Hollywood Donates to Candidates
Vice President Al Gore raised $318,050 during the first six months of the year from donors directly linked to the television, movie and music industries. He leads all presidential candidates in the race for Hollywood contributions.
According to the nonpartisan Campaign Study Group, Texas Gov. George W. Bush, a Republican, collected $247,750 from entertainment-industry sources, while U.S. Sen. Bill Bradley, D-New Jersey, picked up $225,174.
Gore raised the money despite his public criticism of Hollywood after the Colorado school shootings. The vice president accused the entertainment industry of desensitizing young people to violence through the marketing of films and video games. But Gore reportedly said in private meetings with entertainment executives that a federal study of the situation was the idea of President Clinton and was launched without Gore’s input.
Among Gore’s contributors are Kevin Costner and Barbra Streisand. Bradley picked up money from actors Tom Selleck and Paul Reiser, while Bush received support from Walt Disney Co. Chairman Michael Eisner, who also contributed to Bradley’s campaign. Each donor could give no more than $1,000 to an individual candidate.
Wiatt Heads to William Morris
The William Morris Agency hired Jim Wiatt as president and co-chief executive in a move expected to set off a war among Hollywood’s major talent agencies.
Wiatt took the new job just days after announcing his departure from International Creative Management. At William Morris, he replaces former president and movie chief Arnold Rifkin, whose failure to sign major stars and directors kept the agency a distant third in its competition against ICM and Creative Artists Agency.
Wiatt is expected to bring more than 20 new clients to William Morris, including actors Eddie Murphy, Sylvester Stallone and Tim Allen.
Industry officials expect Wiatt’s appointment to set off a tug of war for clients with ICM Chairman Jeff Berg. Tension between the two executives was said to have prompted Wiatt to quit ICM after 22 years.
Wiatt reportedly spurned a new contract offer from Berg after seeking more money and decision-making power.
Feds Investigating Lockheed
Federal prosecutors are investigating whether a unit of Lockheed Martin Corp. made improper payments to a consultant as part of its efforts to land military contracts from Taiwan.
A federal grand jury in Los Angeles recently began looking into consultant Richard Hei’s dealings with the predecessor of Lockheed Martin’s Sanders electronic warfare unit. The company reportedly will be asked to turn over various documents relating to the unit’s activities in Taiwan from the late 1980s through the early 1990s.
A consultant with ties to Taiwan’s military and government officials, Hei also worked for units of Woodland Hills-based Litton Industries Inc. and what was formerly called Teledyne Inc. Both those companies previously pleaded guilty to criminal charges stemming from improper payments to Hei and admitted trying to hide the payments from federal auditors.
A Lockheed spokesman said he doesn’t believe the company violated any laws or regulations and that it is cooperating with the investigation.
County Sues Gun Makers
Los Angeles County sued the firearms industry as part of a growing government effort to control gun violence and collect hefty legal awards.
The lawsuit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court alleges that gun makers have recklessly designed, promoted and sold weapons that led to accidental or intentional damage by youths and criminals.
The lawsuit claims that L.A. County has borne the brunt of that violence through its public hospitals, courts and jails. It also notes that L.A. County saw 1,385 gun-related deaths and 2,336 non-fatal hospitalizations in 1997.
The county is asking the courts to force manufacturers to better control sales and install safety mechanisms. It is not yet seeking reimbursement for the cost of treating gun injuries, but a task force is tallying those costs.
Meanwhile, county officials plan to work with other cities that have filed suits, including San Francisco, Chicago and Miami.
Court Voids Keating Judgment
A federal appeals court voided a $4.3 billion judgment against Charles H. Keating Jr., ruling that the government should have given him a full trial before holding him personally liable for the collapse of Lincoln Savings & Loan.
The ruling by the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals overturns a 1994 decision by a federal judge who ordered Keating to pay the Resolution Trust Corp. the government agency responsible for cleaning up the S & L; debacle for the failure of Lincoln in 1989.
Resolution Trust shut down in 1996 and its legal matters were inherited by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. An FDIC spokesman said the agency will review the appeals court decision.
Throughout his court appearances, Keating has insisted he is broke. He also faces an estimated $1 billion in judgments from investors, including many senior citizens in Southern California who lost about $285 million by purchasing high-risk bonds.
Nissan Plans Low-Emission Car
Nissan North America Inc. said it plans to introduce the world’s first gasoline-powered, ultra-low-emissions vehicle in California next year and become the first car maker to meet the state’s stringent new pollution guidelines.
The Garden Grove-based company, a division of Nissan Motor Co. of Japan, said its 2000 Sentra model will feature a slightly modified four-cylinder engine with a super-efficient new catalytic converter and improved charcoal canister that catches evaporation of unburned fuel.
As a result of eliminating fuel evaporation, Nissan says, the vehicle will produce fewer emissions during a 20-mile round trip than today’s typical new vehicle does while parked in a driveway all day with the engine shut off.
Although the low-emissions status is not yet mandatory, the production of such vehicles can give auto makers credits toward meeting zero-emission standards that become mandatory in 2003.
Burbank Airport Deal Reached
After several years and millions of dollars spent fighting over a proposed expansion of Burbank Airport, the airport authority and Burbank city officials announced a truce that will allow the airport to build a new terminal, while not initially increasing the number of gates.
Under the agreement, the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority has agreed to close the new terminal’s concessions between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m., phase out noisier Stage 2 jets by 2004, and get federal approval for a 10 p.m.-to-7 a.m. flight curfew.
For its part, the city agreed to allow the authority to build a new, 330,000-square-foot terminal, twice as big as the existing one but initially with the same number of gates, 14.
The deal allows for expansion of the airport up to 19 gates if additional requirements are met to reduce noise. The deal is still subject to approval from the Burbank City Council.
