Law Enforcement

Crime alerts for Lake Balboa and 11 other L.A. neighborhoods
Crime reports are up significantly for the latest week in 12 L.A. neighborhoods, according to an analysis of LAPD data by the Los Angeles Times' Crime L.A. database. Six neighborhoods reported a significant increase in violent crime. Lake Balboa was the most unusual, recording four reports compared with a weekly average of 0.8 over the last three months. Pacific Palisades topped the list of six neighborhoods with property crime alerts.
Los Angeles Times

LAPD looks for leads in slaying of Glassell Park woman
Los Angeles police Tuesday were seeking the public's help in the slaying of an 18-year-old woman in Glassell Park. Nichole Zuniga was gunned down about 9 p.m. Monday in the 3200 block of Verdugo Road, the Los Angeles Police Department said. She was pronounced dead at the scene. A 21-year-old man, identified by the LAPD as Michael Cortes, was wounded in the shooting and taken to a local hospital. He was listed Tuesday in critical condition.
Los Angeles Times

Thieves posing as city workers blamed for rash of distraction burglaries
Thieves who pose as city workers are being blamed today for a rash of distraction burglaries in the Los Angeles Police Department's Foothill patrol area. Posing as either Department of Water and Power employees or City of Los Angeles construction workers, the suspects knock on the door of a residence, engage whoever answers in conversation and talk their way to backyard or into the house ostensibly to check wires, according to a Police Department statement.
Los Angeles Daily News

Tear gas ends 10-hour standoff with gunman in LA
Police say they've arrested a man who fired gunshots during a 10-hour standoff at a West Los Angeles home. City News Service says a SWAT team fired tear gas into the Rochester Avenue home to subdue the man at about 6:45 a.m. Tuesday. His name wasn't immediately released. Officer Bruce Borihanh says police were called to the home shortly after 8:30 p.m. Monday after someone calling from out of state said a man there was threatening to kill himself and others.
Associated Press

Body found in SUV had gunshot wound in chest, coroner says
L.A. County coroner's investigators say the body of a man found decomposing in a parked SUV in the Fairfax district had a gunshot wound to the chest. Authorities say the body found in a Cadillac Escalade probably had been in the vehicle for several days and was so decomposed that it was unidentifiable. KTLA's David Begnaud also wrote in a tweet Tuesday: "Vehicle's owner: SUV had been 'rented out' " but added no additional details.
Los Angeles Times

Pensions

Pension measures' success points to cities' failure
There is a lot of celebrating going on right now about a pair of pension measures that passed in California. Corporate and conservative interests who spent huge amounts of money on these retirement-gutting measures in San Jose and San Diego are using the results to justify fresh attacks on firefighters, police officers, teachers and other public employees. These elections were not a loss for unions. They were a loss for middle-class workers who keep our cities safe and clean, protect our homes and families, and serve our communities every day.
Sacramento Bee

San Jose lowers pensions for new hires
A week after voters overwhelmingly passed a measure to cut costly city employee retirement plans, the San Jose City Council took the first step to put those intentions into action by voting Tuesday to shrink pension benefits for new city hires. Under the council's 9-1 vote with several union-backed members joining in support, new city workers except for police officers and firefighters will have to pay half the cost of their pension, which will have smaller payouts and a higher retirement age. The city is seeking reduced pensions for new cops and firefighters through arbitration.
San Jose Mercury News

Stanley Cup Celebration

Stanley Cup: All tickets to Kings rally Thursday are sold out
All 18,000 tickets for the L.A. Kings celebration at Staples Center are sold out, organizers said Tuesday night. The hourlong "championship rally" is scheduled to begin at Staples Center on Thursday at 2:30 p.m. and will feature video highlights, presentations and speeches from several players. The event, along with a downtown parade, were announced following the team's Stanley Cup victory Monday over the New Jersey Devils, the team said.
Los Angeles Times

City Government

L.A. Council mulls requiring banks to pay 'enforcement fee' for foreclosed homes
Three years after the Los Angeles City Council created a foreclosure registry to track distressed properties, city officials want stricter rules to help clean up neglected bank-owned homes in neighborhoods like Pacoima and South L.A. On Wednesday, the City Council will consider asking banks to pay an "enforcement fee" when filing a notice of default on a residential property - one of the first steps in the foreclosure process.
Los Angeles Daily News

Council panel approves $67.3-million subsidy for downtown hotel
A key committee of the Los Angeles City Council backed a $67.3-million subsidy for a new downtown hotel Tuesday, prompting a lawsuit threat from another hotel not far away. The council's Trade, Commerce and Tourism Committee voted 2 to 1 for an agreement that allows the developers of a new Marriott hotel complex on Olympic Boulevard to keep an amount equal to half of the new revenue -- sales taxes, property taxes, parking taxes, business taxes, utility taxes and room taxes -- that would be generated by the project over 25 years.
Los Angeles Times

Education

L.A. school board approves shorter school year, employee pay cuts
The Los Angeles Board of Education on Tuesday approved a labor deal that could preserve thousands of jobs but would shorten the school year by up to a week and reduce teacher salaries as much as 5%. Members of the teachers union, United Teachers Los Angeles, also must approve the pact. They are scheduled to vote starting Wednesday. The agreement would not prevent all cost-cutting: More than 1,300 members of UTLA still are expected to lose jobs.
Los Angeles Times