It appears Mickey Rooney’s tumultuous personal life has carried over to his death. Two factions of the Rooney’s family are fighting over the entertainer’s remains. A judge says won’t allow the body to be released from county custody until they settle the feud. The dispute centers over where the entertainer wished to be buried. Meanwhile, the L.A. Times reports that Rooney was broke when he died earlier this week at the age of 93. He owed back taxes to the IRS and the state of California and he had just $18,000 in assets. Rooney was married eight times and had nine children. At the time of his death, he was reportedly estranged from his current wife and most of his children.
Nearly $1 billion in extra funding would go to L.A.’s most disadvantaged students under a budget blueprint unveiled by LAUSD Superintendent John Deasy. Deasy calls his $6.8 billion spending plan “an investment in justice,” where “those who have had the least receive the most.” The money would pay for more tutors, librarians and school nurses, as well as additional teachers to reduce class sizes for middle school math and English. It would be directed at students who are low-income, in foster care or learning English. Meanwhile, the School Board says it will look into the legality of student petition that aims to put a student representative on the board.
Gov. Jerry Brown is building a big lead as he seeks reelection to an unprecedented fourth term. The Field Poll says 57 percent of likely voters back the Democratic governor. His closest Republican rival is Assemblyman Tim Donnelly, at 17 percent. The Field Poll also found that 59 percent of registered voters approve of the job Brown is doing. That’s the Governor’s highest approval rating since he began his current term in January 2011.
The race to become mayor of L.A. County’s second biggest city is down to two. Vice Mayor Robert Garcia and businessman Damon Dunn emerged from a crowded field to claim the top two spots in yesterday’s Long Beach city election. Neither candidate received more than half the votes, so there will be a run-off in June. Meanwhile, Long Beach voters came out overwhelmingly in favor of a ballot measure that would allow the city to collect taxes on medical marijuana dispensaries. The City Council, however, has yet to approve medical pot shops in Long Beach.
Great white sharks should not be listed as either a threatened or endangered species, according to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. Environmental groups had asked the state to give great whites extra protections from fishermen who sometimes catch them accidentally. But Fish and Wildlife officials say there isn’t a strong enough case for granting the petition. The department says the population of great whites off California is stable and may actually be going up, which environmentalists dispute.