Dan Schnur

Gov. Pete Wilson's campaign press secretary was sentenced Friday to 10 days in jail, fined $1,500 and placed on four years probation after pleading no contest to his second drunk driving offense in three years. Dan Schnur, 30, also had his license suspended for one year and was ordered to attend a mandatory education program for those convicted of driving under the influence of alcohol, for which he must pay tuition of $1,500.

USC students enrolled in this semester's Case Studies in Modern Leadership class have been pondering what makes a good leader. They've been assigned readings on influential people — including Gen. Douglas MacArthur and former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin — and have been schooled on what their instructor has identified as the six stages of leadership. But lest the curriculum become too theoretical, this week they were paid a visit by a flesh-and-blood public official. Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa strolled in a few minutes after class began, accompanied by a swirl of aides.

A top aide to Gov. Pete Wilson has been cited twice for drunk driving, once after an accident that injured the driver and passenger in another car, he acknowledged Tuesday. Dan Schnur, Wilson's campaign press secretary, said he was arrested for the second time early in the morning March 5. He was pulled over a few blocks from the Capitol as he drove a friend home from a downtown Sacramento bar and grill, he said.

Re "Why Latinos Are Walking Out on the Democrats," Commentary, June 6: It tickles my fancy that Dan Schnur believes that Latinos are "walking out" on the Democrats. He brings up very important points, primarily the disputed numbers from the last presidential election and the undisputed strong history of American military service by Latinos. If Schnur is describing a political war of attrition between the major parties for rich Latino votes, he is frightfully deceived. Latino Americans are just as diverse as Americans in general, and a few may vote Republican from time to time -- some even consistently.

Re "Why Latinos Are Walking Out on the Democrats," Commentary, June 6: It tickles my fancy that Dan Schnur believes that Latinos are "walking out" on the Democrats. He brings up very important points, primarily the disputed numbers from the last presidential election and the undisputed strong history of American military service by Latinos. If Schnur is describing a political war of attrition between the major parties for rich Latino votes, he is frightfully deceived. Latino Americans are just as diverse as Americans in general, and a few may vote Republican from time to time -- some even consistently.

Democratic gubernatorial nominee Kathleen Brown and Gov. Pete Wilson traded charges of hypocrisy Monday, with Brown calling Wilson "trick or treat Pete" and Wilson campaign officials telling Brown to "look in the mirror" before she accuses the incumbent Republican of wrongdoing. Brown began the day at a Sherman Oaks news conference, where she held up a letter that then-Sen. Wilson sent to the Immigration and Naturalization Service on behalf of a campaign contributor in 1989. In the letter, Wilson urges the INS to "meet immediately" with San Diego hotel owner Anne Evans, who was under investigation for employing illegal immigrants.

With just seven weeks to go until the November election, the two men dueling over the California governorship have begun selling themselves in earnest, releasing television ads that lay a foundation for their mushrooming campaigns. The commercials, running in large and small markets from San Diego to Eureka, share a goal: to plant the candidates' names in voters' minds and begin to shape perceptions. The 30-second spots reflect approaches as different as the candidates' styles.

It read more like a letter to Dear Abby than a piece of political propaganda. Under the heading "I NEVER THOUGHT YOUR STORIES WERE TRUE BEFORE, BUT AFTER WHAT HAPPENED TO ME THIS WEEK I CHANGED MY MIND," there was this: So I met this really cool woman in the Capitol the other day. . . . Well, she kind of blew me off, but she did give me her home phone number. She's really smart, but I'm not sure if she's going to be employed much longer. What should I do? Sincerely, Sleepless in Sacramento.

Average employee pay at the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power rose 15% over the last five years, despite an economic slump that ravaged the city's budget, records released Tuesday show. DWP workers received significantly more generous pay increases than other city workers, who received an average raise of 9% over the same period. The median household income for Los Angeles residents - the public utility's customers - fell over roughly the same period, from $48,882 in 2008 to $46,148 in 2011, the latest year for which U.S. census numbers are available.

USC students enrolled in this semester's Case Studies in Modern Leadership class have been pondering what makes a good leader. They've been assigned readings on influential people — including Gen. Douglas MacArthur and former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin — and have been schooled on what their instructor has identified as the six stages of leadership. But lest the curriculum become too theoretical, this week they were paid a visit by a flesh-and-blood public official. Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa strolled in a few minutes after class began, accompanied by a swirl of aides.

With just seven weeks to go until the November election, the two men dueling over the California governorship have begun selling themselves in earnest, releasing television ads that lay a foundation for their mushrooming campaigns. The commercials, running in large and small markets from San Diego to Eureka, share a goal: to plant the candidates' names in voters' minds and begin to shape perceptions. The 30-second spots reflect approaches as different as the candidates' styles.

Democratic gubernatorial nominee Kathleen Brown and Gov. Pete Wilson traded charges of hypocrisy Monday, with Brown calling Wilson "trick or treat Pete" and Wilson campaign officials telling Brown to "look in the mirror" before she accuses the incumbent Republican of wrongdoing. Brown began the day at a Sherman Oaks news conference, where she held up a letter that then-Sen. Wilson sent to the Immigration and Naturalization Service on behalf of a campaign contributor in 1989. In the letter, Wilson urges the INS to "meet immediately" with San Diego hotel owner Anne Evans, who was under investigation for employing illegal immigrants.

It read more like a letter to Dear Abby than a piece of political propaganda. Under the heading "I NEVER THOUGHT YOUR STORIES WERE TRUE BEFORE, BUT AFTER WHAT HAPPENED TO ME THIS WEEK I CHANGED MY MIND," there was this: So I met this really cool woman in the Capitol the other day. . . . Well, she kind of blew me off, but she did give me her home phone number. She's really smart, but I'm not sure if she's going to be employed much longer. What should I do? Sincerely, Sleepless in Sacramento.

Gov. Pete Wilson's campaign press secretary was sentenced Friday to 10 days in jail, fined $1,500 and placed on four years probation after pleading no contest to his second drunk driving offense in three years. Dan Schnur, 30, also had his license suspended for one year and was ordered to attend a mandatory education program for those convicted of driving under the influence of alcohol, for which he must pay tuition of $1,500.

A top aide to Gov. Pete Wilson has been cited twice for drunk driving, once after an accident that injured the driver and passenger in another car, he acknowledged Tuesday. Dan Schnur, Wilson's campaign press secretary, said he was arrested for the second time early in the morning March 5. He was pulled over a few blocks from the Capitol as he drove a friend home from a downtown Sacramento bar and grill, he said.

City Councilman Dennis Zine holds a significant lead among likely voters in his race against Ron Galperin for the city controller's seat in the May 21 runoff election, a USC Price/Los Angeles Times poll shows. Zine, a three-term councilman, is the choice of 34% of respondents, according to the bipartisan survey of 500 likely voters conducted over three days last week. That compares with 22% who said they would probably vote for Galperin, a city commissioner and attorney. Poll director Dan Schnur, of USC, said the findings indicate that Zine has the advantage at this point in what has largely been a low-profile campaign.

SAN FRANCISCO - Mark Zuckerberg is the public face of one of the world's most prominent companies. But now it's his actions as a private citizen that are making him - and Facebook Inc. - a target of environmentalists and progressive activists, highlighting the pitfalls of political involvement at a level rarely attempted in Silicon Valley. The 28-year-old billionaire co-founder and chief executive of Facebook has funded a political advocacy group called Fwd.us that has come under fire for spending millions on television ads that support expansion of the proposed Keystone XL pipeline and oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.