Louis Caldera

When it comes to assault weapons, Mr. Attorney General, you cannot have it both ways. Campaigning for reelection last fall, Dan Lungren touted his efforts to enforce the state's 1989 assault weapons ban. He proclaimed his determination, in the face of opposition by gun makers, to bring additional assault guns under the ban, which focused on specifically identified models.

The Attorney-Client Fee Arrangements Initiative on the November ballot will devastate California's economy by unleashing a lawsuit explosion at the expense of California's seniors, investors and taxpayers ("Securities Law Expert Warns Against Measure," June 28). The initiative, written and funded by East Coast securities lawyers, is designed to make it easier to file frivolous lawsuits in California that are not allowed under federal securities law. The landslide of lawsuits from the initiative will clog California's courts, making it even more difficult for people with legitimate claims to move their cases in a timely manner.

Assemblyman Louis Caldera (D-Los Angeles) says he will introduce legislation to help fund a permanent site for the Korean American Museum in the Koreatown/Wilshire Center area. The museum is operating out of a rented space in an office building in the neighborhood. "We've grown so much," said Myung Lee, executive director of the museum, which was founded in 1991.

On Jan. 16 I took 15 young people from our youth violence prevention program (Los Angeles Teens on Target) on their first visit to the State Capitol in Sacramento, for the meeting of the Assembly Public Safety Committee, chaired by Paula Boland (R-Granada Hills). We were there to let the committee know how important it is to ban the cheap handguns known as Saturday night specials. These kids know firsthand how easy it is to get cheap guns in their neighborhoods--as easy as getting school supplies.

Get it straight, now. It's the fashion district, not the garment district. "We want to make it a more inviting destination," said Marianne Giblin, executive director of the Downtown Los Angeles Property Owners Assn., "and the name change will go with a new look for the area." Property owners of the newly renamed district are in the process of giving the area a make-over to make it a more popular shopping zone.

Turnout is expected to be light in today's special election to fill the vacant seat in the 46th Assembly District, officials said Monday. Perhaps 20% of voters in the district, which includes parts of the Eastside as well as downtown, are expected to turn out for a runoff election that Democrat Gil Cedillo is heavily favored to win. Registered Democrats in the largely Latino district outnumber Republican voters 4 to 1.

Korean American college students from throughout the country will come to Los Angeles this month to participate in corporate, political, legal and media internships sponsored by a local Korean community group. The Korean American Coalition, formed in 1983 to advocate a greater political voice for the ethnic group, has announced its 11th annual class of interns, mostly sophomores and juniors. The 14 students will begin work on June 26.

Although many urban and suburban California counties--including Alameda, Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego and San Francisco--are besieged by escalating gun violence, a statewide preemption law bars them from imposing tougher gun control measures than the Legislature has approved. AB 2706, by Louis Caldera (D-Los Angeles), would end the state's exclusivity in the area of firearms and ammunition regulation.

* Louis Caldera's campaign staff was small--a friend, a cousin and his wife formed the core group--and his strategy was simple: knocking on the doors of potential voters of the 46th Assembly District. The plan paid off when he emerged victorious in the district's Democratic primary on June 2. "We walked precincts every day since mid-March and we hit 5,000 homes," said Caldera, 37, a Los Angeles attorney who has a joint MBA and law degree from Harvard University.