The 818 Now

DOWNTOWN — Nestle fueled speculation about a shift in the global confectionary market Tuesday after it announced a $3.7-billion deal that would put its Glendale-based USA division in charge of major frozen pizza brands to be acquired from Kraft Foods.

The agreement, which would involve a cash purchase of North American frozen pizza labels DiGiorno, Tombstone, California Pizza Kitchen, Jack’s and Delissio, came as Kraft is preparing to sweeten its third offer to purchase British candy maker Cadbury.

Nestle’s proposed purchase of the pizza businesses, which is pending approval from Canadian and American regulatory authorities, will give Kraft additional cash resources as it bids for Cadbury.

Nestle said Tuesday it would not pursue or participate in a deal to purchase the British confectioner.
The agreement with Kraft comes a day after Nestle announced it would sell its 52% stake in Swiss ophthalmology firm Alcon for about $28 billion.

Combined, the moves will allow Switzerland-based Nestle to refocus on its food and beverage operations, the firm said.

“The acquisition brings leadership in the frozen pizza category, where Nestle only had a minor presence until now, and builds on Nestle’s existing pizza know-how and operations in Europe,” the firm said in a statement.

MONTROSE — A 49-year-old man was in serious condition Saturday after he was struck by an SUV and thrown 70 feet while crossing a street here on New Year’s day, police said.

The Glendale Police Department is continuing a search for the driver of the SUV, who fled the scene after hitting the man at about 7 p.m., Sgt. Dennis Smith said.

The pedestrian, a Glendale resident, was attempting to cross Montrose Avenue between La Crescenta Avenue and Ramsdell Avenue when a car traveling toward Ramsdell slowed down to allow him to cross, Smith said.

But a second car — the SUV — did not stop and switched into the center turning lane in an attempt to overtake the other vehicle, he said.

The SUV hit the man as he was crossing the road, launching him into the air, Smith said.

Witnesses could not pin down the make and model of the car, he said.

Sharon Shin, 13, was in an apartment on Montrose Avenue when she heard the crash and came outside to see what had happened.

“I went outside and I saw a man lying on the floor and then people were crying,” she said.

The pedestrian, who police did not identify by name, had suffered multiple injuries to his head and body and was in need of blood transfusions Saturday, Smith said.

“The focus at this point is trying to find who this driver is,” he said.

The California League of Conservation Voters gave all area Republicans low ratings on its annual environmental score card released in December.

The score card accounted for lawmakers’ votes for or against 22 bills singled out by the organization as “high priority.”

Among those bills monitored by the group was a package of proposals to create a state mandate that 33% of energy comes from renewable energy sources by 2020, a plan that was eventually vetoed.  Read the rest of this entry »

The U.S. Census Bureau estimated today that the nation’s population would grow by about 0.9% in 2010, to about 308 million.

The estimate comes as officials prepare to launch the decennial Census in 2010.

Census workers will begin making population counts in March for the constitutionally mandated measure that is used to determine congressional districts and to allocate more than $400 billion in funds for local governments, according to the bureau.

The pre-Census estimate accounted for a population growth of more than 2.6 million people.

While a child will be born every eight seconds during 2010, a death will occur every 12 seconds, according to the bureau.

Immigration will account for an additional person joining the U.S. population every 37 seconds, according to the estimate.

Local foreclosure rates slid in November to match a statewide trend of steady declines in recent months, but the lower frequency of trouble for homeowners may only be temporary, experts said.

The amount of foreclosure filings in Glendale, Burbank, La Crescenta and La Cañada Flintridge fell a combined 19% in November, compared with the month prior, according to a report prepared for the Glendale News-Press by real estate tracking firm RealtyTrac.

Those drops translated into declines in the rate of foreclosure filings in each community.  Read the rest of this entry »

Assemblyman Paul Krekorian (D-Los Angeles) was elected to the Los Angeles City Council by a double-digit margin Tuesday, setting the stage for a special election to fill the seat he will vacate in Sacramento.

Krekorian earned 57% of the 19,170 votes cast, defeating former Paramount Pictures executive Christine Essel, who won over 43% of voters.

His victory came despite a record-setting total of campaign spending in support of Essel, who was backed by more than $1.7 million, compared with $746,653 spent on Krekorian’s behalf, according to the most recent financial disclosures published last week by the Los Angeles Ethics Commission. Read the rest of this entry »

Assemblyman Paul Krekorian (D-Los Angeles) is leading former Paramount Pictures executive Christine Essel in early returns for a Los Angeles City Council runoff election.

Krekorian leads Essel by a margin of 58% to 42%, with 9% of registered voters’ ballots cast, according to the Los Angeles City Clerk’s office.

The early totals accounted for vote-by-mail ballots received prior to election day.

Vote-by-mail ballots were anticipated to be a major indicator of who would win the election as most voters were expected not to turn up in person for the single-race poll. Read the rest of this entry »

Assemblyman Paul Krekorian (D-Los Angeles) and his opponent in a race for a seat on the Los Angeles City Council will hit the airwaves today for a pre-election debate.

Krekorian will face off with former Paramount Pictures executive Chris Essel during a runoff election Tuesday, but the pair will go head-to-head in a debate on 89.3 KPCC, during Airtalk, which starts at 10 a.m.

A Krekorian win would spark a race to replace him in the Assembly. One Republican and one Democrat have already stated their intents to represent the 43rd Assembly District should Krekorian move to L.A. City Hall.

Campaigns by each of the candidates have grown increasingly heated in recent weeks as outside groups have combined with Essel to spend more than $1.5 million on her behalf.

Krekorian has argued that the aggressive spending is an attempt to alter the course of the election.

Many observers previously felt Krekorian would easily win the election, having received the majority of votes in a primary race and subsequently earning the endorsements of the third-, fourth- and fifth-place finishers. But Essel’s heavy campaign spending, nearly triple what has been spent on Krekorian’s behalf, has made the outcome uncertain, observers say.

From the Glendale News-Press:

Assemblyman Paul Krekorian (D-Los Angeles) is hoping a final campaign push for votes will put him over the top in a runoff election

Assemblyman Paul Krekorian talks to people attending a housing and financial fitness workshop May 23, 2009. (Roger Wilson/News-Press)

Tuesday for a seat on the Los Angeles City Council, a development that would open the doors for a race to replace him in the Legislature.

Two Assembly hopefuls, including one Democrat and one Republican, have already publicly stated their interest in the seat and have begun setting the stage for a special election should Krekorian win on Tuesday.

But political observers say Krekorian’s odds have become muddled as campaigning has grown increasingly heated in recent weeks.

Full story here.

A spokesman says General Growth Properties' bankruptcy filings have not affected operations at either the Glendale Galleria or the Burbank Town Center

General Growth Properties, Inc., which owns the Glendale Galleria and operates the Burbank Town Center, filed a plan Wednesday in bankruptcy court to restructure terms for $9.7 billion in secured mortgage loans in the hopes of relieving its debt obligations.

The Chicago-based firm, which owns over 200 malls nationwide, filed for bankruptcy protection in April, an to alleviate its debt obligations and those related to 158 regional shopping malls by the end of the year.

General Growth is the second-largest mall operator in the country, with over 200 million square feet of retail space, and could not pay off more than $27 billion in debt when it sought government protection.

Analysts called the move one of the largest real estate failures in U.S. history.

Its bankruptcy filings have not affected operations at either the Glendale Galleria or the Burbank Town Center, which have continued normal operations and been isolated from the proceedings, General Growth spokesman David Keating said in an e-mail.

“We’ve maintained from the very beginning that our properties would not be impacted by the bankruptcy process,” Keating said. “It has remained ‘business as usual’ at all our properties, and will continue so.”

A plan to further limit the federal government’s ability to issue bailout money drew criticism from an association of hedge funds Tuesday after an amendment that would leave them vulnerable to a new tax.

The amendment, from Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Sherman Oaks), is related to the proposed creation of a fund meant to give to government resources for bailouts and to be supported by a tax on businesses.

Sherman’s amendment would have allowed all financial institutions worth less than $50 billion to avoid the tax, since they would not be large enough to qualify for bailout funds. But hedge funds valued below $50 billion would still be subject to the tax.

In a letter to the House Financial Services Committee, the Managed Funds Assn., which refers to itself as “the voice of the global investment industry,” called the amendment unfair.

“Far from recognizing that hedge funds had no adverse impact on the financial crisis, the bill now perversely singles out hedge funds for more onerous treatment without any articulated policy rationale, thereby compelling them to unfairly shoulder a disproportionate share of the proposed assessment,” Richard Baker, president and chief executive of the association, wrote.

Although Sherman, a member of the committee, initially proposed an amendment exempting all firms with under $50 billion of assets from the tax, his colleagues did not support it, he said.

“They think these hedge funds may be doing some risky things, so they shod be subject to this,” he said.

Sherman also succeeded in gaining support for a series of other amendments to the bill, including one that would place a limit on the government’s ability to allocate taxpayer money for bailouts.

Currently, no limits or oversight model exists, Sherman said.

He succeeded in gaining support for a $4 trillion limit, far more than the nearly $1 trillion in bailouts allocated during the current fiscal crisis, but still a substantial advance in regulatory language, he said.

An effort to recall state Sen. Bob Huff (R-Diamond Bar) failed to collect any valid signatures and will fail, Huff’s office announced today.

Representatives for the senator checked with three counties where a combined total of at least 65,535 signatures needed to be submitted to initiate a recall election, but found that none had been turned in, according to a statement.

The registrars of voters in Los Angeles, San Bernardino and Orange counties have until 5 p.m. today to submit any recall petition signatures to the Secretary of State’s office, but none had been submitted by noon.

County officials could not immediately confirm whether they had received signatures or whether any had been submitted to the Secretary of State’s office.

Huff, in a triumphant statement, criticized the attempted recall.

The effort was launched by conservatives who blasted Huff for supporting Proposition 1A, a measure on the May special election ballot, and violating a pledge not to raise taxes.

Prop. 1A had called for a spending cap and creation of a “rainy day fund” for California, but would have also extended temporary sales tax and vehicle license fee increases.

When NBC dedicated an hour of its nightly prime-time lineup to “The Jay Leno Show,” filmed in a Burbank studio, it made a gamble that its move would pay off by replacing expensive scripted dramas with a lower-cost ratings grabber.

But prime-time shows may have got the last laugh, Los Angeles Times television critic Mary McNamara writes.

There they sit with “The Jay Leno Show,” TV’s equivalent of that famous “Dewey Defeats Truman” headline, having called time of death on scripted drama and indeed traditional network television while all around them great new shows are popping up like the plague victim in “Monty Python and the Holy Grail.” “I’m not dead,” says ABC with its new comedy lineup; “I’m getting better,” says CBS with “The Good Wife” and “NCIS: Los Angeles.” “I think I’ll go for a walk,” adds Fox with the runaway buzz generator “Glee.”

Meanwhile, NBC is hanging on with critical-maybe “Community” and on-the-bubble “Mercy”; the network was forced to “cancel” “Trauma,” even though it’s not really canceled per se, because there is literally nothing to replace it.

This is what happens when you panic — you leave your combat buddy for dead only to find he wasn’t, and then he comes back for revenge. Network TV — it’s aaalllliiiivvvee.

Read the rest of the story here.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger was in Los Angeles this morning to highlight the amount of alternative-fuel vehicles to be on display at the Los Angeles Auto Show, which begins Friday.

Of the more than 1,000 car models to be on display at the show, “50 of the newest hybrids and alternative fuel vehicles including clean-diesel, electric, hydrogen fuel cell and ethanol powered vehicles” will be included, according to the governor’s office.

“In California, we have enacted ambitious, nation-leading environmental policies that have challenged automakers to [be] innovate, to think beyond gasoline and to build cleaner, more efficient cars,” Schwarzenegger said in a statement. “And, as we see here today at the 2009 L.A. Auto Show, automakers are rising to the challenge and giving drivers cleaner, more efficient options without sacrificing speed, performance or style. They are proving that it is possible to build a car that also protects the environment.”

The L.A. Auto Show will run through Dec. 13 and will feature the Chevy Volt, a long-awaited extended-range electric vehicle, along with the other hybrid and alternative fuel models.

The Nissan Leaf, also an electric vehicle, was not listed on the auto show’s online listing of green vehicles to be in the showroom.

New energy regulations are on the way for televisions after a vote by the California Energy Commission last week, but the body’s push for stricter standards didn’t sit well with state Sen. Bob Huff (R-Diamond Bar).

The commission voted unanimously to require all new TVs that are 58 inches or smaller and sold in California be 33% more energy efficient by 2011.

TVs would have to be 49% more efficient by 2013.

But Huff argued that the government regulations would force unnatural industrial changes.

“The government must stop this intrusion into the lives of regular people,” Huff said in a statement. “Let the free market work. Many Californians have already made the choice to purchase energy-efficient TVs. We must let the demand dictate the industry. If it doesn’t make economic sense to a manufacturer, they will stop producing it.”

The increased efficiency standards will save $8.1 billion in energy costs over 10 years and will conserve enough power to support 864,000 single-family homes, according to the commission.

For a 42-inch TV, for example, the new restrictions would force it to operate at 183 watts or less by 2011, and 115 watts or less by 2013, according to the commission.

The changes would shave carbon-dioxide emissions by 3 million metric tons over a decade, according to Pacific Gas & Electric.

“The real winners of these new TV energy efficiencies are California consumers who will be saving billions of dollars and conserving energy while preserving their choice to buy any size or type of TV,” commission Chairwoman Karen Douglas said in a statement.

Huff countered that the standards could artificially force manufacturers to increases costs and  prices, which could push consumers to look for discounts from out-of-state retailers selling unregulated TVs.

“While the Energy Commission may demand that retailers sell only certain types of televisions in their stores, consumers will still have the freedom to buy their favorite model from an online retailer or while on a shopping trip to Las Vegas,” Huff said. “This is an especially dangerous economic time for California to lose jobs tied to TV sales, distribution and installation and there is no doubt in my mind that we will see a decline in tax revenue associated with the sale of these big-ticket items.”

The new regulations will not affect existing TVs owned by consumers, and more than 1,000 models would already meet the 2011 standards, according to the commission.

Credit: Creative Commons

Glendale-based Nestle USA expects to run out of its popular Libby’s canned pumpkin product ahead of Thanksgiving because of flooding that devastated farms in Morton, Illinois, the “pumpkin capital of the world,” the company said in a statement.

Nestle, which dominates sales for the canned goods, controlling about 85% of the market by most estimates, will fall short of meeting its delivery goals in time for meeting Thanksgiving demand for the key ingredient used in pumpkin pies, the company said.

Heavy rains during the 13-week harvest were to blame for the shortage, the company said.

“If only we could have changed the weather,” Paul Bakus, vice president and general manager of Nestle baking, said in a statement.

Although Nestle expanded its farms in 2008, “this year, heavy rains saturated the pumpkin fields, making it nearly impossible for tractors and other equipment to operate,” the company said.

From the Nestle statement:

As a result of the weather and the company’s commitment to picking and packing only quality fruit, the 2009 inventory of canned pumpkin will be smaller than planned. Nestle is continuing to ship the last of the already canned inventory. When it is gone, there will be no more pumpkin available until the 2010 harvest.  This is why the company believes a shortage of Libby’s pumpkin is likely.

The first-ever Creative Talent Network Animation Expo in Burbank this weekend gave industry professionals a chance to showcase their work and learn about new trends, but some took the opportunity to push their colleagues into new territory.

Gary Goldman, who worked with colleagues Don Bluth and John Pomeroy to privately fund and produce “The Secret of NIMH” in 1982, argued that animators needed to ditch studios that seemed reluctant to support hand-drawn projects over the last decade.

Instead, animators should learn how to be entrepreneurs, he said.

Although Disney animation will release its first major hand-drawn animated feature in years this month, called “The Princess and the Frog,” artists brimming with creativity should not leave themselves at the whims of studio executives and should instead take their skills to investors to develop their own projects, he argued.

Hundreds waited for hours Saturday at the most crowded dog vaccination clinic in the Burbank Animal Shelter’s history, with many hoping to take advantage of low fees, organizers said.

Animal control officers had to order more vaccines to keep up with the high demand for shots during the two-hour clinic, which ran long after the planned 11 a.m. ending time as attendees, with their dogs in tow, continued to join the line at the headquarters of the Burbank Police and Fire departments.

“It’s the biggest turnout we’ve had,” said Denise Fleck, public relations manager for the Volunteers of the Burbank Animal Shelter, which organized the clinic.

The organization has promoted the clinic for more than 20 years as an opportunity for dog owners to keep their pets and themselves healthy, but it’s $24 cost for three vaccinations was likely the main draw Saturday, Fleck said.

“With the economy, a lot of people are looking to cut back,” Fleck said.  Read the rest of this entry »

From the Glendale News-Press:

Local unemployment rates fell slightly in October, even as jobless figures across Los Angeles County rose 0.2%, the state’s Economic Development Department reported Friday.

Glendale’s unemployment rate dropped to 11%, from 11.1% in September. The unemployment rate in Burbank was 10.3%, down from 10.4% the month prior, according to the report.

The jobless figure in the La Crescenta-Montrose area also declined 0.1% from September’s rate, to 5.8%, although it held steady in La Cañada Flintridge at 4.7%, according to the department.

Unemployment in Los Angeles County, by contrast, grew from a seasonally adjusted 12.6% in September to 12.8% in October, although the figures are not directly comparable since local unemployment rates are not seasonally adjusted.

Developing story here.

California gained 25,700 jobs in October, but still has the fourth highest unemployment rate in the nation, at 12.5%, according to a report released today by the Bureau of Labor Statistics .

The rate was seasonally adjusted and was up from 12.3% in September and 8% a year ago, according to the report.

Michigan had the highest October jobless rate at 15.1%, followed by Nevada with 13%, and Rhode Island at 12.9%, according to the report.

Although California posted one of the nation’s strongest gains in jobs during the month, the state’s employment rolls are still 687,700 lower than a year ago, the report said.

California’s Economic Development Department will release its report on city and community unemployment rates later this morning.