Don Shirley: Pianists make history
Iris Schneider on Annie Leibovitz
Murray Fromson obits, the new police chief, slow-walking the LAT sale, media notes, selected tweets and more.
Archive: Villaraigosa
Murray Fromson obits, the new police chief, slow-walking the LAT sale, media notes, selected tweets and more.
Villaraigosa was married to Patricia Govea at a hotel in San Miguel de Allende.
Villaraigosa talked down speculation that he might end the week as chair of the
Democratic National Committee.
He heads out today to the Central Valley after last night's Hillary Clinton fundraiser -- which at least one neighbor didn't appreciate.
At $100, it’s the hottest little ticket among Hollywood Democrats because it gives them a first chance to see the former mayor's new Hollywood Hills pad.
Plus Antonio Villaraigosa's new actress-girlfriend, restaurants come and go and a big day for a Dodger.
A year ago friends were saying the former mayor had no assets and was living in an apartment. Now he buys in the Hollywood Hills.
Will the former mayor aim for governor in 2018 — or have we seen the last of Antonio Villaraigosa the candidate? Who will dare run against Kamala Harris?
Willie Brown urges the birthday boy not to run. The national media is on the Villaraigosa beat now. Plus Gloria Molina.
The former mayor sups with Eric Garcetti and Kamala Harris as he tests his prospects for 2016. Many links inside.
The former mayor said he might run for Boxer's Senate seat and scored a lot of coverage — some even favorable.
Neighbors were shocked to learn that the absentee owner of the decrepit shack on Eucalyptus Avenue was the mayor of Los Angeles.
This just in: Villaraigosa has been hired to replace Dodger manager Don Mattingly and will also take over as West Coast adviser for Cheetos.
One of Villaraigosa’s first projects will be to lead the newly-formed USC Villaraigosa Initiative for Restoring the California Dream.
LA's former mayor joins public relations firm Edelman as a senior advisor with no specific role disclosed. That's at least four gigs that we know about.
The company has been battling allegations that it operates an illegal pyramid scheme and criticism from a national Latino group.
Former Los Angeles mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has secured at least one university gig for the next phase of his political life. Harvard announced today that he will be a visiting fellow at Harvard's Institute of Politics.
Former Los Angeles mayor Antonio Villaraigosa turned up on MSNBC on Wednesday talking with Chris Hayes about the new program, approved by the police commission this week, that lets accusers and cops voluntarily talk out accusations of racial profiling in front of a mediator.
Gregory Rodriguez of Zocalo Public Square calls his exit essay on the mayoralty of Antonio Villaraigosa "Why I’ll Miss Our Flawed Mayor.".
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa made his most direct comment yet about his future political plans in a conversation with "Airtalk" host Larry Mantle on KPCC. He doesn't say when he would run for governor, which is kind of crucial. More inside.
When his term ends July 1, making Villaraigosa a bachelor free agent, he apparently wants to move even further to the west. A source tells LA Observed that Villaraigosa is looking hard at Venice (or already there.)
Finalists included Hollywood Oaks, Granada Hills, Wilshire Vista and North Hollywood. But the winner meets the only real criteria: easy access to LAX.
A story with more anecdote and commentary than actual data or on the record sources argues that Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa will struggle to keep up his "one percent" lifestyle.
The Board of Airport Commissioners is expected on Tuesday to name the Antonio R. Villaraigosa Pavilion after the mayor who appointed them. I guess it's worth a chuckle that the pavilion is late and over budget.
Ed Leibowitz wrote the 2009 cover story for Los Angeles Magazine that pronounced Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa mostly a failure at the end of his first term. The cover image went a long way toward turning the mayor's media treatment at the time.
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa congratulates the winners of the Los Angeles Marathon on Sunday. But wait — is that....? Yes it's Frank McCourt, the former Dodgers owner who retained his participation in the marathon.
Supporters of Measure A on the March 5 ballot say that Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa will take part in a Monday news conference announcing support for the sales tax increase, along with LAPD Chief Charlie Beck and LAFD Chief Brian Cummings.
For some reason, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa sent out a statement on Friday trying to quash once and for all any talk that he will be taking a job with the Obama Administration before his term ends June 30. Which likely means he wasn't going to get an appointment.
Not every single story story out of Washington on Ray LaHood leaving the Obama Cabinet mentions Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa as a possible successor. Just most of them.
Teddy Davis, a top press spokesman for Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa since 2011, was announced today as the director of strategic communications for Maryland governor Martin O'Malley. Expect to see a series of these exits in the coming months.
Kitty Felde, KPCC's reporter in Washington, connects the dots and sees an opportunity for Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa in the second Obama Administration, "should his personal life survive the vetting process."
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa did the talk show circuit in Washington on Sunday, then spent Monday there talking about immigration reform and telling reporters and Latino leaders that they will likely be seeing a lot more of him. He again evaded questions about taking a job with the Obama Administration, but KPCC's Kitty Felde said that as Villaraigosa listed what he's proud of doing here in LA, he "sounded more like he was auditioning for a job."
Sheen didn't say whether his comments about Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa partying with him in Baja for two hours and being able to "drink with the best of 'em" were untrue — but late this afternoon Sheen did apologize "if any of my words have been misconstrued.”
Actor Charlie Sheen tells TMZ that his photograph with an arm around Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa was taken in Sheen's suite at the new Hotel El Ganzo near Cabo San Lucas. He also says that this was not just a brief photo encounter as Villaraigosa suggested under questioning Sunday by NBC 4's Conan Nolan on "News Conference."
Villaraigosa tells Conan Nolan on NBC 4's "News Conference" that he was in Cabo San Lucas on vacation, bumped into Charlie Sheen in the hotel, and that Sheen asked to take a photo. "I'm in the picture taking business. I've never said no to anyone that wants to take a picture."
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa showed up in a Twitpic by Charlie Sheen from the actor's new hotel bar that opened last night in Baja California. A spokesman for the mayor confirms he is in Mexico until Jan. 2.
President Obama today tweeted that he would like Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz to remain as chair of the Democratic National Committee. That's one post Antonio Villaraigosa won't get.
Villaraigosa was in a forgiving mood about that "Failure" cover back in 2009. He even joked about his "General Petraeus moment."
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is being talked up as a possible chair of the Democratic National Committee during President Obama's second term, should there be a change.
The mayor vows he's staying, but his new reformer mode sounds a lot like a statewide candidate. This week he kisses and makes up with Los Angeles Magazine, three years after the "Failure" cover.
Well, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa certainly seemed to be enjoying himself at Tuesday's opening of the Endeavour exhibit at the California Science Center. But now the video has been taken down.
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is busted on "The Daily Show" for his presiding over that bogus voice vote on the platform changes (re: God and Jerusalem) at the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte.
For those of us in Los Angeles, one of the subplots of the Democratic convention this week in North Carolina will be the omnipresence of Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. How will he go over on a national stage? Will he emerge from Charlotte with a changed profile, pro or con? How many news media interviews will he manage to squeeze in? Before the convention's first TV session, we know the answer to the last question.
Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa isn't doing much for the people who elected him this week — and he'll likely do even less next week when the Democrats meet. He's in Tampa now doing CNN every morning with Soledad O'Brien, filling the role of Democratic counterpoint to the Republican convention. He also sat down Monday with KPCC's Larry Mantle and mingled with the gathered journalists on the convention's Radio Row.
I'm assuming there's no actual impetus for the story, other than a lazy sidebar to the symbolic role Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has been cast in for the Democratic convention later this summer. He does says in the story that he would like to be governor.
KTLA reporter Lu Parker's rep confirmed today that she and Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa have split up, ending their relationship after about three years. The LA Times has been asking Villaraigosa in recent weeks to explain his status with Parker, but his answers had been evasive.
But today’s ruling "must be seen as only a partial victory," says the Los Angeles mayor who is a key surrogate for President Obama's campaign. "The Supreme Court’s decision does allow Arizona to implement the law’s most problematic and potentially most harmful section: the ‘papers please’ provision."
Some recent political analysis had Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and his call for a Democratic Party platform plank supporting gay marriage posing a potential problem for President Barack Obama. I'm not sure it really did pose such a problem then, but Obama has put it out in front of the voters now, for better or worse.
Parking fines in Los Angeles are already way disproportionate to the crime, but in his desperation to balance his budget Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is planning to ask for the sixth increase in his time in office. Is it a policy move because parking violations are becoming some kind of civic nuisance? Uh, no. It's about money — and parking after the street sweeper comes could cost you a day's pay.
Dennis Romero at the LA Weekly is reporting that Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa stormed out of an MTA board meeting this morning after county supervisor Mike Antonovich, who is also on the board, characterized the mayor's call for extending the Measure R sales tax by saying something like communities are going to be "gang-raped again."
Mayor Villaraigosa and Lu Parker plan to ride in Sunday's CicLAvia. At least, that's what her tweet says. Here's the latest route map and street closures.
In this audio clip, Democratic National Committee chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz showed up unprepared to be grilled about Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa by KABC talk host Doug McIntyre.
Time magazine reports that "until last week, the mayoral tale of Villaraigosa was starting to look like a box-office bomb."
New York Times bureau chief Adam Nagourney sat down for an hour-long interview with Antonio Villaraigosa and gave his record as mayor a midterm examination, concluding that things are looking up after a few down years.
But it sounds as if he the mayor will be named chair of the Democrats' convention in Charlotte, with an announcement possibly tomorrow when President Obama is here in Los Angeles.
Rick Santorum claned up on Tuesday, but it's Mitt Romney whose record on immigration will be skewered by the mayor in Washington.
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa will be in Washington from Tuesday to Friday next week in his role as head of the US Conference of Mayors.
For the first time that I remember, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa talks about hiding under the bed with his sister while his mother was beaten by a drunken father. “It’s probably the only time in my life that I’ve ever felt helpless," he tells Channel 2.
After my post last night about Mayor Villaraigosa attending Sunday's Broncos-Patriots game, City Hall reporters put the key questions to the mayor and his staff.
Getty Images photographed Villaraigosa on the Denver sideline with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, left, and Patriots owner Robert Kraft.
In stories posted within minutes of each other, one top deputy to Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa says the mayor most everything, and another says he knew nothing.
Even though Mayor Villaraigosa's office now admits the boss approved the sweet golden parachute with Rudolf Montiel, interim Housing Authority chief Ken Simmons "is resigning at the Mayor's request."
KCET quotes deputy chief of staff saying Villaraiogsa knew of and approved deal with Rudolf Montiel.
I was told by City Hall late tonight that Villaraigosa's group did fly out to Chongqing without incident. Plus a fashion report on Lu Parker.
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is telling the media today that last night's deadline on Occupy LA came and went as planned, and that there will definitely be an eviction showdown if protesters refuse to leave, but he repeated that the eviction would come when it "makes sense: for police officers and the protesters.
Mayor Antonio Villaraiogsa got a nice long chunk of free time on CNN's "State of the Union" with Candy Crowley Sunday and said, among other things, that the number...
Mayor Villaraiogsa shows up at the Breeders' Cup in Louisville with old friend Keith Brackpool.
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa issued a statement praising Gov. Brown for signing the law that lets California high school grads who are undocumented apply for college financial aid.
Requiring drivers to slow to 15 miles an hour while passing a bicyclist closer than three feet is not going to fly.
Felipe Calderon, the president of Mexico, is being welcomed in Los Angeles this evening by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa — to promote tourism.
The president and the mayor could benefit from each other's help.
The White House list of invited guests sitting in First Lady Michelle Obama's box for the president's jobs speech tonight includes Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and Tamara Washington, "a single mother."
Perez rejected on Vernon, moves in CD 15 and Villaraigosa's legacy years.
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa goes with the end-of-an-era theme.
Los Angeles is "is only beginning to realize the impact" of L.A. Times layoffs and other media cuts on civic life, the mayor says.
L.A.'s mayor is turning to his buddies in Sacramento for help in paying out the $42,000 in fines.
Villaraigosa spokeswoman Sarah Hamilton heads home to Chicago, the mayor cuts a transportation video and more.
It's been real quiet across the Westside with no 405 freeway spewing white noise for miles around. Villaraigosa thanks "the people of Los Angeles for doing their part."
Gaye Williams has most recently been an advisor to Austin Beutner, the former deputy mayor who is running for the top job in 2013.
An architecture critic says don't build that wall, while an artist envisions a revenue opportunity.
A zoning variance will allow Getty House to add a six-foot wall.
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa gets third billing on the list of signators to an ad in the New York Times calling on President Obama to extend a ban on uranium mining claims near the Grand Canyon.
OK, the statement shapers got their work done in time for the LAPD to announce this afternoon they have formally arrested a 31-year-old man in the Bryan Stow beating.
The mayor released a statement tonight after President Obama spoke to the nation.
A "Glee" producer and New York mayor Bloomberg have a little fun at the L.A. mayor's expense.
Mayor Villaraigosa will return to an old theme in this week's State of the City speech, plus Joe Scott retires.
Kerry Cavanaugh noted in her column yesterday in the Daily News that Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa isn't the only City Hall politico to pay a price for taking free tickets (though...
Mayor Villaraigosa's negotiated deal with the FPPC to pay a $42,000 fine over not reporting free tickets "highlights the need for that agency to clarify its regulations," says Laurie Levinson of Loyola law school. Plus more
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa doesn't make MSNBC's list of Latino politicians whose stars are on the rise. Look who does.
Release from the office of Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa says "no immediate threat to the United States" from radiation in Japan.
Melena Ryzik, lead writer for the New York Times' Carpetbagger awards blog, hit town this week and attended the Hollywood Reporter Oscars party on Thursday night at the mayor's residence...
In a story exploring the bios of the group appointed by Mayor Villaraigosa to report to him on the wisdom of AEG's downtown stadium, the Associated Press's Jacob Adelman cuts to the chase right in the lede.
My final KCRW column of 2010 looks back at how this hasn't been an auspicious year for Los Angeles mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.
Just posted on Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's YouTube page, holiday greetings from snowy somewhere.
Over on my Facebook page, I opened the floor for captions on Gary Leonard's photo of Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa high-stepping with the Rockettes.
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa put out a news statement shortly after the Senate on Saturday blocked a vote on the DREAM Act.
Gary Leonard caught up to Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa kicking it up with the Rockettes in Pershing Square.
Jim Newton began his new weekly op-ed column in the Times with a piece on the failings of Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.
Mayor Villaraigosa is suddenly making a lot of speeches, including today in New York. What's up? And why did the Times miss his big hit on UTLA?
The mayor will be at Terminal 6 about noon to go through the scanner, as part of a photo op aimed at heading off chaos at the airport during the crazy Thanksgiving travel period.
KTLA reporter Lu Parker decided to finally talk to the media a little about her high profile as the girlfriend of Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. The Times sent over Calendar reporter Greg Braxton, but it appears from the story they didn't talk about very much.
A Superior Court spokesman said today that Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's marriage to Corina Villaraigosa is now officially dissolved.
With the lifeguards at Zuma, inside the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, why we love Helen Mirren, plus an analysis from our own Mark Lacter on the prospects of (and arguments for) bankruptcy by the city of Los Angeles.
With Jay Carson leaving at the end of the month, Mayor Villaraigosa is moving the chess pieces again.
The mayor of Los Angeles should go to the Emmys, but given Antonio Villaraigosa's recent controversy over freebies the question will be asked this time: was he gifted, did he perform some vaguely official function, or both?
The last of Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's original team of top advisors at City Hall, Deputy Chief of Staff Jimmy Blackman, will leave on August 13.
Mayor Villaraigosa will name zoning administrator Michael LoGrande to be city planning director, and also talked to Rick Orlov about the Daily News' challenge to show he hasn'[t checked out.
Maybe it's more like a flackable moment, an easy way to throw a bone to bicyclists.
Villaraigosa saus he was wearing a helmet when he went down, by the way.
A day after breaking his right elbow in a bike fall, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa went over to Santa Monica UCLA Medical Center on Sunday for surgery on his injured wing.
The Daily News says Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has gone AWOL and kicks off a series of editorials "calling out Villaraigosa for his apparent lack of interest."
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa was riding in a bike lane on Venice Boulevard in Mid-City before 7 p,.m. tonight when a taxi pulled in front of him.
KTLA reporter has launched her Lu Parker Project, it has a website, a logo and a flack, boyfriend Mayor Villaraigosa is taking part in the kickoff event, and there's a story on the L.A. Times website.
Mayor Villaraigosa just came back from a night on the town with LAPD Chief Charlie Beck. The mayor's twitter account chirped a report.
Getty House, Mayor Villaraigosa's official residence in Windsor Square, played host tonight to a party for the cast of "In the Heights," the touring Tony winner for best musical on Broadway that's now playing at the Pantages.
Mayor Villaraigosa took a step toward toning down the controversy over his practice of taking free tickets from companies with major business before City Hall, compliments of Steve Lopez and the L.A. Times.
Mayor and UCLA alumnus Antonio Villaraigosa (or one of his young web functionaries) posted to Twitter after the John Wooden memorial service.
Reporter Eric Spillman at KTLA hounded the City Controller's office until it gave up 95 pages of receipts from Mayor Villaraigosa's 9-day trip last year to Berlin, London and Copenhagen. Possibly along: Friend-of-Antonio Keith Brackpool.
Mayor Villaraigosa told reporters today that his office will be disgorging documents on Friday about the official duties he claims to have performed at dozens of events.
The LA Weekly calculated the possible value of the free tickets that Mayor Villaraigosa's office acknowledges he accepted and came up with $50,000, "and perhaps as much as $100,000" depending...
Fox 11's John Schwada is riding the Mayor Villaraigosa ticket story hard.
The leader of the Ducks' Stanley Cup winning team just announced he's done. Nice 20-year hockey career.
Officials and union officials were unable to come to any agreement Wednesday that would avert layoffs of about 278 city workers on July 1. Video of Mayor Villaraigosa's remarks to the media.
Mayor Villaraigosa just met the media under the stands at Staples Center and confirmed he will attend Game 7 of the NBA Finals, but declined to say in what official capacity he would perform.
LAPD officers arrested Daniel Molnar last week after a Mayor Villaraigosa staffer said he called in a threat to "tell [Villaraigosa] that I'm going to take him out."
John Schwada follows up his original report on Mayor Villaraigosa's free tickets with a story last night saying the ethics commission has requested records from the mayor's office, including emails
For the 40th anniversary of Christopher Street West and LA Pride, Mayor Antonio Villarigosa opened Getty House to a Sunday afternoon soiree attended by Speaker John Perez, Councilman Bill Rosendahl and other gay community leaders from politics and beyond.
Editorial cartoonist Steve Greenberg at the confluence of the stories about Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's free tickets and his boycott of Arizona. See more LA Sketchbook....
The Huffington Post loves Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, or at least loves his press releases. And now Lu Parker promotes her stuff there too.
Fox 11's John Schwada went with a story Wednesday night on Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa sitting in free courtside seats at Lakers games with girlfriend Lu Parker or with his daughter ‐ seats not reported on gift forms.
President Obama's head table at tonight's White House state dinner for Felipe Calderon, the president of Mexico, includes Speaker of the Assembly (and Villaraigosa cousin) John Perez (with Jason Seifer), County Fed chief Maria Elena Durazo, TELACU leader David Lizárraga, farm workers' legend Dolores Huerta and Univision host Maria Elena Salinas.
On May 17, 2005, Antonio Villaraigosa defeated the one-term incumbent mayor, James Hahn, 59 percent to 41 percent.
Mayor Antontio Villaraigosa today named defeated City Council candidate Christine Essel to be the top executive of the Community Redevelopment Agency.
I guess we can safely say that if Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa hasn't learned yet how to spell the name of Cardinal Roger Mahony, he probably never will.
Wait, did I mention it's only in the imagination of Not the Los Angeles Times creator Roy Rivenburg
At a news conference today, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa came out in favor of the city of Los Angeles boycotting Arizona over that state's new law putting cops into the business of enforcing immigration laws.
Is anybody surprised? Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and City Attorney Carmen Trutanich reportedly met last night and came to an agreement that essentially splits the difference on budget cuts for the...
KTLA reporter Lu Parker blogged recently about taking her boyfriend's 16-year-old daughter out for a driving lesson in Parker's car. I guess we can assume that is Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's daughter Natalia Fe she's talking about.
Host Conan Nolan will put questions to Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and Republican candidate for governor Meg Whitman on this weekend's "KNBC News Conference." Proposition 17 and its impact...
A roundup of coverage and reaction following Mayor Villaraigosa's State of the city speech.
Mayor Villaraigosa was at LAX to see off President Obama this morning.
Mayor Villaraigosa will announce Monday, as expected, that he is appointing Austin Beutner to be interim general Manager of the Department of Water and Power.
In a day of bad news on City Hall's financial crisis, Controller Wendy Greuel grabbed the biggest headline.
On the Oscars red carpet, Mayor Villaraigosa complimented the animal welfare message of "Avatar" while Lu Parker smiled over his shoulder.
Tonight at Getty House, Mayor Villaraigosa is hosting a pre-Oscars reception for Academy Awards nominees
No decisions were made, but there was a lot of noise — Mayor Villaraigosa spoke to the City Council for more than two hours — and of course the deficit grew a bit more.
The head of the SCLC in Los Angeles accuses the mayor and his staff of dissing African Americans, especially in comparison to Latinos.
Villaraigosa spokeswoman tweets early details.
In a pretty transparent bid to attract more web "interaction," L.A. Times columnist Steve Lopez recently asked readers of the Times website to vote for their "worst Angeleno of all time." And of course it got gamed.
Former San Francisco mayor Willie Brown was a good friend of, and frequent subject of, the late columnist Herb Caen. Brown is doing a decent job of emulating Caen's political...
Mayor Villaraigosa won't be heading to Washington for the U.S. Conference of Mayors this week after all. "Out of an abundance of caution," spokeswoman Sarah Hamilton says, he'll be staying...
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is "noticeably more at ease" since not running for governor and with his relationship with Lu Parker settling in, writes City Hall reporter Phil Willon in the...
Heal the Bay's Mark Gold proposes three green initiatives the mayor should focus on in the remainder of his term.
Perceived lack of follow-through and some specific trouble cases were dealt with, according to story.
Mayor Villaraigosa hit on a way to resolve things at the troubled Department of Building and Safety. He is moving Robert "Bud" Ovrom, his deputy mayor of Economic Development, to...
One thing we've all learned about KTLA reporter Lu Parker is that she loves animals, and especially her rescue dog Monkey. They'll be featured in an upcoming photo spread in...
KTLA reporter Eric Spillman is once again on the case to discover where Mayor Villaraigosa is going, who he's meeting with and how much it is all costing. On the...
Channel 5 reporter (and Villaraigosa main squeeze) Lu Parker just tweeted that she has a new blog post up. It's a Christmas gift suggestion, and like much of her online...
Or maybe it's the willingness of the city's Department of Cultural Affairs to get involved as a sponsor. While a hundred or so Los Angeles writers, artists and speakers —...
Mayor Villaraigosa begins a four-day working trip to Mexico later this morning, meeting for breakfast with business leaders in Guadalajara and tonight giving remarks at the University of Guadalajara's Museo...
OK, at least one more Gavin Newsom item. A day or so after the San Francisco Chronicle editorialized about Newsom turning into "a mystery man," he finally sat down with...
From the mayor's office: Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa issued the following statement regarding the death of Douglas R. Ring: “I am deeply saddened by the death of my friend Doug Ring,...
I'm told the political chatter at Saturday night's big True Blue dinner at the new Police Administration Building — to raise about $2 million for the Police Foundation and honor...
Q: What's more bizarre than the Los Angeles Times having a blog for the paper's most inveterate staff animal lovers to talk about pets, animal causes and, of course, dogs...
As Lifetime's "Project Runway" nears the end of its season in Los Angeles, tonight's final challenge was held at the Getty. The surprise guest greeting the contestants on the terrace...
Mayor Villaraigosa and police chief-nominee Charlie Beck came out of Getty House at 11:06 a.m. The police commission and other invited guests are gathered in front of the residence on...
Mayor Villaraigosa at 10:16 sent out a Twitter post saying "Meet Charlie Beck, my choice to lead the LAPD," with a link to this bio. The Rev. Carr connection: Villaraigosa's...
Mayor Villaraigosa plans to announce his selection for chief of police at 11 a.m. tomorrow at Getty House. Have you noticed how, since the mayor's new image shapers came in,...
Mayor Villaraigosa summoned the three finalists for chief of the LAPD to Getty House for a second round of conversations and photo ops, then put out the word that he...
He cites his family, but pundits are circling around bad poll numbers and faltering fundraising. "It is with great regret I announce today that I am withdrawing from the race...
Reporter Eric Spillman of KTLA finally got the data he has been seeking on the public cost of providing security for Mayor Villaraigosa's trips to Africa (with Spillman's Channel 5...
In the last series, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa alternated between Jamie's and Frank's rows in the owners' box beside the dugout at Dodger Stadium. Which side of the new McCourt Ravine...
The Pat Brown Institute of Public Affairs tomorrow will unveil its annual state of the city report—six experts weighing in on aspects of Los Angeles' health. Economist Jack Kyser lays...
It was a four-hour monster in which the teams combined to leave 30 men on base, but in the end the Dodgers opened the post-season with a win over the...
Gov. Schwarzenegger today named Keith Brackpool to the state horse racing board. Brackpool is the friend-of-Antonio and water speculator who employed Mayor Villaraigosa as a consultant when he was between...
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is billed as the special guest at a fundraiser reception next Tuesday for New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine at the Beverly Hills home of Rhea Perlman and...
Federal prosecutor Eileen Decker, chief of the national security section in the local U.S. Attorney's office, is joining the Villaraigosa administration as deputy mayor for homeland security and public safety....
It took seven long hours but the LA City Council managed to find consensus on that controversial union worker retirement plan. The decision? To decide later. David Zahniser and Maeve...
Remember that early retirement plan Antonio Villaraigosa helped craft with labor unions earlier this year? Seems it's looking a bit iffy. Here are David Zahniser (Hi Dave!) and Maeve Reston,...
Mayor Villaraigosa's gal pal (at least the last we checked) is now a field reporter for KTLA, moving from the weekend anchor/general assignment slot. KTLA News Director Jason Ball tells...
Departing Villaraigosa chief of staff Robin Kramer and publisher-education adviser David Abel both sent Bill Boyarsky emails about his LA Observed post on the mayor and charter schools. Bill talks...
Bill Boyarsky has been absent from LA Observed since February writing a book and taking some vacation. The book hits stores in September — and looks truly gorgeous. "Inventing L.A.:...
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's face was not in evidence in the fire coverage this weekend — it has been a county, state and national forest show. But with the fire coming...
The weekend interview on the Wall Street Journal opinion page is with Eli Broad. In a discussion about education reform, Broad offers this explanation for why his Broad Superintendents Academy...
Still on the point of Mayor Villaraigosa rebooting for the second term, his office has released the info on 11 newly named commissioners. Armand Arabian, the former Associate Justice of...
Today's segment discusses the rebooting of the Villaraigosa administration with the exit of chief of staff Robin Kramer and addition of Jeff Carr and Jay Carson. The commentary airs at...
KTLA reporter Eric Spillman stayed on his minor obsession with Mayor Villaraigosa's trip to Africa with Channel 5 colleague Lu Parker and has some new details. The eight-day trip, which...
More than three dozen journalists, nearly 20 cameras and city officials packed in the mayor's conference room for LAPD chief William Bratton's announcement that he's leaving for New York and...
Patt Morrison will be talking to Eric Spillman of KTLA, whose blog post I mentioned here yesterday, and I presume others about Mayor Villaraigosa jetting off to Iceland so soon...
Mayor Villaraigosa has been busy online today, sending out Twitter updates (and email) on his new Ask a Mayor feature, replying to this morning's dissing of LAX and, just forty...
Mayor Villaraigosa is apparently looking for a director of speechwriting, based on this job posting that just dropped in the mailbox. Salary commensurate with experience, and who knows, you may...
TMZ videotaped Mayor Villaraigosa and Lu Parker coming out of Mozza just ahead of the newly enriched Ryan Seacrest this weekend. The site says the trio was eating together. Watch...
In her weekend column, Daily News editorial page editor Mariel Garza imagines what the mayor might have written if he had sent back postcards from his recent Africa trip. The...
Tina Daunt, who writes the Cause Celebre political column for the L.A. Times' Calendar section, posted on her blog that she's taking time off to care for her ailing father....
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has changed his office's tune on donations to defray expenses of the Michael Jackson memorial, saying this morning that providing police services is what cities do and...
Well, he is if his Twitter posts are real. @villaraigosa Good to be back in LA! And good to see @revcarr 's work in action: check out this Summer Night...
Back in June, when I posted about Mayor Villaraigosa's Twitter updates lagging behind by hours, the account at HTRimalower tweeted the link and a question: "Why is L.A.Observed hating on...
Mayor Villaraigosa's posts on Twitter during his Africa trip have all been about Los Angeles — and until further evidence appears I'll assume they have been written by @Matt_Szabo or...
Wags are cackling that Mayor Villaraigosa is on vacation in Africa and missing the city's biggest media day in years — all those cameras, perhaps a billion people watching L.A....
Today's New York Times Magazine devoted more than 8,000 words to the question: "Who can possibly govern California?" Reporter Mark Leibovich gets at his inquiry through Gavin Newsom, the other...
Did Lu Parker go along, as she implied she would in that first public glimpsing of the couple at Chevalier's bookstore a month ago? Mayoral spokesman Matt Szabo isn't saying....
An elected San Francisco supervisor has been agitating up there for details on the cost of Mayor Gavin Newsom's security detail, without much luck. Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi, however, easily tracked...
Channel 5 reporter Eric Spillman posted the photo on Twitter of his KTLA colleague, the mayor's girlfriend, in the invited crowd at Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's pre-swearing-in church gathering this morning....
Wave columnist Betty Pleasant writes there was a dust-up at the Lakers victory parade when star Kobe Bryant refused to ride with Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. She says: The cause of...
Take a look at more Steve Greenberg cartoons in the LA Sketchbook archive. Click on any cartoon to view it bigger....
A few minutes ago, at 6:30, Mayor Villaraigosa's Twitter feed came alive: villaraigosa Today I announced that I will not be running for gov of CA. LA needs a leader...
Steve Lopez had a column ready for the LAT website on Mayor Villaraigosa giving up his dreams of living in the governor's suburban estate. Of course L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa...
The mayor of San Francisco would very much like to have the endorsement of the mayor of Los Angeles. Newsom sends out this reaction to Villaraigosa dropping out: As a...
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa blows off locals and goes to CNN's Wolf Blitzer for his announcement a minute ago that he will not run for governor. Good call, though it makes...
Los Angeles City Council members Dennis Zine and Jan Perry and City Attorney-elect Carmen Trutanich riding in Sunday's L.A. Pride Parade. Below, San Francisco's Gavin Newsom and Antonio Villaraigosa...
Channel 5 had Stan Chambers throw the switch to change over to digital TV, making the point that he worked at the station for the entire analog era. Video...
The L.A. Times was forced to run a correction because Michael Douglas forgot that he hosted a 1991 event honoring his father, Kirk Douglas. The anonymous blogger known as...
Doug Davis, whose Urban Scrawl cartoons run in the Downtown News, envisions the damage done to the image of Los Angeles television reporters by Lu Parker turning up as...
An editorial in the Daily News says the prospect of Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa running for governor with the city in deep financial crisis is a no-win situation. He should not...
Will Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa run for governor? Steve Greenberg imagines the deliberations. More by Greenberg in the LA Sketchbook archive. Click cartoon to see it bigger....
From here on, I'll probably post tweets o' the day only occasionally. They seem better suited to Twitter itself, where I'll keep retweeting media postings on the LA Observed feed....
Steve Lopez thinks that Mayor Antonio Villaraiogsa's latest 30-something television news squeeze could learn something from the last one. Call her immediately, he advises. Heh heh: I don't know Parker,...
Phil Willon, who covers Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa for the L.A. Times, posted at L.A. Now that Channel 5 reporter-weekend anchor Lu Parker told KTLA officials that she and the mayor...
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa dropped in Saturday at the opening of actress Melissa Joan Hart's store Sweet Harts in Sherman Oaks. He's getting a hug from Valley restaurant and real...
Mary Melton, who takes over as editor of Los Angeles magazine at the end of June, tells me that neither the change at the top nor the financial pressures that...
Past Villaraigosa backer Eli Broad hasn't sounded very positive toward the mayor lately, and in today's L.A. Times he seems to include Antonio Villaraigosa among the leaders who need to...
Villaraigosa supporter and Occidental College professor Peter Dreier has some problems with the Los Angeles Magazine cover package that declared Mayor Villaraigosa a failure. (Whole story is online now.) Here's...
Los Angeles Magazine's cover package calling Antonio Villaraigosa a failure as mayor also includes suggestions from a dozen SoCal experts, observers and advocates of various ilk. Author D.J., Waldie, for...
On the right, how Los Angeles Magazine played Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa on the cover in December 2006. My piece on the mayor was a mix of skepticism and marvel at...
The June cover of Los Angeles Magazine, out in a few days, bears a portrait of Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and one word blazoned in white ink across the page: Failure....
Last night, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa was in Washington for the White House Correspondent's Dinner — though you wouldn't know it by the caption at the Huffington Post. Ouch. He was...
Steve Greenberg | site Who is Steve?...
Mayor Villaraigosa had a busy TV day, appearing at boxer Oscar De La Hoya's retirement announcement and delivering his fourth State of the City speech down in Harbor City. The...
Orlando Hudson went deep in his first game as a Dodger at today's opener, and became the first Dodger to hit for the cycle since Wes Parker in 1970. Fans...
The party itself was probably pretty loud — a black-tie bash for old pol Willie Brown's 75th birthday, at Mayor Villaraigosa's official residence in Windsor Square. What was quiet about...
This morning at The Foundry on Melrose, Los Angeles Magazine convened a panel to talk about President Obama. There was plenty of that — some of which inspired my KCRW...
Where eastbound Interstate 10 hits the desert at Cabazon, a few miles shy of the Palm Springs turnoff, this sign proclaims some of the locals' unhappiness with Los Angeles and...
The Daily News grits its teeth and endorses Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa again this time, just as it did four years ago (saying then "Villaraigosa...represents the future.") This time, there's less...
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa was speaking in his office Friday to a delegation from the California Chicano News Media Association: Latino Journalists of California. At one point, per notes sent to...
Urban analyst and critic Joel Kotkin warns at Forbes.com that the upcoming reelection of Antonio Villaraigosa as mayor should not be taken as "evidence that all is well in the...
Phil Willon, the L.A. Times City Hall reporter whose beat is mostly Mayor Villaraigosa, delivers a pre-election analysis that declares the mayor's record mixed. Villaraigosa gets credit from Willon for...
Tim Rutten's take is that Mayor Villaraigosa's all-out support for the mysterious solar-and-jobs Measure B makes more sense when viewed in the context of the Democratic primary for governor next...
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa went a bit further than he has before, telling AP political writer Michael Blood that he won't promise not to begin running for governor if he's reelected....
Patt Morrison on KPCC is giving the challengers to Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa maybe a bit more than some are due — ten minutes for each on the air. Today at...
City Controller candidates Nick Patsaouras and Wendy Greuel have picked an odd issue to bicker over: who attended Mayor Villaraigosa's recent birthday party at the Santa Monica home of certified...
It's been a little over a month since I stumbled upon Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's social network sites and posted about the mayor's search for a new media director. They've been...
The Loyola Marymount exit polling showed a 61% approval rating for Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, 58% in the Valley. Voters who were asked their choice in the mayoral election next year...
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is in Washington today for a meeting with other big city mayors looking to tap into the flood of public works funds that an Obama Administration is...
For all I know this was in the works before San Francisco Mayor (and potential 2010 rival for Governor) Gavin Newsom got all YouTube with his state of the city...
In the contest to become the mayor more likely to lose to Jerry Brown in the 2010 Democratic primary for governor, Gavin Newsom gets a leg up by releasing...
Because Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has filed to run for reelection, his office says they can't send the media any more press releases with his name on them. (Cue loud cheering...
Mirthala Salinas tells La Opinin that she has adjusted to her new job as the morning host at Spanish-language AM 690, is past that whole episode with Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa,...
Facing a $110 million gap in this year's city budget, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa called for 3% cuts in most departments — 1% in the public safety departments. "It is no...
For a writer at a New York gossip blog, Gawker's Alex Pareene seems to have a strong opinion that Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa should not be advising the president-elect....
Gov. Schwarzenegger hopes the state Supreme court overturns Proposition 8 and urged the Republican Party to move away from some of its core conservative principles and embrace spending on...
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is on stage for Barack Obama's first press conference, as part of the economic advisers. Live on every TV channel in Los Angeles except 13....
Developer Rick Caruso has been saying for a while that his running for mayor is only a question of when, not if. Well, it won't be this time, he announced...
Question: Which Los Angeles developers with business pending in City Hall get the most face time with Antonio Villaraigosa? The mayor has been sitting in the Dodger Stadium owners' box...
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa upped the ante today in the traditional jousting between mayors of baseball playoff cities. Chicago mayor Richard Mayor Daley previously wagered a Take Me Out to the...
Responding to last year's raid on high holiday services in Hancock Park, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa sent Building and Safety GM Andrew Adelman a letter that urges more awareness seminars for...
With officials concerned that commuters will abandon Metrolink, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa plans to meet the buses arriving at Chatsworth station from Ventura County at 6 am. He will then ride...
During his last campaign for mayor, Antonio Villaraigosa slammed Jim Hahn for not releasing his appointments calendar. Now the LA Weekly has pored over Villaraigosa's calendar for a ten-week period...
Times editorial writer Robert Greene, who authors most of the editorials about City Hall and local politics, was impressed by Gavin Newsom's talk to the California delegates in Denver yesterday...
Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has been making the rounds and got some face time on MSNBC this afternoon — outside of prime time — but City Controller Laura Chick...
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa gave his list of faves to the Times' Guide section. It differs some from the list in Angeleno I posted last night — but still will sound...
EaterLA's Lesley Balla did a little feature for Angeleno's food issue this month comparing the dining quotients of Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and predecessor once-removed Richard Riordan. (Jim Hahn gets left...
I received an email statement from Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa this morning that announced he would skip tonight's banquet in San Francisco for the Human Rights Campaign, a mainstream gay community...
A pretty contentious exchange this afternoon between "Which Way, L.A.?" host Warren Olney and Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa began with the mayor quipping "long time, no interview." Olney then started peppering...
San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom filed papers for a campaign committee that lets him start gathering contributions for a possible run for governor in 2010. He's the first of the...
Right after he got back from his week in Israel, Mayor Antonio Vllaraigosa took off for a Conference of Mayors gathering in Florida where he will work in a weekend...
Maria Elena Durazo, executive secretary of the County Labor Federation, will join Mayor Villaraigosa and his coterie of city employees and Jewish community leaders on the trip to Israel that...
No of course not, but the Downtown News' satire of the mayor's upcoming junket to Israel with a bunch of city officials in tow gets a perusal anyway at the...
Jon Regardie at the Downtown News imagines an address by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa in advance of this week's trip to Israel. Selected quips: Many people have asked why I am...
Shopping-mall mogul and former Jim Hahn commissioner Rick Caruso says he's considering a challenge to Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa next year. He tells the Times' Tina Daunt, for her Cause Celebre...
I scanned past this in my initial quick read of the Mirthala Salinas interview by Shawn Hubler in the new issue of Los Angeles magazine. Salinas talks in some detail...
CurbedLA scoured the web and found the wedding planning site for Mirthala Salinas and Yanni Raz, where one of them says "I'm marrying my best friend." Looks like a Cabo...
Los Angeles magazine posted its May cover story based on Shawn Hubler's interview with ex-mayoral squeeze Mirthala Salinas, 35, with portrait by Jill Greenberg. Salinas tells how the affair with...
Los Angeles magazine scored the first big interview with Mirthala Salinas, ex-squeeze of Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. Former L.A. Times writer Shawn Hubler did the story, which reportedly goes up on...
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa spends the day up in Sacramento, with a full slate of appointments to see the new leadership and other legislators. Well, that's what his office announced. The...
Mark over at LA Biz Observed hopped quickly on the death today of Roland Arnall, founder of subprime loan giant Ameriquest. Arnall has been a major money guy for Republicans...
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa enjoyed the show front and, um, center, at the Martin Schoeller exhibition opening reception at ACE Gallery in Beverly Hills. Captured by Glitterati Magazine and commented upon...
Mayor Villaraigosa may have missed the Texas party for Hillary Clinton after Steve Lopez came gunning for him, but His Honor looks like he had a pretty good time last...
In the course of advising Los Angeles what it needs to become a super-city like London, New York or Shanghai, Times architecture critic Christopher Hawthorne (in the Sunday magazine)...
The Paper Trail, blog of the Daily News newsroom guild, names names and posts tributes to the staff who departed Friday. Included in the toll are Lisa Friedman, the paper's...
The newly completed Mid-Wilshire Signal Sync System, bounded by Hollywood Boulevard, Western Avenue, La Cienega Boulevard and Wilshire Boulevard, synchronizes a total of 256 traffic signals and spans 12-square miles...
The Forward interviews Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and calls him "something of an honorary member of the tribe." Hes basically treated as if hes a Sephardic Jew, said Jack Weiss, an...
No time yet to watch last night's conversation about Hillary Clinton and immigration, but here's a link to the video. Viewer comments on the show's site are mired in the...
The new L.A. Times news blog looks and acts freakishly like LA Observed, often posting on the same news nuggets after we do. (And sometimes it works the other way.)...
The onetime rising star at Telemundo whose career burned up in the wreckage of an affair with Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has taken the familiar post-TV route — AM radio. Tomorrow's...
Mayor Villaraigosa told the city DOT today to bar most rush-hour parking as far east as Fairfax and to re-time the lights on Pico to favor eastbound traffic and Olympic...
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa put on his jeans and outdoor boots and helicoptered up to the Eastern Sierra this morning to all but apologize to the locals for Los Angeles stripping...
Torie Osborn, Mayor Villaraigosa's senior advisor on the homeless and poverty, left the City Hall staff at the end of January. Her departing email to colleagues says it's been nice...
The Daily News' Beth Barrett has posted a story saying that Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has taken $10,500 in campaign funds from indicted Chicago entrepreneur Antoin Rezko and his relatives or...
One entry in the program for the Towne Street Theatre's upcoming Ten-Minute Play Festival in Hollywood caught my eye. In the TST 2nd Annual Ten-Minute Play Festival, audiences will again...
The Internet has spoken — no Los Angeles story came close to surpassing the interest in Antonio Villaraigosa and his affair with Telemundo rising star Mirthala Salinas. First came the...
David Zahniser reports in the Times, based on unnamed sources, that the affair between Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and Mirthala Salinas "disintegrated" possibly as long ago as September, right about the...
I'm observing the holiday today — have been all weekend, actually — but I couldn't resist this. AP's photographer and caption writer can be excused for not knowing their local...
Zcalo, the public lecture series that LA Observed helps co-sponsor, has just added an evening discussion with Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. It will be at the Walt Disney Hall's BP Hall...
Given the option of Riverside or the greener pastures of a fresh start, mayoral paramour Mirthala Salinas opted for...not Riverside. A couple of Los Angeles TV crews were on hand...
If Mirthala Salinas stays with Telemundo Channel 52 it will be as the station's general assignment news chaser in the Inland Empire, not as the star political reporter and sometime...
One of TMZ's cellphone video spies caught up with Mayor Villaraigosa and Mirthala Salinas doing some shopping at Fashion Square in Sherman Oaks. The report says that — no surprise...
TJ Sullivan snapped the mayor on his cellphone in Westwood Village last week and culled through your caption suggestions. His favorites at Native Intelligence include: "Just tell Rocky to get...
Mirthala Salinas gets two months without pay for reading the news stories about Mayor Villaraigosa's marital breakup, but will keep her job at Telemundo 52. She apparently informed superiors about...
When Luke Ford blogged (accurately) in January that Mayor Villaraigosa had stopped wearing his wedding ring and hadn't been seen with his wife in months, the information came from Daily...
From the email in-box: Quarterback Matt Leinart has agreed to pay Brynn Cameron $15,000 in monthly support for the child they spawned together at USC. Corina Villaraigosa is already billed...
Prints of Patrick O'Connor's cover cartoon in the Daily News' Sunday Viewpoint section, "An Illustrated Guide to L.A.'s Summer of Scandal," have been offered for sale by popular demand. You...
The Sunday Viewpoint cartoon showing Mayor Villaraigosa frolicking naked with Mirthala Salinas in the "Garden of Telemundo" is now online at the Daily News website. That's Cardinal Roger Mahony...
The cover of Sunday's Viewpoint section in the Daily News is a full-page color illustration showing a naked and grinning Antonio Villaraigosa, fig leaf strategically in place, taking a bite...
Earl Ofari Hutchinson blogs at Friendly Fire: Telemundo officials say that they will make a decision within the next few days whether to fire Mirthala Salinas or not. They shouldnt....
NBC 4 led tonight's late newscast with a five-minute piece by Ana Garcia reporting that Mirthala Salinas got the only one-on-one interview with Mayor Villaraigosa during a trip to New...
Dan Laidman, the Copley News reporter at L.A. City Hall, throws another entry on Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's pile of undesirable press clippings in today's San Diego Union-Tribune: When Mayor Antonio...
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa heard boos when he stepped to the microphone at today's media debut of new Galaxy member David Beckham in Carson. It really came through on TV, and...
No, not on the couch like Arnold Schwarzenegger. Just in the monologue, which Leno opens this way tonight: Welcome to Los Angeles. Or as our mayor calls it, "Sex and...
Some anti-Villaraigosa blogs have been gleefully spreading anonymous hearsay that city planning commissioner Sabrina Kay is another girlfriend of the mayor. At today's photo op du jour, he flatly denied...
Today is supposed to kick off the next phase where Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa repairs his image with a flurry of staged feel-good events, starting with another photo-op promise to fix...
From Steve Lopez in the Times: If embattled City Atty. Rocky Delgadillo has any sense at all, he'll call a press conference today and get some credit for never having...
No surprise here: Telemundo Channel 52 today put Mirthala Salinas on leave while the broadcaster looks into the ethical questions around her affair with Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. "As we have...
Telemundo has been covering the mayoral affair and media ethics dust-up involving its own reporter, and seems very interested in hearing what listeners think. At the bottom of the web...
I will be on NPR's Day to Day this morning talking with host Alex Cohen about fallout, if any, from the Villaraigosa-Salinas relationship. I think there will be some, for...
Mirthala Salinas got around in the club of Latino elected officials. David Zahniser, still at the LA Weekly, reports tonight that the mayor's current main squeeze previously dated Council President...
The Times' City Hall beat reporters who were beaten on the Villaraigosa affair, Duke Helfand and Steve Hymon, recovered by the end of the day with a story that puts...
Eric Longabardi of ERS News.com reports that before Mirthala Salinas became involved with Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, she was the girlfriend of his good friend and close ally, Speaker Fabian Nez....
Mayor Villaraigosa bristled at the question, but replied that his girlfriend of more than a year, newscaster Mirthala Salinas, is not pregnant. That had been the rumor in political and...
Chris Weinkopf, editorial page editor of the Daily News, is a conservative and a Catholic. On the paper's opinion blog, he just called on Mayor Villaraigosa to give up his...
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa confirmed, in the Daily News, the rumors that he has been in a romantic relationship with Mirthala Salinas, an anchor and reporter for Telemundo. Beth Barrett got...
New York mayor Mike Bloomberg's people aren't too happy with Antonio Villaraigosa's people right now. Page Six at the NYP says that "humiliated staffers in Mayor Bloomberg's office were forced...
Alan Mittelstaedt, the former LA Weekly news editor guest-blogging for WitnessLA, posts on the issues raised by Mayor Villaraigosa's divorce and his handling of the announcement. Lets cut a deal...
On the Times Op-Ed page, Patt Morrison doesn't want to know any more about the Villaraigosa marital troubles. But Steve Lopez writes in the Times that it's time for Mayor...
David Zahniser asks the questions in a piece the LA Weekly posted early on its website: Since he brought it up and all, what is he taking responsibility for? On...
Corina Villaraigosa, the mayor's estranged wife, cites irreconcilable differences in her court filing. She seeks spousal support and primary custody of Natalia, the couple's fourteen-year-old daughter. Antonio Jr. is 18...
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa knows how to draw a crowd. His news conference this morning to discuss his marriage was reportedly packed. "I take responsibility for what is happening and I...
Remember back in February when Mayor Villaraigosa summoned the Times to Getty House to deny blogger Luke Ford's report that his marriage was kaput? Curiously, Corina was not part of...
After the sad, infuriating video footage from May 1, Connie Bruck topped her in-the-works profile of Antonio Villaraigosa for this week's New Yorker with a scene of the mayor walking...
With the LAPD yet again giving the city a black eye, Mayor Villaraigosa cut short his trip to Latin America and will return to Los Angeles Friday morning. He broke...
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's statement on the violence against the police, and by the police, during the May 1 rally in the park. Yesterday, across the country, we witnessed a day...
Following today's setback for the mayor at the appeals court, Michael Blood of the AP bureau here filed a piece pronouncing a new phase in the Antonio Villaraigosa media story....
The New York Times has posted the first of a four-part video conversation between Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and the paper's Calvin Sims, a former foreign correspondent now hosting online...
Mayor Villaraigosa and his good pal Paris Hilton at Universal Music's Grammy party last night. Oh what are they talking about? Email your caption suggestions. See it BIG at Hollywoodrag.com....
Apparently responding to blogger Luke Ford's allegation that the Villaraigosas had split up, the mayor told the Times last night that the entire family — himself, Corina and the two...
Mayor Villaraigosa got heckled a bit for using Spanish last night — and also got an ovation. Details and the rest of the Morning Buzz inside....
Mayor Villaraigosa gave the Democratic Party radio address this morning and said, with regard to the war in Iraq, "it's time for a new direction." Bipartisanship was the bigger theme,...
Channel 5's Morning Show had some fun today with the photo that ran in the Washington Post of Mayor Villaraigosa, uh, deeply in thought during the state of the union...
Judge Dzintra Janavs denied a motion by the mayor's lawyers to delay enforcement of her December ruling that AB 1381 is unconstitutional. The whole issue is headed to the state...
My cover story on Antonio Villaraigosa's first eighteen months as mayor has gone online at the still-in-transition Los Angeles magazine website. The piece delves into the roots of the mayor's...
School board incumbent David Tokofsky, a critic of the mayor's bill to dilute the board's powers, has filed papers with the City Clerk dropping his campaign for reelection, according to...
On January 1 Mayor Villaraigosa becomes responsible for three clusters of L.A. Unified schools — three high schools and the elementary and middle schools that feed students to them. It's...
Benett Kessler lives 225 miles from Los Angeles but has been covering the Department of Water and Power as a local story for more than 25 years.
Considering how many confidential requests I received this week for the email address to apply for jobs with Mayor Villaraigosa's press office, there should be a lot of interest in...
An email floating around Democratic circles suggests more turnover is in store for Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's media operation. Press Secretary Joe Ramallo recently moved up 1st Street to run communications...
The timing of Mayor Villaraigosa's October trip to Asia caused some tongues to wag that he was dodging the unpleasant chore of campaigning for Phil Angelides. Maybe so, since it's...
Mayor Villaraigosa met the school board's admiral today, and both came out saying the right things. "We have the same vision.This is going to be a great partnership," LAUSD superintendent-to-be...
Mayor Villaraigosa returned to City Hall today almost giddy from his fortnight in Asia. Flanked by twenty fellow travelers, the mayor met the media this morning and talked about the...
City Hall beat reporter Duke Helfand is on the mayor's trade trip to China and blogging about it for the Times website. In the first post we learn that Villaraigosa...
The mayor and his LAPD detail were heading out to Canoga Park for a dedication of the renovated Westfield Plaza shopping mall (formerly Topanga Plaza) when they observed a three-car...
Arif Alikhan, an advisor to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, is returning to Los Angeles as Deputy Mayor for Homeland Security and Public Safety. He replaces Maurice Suh, who is returning...
Mayor Villaraigosa's travel plans for Asia have firmed up. He'll be gone Oct. 8-21 on the trade mission to boost business at LAX and the port and promote travel to...
Mayor Villaraigosa is taking the show on the road, heading first to London and Manchester next week at the request of Prime Minister Tony Blair to speak about global climate...
The children's section of the Central Library downtown provided the setting for Gov. Schwarzenegger to sign the bill shifting some control of Los Angeles schools to Mayor Villaraigosa. "Today we...
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and State Sen. Gil Cedillo rode together as teenagers on the Eastside* and did battle arm-in-arm in the labor movement before teaming up when both got elected...
Mayor Villaraigosa stumped for fading Democratic contender Phil Angelides today in San Francisco and in South Los Angeles, but it was the mayor's quick thinking this afternoon at Foshay Learning...
At today's victory performance in South Los Angeles for his school reform measure, Mayor Villaraigosa and his aides pretty much stuck to the script: enthusiastic cheerings kids, lots of talk...
Well not exactly, but in so many words Mayor Villaraigosa this afternoon called the bluff of the Engineer and Architects Association. He said that City Hall is ready if the...
They talked and talked first for going on three hours, but in the end the City Council fell into line behind Mayor Villaraigosa and voted unanimously to endorse his LAUSD...
Late Friday afternoon action, short and simple: "The question of extending term limits belongs rightly with the voters. The City Attorney has approved the ordinance as to form and legality....
Leaders of the Islamic Center, the Shura Council and other local groups are unhappy that Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa joined in a pro-Israel rally on the Westside July 23. They held...
At Mayor Villaraigosa's press conference this afternoon to help unveil Councilwoman Wendy Greuel's "anti-gridlock zone" signs, he refused to say whether he would sign or veto the City Council's attempt...
Those instructions on how aides are supposed to "staff" Mayor Villaraigosa are still being passed around. The demand for unlimited Listerine breath strips and room temperature water, as reported by...
Duke Helfand of the LAT's city-county bureau got his hands on a fascinating instruction sheet given to staffers who accompany Mayor Villaraigosa in his travels around the city. The two-page...
In the increasingly bitter match of wills over control of LAUSD schools, Mayor Villaraigosa aced today's serve. He named former superintendent Ramon Cortines to be his deputy mayor for education,...
A year into his Administration, Mayor Villaraigosa has named his members of the commission that oversees the city's police and fire pension plan. It's inside-baseball news not really of general...
VICA (the Valley Industry and Commerce Association) is the one San Fernando Valley business group that seems to have some clout downtown. Its board voted today to oppose AB 1381,...
Billionaire philanthropist Eli Broad sent Mayor Villaraigosa a letter critical of the mayor's schools compromise for muddying the control issues. Broad's foundation has provided key aides to Villaraigosa's staff and...
Some takes on Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's first year in the corner office on the third floor at City Hall follow after the jump. Cartoon snippet: Los Angeles Times...
Mayor Villaraigosa and the MTA unions will announce—and I quote—a "historic settlement" at the transit agency's office tower at 1:15 this afternoon. The mayor's office says it's historic because it's...
The so-called 912 Commission is charged with reviewing, evaluating and making recommendations to improve the nascent neighborhood council system. Mayor Villaraigosa named his fourteen appointees today, half of them from...
As Mariel Garza notes in today's Daily News, Saturday will mark Antonio Villaraigosa's anniversary as mayor. With murmurs out of Sacramento that the mayor's school compromise may be no sure...
Antonio Villaraigosa added another first to his resume on Saturday. He became the only mayor to play in the annual Hollywood Stars softball game at Dodger Stadium. Along with Lou...
The Associated Press story out of Sacramento bills this morning's agreement (earlier post) on the LAUSD as a compromise in which Mayor Villaraigosa gets a little control over the schools,...
Hmm. This will incite more grumbles that the mayor's trip to Sacramento was at least partly a choreographed show. Villaraigosa, Democratic leaders in the Legislature and the teachers unions today...
I didn't notice this anywhere else, but the Daily Breeze story on yesterday's dueling Sacramento dog-and-pony shows over LAUSD control mentions that Mayor Villaraigosa has retained KP Advocates to help...
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's commencement speech Friday at UCLA praised his mother Natalia for supporting him and addressed the news that African American enrollment is down. "I worry for the future....
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa makes the the front page of today's Wall Street Journal—above the fold (subscribers only), complete with drawn portrait—under the headline "In the Straddle" in a piece about...
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's political ambition, lust for the spotlight, desire to take control of the schools and supernaturally white teeth all came in for some playful ribbing at tonight's Los...
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