Do You Hear That Train A-Comin'?

Mayor Villaraigosa isn't too pleased with the MTA's recent projections as to when his long hoped for "Subway to the Sea" will be built. If the calculations are correct, the Mayor will be 78 when this line takes on it's first passenger.

The MTA also listed completion dates for a number of other hoped for projects including the Expo light rail line to Santa Monica and a we could use it now light rail line along the 405 from the Valley to the Westside.

For fans of that service, you're looking at a long way out. That train will first roll in 2038 when Villaraigosa hits his 85th birthday, Gen X actor Elijah Wood will be a few years away from Social Security and Hannah Montana's 16 year old Miley Cyrus will be pushing 50.

Mayor Sam's Hotsheet for Wednesday

The San Francisco Sentinel has a pretty lame puff piece on Mayor Villaraigosa. The Sentinel says the Mayor is sitting pretty with no opposition, plenty of cash and a City Hall in sync with his agenda.  In a second term, the Sentinel says, the Mayor can accomplish more of his goals.  Perhaps he will work for the people 22% of the time.  A piece in the Contra Costa Times, Villaraigosa campaign manager Ace Smith lays out the Mayor's re-election strategy.

Forty three Democratic members of the State Legislature filed a brief Monday urging that the State Supreme Court invalidate Proposition 8 which banned same-sex marriage in California.  No Republican members of the Senate or Assembly joined on board but Governor Schwarzenegger expressed support for the effort.  Though State Attorney General Jerry Brown would be obligated to defend Proposition 8 in court, supporters of the measure say they would seek to have their attorneys intervene to oppose and represent their interests in the case.

A number of LA's top chefs joined to compete in the 22nd annual "Great Chefs of LA: Go Green, Go Organic" at CBS Studios Sunday to benefit the National Kidney Foundation of Southern California.  Among the celebrities on hand were comedian George Lopez and Los Angeles City Council Member Dennis Zine.

Eric Garcetti has led the City Council in designating the site of a historic gay bar in Silverlake as a cultural landmark.  The Black Cat was the site of a horrific incident early on New Years Day 1967 when gay celebrants were savagely beaten by LAPD officers for the crime of kissing.  The bar today is now known as Le Barcito however it is still said to serve a gay clientele.

What happens when your dad gets elected President of the United States? You get asked to appear on the hottest kids TV series on today, The Disney Channel's Hannah Montana.  Billy Ray Cyrus, series co-star and father of star Miley Cyrus said the show has asked Sasha and Malia Obama to visit and appear in an episode. No word on if the Obama family has accepted the offer.

Mayor Sam's Hotsheet for Monday

Zuma Dogg was chosen over Walter Moore to help write the ballot argument against the City's "affordable housing" measure which goes before the voters in November.  In a two part hosting here and here, Zuma Dogg gives a preview of his opposition to the measure: His claim that funds set aside for emergency housing for battered women, seniors and other people in need will actually go towards the construction of the controversial Grand Avenue project.

The story about former Presidential candidate John Edwards' rendezvous with his admitted mistress prior to a meeting with Mayor Villaraigosa gets weirder.  The San Francisco Chronicle reports that the meeting was arranged by Robert McGovern, a friend of Edwards' paramour, Rielle Hunter, and a self-described new age guru and spiritual healer.


Dennis Zine has joined with a group of Republicans who are opposing Proposition 8, the measure on the state ballot this November that would overturn the California Supreme Court's ruling to legalize gay marriage. Other Republicans joining the coalition include Governor Schwarzenegger and Ward Connerly, the African American conservative activist who sponsored Proposition 209 which overturned affirmative action in California.

Let me preface this by the fact that I absolute hate cigarette smoking and discourage anyone from doing it.  That being said we don't need to government to make this decision for people. Bitter Bernie is planning to introduce legislation to ban all outdoor smoking.

An animal activist blog is taking Mayor Villaraigosa to task for eating the delicacy foie gras.  Foie gras is the liver of a goose or duck that's been enlarged by force feeding the bird fattening food through a pipe.  The liver expands, the bird gets sick and then it's harvested for it's fat liver which is cooked up at restaurants like the Mayor's favorite, Patina.  We also learn from the blog that the Mayor allegedly drinks $140 bottles of wine on the city dime for his lunches.

Barack Obama's ten year old daughter Malia is apparently not a fan of Britney Spears or Paris Hilton.  According to the presumptive Democratic Presidential nominee Malia is quick to turn the channel if either of the pop culture divas show up on TV. On the other hand, Malia is a big fan of Hannah Montana star Miley Cyrus and has forgiven her for her recent photo controversy.

If you didn't have a chance to catch the blog over the weekend, here are a few things you may have missed.  First off, Full Disclosure Network reports that the price tag for the LAUSD's school construction bond measure will actually be double that of the $7 billion that is being talked about now, as well, if the bond passes state law will require all California taxpayers to kick in another $7 billion for LAUSD construction.  Next, the LAUSD will pay $50 million to a company controlled by a political associate of Mayor Villaraigosa to purchase a school construction site.  And LA Times bloggers were instructed to not blog about the recent story about John Edwards and his visit to his now admitted mistress at a local hotel.  By the way the Times justifies their spiking of the story at their "Readers Representative" blog.

Mayor Sam's Hotsheet for Tuesday

Despite the protests of NIMBYs, the City of Beverly Hills has approved a developer's $500 million project to bring the Waldorf-Astoria to the former hometown of Jed Clampett. Opponents plan to gather enough signatures to put a referendum on the ballot to overturn the Council's decision.

Normally, you see stained concrete and dripping ooze when you stare out the windows at the tunnel walls of the Metro Red Line subway, but the MTA has an idea for the tunnels near the Universal City Station - project trailers for upcoming motion pictures on the walls that riders can watch as they speed 800 feet under the Santa Monicas at 70 miles an hour. The cash strapped agency estimates it will earn several hundred thousand dollars from the scheme. Still, we're sure that Jill Stewart or Observing Anglos in the distant Westside will have an issue with it.

I missed it and so did Franklin Avenue. An LA Times piece on former LA City Mayors that gives a hat tip not only to the old, dead Republican Mayor but to the Sister City itself.

Miley Cyrus is only 15 but she's sure she knows what 21 - 25 year olds go through. The Hannah Montana star said of bad girls Britney Spears and Lindsay Lohan, "Everyone has their time. And I think most 21- to 25-year-olds go through this kind of thing. Basically, they're being normal 21-year-olds, especially Lindsay (Lohan)."