The Los Angeles Times from Los Angeles, California • Page 47

LATIMES.COM AA3 PUBLIC ON-LINE AUCTION By Order of Prop House Moving to New Quarters Wed Thurs, Sept 1 st 2 nd From 10am of items to be sold ON LINE over 3 days Inspection at 5300 Alla Rd Playa Vista, CA 90066 Inspect: Aug 30 th -Sept 2 nd Bid On-Line at www.RLSpear.com For more information, call: 1.800.350.5568 5863154 Sony Pictures Studios Studio Props Antiques CALIFORNIA ABIG BIG DETOUR Casey Christie Bakersfield Californian A big rig that was swept off California 395 lies on its side in mud and water after flash floods struck the area a few miles north of Coso Junction. The driver was not injured. The highway was closed for several hours while Caltrans workers cleared debris. ing for a federal bill that would update the Federal Aviation Authorization Act by allowing local ports to regulate trucking operations, said Melissa Lin attorney with the Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmental group that intervened in the case. The threat of appeal made by the trucking industry on Friday shows the need for a rewrite of the trucking law, Perrella said.

could be years before we have a final decision in this she said. The trucking group has argued that federal laws dealing with interstate commerce and transportation safety prohibit the port from imposing regulations that affect a price, route or services. Snyder disagreed, saying the port was not preempted from imposing concession agreements because it was acting as a business and landlord, not a regulating agency. She wrote that the port was protecting its business interests by seeking to address the diesel emissions that have made it a target of clean-air lawsuits for years. The judge also said the employer requirements would ensure that truck drivers work for companies that have enough money to maintain a new fleet of cleaner-fuel trucks.

The harbor department has spent more than $57 million to develop and subsidize the purchase of such vehicles, city officials said. david.zahniser The industry group that challenged Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villarai- clean truck program at the Port of Los Angeles said Friday that it would appeal a federal court ruling that upheld the initiative in its entirety. decision, issued by U.S. District Judge Christina Snyderin Los Angeles, upheld the harbor right to require concession agreements for each truck that carries cargo through the port. Those agreements are a cornerstone of the clean- air initiative to replace older diesel trucks at the port with newer, cleaner-burning ones.

While an array of environmental and labor groups praised the decision, Curtis Whalenof the American Trucking Assn.said his group would seek to keep in place the injunction that prevented part of the truck plan from being implemented. He also predicted the fate of the program would ultimately be decided by the U.S. Supreme Court. has national said Whalen, who serves as executive director of the Intermo- dal Motor Carriers Conference. Snyder upheld one of the most controversial compo- nents of clean- port initiative the requirement that any truck driver carrying goods in and out of the harbor must be employed by a trucking company.

That provision was aggressively sought by the Teamsters union and was viewed as a way of making it easier for truck drivers to organize. Change to Win, a labor coalition that backed the provision, contributed $500,000 to a voter-approved telephone tax measure crafted by Villaraigosa in 2008. That contribution arrived less than three months before the concession agreements were approved by the appointees on the harbor commission. While the truck industry panned the ruling, organizers with Change to Win issued a statement saying the decision will provide legal ballast for port authorities in other parts of the country, some of which have already begun implementing their own clean-air plans. Labor unions and clean- air groups have been push- Trucking group to appeal port ruling A judge upholds clean air program requiring port drivers to work for trucking firms.

David Zahniser Brian Vander Brug Los Angeles Times POLLUTANTS: The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach are trying to cut truck emissions. This week, a judge upheld the clean-truck program at the L.A. port. These are tough times for Dodgers owner Frank McCourt. embroiled in a multimillion-dollar divorce proceeding with his estranged wife, Jamie.

low on cash, according to one of his court filings. His stewardship of the team is constantly under scrutiny. But when McCourt stepped to the stage at a gala this week to accept an award from the Los Angeles Police Protective charitable arm, the Eagle Badge Foundation, he decided to give away one of the few things he has a lot of these tickets. As a tribute to Los Angeles policeofficers, he promised to give the 10,000 men and women of the police force vouchers for four tickets apiece. 40,000 tickets.

On Wednesday, the Police Protective League e- maileditsmembers that McCourt had come through with his offer and that everyone was entitled to four tickets on the loge or reserve level for games on Sept. 17, 18, 19 or Oct. 1, 2or 3. about $1.25 million to $1.5 million worth of tickets, said Josh Rawitch, the vice president of communications. is certainly one of the largest charitable donations made to a single organization by the Dodgers in recent he said.

Asked whether McCourt and the Dodgers could afford it, Rawitch replied, of caught me off guard, I can tell you said Paul of the Po- liceProtective addedthat McCourt never mentioned before the gala held at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza Hotel that he planned to make the contribution. McCourt, who was honored for community work along with Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca, apparently put aside his prepared remarks, Weber recalled. said he just wanted to address us from the People were really touched by him reaching out to rank-and-file police officers in the city and showing his The Dodgers did not is- suea news release about the ticket giveaway; the information came from the Police Protective League. Weber, a sergeant, noted that officers know a thing or two about what McCourt is experiencing: officers go through divorcestoo, at a fairly high carla.hall@latimes.com McCourt gives Dodgers tickets to police Carla Hall State lawmakers Friday moved forward with a crackdown on reckless driving by paparazzi pursuing celebri- tiesand acted to block cities from grabbing the share of money from traffic tickets. The two pieces of legislation were approved by the state Senate, which sent the paparazzi bill back to the Assembly to agree on amendments.

AB 2479 would impose penalties of up to $5,000 with the possibility of jail time for photographers caught driving in a dangerous manner to get photos or video of celebrities. bill is intended to address out-of-control said Sen. Curren Price Jr. (D-Inglewood). are employing more aggressive and unsafe tactics that endanger both celebrities and the general The measure, sought by Los Angeles City Atty.

Carmen Trutanich, was approved on a 21-13 vote. Opponents, including Sen. Leland Yee (D-San they agreed with the California Newspaper Publishing Assn. that there already are laws against reckless driving and that the bill infringes on the rights of all members of the press. senator does not think journalists should be subject to harsher penalties than any other member of the said Adam Keig- spokesman for Yee.

bill would not just apply to but also members of the mainstream media who may be in transit to an emergency situation, including fires, crime scenes, terrorist attacks or other breaking The Senate also approved SB 949, which seeks to halt a recent trend by cities that have diverted traffic ticket fines from the state to municipal coffers. local governments have recently made it their official policy to substitute their own local ordinances for defined violations and penalties in the vehicle code for moving said Sen. Jenny Oropeza (D-Long Beach), the author. By writing the tickets for speeding as violations of their own municipal ordinances instead of state law, cities have been able to keep more of the revenue from fines, she said. The bill says that local authorities, who already get ashare of ticket fines, cannot enact or enforce an ordinance involving violations covered by the state vehicle code.

The measure was opposed by cities thatinclude Los Angeles, Costa Mesa and Fremont. Meanwhile, the state Senate began voluntarily posting the salaries of all its employees on its website as Assembly officials said they still think the disclosure should be required by law. patrick.mcgreevy Senate OKs bills on paparazzi, diversion of traffic ticket fines Patrick McGreevy reporting from sacramento CMYK.