State Aid

Orange County has received preliminary approval from the state for a $100-million grant for the long-stalled expansion of the James A. Musick jail, but the money comes with conditions that could doom the deal.

In the wake of a Times report that illegal trash dumping is plaguing some of Los Angeles' poorest neighborhoods, state officials announced Tuesday that they would give the city a $500,000 grant to help crack down on violators in the hardest-hit areas. The grant, from the California Integrated Waste Management Board, will help fund a special enforcement zone in South Los Angeles, where about half of the illegally dumped refuse in the city is discarded.

The MTA has received a $16.1-million grant from the governor's office of homeland security, money that will be used to install a gating system on the Metro Rail subway lines as well as at some light-rail stations, officials announced Tuesday. Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and state Homeland Security Advisor Matthew Bettenhausen said the turnstiles would enhance security on the lines, as well as stop fare-jumpers, although a transportation security expert said the gates by themselves will have only a nominal effect on stopping potential terrorist attacks.

More than 400 university professors and academic staff have sent a letter of protest to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, objecting to his veto last month of $5.4 million for a University of California labor research program and asking that the money be restored. At a time when unemployment in California is reaching a level not seen in decades, the letter said, the governor's action appears to be politically motivated and an excuse to ax a program his fellow Republicans have sought to kill.

More than $2.7 million will be distributed to 51 Southern California school districts that lost state funding because of the devastating wildfires of 2003, state Supt. Jack O'Connell announced Wednesday. The funding will be given to districts in San Diego, San Bernardino and Ventura counties that suffered financial losses because they were forced to close by the fires, which destroyed more than 3,600 homes and killed 25 people.

Los Angeles political leaders on Monday vowed an all-out campaign over the next week to persuade state officials to fund a long-sought widening of the 405 Freeway over the Sepulveda Pass, saying the traffic-clogged Westside is in desperate need of relief. The project, which would add a carpool lane on the northbound 405 between the 10 and 101 freeways, was left off the list of freeway improvements announced last week by the California Transportation Commission.

A state panel considering criminal justice reform urged the Legislature on Tuesday to immediately find the money to hire lab technicians to reduce a huge backlog of DNA samples that could hold the key to both catching criminals and exonerating the innocent.

After an intense day of lobbying in the state capital Tuesday, Los Angeles' top leaders appeared to be winning their fight to secure $730 million in bond money to widen one of the nation's most congested freeways, with one powerful legislator threatening to hold up funds for transportation projects statewide if the city and other congested areas don't get what they need.

For once, state and local officials hope there \o7will\f7 be traffic clogs this morning at the junction of the 10 and 605 freeways. They will be meeting there in Baldwin Park, on the Athol Street bridge overlooking the often-congested interchange, to show state transportation officials the need to fund improvements from $2.8 billion in bond money that will be divided next week. "I live in West Covina and travel that freeway all the time, and it is a mess," Assemblyman Edward P.

On the eve of their vote today to allocate $4.5 billion in statewide transportation funds, members of the California Transportation Commission were the guests at a cocktail reception in Irvine on Tuesday night paid for by road designers and engineering firms. More than 100 people representing county transportation agencies across the state also attended the reception at the Atrium Hotel.