Politics
More intrigue in the East Valley
Mayor Villaraigosa has named public workers commissioner (and former Assembly candidate) Yolanda Fuentes to be his senior liaison in the Valley. What makes this interesting is that it frees up a coveted seat on the Board of Public Works, which unlike other commissions pays a full-time salary. There is buzz that the seat will go to Cindy Montańez, the ex-Assemblywoman who gave up her quest for the City Council to make way for Richard Alarcon. An alternate version has the post being offered to Monica Rodriguez, recent loser to Alarcon in the primary, so that she will not run for the Assembly seat vacated by Alarcon. That seat has been promised by the powers that be to Council aide Felipe Fuentes, who also played the good soldier and stepped aside to make way for Alarcon. Just to close the circle, Felipe and Yolanda are related — I forget the exact relationship, but I believe he is her nephew — and he was a Valley deputy for Mayor Hahn.
DN$250,000 buys Arnold and Maria
Just $25,000 will get you into a reception at the governor's Brentwood home, but for $250,000 you get a bunch of private receptions and dinners and conference calls with Schwarzenegger himself.
LAT Iranian finally wins in Beverly Hills
Jimmy Delshad was elected to his second term on the Beverly Hills City Council by a 171-vote margin, and if tradition holds will be selected by the council as the city's, and the country's, first Iranian-born mayor.
LATMedia
Sitrick tried to discredit blogger
It involved a New York case in 2003, but the role of Sitrick and Company makes it into a story in the
New York Law Journal.
Jerry Roberts roast
Pics and coverage of the former Santa Barbara News-Press editor's
San Francisco party at the Santa Barbara Independent. “Other than the cancer and the $25 million lawsuit, I’m doing all right,” Roberts told well-wishers. T-shirts on sale at the silent auction read “I’ve been SUED by Wendy McCaw” and “I’ve been DISLOYAL to Wendy McCaw.” Meanwhile, the News-Mess attorney finally
responded to the NLRB's recent decision and criticism of the paper.
Lacey loves New York
VVM's Mike Lacey tells the New York Times he plans to move east from Phoenix when his boys get to college. The piece is about the uproar at the Village Voice and Lacey's background.
NYT KCRW statement on Internet royalties
General Manager Ruth Seymour says of last week's
big news from the Copyright Royalty Board affecting the station and anyone else who streams music on the Web:
“The CRB decision is truly egregious in that it treats successful non-commercial online music webcasters as if they were commercial stations. We support NPR’s plans for a reconsideration of the CRB decision.
“KCRW believes that the record companies and artists whose music we champion deserve fair recompense. We trust that the music industry is open to good-faith negotiations.
“KCRW has promoted many independent artists and introduced new musicians on-air and online. The station has also benefited greatly from their work. We therefore support reasonable royalty payments that rightly reward both artists and labels and hope that we will be able to reach an accommodation for public stations online and for other non-commercial webcasters, as well.
“Many of KCRW’s most devoted subscribers and supporters are people who work in the entertainment industry. We understand their concern for intellectual property rights in the new digital media. Many federal agencies recognize the difference between for-profit and non-profit businesses – including the IRS, the FCC and the US Congress. And we believe the CRB must honor that distinction.”
Couple of blogs recommended by readers
Police beat
Big downtown bust
LAPD breaks up gang that controlled drug sales on 5th Street and Broadway, made 31 arrests and confiscated 45,000 balloons of heroin. Can I just say: that's a lot of heroin.
LAT,
DNNoted
Aging Rose Bowl
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