Doctor No: The public hospital crisis has placed nearly two dozen private hospitals in Los Angeles and Orange counties “in dire financial straits and in danger of bankruptcy or closure,” according to a depressing report in today’s Times. Reporters Daniel Costello and Susannah Rosenblatt found that the local healthcare system is so overburdened that “even a few other hospitals close or reduce costly critical-care services, it could mean longer ambulance rides to hospitals, additional delays in emergency rooms and less access to care, especially for poor and uninsured people.” Industry analysts tell the Times that Integrated Healthcare Holdings Inc., which operates four OC hospitals and has defaulted on its debt “could go bankrupt in the near future.” Don’t worry. Mitt Romney says “market forces” will insure and supply adequate care to everyone.
Give me some pho: A few days after the Weekly’s piece on the same subject, Martin Wisckol at the Register reports on the emergence of Little Saigon as a “major political force” thanks get-out-the-vote efforts by state Assemblyman Van Tran. In a special election to the board of supes this year, Vietnamese voters, who represent just six percent of OC voters, accounted for 45 percent of the absentee ballots in the race. Anyhow, Wisckol goes on to claim that Tran, an extremely partisan Republican, has created a bipartisan coalition. Okay. We’ll see. But he also added this tidbit: “Party membership can seem superfluous among Vietnamese Americans.” Really? Is that why Republican presidential candidates, including the retard now in the White House, flock to Little Saigon every four years? I’ve attended each rally and observed the locals angrily chanting down Democrats as communists. In fact, I've witnessed them throw punches and spit on people who aren't Republicans.
Best Newspaper Photo of the Weekend: Bob Chamberlin at the Los Angeles Times nabbed an incredible photograph of the rainbow draped over downtown LA following the rainstorm. It was even more beautiful than the SC victory at the coliseum. And I love the opening paragraph of the accompanying story by Scott Gold, and Rong-Gong Lin II and Francisco Vara-Orta: “An out-of-season storm lashed Southern California with thunderous squalls Saturday and wreaked havoc across the region, trapping cars in mud, sending so much polluted water to the coast that officials warned people not to go into the ocean, and contributing, officials suspect, to traffic accidents that killed at least five people.” What caused the mess? According to the National Weather Service, a mere half inch of rain. Stop laughing, East coasters.
Answer the Question: A day after the Times broke the latest Norman Hsu scandal story, the Register weighed in without advancing the story an inch. Reporter Cindy Carcamo regurgitated her competitor’s article even to the point of relying on William Bollard, the plaintiff’s attorney. (See Saturday’s Headlines N Surprises in Navel Gazing.) Both newspapers are suggesting that Hsu may have violated a federal law by encouraging potential investors in his operations to contribute to his favorite candidates. The conservative media is all over the story because Hsu was chums with Hillary Clinton and other liberals. But the questions stands: As long as there are no kickbacks, since when did it become illegal to encourage people to contribute to campaigns?
DeVore Coup? You’ve heard of redistricting shenanigans? Well, here’s a new one: Without any publicity, Orange County’s Irvine area now may have two representatives in the state assembly! Yep, the voters elected Chuck DeVore (pictured). But, according to the Republican Party of Orange County, “Diana DeVore” is the “State Assemblywoman.” At least, that’s how the party listed her occupation on its recent campaign disclosure forms. I’m OK with this as long as the couple isn’t double dipping on the nice state salary and perks. But can Scott Baugh's party committee at least spell her name right? Isn't her name Diane?
CNN-featured investigative reporter R. Scott Moxley has won Journalist of the Year honors at the Los Angeles Press Club; been named Distinguished Journalist of the Year by the LA Society of Professional Journalists; obtained one of the last exclusive prison interviews with Charles Manson disciple Susan Atkins; won inclusion in Jeffrey Toobin’s The Best American Crime Reporting for his coverage of a white supremacist’s senseless murder of a beloved Vietnamese refugee; launched multi-year probes that resulted in the FBI arrests and convictions of the top three ranking members of the Orange County Sheriff’s Department; and gained praise from New York Times Magazine writers for his “herculean job” exposing entrenched Southern California law enforcement corruption.