LOS ANGELES BRIEFING March 2005

News this month

Hard times for LA police

Once again, the Los Angeles Police Department is under scrutiny. The catalyst this time was the shooting and killing on February 6th of Devin Brown, a 13-year-old who was driving a stolen car. Chased by LAPD officers before dawn, Brown was allegedly backing his car into a patrol car when he was shot ten times. Matters are not helped by the fact that the boy was black, leading to accusations of racism by residents of poor south and central LA—a charge that William Bratton, the police chief, is at pains to refute. (The officer who shot the boy has not been identified, though reports say that he is Latino.) Faced with a potential loss in public confidence, the city has reformed the LAPD's shooting policy, barring officers from firing at moving vehicles unless their lives are in danger. The shooting is being investigated by the FBI, the district attorney's office and Los Angeles police.

A soggy season

Since the rainy season began in July, some 33 inches of rainwater have fallen on Los Angeles, most of it since December. Already this is one of the wettest seasons since records began in 1877. The storms have claimed several deaths and produced misery all round. Mudslides, tornadoes, water spouts and flash floods have caused property damage costing millions of dollars (most of it uninsured). Flooding has also closed down every lane of the Hollywood freeway at Santa Monica Boulevard. Television news shows repeat scenes of houses falling apart as the sodden earth beneath them slides away.

When will this mess be cleared up, and who will pay for it? Jim Hahn, Los Angeles's mayor, was quick to ask for the city to be declared a disaster zone. President George Bush has obliged, which means at least some federal money will go towards to the cost of mopping-up.

Self-love

At least the rain stopped for the Academy Awards, that annual orgy of self-congratulation by the film world. But the question that is now worrying Hollywood types is whether the Oscars are in decline. Despite the show's “edgy” host, Chris Rock, a comedian (who, in the event, stayed well clear of the edge), TV viewership in America was some 41.5m, down 5% compared with 2004 and well below the 55m who watched the film “Titanic” sweep the board in 1998.

Moreover, there were plenty of top stars who chose not to appear on the famous red carpet (where, for example, were Nicole Kidman and Julia Roberts?). At least this year’s nominations were arguably well above average, such as Clint Eastwood’s “Million Dollar Baby”, which scooped up both Best Picture and Best Director.

New flights to New York

Travelling to the Big Apple will soon become more convenient for Hollywood types. On May 24th, Jet Blue, a low-cost airline that has been expanding its operations on the west coast, will introduce flights between New York’s JFK airport and Burbank's dainty Bob Hope Airport. This will make life easier for residents of nearby Studio City, who will no longer need to trek to Long Beach to fly with Jet Blue. It will also create more competition for carriers using Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), which can only be a good thing. Jet Blue may introduce flights from Burbank to Boston and Washington, DC, in the future.

Tough times for the LA Lakers

The LA Lakers are the shared passion of Angelenos rich and poor, from Jack Nicholson cheering in his $2,000-a-game courtside seat to the thousands who cannot afford even a $10 perch in the Staples Center's back row. Locals hold that the Lakers are the NBA's best basketball team, and they expect their team to be winning both away and (especially) at home. The trouble is, they are not.

Last season, despite a star-studded line-up, the team lost the championship to the Detroit Pistons. This year, the Lakers may not even make it to the play-offs, and criticism is beginning to mount. Fans are losing faith in Kobe Bryant, a player whose talent is matched by a sizeable ego (and lawyer fees). Adding to their woes, the Lakers recently lost two coaches: Phil Jackson (who won three NBA championships for the team) resigned at the end of last season; Rudy Tomjanovich, citing the stress of the job, left in January. Who will stop the rot? Rumour has it that the Lakers are trying to persuade Mr Jackson to return.

Living longer

February brought more bad news for the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), whose 746,800 students from kindergarten through 12th grade make it the nation’s second-largest. This time, it is not the academic standards that are causing concern, nor other traditional LAUSD problems such as violence and drugs. Instead, the non-partisan Legislative Analyst's Office in Sacramento uncovered what amounts to an actuarial problem: the LAUSD’s retired teachers and other employees are living longer, which means their entitlement to life-time medical benefits needs to last longer, too.

According to the legislative analyst, the district needs to put away some $500m a year (8% of its current budget) for the next 30 years to ensure it can meet a liability which could rise as high as $11 billion.

No left turn

Woody Allen, with typical east-coast disdain for Los Angeles, once said that the only cultural advantage to La-la-land “is that you can turn right on a red light”. But what about turning left?

The cities of Pasadena and Fullerton, both within the Los Angeles region, are experimenting with a flashing yellow arrow on left-turn signals that lets drivers turn if there's no oncoming traffic.

Whether the idea could be transferred to LA itself remains to be seen: one problem is that although thousands of intersections are controlled by traffic lights, very few of them have left-turn signals. This situation has created the dangerous “LA left turn”, whereby a first driver edges into the middle of the intersection, followed by a second driver, and both turn left as soon as the lights turn red.

Catch if you can

March 2005

“Hand Eye Heart”

Until April 2nd 2005

David Hockney has long been a Los Angeles icon, famous for capturing the light and mood of Santa Monica, Beverly Hills and the swimming pools of film stars. But it would be a mistake to label the British-born painter a Californian artist, not least because he now lives mainly in England. The results of this return to his roots are on display at the LA Louver gallery (his usual LA outlet) in Venice.

This is a marvellous collection of watercolours, mainly of the East Yorkshire landscape near Mr Hockney’s home town of Bradford. Look out for “Trees and Puddles, East Yorkshire”, which is truly evocative of the northern countryside, and a long way from Venice Beach.

LA Louver, 45 North Venice Boulevard, Venice, CA 90291. Tel: +1 (310) 822-4955. For further details, see the gallery's website. More from the Los Angeles cultural calendar