Invisible L.A.

In the last few days news has broken out about the Westland group which is located in Chino. California providing some bad beef to the Los Angeles Unified School District(LAUSD). About 37 million pounds of beef have been recalled that had gone to the school lunch programs. There are 150 school districts across the nation that have stopped using the ground beef from the processing plant Hallmark Meat Co. which is associated with Westland distrubters.

The issue at large about the beef that the processing company Hallmark Meat Co. and their distrubuter Westland had provided was that many of the cows were downed cattle. The downed cattle pose health risks or pose a higher risk of contamination of E. Coli, Salmonella or mad cow disease. The downed cows wallow in feces and their immune systems are low and or weak, hence picking up such diseases.

The USDA is investigating into the issue along with Senator Diane Feinstein of California. The USDA has suspended the operations of Westland and Hallmark until the federals have completed a full investigation. Jack In The Box, the fast food chain is also affected by the downed cows and has stopped taking orders from the companies.

Ok. It is now 8:00 AM (PST). Indeed it is Super Tuesday. That’s right. C’mon Angelenos come on out and vote and let your voice be heard. There are plenty of state propositions to vote on as well as voting to narrow down which Presidential candidate you want on your parties ticket in the November General elections. The voting booths will remain open until 8:00 PM tonight.

So how are you going to vote? Who are going to vote for? Do you know about any of the current presidential candidates and what they stand for? Do you know about any of the propositions and measures? So get out and research. Than go to your designated polling place and vote.

You may also find out which Presidential Candidates were certified to be on the current 2008 California Primaries at the California Gov page for elections.

You may find a list of the current propositons at California’s Voter Guide. There are 7 Propositions which are 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96 and 97.

Proposition 91: Transportation Funds

Proposition 92: Funding, Governance, Fees For Community Colleges

Proposition 93: Term Limits For Legislators In Office

Proposition 94 - Proposition 97: Amendment To Indian Gaming Compact
Proposition S (Los Angeles)

If you need to find out where your polling place is to vote in Los Angeles, you may visit LA Vote.
Or call the following phone numbers to find out. (800) 815-2666 (Local Callers Only) or (562) 466-1310

Indeed things are heating up in the current United States 2008 Presidential elections. The Republican and Democratic Debates have come to Southern California. The Republican Debate will be held Wednesday, January 30, 2008 at the Ronald Reagan Library in Simi Valley, California. And the Democratic debate will be held Thursday, January  31, 2008 at the Kodak Theater in Hollywood, California. Both debates will be aired roughly around 6 PM (PST). You may view the debates on CNN. I am also sure that a few of the debates will be aired on local television stations across American as well. Check your local listings. The debates are co-sponsored by Politico.com, The Los Angeles Times and the Reagan Library.

Candidates dropping out like flys after some heavy losses in Florida. It is expected that Former New York City Mayor to drop out and not participate in tonights Republican debate. Former North Carolina Senator John Edwards has dropped out and will not particpate in Thursday nights Democratic debate. There are some political analysits are saying that quite possibly that Romney will win the Republican debate and I think it will be a toss up between Clinton and Obama for the Democratic debate.

From what I see, that the following candidates will participate in the Republican Debate will be:

Senator John McCain

Representative Ron Paul

Mitt Romney

Mike Huckabee

For the Democratic Debate:

Senator Hillary Clinton

Mike Gravel

Barack Obama

I know that many of the presidential candidates even have Myspace profiles. Anything to get their faces and agenda’s out to the younger votes. Something to the effect of what Rock The Vote did in the 1990’s which helped register over 2 million voters. Rock The Vote organization was organized in 1990 in Los Angeles. Another way to reach out to the public and the younger vote is to implent questions from voters who post them on Youtube. You may find the Rebulican Debate page as well as the page for the Democratic Debate page at YouTube.

The final outcome of who be the final two candidates to battle it out for the November 2008 Presidential elections will be decided at the Parties Conventions. The Democratic Convention will take place in Denver, Colorado from August 25- 28, 2008. The Republican Convention will take place in Saint Paul, Minnesota, September 1 -4, 2008.

The California Primaries will take place on Tuesday, February 5, 2008.

Barack Obama is holding a town meeting at Los Angeles Trade Tech meeting(LATT) on Thursday, January 31, 2008. Doors open at 8:00 AM in the morning and is by personal invite only. My first thought about the town meeting being at LATT was about an racial profilling incident that happened late last year(Fall - 2007) on campus. A LATT student caught the incident on his cell phone and taped it. LATT Racial Profiling. But I am sure that is not the main reason that Barack Obama is having a town meeting there other than to answer questions in a Los Angeles community area.

Salma Hayek and Vanessa Williams joined the opening celebration of the Sergio Rossi boutique on Melrose Place. The Italian luxury shoes and accessories brand, Sergio Rossi opened its 1,500 sq. ft. store with a dinner at Bastide co-hosted by Sergio Rossi Creative Director Edmundo Castillo and Salma Hayek on January 16, 2008.

Other guests included Mia Maestro, Ana Ortiz, Giannina Facio, Eva Chow, celebrity florist Eric Buterbaugh, and celebrity stylists Elizabeth Stewart and Rachel Zoe. Teri Weinberg of NBC and writer Marc Abrams were also in attendance.

Sergio Rossi at 8424 Melrose Place, West Hollywood. (323) 944-0864. 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday, noon to 5 p.m. Sunday.

You can reserve your Greyhound bus seat for an additional $5 per ticket

Reserved seating is sold one way and in select cities on specific schedules. The reserved seat upgrade must be purchased in person at the departure terminal, even if you bought your ticket online. Priority seating may be reserved from 30 days in advance to 45 minutes prior to departure, but you must be present at the gate no fewer than 20 minutes before departure.

GreyHound Bus Tickets amy be purchased at the follwoing location in Los Angeles:

Greyhound Bus Lines Hollywood
1715 N Cahuenga Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90028
(323) 466-6384

Priority seating initiative is available across the United States on the following routes:

Atlanta-Orlando; Atlanta-Charlotte; Atlanta-Savannah; Atlanta-Tallahassee; Baltimore-New York; Boston-New York; Charlotte-Richmond; Chicago-Memphis; Chicago-Milwaukee; Chicago-Minneapolis; Cincinnati, all schedules; Cleveland, all schedules; Dallas-Houston; Dallas-San Antonio; Detroit-all schedules; Houston-Dallas; Jacksonville-Charlotte; Jacksonville-Tallahassee; Las Vegas-Los Angeles; Las Vegas-Phoenix; Los Angeles-Las Vegas; Los Angeles-Phoenix; Los Angeles-Sacramento; Los Angeles-San Francisco; Minneapolis-Chicago; New York-Baltimore; New York-Boston; New York-Philadelphia; New York-Washington; Omaha-Chicago; Orlando-Atlanta; Philadelphia-New York; Phoenix-Las Vegas; Phoenix-San Diego; Richmond-Dallas; Sacramento-Los Angeles; San Antonio-Dallas; San Francisco-Los Angeles; San Francisco-Sacramento; Savannah-Atlanta; Seattle-Portland; Seattle-Spokane; Seattle-Vancouver; Tallahassee-Atlanta; Tallahassee-Jacksonville; Tallahassee-Montgomery; Tampa, all schedules; and Washington-New York.

Liza Minnelli will perform live on stage in the Table Mountain Casino Event Center, Friant California, Wednesday January 16th.

Liza Minnelli is an icon of stage and screen and has won virtually every award
possible, including three Tonys, an Oscar, two Golden Globes and an Emmy. Her performances of trademark songs from the musicals, “New York, New York” and “Cabaret” are legendary and watching her perform a live show is an experience that you will not forget. Liza Minnelli continues her extraordinary music career with concert tours in the U.S. and Europe, as well as recording a new album.

Ticket Prices: $65 VIP, $55 Reserved, $45 General Admission (Members of
The Club save $5, Platinum Players save $10). Must be 18 years or older to
attend. No refunds, cameras or videos. Tickets are on sale now at the Main
Casino Cage and tmcasino.com.

Table Mountain Casino Event Center
(800) 541.3637 or (559) 822.7777
8184 Table Mountain Road
Friant, CA 93626

A red flag warning to indicate a high risk of wildfire was issued by the National Weather Service.

Th red flag warning will be in effect in Los Angeles and Ventura counties from noon Monday until 6 p.m. Tuesday afternoon. The warning goes into effect at 11 a.m. Monday and expire at 5 p.m. Tuesday in Orange, San Diego, Riverside and San Bernardino counties.

Santa Monica Mountains, Santa Clarita and other wind-prone areas can expect 60 mph wind gusts and “fire weather” in Tuesday’s predawn hours, the Weather Service predicted. The Weather Service also predicts wins speeds in excess of 50 miles per hour for Inland valleys.

The winds are forecasted to also strike the mountains near Malibu and north and northeast of Los Angeles. The San Diego, California forecast office said most areas south of Los Angeles can expect wind gusts of 35 mph. San Diego and Riverside counties are predictated to see gusts of 70 mph in wind-prone areas on New Year’s Day.

The Wii is almost impossible to get in Los Angeles. There are a couple of places the wii is still available. GameStop at Universal CityWalk in Los Angeles has been offering rainchecks for the nintendo wii. You must pay the console’s full price of $250 and pick it up in January. You can also find a wii advertised in the electronic classifieds in the Los Angeles craiglist. This should set you back around $350 - $400.

Nintendo has sold more than 6 million Wii systems and wii sales are now outstripping PS3 and the Xbox 360. It seems that everyone loves the wii. Even 4 year olds enjoying playing it.

MP3tunes has just announced custom technology for Wii, plus more music for New Year’s. If you were lucky enough to get a new Nintendo Wii for Christmas you now can play all your digital music through the video game with new technology from MP3tunes. Wii owners can now use the device’s controller to wirelessly stream their personal music collections from their
own Music Lockers.

MP3tunes is offering free playlists to sideload to the Music Locker for immediate access on the Wii and other devices. “To demonstrate how simple it is to add playlists to a Locker, we’ve created, in partnership with CDBaby, a terrific New Year’s Eve music set for our customers,” commented Emily Richards, President of MP3tunes. “With just one click, this New
Year’s playlist is sideloaded to your Music Locker for access on dozens of devices — with no listening limits.” Sideload the playlist to your MP3tunes Locker at http://www.mp3tunes.com/ .

Is it a good time to buy a home in Los Angeles? Will we see better deals in 2008? One thing is sure Los Angeles home and condo prices are falling. We are in a buyer’s market. Many believe that we will see further housing bubble declines of 30%

In Los Angeles and Orange counties, real estate prices fell 8.8% year-over-year, in the Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller composite index.

Nationwide using a sample of the 10 major US metropolitan areas home prices declined an average of 6.7% from a year earlier, the biggest decline since the index was started in 1987. This is the biggest decline since April 1991 decline of 6.3%.

The San Diego area suffered the fourth-worst decline, with an 11.1% fall from last year. The only higher declines were in Miami (12.4%), Tampa (11.8%) and Detroit (11.2%).

The Los Angeles real estate market peaked in September 2006.

Any fans of ‘24′ at 20th Century Fox? Show you support by sending a holiday card to Kiefer Sutherland.

Photo by: Courtesy Glendale Police Department

Kiefer Sutherland who potrays federal counterterrorism agent Jack Bauer on “24,”is serving 48 days at the Glendale City Jail in Glendale, Calif., a Los Angeles suburb. Kiefer began his sentence on December 5, 2007 for DUI and a probation violation and has celebrated his 41st birthday as well as Christmas in custody. There are no plans for early release. “Sutherland will be serving the 48 days in the Glendale City Jail, with no early release and no good time/work time credit, so we expect that he will serve the entire 48 days in jail,” according to a released statement.

You can send Kiefer a Christmas card while he’s serving time at Glendale City Jail. Glendale City Jail is located at:

131 North Isabel St,
Glendale, CA 91206

You can also send a card through his DUI lawyer, at:

c/o Blair Berk
9119 Sunset Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90069

The 24 actor, who is housed alone in a cell, has also been assigned to serve meals to other inmates. Sutherland spent his first full day at Glendale City Jail folding jail laundry.

The Glendale jail is a minimum security facility with 48 cells, each of them measuring 10 feet by 8 feet. They come equipped with two beds, a toilet, washbasin and water fountain, but Sutherland won’t be sharing his cell with anyone. Inmates receive one cold meal per day and two hot meals. A variety of meals are served that range from corn flake cereal to meatloaf, turkey sandwiches, macaroni & cheese dinner or a Chicken ala King meal.

“Pay-to-Stay Weekender Program”

The Glendale City Jail offers a Pay-to-Stay Program for qualified men and women who have been sentenced to serve time in jail, offering an alternative to serving time in the Los Angeles County Jail.

The Glendale County Jail is located at 131 North Isabel Street Glendale, CA 91206. Custody Bureau 24 hour Prisoner Info 818.548.3124