D Los Angeles

From a tea party in Reseda to a Chinese New Year's parade in Chinatown to a barbershop in South Los Angeles, the leading mayoral candidates crisscrossed the city Saturday accepting donations, touting their records and partaking of all manner of fancy food. With an election on whether to reelect or replace Mayor James K. Hahn coming up March 8, the candidates have only four weekends left to woo voters, and their schedules are becoming increasingly hectic. Bernard C.

Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez announced the creation Friday of a special legislative panel to respond to Los Angeles County's hospital and emergency room closures. The Select Committee on the Los Angeles County Health Care Crisis is set to convene in February and will comprise 12 lawmakers, including its chairman, Assemblyman Mark Ridley-Thomas (D-Los Angeles). "Six hospitals in Los Angeles County shut their doors in 2004 alone," Nunez (D-Los Angeles) said in a statement.

Los Angeles County and 17 of its cities will receive Homeland Security grants totaling $61 million in the latest round of funding under the federal Urban Area Security Initiative, Los Angeles Mayor James K. Hahn said Friday. The funds will be used for security equipment, training and operational needs, officials said. The grants announced Friday roughly double the amount previously received under the security initiative.

Under political pressure to reduce the amount of trash dumped in local landfills, Los Angeles officials are taking steps to bring recycling for the first time to 100,000 apartments in the city. The two-year pilot program would cost the city $6.2 million and apply only to certain large apartment complexes. The program could be expanded later to include all 650,000 apartments in the city, officials said this week.

Monday * Arnold Schwarzenegger held his first question-and-answer forum with voters and promised to go "up and down the state" to hold similar meetings -- part of a shift in tactics that has had him addressing issues and the electorate more directly. The audience, however, was carefully selected and the questioners picked in advance. At Chapman University in Orange, Schwarzenegger delved into more specifics and appeared to be striving to appeal to conservatives.

Thousands of followers, nationally known preachers, government figures and relatives bade farewell Saturday to the late Rev. E.V. Hill at a marathon service steeped in tributes, tears and joyous proclamations of Gospel hope. The outpouring for the 69-year-old preacher and confidant of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. came during an hours-long service at West Angeles Cathedral on Crenshaw Boulevard. Hill was also remembered Friday night at Mt.

Assembly Speaker Herb Wesson announced Friday the creation of a Select Committee on Professional Sports that will look at the potential economic benefits of bringing a football franchise back to the Memorial Coliseum. Newly elected Assemblyman Mark Ridley-Thomas (D-Los Angeles), whose district includes the Coliseum, was appointed chairman of the committee. He said the panel will study the economic impact of having professional football franchises in California as well as hosting the Super Bowl.

Most of the politicians, community leaders and members of the public who spoke at a town hall Saturday had only criticism for Gov. Gray Davis' plan for easing what he estimates is a $35-billion gap in the state budget. The proposal, which includes more than $20 billion in spending cuts over the next 18 months, would raise taxes and sharply reduce government services for many Californians.

Former state Assembly Speaker Antonio Villaraigosa released a list Friday of elected officials supporting his bid to represent the 14th District on the Los Angeles City Council. Villaraigosa, who is challenging Councilman Nick Pacheco in the March election, said he has secured the endorsements of Rep. Hilda L. Solis (D-El Monte) and state Sens. Martha Escutia (D-Whittier), Gloria Romero (D-Los Angeles), Jack Scott (D-Altadena) and Richard Alarcon (D-Sylmar).

A pursuit that began with a speeding violation morphed into a deadly shootout early Thursday in which suspected gang members fired a shotgun and an automatic weapon at officers, leading Los Angeles Police Chief William J. Bratton to clarify his earlier call for restrictions on such chases. In tempering his earlier remarks, Bratton said officers should always be allowed to use their training, experience, instincts and "sixth sense" to decide how to confront criminals.