THE SOUTHLAND

City Council Approves  $6.7 Billion Budget

(AP) — The Los Angeles City Council has approved a $6.7 billion budget for the 2010-11 fiscal year that eliminates 761 jobs, unless concessions are made by the city’s unions.

The council voted 11-4 on May 17 for the budget that cuts childcare workers’ positions, shortens library hours, increases the cost of parking tickets, and institutes 26 furlough days for city workers.

The council kept an animal shelter in the San Fernando Valley open and restored $1.3 million in funding for parks and gang intervention programs.

The cuts are scheduled to go into effect July 1.

If the city finds more revenue from leasing its parking garages, fining banks that don’t keep up foreclosed homes, and increasing transfer taxes, there will be fewer layoffs. But without more revenue, more layoffs could come in October.

Outcry as Council Holds   Off on Rent Hike Ban 

(AP) — The Los Angeles City Council has voted to send an emergency rent control ordinance back to committee, and the move brought a series of outbursts and scuffles with police from angry activists.

The 10-5 vote on May 21 made it unlikely that the proposed four-month ban on increases in many of the city’s rent-controlled buildings will go into effect by its intended date of July 1. Currently landlords in rent-controlled buildings can raise rent by 3 percent in July.

City officials say two men and a woman, all members of a group that supports the moratorium, were detained by police, and the audience was cleared from the council chamber before the meeting resumed.

Their names were not released and it was not immediately clear whether they would be arrested.

Jury Acquits Man in Killing of Rapper

(AP) — A jury acquitted a man of killing up-and-coming Atlanta rapper Dolla during a shooting last year at a crowded, upscale Los Angeles mall.

Jurors on May 21 rejected prosecutors’ contentions that the killing of Dolla, whose real name was Roderick Anthony Burton II, was a callous act of apparent revenge.

Burton and his accused shooter, Aubrey Louis Berry, had been involved in a fight at an Atlanta club less than two weeks before the shooting last May.

Berry’s attorney had contended the shooting was an act of self-defense, emphasizing that Burton — a protégé of hip-hop artist Akon — glorified a violent gangster lifestyle in his rap lyrics and online videos.

Berry, who has remained jailed since the May 18, 2009, shooting, hugged his attorney but was otherwise unemotional after the verdict.

Burton’s mother, Dayna Robinson, sobbed.

Deputy District Attorney Bobby Grace painted Berry as a killer who methodically aimed at Burton during the shooting, then ordered a valet to retrieve his rented sport utility vehicle while still clutching his gun.

Defense Attorney Howard Price, however, painted a very different picture of Berry, who is college-educated, said he worked in commercial marketing, and “never killed anything” growing up. Price said Berry opened fire because Burton threatened to kill him and he feared he had a gun.

The jury on May 21 found Berry not guilty of first-degree murder and all other charges, including assault with a firearm.

Attorney Denies Suge Knight Threatened Man

(AP) — An attorney for Marion “Suge” Knight is denying allegations that the former rap mogul pulled a gun on a man in South Los Angeles.

Knight was arrested in suburban Gardena on May 20. Police say his Cadillac Escalade was stopped after a man claimed Knight pointed a gun at him.

Knight was booked for assault with a deadly weapon and on a warrant claiming he drove with a suspended license. He was released on $65,000 bail the same day.

Knight’s attorney, Marc Brumer, denied May 21 that a confrontation ever happened. He says Knight pulled into a gas station and was surrounded by a crowd of admirers but drove off quickly without leaving the vehicle. He says Knight didn’t have a gun.

No charges have been filed.

THE STATE

California Voters Split Over Legalizing Marijuana

SACRAMENTO (AP) — California voters are divided over an initiative on the November ballot that would legalize marijuana for recreational use.

The Public Policy Institute of California poll released May 19 found that 49 percent of likely voters support legalization and 48 percent oppose it. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

California already allows medicinal use of marijuana but would become the first state to legalize recreational use if voters approve the initiative.

The poll found that Democrats and independents are far more likely to support the initiative than Republicans.

Support also is higher in the San Francisco Bay area, while Los Angeles and the Central Valley remain split.

The survey found that men are more likely to favor legalization than women.

THE NATION

Mich. AG Knocks Sharpton’s Role at Funeral

DETROIT (AP) — Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox says the Rev. Al Sharpton is staging a “drive-by at the scene of a tragedy” by speaking at the funeral for a 7-year-old girl shot by Detroit police.

Sharpton responded in kind May 20, accusing the Republican gubernatorial candidate of playing politics.

The girl’s family invited the New York-based black activist to speak.

In a misspelled Twitter message May 18, Cox said he’s “digusted but not surprised” by Sharpton’s planned appearance at the funeral for Aiyana Stanley-Jones.

The white attorney general told The Associated Press that Sharpton “parachutes in to get his name in the paper,” then leaves after creating “a worse racial divide than existed before.”

Rand Paul Labors to Defuse Controversy On Race

WASHINGTON (AP) — A tea party conservative on a national stage, Republican Senate candidate Rand Paul of Kentucky labored May 20 to explain remarks suggesting businesses be allowed to deny service to blacks without fear of federal interference, declaring, “I abhor racial discrimination.”

In a written statement, Paul said, “I believe we should work to end all racism in American society and staunchly defend the inherent rights of every person.” But he did not repudiate controversial comments about the 1964 Civil Rights Act that he made in a newspaper interview last month and then elaborated on during broadcast appearances on May 19.

“Do you think that a private business has the right to say we don’t serve black people?” he was asked by MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow.

“Yes. I’m not in favor of any discrimination of any form,” he added at the beginning of a lengthy answer in which he likened the question to one about limiting freedom of speech for racists. “I don’t want to be associated with those people, but I also don’t want to limit their speech in any way in the sense that we tolerate boorish and uncivilized behavior because that’s one of the things freedom requires. ...”

THE DIASPORA

Monsanto Gives Haiti $4 Million in Hybrid Seeds

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — U.S. agriculture giant Monsanto Co. is donating $4 million worth of seeds to Haiti, the biotechnology manufacturer’s first major foray into the chronically hungry nation.

The corporation, based in the St. Louis suburb of Creve Coeur, Mo., recently announced a pledge of 475 tons of corn and vegetable seeds. Some 130 tons have been delivered and were on their way to farmers.

Farmers will have to buy the seeds at markets to avoid flooding the local economy with free goods, but Monsanto will not receive any revenue from the sales, according to the company.

Haiti’s agriculture ministry approved the donation, while UPS and Switzerland-based Kuehne and Nagel are assisting with the shipping and logistics, Monsanto said.

The announcement raised concerns in Haiti that the donation would include genetically modified seeds, for which the country does not have a regulatory system. Monsanto representatives said no such seeds will be included.

Instead they are sending hybrid seeds, which are produced by manually cross-pollinating plants. The company said the seeds produce larger yields than non-hybrid seeds, but that with such a variety new seeds have to be purchased and planted every year.