Nursing Home Chain Fined for Negligence
California’s second-largest nursing home chain agreed Wednesday to pay $1.3 million to the state to settle civil allegations that it provided negligent care to scores of frail patients. The agreement resolved a lawsuit against Pleasant Care Corp., a La Ca & #324;ada Flintridge firm that owns 30 nursing homes in California, 10 of them in L.A. County. It marked a victory in state Atty. Gen. Bill Lockyer’s effort to aggressively penalize negligent nursing home operators, a tactic previous state prosecutors have not used. The settlement came in the third major legal action taken by Lockyer’s office against a large nursing home chain since he took office in 1999, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Many Angry Over Fate of Cochran Law Firm
Barely a year after Johnnie L. Cochran Jr.’s death, major changes at his L.A.-based law firm have angered many in the city’s black community, the Los Angeles Times reported. Though Cochran became famous for his defense of O.J. Simpson, he previously made his reputation in legal circles and in the black community for taking on police abuse and civil rights cases. But there have been significant changes in the last 13 months: the addition of a controversial national criminal division, headquartered in Santa Monica; the departure of two well-known black partners who had worked extensively with Cochran; and the perception that the partners were forced out by Cochran’s three surviving co-founders, two of whom are white.
Workers’ Skyrocketing Extra Pay Is Mayor’s Top Target for Cuts
Employee bonuses at City Hall have quadrupled in five years to more than $117 million annually one of 10 target areas that Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa identified Wednesday as he works to narrow a $300 million budget shortfall. Villaraigosa is honing in on bonuses, workers’ compensation costs, surplus property and other targets for saving some $30 million. With his fiscal 2006-07 financial plan set for release next month, the mayor has said city government faces “dire” consequences if it continues to overspend its $6 billion budget, the Daily News of Los Angeles reported. Villaraigosa said the deficit could grow to $450 million by 2011 if something isn’t done now.
Carson Marketplace Project Gets City Council Approval
Calling it one of the most significant steps taken in city history, the Carson City Council this week approved a development on the site of a long-neglected toxic dump alongside the San Diego Freeway. Trumpeted as the largest shopping center development in L.A., the mall is the latest idea proposed for what is sometimes called the MetroMall site, the name of a previous failed project, the Daily Breeze reported. If built, the 168-acre mall will include nearly 2 million square feet of commercial space, a hotel, convention center, movie theaters and up to 1,500 homes. Two NFL stadiums, an outlet mall, a cemetery, a golf course and a bowling alley were all once touted for the empty field.
Nissan Losing Another Key Executive
Nissan Motor Co.’s North American sales chief is among the top U.S. executives who will leave the company before it moves its North American headquarters from Carson to Tennessee this summer. Jed Connelly said Wednesday that he will step down July 1, a month before the company expects to complete its move to suburban Nashville, the Associated Press reported. Connelly said the move wasn’t the reason for his decision, and that he was intending to go to Nashville but decided that he should retire instead. Connelly will be succeeded by Brad Bradshaw, who now is vice president and general manager of Nissan North America. So far, 21 percent of Nissan North America’s top executives or 13 of 60 have retired or announced plans to leave the company before the move.
Private Equity Group to Buy Davis Petroleum
A group led by private equity firm Evercore Capital Partners is buying Davis Petroleum Corp., the oil firm of the late Los Angeles billionaire Marvin Davis, for $150 million. The group will join management in the purchase. Davis Petroleum also filed a prepackaged bankruptcy, which means the deal needs only a two-thirds shareholder vote. People familiar with the matter said that move was taken because of a bitter family split with Patricia Davis Raynes, who has alleged in a lawsuit her late father looted her trust fund, the Los Angeles Times reported.
