Los Angeles Politics Hotsheet for Thursday

Will this solve Walter Moore's Hispanic Problem?



The City of LA is offering a $50,000 reward for information in this past weekend's slaying death of 34 year old bride-to-be Chere Osmanhodzic. Chere's body was found inside her burned out Valley Village home after firefighters extinguished a suspicious blaze that may have been set to destroy evidence of the murder. So much anguish in Valley Village over this one.

Michael LoGrande has been big news all week after being selected as the new Planning Director to replace the departing Gail Goldberg. Ron Kaye has an excerpt from a Planning Report story by Michael's former boss. Ouch!

In case you haven't heard, the US Constitution is safe (for now) after a federal judge halted implementation of many key elements of Arizona's controversial SB1070 law. Pandering AZ Republican Gov Jan Brewer, says she will appeal the ruling that basically shreds the "Show Me Your Papers "law.

The former Sunland-Tujunga resident and Verdugo Hills High School graduate, Governor Jan Brewer, wastes no time after the ruling and tries to turn lemons into lemonade by immediately begging for money.

She may well need that money for legal fees, as Phoenix station KPHO is running a story about ties between Gov. Brewer and a Private Prisons Company;

"In the meantime, a CBS 5 News investigation revealed that there is one business that could profit from the implementation of SB 1070 and similar immigration measures. The private prison industry houses illegal immigrant detainees for the federal government. Those companies could gain contracts with state and local agencies to house illegal immigrants arrested for state violations.Corrections Corporation of America, or CCA, holds the federal contract to house detainees in Arizona. The company bills $11 million per month. CBS 5 Investigates learned that two of Brewer’s top advisers have connections to CCA. Paul Senseman is the governor’s deputy chief of staff. He is also a former lobbyist for CCA. His wife is listed as a current lobbyist for the company. Chuck Coughlin is one of the governor’s policy advisers and her campaign chairman. Coughlin’s company, HighGround Public Affairs Consultants, currently lobbies for CCA."

Watch this excellent video to see the governor running away when asked about the shady connections.

As a side note, AZ cops are breathing a sigh of relief that the Judge ruled the way she did.

E-meg is learning about California the hard way. It looks like $100 Million might not buy her the Governorship of California after all!

And finally, I'd like to welcome an old friend, Lanny Clifford, who just read Mayor Sam for the first time yesterday. Lanny is an Ice Road trucker on a year long assignment in North Dakota. He's made us his homepage and threatens to pipe in with his opinions when he's not risking his neck delivering goods for the man.