The News Blog with Eric Spillman

What It Takes to Get Swine Flu Vaccine


11:11 AM  November 4, 2009

Swine
Consider Valerie and Chris Bunker of San Gabriel. 

They have two kids, a four-old-boy and an 18-month-old girl.  Their pediatrician doesn't have any H1N1 vaccine.  So they went to the L.A. County clinic in San Gabriel a few days ago..  No luck there.  The lines were too long.

Same story in Glendale yesterday.  Thousands of people were waiting in line ahead of them.  They didn't get the vaccine there either.

They made their third attempt this morning at a clinic on the USC campus, where they were forced to wait several hours.

I hope they were successful this time.




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Live TV Can Be Hilarious


7:47 PM  November 3, 2009

The last two minutes are pretty funny...

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Water, Water Everywhere


9:55 AM  November 3, 2009

We take a closer look at L.A.'s aging water infrastructure and find out:

*Most of the water mains that are 100+ years old are underneath Downtown L.A.
*The list of the DWP's most problematic water mains shows that many are on the Westside or in Central L.A. (Check out our interactive map at www.ktla.com/dwpmap)
*New DWP interim boss David Freeman says the pipes are exploding because most of them are "as old as I am."    Freeman is 83.







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May Day Melee: No Cops to be Prosecuted


6:24 PM  October 30, 2009

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Prosecutors have decided not to charge any of the LAPD officers involved in the 2007 melee at MacArthur Park. 


The DA's office investigated 30 cops but was unable to find "sufficient evidence" of any crime.  On that evening, officers were videotaped beating and firing rubber bullets at demonstrators and members of the media.

The L.A. County District Attorney Office, in its statement, says reporters got in the way of officers:

The media had innocently and unwittingly positioned themselves in an area directly in the path of officers attempting to clear the park.

That's not the way my reporter and photographer colleagues remember it.  Those who were there remember police in riot gear hitting them with batons without warning.

It was clear that these journalists were only there to cover the story.  After all, they were carrying large TV cameras on their shoulders.  And yet some were knocked to the ground by police.

Reporters aren't the most popular folks in our society these days, those of us who are still employed.

But isn't there any sense of outrage over the fact that the police can beat up journalists without facing any consequence?


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Leaves Everywhere


5:40 PM  October 28, 2009

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I don't know about your neighborhood, but mine is a mess.  .


Last weekend, my son and I spent an hour raking up all the leaves in the yard.  Now, thanks to last night's wind storm, it looks worse than ever.

Add to that the fact that the guy who cuts the lawn hasn't shown up for two weeks.  I know there's grass under that pile of leaves somewhere, even if I can't see it.

This afternoon, my daughter and I were playing ball in the alley behind our home.  I noticed what looked like a long wire hanging from a tree.

I went closer to examine what it was, and I almost pulled it out of the branches.  

Good thing I didn't. 

Turns out it was a downed power line.  Can't really tell if it's hot or not, but I'm not taking any chances.

I immediately phoned Southern California Edison.   My neighbor called several times earlier in the day.

They finally showed up at around 5 PM.   Guess we'll be without power for awhile, and the World Series is on, too.

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Tweets From the Mayor


2:03 PM  October 26, 2009

From the official Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa twitter page last night:

I'm at the U2/Black Eye Peas concert with Lu and the world is watching. I love L.A. :)

Then, one hour later:

U2: A message of Peace tonight from L.A. to the world. I LOVE L.A.!!!

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McCourt to Wife: You're Fired


5:24 AM  October 23, 2009

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It's turning into the nasty divorce many insiders predicted.

Now comes word from the L.A. Times that Dodger owner Frank McCourt has fired his wife, who held the title of Dodger CEO.

"Jamie is disappointed and saddened by her termination," attorney Dennis Wasser said Thursday. "As co-owner of the Dodgers, she will address this and all other issues in the courtroom."

Wasser would not say whether she would continue to occupy her office at Dodger Stadium. He said that would depend on the outcome of legal proceedings he expected to initiate "in the next couple weeks."

What I want to know is how Frank did it.  Did he call his wife into the Dodger personnel office and fire her that way?  Did he just send a letter?

If there was a face-to-face meeting, "awkward" is a word that comes to mind.

When this story first broke, there was a lot of speculation that this split might lead to a sale of the Dodgers. 

Now it sounds like a real possibility.

***UPDATE: TMZ has the letter Frank McCourt used to fire his wife.  I love the part where he discusses how she can make arrangements to pick up the belongings in her office.


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David Freeman Speaks


1:08 PM  October 21, 2009

Interim DWP boss David Freeman gives one of his first sit-down interviews since assuming his job.

The 83-year-old utility executive denies his agency is bloated and defends the DWP's union workers.  He says he supports the $82,000 consulting deal given to his predecessor David Nahai.   And he says he'll review the DWP budget to look for cost-saving measures.

Here's a snippet:




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Villaraigosa Vacations Cost Taxpayers


10:23 AM  October 19, 2009

Now we finally know how much taxpayers had to shell out for L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's luxury vacations to South Africa and Iceland this summer.

It cost the city $20,736 for the mayor's security detail on those two trips, according to records released by the City Controller's office in response to a California Public Records Act request.

Here's the rundown on those expenses:

VILLARAIGOSA

Both the LAPD and the Mayor's office refused to release this information when we began asking for it more than 3 months ago.

The LAPD stated, in its denial of our request, that releasing records relating to the cost of the mayor's security for his trips abroad might somehow compromise his safety.

By the way, $20,000 dollars would cover the cost of a rookie LAPD officer's salary (to help fight crime here in Los Angeles) for more than 4 months, according to the department's Media Relations office.

The records released by the City Controller can be downloaded below:

Download Villaraigosatravelcosts

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Fans Weigh In on McCourt Separation


9:53 AM  October 15, 2009

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Most of the true-blue Dodger die-hards don't think the McCourt split will impact the players...  Those guys are professionals who want to win no matter what.

They'll do fine in the NLCS series against Philly, which starts today.

Still, you have to wonder how the club will be able to make decisions about key staff and personnel if the owner, Frank McCourt (and his CEO wife Jamie) are going through a nasty divorce.

Neither has filed yet, but both have "lawyered up."

In the interim, what will happen to the organization's decision-making about player trades and salaries?

Most importantly, what does Manny think?

One fan we spoke to this morning suggested the McCourts bring in Tommy Lasorda to serve as their marriage counselor.

Another suggested I give his phone number to Jamie.

"She's worth $350 million dollars, and she's single," he said. "Maybe she'd like some company."

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