CALIFORNIA | LOCAL
May 14, 2012 | By Kate Linthicum, Los Angeles Times
In a twist on a theme that has flared up on the national political stage, labor unions representing Los Angeles city workers are accusing Democratic Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa of waging war against women, saying most of his proposed layoffs would hit jobs traditionally held by female workers. In his proposed budget now under review by the City Council, Villaraigosa calls for eliminating 231 filled positions. Individual employees who would lose jobs have not been identified, but roughly 90% of the positions targeted are clerk, secretarial and other jobs mostly held by women.
BUSINESS
May 2, 2012 | By E. Scott Reckard, Los Angeles Times
Bank of America Corp., which has been working to downsize its consumer operations by 30,000 employees, now is targeting highly compensated investment bankers and non-U.S. wealth managers - efforts expected to reduce the job rolls at the bank by 2,000 people. The cuts, first reported in the Wall Street Journal on Tuesday, also will cost some commercial bankers their jobs at BofA, the second-largest U.S. bank as measured by assets. The actions include the planned sale of a division handling wealth management in Europe, Latin America and Asia, according to a person briefed on the plans who was not authorized to speak publicly about the matter and requested anonymity.
ENTERTAINMENT
May 1, 2012 | Mike Boehm
The J. Paul Getty Trust announced Monday that it was cutting 34 jobs in its museum division, with the expected annual savings of $4.3 million to be redirected to art acquisitions. There will be no reductions in the exhibition schedule or public programs, the Getty said, and no cuts to curatorial and art-conservation staffs. "Everything the museum does cascades from its collection," James Cuno, the Getty's president and chief executive, said in an interview. "The stronger the collection one has, the better one can do everything else.
SPORTS
April 24, 2012 | By Diane Pucin
Since she won four medals at the 2008 Olympics, including a gold in the balance beam, Shawn Johnson has retired from her sport, written a book, won the mirror ball trophy on "Dancing With the Stars," torn up her knee while skiing and had reconstructive surgery. Oh, yeah, and she's doing gymnastics again. Johnson, 20, who came to the Beijing Games as defending world all-around champion and Olympic favorite, accepted her silver all-around medal, one rung below American teammate Nastia Liukin, with both a smile and tears.
CALIFORNIA | LOCAL
April 21, 2012 | By Kate Linthicum and David Zahniser, Los Angeles Times
Setting the stage for a battle with city employees and fellow elected officials, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa called Friday for the elimination of 669 city jobs - 231 through layoffs - even as he also sought to add police officers and restore some Fire Department services. The bulk of the job cuts proposed in the mayor's new $7.2-billion budget would affect civilian employees at the Los Angeles Police Department, where 159 clerks, secretaries and other administrators would be put out of work.
CALIFORNIA | LOCAL
April 19, 2012 | By Kate Linthicum, Los Angeles Times
Even as city workers protested planned cuts outside, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa avoided talk of layoffs during his annual State of the City address Wednesday. He chose instead to cheerlead a proposed ballot measure that he said would allow the region to rapidly expand its transit system. The mayor devoted only five paragraphs in his seven-page speech to his proposed budget, which is due to be released Friday. He has previously said the budget will include "a large number" of layoffs.