Or: Taking the “Public” Out of “Public Education”

I think as a student, you always expect your fees to go up.  But 32%?  Oof.  Students and those with supportive parents are going to face a mid-year increase of 15 percent to student fees and tuition, then (ouch) another 15 percent increase effective summer 2010.  A panel of UC Regents meeting today – in front of hundreds of students protesting on campus – just agreed to the fee hikes.  This comes at a time when the same Regents are asking $913 million from the state to cover budget shortfalls and, um, in the middle of a recession that is so bad that student lenders are playing hardball when it comes to renegotiating student loans.  The full UC Regents Board will meet tomorrow to approve the approval, at which time more protests are planned.

What should the Regents do instead of barricading public access to education?  Some helpful suggestions here at the Remaking the University blog.

VerdElf at SantaCon 2008 (Photo courtesy of Colin Young-Wolff and the LA Times)

Details about the annual Santa Conference (SantaCon) is usually unavailable this early in the year and the veracity of any information that does become available is often in question due to Santa’s propensity for pranking. What we do know is this, the annual conference is coordinated by a shadowy figure known only as “Santa” and while he sometimes tolerates elves at his annual gathering,  he will do anything it takes to keep those damn clowns from ruining his jolly good time.

While specific details about SantaCon are never revealed until it is actually happening, I just received some intel regarding this year’s event that may be helpful for those of you who are looking to either participate or avoid it altogether. My sources have informed me that this year’s event will take place on Saturday, December 12.

I am also told that Santa is likely to be traveling on foot instead of bus this year, which means a $5 Metro Day Pass is all you’re going to need to hurl your cheer onto every street corner.

Last year, Santa merged at Echo Park Lake to begin the conference. So far, no one has revealed the exact starting location of this year’s event, but to me downtown seems like an obvious choice. Then, you never really know with Santa.

Ho, ho, ho.

In a quick follow up to Lucinda Michele’s post about local tattoo artist Jeremy Swan who was going to attempt to break the world record by completing more than 801 tattoos in 24 hours…

He did it. Quick matchbook math on that says he did one tattoo every 1.6 minutes to pull that off. Which seems about right, I was there at midnight and had an appointment to be in the first hour (because who wants to be in the last hour?!) and was the 12th person to get tattooed. It was kind of a madhouse:

I got these two and he spent about a minute and 10 seconds or so on each. Maybe. Same for the friends I went with so he was off to a good pace. It was super fun to be a part of the event, congrats Jeremy!

My friend and fellow blogger Ann Erdman aka Pasadena PIO dropped the tidbit on facebook.  Tonight from 7PM until 3AM Saturday Pasadena PD will be running Sobriety Check Points in random locations around Pasadena.  My advice to the Old Town Pas partiers…take the Gold Line .

Yesterday afternoon there was a shooting in Venice, followed up by another in Santa Monica last night. Both shootings left one victim dead and countless others terrified. The LA Times Blog has lots of details on the actual shootings but makes no mention that these were both gang related shootings, a fact the LAPD confirmed with Yo! Venice. Residents of the area heard shots and began questioning things right away. A source which asked not to be named told me that both the victim in the first shooting in Venice and the shooters who were apprehended in the second shooting in Santa Monica are members of the Venice Shoreline Crips. The LAPD hasn’t confirmed that publicly yet however. If you’ve been following this at all you’ll remember that last year a huge sting brought down 19 members and earlier this year I spotted some of their tags on a wall in the area. Clearly the busts didn’t eradicate the gang as was hoped by many, and clearly something is going down right now. Hopefully it gets under control before more people get shot.

UPDATE: Here’s an eye witness report from Bujinkan Santa Monica.

On the heels of last month’s elimination of Saber’s huge L.A. River mural, comes news via CBS2.com that today a contractor with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has begun painting over the gigantic MTA tag (Wiki page) on the river’s west bank estimated to be almost 60-feet tall and a third of a mile long.

According to this L.A. Times story from January of this year, seven members of the crew suspected of painting the the tag (which stands for “Metro Transit Assassins”) were arrested.

In that article the Army Corps of Engineers said it “estimates that removing the MTA tag from the river alone will cost $3.7 million because hazardous materials crews must create an elaborate dam to capture all the paint and runoff water so it doesn’t get into the riverbed.”

Federal stimulus money well-spent?

Remember last week when I posted that rant about the garbage piling up next door? Well thanks to my friend Jonathan’s intel, I was able to track down the owner of the business and they hauled away all of the trash today! This renews my belief in the notion that one person (with the help of some well connected friends) can make a difference. I’d like to thank the owner of Natural Mind, Arnaud Ozharun for taking my complaint seriously, but above all, for taking action. Drinks are on me!

Trash Pile No Longer Clutters Natural Mind's Parking Lot

A fire that broke out in Griffith Park that the LAFD first reported an hour ago as 0.5-1 acre in size acres has grown to five acres according to the the most recent Twitter update 45 minutes ago from @LAFD on Twitter.

The picture of the fire as seen from the 134 overpass above the 5 Freeway comes from my friend Patricia (taken by her friend Monica) who posted it on Twitter around the same time as the LAFD’s last update.

UPDATE (10.01): LAist is reporting that it took firefighters 59 minutes to contain the blaze. There were no reported injuries or structural damage, and the cause is under investigation.

Sadness. I’ve just learned from Ed Fuentes at Blogdowntown that the Laemmle’s Grande 4-Plex theater on Figueroa beneath the Marriott Hotel (where Christopher Walken danced in a certain Fatboy Slim video) is slated to shut down October 25, coincidentally just two days before the opening of the Regal Cinemas LA Live Stadium 14.

Fuentes quotes Laemmle Director of Operations Kevin Gallagher: “It’s always been difficult to bring people downtown and even though the image of the city changing, we felt it was best to close the doors.”

The comments to the post echo my dissapointment. But I take some consolation that at least they didn’t close because of me. Laemmles had no difficulty bringing me and my wife Susan downtown from Silver Lake. Long unenamored with the Arclight $tyle of movie-going (and the gridlock getting there), Laemmle’s Grande was a cherished alternative. A bit seedy and frayed and firmly lacking in the latest cinema technology, sure. But none of that mattered.

It has been our theater of choice for going on three years. We could get there in 10 minutes, conveniently park across the street for $2 and relish the $6 matinee ticket prices, which made bad movies suck a little less… like “Public Enemies,” the last movie we saw there.

With the exception of one or two trips to the Vista every movie we’ve been coaxed into seeing since we first found the place in 2006 has been viewed there in the Marriot’s basement — with good popcorn, no screaming kids, no crowds, and by and large among people who know good movie theater etiquette. It was like a best-kept secret — too best kept, I guess (but not for lack of me crowing about it here back in November 2006).

I’m going to miss this place tremendously. In fact, since you won’t catch me navigating the chaos of Regal’s new LA Live pleximania, I’d hazard to say with its closing we’ll be going out for movies less and waiting to stay in and see them on Blu-Ray more.

American Apparel will fire “about 1800 workers in coming days– more than a quarter of its workforce” in Los Angeles, according to an article that appeared on the NY Times site minutes ago.

The firings are a result of the Obama administration’s efforts to crack down on illegal immigration by forcing companies to fire undocumented workers instead of staging workplace raids.

According to the article, the investigation of American Apparel began 17 months ago under President George W. Bush, but has become regarded by the the Obama administration as a “showcase” for its work to reduce illegal immigration.