Former gang member, now community activist Najee Ali, 45, was sentenced to four years in prison yesterday after pleading guilty for attempting to bribe a witness in a case about his daughter. He normally would have recieved two years, but the doubling was due to a 1992 robbery conviction and a 2004 parole violation, according to the LA Times. Ali has been a consistent figure in local activism, once being appointed to a city commission......

Lt. Gov. John Garamendi announced today that he is running for governor in 2010, according to the Sacramento Bee, who lists his more than three decade career. San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom has already announced his interest in running as well as Attorney General Jerry Brown. Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa was rumored to have his eyes set on running for Governor, but so far, all signs point towards him re-running for Mayor.......

Mayor Villaraigosa speaks at a press conference with Councilman Bill Rosendahl and LADOT General Manager behind him | Photo by Tyrone D. Washington, Mayor's Office Have you seen these signs attached to signal poles around the city? It's part of the city's synchronized traffic light system and today, the latest one, the $6.9 million Westchester/LAX Signal Sync System, was put into operation. “Today, we are giving commuters here on the Westside the green light,”......

Submitted and authored by Michael Zampelli The Los Angeles Derby Dolls hosted their own contribution to the Mayor's Day of Service with a banked-track skating demonstration for inner-city kids, seminars on self-improvement, a neighborhood clean-up, Thi Chi classes, Yoga, Self Defense instruction and even a hazardous materials disposal unit and oil recycling center. Mayor Villaraigosa and Los Angeles Laker Jordan Farmar along with other local celebrities arrived in the morning to address the crowd and......

Mayor Villaraigosa is not in Los Angeles today -- he's in Washington DC. Now that Senator Hillary Clinton is out of the race for the White House, the mayor has put his support behind Senator Barack Obama. And today's supportive move is to "introduce Obama at the annual convention of the League of United Latin American Citizens, or LULAC," according to the Daily News.......

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom took his first official steps to run for Governor by launching an exploratory committee today. He is the first Democrat to formally do so. Attorney General Jerry Brown also plans on trying to replace Schwarzenegger and as for Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, he has been "discussed as a possible candidate, although he faces reelection in 2009, which could complicate any run for higher office," says the LA Times.......

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa presides over a same-sex wedding ceremony for Academy Award winning producer Bruce Cohen and his partner, New York art consultant Gabriel Catone, right, in the Mayor's press conference room at the Los Angeles City Hall on Monday, June 23, 2008 (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes) After missing the boat on the first days of same-sex marriage due to two out-of-town trips, Mayor Villaraigosa finally began to fill his promise of marrying "as many......

Now that Hillary Clinton has dropped out of the race, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has moved on to helping Obama, something he announced immediately after Clinton made the decision earlier this month. "I spoke with Sen. Clinton yesterday and I said to her, `I've never been prouder to support a presidential candidate,'" Villaraigosa said, according to Rick Orlov of the Daily News. "I also believe that Barack Obama is going to be a great standard-bearer for......

There's a lot of confusion out there about Los Angeles City Council President, Eric Garcetti, these days. He's a superdelegate for Barack Obama (which leads to people throwing out the "cabinet position" question), it's often brought up that he has congressional aspirations, there's a viral website to elect Garcetti for D.A. of Gotham City (ah, yes, the new Batman movie), Mayor Tommy Carcetti is a character in HBO's The Wire (you can buy reelection t-shirts)......

Antonio R. Villaraigosa, Mayor of Los Angeles, left, greets children at a grade school in the town of Sderot, southern Israel, Friday June 13, 2008. (AP Photo/Tara Todras-Whitehill) Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa left Wednesday on a week-long trip to Israel (the third time during his political career) to learn and bring back security improvements to Los Angeles International Airport and the city's Harbor. He will also be sharing what the city is doing with its......

"The city of Palm Springs invites same-sex couples to come to our welcoming community and experience this historic opportunity," writes Palm Springs Mayor Steve Pougnet on a website encouraging couples to marry in the desert city. "We are prepared to help you with all your wedding needs and embrace you on this, this most wonderful day of your life." Pougnet, two Palm Springs city council members and former Mayor Rod Oden, all openly gay, have......

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has agreed to preside over gay marriages after the ban is lifted at 5:01 p.m. on June 16 -- though, he is scheduled to be in Israel at that time. "I've told a number of couples that I will be happy to preside," the mayor said per Rick Orlov at the Daily News. "I will marry as many people as possible." Same-sex marriage will be challenged on the November ballot and Orlov......

Daily News' political blog highlights more about Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's switch from Sen. Hillary Clinton to Sen. Barack Obama. "I am focused on winning back the White House and changing the course of our foreign policy and domestic policy," he said to reporters on Thursday. "... now that Sen. Obama is the presumptive nominee, I have said for a long time that I am prepared to work as hard for him as I have for......

By the end of 2008, there will have been three elections, the last one being the Presidential. But after that, things won't be calming down as major city races head into full swing mode. Councilwoman Wendy Greuel will run for City Controller and City Controller Laura Chick will probably run for City Council. But of note is who will run against Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa for the biggest job of all? Rumors and talk of who......

Members of a Los Angeles City Council committee took 50 hours to deliberate, but finally put their stamp of approval on a $7 billion budget for the city. In the past weeks, news of proposed cuts to services and the elimination of several jobs have rippled through the city, causing anger and apprehension about what life would be like for some Angelenos under the new plan. However, some of the proposed cuts were reversed in......

Here's one simple step on how to lose a city's morale and trust of city government, via Kerry Cavanaugh at the Daily News: The council discussed adding scheduled street sweeping to 8,600 miles of city streets. By installing signs that indicate "no parking" during scheduled street-sweeping times, the city could establish regular, more effective sweeping - and, potentially, earn $20 million by ticketing cars parked during sweeping times. "We have a lot of opportunity in......

Photo by Tracy_O via Flickr Today, Mayor Villaraigosa is set to release budget recommendations for the next fiscal year. He already said we are $406 million short this year and like last year, there will be much discussion and debate at the city council level of what to save and what to keep cut. Here are two lists, a top 5 of what to save and what to cut. What to Cut and Slash......

Mayor Villaraigosa addressed his third State of the City at the LAPD's Parker Center last night, focusing in on gangs and the city budget, but also with some other talking points that were worth noting: On public transit: "Our national leaders must rethink the balance of our spending on highways vs. subways. It's time to recognize that the only true solution to long-term to gridlock in Los Angeles or anywhere else in the country is......

It's that time of the year again for Mayor Villaraigosa to make the annual State of the City speech at the LAPD's Parker Center. His third one since taking office, tonight's address is expected to focus in on the red-lined budget and crime, specifically gangs. In a poignant LA Times editorial, they say tonight presents him with "opportunity and obligation. He must make clear that he has a firm grip on" these two issues. Furthermore,......

Photo by Jonathan Alcorn (aka Sundogg) via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr An update on last night's Midnight Movie (you really need to watch this): Curbed has the rendering of the proposed development and for five-stories, it looks a bit... out of proportion. Authorities are on the hunt for the killer of a 25-year-old homeless man whose body was found Sunday night in Venice. The victim was apparently beaten to death. Another......

In Rick Orlov's weekly Daily News column on City Hall and local politics, today he touches on the Democratic presidential race and Los Angeles Mayor Villaraigosa, who has recently been criticized for his time away from the city to campaign for Hillary Clinton. He defends his out-of-town moves and talks about what happens if Clinton loses: "Look, if you're a big-city mayor and you want money from Washington, you have to get involved in these......

With an online guide for names like "Villaraigosa", we thought it's time to help educate Angelenos on other elected officials whose names often get mis-pronounced. Now,we don't have an handy audio files like the Mayor has for his name, but we've done our best to help you pronounce their last names phonetically. Councilman Tom LaBonge: luh-BONJCounty Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky: yaar-o-SLAV-skeeCouncilman Jose Huizar: WEE-sarDon't even get us started on how to pronounce the City's name (or......

Apparently, 23-seconds can be a long time for some. That's how long it takes to listen to Mayor Villaraigosa's "Welcome to 3-1-1" speech when you call the city's 24-hour operator hotline which is available for connection to any city service except emergency 911 calls. It's so long, in fact, some crotchety residents rather deal with their local council office than sit around for the speech, that includes an additional 10-seconds that explains pressing 1 for......

Photographs of the damaged recruiting center (above) and Mayor Bloomberg and Police Commissioner Kelly (below) by Mary Altaffer/AP After reports that 10 members of congress, including California Senator Dianne Feinstein, received letters and photos in the mail that possibly claimed responsibility for yesterday's bombing in Times Square, the FBI did the obvious thing: go to the man's house who was listed on the return address. Nothing turned up when they questioned the man. "We're......

Photo by Lush.i.ous via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr Speaking of that 14-car pile-up this morning on the 101 freeway, how about this fact via the Daily Breeze? There's a near $11-billion price "cost to society" due to car crashes according to a study called "Crashes: What's the Cost to Society?" According to the study -- conducted on behalf of the American Automobile Association by the transportation policy firm Cambridge Systematics --......

In 2000, California voters passed Proposition 22, which denied the freedom to marry for gay, lesbian and transgender couples. Today, the California Supreme Court heard oral arguments challenging that law. Maybe you remember back when Gavin Newsom, former Mayor of San Francisco, provided marriage licenses to same-sex couples and then those licenses were revoked. His actions were a challenge -- albeit one that didn't pan out -- to the law. Now, if the Court votes......

Beginning tomorrow night, South Pasadena will be the first city to claim a no-cussing week proclamation. And it's thanks to 14-year-old McKay Hatch who founded the "No Cussing Club." He explains on his website what this is all about: "A lot of kids at my school, and some of my friends, would cuss and use dirty language all the time. They did it so much, they didn't even realize they were doing it. It bothered......

Photo by JeremyRyan via Flickr No more are the days where Mayor Villaraigosa is a rock star celebrity who stood as a symbol of change for Los Angeles. The LA Times this weekend, along with LAist late last week, questioned the Mayor's time on the road with the Hillary Clinton campaign. The Mayor says the trip scheduled to end Wednesday comes to an end today because a lot was already accomplished, but the Daily......

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has once again set off for another city that is not his own to help a candidate that has no stake in running Los Angeles. And you could be paying for it. This time, Mayor Tony set off on a five-city, five-day tour to help Hillary Clinton win the Texas Primary so critical to her presidential aspirations. (As of now, polling indicates a dead heat, with some polls indicating Obama has an......

For the last ten years, state representatives from Los Angeles have dominated the role of Speaker of the Assembly, including Mayor Villaraigosa, LA City Council Herb Wesson and Anaheim Mayor Curt Pringle. Today, Karen Bass, the assemblywoman who represents neighborhoods from West LA to Culver City to Baldwin Hills, had enough votes to become Speaker of the Assembly up in Sacramento. The job of speaker is to be the leader of the California State Assembly,......