Contributions

Luxury retailer Saks Inc said it would cut about 1,100 corporate and store positions, or 9% of its workforce, because of the deteriorating economy. The New York company also said it had eliminated merit-based wage increases for all employees and suspended its 401(k) matching contributions.

Mayoral candidate Walter Moore has qualified for city matching funds and collected a $43,000 check for his campaign. Moore is one of the nine candidates challenging Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa in the city's March 3 primary election, and the only one to raise enough in campaign contributions to qualify for city matching funds. Candidates must raise at least $150,000 in contributions of $500 or less from individuals to qualify. Moore had raised close to $203,000 as of Jan. 17 and had spent all of it, records show.

Former Walt Disney Co. Chief Executive Michael Eisner and his family's Eisner Foundation are giving $1.25 million to a program at the California Institute for the Arts that brings arts instruction to L.A.-area school children. The grant, to be paid in $250,000 installments over five years, is the largest ever received by CalArts' Community Arts Partnership, university officials said. The community arts program, launched 19 years ago, sends CalArts faculty, students and alumni into neighborhood schools and community centers to teach a wide range of courses in music, dance, theater and visual arts.

Re "Reform, stat!," editorial, March 7 I fully agree that a crackdown on inappropriate financial ties between drug makers and doctors is imperative. But how about a crackdown also on ties between drug makers and legislators? In 2008, "Big Pharma" and medical device companies reportedly gave more than $28 million in campaign contributions to candidates. Rep. Henry A. Waxman, chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, received contributions of $71,600 from the industry last year.

Casden Properties: A May 11 article in Section A about a controversy over campaign contributions received by Los Angeles City Councilman Jack Weiss said officials of Casden Properties had been indicted in 2003 for allegedly making improper contributions to candidates in city elections. One official of Casden, a vice president, was indicted.

I loved Geoff Boucher's article about Norman Lear ["Prime-Time Provocateur," June 14]. Mr. Lear is my second cousin on my mother's side, and I have always been very proud of his accomplishments. It gave me special joy to see the mention of his early writing partner and my father, Ed Simmons. He went on to make his own contributions to TV history, including winning five Emmys for "The Carol Burnett Show." Erica Simmons Encino

Campaign charge: An article in Tuesday's Section A about the dismissal of a federal campaign finance charge against Los Angeles attorney Pierce O'Donnell said the case involved contributions to John Kerry's presidential campaign. The case involved contributions to John Edwards' presidential campaign.

CalPERS fund: An article in Business on Tuesday said investment losses at the California Public Employees' Retirement System could require state and local governments to increase their contributions to pay for meeting the state's pension and healthcare obligations. Such contributions would pay for pension obligations but not healthcare. The CalPERS health insurance program is funded through a combination of employer and employee premium contributions.

In the wake of the disapproval that greeted last week's announcement that he was red-lighting the 40-year-old weekend film series at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, museum director Michael Govan has some good news: Potential donors have stepped up, interested in helping underwrite the series. "If people didn't complain, we'd be in real trouble. It would mean people don't value film at the museum," Govan said Friday from New York, where he's vacationing. "The stir . . . has already resulted in calls from people who can lend a hand."

Responding to public outcry over the Los Angeles County Museum of Art's decision to end its 40-year-old weekend film program, two outside organizations have stepped forward to pledge a total of $150,000 in the fight to save the screening series. The Hollywood Foreign Press Assn., which organizes the annual Golden Globe Awards, and Time Warner Cable, in association with Ovation TV, have each agreed to put up $75,000 toward the LACMA film program, which had been scheduled to close in October.