KPCC: Stories by Brian Watt

Dodgers on verge of signing Matt Kemp to record contract

Tue, 15 Nov 2011 08:56:09 -0800

Matt Kemp of the Los Angeles Dodgers speaks to the media as the National League recipient of the 2011 Hank Aaron Award presented by MLB commissioner Bud Selig prior to Game Five of the MLB World Series between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Texas Rangers at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington on October 24, 2011 in Arlington, Texas. Credit: Ezra Shaw/Getty Images

The Los Angeles Dodgers are reportedly close to signing Matt Kemp to an eight-year deal worth $160 million, according to the Los Angeles Times and other sources. It would be the largest contract in team history, and the seventh largest in baseball history.

The announcement was expected to be made Monday afternoon at the dedication of the new Dodger Dream Field in the Compton area, a renovated field the Dodgers helped to fund, but the announcement didn't occur at the dedication.

ESPN and the Los Angeles Times reported that the All-Star center fielder is on the verge of signing, but Kemp said no agreement has been finalized.

"We've still got a little bit more to go, little more things to work out," Kemp said Monday following the dedication of a youth field in Compton, where he was joined by outgoing Dodgers owner Frank McCourt. "Hopefully I'll be a Dodger for years to come."

The team declined to comment. Kemp's agent, Dave Stewart, didn't immediately return a call seeking comment.

The largest contract the Dodgers have given before was a $105 million to Kevin Brown in 1998.

This story has been updated. KPCC's Mike Roe and the Associated Press contributed to this story.

Expo Line construction authority to update public on design of Phase II

Mon, 14 Nov 2011 06:00:04 -0800

At meetings Monday and Tuesday, the agency that’s building the Expo Line plans to update people on the second phase of the light rail line.

Phase One is almost done. The tracks are in place; the stations are built. At an event last week, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said engineers and officials are still in the painstaking process of testing the light rail line that links downtown L.A. to Culver City.

"We check the system out," said the mayor. "And we check it out and check it out and check it out until we believe there are no issues and problems with the system. We’re gonna make sure it’s safe completely before we open it up for service But I’ve already been out there, and it’s going to be great."

Villaraigosa chairs the Los Angeles County Metro Board of Directors.

Phase Two will extend the line another 6.6 miles to Santa Monica. While crews broke ground on it a couple of months ago, it’s not scheduled to run until 2015.

Last week, the California Public Utilities Commission approved the 27 crossings the construction authority must build for Phase 2. This week, the authority plans to offer a progress report on the design of the line and ask for feedback.

Details on the public meetings:

Monday, November 14, 2011
6:30 p.m.
Vista Del Mar Child and Family Services – Gymnasium
3200 Motor Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90034
Parking available on campus

Tuesday, November 15, 2011
6:30 p.m.
Santa Monica Civic Auditorium – East Wing Meeting Room
1855 Main Street
Santa Monica, CA 90401
Special Event free parking

More frequent trains start Sunday on Red, Purple and Blue lines

Sun, 13 Nov 2011 06:00:04 -0800

The Los Angeles Metro Red Line. Credit: Dré Batista http://youtu.be/wMZrh8DN9xc/Flickr (cc by-nc-nd)

If you’ve been thinking about using public transportation for a night out on the town, Sunday night is a good time to start. Los Angeles County Metro will nearly double the frequency of evening trains running on the Red and Purple subway lines and the Blue line to Long Beach.

Instead of every 20 minutes, the trains will run every 10 minutes from 6 p.m. until midnight, every night of the week. Metro will accomplish this by cutting the number of cars per train.

"Our hope is that more people will come downtown in the evening. We have a vibrant business during the day. The evenings are spotty," says Madelyn Alfano owner of Maria’s Italian Kitchens, with a location near the 7th street metro stop in downtown Los Angeles. It’s offering a 15 percent discount to people who take Metro.

"Of course, it cuts into your bottom line," Alfano says, "but my philosophy is when you give back to your community, it comes back to you in many ways. "

Dozens of other businesses near train stops are also offering Metro discounts. They include the Los Angeles Clippers and Kings, the Aquarium of the Pacific. And Cirque du Soleil.

USC looks at how Canadians help returning soldiers

Fri, 11 Nov 2011 09:07:18 -0800

Canadian Forces Lieutenant Colonel Stephane Grenier Credit: Brian Watt/KPCC

The USC School of Social Work is in the middle of a four-year effort to build up its research into “wounded warriors” — combat vets who come back from battle with injuries physical and mental. Back in January, the School of Social Work teamed up with the Canadian Consulate in Los Angeles to host a Wounded Warriors conference. Attendees learned about a Canadian program that helps ease the way back from war.

The program has one of those military-type names: "Third Location Decompression." It puts returning soldiers in an un-military-type setting for a few days before they come home.

For Canada’s veterans of the war in Afghanistan, the setting was the Mediterranean island nation of Cyprus. There, they stay in a lovely beach resort, but they also spend time in group sessions. The idea is to decompress a bit and work through emotional trouble from deployment in a war zone.

Lieutenant Colonel Stephane Grenier helped start the Canadian program 10 years ago. "Really, the goal was very simple," said Grenier during a panel discussion called "Healing The Mind." Grenier joined the Canadian Forces in 1983 and was deployed to Rwanda for 10 months in 1994. "It was to kill that isolation because isolation kills. It almost killed me. It almost kills other soldiers."

Here’s something else about the Canadian military’s Third Location Decompression program: it’s for all soldiers — not just the ones that were in combat. Lieutenant Colonel Grenier lost two soldiers to combat in Afghanistan, but he attended more than 50 funerals, or “ramp ceremonies,” while he was there.

"That may not be considered combat itself," Grenier says, "but ask yourself, what happens to the clerk who never steps outside Kandahar Airfield perhaps, but whose job is to write those letters, write the inventory of equipment being shipped back to mom and dad?"

That clerk, surrounded by death but an eyewitness to none of it, could return home and struggle with depression or anger. But, says Grenier, that same clerk won’t have a clear reason to seek help. Third Location Decompression tries to head off that problem.

To Anthony Hassan, who directs USC’s Center for Innovation and Research on Veterans and Military Families, the Canadians are onto something and the U.S. should pay attention.

"The Canadians are so close to us. They’re carrying a lot of the burden in Afghanistan. They’ve had a lot of losses," said Hassan after Grenier's presentation, "It’s just nice to open up our minds to the possibility that they have some great work that they can share with this community."

Hassan and a team of USC researchers have gone to Cyprus to study the Canadian Third Location Decompression program. They aim to take what they’ve learned and turn it into a pilot project to help American soldiers heading home after duty.

City accounting officers warn against eliminating LA business tax

Wed, 09 Nov 2011 17:57:38 -0800

File photo: Los Angeles City Hall Credit: ROBYN BECK/AFP/Getty Images

In an effort to become more business friendly, the mayor of Los Angeles and some members of the city council want to lower or eliminate the city’s gross receipts tax on businesses. On Wednesday, the folks who manage the city’s budget warned against that idea.

John Wickham with the City’s Chief Legislative Analyst’s office spoke Wednesday to the City Council’s Jobs and Economic Development Committee. He said the gross receipts tax on businesses is one of the few sources of tax revenue the city controls.

"We’re not subject to the state or the federal government in how we manage this tax," said Wickham. "There are other cities, major important cities in our region that are collecting a business tax that are not eliminating their business tax. It’s an important revenue source that municipal governments use."

For their part, Mayor Villaraigosa and City Council President Eric Garcetti argue the tax chases businesses out of L.A. and slows down job creation.

Metro chief asks minority firms to bid on contracts

Fri, 04 Nov 2011 15:30:54 -0700

A metro ground breaking. Credit: Brian Watt/ KPCC

The head of the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation Authority spoke Friday at a breakfast sponsored by the Greater L.A. African American Chamber of Commerce.

Art Leahy is the chief of L.A. Metro, he says his agency wants local, small, and minority owned businesses to participate in all of the region’s transit projects.

"I wish you would come in and get to know us," he said. "Check out our website, learn how we think, for good and for ill, figure out how to sell us what we think we’re trying to buy, and let us know you so we know what your capabilities are."

Gene Hale is one of the contractors Leahy is targeting. The Chairman of the African American Chamber of Commerce, Hale owns a construction equipment and materials company. His company has supplied piping and concrete to some Metro projects, including Phase I of the Expo Line.

Hale believes firms like his could have done more, "there was not as much participation on that project as there should have been, so we want to make sure that EXPO II does not meet the same fate."

Hale doesn’t blame L.A. Metro directly, but asked the Metro CEO to do more to encourage it’s big contractors to hire more minority business and sub-contractors.

Frank McCourt gives up the game. Who will pick it up?

Wed, 02 Nov 2011 16:37:36 -0700

Los Angeles Dodgers owner Frank McCourt Credit: Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images

Dodgers owner Frank McCourt has finally given up the game. He’s agreed to put the team and its media rights on the auction block.

In the last year, McCourt seemed to be trying to pitch his way out of the worst inning of his career, and that's why his decision to finally to walk off the mound took observers like ESPN’s Molly Knight by surprise.

"The thing about Frank McCourt is that he’s just never given up and he’s never gone the rational route. So to have him throw up his hands and say he‘s doing what’s best for him and his family and the team, it’s quite shocking," Knight said.

David Carter of University of Southern California's Sports Business Institute wasn't quite as shocked: "He was really watching Major League Baseball cut off his financial lifeline over the last several months, and so I think it was really inevitable."

Major League Baseball seized the Dodgers in May. Then Commissioner Bud Selig rejected Frank McCourt’s deal with Fox Television. That was when McCourt took the battle to bankruptcy court.

His lawyers were already busy with a nasty divorce from wife, Jamie — a battle that ended just two weeks ago.

David Carter says one reason McCourt may folded was he could have been running out of cash for his battle with Baseball. "I think many believed that it might have gone further with respect to litigation, but he just might not have had enough dry powder to keep that going," he said.

So now McCourt will auction the team he bought seven years ago for $420 million. The figure observers are batting around the ballpark is $1 billion. USC's Carter says it will most likely be an intense bidding war.

"You’re not gonna really value the team based on where Frank McCourt has had it the last couple of years because it’s been in decline," he said. "You’re gonna value the team and be willing to pay for it based on what you as a new owner believe you can do with it."

Potential bidders are already filling the bullpen — bidders like Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, former Dodgers players Steve Garvey and Orel Hershiser, and Southland businessmen Ron Burkle.

Veteran Dodgers manager Tommy LaSorda told KPCC's Larry Mantle Wednesday that he's not in the running for a bid, but that he'd like the person to be local. "Whoever becomes the owner, I sure hope it’s somebody local that is familiar with the city and the people and everything," he said.

He said that the team needs to get it's fans back. "Give ’em a good club," he said. "Give ’em an exciting team. Letting them know how much we appreciate them and how much we need them."

Indeed, a lot of Dodger fans — including Daniel Larkin of Winnetka stayed away from the stadium this season. "Well, with this announcement, the fans are back! We weren’t afraid of security or anything. We were sick of McCourt," he said.

"I yelled in the middle of my job last night so loud that people thought I was hurt. I’m excited. The Dodgers are back!"

There is no timeline for the sale of the Dodgers, but the boys in blue could be playing for a new owner by opening day of next season.

LA County health clinics debate Medi-Cal cuts

Fri, 28 Oct 2011 15:42:42 -0700

A healthcare professional reaches for a tool when caring for a patient. Credit: Getty Images

The federal government has approved California’s plans to cut its reimbursement rates for health care providers under the Medi-Cal program. Local clinics say the cuts might hurt struggling clinics and vulnerable Angelenos.

Louise McCarthy heads the Community Clinic Association of Los Angeles County that represents 57 non-profit medical clinics.

McCarthy says some of them will lose money because of the cuts, but that the greatest impact will be on independent providers who’ve barely hung on to serve Medi-Cal patients.

"Those who’ve said ‘well, I will deal with more bureaucracy, okay, I will take a little less pay in order to see this population.’ But year after year when they’re making those calculations, lots of providers are opting out," she said. McCarthy says this means, "patients will not get access to those providers that have previously seen them."

The Golden State plans to reduce reimbursement rates by 10 percent to physicians, clinics, optometrists, dentists, and pharmacies.

The state Department of Health Care Services says the cuts are a painful yet necessary action during difficult budgetary times.

Motion Picture Association calls for unity between Silicon Valley and Hollywood

Wed, 26 Oct 2011 16:05:59 -0700

Senator Dodd speaks at the SMPTE Annual Technical Conference. Credit: Ken Carozza

Former U.S. Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Connecticut) made his first speech in Hollywood Wednesday as head of the industry’s leading lobby, the Motion Picture Association of America. Dodd vowed to fight piracy and illegal downloads of copyrighted films and TV shows. He also called for unity between the content creators in Hollywood and the technology developers in Silicon Valley.

"There is so much that we can accomplish together for our customers and for the millions of Americans and people around the world that we employ," he said. "And yet, there are those who would pit our communities against each other in a manufactured conflict more reminiscent of the D.C. Beltway chatter in my last job as a United States senator."

Dodd also passionately vowed to fight content theft: or the illegal downloading of films and television shows on the internet.

“You’d be mortified if your child came home and was accused of shoplifting,” Dodd told reporters after his speech. “Well when your child or someone downloads illegally and knowingly does so, and steals from that hardworking make up artist, truck driver, carpenter, audio person, what’s the difference between that and stealing out of a store?”

Dodd added that 373,000 people have lost their jobs in the U.S. because of content theft. He said even search engines that help people find sites where they can make illegal downloads are accessories to the crime.

Dodd retired from Capitol Hill this year after more than three decades representing Connecticut. He delivered the keynote address at the annual conference of the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers.

Villaraigosa says LA tax holiday for new businesses should continue

Wed, 26 Oct 2011 06:58:59 -0700

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. Credit: Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said Tuesday that new businesses in the city should continue to enjoy a tax holiday.

The policy gives new businesses a three-year break before they must pay the city’s gross receipts tax. The mayor said it’s helped to persuade companies like Google, Blackline Software and Costco to create jobs in L.A.

Los Angeles started the business tax holiday last year, but it’s set to expire next year. City Council members Mitch Englander, Eric Garcetti and Tom LaBonge have proposed extending the policy for another four years.

Villaraigosa wants to go a step further and extend it indefinitely. He proposed the idea during a speech to Chamber of Commerce members in Woodland Hills.

He said Los Angeles collects some of the highest gross receipts tax rates in the region. So it has a tough time competing with cities with that don’t levy such taxes, like Glendale and Santa Clarita, for businesses looking to start up or relocate.

Santa Monica car wash workers sign labor contract

Tue, 25 Oct 2011 14:25:51 -0700

Oliviero Gomez signs labor contract at Bonus Hand Wash, what the United Steelworkers union says is the only union car wash in the country. Credit: Brian Watt

Workers at the Bonus Hand Car Wash in Santa Monica celebrated Tuesday after signing a union contract with their employer. The agreement resulted in what many believe is the first union car wash in the country.

Oliviero Gomez, an employee of the car wash for nine years, has spent the last three years organizing his co-workers.

"Now we can take our breaks, our rest periods — we have our schedule respected. Now when it’s really hot, we can take a rest break with the agreement of the manager," Gomez said, speaking through an interpretor.

The contract also includes an increase in pay to just above minimum wage.

Mike Watson, the general manager of the car wash attended the celebration and said the owners of the car wash are also trying to re-open another car wash down the street under the same union contract.

"We’re proud to be one of the leaders in improving our industry," Watson said.

Santa Monica City Councilman Kevin McKeown also attended the signing ceremony and couldn’t wait for the ink to dry.

"I’m gonna send my own personal car which has a Santa Monica license plate through Bonus Car Wash to be the very first car ever washed in the country under a union contract," McKeown said. "Then, I’m going back to City Hall and I’m going to switch the contracts for car-washing the city has to the only place in town where the workers are paid fair wages and have decent working conditions," he added.

Turkey calls on past experience to deal with 7.2 quake

Mon, 24 Oct 2011 16:57:03 -0700

A victims' relative cries as rescue workers take part in an operation to salvage people from a collapsed building following an earthquake in the province of Van, eastern Turkey, on October 24, 2011. Rescuers scrambled through the rubble on October 24 in a desperate search for survivors of the earthquake. Credit: Adem Altan/AFP/Getty Images

Turkish officials say the nation, still recovering from Sunday's 7.2 magnitude earthquake, learned how to respond to the disaster from past tremors.

Arif Celik, the vice consul at the Consulate General of Turkey in Los Angeles, said Monday that the nation made a real push for earthquake preparedness after two major temblors killed more than 17,000 people 12 years ago.

"We learned lessons about that," Celik explained, "about the earthquakes, such disasters, from our past experiences, and now our authorities are handling better these types of situations-- crisis situations."

Celik said the consulate has received numerous e-mails and phone calls from people who want to know where to send money for earthquake relief efforts, and is posting how to contribute on the consulate’s web site.

Currently approximately 300 people are confirmed dead from Sunday's disaster.

Drilling, relocation of utility lines will cause Sepulveda Blvd. lanes to close

Mon, 24 Oct 2011 06:00:04 -0700

For the next three months, motorists who travel in the Westwood area should plan for delays around Sepulveda Boulevard.

The Sepulveda Pass improvement project continues, with the addition of a carpool lane on the 405 between the 10 and 101 freeways and wider ramps and overpasses.

This means oil company Chevron, one of several with pipelines in the area, will have to drill under Sepulveda Boulevard so it can move some of those lines. And that means Sepulveda can only offer motorists one lane in each direction between Moraga Drive and Montana Avenue.

The going’s already been slow on Sepulveda with the recent shutdown of the southbound 405 freeway offramp at Sunset Boulevard for construction work. Los Angeles County Metro officials expect that offramp to reopen in a week. But Chevron’s drilling on Sepulveda, parallel to the 405, will take 3 months — from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., seven days a week.

California employment rate improved last month, and China helped

Fri, 21 Oct 2011 15:37:14 -0700

A Chinese flag hangs next to a new development under construction on the busy Nanjing Road shopping street in Shanghai, China. Credit: Mark Ralston/AFP/Getty Images

California’s unemployment rate dropped below 12 percent in September as employers in the state added nearly 12,000 new jobs. Friday marked the opening day of China Telecom's Internet Data Center in downtown Los Angeles — one of the many projects that has helped to improve the state's job numbers.

China Telecom has more than 100 million customers in China and is on par with communications behemoths like AT&T and Verizon. The company also helps Chinese businesses expand into the West, and Western companies into Asia.

One example of this is "The Gap," who may be closing stores in the U.S., but opening others in China. Zhao Hui is vice president of China Telecom Americas and gave en example of the types of services his company provides: "We help them to build the international connecting from store to headquarters."

To do that, the company needs Internet data centers like already set up in downtown Los Angeles. The center is a 24-hour operation with only 10 employees — for now.

"We need to keep running, running, running," said Hui. "We have four shifts per day, actually we need a lot of staff." Hui said his business is likely to need 10 or more new employees over the next two years. The data center appears to have room for even more — if the business continues to grow.

California-based artists sue auction houses over art re-sale

Fri, 21 Oct 2011 10:17:17 -0700

Some well-known visual artists are suing auctioneers Christie’s, Sotheby’s and eBay in federal court. They argue a California law gives them rights to claim royalties when their works are re-sold.

The artists include Los Angeles’ Laddie John Dill, New York painter Chuck Close and the estate of the late sculptor Robert Graham. They say Christie’s, Sotheby’s and eBay violated the 34-year-old California Resale Royalties Act. The law grants artists or their estates 5 percent of the proceeds from the re-sale of their works — if the sale takes place in California, or the seller resides in the state.

In statements, Sotheby’s said it will vigorously defend itself. Christie’s said it views the California law as subject to serious legal challenges that it looks forward to addressing in court.

The lawsuits seek class-action status to represent other artists.

Mertolink rolls out 10 new 'bicycle cars'

Sat, 08 Oct 2011 15:19:06 -0700

A bike on one of Metrolink's new bicycle cars. Credit: Courtesy Metrolink

The Metrolink commuter rail network is rolling out 10 new bicycle-friendly train cars just in time for CicLAvia.

The new train cars make space for at least 18 bicycles by yanking out about 30 passenger seats. Metrolink tested two of the cars in August on its Inland Empire-Orange County Line to give cyclists a ride to San Clemente Beach.

Now, system officials say 10 bike cars will rotate throughout Metrolink’s 500 mile service area wherever the need for more bike space is greatest.

The cars will be in service Sunday shuttling cyclists to CicLAvia — the transformation of 10 miles of Los Angeles city streets into a car-free, bike-and-foot-friendly outdoor party.

Southland job forecast a little brighter, economist says

Fri, 07 Oct 2011 16:47:13 -0700

U.S. President Barack Obama (R) is joined by Commerce Secretary Gary Locke (L) and Boeing Company Chairman, President and CEO Jim McNerney to announce the creation of the President's Export Council and to talk about his administration's promotion of exports in an attempt to grow the economy and support jobs in the East Room of the White House July 7, 2010 in Washington, DC. Credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

The federal government says employers added 103,000 jobs to the nation’s economy in September and the
unemployment rate held steady at 9.1 percent.

John Blank is the deputy chief economist of the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation and says an increase in construction jobs is especially significant for the Southland.

Over 25 percent of these jobs are coming out of the non-residencial construction sector — jobs he said, "that are gonna dig into the long term unemployment that we know is out in the Riverside/San Bernardino areas."

"That is the most material change in this September jobs report vis-à-vis the other months, going back some time."

The federal Bureau of Labor Statistics also revised the job numbers for July and August. The economy gained a 184,000 jobs during the two summer months, not 85,000, as previously reported. Blank says he hopes those new numbers will reduce anxiety about a possible double-dip recession.

He also says Congress should pass President Barack Obama's latest job proposal, or at least part of it, "if it doesn’t pass in entirety, at least the part that funds the state and local government jobs so that hole gets filled." Blank calls that hole the economy’s blind spot.

State and local governments cut 34,000 jobs in September. Put those jobs back, Blank says, and the economy comes close to creating enough jobs to keep up with population growth.

3 stabbed at South Gate high school

Fri, 30 Sep 2011 12:42:43 -0700

LA Unified School district police outside South East High School in South Gate. Credit: Brian Watt/KPCC

Three people were stabbed at Southeast High School in South Gate, according to Los Angeles Unified School District school police, following a fight during lunch between a male and female student.

The stabbings happened Friday afternoon after a male and female student started fighting, and the dean of students tried to intervene.

The male then stabbed the female student, the dean and another student who tried to break up the fight. All three were taken to the hospital. The stabbed female is said to be in serious condition, while the other two did not suffer life-threatening injuries.

LAUSD police arrested and detained the student suspected of the stabbing. Authorities have not confirmed the relationship between the suspect and the victim.

Raymond Gutierrez, a senior at Southeast, says he knew the female student and the stabbing will change the way security is handled at the school.

"He’s nice, you know. I know her close and it’s sad to see what happened to her. My prayers go out to her. It’s disturbing, you know, it’s frightening. Especially to this school. And now this happened and security is going to go way up now," he said.

After the stabbing, the school was placed on a precautionary lockdown, and the school's 2,400 students were let go in waves shortly before the end of the normal school day. The north exit of the school along Tweedy Boulevard remained blocked to keep the public away from the crime scene.

Correction: The LAUSD originally reported that three students and two adults were stabbed.

At Space Expo in Long Beach, industry looks ahead to the next sonic boom

Fri, 30 Sep 2011 05:00:05 -0700

An astronaut floats in outer space. Credit: NASA Glenn Research Center/NASA

The SPACE 2011 Convention and Expo ended Thursday at the Long Beach Convention Center. The three-day event is the place do be for workers in the aerospace industry, and this year came only a few months after the end of the space shuttle program.

The crew of the final space shuttle mission made appearances at the convention that has convened every year for the last decade.

Bob Dickman is executive director of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, the group that puts on the SPACE convention, and he says NASA is here to stay.

"Many of the public hear that the shuttle is not flying and NASA’s going away. All wrong," he said.

Dickman says the government spends upwards of $30 billion a year on space programs. The shuttle program he said, is about a tenth of that. "So, 90 percent of what the government was doing it’s going to continue doing and doing better because it doesn’t have to do things it was doing before," he said.

Still, that missing 10 percent is like a crater in the aerospace industry. NASA laid off about 3,000 people with the retirement of the space shuttle program. Big contractors like Boeing and Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne cut back, too.

Jack Hammond is Executive Vice President of Del Mar Avionics, and says he can see the hole left by that 10 percent, "the Kennedy Space Center is like a morgue now."

Hammond's Irvine-based company makes an essential device for the aerospace industry: the Hydra-Set. When you need to lift up to 300 tons of sensitive equipment and move it a tiny fraction of an inch, you need a Hydra-Set, and that means you need Del Mar Avionics. His business is the only company in the world that builds anything like the Hydra-Set.

"The dollar has dried up in the aerospace industry, and you can see that here at this show," said Hammond.

"Boeing and Lockheed and Northrop used to have 60 feet by 40 feet booths. Now they’re on 20 by 20. This year, they’re just cutting down."

The SPACE convention was a little quiet, but with more than 1,000 people registered, organizers said that was more than last year.

Despite suffering cutbacks nationwide aerospace continues to need a lot of people and firms in the Southland. NASA administrator Chris Scolese says that won’t change anytime soon.

"As I’m talking to you, we have instruments being built for spacecraft that are going to look at the earth," he said. The instruments are being built in Souther California, he said, "so that’s bringing in a lot of people, and we expect to do that for a number of years. Some are weather satellites and most of those sensors are built right here."

Two weeks ago NASA announced plans for a new Space Launch System, a rocket that can carry 70-100 tons of cargo or people to lower earth orbit. Scolese says that and other manned space flight ventures should mean more aerospace jobs in Southern California as well.

"Once we start going out into space, many of those systems that go inside those vehicles are built here. And the experiments that we’ll do, the science that will be done: a lot of that comes from this area right here," said Scolese.

And when it’s time to come back from space, a couple hundred workers at Airborne Systems in Santa Ana aim to provide the parachutes. Project Manager Leo Lichodziejewski says he’s worked at Airborne for three years, since then, he said, the staff has nearly doubled.

"I know that the economic environment isn’t very good these days, but we’re certainly growing," said Lichodziejewski.

Airborne Systems has made parachutes for NASA and the military. Now it’s designing them for SpaceX. That’s the Hawthorne-based company that hopes to make money taking people into space. Lichodziejewski used the SPACE convention to educate possicle customers about Airborne Systems parachutes.

"Letting our customers down for many years. Letting our customers down gently for many years," joked Lichodziejewski.

That's not a bad place to be in an industry looking for a soft landing.

No team yet, but downtown NFL stadium on its way

Tue, 27 Sep 2011 12:12:00 -0700

California Governor Jerry Brown signs a pair of bills designed to speed construction of large projects including AEG's proposed Farmers Field NFL stadium during a press conference on Tuesday morning. Credit: Eric Richardson / blogdowntown

During a ceremony Tuesday at the Los Angeles Convention Center, California Gov. Jerry Brown signed a bill designed to fast-track a proposed pro football stadium in downtown L.A. The signing took place at the Los Angeles Convention Center. There's still no football team attached to the potential stadium.

Senate Bill 292 streamlines the environmental review process for AEG’s Farmers Field stadium proposal and requires it to meet high environmental standards. The law allows stadium developers to address environmental legal challenges in a quicker, more streamlined way.

"We’re doing what California knows how to do," Brown said, "protect the wonderful quality of life, our beautiful environment, but utilize the power and strength of our workers and our entrepreneurs and the capital that we have. So this is a great day. Big ideas, big projects. Let’s cut the barriers, let’s move ahead."

"Environmental standards are enhanced, the project is expedited and jobs are created at a time when they are desperately needed," Democratic State Senator Alex Padilla said in a press release. Padilla co-authored the law.

Brown also signed Assembly Bill 900. It expedites the environmental review process for other big construction projects throughout California.

The stadium legislation was lobbied for by Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG). Environmentalists and other critics said it's wrong to give special exceptions to well-financed developers, but the Legislature approved the bills despite those objections.

AEG plans to invest $1.3 billion in the stadium project. The city projected that it will generate $410 million in new tax revenues over 30 years.

Proponents of the stadium say that it will create 12,000 jobs during the construction phase and 11,000 jobs after the stadium is completed.

AEG plans to tear down and rebuild the West Hall of the convention center and build the stadium next to Staples Center if everything is approved.

KPCC's Mike Roe and Shirley Jahad contributed to this story.