Bay Bridge retrofit plan addresses failed bolts

OAKLAND — State and regional transportation officials announced plans Wednesday for a retrofit to the new eastern span of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge that will cost up to $10 million and effectively do the job of nearly 100 massive bolts that failed earlier this year.

Questions remain, however, about whether the world's largest single-tower, self-anchored suspension span will open on Labor Day weekend as planned. The new span will replace the one that partially collapsed in the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake.

"We believe the work can get done by Labor Day, but it will require extra shifts and perhaps a 24-hour-a-day operation and that will cost more money," Steve Heminger, executive director of the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, told the Bay Area Toll Authority Oversight Committee.

The thick steel bolts — which are 17 feet to 24 feet long — connect the bridge deck to so-called shear keys, which are designed to control movement during an earthquake. They were part of a batch manufactured and galvanized in 2008 and installed on the span, which has been in the works for years and has ballooned in cost to $6.4 billion.

When the 96 bolts, which were embedded in concrete and impossible to remove, were tightened earlier this year, a third of them broke, leaving the seismic safety of the massive endeavor in question.

That batch of bolts has been deemed too compromised to rely on.

The wild card, Heminger said, is whether bolts made from similar steel in 2010 — some equally large and some much smaller — will also have to be replaced before the bridge opens or simply monitored after the fact.

Commissioners were filled in Wednesday on the planned retrofit as well as a battery of tests being conducted on the bolts made in 2010.

Those bolts, which are accessible and can be swapped out for others, have not yet broken. "The longer they are not doing that, the more daylight we are seeing between the 2008 bolts and the 2010 bolts," Heminger said. A decision will probably be made by month's end on the bolts and the opening date.

In addition to Heminger, presenters included Andre Boutros, executive director of the California Transportation Commission, and Malcolm Dougherty, director of the California Department of Transportation. Their three organizations jointly oversee the bridge project.

Boutros said the group had opted for one of two finalists for the retrofit — a steel saddle that must be fabricated and will be clamped down on top of the shear key plates with tensioned cables. Another option, for a larger steel collar, would have cost as much as $20 million.

Caltrans has come under fire for using the galvanized steel bolts. U.S. industry standards and Caltrans' own guidelines warn against galvanizing the specific grade of steel used due to its hardness and tendency to break under extreme tension.

The massive bolts failed due to a phenomenon called hydrogen embrittlement, in which hydrogen atoms invade the spaces between the steel's crystalline structure and weaken it. That may have occurred during galvanization, or when the bolts sat for years untightened in casings that filled with water.

Caltrans has said that it asked the manufacturer to use a galvanization process less likely to cause hydrogen embrittlement but that in retrospect it should have tested the bolts more thoroughly in the lab before installing them.

When asked why Caltrans deviated from its own specifications, which warn against galvanizing this type of steel, Brian Maroney, deputy toll bridge manager at Caltrans, said that in his 25 years of bridge engineering, "every single project has special provisions, because those standards don't really fit and you have to come up with a technical solution.

"The Bay Bridge," he added, "has many, many, many special deviations away from the standard."

lee.romney@latimes.com

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DWP average pay rose 15%, despite flagging economy

Average employee pay at the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power rose 15% over the last five years, despite an economic slump that ravaged the city's budget, records released Tuesday show.

DWP workers received significantly more generous pay increases than other city workers, who received an average raise of 9% over the same period.

The median household income for Los Angeles residents — the public utility's customers — fell over roughly the same period, from $48,882 in 2008 to $46,148 in 2011, the latest year for which U.S. census numbers are available. By contrast, the average DWP pay rose from $88,299 in 2008 to $101,237 in 2012. DWP pay grew at about three times the rate of inflation in the Greater Los Angeles Area.

DWP compensation has become a central issue in the May 21 mayoral election, in which there has been much debate over whether the city's labor contracts are too costly given the fiscal problems that have resulted in major cuts in services.

The union representing most of the DWP's workers has become the single biggest source of campaign cash in the race, giving $1.45 million to an independent effort backing City Controller Wendy Greuel.

The only pay growth comparable to the DWP came at the city Fire Department, where average total salary and other payments also rose 15% over the five years to $132,131. But officials note that about 300 positions were cut from the Fire Department in that period, which required increased overtime payments to fill positions.

The firefighters' union, which is also backing Greuel, has spent about $250,000 on her campaign.

Average Los Angeles police officer pay increased by 2% over the same period, The Times analysis found.

The Times requested the DWP pay data in early February. Agency administrators repeatedly postponed the release, saying more time was needed to ensure that disclosing the information would not endanger employees.

The state of California, Los Angeles County and the city of Los Angeles routinely release their payroll with employees' names. Courts have allowed rare exceptions when employees' safety might be put in danger, such as undercover police officers and people who have restraining orders against potentially violent stalkers.

The DWP was poised to release the data last week. But the employees' union sued the agency, seeking more time for its roughly 8,000 members to object to the disclosure of their names. At a Los Angeles County Superior Court hearing Tuesday, the city attorney's office said it found 112 employees who may have restraining orders. An additional 357 are on disability leave and might not be aware of the pending release of information, Chief Deputy City Atty. William Carter told the court.

After the hearing, the union and the DWP agreed to release the pay data without names. Both sides are due in court again Wednesday to argue over disclosing employees' identities with their earnings.

The union may have relented because keeping the information secret has become a public relations problem, turning a once coveted political backing into a potential liability, said Jaime Regalado, professor emeritus of political science at Cal State L.A. "It looked really bad that they were trying to block access to their incomes," he said.

And the timing of the pay increases probably won't play well, he said. "The fact that they were those five years, when virtually all other city workers had to bite the bullet, it looks bad."

The $101,237 average pay covers more than 10,000 employees, including temporary workers and full-time staffers. They range from the highest-paid engineers to line workers to customer service representatives.

DWP spokesman Joseph Ramallo attributed the pay increases to a range of factors including cost-of-living adjustments and variations in annual overtime payments.

The Times analysis found average base pay at the DWP increased 19% over the five-year period. Unused vacation time payouts for retiring employees jumped 32%. And "other pay", which includes disability payments and compensation for unused sick time, rose 46%.

Overtime, which Ramallo said is driven mostly by responding to storm damage, was 22% lower in 2012 than it had been in 2008.

Last week, the Times reported that the DWP's average worker pay was $99,308 in 2011, the most recent data available at the time. That was more than 50% higher than other city employees. Also, DWP employees were paid about 25% more than workers at comparable public and private utilities, according to a report commissioned by the City Council last year. In addition, agency employees receive free healthcare benefits.

The report set off a frenzy of finger-pointing by Greuel and her rival, Councilman Eric Garcetti, who blamed each other for the agency's comparatively high pay.

Greuel noted that Garcetti voted for two sets of DWP raises in 2005 and 2009. Garcetti pointed out that Greuel voted for the 2005 raise too, and didn't have a vote in 2009 because she left the City Council to become controller.

On Tuesday, Greuel spokeswoman Laura Wilkinson accused Garcetti of championing the "reckless" 2009 raise, which came at a time when city residents "could least afford it." In the same period, funding for firefighters and 911 emergency response service was being slashed, she said.

Garcetti spokesman Jeff Millman said the 15% raises at the municipal utility are "exactly why the DWP [union] is spending a record amount of money to buy this election for Wendy Greuel, to protect the status quo."

Dan Schnur, director of the Jesse M. Unruh Institute of Politics at USC, said the candidates should tell voters how they would negotiate a new contract as mayor to fix the problem.

"Each candidate has been very specific about what their opponent did wrong on this issue in the past," he said. "These numbers should push the discussion toward what they'll do if elected."

jack.dolan@latimes.com

Times staff writer Doug Smith contributed to this report.

12.18 | 0 komentar | Read More

Delays, costs build up for 405 Freeway project in L.A.

Linda Rose was commuting home from UCLA through the Sepulveda Pass in December 2011 when she noticed that several panels of a tall retaining wall just west of the 405 Freeway had crumpled.

"It was like it was there the day before, and it wasn't there now," she said of a portion of the 40-foot-high structure near Mountaingate Drive. "It was a brand-new wall, which makes you kind of wonder."

Engineers traced the problem to faulty materials. Crews soon went to work dismantling and rebuilding that wall and 14 others under construction along the 10-mile route of the epic 405 widening project.

The wall failure was just one of several snafus that have delayed construction and added about $100 million to the project's original billion-dollar price tag. Other problems have included contested rights-of-way, design changes and the time-consuming relocation of multiple underground utility lines.

There is debate about who is to blame for the problems. Transportation and construction officials are expected to take months to resolve who bears responsibility and how much of the cost overruns taxpayers will have to cover.

Public works contracts for big projects like the 405 typically include penalties for delays. The original contract with Kiewit, the main 405 construction firm, called for the project to be completed at the end of this month.

Delays and change orders, however, postponed the assessment of penalties.

Kiewit and the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which is running the project, are completing "time-impact" analyses to determine responsibility for the construction issues that led to the delays and cost overruns. Once those evaluations are finished, the parties will negotiate.

Settling such disputes "is a very prolonged process," said Krishniah Murthy, Metro's executive director of transit project delivery.

The 405 project is being built under a speedier-than-typical process. State lawmakers fast-tracked the construction by choosing the so-called "design-build" method over the more traditional "design-bid-build."

Design-build puts a single contractor in charge of final design and construction, in theory enabling projects to run more smoothly and to be completed at lower cost.

Shaving years off the project "saves hundreds of millions of dollars in construction impacts, costs and travel delays for the public," said Dave Sotero, a Metro spokesman.

But there can be downsides to this approach.

Some tasks that normally would be completed before the bulldozers and pile drivers move in — such as relocating utility lines — must be completed while construction is underway. Nasty surprises can derail plans.

In addition to completing the northbound HOV link between Orange County and the San Fernando Valley, the 405 project has entailed building new onramps and offramps, demolishing and rebuilding three bridges and adding miles of walls to hold back earth or buffer freeway noise.

Many types of walls have been built along the route, with names that only an engineer could love: soil nail, tie back, soldier pile, cast-in-place concrete. The one that ruptured near Mountaingate was a mechanically stabilized earth, or MSE, wall buttressing the new onramp from the Skirball Cultural Center to the southbound 405.

MSE walls are used because they can be installed quickly and easily. The face of an MSE wall is typically made of precast panels that are installed horizontally. Workers then backfill the space behind the panels with compacted soil and other materials. At specified levels, workers lay reinforced steel mesh that is hooked to the wall in some way to hold the wall in place.

Kiewit said it traced the problem to the original system of steel mesh and hooks used to hold the panels in place. It is battling in court with the supplier of those materials. In Kiewit's view, "these issues have not delayed the completion of the project." Metro says the matter is being evaluated.

Even before the wall slid, Metro was involved in its own legal battle over an easement. Because of that tussle, construction on one set of ramps — near the Getty Center — will be put off until the rest of the project has been completed.

In March 2011, Giro Properties, a limited liability company, alleged in court documents that Metro, the California Department of Transportation and Kiewit had intruded on an easement that the company had procured in 1986 for access to a prospective Moraga Canyon golf course and residential development. The lawsuit was dismissed last year after transportation officials stopped construction activities and agreed to find new locations for the Getty ramps that would not cut across the face of Giro's easement.

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Iranian presidential candidates register for June election

TEHRAN — Iranian presidential candidates began registering Tuesday for the national election next month to choose a successor to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Although there has been considerable political suspense over who will run, voter enthusiasm has appeared lukewarm as many Iranians are focused on economic survival in a nation battered by Western sanctions.

About two dozen potential presidential hopefuls have emerged publicly so far. Office-seekers must register by Saturday to be considered for inclusion on the ballot.

The June 14 presidential election will be the first since the disputed 2009 balloting, when Ahmadinejad won a second term amid vote-rigging allegations that triggered massive street protests. The reformist leaders from 2009 remain under house arrest.

Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has made it clear that 2009-style chaos will not be tolerated. Several conservative candidates close to Khamenei are considered early favorites to succeed Ahmadinejad, who is barred by law from seeking a third term.

Among those registering Tuesday were Hassan Rowhani, who formerly headed Iran's nuclear negotiating team. In comments to reporters, Rowhani pledged to pursue "diplomatic engagement" and seek progress on stalled nuclear talks with world powers.

Iran faces a looming confrontation with the West and Israel about its controversial nuclear program. Iran says its nuclear efforts are for peaceful purposes, but U.S. officials suspect that Iran may be seeking atomic weapons capability.

As election day nears, there is considerable intrigue about the prospective candidacies of several high-profile political figures.

A major question is whether either of two former presidents — Ayatollah Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and Mohammad Khatami — would seek the office again. Both are considered moderates.

Many are also watching to see if Ahmadinejad's close aide, Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei, will enter the race. The president has lost favor with many but is keen to preserve his influence after leaving office.

To be on the ballot, all candidates must pass muster with the powerful Guardian Council, made up of clerics and jurists.

Mostaghim is a special correspondent. Times staff writer Patrick J. McDonnell in Beirut contributed to this report.

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U.S. and Russia to seek Syria peace talks

MOSCOW — The United States and Russia agreed Tuesday to try to bring together the government of Syrian President Bashar Assad and the opposition for peace talks, signaling a potential breakthrough in long-stalled diplomatic efforts to end a bloody conflict that threatens to destabilize the entire region.

The proposed peace conference, announced by Secretary of State John F. Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov after a day of talks, appeared to reflect a softening of Russia's staunch support of Assad.

"I would like to emphasize that we … are not interested in the fate of certain persons," Lavrov told reporters. "We are interested in the fate of the total Syrian people."

Lavrov said the U.S. and Russia were committed to a deal that would guarantee the "sovereignty and territorial integrity" of Syria and would follow the approach of a diplomatic agreement worked out by world powers last year.

"We are convinced that this will be the best and shortest way to resolve the Syrian crisis," he said.

The developments in Moscow seemed to signal a revival of the so-called Geneva communique, agreed to in June at a special meeting of the "Action Group for Syria" convened by Kofi Annan, the former United Nations-Arab League special envoy.

The communique's road map for a peaceful political transition in Syria was sidelined amid differences between Moscow and Washington on a fundamental issue: the future of Bashar Assad. Before the Geneva session, then-Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton had pushed for an explicit guarantee that Assad would have to relinquish power, but Russia balked.

The final communique called for a transitional governing structure in Syria, with full executive powers, created with "mutual consent." At Russia's insistence, the communique specified that the transitional Syrian administration could include members of the current government and the opposition, although U.S. officials insisted that the "mutual consent" language basically meant Assad had to go.

But the process never got underway, and the violence has accelerated, leaving more than 70,000 dead, according to U.N. estimates.

Forcing Assad's removal remains a formidable hurdle for Moscow, one that looms large in any prospective peace plan that may emerge from the latest U.S.-Russian initiative.

But Moscow's softening position now may reflect a growing urgency in finding a diplomatic solution at a moment when it appears Syria's 2-year-old civil war could explode into a regionwide proxy struggle entangling the United States, Israel, Russia, Iran and its neighboring states. The Obama administration has been threatening in recent days to increase its military role in support of the rebels, and over the weekend, Israel reportedly struck Syrian targets twice.

Yet it remains unclear whether the two sides will be able to bring together Assad, who has insisted he would never surrender his post, and the rebels, who have refused to negotiate with him.

Lavrov and Kerry provided no immediate details on how they hoped to overcome those obstacles. Kerry said world powers had no choice but to apply all possible pressure.

"The alternative is that there is even more violence," Kerry told reporters. "The alternative is that Syria heads closer to the abyss, if not over the abyss, and into chaos."

Lavrov suggested that the rebels might be the holdouts.

"The opposition has not yet expressed its adherence to settlement based on the Geneva communique, and the opposition has not yet named a negotiator on its behalf," Lavrov said.

Kerry said they hoped to bring together the meeting "as soon as practical" — perhaps by the end of the month.

In Washington, President Obama, facing criticism that he has fallen short of his commitments on Syria, promised that he would follow through as he had in killing Osama bin Laden and ousting former Libyan leader Moammar Kadafi.

"I would just point out that there have been several instances during the course of my presidency where I said I was going to do something, and it ended up getting done," Obama said during a White House news conference with South Korean President Park Geun-hye.

He said that there have been times when there had been "folks on the sidelines wondering why" a promise hadn't been fulfilled by a certain date.

"But in the end, whether it's Bin Laden or Kadafi, if we say we're taking a position I would think at this point the international community has a pretty good sense that we typically follow through on our commitments," he said.

Obama said that "understandably, there's a desire for easy answers." But he said he was measuring decisions "not based on a hope and a prayer but on hard-headed analysis in terms of what will actually make us safer and stabilize the region."

He repeated that he would move carefully in determining whether chemical weapons had been used by the Syrian regime, a move he has said would be a "red line" for his administration. He said he couldn't reach a decision based on the "perceived" use of such weapons.

sergei.loiko@latimes.com

paul.richter@latimes.com

Loiko reported from Moscow and Richter from Washington. Times staff writer Patrick J. McDonnell in Beirut contributed to this report.

12.18 | 0 komentar | Read More

DWP average pay rose 15%, despite flagging economy

Average employee pay at the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power rose 15% over the last five years, despite an economic slump that ravaged the city's budget, records released Tuesday show.

DWP workers received significantly more generous pay increases than other city workers, who received an average raise of 9% over the same period.

The median household income for Los Angeles residents — the public utility's customers — fell over roughly the same period, from $48,882 in 2008 to $46,148 in 2011, the latest year for which U.S. census numbers are available. By contrast, the average DWP pay rose from $88,299 in 2008 to $101,237 in 2012. DWP pay grew at about three times the rate of inflation in the Greater Los Angeles Area.

DWP compensation has become a central issue in the May 21 mayoral election, in which there has been much debate over whether the city's labor contracts are too costly given the fiscal problems that have resulted in major cuts in services.

The union representing most of the DWP's workers has become the single biggest source of campaign cash in the race, giving $1.45 million to an independent effort backing City Controller Wendy Greuel.

The only pay growth comparable to the DWP came at the city Fire Department, where average total salary and other payments also rose 15% over the five years to $132,131. But officials note that about 300 positions were cut from the Fire Department in that period, which required increased overtime payments to fill positions.

The firefighters' union, which is also backing Greuel, has spent about $250,000 on her campaign.

Average Los Angeles police officer pay increased by 2% over the same period, The Times analysis found.

The Times requested the DWP pay data in early February. Agency administrators repeatedly postponed the release, saying more time was needed to ensure that disclosing the information would not endanger employees.

The state of California, Los Angeles County and the city of Los Angeles routinely release their payroll with employees' names. Courts have allowed rare exceptions when employees' safety might be put in danger, such as undercover police officers and people who have restraining orders against potentially violent stalkers.

The DWP was poised to release the data last week. But the employees' union sued the agency, seeking more time for its roughly 8,000 members to object to the disclosure of their names. At a Los Angeles County Superior Court hearing Tuesday, the city attorney's office said it found 112 employees who may have restraining orders. An additional 357 are on disability leave and might not be aware of the pending release of information, Chief Deputy City Atty. William Carter told the court.

After the hearing, the union and the DWP agreed to release the pay data without names. Both sides are due in court again Wednesday to argue over disclosing employees' identities with their earnings.

The union may have relented because keeping the information secret has become a public relations problem, turning a once coveted political backing into a potential liability, said Jaime Regalado, professor emeritus of political science at Cal State L.A. "It looked really bad that they were trying to block access to their incomes," he said.

And the timing of the pay increases probably won't play well, he said. "The fact that they were those five years, when virtually all other city workers had to bite the bullet, it looks bad."

The $101,237 average pay covers more than 10,000 employees, including temporary workers and full-time staffers. They range from the highest-paid engineers to line workers to customer service representatives.

DWP spokesman Joseph Ramallo attributed the pay increases to a range of factors including cost-of-living adjustments and variations in annual overtime payments.

The Times analysis found average base pay at the DWP increased 19% over the five-year period. Unused vacation time payouts for retiring employees jumped 32%. And "other pay", which includes disability payments and compensation for unused sick time, rose 46%.

Overtime, which Ramallo said is driven mostly by responding to storm damage, was 22% lower in 2012 than it had been in 2008.

Last week, the Times reported that the DWP's average worker pay was $99,308 in 2011, the most recent data available at the time. That was more than 50% higher than other city employees. Also, DWP employees were paid about 25% more than workers at comparable public and private utilities, according to a report commissioned by the City Council last year. In addition, agency employees receive free healthcare benefits.

The report set off a frenzy of finger-pointing by Greuel and her rival, Councilman Eric Garcetti, who blamed each other for the agency's comparatively high pay.

Greuel noted that Garcetti voted for two sets of DWP raises in 2005 and 2009. Garcetti pointed out that Greuel voted for the 2005 raise too, and didn't have a vote in 2009 because she left the City Council to become controller.

On Tuesday, Greuel spokeswoman Laura Wilkinson accused Garcetti of championing the "reckless" 2009 raise, which came at a time when city residents "could least afford it." In the same period, funding for firefighters and 911 emergency response service was being slashed, she said.

Garcetti spokesman Jeff Millman said the 15% raises at the municipal utility are "exactly why the DWP [union] is spending a record amount of money to buy this election for Wendy Greuel, to protect the status quo."

Dan Schnur, director of the Jesse M. Unruh Institute of Politics at USC, said the candidates should tell voters how they would negotiate a new contract as mayor to fix the problem.

"Each candidate has been very specific about what their opponent did wrong on this issue in the past," he said. "These numbers should push the discussion toward what they'll do if elected."

jack.dolan@latimes.com

Times staff writer Doug Smith contributed to this report.

12.18 | 0 komentar | Read More

Tiny Julian sticks by its volunteer fire department

JULIAN, Calif. — To the outside world, this mountain hamlet in northeast San Diego County is best known for apple pie, snow during the holiday season and bed-and-breakfasts that cater to romantic flatlanders.

For many of its 1,500 residents, however, the essence of their community is represented not by the delights that await tourists but by the dedication and heroism of the volunteer fire department that has guarded their homes and businesses for four decades.

In Southern California's never-ending fight against backcountry, wind-driven brush fires, Julian is on the front lines.

So when officials from the San Diego County Fire Authority came to Julian with an offer — more money for station operations and vehicle maintenance, two full-time, professional firefighters, better training for volunteers and better coordination with surrounding fire agencies — the terms were enticing. Volunteers could remain if they could pass new physical fitness standards.

But in exchange for additional county support, the Julian-Cuyamaca Fire Protection District, like the other small fire departments, would be required to dissolve as a stand-alone agency with its own locally elected board and cede control to the county Board of Supervisors, 70 miles away.

"If you want the money, you've got to be part of the team," said Supervisor Dianne Jacob.

The Fire Authority approach to regional consolidation was adopted in 2008 after a series of fires destroyed thousands of homes in the eastern and northern stretches of the county, as well as inside the San Diego city limits. The fires highlighted the problems of fire protection provided by a patchwork of independent agencies.

Although she understands the pull of local control, Jacob thinks the Fire Authority offer provides better fire protection, quicker response to medical emergencies and lower fire-insurance premiums for property owners.

There have been misgivings in other areas about their volunteer departments coming under the Fire Authority. But nowhere has the opposition been stronger than in Julian.

Meetings of the Julian board were heated as the community debated the offer. Friendships were broken. Disagreements could frequently be heard in the post office parking lot.

Finally, last month, the governing board deadlocked 2 to 2 — a rejection of county control. A fifth spot on the board, a potential tiebreaker, is vacant. But even when the vacancy is filled this summer, neither side is interested in revisiting the issue.

"As contentious as the issue was, I don't think any of us want to go through it again," said board President Jack Shelver, who supported accepting the Fire Authority offer even though, as a retired city manager from Lemon Grove, he describes himself as "a local-control kind of guy."

Volunteer fire departments are a defining feature not just of Julian but of much of San Diego County.

About 400 volunteer firefighters, spread among 30 stations and 10 departments, protect 60% of the sprawling county, according to the nonprofit San Diego County Regional Fire Foundation.

The volunteers answer 6,000 medical and fire emergencies a year, said Frank Ault, the foundation's board chairman and also chairman of the Mt. Laguna Volunteer Fire Department. The foundation has provided more than $4 million to the volunteer departments for radios, thermal-imaging cameras, emergency lighting, saws, water rescue gear, protective clothing and other equipment.

Volunteer firefighters "extinguish hundreds of brush fires annually, so they do not become the firestorms of 2003 and 2007," Ault said.

Civic memories are long in Julian, and the debate frequently referenced the early 1970s, when the county dropped its contract with the state for fire protection in the backcountry areas.

Alone among major California counties, San Diego County does not have its own fire department. The Fire Authority is a loose confederation whose chief works for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, the state fire protection agency.

"We started the Julian department with a lot of used equipment and dedicated people when the county government turned its back on us," said Marie Hutchinson, 70, who was a volunteer firefighter in Julian for 27 years and whose late husband was chief. "It's an integral part of the community, not just a few people."

Funds were raised through bake sales, pancake breakfasts and spaghetti dinners. Volunteers built the fire station. The department's No. 1 engine had been donated by a big-city department that considered it unusable.

The department has a small tax base and, even without joining the Fire Authority, gets a measure of financial support from the county government.

In 2003, when the Cedar fire came roaring from the Cleveland National Forest, Julian volunteers worked beside hundreds of firefighters from agencies throughout the state. Some 1,500 firefighters encircled the town.

A local highway is dedicated to the memory of Steve Rucker, a firefighter from Novato, Calif., who was killed in the Cedar blaze. His picture hangs in a place of honor in the Julian station.

Julian's three dozen volunteers battled the Cedar fire even though several lost their homes to flames. In 2007, during the Witch fire, the Julian volunteers again came running.

"Julian people are very passionate about their volunteer fire department," said Michael Hart, owner and co-publisher of the weekly Julian News. "When we call out the volunteers, we get 20 guys in a heartbeat."

Board member Janet Bragdon said she was tempted by the Fire Authority offer. But she was soured by the back-and-forth of negotiations with Fire Authority officials. In the end, the idea of ceding control to out-of-towners was too much.

"You could get people who don't know the area, don't know the calls," Bragdon said. "They're not community people — this is a community-oriented town up here. The good people of Julian are not going to let their fire department be dissolved."

tony.perry@latimes.com

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Eric Garcetti, Wendy Greuel find common ground in USC debate

Despite bitter attacks in recent weeks, the two candidates for mayor of Los Angeles grudgingly conceded in a debate Sunday night that their rival was (mostly) honest and not so different on many of the plans they have for leading the city.

That didn't mean City Councilman Eric Garcetti and Controller Wendy Greuel didn't find plenty of opportunity for attacks on each other's trustworthiness and independence. But they also laid out records that they said made them most qualified to replace Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who is leaving office June 30 after serving the maximum two terms.

Greuel cited her audits of city departments and her experience developing housing and community programs, as a staffer for former Mayor Tom Bradley and, later, in the administration of President Clinton.

Garcetti repeated his admonition that voters look at improvements in his council district — from Hollywood to Silver Lake and Atwater Village. He stressed his work on the city's recent pension reform and presented a diverse public resume that includes service in the U.S. Naval Reserve.

The debate at USC's Galen Center was sponsored by the university and the Los Angeles Times and broadcast live on KTLA-TV (Channel 5). Co-moderators Jim Newton, the Times' editor-at-large, and Dan Schnur, director of the Jesse M. Unruh Institute of Politics at USC, attempted to cut through the recent attacks.

Newton noted the negative tone that has prevailed and asked each candidate whether they believed the other was "a dishonest person." They both said "No." But each couldn't resist adding caveats that made the other look like less than a pillar of rectitude.

After saying he "had a ton of respect" for Greuel, Garcetti added that heavy campaign spending on his opponent's behalf — by the union representing workers at the Department of Water and Power — was changing the dynamics of what should be a "democratic" election. "No one interest," Garcetti added, "should counterbalance the people's interest."

Greuel also said she would not call her opponent dishonest. She then added that Garcetti needed to come clean about ethics violations that she said were epitomized by his failure to properly disclose his family's oil lease for a property near Beverly Hills High School.

"I think it is important as we go forward to say who is going to be the trustworthy and clear leader," Greuel said.

The two candidates agreed on many issues Sunday as they have throughout much of the campaign. Both supported the idea of more frequent evaluations for public school teachers. Both described policies they had employed to make neighborhoods more pedestrian friendly.

Garcetti and Greuel said they supported federal immigration reform but opposed provisions that would limit funds for family reunification and limit the rights of same-sex partners.

About 20 minutes into the debate, moderator Schnur asked the two candidates whether they disagreed with any of the policy prescriptions that their rival had outlined so far. Both answered "No."

Among the new programs Garcetti, 42, said he would like to initiate were funding for summer jobs for all high school students who want them and to initiate a green energy program that he said could lead to as many as 20,000 jobs.

Garcetti said he would use federal community block grant funds to pay for jobs for an estimated 10,000 teenagers who applied but were not hired last summer. Greuel wondered what other block grant programs would have to be cut to make that happen.

Among his achievements, Garcetti cited a two-thirds drop in violent crime in his district, which he has represented for 12 years, and the creation of 31 new parks.

Greuel, 51, said she wanted to create a "tech fund" to assist new startups in the city. She also cited the dozens of audits her office has completed as evidence that she would be able to find savings to fund other city programs.

When the debate turned to job training, for instance, Greuel said she had audited the city's job training program and found that only 4% of the funds went to training and the rest to job placement. "Placement," she said incredulously, "at a time when we have no jobs."

She cited other audit findings that she said could produce real savings: the failure of the Department of Transportation to adequately collect parking ticket fines, waste in city employee's cellphone use and wasteful expenditures on gas for city vehicles.

Garcetti has mocked the controller's work, saying she had produced little real savings. But Greuel countered that, as controller, her job was to find problems. She faulted the council for not putting many of her recommendations into action.

"I work for the taxpayers of Los Angeles," Greuel said. "I don't work for anybody else."

Moderator Schnur asked Greuel about the historic nature of her campaign and whether voters should support her to elect the first woman mayor of Los Angeles.

"People need to judge me on what I've been able to accomplish," Greuel said, "but there is a historical nature to it."

"I met a little girl today, 6 years old, who said I understand that you might be the first woman mayor and her eyes lit up because I was going to be a role model for her," Greuel said. She also noted that, depending on the outcome of the May 21 election, the council could have no female members. As controller, she is only the second woman elected citywide.

Garcetti, who has an Italian last name, pointed out that he could also make a historic breakthrough — as the city's first elected Jewish mayor (one was appointed in the 1880s, but only for a year). As he has throughout the campaign, he noted that his father's parents both emigrated from Mexico and that it would be helpful to continue to have a mayor "who is Latino and speaks Spanish."

"What I've said is 'I don't want your vote because I'm Latino or Jewish. I don't want your vote because I speak Spanish,' " Garcetti said. "I want your vote because of my record

james.rainey@latimes.com

maeve.reston@latimes.com

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Smashed U.S. cars get second chance in Afghanistan

HERAT, Afghanistan — They sit in the sun harboring their lost histories, their forgotten dreams, their traces of funerals, graduations and stolen kisses. On dusty windshields, insurance stickers from Travelers and State Farm bear witness to wrecks in "Metro DC," "Hardin, Texas," and "North Hollywood," some with bright orange "total loss" decals.

For their former owners, that was it, nothing left but a story to recount of a corner rounded too quickly, a red light run, one too many drinks for the road.

But here on the highway to Iran, thousands of used cars from America and Western Europe begin a second life.

Afghanistan doesn't manufacture its own cars, or much else, so most vehicles sold here are "pre-owned" (and many pre-crashed — but with barely a dent thanks to deft repair work by local body shops).

Most begin their journey by ship to a new world of unpaved roads, kidnappers and Islamist militants after being auctioned to middlemen by U.S. or European insurers. The vehicles land in Dubai or other ports and are then transferred onto other ships bound for Pakistan or — after being resold to circumvent U.S. and European sanctions — Iran.

The final leg of their trip to this "graveyard of empires" (and Toyota Corollas) is via transport truck.

American brands don't sell as well as Japanese and are hard to find parts for, said Abdullah, a salesman with Herat's Tamin Ansar Autos who, like many Afghans, uses only one name. "I know one guy who sells Fords," he said. "He sold them very cheap. They use too much gas."

Musty interiors reveal vestiges of former lives, from sweat-stained lumbar supports and air-freshener strips to coffee-stained upholstery and shag carpeting.

Dealers in this Muslim country are careful to remove such potentially offensive hitchhikers as liquor bottles and pork-sandwich wrappers. "No one worries if 'infidels' drove them, as long as they're cleaned," said car-lot owner Abdul Aziz, 35.

Some lots sport frayed colored flags and one has a rusting model airplane out front, but there isn't much devoted to marketing, as evidenced by dealers who apparently see insurance "collision" stickers as a point of pride.

Prices range from $15,000 for late-model used Toyotas to $2,500 for aging wrecks. Unlike their American cousins, most northern European cars here aren't accident victims and thus command higher prices.

"I think Germans and Swiss must be better drivers, neater, more law abiding," Aziz said as a chicken strutted past. "Americans have that cowboy history."

Used-car importing became a lucrative business after Taliban rule ended in late 2001. But uncertainty tied to the departure of foreign combat troops in 2014 is now hurting the Afghan economy.

On a recent Friday, normally the week's busiest shopping day, a handful of shoppers browsed the half-mile strip of 30 or so used-car lots lining both sides of the road a few miles west of Herat.

"We have nothing but time," said Aziz, watching as his 3-year-old son, Omar, and friend Kaihan, 8, took one of his cars for a spin. Kaihan sat atop a booster on the driver's seat, and Aziz said Omar also sometimes took the wheel. Sure, he said, the kids are too young for driver's licenses, but they stay inside the lot and have never had an accident.

Three years ago, customers snapped up two or three of the road warriors a day, dealers say. Now two weeks can pass without a sale.

Sangin, 40, said he's lucky to clear $50 a month as both salesman and security guard, compared with $200 a couple of years back.

"People are worried about the future," he said, standing near a Toyota 4Runner bearing Virginia safety stickers splattered with bird poop. "They're just not spending."

Amid a sea of Corollas sit a few used trucks, Korean ambulances and high-end SUVs. "I don't deal with warlord customers," Abdullah said. "Besides, most don't buy used cars. Armored vehicles are specially ordered." Toyota Land Cruisers and Lexus are the models of choice, with most "hardened" in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Shams, 33, pulled into the Baharan Jadid Auto Co. lot on a dented motorbike and looked over a Suzuki sedan without air conditioning for $3,000 as salesman Rahmatullah popped open a hood to reveal a dust-caked engine. Shams then considered a nearby air-chilled sedan for $500 more.

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Serving a country that won't save their jobs

The jobs of the nation's citizen soldiers are supposed to be safe while they are serving their country: Federal law does not allow employers to penalize service members because of their military duties.

Yet every year, thousands of National Guard and Reserve troops coming home from Afghanistan and elsewhere find they have been replaced, demoted, denied benefits or seniority.

Government agencies are among the most frequent offenders, accounting for about a third of the more than 15,000 complaints filed with federal authorities since the end of September 2001, records show. Others named in the cases include some of the biggest names in American business, such as Wal-Mart and United Parcel Service.

With good jobs still scarce in many states, the illegal actions have contributed to historically high joblessness among returning National Guard and Reserve members — as high as 50% in some California units — and created a potential obstacle to serving.

"The whole point of the National Guard and reserves, how they save the country money, is they get paid only when they are serving," said Sam Wright, director of the Service Members Law Center at the Reserve Officers Assn. "It's a great deal for the country, but if we don't protect their civilian jobs … they aren't going to volunteer and serve."

Veterans' advocates say that the heavy use of the nation's citizen-soldiers to fight the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan placed a burden on employers in a tough economy. Even as 11 years of war wind down, Guard and Reserve members are being called up for peacekeeping and other duties around the world.

The Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act, a 1994 law that strengthened job protections for returning troops first introduced during World War II, requires that service members are reemployed in the type of position they would have attained if they had not been called to active duty.

Just how many service members are being denied jobs illegally is impossible to know. The nonpartisan Government Accountability Office estimated in 2005 that fewer than a third of service members with complaints seek help from the government. Many don't file lawsuits, either.

Even so, the Labor Department and Office of Special Counsel, which investigate complaints for possible prosecution, have seen cases surge from 848 in fiscal 2001 to 1,577 in the 12 months ending in September 2011. Last year, the agencies handled 1,436 new cases, according to preliminary figures.

A Defense Department program that tries to mediate disputes handled 2,884 cases in fiscal 2011 alone, including 299 that went to the Labor Department when they could not be resolved informally.

Although the law says the federal government should be a "model employer," federal agencies accounted for nearly 20% of the formal complaints in fiscal 2012, about twice the share recorded in 2007. The departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs lead the way with 105 and 47 complaints respectively.

President Obama instructed federal agencies last July to intensify efforts to ensure compliance. But officials say it has been a challenge to ensure that supervisors working at offices across the country are familiar with the requirements.

Obtaining redress can take months, if not years. For service members, the experience can be a maddening double-blow.

Lt. Col. Pierre Saint-Fleur, a former Fresno County mental health worker who deployed three times to Iraq as a military chaplain, said he was forced into early retirement because of his service in the California National Guard. He protested to the Labor Department's Veterans' Employment and Training Service but said he was told the case had no merit.

"I felt betrayed," Saint-Fleur said. "This same government that called me to go into harm's way, into a war zone, failed me when I got back and lost my job."

Saint-Fleur said he had no problem getting rehired after he demobilized in 2008. But he said he quickly saw that he was no longer welcome at the Department of Children and Family Services, where he had worked as a counselor for 18 years.

Instead of getting his old office back, he was given a desk in what he described as a trailer, with no privacy for counseling patients — a situation he feared could cost him his license. He said his work was criticized, his authority was reduced to the level of a student intern and a fraud investigation was opened alleging that he had been overbilling patients — claims he said were baseless.

"I had no choice but to leave," he said.

Only after hiring a private attorney did he win a $100,000 settlement, court and county records show. The county did not admit fault in the 2010 settlement. Fresno County officials did not return calls seeking comment.

Government agencies and Fortune 500 companies — especially defense contractors — are major employers of people who serve in the armed forces and might be expected to experience the most disputes. State and local governments accounted for more than 20% of the complaints last year and private companies nearly 60%.

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5 women die in Bay Area limo fire

San Mateo County firefighters and CHP officers investigate the burned limousine on the westbound side of the San Mateo-Hayward Bridge in Foster City. (Jane Tyska, AP Photo/Oakland Tribune-Bay Area News Group / May 5, 2013)

By Los Angeles Times Staff

May 5, 2013, 7:41 a.m.

Authorities are trying to determine the cause of a fire that killed five women in a limousine late Saturday as it crossed the San Mateo Bridge in the Bay Area.

The fire appeared to have started in the back of the limo, officials told the San Jose Mercury News. A total of 10 people were inside the vehicle when the fire started, and five — including the driver — were able to escape.

Witnesses told the California Highway Patrol of a horrific scene of people inside the limo not able to get out as the flames advanced, according to KGO-TV.

KTVU-TV obtained a dramatic photo from a viewer that shows flames coming from the back of the white Lincoln Town Car.

"We have no idea right now where they were going or where they were coming from," CHP officer Amelia Jack told the TV station.

According to the Associated Press:

The blaze occurred around 10 p.m. on westbound lanes of the bridge, which connects San Mateo and Alameda counties, about 20 miles southeast of San Francisco.

The Highway Patrol said smoke started coming out of the rear of the limo and the driver pulled over as the vehicle quickly became engulfed in flames. Officers were trying to determine the cause of the blaze, which wasn't the result of an accident.

Two of the women who escaped were taken to Stanford Hospital and the two others were taken to Valley Medical Center in San Jose. All four are being treated for smoke inhalation and burns.

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Israeli airstrikes may have exposed Syrian flaw, U.S. officials say

WASHINGTON — Recent Israeli strikes inside Syria may have exposed weaknesses in the regime's air defenses and could embolden the U.S. and its allies to take more steps to aid rebels fighting the regime there, said lawmakers on Sunday.

"The Russian-supplied air defense systems are not as good as said," Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.) said on NBC's "Meet the Press." Leahy, who heads the appropriations subcommittee on foreign operations, said the Israeli defense forces were using American-made F-16 Fighting Falcon jets to launch the missiles against Syrian targets.

"Keep in mind the Israelis are using weapons supplied by us," Leahy said. "They have enormous prowess with those weapons."

Government-controlled media in Syria reported that Israel launched a strike near Damascus early Sunday, apparently marking the third such attack this year.

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said on "Fox News Sunday" that the Israeli airstrikes should "put more pressure" on the White House to aid forces fighting the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad. McCain said the U.S. should not send in troops but called for "game-changing action" by the U.S. rather than incremental steps.

McCain's advice: "No American boots on the ground, establish a safe zone and protect it, and supply weapons to the right people in Syria who are fighting for obviously the things we believe in."

U.S. officials said Israeli war planes last week targeted shipments of antiaircraft missiles in Syria that Israel believed were being sent to Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday, White House spokesman Josh Earnest wouldn't comment on the reported Israeli strikes in Syria.

Earnest said Obama believes Israel is justifiably concerned about the threat posed by Hezbollah obtaining advanced weapons systems, including missiles. The U.S. "is in very close contact" with the Israeli government on a range of issues, Earnest added.

A spokesman for the Israeli embassy in Washington would not comment on the strike. Israel's policy in Syria is to take actions that prevent the transfer of chemical weapons or other game-changing weaponry to Hezbollah.

The White House is weighing whether to arm Syrian rebels after intelligence reports indicated that the regime of Assad may have used nerve gas. In August, President Obama said the use of chemical weapons by Syria would spur the administration to more forceful actions against the regime. More than 70,000 people, most of them civilians, have died in the 2-year-old conflict, according to the United Nations.

Forces supporting Assad reportedly shelled a town in western Syria on Thursday 2 and killed more than 100 men, women and children. The White House was "horrified" by reports of the massacre in the town of Bayda, Earnest told reporters during Obama's flight to give a graduation speech at Ohio State University in Columbus.

"Those responsible for serious violations of international humanitarian law and serious violations and abuses of human-rights law must be held accountable," said Earnest on Sunday. "As Bashar al Assad continues to cling to power, we will not lose sight of the men, women and children who are being killed by his regime," he said. Earnest reiterated the president's position that Assad must leave power.

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In LAPD shake-up, Beck reassigns three of his deputies

Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck has reassigned three of his deputies, including the head of the department's internal affairs division, in a shake-up the chief said is meant to usher in "fresh perspectives."

The most notable of the moves will see Deputy Chief Mark Perez, who has run internal affairs for several years and oversaw a dramatic shift in how the department handles discipline, be replaced by another deputy chief, Debra McCarthy.

McCarthy, 52, currently commands the department's West Bureau, which includes police stations in Venice, West L.A. and Hollywood. Deputy Chief Terry Hara, 55, will take over McCarthy's post and Perez, 56, will fill the vacancy left by Hara as the head of human resources and training.

The changes, which go into effect in two weeks, "were made to get some fresh perspectives and diversity of thought," Beck said in an interview with The Times.

Perez's departure from the Professional Standards Bureau, which investigates officers accused of misconduct, is certain to raise eyebrows within the department. Appointed to the post in 2006 by Beck's predecessor, William J. Bratton, Perez moved the department away from its traditional approach to disciplining officers that was centered on giving officers incrementally harsher punishments for repeat offenses.

Instead, Perez put in place a system that, as he frequently said, emphasized "strategy over penalty."

Problem officers, Perez believed, are more likely to change their behavior if they are made to think about their misconduct and how it undermined not only the department's mission of fighting crime but the officer's own self-interest.

"We have to lead as if we're going to progress past just punishing people and expecting that to get anything done," he once told the Police Commission, the civilian board that oversees the department.

The idea led to a dramatic increase in the number of warnings instead of suspensions, which were the foundation of the old system. In theory, if an officer committed the same or a similar offense again after being warned, the officer faced being fired or receiving a lengthy suspension.

But in recent years, Perez clashed with members of the commission, who raised concerns about whether the new approach was working to cut down on misconduct and if officers were treated equally.

In defending his work before the commission, Perez often came across as disdainful and standoffish to members of the board and others.

Beck, in a brief interview, said he is not looking for McCarthy to dismantle Perez's work. Except in the relatively infrequent cases in which he wants the officers fired, Beck said, "I still believe in using methods that reform behavior instead of punish it."

Perez and McCarthy did not return calls and emails seeking comment.

For Hara, who recently made a failed bid for a seat on L.A.'s City Council, the change will be a return to familiar ground as he led West Bureau before McCarthy.

joel.rubin@latimes.com

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Small-town movie theaters threatened by shift to digital cinema

MONTE RIO, Calif. — On the redwood-lined banks of the Russian River, dozens of local residents and tourists gathered in a grassy field on a hot Sunday afternoon, lining up to buy raffle tickets and $10 plates of barbecued chicken as a bluegrass group rehearsed a number for a Ramble at the Rio concert.

It might have been a church social or a school fundraising picnic. But this event was to raise money to save a centerpiece of the community: the Rio Theater.

VIDEO: Upcoming summer films

Built from a World War II Quonset hut and adorned with murals from local artists, the Rio has been screening films in this town of about 1,200 people since 1950. Located in the wine country north of San Francisco off the Bohemian Highway, a few miles away from the Bodega Bay filming location of Alfred Hitchcock's classic "The Birds," the Rio has survived fires, floods and multiple owners.

But it may not survive the latest threat — the digitization of the film industry. By the end of this year, Hollywood's major studios will stop delivering film prints to movie theaters, replacing them with cheaper digital hard drives.

The owners of the 230-seat Rio didn't have the $60,000 required to upgrade to digital projection. So they're asking their community to raise the money to help cover the cost, using Sunday fundraisers and the crowd-funding site Kickstarter to save them from extinction. These days the theater's vintage marquee is emblazoned with the words "Save the Rio."

"If this place goes down, it will be like a ghost town," said resident Leslyn Dooley, working the barbecue stand with her husband, who runs a local plumbing business.

Similar benefits and special events are happening in small towns across America as communities rally to preserve hometown theaters that are holdovers from a bygone era.

The major national and regional circuits have already converted most of their multiplexes to a digital format. Most got help from the movie studios, which helped subsidize the purchase of new digital equipment using so-called virtual print fees. More than 85% of the U.S.' 4,044 theaters, representing 34,161 screens, have gone digital, according the National Assn. of Theatre Owners trade group.

But about 1,000 theaters, mostly single-screen, small-town, family-owned operations, are still relying on film projectors. Many of them are struggling because of competition from big chains and more entertainment options in the home.

Some can't afford to buy the equipment or don't want to assume debt. Still others did not anticipate the rapid pace of the digital rollout, which began five years ago.

"When you have a business and technology that has always worked for you, it's hard to imagine it going away," said Patrick Corcoran, spokesman for the theater owners' trade group. "Some are looking at the money they have to lay out. Some are scrambling to try to raise funds."

Many mom-and-pop theater owners are tapping into the goodwill in their own communities, using online fundraisers like the one at the Rio. Most are employing Kickstarter, the New York company that made headlines when fans of the teen TV series "Veronica Mars" pledged $2 million to finance a movie based on the show.

About two dozen theaters in 13 states have used Kickstarter to raise more than $1 million in funds to buy digital equipment and make other upgrades, such as installing new seats and replacing worn carpets.

Owners of the historic Lory Theater in Highland, Ill., even got the local mayor to appear on a video in support of their 30-day campaign to raise $57,000 to purchase a second digital projector.

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In Fort Collins, Colo., staff and friends of the Lyric Cinema Cafe grabbed attention by posting on their website a photo of themselves, partially naked, holding a sign saying "Save the Lyric." The quirky art house venue drew $170,000 in donations from local students and patrons for new digital projectors.

"It really says something not just about our theater but [about] independent movie theaters around the country," said Michael Putlack, marketing manager for the Lyric.

Donors pledge small amounts, typically about $25. The donations are redeemed only if the campaign reaches a declared fundraising goal by a certain time. Kickstarter receives a 5% fee.

Aside from offering conventional treats like free popcorn and movie passes, some theaters have made unusual offers to donors — such as the chance to be a projectionist for a day or have their names emblazoned on the big screen before the movie plays.

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Orb wins 139th Kentucky Derby

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Orb splashed through the slop to win the Kentucky Derby, giving Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey his first victory in the race.

When the field turned for home on the cool, overcast Saturday afternoon at Churchill Downs, Normandy Invasion grabbed the lead while Orb was gearing up. But in the deep stretch, Orb prevailed, carrying Joel Rosario to his first Derby win.

Long shot Golden Soul was second with Revolutionary third.

Normandy Invasion faded to fourth. Orb, the 5-1 favorite, ran the 1 1/4  miles in 2:02.89.

Todd Pletcher had a record-tying five runners. Revolutionary was the best of the "Todd Squad," followed by Charming Kitten (ninth), Overanalyze (11th), Palace Malice (12th) and Verrazano (14th).

Goldencents, owned in part by Rick Pitino, coach of Louisville's national basketball champions, finished a 17th. His jockey, Kevin Krigger, was trying to become the first black rider to win the race since 1902.

Rosie Napravnik was also bidding to make history as the first woman jockey to win the world's biggest horse race. She finished fifth aboard Mylute, the highest finish by a female rider.

When the field turned for home on the cool, overcast Saturday afternoon at Churchill Downs, Normandy Invasion grabbed the lead while Orb was gearing up. But in the deep stretch, Orb prevailed, carrying Joel Rosario to his first Derby win.

Long shot Golden Soul was second with Revolutionary third.

Normandy Invasion faded to fourth.

Orb, the 5-1 favorite, ran the 1 1/4  miles in 2:02.89

Todd Pletcher had a record-tying five runners. Revolutionary was the best of the "Todd Squad," followed by Charming Kitten (ninth), Overanalyze (11th), Palace Malice (12th) and Verrazano (14th).

Goldencents, owned in part by Rick Pitino, coach of Louisville's national basketball champions, finished a 17th. His jockey, Kevin Krigger, was trying to become the first black rider to win the race since 1902.

Rosie Napravnik was also bidding to make history as the first woman jockey to win the world's biggest horse race. She finished fifth aboard Mylute, the highest finish by a female rider.

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Prosecutor in Bhutto, Mumbai cases slain in Pakistan

-- Gunmen shot to death the Pakistani government's lead prosecutor in a high-profile case involving former military ruler

on Friday as he drove to court in the capital, Islamabad, police said.

The gunmen fired at Chaudhry Zulfikar from a taxi and hit him in the head, shoulder and chest, said police officer Mohammed Ishaq. Zulfikar then lost control of his car, which hit a woman passerby and killed her, said another police officer, Mohammed Rafiq.

Zulfikar's guard, Farman Ali, returned fire in the attack and believes he wounded at least one of the attackers, Rafiq said. Ali also was injured in the attack.

Police official Yasin Farooq said the attackers fled after killing Zulfikar, and that a massive search has been launched to find them.

A motive for the killing was unclear, but Zulfikar was involved in two particularly high-profile cases. He was the government's lead prosecutor in a case related to the assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto in a gun and suicide attack in 2007, said Ishaq.

Government prosecutors have accused Musharraf of being involved in the murder and not providing enough security to Bhutto. Musharraf, who was in power when she was killed, has denied the allegations. He blamed the assassination on the Pakistani Taliban at the time of the attack.

Zulfikar was also the government's lead prosecutor in a case related to the 2008 terrorist attack on the Indian city of Mumbai that killed 166 people. The attack was blamed on the Pakistan-based militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba.

Pakistan has put seven men on trial on charges they assisted in the Mumbai siege, but the trial has made little progress. India has criticized Pakistan for not doing more to crack down on the militants blamed for the attack. Hafiz Saeed, the head of a group believed to be a front for Lashkar-e-Taiba, remains free, and many believe he enjoys the protection of the government. Lashkar-e-Taiba was founded years ago with the help of Pakistani intelligence to put pressure on India over the disputed territory of Kashmir.

Musharraf returned to Pakistan in March after four years in self-imposed exile to make a political comeback despite Taliban death threats and a raft of legal cases against him. But his fortunes have gone from bad to worse since he arrived.

Judges barred him from running in the May 11 parliamentary election not long after he arrived because of his actions while in power. A court in the northwestern city of Peshawar went further this week and banned Musharraf from running for public office for the rest of his life — a ruling the former military strongman plans to appeal.

Musharraf is currently under house arrest on the outskirts of Islamabad in connection with several cases against him, including the Bhutto case. He also faces allegations of treason before the Supreme Court.

Zulfikar was headed to a hearing related to Musharraf and the Bhutto case at a court in Rawalpindi, next to Islamabad, when he was killed, said Ishaq, the police officer.

Musharraf seized power in a military coup in 1999 when he was serving as army chief and ruled for nearly a decade until he was forced to step down in 2008 because of growing discontent with his rule.

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Prosecutor in Benazir Bhutto case slain in Pakistan

-- Police in Islamabad were looking for suspects and a motive in the shooting death Friday of a lead prosecutor in the investigation into the assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto -- a case that also involves allegations against onetime military ruler

.

Chaudhry Zulfikar headed up the investigation into the December 2007 slaying of Bhutto, an assassination Musharraf blamed on the Pakistani Taliban. Musharraf, who returned to Pakistan in late March after four years of self-imposed exile, is under house arrest in Islamabad and faces several criminal charges, including failing to provide enough security to Bhutto while he was in power.

Zulfikar also was involved in the investigation of Pakistanis tied to the 2008 attacks in Mumbai that killed 166 people, a terror strike that India and the U.S. blamed on the Pakistani militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba. Seven men face trial in Pakistan on charges of involvement in the Mumbai attacks, but the case has proceeded slowly and has yet to be adjudicated.

Police say they have no suspects in Zulfikar's death and do not know whether it was linked to either the Bhutto investigation or the Mumbai attacks case.

Zulfikar had just left his home in his white Toyota Corolla and was on his way to court in Islamabad when gunmen in a taxi pulled up, got out of their vehicle and opened fire, said Islamabad police officer Sartaj Khan. Zulfikar, who was driving, was shot 13 times and died before reaching the hospital, officials said. His bodyguard, who was in the front seat, was shot once but survived the attack.

The ambush occurred shortly after 7 a.m. in front of a Pakistani post office building. After the attack, Zulfikar's car continued down the street about 100 yards before it veered onto the sidewalk and killed a female pedestrian, officials said.

The car's interior was covered in blood and broken glass. Bullet holes pockmarked the windshield, left side and back of the car.

Wazir Muhammad, who runs a small grocery stall near the site of the attack, said he heard a volley of shots ring out, and then the sound of Zulfikar's car speeding past his stall. "I came out and saw the woman on the ground," Muhammad said. "The bodyguard came out and asked for help, and we pulled Zulfikar's body from the car. He was covered in blood."

It is not yet clear whether the slaying has any connection with Musharraf's return to Pakistan. He came back hoping to engineer a political comeback, but Pakistani courts barred him from running in parliamentary elections on May 11. In addition to the Bhutto case, he is also charged with illegally detaining dozens of judges while he was in power, and ordering the killing of a Baloch nationalist leader in 2006.

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U.S. economy adds 165,000 jobs in April

From the Associated Press

May 3, 2013, 5:54 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- U.S. employers added 165,000 jobs in April, and hiring was much stronger in the previous two months than the government first estimated. The job increases helped reduce the unemployment rate from 7.6 percent to a four-year low of 7.5 percent.

The report Friday from the Labor Department was a reassuring sign that the U.S. job market is improving despite higher taxes and government spending cuts that took effect this year.

The only sectors of the economy that cut jobs last month were construction and government

The government revised up its estimate of job gains in February and March by a combined 114,000. It now says employers added 332,000 jobs in February and 138,000 in March. The economy has created an average of 208,000 jobs a month from November through April --  above the 138,000 added in the previous six months.

An additional 210,000 people started looking for work in April, and many of them found jobs.

Stock futures rose immediately after the jobs report was released at 8:30 a.m. Eastern time.

The unemployment rate has fallen 0.4 percentage point since the start of the year, though it remains high. The Federal Reserve has said it plans to keep short-term interest rates at record lows at least until unemployment falls to 6.5 percent.

A fire overnight at the Labor Department's headquarters shut down the building for most employees. Members of the media were allowed in for the release of the report.

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States try to tackle 'secret money' in politics

WASHINGTON — Early last month, state lawyers and election officials around the country dialed into a conference call to talk about how to deal with the flood of secret money that played an unprecedented role in the 2012 election.

The discussion, which included officials from California, New York, Alaska and Maine, was a first step toward a collaborative effort to force tax-exempt advocacy organizations and trade associations out of the shadows.

The unusual initiative was driven by the lack of progress at the federal level in pushing those groups to disclose their contributors if they engage in campaigns, as candidates and political action committees are required to do.

"There is no question that one of the reasons to have states working together is because the federal government, in numerous arenas, has failed to take action," said Ann Ravel, chairwoman of California's Fair Political Practices Commission, who organized the call with officials from about 10 states.

The 2012 campaign set a high-water mark for independent groups, which unleashed more than $1 billion into federal races, three times as much as in 2008, according to the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics.

The bulk of that spending was by "super PACs," which must disclose their donors. But nonprofit advocacy groups and trade organizations, which do not have to reveal their financial backers, accounted for $309 million. Among them were the conservative Crossroads GPS, the liberal Patriot Majority USA and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The actual influence of such organizations was far greater, as tax-exempt groups also poured tens of millions of dollars into election-related activity that they were not required to report.

Advocates for disclosure say it is essential for the public to know who is trying to influence elections. But opponents say making donors public would infringe on their privacy and could intimidate some from participating in politics.

For now, state officials who participated in the conference call are sharing information on their campaign finance regulations and experiences with advocacy groups in their states. But the agencies may move to team up on investigations and work together to pressure federal agencies to do more.

The push by state regulators comes as scrutiny of nonprofit groups is gaining new attention at the federal level. On Capitol Hill, Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) plans to use his influential post as head of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations to press for greater oversight of these groups. And the Securities and Exchange Commission is considering a rule to require publicly traded corporations to reveal their political donations.

But disclosure advocates acknowledge they face a steep climb in Washington.

"I have no reason to believe this is going to be easy," said Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), who unveiled a bipartisan disclosure bill with Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) last month. She is the first GOP senator to sponsor such a measure in recent years; it is not clear whether other Republicans will come aboard.

"Unless both sides realize that disclosure is important to all of us, it's not going to happen," Murkowski said.

Much of the focus is on "social welfare" organizations set up under section 501(c)4 of the tax code, which can engage in elections as long as politics is not their primary purpose. Such organizations have proliferated since 2010, when the Supreme Court ruled in the Citizens United case that corporations could spend unlimited sums on elections. The decision also applied to many nonprofit groups.

State officials criticize multiple federal entities as failing to respond swiftly to the new environment. The Internal Revenue Service has asked some nonprofits for more information about their activities, but has not indicated whether it has launched any formal investigations. And measures to compel disclosure have stalled in Congress and at the Federal Election Commission.

In California, the Fair Political Practices Commission recently issued a series of subpoenas as part of an investigation to uncover the source of $11million involved in two ballot measures last fall.

The money passed from Americans for Job Security, a Virginia nonprofit, to the Center to Protect Patient Rights in Arizona, to another Arizona nonprofit called Americans for Responsible Leadership, and then to the conservative Small Business Action Committee in California.

The committee was working against Gov. Jerry Brown's tax increase measure and in support of another measure intended to curb the ability of unions to raise money for political activity. The source of the money remains unknown.

Lawmakers in more than a dozen states have proposed legislation to force such groups to disclose their donors. Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley signed a measure Thursday requiring independent groups that make election-related donations or expenditures of $6,000 or more in a four-year election cycle to disclose information about their top donors. It will take full effect in 2015.

An even more expansive effort is underway in New York, where Atty. Gen. Eric Schneiderman plans to issue regulations by June to require nonprofit groups that spend $10,000 or more on state and local elections to detail their political expenditures and disclose donors who give $1,000 or more.

"As long as Washington refuses to act, New York will serve as a model in shining light on this dark corner of our political system and protecting the integrity of nonprofits and our democracy," Schneiderman said in a statement to the Los Angeles Times.

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California wildfires: Springs fire reaches PCH in Ventura County

By Robert J. Lopez and Marisa Gerber

May 2, 2013, 9:23 p.m.

A massive wildfire that was devouring huge swaths of brush in Ventura County reached the Pacific Coast on Thursday night after burning for more than 14 hours, officials said.

The Springs fire, which had charred at least 8,000 acres of vegetation, reached Pacific Coast Highway near Yerba Buena Road,  Ventura County Fire Department spokesman Bill Nash told KCAL-TV Channel 9.

The fire had been raging for more than 14 hours after breaking out shortly before 7 a.m. near Camarillo Springs.

As darkness descended, air operations were shut down. That forced fire crews to battle the blaze with chainsaws, shovels and hose lines connected to fire engines, the Ventura County Fire Department said.

"We're fighting it the old fashioned down-and-dirty way with boots on the ground," Nash told KTLA-TV Channel 5.  "It's hot, dangerous dirty work."

As huge walls of flame moved steadily toward the sea, authorities evacuated residents in the canyon neighborhoods between Thousand Oaks and Pacific Coast Highway. The highway was closed for the second time Thursday night as the fire was raging in the rugged canyons about a mile from the coast, authorities said.

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Twitter: @LAJourno

robert.lopez@latimes.com

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Fleeing the flames in Southern California

Terry Doebler woke up choking from the smoke.

Doebler, 80, and her 82-year-old husband, Paul — retired New York transplants living in the Camarillo Springs neighborhood of Ventura County — had seen brushfires before in their 15 years there, but this was the first time a blaze forced them to evacuate.

"I opened the front door and the whole mountain was on fire," Paul Doebler said.

The Doeblers were among hundreds of residents in several Ventura County communities who fled their homes Thursday to escape a fast-moving brush fire that burned 8,000 acres and threatened thousands of homes. Hundreds of firefighters struggled to protect houses from the blaze, which damaged 15 homes and was about 10% contained late Thursday. Meanwhile, similar dry, windy conditions drove fires that destroyed homes, cars and a boat elsewhere in Southern California.

The Springs fire erupted before 7 a.m. off the southbound 101 freeway and burned across the Camarillo landscape, scorching 100 acres in less than an hour. By afternoon, the fire had made its way to Point Mugu State Park on a trek toward the ocean. It finally hit the coast late Thursday evening.

Cal State Channel Islands and multiple neighborhoods were evacuated as Santa Ana winds blew the flames southwest, and a stretch of Pacific Coast Highway was temporarily closed in the afternoon and again in the evening.

High winds and radiant heat forced officials to ground four fixed-winged air tankers that had dropped thousands of gallons of flame retardant on brush in the afternoon, leaving them to fight the flames on the ground and with helicopters that carry much less water.

With air operations concluded for the night, fire crews were battling flames with shovels, chain saws and fire engines.

"We're fighting it the old-fashioned down-and-dirty way with boots on the ground," Ventura County Fire Department spokesman Bill Nash told KTLA Channel 5. "It's hot, dangerous, dirty work."

TV news outlets showed a house engulfed in flames Thursday evening. Fire and sheriff's officials had no reports of homes destroyed.

The Doeblers and their yellow Labrador retriever, Mandy, joined dozens of evacuees clustered in small groups around the sanctuary of Camarillo's Calvary Nexus church, one of two evacuation centers set up by the American Red Cross.

Some were picking at paper plates of ziti with meat sauce that had been doled out by volunteers. Most couldn't take their eyes off the stadium-size TV screen at the front of the room, with its nonstop coverage of the blaze that had driven them out.

Others packed their possessions and prepared to flee but watched in relief as the blaze passed them by.

Daniel and Leslie Burns left work and rushed back to the Dos Vientos area of Newbury Park at mid-morning to find flames 30 feet high racing down a hill toward their two-story house, pushed by winds gusting to 40 mph.

Friends had already evacuated their dog, said Leslie Burns, 54, a teacher at Moorpark High School. They hurriedly packed photographs, important papers and medications, and prepared to flee.

But then the winds shifted. Erratic, hot winds blew the fire farther south into untouched brush in the hillsides above Newbury Park.

Pediatrician Paul Whyte was at work Thursday morning when his wife called to tell him the fire was in their backyard and helicopters were overhead.

He drove up his street to his large house at the end of Via Nicola, a cul-de-sac that abuts the hills where the fire burned.

"I saw my house, and then I saw the flames, two to three stories high, behind and above my house. I thought, 'That's not good,' " he said.

His wife and children had already evacuated with the family dogs, but Whyte stayed to monitor the situation. Firefighters told him they were controlling the fire and allowing it to burn out.

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President Obama's Mexico visit comes with backdrop of uncertainty

WASHINGTON — President Obama travels to Mexico this week amid signs that the relationship between the United States and its southern neighbor's new government faces a new period of uncertainty after years of unprecedented closeness forged by the deadly war against Mexican drug cartels.

The government of Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto is said to be wary of the level of U.S. involvement in security affairs that characterized the administration of his predecessor, Felipe Calderon. As a result, the Mexican government is expected to narrow U.S. involvement in its attorney general's office and Interior Ministry, the agencies that oversee police and intelligence, current and former U.S. and Mexican officials say.

Instead, Peña Nieto and officials from his Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, want to concentrate U.S. participation in less sensitive but potentially profitable areas such as the economy.

Privately, the shifts have led to a large degree of concern in Washington about what the day-to-day working relationship will look like.

Publicly, the Obama administration has welcomed a broader agenda.

"We don't want to define this relationship with Mexico … in the context of security or counter-narcotics trafficking," U.S. Secretary of State John F. Kerry said April 19 in Washington, with his Mexican counterpart, Jose Antonio Meade, at his side.

"We want to define it much larger in the context of our citizens' economic needs and our capacity to do more on the economic frontier. I am convinced we're going to grow that relationship."

Under Calderon, the United States expanded its role in Mexico to a level never before seen, sending drone aircraft, intelligence agents, police trainers and other assistance worth $2 billion over a six-year period to help fight the drug war. U.S. intelligence, in particular, was instrumental in the killing or capture of 25 drug kingpins, or capos.

The number of U.S. employees at the American Embassy and elsewhere snowballed, coming from agencies as diverse as the Drug Enforcement Administration, CIA, FBI and Treasury. Many participated directly in planning and carrying out drug-war missions with the Mexicans.

Much of that is likely to change.

"The U.S. knows it's going to be different and they're actively trying to find ways to work with the Mexican government," said Duncan Wood, director of the Mexico Institute at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington.

Washington is "waiting to see how comfortable [the Mexicans] are with the kind of cooperation that has been going on," Wood added. "The [Mexican] government recognizes that reliable flows of information and intelligence are crucial, but they would rather build up their own capacity than depend on the U.S."

The PRI wants to assert much more control over how U.S. officials operate in Mexico, said a former Mexican official with close ties to the administration. "The doors [to the Americans] are closing," he said.

One of Peña Nieto's most senior staff members, Atty. Gen. Jesus Murillo Karam, is openly critical of two areas where U.S. advisors have been especially active — and where their work seems to have backfired: a series of high-profile corruption prosecutions and a botched program of police vetting.

Millions of U.S. dollars have gone to training prosecutors and police. But the corruption cases collapsed because of what Murillo now says was flimsy evidence, and the vetting has failed to rid police forces of bad cops and may also have resulted in the firing of good officers.

"In a desire of simple imitation," Murillo said, "we let ourselves be guided by the values of other latitudes, other countries."

Some in the Mexican government portray the changing relationship as more tweak than rupture.

One official said Mexico seeks continued U.S. support and advice in the drug war, but wants to reinstate a more formal relationship through "proper," high-level channels, not across-the-board contacts throughout its agencies.

"It's how the PRI does things, always centralizing the channels," said the official, who was not authorized to speak publicly about the government's thinking.

The PRI ruled Mexico uninterrupted for seven decades until it was booted out in 2000. It returned to the presidency in December and has steadily reprised its tradition of concentrating power in a few hands.

For one thing, it is consolidating control over the drug war under the Interior Ministry, including plans to establish a 10,000-member national gendarmerie and add at least 35,000 officers to the federal police force. A powerful Public Security Ministry that existed under Calderon and received substantial U.S. attention has been dissolved; its main body, the federal police, subsumed into the Interior Ministry.

Experts say that the PRI's long-standing concern for protecting Mexican sovereignty could provide a cover for rolling back U.S. involvement. But it may not be easy.

Despite Calderon's U.S.-backed frontal assault on drug cartels, or perhaps because of it, violence skyrocketed, and experts and former officials say that Peña Nieto may have difficulty scaling back U.S. involvement because it has become so deeply entrenched in Mexico's security establishment.

Military attention to Mexico has also grown; in January, the Pentagon announced that it was creating a new headquarters for special operations forces at Colorado-based U.S. Northern Command, which covers Mexico. The number of special operations personnel could increase fivefold to about 125; they would help oversee sensitive training operations requested by Mexican security forces.

U.S. troops aren't expected to get involved in combat in Mexico because of Mexican resistance to a foreign presence, but officials say the special operations expansion has further entrenched a mission the military already has begun.

"Obviously we have a good military-to-military relationship with Mexico, and a lot of that involves special operations," said the command's spokesman, Capt. Jeff Davis. "The bread and butter of what they do is build capacity and train forces.... It's no change in operation, but it provides us better accountability and better command and control."

shashank.bengali@latimes.com

wilkinson@latimes.com

Bengali reported from Washington and Wilkinson from Mexico City.

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After Dorner claim, other fired LAPD cops want cases reviewed

In the wake of Christopher Dorner's claim that his firing from the Los Angeles Police Department was a result of corruption and bias, more than three dozen other fired LAPD cops want department officials to review their cases.

The 40 requests, which were tallied by the union that represents rank-and-file officers, have come in the two months since Dorner sought revenge for his 2009 firing by targeting police officers and their families in a killing rampage that left four dead and others injured.

Dorner's allegations of a department plagued by racism and special interests left Chief Charlie Beck scrambling to stem a growing chorus of others who condemned Dorner's violence but said his complaints about the department were accurate. To assuage concerns, Beck vowed to re-examine the cases of other former officers who believed they had been wrongly expelled from the force.

Now, details of how the department plans to make good on Beck's offer are becoming clear. And, for at least some of the disgruntled ex-officers, they will be disappointing.

In letters to those wishing to have their case reviewed, department officials explain that the city's charter, which spells out the authority granted to various public officials, prevents the police chief from opening new disciplinary proceedings for an officer fired more than three years ago.

"Therefore the Department does not have the power to reinstate officers whose terminations occurred more than three years ago," wrote Gerald Chaleff, the LAPD's special assistant for constitutional policing. "You are being informed of this to forestall any misconceptions about the power of the department."

The reviews remain one of the unsettled postscripts to the Dorner saga. In February, three years after he was fired for allegedly fabricating a story about his partner inappropriately kicking a handcuffed suspect, Dorner resurfaced in violent fashion, bent on seeking revenge for his ouster.

After killing the daughter of the attorney who defended him at his disciplinary hearing and her fiance, Dorner killed two police officers and wounded three other people as he evaded capture during a massive manhunt. After more than a week on the run, Dorner was chased into a cabin in the mountains near Big Bear, where he died from what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Dorner had posted online an angry manifesto of sorts in which he claimed that he had been a victim of a racist, corrupt police organization that protects its favored officers at the expense of those trying to report abuses. Those accusations tapped into deep wells of discontent and distrust that officers and minority communities have felt toward the department. Beck sought to reassure doubters that years of reforms had changed the department and buried the "ghosts" of the past. He then offered to review past discipline cases.

Fired officers who wish to have their terminations re-examined must first submit an affidavit or similar declaration within two months of receiving the letter from Chaleff, according to a copy obtained by The Times. The letter was sent in recent weeks to the former officers who have already come forward.

Using "clear and convincing language," the letter instructs ex-officers to explain "the new evidence or change in circumstances that would justify a re-examination of your termination."

LAPD Cmdr. Andrew Smith said Chaleff will conduct a review for anyone who follows the rules laid out in the letter. "We will do whatever it takes on the cases, including redoing interviews, if necessary," he wrote in an email.

The department and the Protective League declined to release the names of former officers who have requested reviews.

Gary Ingemunson, a longtime attorney for the League, used the case reviews as an opportunity to revive the League's perennial criticism that disciplinary hearings, called Boards of Rights, are stacked against officers.

"The Board of Rights system could be fair, but for the last few years the Department has consistently outdone itself in the attempt to completely skew the system against the officer. The Department wants to win. End of story," Ingemunson wrote in a column in the current issue of the union's monthly magazine.

One of the problems, Ingemunson and other union lawyers have said, is the makeup of the three-person panels that decide an officer's fate. Two of judges are senior-level LAPD officers, while the third is a civilian.

According to the critics, that arrangement is unfair because officers are sent to boards whenever the chief wants them fired and the officers on the panel will feel pressure to do as the chief wants.

Smith rejected that idea, saying board members are completely free to decide as they see fit. He pointed to department figures showing that over the last three years, officers sent by the chief to Boards of Rights were fired in only about 60% of the cases.

Smith defended the department's disciplinary system in general, saying it has been in place for decades and stood up under repeated scrutiny by oversight bodies.

Another allowance Beck made after Dorner's rampage, Smith noted, was to launch a broad review of disciplinary procedures to identify areas that officers believe are unfair and possibly make changes to address those concerns.

joel.rubin@latimes.com

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Syria prime minister survives bomb attack

BEIRUT -- Syria's prime minister survived a bomb attack Monday that targeted his convoy in the capital of Damascus, state media reported, in the latest apparent assassination attempt against a top official in the government of President Bashar Assad.

Prime Minister Wael al-Halqi "is safe and he survived the explosion," reported the official Syrian Arab News Agency. There were unconfirmed reports that the prime minister's bodyguard and several others were killed in the blast.

Footage on state television showed several heavily damaged vehicles and debris scattered along a major street in the Mazzeh district, an upscale neighborhood in western Damascus that is home to many senior officials and diplomats.

The state media reported "casualties and material damage," but there was no official word on how many people were injured or if anyone had been killed.

The attack appeared to be a car bomb, though official accounts did not provide specifics.

Halqi, a senior figure in the governing Baath Party, was appointed prime minister last year after his predecessor, Riad Hijab, defected to the opposition and fled to Jordan.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack. The government blamed "terrorists," its standard term for the armed opposition.

Rebels fighting to oust Assad have regularly deployed car bombs and have been blamed for several such attacks in the capital, including a devastating explosion in February on a busy roadway in central Damascus  that killed more than 50 people.

The heavily guarded capital is largely under tight government control. But rebels based in suburbs have shown the ability to set off bombs in the city and shell the capital from positions on the outskirts. The military has thwarted several rebel attempts to storm the city from strongholds east of the capital. In recent days the government has been mounting a major counteroffensive against rebels based outside the capital.

Senior government figures have often been targeted for assassination during the two-year uprising against Assad's rule.

Last summer, four top security officials were killed by what the government called a bomb planted in a security building in the capital. A bombing attack at the Interior Ministry in December reportedly wounded Interior Minister Mohammed al-Shaar.

Special correspondent Nabih Bulos in Amman, Jordan, contributed to this report.

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