Dodgers’ Secret Plan for L.A.: NFL Stadium, Upscale Complex
As the Dodgers stumbled through two months without a manager this fall, the organizational vision extended beyond the diamond. They created a secret proposal to remake the landscape of sports in L.A., pitching the NFL on ditching the Coliseum for a new stadium in Chavez Ravine, and signing up with a top real estate developers to create a retail and entertainment complex in the Dodger Stadium parking lot. The NFL and the Dodgers confirmed this week the parties held two meetings about the possibility of building a football stadium next to the complex, the Los Angeles Times reported. The Dodgers presented a proposal that involved Larry Silverstein, a New York real estate developer heading the rebuilding of the World Trade Center site.
Ports of L.A., Long Beach Unite on Pollution
The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach will join forces to measure the air pollution emitted in and around the two harbors, officials said Thursday. The commissions that oversee the two ports are scheduled to vote next month on an agreement allowing the two agencies, which typically seek an edge over each other in maritime matters, to coordinate the collection of data particulate matter and other harbor emissions, Copley News Service reported. Both ports have been under political pressure to address the emissions caused by trucks, trains and ships that move through San Pedro, Wilmington and Long Beach.
Corporate Tax Cut Kicks in Jan. 1
Businesses in Los Angeles can expect to keep more of their money in 2006 thanks to a tax cut that kicks in Jan. 1. Several provisions of a tax reform package passed by city leaders in 2004 take effect this New Year’s, including an across-the-board 3.1 percent reduction in the business tax. Small firms with less than $50,000 in annual gross receipts will be exempt from local business taxes, and reforms aimed specifically at the entertainment industry will also take effect, the Daily News of Los Angeles reported. Companies have long complained about local taxes, saying Los Angeles is losing enterprises to neighboring towns with lower rates.
Legislators Want to Unclog Traffic, Schools
Following a year in which most legislative efforts were overshadowed by the special election, local lawmakers plan to focus in 2006 on traffic, schools and other issues that matter to average Californians. Priorities for San Fernando Valley legislators include building a new car pool lane on the San Diego Freeway; breaking up the Los Angeles Unified School District; placing a moratorium on the death penalty; and cracking down on sex offenders. The Legislature will reconvene Wednesday, and one of the first orders of business could be a vote on fast-tracking the San Diego Freeway project, the Daily News of Los Angeles reported.
Union Workers Without Contract Planning Protest
Frustrated over a collective bargaining impasse, employees at the Harbor Regional Center in Torrance plan to stage a demonstration this evening. About 200 counselors, psychologists, nurses and secretaries who serve the developmentally disabled have been without a contract since Dec. 14, the Daily Breeze reported. The union, claiming Harbor Regional workers haven’t seen a cost-of-living raise since 1998, is seeking a 3 percent increase in pay as well as more flexible work schedules and extra compensation for those who are bilingual or hold master’s degrees. Harbor Regional officials have recently issued what they consider their best and final proposal.
Major Fine for Dumping
A Sun Valley aerospace company was ordered Thursday to pay more than $200,000 in fines for illegally dumping nickel and other hazardous waste into the L.A. city sewer system. Hawker Pacific Aerospace entered a no-contest plea in Superior Court to a single violation of the state’s health code after routine monitoring of the sewer system detected the illegal dumping. The company, a subsidiary of Lufthansa Technik, primarily overhauls landing gear for commercial aircraft. The Sun Valley plant does chrome plating and manufactures bushings for landing gear. City workers conducting tests in the last six months of 2004 found hazardous levels of nickel and cadmium, as well as high levels of cyanide, in discharges from the company’s plant into the sewer system, the Los Angeles Times reported.
