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Stephens’ kangaroo rats, a species endemic to Southern California, have a comfortable living situation in southwestern Riverside County. But the hopping rodents felt their mecca was missing one vital component – grass. more › More here: Kangaroo Rats Demand Grass In Riverside
Torie Osborn ‘s campaign for the new 50th Assembly District , which includes Beverly Hills, continued to gain steam Tuesday night as she picked up the endorsement of the Santa Monica Democratic Club . The political veteran has already garnered support from the Malibu Democratic Club and the Democratic Party of the San Fernando Valley . Osborn won the Santa Monica club’s endorsement overwhelmingly with 77 percent of the vote, beating out her Democratic opponents—53rd District Assemblywoman Betsy Butler and Santa Monica Mayor Richard Bloom . The three fielded questions about an array of issues plaguing the financially troubled state. Butler ended up with 13 percent of the club’s votes and Bloom received 9 percent. The primary election is June 5. The top two vote-getters, regardless of party affiliation, will face off in the November general election. West Hollywood resident Brad Torgan is the only Republican in the race. “Because of you I’m going to win,” Osborn told her supporters. ”My life’s work has been making opportunities out of emergencies.” Known in local circles for championing feminism and gay rights, and working with the homeless, Osborn said her backers were “kickass” for their enthusiasm in supporting her campaign. “She is honestly the most inspirational of the three,” Santa Monica Democratic Club President Jay Johnson said of Osborn. Osborn dubbed herself a “community organizer with an MBA.” Her responses often evoked hollers and applause from her supporters, who wore blue and yellow campaign stickers on their chests. They were the most boisterous in the 100-odd crowd at the main branch of the Santa Monica Library, where the candidate forum was held. “I want a fighter. Their voice has to be fresh and authentic,” said Santa Monica resident Sally Breiter, who met Osborn for the first time Tuesday and said she now supports her. But Osborn’s political ideologies are generally shared by her Democratic opponents, who are equally educated and whose resumes are just as formidable. When asked about their plans to raise taxes, Osborn and Butler said they support Gov. Jerry Brown’s initiative to hike taxes on sales and the wealthy, while Bloom replied “we have a menu of options to choose from. The most important question isn’t which one we chose, but how do we get people to vote for it?” Osborn and Butler also said they support taxing oil. Osborn added that she’s working on a money-saving ballot initiative to reform the property tax legislation of Proposition 13 . The two women are also aligned in their opposition to the death penalty. Bloom said he supports it only for mass murderers and terrorists. All three want to see health care reformed into a single-payer system, such as the one proposed under Senate Bill 810 . In an effort to appeal to voters, Bloom reminded the audience that he has served on the Santa Monica City Council for 13 years. Butler told those in attendance that she already has experience in the state Assembly. “I’m finishing the first year of my first term, and I’m quite happy with what I got to work on this year,” said Butler, who went on to name six bills she penned that were ultimately signed into law by Gov. Brown. Yet Butler and Bloom will have another chance to face off against Osborn. The West Hollywood/Beverly Hills Democratic Club is holding its endorsement meeting for the State Assembly at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 25. The meeting will take place at the West Hollywood Park Auditorium, 647 N. San Vicente Blvd., West Hollywood, CA, 90069. Current members’ dues must be paid by Jan. 25 to vote. It is too late for new members to join and vote at this meeting. For more information, call 310-278-7596 or email WHBHDEMS@gmail.com. Be sure to follow Beverly Hills Patch on Twitter and “Like” us on Facebook . View post: Osborn Snags Another Dem Club Endorsement
LOS ANGELES — Chris Paul scored 33 points, Blake Griffin had 22 points and 14 rebounds, and the Los Angeles Clippers led all the way in beating the Lakers 102-94 on Saturday night despite 42 points by Kobe Bryant. Chauncey Billups added 19 points, former Laker Caron Butler had 13 points and DeAndre Jordan had 10 rebounds in the Clippers’ second win in four days over one of the NBA’s elite teams. The Clippers beat Miami 95-89 in overtime on Wednesday and have won five of their last six. Paul limped off after hitting a jumper in the final minutes. Bryant notched his fourth straight game of 40 or more points but the Lakers had their five-game winning streak snapped by their Staples Center co-tenants, who beat them twice in the preseason. The Lakers got no closer than five points early in the fourth quarter as the visiting team. Bryant broke out for 21 points in the third, but he was limited to 10 in the fourth against the Clippers’ double teams. Billups and Paul hit consecutive 3-pointers to help the Clippers extend their lead to 67-53 midway through the third. Bryant took over from there, scoring 17 of the Lakers’ final 19 points of the quarter to close to 76-72. He began and ended the spurt with 3-pointers and in between hit 7 of 8 free throws while the Clippers were held to nine points over the final 5 minutes. The Clippers’ biggest first-half lead was 55-42 at the break. They outshot and outrebounded the Lakers, who were better in the paint. The Lakers twice closed within three points in the second quarter, but the Clippers outscored them 16-6 to end the period, with Billups, Paul and Griffin combining for 14 points. The Clippers opened the game on a 13-4 run, then outscored the Lakers 13-9 to lead after the first quarter. Things got chippy in the final 12 seconds when Darius Morris went up for a basket after Paul was whistled for a foul and Griffin pushed off him with both hands as Morris came down. Lakers coach Mike Brown got incensed and was called for a technical, while nothing was called on Griffin. Morris had the last word, though, when he sank a jumper from before the half-court line at the buzzer as Paul tried to cut him off. Metta World Peace and Grififin also had technicals. Notes: Clippers F Brian Cook left midway through the second quarter with a sprained left ankle. … The Clippers improved to 5-1 at home and 6-0 this season when taking a lead into the fourth. … The Clippers have sold out all six of their home games. … The Lakers were playing their fifth game of the week and their 14th of the season, tying Chicago for most games played. … The Clippers have played just nine games, fewest in the league. … Clippers backup G Mo Williams missed the game because of an injured right foot that he hurt on Tuesday at Portland. … Lakers G Jason Kapono is adjusting to sleepless nights after his wife gave birth to premature twin girls named Campbell and Isla earlier in the week. “Thirty minutes is like three hours. It’s all been a blur,” he said. See the original post here: CP3 Outshines Kobe As Clippers Win Battle Of LA
State Assembly candidate Betsy Butler and her supporters criticized Torie Osborn’s campaign for recruiting people to join the Malibu Democratic Club so they could vote for her in Sunday’s endorsement election. Osborn supporters say Butler’s camp is being hypocritical because it had encouraged people to “join as many of the Dem clubs as possible” through a mass email. Butler told Patch that the two situations are different because nobody has offered to pay for her supporters to join the organizations. One person submitted a $1,000 check last month to the Malibu club to cover the expenses of about 40 Osborn supporters’ memberships, club President Jean Goodman told Patch. Osborn won the Malibu club’s endorsement for the Assembly’s 50th District seat on Sunday after receiving 41 votes following a forum featuring the three Democratic candidates. Five people chose Butler, none picked Richard Bloom and 13 club members wanted there to be no endorsement. “The thing that’s most concerning here is that one person wrote a check for 42 members,” Butler told Patch on Monday. “How hard is it to join a club if somebody’s writing the check for you?” Goodman has declined to name the person who submitted the check. She said the name would be revealed when the club files its next financial report with the California Secretary of State’s Office. When asked by Patch about this issue on Sunday, Osborn said her campaign “organized some people to either re-up [their memberships] or join,” but said she personally had nothing to do with it. Several Osborn supporters forwarded the email from Butler’s campaign to Patch. The email states: Join as many of the Dem clubs as possible (for most of the clubs, the only requirement to join is that you be a registered Democrat. For instance, you do not necessarily need to live in the Pacific Palisades to join the Pacific Palisades Democratic Club ) … Ask as many friends as you can to also join and attend as many Dem clubs as possible. Osborn supporter Dante Atkins, who is a vice chair of the Los Angeles County Democratic Party , wrote to Patch, ”The complaints from Betsy Butler’s surrogates about the Malibu Democratic Club endorsement process are the height of hypocrisy.” Be sure to follow Beverly Hills Patch on Twitter and “Like” us on Facebook . More: Osborn Supporters Accuse Butler of Hypocrisy
http://www.youtube.com/v/JGDgs4vJc5A?version=3&f=user_uploads&app=youtube_gdata Lakers Josh McRoberts on his toe injury Original post: Lakers Josh McRoberts on his toe injury
SANTA CLARITA, Calif. — Investigators say three young robbers are in jail after returning to a Southern California crime scene to retrieve liquor store surveillance camera video. Los Angeles sheriff’s Lt. Tom Bryski says the trio stole beer from Dooley’s Liquor Store in the Newhall area of Santa Clarita on Sunday night and fled. They returned to the store about 85 minutes later to get the surveillance video. The lieutenant tells City News Service that there was a scuffle and one of the robbers pulled a knife and slashed the store clerk’s arm. Deputies arrested 19-year-old Oscar Jimenez, 18-year-old Eduardo Salgado and a 17-year-old youth. They have been booked for investigation of theft, intimidating a witness and assault with a deadly weapon. Here is the original post: Trio Of Robbers In Jail After Returning For Security Camera Footage
Political veteran Torie Osborn on Sunday received the endorsement of the Malibu Democratic Club in the campaign for the newly created 50th Assembly District , which includes Beverly Hills. Opponent Betsy Butler , who currently represents another district in the Assembly, said Osborn gained the backing unfairly because her campaign recruited people to join the club so they could vote for her. Club members made the selection at Malibu City Hall following a one-hour forum, which was the first of the campaign featuring the three Democratic candidates. Republican hopeful Brad Torgan was not invited to the event. Osborn received 42 votes. Thirteen favored making no endorsement, five selected Butler and nobody backed Santa Monica Mayor/California Coastal Commissioner Richard Bloom . “I’m over the moon,” Osborn said in an interview with Patch after receiving the endorsement. “It’s my first one [from a local Democratic club]. I was decisive and it feels like a dry run for the whole campaign.” She said she was not involved in recruiting club members, but admitted her campaign “organized some people to either re-up [their memberships] or join.” “It’s a pretty common practice to use the candidates forums to do recruitment drives,” Osborn said. Butler said she heard Osborn got 42 people to join the club prior to the deadline to be an eligible voter—which was 30 days before the event—and that one person paid for the memberships with a single check. Club President Jean Goodman wrote in an email to Patch, “We received a $1,000 contribution for payment of dues for a group of Torie Osborn supporters [with each membership costing $25] … as to the name of the contributor, we will disclose that in our next report to the Secretary of State.” Malibu City Councilwoman Pamela Conley Ulich said the club voting rules prevented several Malibu residents from being able to participate. She said they were not aware they had to pay the membership fee 30 days prior to the session. When Conley Ulich asked people to raise their hands if they were Malibu residents, only about half the attendees did it. Bloom said he was not bothered about receiving zero votes. “This was an accurate reflection of who was in the room,” Bloom said when asked about the meaning of the results. Bloom noted a study done by the polling and research firm Lauer Johnson Research, which was hired by his campaign, that determined he had the most support and name recognition in the district. He said he was also not concerned that Osborn and Butler have received most of the prominent endorsements. “I think they’ve spent more time in the endorsement process,” Bloom said. “I’m really happy with the endorsements I have. But I’m very focused with running for office and doing my job as the mayor of Santa Monica. So I’m focusing in on the core responsibility of campaigning, and that’s reaching out to voters and the people who are ultimately going to be casting those ballots.” The three candidates are liberal Democrats, so there was little disagreement on major issues that were discussed during the forum. They all said education spending should be a priority. Osborn and Butler said they oppose the death penalty. Bloom said he only supports it in “exceptional cases,” including “mass murder where there is an admission and the evidence is crystal clear.” The next forum, hosted by the Pacific Palisades Democratic Club, will take place Jan. 15 from 2-4 p.m. at the Palisades Woman’s Club. The Santa Monica Democratic Club will host a forum Jan. 17 from 6:30-9 p.m. at Santa Monica’s main library. Be sure to follow Beverly Hills Patch on Twitter and “Like” us on Facebook . Visit link: Local Democratic Club Controversially Backs Osborn for State Assembly
LOS ANGELES — Twelve more suspected arson fires broke out early Monday in the Los Angeles area, and a “person of interest” was taken into custody for questioning in connection with the dozens of suspicious car fires that have hit the city since last week. The developments came a day after police distributed DVDs featuring footage of a man, between 20 and 30 years old with a receding hairline and a shoulder-length ponytail, whom they described as a person of interest. He was seen on grainy surveillance video Saturday after emerging on foot from inside an underground parking structure on Hollywood Boulevard where a car fire was reported. Fire department spokesman Capt. Jaime Moore said he couldn’t say whether the person of interest detained early Monday was the man seen on the video footage. “It’s still too early to say whether or not this person has any direct correlation with the number of fires that we’ve been responding to this evening,” Moore said. No arrests had been made. Early Monday, firefighters battled 12 suspected arson fires at carports and garages. Ten occurred in Los Angeles and two were in West Hollywood, Moore said. They broke out shortly after 1:30 a.m. Moore said authorities believe the latest fires were connected to the earlier ones. The number of suspicious fires now stands at 55, he said. Detectives spent Sunday analyzing security video camera footage and following up on other leads after a half dozen more vehicles were set on fire on New Year’s Eve. The outbreak of arson fires has left a trail of smoldering debris in Hollywood, West Hollywood, North Hollywood and the Fairfax district of Los Angeles since Thursday. Most of those fires were set in parked cars. In several cases, flames have jumped to carports and apartment units. A reward of $60,000 has been offered for information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the arsonist. Detectives served a search warrant at a home in the San Fernando Valley, Det. Gus Villanueva said Sunday. Several interviews were conducted, but no arrests were made. “They are working on hundreds of clues, interviewing dozens of witnesses, picking up countless pieces of evidence,” police Cmdr. Andrew Smith said of the detectives. Authorities haven’t said how the car fires were sparked or what was collected at the crime scenes. They were unsure if the rash of fires were the work of one arsonist or multiple people or copycats. There have been no injuries. Extra patrols were out in force on New Year’s Eve. One of Saturday’s attacks occurred at the Hollywood and Highland entertainment complex, a popular tourist destination and hotspot for holiday revelers. Firefighters responded to a report of a small car fire in a parking structure that was out by the time they arrived. Firefighters routinely are called to put out burning cars, but this recent spate has been unusual because of the frequency and location of the fires. Crews have been responding to other emergencies despite the focus on solving the fire arsons, fire spokesman Erik Scott said. Police urged residents to check their cars for any signs of tampering and take simple precautions such as locking their cars, keeping garage and carport lights on at night and reporting suspicious activity. “We are not going to rest,” Los Angeles Fire Department assistant chief Pat Butler said Sunday at a joint police-fire news conference. “We are going to work tirelessly.” Police officials were working with Sheriff’s Department detectives, city and county fire investigators and members of the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. Read more here: ‘Person Of Interest’ Detained In LA Car Arson Case
Nonprofit civil rights organization Equality California is endorsing Assemblywoman Betsy Butler in her run for the state’s new 50th Assembly District , Butler’s campaign announced Wednesday morning. Butler, D-Marina del Rey, is now entering her sixth year on the board of Equality California. She has been a key advocate for equality and civil rights for more than 20 years and has raised tens of thousands of dollars for multiple causes, events and LGBT candidates, reports the nonprofit in a statement. “Equality California is proud to give our endorsement to Assemblymember Butler,” Suzy Jones, chair of the Equality California Candidate Political Action Committee, said in a statement. “Her 100 percent pro-LGBT voting record clearly demonstrates that she has been, and continues to be, a key ally and partner in our efforts to secure full and lasting equality for LGBT people in California.” Butler has also been endorsed by Assembly Speaker John Pérez, California Democratic Party Vice Chairman Alex Rooker and Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca. Organizations backing Butler include the Legislative LGBT Caucus and the Legislative Women’s Caucus. “I am proud to have the support of Equality California,” said Butler. “For over 20 years, I have had the privilege of working with leaders of the LGBT community throughout the country and in California on issues of fairness and equality. I look forward to continuing to work in the Legislature to ensure equal rights in California.” Butler’s primary opponents appear to be liberal activist Torie Osborn and Santa Monica Mayor Richard Bloom . Be sure to follow Beverly Hills Patch on Twitter and “Like” us on Facebook . Original post: Equality California Endorses Betsy Butler
Once part of the 42nd Assembly District under the representation of Mike Feuer (D-Los Angeles), redistricting has placed Beverly Hills in the newly formed 50th Assembly District along with West Hollywood, Santa Monica and Malibu. Assemblywoman Betsy Butler, D-Marina del Rey, is the latest candidate to enter the race for the 50th Assembly District seat. The election takes place Nov. 6, 2012. Butler, a Democrat, currently represents the 53rd Assembly District. She won the race for that seat in November 2010, her first election. Her primary opponents appear to be Santa Monica Mayor Richard Bloom and Torie Osborn—a liberal activist backed by Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. Having lived in Marina del Rey for 20 years, Butler said she currently represents 1.7 percent of the constituents in the new 50th Assembly District. “I am considered the incumbent in the 50th district,” she told The Argonaut . Regardless, Butler said she will move north to run in the new district. It is unclear exactly which city she has in mind. Be sure to follow Beverly Hills Patch on Twitter and “Like” us on Facebook . See the original post: Beverly Hills to Enter New Assembly District
