Demotions

Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) is seeking to demote a senior Air Force officer for his role in the secret 1990 bailout of McDonnell Douglas, the nation's largest defense contractor. Grassley wants to make an example out of Lt. Gen. Edward Barry Jr. by demoting him just before his retirement. "We have to stop rewarding those who don't follow the law, waste money and are bad managers," Grassley said in an interview. "I am zeroing in on individual accountability."

The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department on Thursday named replacements for three transit department supervisors who were demoted in connection with an alleged cheating scandal. Sheriff Lee Baca appointed Ronene Anda, a 29-year Sheriff's Department veteran, as acting commander of the Transit Services Bureau. Anda replaces Cmdr. Pat Jordan. The sheriff also replaced two captains who reported to Jordon. “This happened fairly suddenly,” said Marc Littman, a spokesman for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which holds an $80-million contract with the transit bureau to protect county buses and rail.

In a surprise move, officials have told the warden at the state prison in Lancaster either to retire or accept a demotion--likely the result of a series of problems that have plagued the year-old prison, including the escapes of a convicted murderer and three other inmates. In a brief statement issued Friday, state prison officials said, "The California Department of Corrections has made a decision to restructure the management team (at the Lancaster prison) . . .

Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca demoted three top supervisors this week in connection with an alleged cheating scam during a regional law enforcement relay race last year, officials said. The allegations arose from the “Baker to Vegas” event - a foot race for charity that draws police agencies from several states. After that race, the event's organizers received word that one of the contest's faster participants was not a law enforcement employee. It turned out that the team representing the sheriff's Transit Services Bureau allowed someone not listed on their roster to run a portion of the race, officials said.

The South Pasadena Police Department has demoted three lieutenants and three sergeants and cut their pay as part of an effort to put more police officers on the streets. City Manager Sean Joyce said the demotions are not punitive, but part of a restructuring plan designed to put more of the department's 33 sworn officers in the field. "The restructuring is a result of Interim Chief [John] Anderson's review of the department," Joyce said.

Sharon Harper, demoted last year from Los Angeles County's second-highest executive job, has been on paid medical leave since November and has yet to report to her new job in the Sheriff's Department, according to county officials. Harper was forced out of her $260,000-a-year job less than two weeks after The Times reported that county auditors found that she had improperly helped her son-in-law obtain a county job that was "overcompensated" by nearly $1,000 a month. The fight over Harper's demotion now shows signs of heading to civil court, with the recent denial of her appeal clearing the way for her to file a lawsuit against her employer.

The top development official for the city of Long Beach has been demoted after coming under scrutiny for going on junkets with a lobbyist with business before his office, officials announced Friday afternoon. Director of Development Services Craig Beck has been reassigned as a manager of the Oil and Gas Department's Business Operations Bureau. He will start the new post Monday, earning a salary of $140,000 a year -- a 20% pay cut -- said Debbie Mills, the city's acting human resources director.

The House rejected a Republican-led bid to force Rep. Charles B. Rangel (D-N.Y.) to give up his chairmanship of the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee while the ethics committee reviews his financial and tax records. The proposal failed, 226-176. Issues include Rangel's failure to report $75,000 in rental income and his use of a rent-controlled apartment as a campaign office. Rangel, 78, denies intentional wrongdoing.

A psychologist at St. Elizabeths Hospital alleges she was transferred and punished after recommending that presidential assailant John W. Hinckley Jr. be permitted to leave the grounds for unsupervised visits with his parents. "My career was fine, no problems--until I wrote the recommendation in 1996," said Susan Lerner, a 15-year employee who said she has clashed with officials at the psychiatric hospital ever since. "Had it been any other patient, this never would have happened."

At the end of a week in which he narrowly lost the Quebec referendum on sovereignty and announced his own eventual resignation, Quebec Premier Jacques Parizeau demoted his Finance Minister. In a Cabinet shuffle Friday, Parizeau moved Jean Campeau from the finance portfolio to transport, a significantly less prestigious post. Quebec separatists were defeated 50.6% to 49.4% in Monday's referendum on Quebec sovereignty.

Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca demoted three top supervisors this week in connection with an alleged cheating scam during a regional law enforcement relay race last year, officials said. The allegations arose from the "Baker to Vegas" event - a foot race for charity that draws police agencies from several states. After that race, the event's organizers received word that one of the contest's faster participants was not a law enforcement employee. It turned out that the team representing the sheriff's Transit Services Bureau allowed someone not listed on their roster to jump in and run a leg, officials said.

Barely two months ago, Alex Smith stood alone under center as the NFL's hottest starting quarterback for one of its best teams. One concussion later, he is lost in the crowd. At the San Francisco 49ers' Super Bowl media day this week, the hardest thing about talking to Smith was finding Smith. While the team's stars spoke on stages set up on the Superdome field, Smith had no assigned spot and thus wandered through the media hordes on the sidelines, nearly invisible and seemingly irrelevant.

CHICAGO - It was just your typical Lakers game, with Pau Gasol demoted to reserve status, the NBA offering an apology a day too late and Dwight Howard practically no-showing as the windchill shoved the temperature below zero outside. One thing remained the same: The Lakers were losers again. The Chicago Bulls won, 95-83, the latest indignity in a Lakers season that unmercifully reached only its midpoint Monday at the United Center. Howard took five shots, made two and looked more than ever like a one-year rental as the Lakers (17-24)

Lakers Coach Mike D'Antoni certainly isn't afraid to take chances. In the span of 48 minutes Tuesday, he took away Metta World Peace's starting job and also parked Antawn Jamison on the bench the entire time against Charlotte. "If I'm experimenting, it means I'm not getting quite what I want," D'Antoni said. But what does World Peace want? It's always entertaining to find out. He initially said the right things about the demotion, claiming he would accept it for the betterment of the team but not wanting to go too in-depth about it, quickly touting his new music single ("Represented," for those who care)

MEXICO CITY - Through most of the administration of Mexican President Felipe Calderon, the federal police agency has held a starring role, built to seven times its previous size and favored by American advisors and dollars despite persistent troubles and scandals. But President-elect Enrique Peña Nieto, who is meeting Tuesday with President Obama, has already demonstrated that one of his immediate actions will be to demote the police force, raising questions about his security policies at a time of heightened deadly violence across the country.

Gen. William “Kip” Ward, who was found by investigators to have improperly spent thousands of dollars on lavish travel and other expenses, will retire as a three-star general, one step below the four-star rank he held when he was head of the U.S. Africa Command, according to a spokesperson for the Department of Defense. The decision to demote Ward was announced as official Washington is dealing with the resignation of retired Army Gen. David Petraeus as CIA director because of an extramarital affair.

Russia demoted three top navy commanders and sacked eight other admirals in a clear-out that some experts said was punishment for the Kursk nuclear submarine catastrophe in which 118 crewmen died. Senior military officials denied a direct link with the Kursk disaster, but the demotions came just hours after President Vladimir V. Putin received a preliminary report from Russia's top law officer into August 2000 naval exercises during which the Kursk sank.

South Pasadena police officers, who were demoted last year as part of a department reorganization after a series of scandals, have filed claims against the city. The city clerk's office rejected the claims for $25,000 each from Sgts. Joseph Payne and Doug Brown, officers Gabriel Thierry, Robert Bartl and DeAnn Wheeless and former Lt. Joyce Ezzell.

The Forgotten Man on the pitching staff will be front and center Tuesday night when Jerome Williams, demoted to the bullpen in mid-July, starts a key game against the Oakland Athletics in place of injured ace Jered Weaver, who will pitch Thursday after missing a start because of biceps tendinitis. Williams has thrown only 4 1/3 innings in four games since Aug. 18 and hasn't started since July 19. The right-hander did not learn of Tuesday's assignment until Monday, so he did not have time for a lengthy bullpen session to build endurance.

The wheels appear to be turning on a blockbuster deal between the Dodgers and Boston Red Sox involving All-Star first baseman Adrian Gonzalez. The Dodgers have demoted hard-throwing right-hander Rubby De La Rosa in the latest move involving a player said to be a potential piece in the deal. De La Rosa was placed on waivers by the Dodgers, but pulled back after he was claimed by a team. He now could end up as a "player to be named later" in a trade with the Red Sox for Gonzalez.