Tuesday morning headlines

Mixed market: Surprisingly strong retail sales report for August isn't doing much for stocks this morning. Dow is flat in early trading.

L.A. in trouble: By withdrawing his support for an early retirement plan, the mayor is finally catching up to reality - specifically, that the city's coffers are a mess. Now there's talk about police furloughs and/or layoffs, not to mention other job cuts throughout the city. From the Daily News:

Cheryl Parsini, of the union coalition, disputed the figures being used to justify the mayor's decision to oppose the plan. Parsini also insisted that the unions are willing to negotiate. "Our agrement has always contemplated changing fiscal circumstances," Parsini said. "The language is quite clear ... that we agree to come together. We stand ready to meet to resolve the shortfall.

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City Administrative Officer Miguel Santana, who issued last week's critical report about the retire plan, said the city must now consider laying off 926 workers and requiring all others to take 26 days of furlough this year to close the $403 million budget gap.

Mayor's cozy energy deal: Ari Swiller, an old buddy of Villaraigosa, bought land in Kern County last year that the city's Department of Water and Power had wanted for a wind farm. But wait a sec, aren't the mayor and the DWP supposed to be on the same side? From the LAT:

Since 2004, Swiller also has been a co-owner of Renewable Resources Group, a Los Angeles-based firm that develops and invests in clean energy. In the case of Onyx Ranch, the venture headed by Swiller beat the DWP to the land, bought it for $48 million and, before the transaction was completed, offered to sell less than half of it to the utility for $65 million. H. David Nahai, the DWP's general manager, rejected the offer.

Hospital files Chapter 11: Downey Regional Medical Center Hospital largely serves patients without any insurance or those who qualify for Medi-Cal, which pays hospitals less than private insurance. Its cash reserves ran out in March 2008. The hospital says it's working with its senior lenders. (Business Journal)

Billionaire pursues his company: Steven Udvar-Hazy sold plane leasing giant International Lease Finance to AIG in 1990 and now he wants to buy part or all of it back. AIG's board is scheduled to meet today to consider "strategic alternatives" that may include the future of the leasing unit. From the LAT:

In a Securities and Exchange Commission filing this year, ILFC said that access to financing had been hampered by its parent company's troubles and that without new loans "there could exist doubt concerning our ability to continue as a going concern." It marked a dramatic reversal from Udvar-Hazy's motivation to sell ILFC in 1990 when AIG's deep pockets drove the sale.

Another bump in gas prices: They're only up three cents a gallon in the L.A. area, to $3.153, but that's despite prices falling nationwide. State refineries are running far short of full production, which means supplies are tight. (EIA, LAT)

Stuck in part-time: More than 1.3 million Californians who would like to have a full-time job were forced to settle for part-time work in the last year, a nearly 70 percent jump. State and local employment data for August comes out on Friday. (Register)

Early Leno reviews: LAT's Mary McNamara didn't think much of Jay's much-anticipated debut at 10 p.m. - even with Kanye West's mea culpa for his outburst on the MTV Video Music Awards.

It's not a good sign when the Bud Light commercial is funnier than the comedy show it interrupts. Sixteen minutes into the new "The Jay Leno Show," it was difficult not to panic. This is the future of television? This wasn't even a good rendition of television past.

Lacter on radio: This morning's business chat with KPCC's Steve Julian looks at the prospects of an economic recovery and the cutbacks being made by local foundations. Also at kpcc.org and on podcast.