Hahn Calls for Citywide Injunction to Rid L.A. of Gang Activity

Promising to make L.A. a “gang-free” city, Mayor James Hahn called Monday for the filing of a citywide injunction prohibiting gang members from congregating with other gang members, drinking in public and possessing spray-paint cans, the Daily Breeze reported. Hahn, who made the proposal hours before the first candidate debate with Councilman Antonio Villaraigosa, said the injunction would cover every neighborhood in the city and likely apply to anywhere from 10 percent to half of the city’s 49,000 gang members. Hahn provided no cost estimate for his initiative.

Valley Activist Attacks Villaraigosa


A longtime San Fernando Valley activist opposed to illegal immigration has launched his own campaign against Councilman Antonio Villaraigosa’s bid for mayor, even though he said he has similar concerns about Mayor James Hahn, the Daily News of Los Angeles reported. Hal Netkin, who is a member of Valley Voters Organized Toward Empowerment, has launched an anti-Villaraigosa Web site and a computerized telephone message targeting Valley voters, telling them they have not been given the truth about Villaraigosa and his political background. Netkin also attacks him as being a “radical” and “anti-American.”

Medical School Facing County Fines


Los Angeles County health officials are moving to sanction the university affiliated with the troubled Martin Luther King Jr./Drew Medical Center, saying the school is not complying with some requirements in its new contract. The action illustrates the difficulty in healing the fractured relationship between Los Angeles County, which owns King/Drew, and Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science, which is paid to run doctor-training programs there, the Los Angeles Times reported. Top county health officials say Drew again has failed to submit required information about its training programs on time. The amount of the sanctions will likely total $10,000 to $20,000.

Summer Electricity Shortage Possible


Demand for power may outstrip supplies in Southern California if the temperature this summer is higher than usual, the state’s electric grid operator said in its latest summer power forecast. Southern California will have inadequate power resources if the heat reaches a level that occurs about 10 percent of the time, the California Independent System Operator said in a report Monday. Supplies may be stretched because the economy is growing faster in the Southland than in the rest of the state and transmission bottlenecks hinder the ability to import power from other areas, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Cablevision May Join Adelphia Bid


Cablevision Systems is in advanced talks to join two big private equity firms that are bidding for Adelphia Communications, The New York Times reported. If Cablevision jumps into the battle for Adelphia, it would face rival Time Warner, which is allied with Comcast in the auction. Cablevision has been holding talks with Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and Providence Equity Partners about forming a group that, if successful, would merge the two cable companies to create a national operator with 8.4 million subscribers. Kohlberg, Kravis and Providence have already submitted a $15 billion bid for Adelphia and would make a higher offer if Cablevision decides to join them.

CB Richard Ellis Buys Inland Empire Properties


CB Richard Ellis Investors of Los Angeles paid nearly $60 million to Chicago developer Alter Group for two new warehouse-distribution centers in the Inland Empire totaling more than 1.3 million square feet, the Los Angeles Times reported.

AFC Tells of Formal Investigation by SEC


AFC Enterprises Inc., the owner of Popeyes Chicken & Biscuits restaurants, said the Securities and Exchange Commission has authorized a formal investigation into the company’s financial restatements, Bloomberg News reported. Regulators had started an informal inquiry in April 2003, Atlanta-based AFC said. On March 24, 2003, AFC said it would restate earnings for 2001 and for the first three quarters of 2002. A month later, it said it would also restate results for 2000.

U.S.-Mandated Phone Fee Could Increase 18 Percent by 2007


U.S. households could see a government-mandated fee on their telephone bills rise as much as 18.1 percent by 2007 depending on what changes are made to a fund that subsidizes communications services, congressional budget officials said Monday. Telephone carriers that offer long-distance service are required to pay a percentage of revenues into the Universal Service Fund, which subsidizes telephone service for low-income families as well as Internet access in schools and libraries. Typically, those fees are passed on to consumers, but the emergence of wireless and unlimited calling plans has raised questions about whether the fund is sustainable, Reuters reported.