Free Republic

Los Angeles lawmakers have wrestled for years with how to legalize and regulate the vendors who sell food and goods on the city's sidewalks. Now a state legislator is championing a bill that could take some of those decisions out of the city's hands. Under a proposal from Sen. Ricardo Lara (D-Bell Gardens), California cities would not be able to regulate or ban vendors unless they have a licensing system that meets several requirements. Cities could not bar vending in parks. They could not limit where vendors can do business or cap their numbers unless the rules were tied to...

Authorities say the mayor of the Los Angeles suburb of Bell Gardens has been shot to death and his wife is in custody. Los Angeles County sheriff’s Deputy Crystal Hernandez said Tuesday that Mayor Daniel Crespo got into an argument with his wife, Levette Crespo, and their 19-year-old son tried to intervene. …

Mexican drug cartels operating in cities in the U.S. are buying up legitimate businesses to launder money and using some of the proceeds to win local mayoral and city council seats for politicians who can shape the policies and personnel decisions of their police forces, according to Rep. Tom Tancredo "The Tijuana-based Felix drug cartel and the Juarez-based Fuentes cartel began buying legitimate business in small towns in Los Angeles County in the early 1990s," "They purchased restaurants, used-car lots, auto-body shops and other small businesses. One of their purposes was to use these businesses for money-laundering operations. Once established...