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Lights, cameras, money
Since Plaza de Panama in Balboa Park has been turned into a citizen space rather than parking space for cars, a new film commission will not be able to cordon off the entire area in front of the Museum of Fine Arts for film apparatus and vans and catering as once was customary. I also hope area homes will not be requisitioned for making movies, thus turning entire neighborhoods into no-go zones for residents and visitors, as also used to happen when we were busy selling San Diego to Hollywood for TV and movie locations. San Diego will be a tougher location sell than in the old days, because it is generally less well-kept and attractive. You can only ignore cratered streets, curbs and sidewalks so long before the neglect begins to show. And out in the 'burbs, homeowners are busy sowing rocks rather than grass lawns, so that alone says Tucson rather than San Diego. The revived film commission will have its work cut out.— November 2, 2015 9:04 p.m.
Can L.A. billionaire’s cash halt U-T layoffs?
Desperate times. I'd rather see the LA Times and SD Union-Tribune in the hands of aging localish Democratic billionaires on power trips than being bled to death by accountants and shareholders in Chicago. That's where we're heading. Meanwhile, has anyone other than Readerwriter Matt Potter ever linked Irwin Jacobs and Eli Broad in the same sentence when speculating about a So Cal buyout of Tribune Company's once-prime properties? Just asking, but I don't think so. Maybe Potter will be prophetic. Anyway, all the opposition to Broad is coming from the teachers union that has branded him the enemy for his devotion to taking public money and making charter schools. I'm not crazy about that aspect of the idea myself, but the track record of public education in Los Angeles and San Diego does not inspire admiration or confidence. Neither the newspapers nor the schools could be in more peril than at present, so I'm praying for a change.— October 31, 2015 4:29 p.m.
The NFL will lie to you. Anytime. Anywhere.
What a great column from Patrick Daugherty, deconstructing NFL truth to local Bolts-loving yokels. It's excruciating to read the list of steps required for members of the paying public to get a barcoded entry pass to be heard today by a bunch of third-string NFL functionaries. These guys must have taken a leaf from the playbook of public school boards of education which launch expensive superintendent "searches" by hilariously seeking input on "desirable characteristics" for their next six-figure-salary "educator/leader."— October 28, 2015 3:17 p.m.
Close down Crawford High immediately
California teachers just hate to hear about statewide school rankings based on rubrics that show some schools are failures. At every turn the state is now eliminating tests that show the ugly truth about the extent of California's educational shortfall. (The CTA teachers union is afraid that students' test scores may be used as part of teachers' evaluations, as is the case in New York State.) If every single student at Crawford were an English Language Learner recently arrived from Somalia -- which they are not -- it would not excuse an academic standing of 3 on a scale of ten. You need not close a historic high school, but you do need to make drastic changes in class sizes, kids' time on task, teachers' approach to instruction and leadership to accommodate the academic needs of those students. Where the heck is Superintendent Cindy Marten -- playing principal musical chairs ? Isn't this where that extra Jerry Brown tax money was supposed to go?— October 27, 2015 5:26 p.m.
Fired San Diego publisher gets journo school platform
The country's been in business model-mode for a long time now -- after all, that's why we have Bernie Sanders running for President. But it's simplistic to say only moguls are pushing a selfish agenda backed by limitless money. When it comes to money and strategic clout and public education, privatizing charter-loving Walton and Broad and Jacobs and Bloomberg and Gates have met their match in the California Teachers Association which pushes a different selfish me-first vision that is stunning in scope and leaves public school kids in the cold. CTA is spending big-time to overthrow the Vergara court decision which challenged last-hired-first-fired. (Union rules rule!) CTA just killed off the benchmark standardized California High School Exit Exam and is working to assure there will be no replacement. (Too much time spent on testing!) CTA opposes teacher evaluations that use even a fraction of student performance results and occur not more often than once every five years. (False accountability and harassment!) CTA upholds protracted "due process" dismissals using teacher-dominated panels. (Rigged due process is also sacred!) CTA upholds the long-time trade-off between highest teacher salaries in the nation for the largest class sizes, locally at 36+ kids. (High cost of living! Screw the kids! Where's the parent involvement!) CTA has a total lock on elected Democratic Governor Brown, elected Democratic Superintendent of Public Instruction Torlakson and the elected Democratic-majority State Legislature because CTA is the richest and most powerful lobby in Sacramento and delivers campaign cash and shoe-leather at election time. CTA even got Brown to reverse the flow of ed dollars in the new little-understood Local Control Funding Formula. This vague wrinkle sends extra tax-dollars for struggling students from Sac to union-elected school boards like San Diego's where the money will go, well, actually, the sheeple haven't the faintest clue where the money's going even though community members were supposed to be central to the decision-making. What I'm saying is there are plenty of black hats to go around. And by the way, national teachers' unions AFT and NEA, to which CTA belongs, have endorsed Hillary Clinton, just like Broad and Jacobs and maybe some others of those rich bad boys.— October 20, 2015 4:43 p.m.
Fired San Diego publisher gets journo school platform
Mood rings. I once left a sleeping kid in the carseat to dash into Macy's for a mood ring for a 'tweener sib and came back to find a mall detective standing by the vehicle, waiting to arrest me. I blew him off and went home. A real detective stopped by my house weeks later to tell me never-do-that-again, and I never did. Anyway, funny comment, the U-T saleswoman being on commission and all.— October 20, 2015 2:35 p.m.
U-T dispute with parent gets ink
Now that they are paired, how would it be possible to separate the LAT from the U-T? That's a terrible idea since the U-T is now without its Mission Valley home and presses and is worse than an orphan: It's a ship of journalists without even a sail.— October 18, 2015 5:50 p.m.
U-T dispute with parent gets ink
I have trouble imagining an editorial cartoonist going up against Tribune Company's Los Angeles Times in court. I wanted to cancel my subscription over Rall's firing, but the LAT is my only print newspaper delivered to the door, so I just wrote a few letters. I hope Ted Rall will sue and will set up a legal defense fund for himself.— October 18, 2015 5:44 p.m.
U-T dispute with parent gets ink
Quite right, "doofus" only re alleged jaywalking incident with fired cartoonist Ted Rall. In most other cases, I would agree, LAPD cops seem quick to rough people up, to engage in wild and deadly car chases and to fire indiscriminately -- remember the poor woman who was shot in her truck while home-delivering Los Angeles Time newspapers during the Doerner manhunt. Not exactly "protect and serve."— October 18, 2015 5:25 p.m.
U-T dispute with parent gets ink
There seems to be terrible infighting going on between Chicago parent Tribune Company and its SoCal properties San Diego Union-Tribune and Los Angeles Times and it is made manifest in many ways. Today the LATimes reported on Page One that Los Angeles' Police Department routinely under-counts the number of violent crimes happening there, presumably to make itself look good -- but bad for building public trust. Austin Beutner, Angeleno publisher of the two SoCal dailies, was fired recently after only one year by Chicago Tribune for undermining Chicago's authority. Before his own autumnal demise, Beutner in midsummer publicly called out and fired the paper's trenchant editorial cartoonist Ted Rall on charges about resisting a jaywalking ticket over a decade ago. The LA Times never printed a single letter about the loss of Rall, whose work had appeared weekly for years. Afterward it was rumored that Beutner had political ambitions and did the Police Officers union a favor by canning the cartoonist. Rall's frequent hilarious target had been the doofus LAPD.— October 15, 2015 7:18 p.m.