Los Angeles City Council

Can free parking in Los Angeles help to stem the migration of TV and film production to other cities and states? Probably not. But that most coveted of Los Angeles benefits was one of a series of recommendations adopted Wednesday by the L.A. City Council aimed at making it easier for producers to film locally and discouraging them from taking their business elsewhere. Among the recommendations are to consider a tax credit for building owners who make their properties available for filming and a refund of sales tax paid by production companies when at least 75% of the filming is done within the city.

Deep inside the nation's busiest seaport lurks the old Southwest Marine shipyard, a collection of rusting corrugated-metal buildings, broken windows and dark interiors that has appeared in more than a dozen films and television shows, including "Die Hard," "24" and "CSI: Miami." But these days, the 38-acre site at the Port of Los Angeles is the setting for another kind of high-stakes drama, this time involving competing visions of the port's future.

Two committees of the Los Angeles City Council recommended Monday that the city stop hiring police officers starting next month and wait until January to see if the budget picture has improved enough to resume recruitment. Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa will veto the proposal if the full council approves it next week, officials in the mayor's office said. The Budget and Finance and Public Safety committees agreed to discontinue a new recruit class in November as part of the effort to eliminate a $405-million budget shortfall.

A Los Angeles City Council effort to overturn a Police Commission policy requiring officers to disclose personal financial information seemed destined for failure Tuesday, as civic and reform leaders warned that the council's intervention was undermining the commission's authority over the Police Department.

Even as Los Angeles leaders pledge to combat gang violence, a dysfunctional city bureaucracy is spending millions of dollars on unproven programs and is failing to coordinate with schools, law enforcement and social agencies, according to a report set for release today. Produced by City Controller Laura Chick, the report assails the city for taking a hodgepodge approach to youth and gang services.

Los Angeles County Supervisor Yvonne B. Burke, who nearly two years ago announced she would retire from one of the region's most powerful elected positions, endorsed Los Angeles City Councilman Bernard C. Parks on Thursday in the hotly contested race to succeed her. The veteran politician's endorsement of Parks, whom she called "dedicated and thorough," comes as the former Los Angeles police chief competes with state Sen.

Escalating their fight against the proposed 5,553-home development known as Las Lomas, Los Angeles City Councilman Greig Smith and Assemblyman Cameron Smyth (R-Santa Clarita) called Thursday for two law enforcement agencies to determine whether a real estate developer perjured himself in public documents submitted on behalf of the project.

Los Angeles, known for its choking smog and fuel-burning gridlock, is poised to adopt one of the toughest green building ordinances in the nation. Two city council committees voted Friday to require that all major commercial and residential developments slash projected energy and water use and reduce the overall environmental footprint, placing the city on the cutting edge of an international movement to address the global warming effects of buildings.

Sometimes, what happens in Vegas can stay in Los Angeles. Or, more specifically, in a vacant industrial building in Sylmar. That will be the new home of a 25-year-old Calabasas business named Drapes 4 Show Inc., which has made linens for Air Force One, swanky hotels, exclusive celebrity weddings and Hollywood movie sets. The company had been leaving for Las Vegas, where many of its products are used, because it couldn't find a suitable site for growth.

In his quest to balance the city's books, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is gearing up to sell city-owned properties in some of the Westside's most sought-after neighborhoods. But Villaraigosa's budget-saving strategy is running up against one of his biggest campaign pledges: to expand affordable housing.