The first major set of policy motions in the Charter Reform Commission has posted. They are mostly infrastructure focused, including one on a long-range public project plan (CIP). That one also calls for converting the CAO to a CFO. Read the motions here: drive.google.com/file/d/1KWEG...

and then for hours used passive voice to pretend they had no idea who was behind the apparently spontaneous explosions

At least 40 Venezuelans, including civilians, were killed in the attack. And that's likely an undercount as reporting is ongoing.

🐦 The LA Reporter, Issue 14: Didn't they already approve an Olympic Wage? This issue, a bevy of possible ballot initiatives, The Nation magazine dedicates a special package to Los Angeles, and BLM LA leader says Karen Bass no longer a progressive. thelareporter.la/p/the-la-rep...

A recently filed "Olympic Wage Initiative" ballot measure proposal appears to counter a recent effort to scale back an ordinance to raise hotel/airport worker wages. And ... it includes provisions to raise the wage for all LA workers' within LA city to $30 an hour by 2030.

LA City Librarian cites need to be 'apolitical,' as staffers seek apology for cancelled Read Palestine Week event thelareporter.la/p/la-city-li...

Some updates: This week, library staffers began signing a "Staff Solidarity Letter." It says staffers who tried to "uplift Palestinian voices have had their work subjected to scrutiny, review processes, and restrictions at levels unheard of in our organization."

The 123-page "Matter of John Lee" report, in multiples, on the excessive gifts/misuse of position ethics case against LA City Council member John Lee, set out for today's City Ethics Commission meeting during which the enforcement issue is being taken up.

City ethics enforcement officers are recommending LA Councilman John Lee pay $138K in penalties for 10 counts of alleged ethics violations, including for excess gifts & misusing his position: ethics.lacity.gov/pdf/agenda/2... The Ethics Commission is set to decide on this next Wednesday.

Is it a hot po-tay-to or a hot po-TAH-to?

LAPD is finally getting taken up by the LA Charter Reform panel. What took so long? thelareporter.la/p/lapd-is-fi...

LA Public Library cancels Read Palestine Week event set for Saturday at Central Library thelareporter.la/p/la-public-...

The LA Charter Reform Commission is tackling some major items today, including Council members' ability to intervene in planning board decisions. That was a central authority in the Jose Huizar real estate developer corruption case. They're punting, for now, to do further study.

A bit of drama today, btwn LA Charter Reform Commission and its director. Commissioner Ted Stein raising concerns he just received a copy of a six-figure outreach contract signed months ago. "I was just wondering once it was executed, why werent we given copies?" Stein asks.

Black Lives Matter LA's Melina Abdullah is speaking to the LA Charter Reform Commission committee. She starts off by saying she's disappointed the meeting is at USC, a "campus that is very closed" and it costs $20 to park. "It's not convenient to regular Angelenos."

Over 100 members of the Fair Games Coalition are in the lobby of LA28’s HQ calling for chair Casey Wasserman to resign after the organizing committee appointed a half-dozen MAGA board members last month. They’re asking to be let upstairs to personally deliver a letter of demands

LA Mayor Karen Bass asked LA city departments propose 5% cuts for the next fiscal year (2026-27). Those requests have posted, many with reduction proposals, here: sites.google.com/lacity.org/d... The CAO's request, for example, includes a proposal to cut unarmed response funding by $1 million.

🐦 The LA Reporter, Issue 12: LA's homeless services on the chopping block This week, LA County short on Measure A $$ proposes gutting homeless services, LA panel tackling budget woes gets going, and a proposed measure would stick it to "overpaid" CEOs. thelareporter.la/p/the-la-rep...

🐦 The LA Reporter, Issue 11: 'A matter of survival' This week, that includes a progressive challenge against Mayor Bass, rent hikes capped after two years organizing, LAPD wants $$ for Olympics and sweeps, and LA called to join charter civic assembly. thelareporter.la/p/the-la-rep...

Rae Huang just rolled out a pretty slick campaign video advert, centered around our car traffic, that has kind of a restless, LA film noir-ish style to it. Sunshine, but something's off. youtu.be/wmzGTof_PnA?...

I'm so grateful to be part of @tinynewscollective.bsky.social's amazing community of dedicated, scrappy local news founders!

Lefty mayoral challenger Rae Huang says she can't take another four years of Karen Bass thelareporter.la/p/lefty-mayo...

'That moment broke something in us': LAHSA's homeless services workers say they've been left in the dark amid change-over thelareporter.la/p/that-momen...

I've also written about how the Olympics are definitely not the end game for LA boosters. There are already megaevents booked well into the 2030s. This is not going to be magically over for the city in 2028

Three years out, some coalitions that originally opposed the games are now pushing for reforms. NOlympics LA organizers double down on their position: "Pretending that a 'no harm' version of the Olympics is possible is not only extremely naive. It’s dangerous for what happens to us after 2028"

🐦 The LA Reporter, Issue 10: New York's Zohran is Big in LA thelareporter.la/p/the-la-rep... This week, LA's anti-Olympics movement abandoned by one-time close ally, Mamdani inspires local politicos, Working Families Party in LA, and the City Controller advertises leaving the Dems.

LA's progressive pols look to push local 'power structure' leftward, amid celebrations of New York's Zohran @thelareporter.bsky.social thelareporter.la/p/la-s-progr...

Sanitation department customers in the city of LA, please send me your photos and stories of how the Great Green Bin Apocalypse of 2025 has affected (or infected?) you

2k words + a trip to the ER later (I'm OK), here is my latest story for @lataco.bsky.social about the LAPD'S response to World Series celebrations in L.A.. I spoke to a man who was headed to the Gold Room for a nightcap and had to undergo surgery after being hit in the finger with a "ruber bullet."

A very cool report from @joeyneverjoe.bsky.social, with some amazing sound bites from LA council members Tim McOsker and Katy Yaroslavsky. 🍿🥤

Councilmember Ysabel Jurado has introduced a motion to protect journalists covering protests. The motion: LAPD will create a public campaign on how to obtain LAPD-issued press passes along w/ signing MoUs between press groups and the city to create an agreement on conduct at protests.

I just spoke to Gina Fields, who told me when she threw on some sweats to go vote at the Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Mall in the Proposition 50 special election tonight, she thought she'd be done in 15 minutes. But she ended up waiting an hour and a half to get to the polling booth!

LA Mayor Karen Bass has declared that there is no longer a shelter crisis, in a letter to LA City Council today saying things are pointed in a new direction. Meanwhile, the county actually just extended theirs.

🐦 The LA Reporter, Issue 9: LA residents brace for federal shutdown 'hammer' This week, what LA residents should know about food aid, the controller's critique of LAPD's mental health response, and The LA Reporter comes to the Really Really Free Market thelareporter.la/p/the-la-rep...

New LA Pod episode is here! @awalkerinla.bsky.social @mikebonin.bsky.social guest co-host @reporterliz.bsky.social of @thelareporter.bsky.social discuss a secretive $2 million payout to LA County’s CEO, who claims she suffered “reputational harm” from Measure G... podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...

I’m crying www.semafor.com/article/10/2...

I'm on this week's episode of LA Podcast! LA Podcast - To Live and DEI in LA www.thinkforward.la/la-podcast-t...

🐦 The LA Reporter, Issue 8: 'They're entitled to something better' This week, the closure of research group that helped get LA's $15 minimum wage, the LA Fed backing caps to rent hikes, and bigger fine sought for candidate's ethics violation. thelareporter.la/p/the-la-rep...

The City of Los Angeles and @mayor.lacity.gov are getting more international pressure to reign in LAPD's use of force on journalists. The world will be watching when the Olympics, World Cup and Super Bowl are here. If LA wants to continue to be a global city, we need to put an end to this madness.

A U.S. Senate investigations subcommittee is requesting Palisades Fire records from LA Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson including "records referring or relating to the creation or oversight of diversity, equity, and inclusion ('DEI') hiring policies for the LAFD and the LADWP"

So here is the City Attorney's funding request that includes paying Best Best & Krieger as outside counsel in the LA Press Club/Status Coup case against the city. It asks for a three-year contract, and an initial $250,000 amount to help handle that case. cityclerk.lacity.org/onlinedocs/2...

🐦 The LA Reporter, Issue 7: A week of drama-rama between LA city leaders This week, that includes the LA City Council calling out the City Attorney, and a councilwoman agitating for charter reform commissioners to reveal side-convos. thelareporter.la/p/the-la-rep... via @thelareporter.bsky.social

Now that City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto's attempt to lift the injunction against LAPD officers attacking press has been thwarted -- ahead of the No Kings protest -- here's a breakdown of what the injunction does (from Issue 3 of @the_lareporter). thelareporter.la/p/the-la-rep...

The judge has rejected the city's request to lift an injunction aimed at preventing the LAPD from attacking journalists during protests, just before this weekend's No Kings protests. "All prior orders remain in full force and effect," the judge writes.

What an odd thing to ask for. laist.com/news/politic...

LA Mayor Karen Bass and the CAO are asking the city's general managers to propose cuts from each department amounting to 5%, for the next fiscal year, 2026-2027. The instructions were delivered as part of a 66-page budget instruction memo dated Oct. 6.

The city of LA is trying to remove an injunction aimed at preventing the LAPD from attacking journalists, just before the No Kings protest this weekend, in a motion filed yesterday.

Mountain View encampment residents confronted a progressive council member's staffer on why he ordered a sweep that drew heavy police presence, why there wasn't shelter. Another told @thelareporter.bsky.social the sweep felt like a burglary. She said it was "heartbreaking, for no reason."

Residents of the encampment, the Mountain View community, who were swept by Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez have signed a letter to the office demanding she end sweeps and "push back against 41.18," the anti-camping law that many were cited with.

Gov. Newsom has signed AB 630, a bill sponsored by Mayor Karen Bass that's aimed at vanlords and makes it easier to destroy RVs. But advocates say it would actually hurt people living in RVs. It was included in today's legislative update: www.gov.ca.gov/2025/10/13/g...