain says no, since no mistakes were made. And the LA Weekly's Daniel Hernandez says everybody should cool it with the black-brown tensions talk.
♦ If she says so: Register columnist Mayrav Saar opens her latest Life section column with the line, "Aside from my fantastic bum, I thought I had nothing in common with Britney Spears." Her kicker refers again to "my fabulous rear end." Or it did in the original posted on her website. The Register's version drops the second reference. [3 pm update: Hmmph, it's there now, but I sure didn't see it last night. Tech support?] It's happened before. In her April 11 column, Saar described the Flashdance fashion of ripped sweatshirt over Spandex leggings as "a look that says, 'I'm here to give you an hour-long blow job. Or scrub your toilet.'" Too much for a family newspaper, apparently, which ran it as "It's a look that says, 'I'm here to fulfill your wildest sexual fantasies. Or scrub your toilet.'"
♦ Trib and Chandlers: The L.A. Times and New York Times follow the Wall Street Journal on the Chandler Trust objections to the Tribune Company's stock moves.
♦ Blogger note I: Cathy Seipp discusses her fourth anniversary with lung cancer and says that Jerry's Famous Deli on Beverly has a "Get Well Soon" sign on its roof visible to patients at Cedars-Sinai.
♦ Blogger note II: Eight Los Angeles bloggers will hold a benefit night of reading and/or emoting to benefit the Leukemia/Lymphoma Society June 16 at the Improv Olympic in Hollywood. Paul Davidson has details.