The Tribune Co., owners of the Chicago Tribune, the L.A. Times and other media properties, emerges from bankruptcy today, the culmination of a four-year process that began after a billionaire owner of mobile-home properties got the company.
From Walter Hamilton and Joe Flint in the LAT: "The company sought Bankruptcy Court protection in December 2008 after an $8.2 billion leveraged buyout by real estate magnate Sam Zell saddled the company with $12.9 billion in total debt just as advertising revenue was collapsing."
"The bankruptcy became one of the longest in U.S. corporate history, in part because of fierce infighting among the investment firms that assumed ownership of Tribune after acquiring its debt."
"The slimmed-down Tribune worked hard in the last four years to refocus itself as a faster-paced digital enterprise. The company emerged from bankruptcy with significantly less debt -- $1.1 billion plus a $300-million line of credit. It also has a new board of directors composed largely of entertainment-industry veterans."
With the year-end interest in new laws, how about the looming shift in the state's regulatory scheme? That was one of the 873 bills signed by Gov. Brown.
From Greg Lucas in Capitol Weekly: "As to regulations, it certainly is already a certainty that California will pass regulations to flesh out the explicit meaning of 2013’s new batch of laws – just like the volumes of existing state laws."
"What starts to be consistent as of January 1 is the dates those regulations, which can run hundreds of densely worded pages, take effect."
"Instead of batches of regulations from various state agencies taking effect 30 days after being filed with the Secretary of State’s office, they will now take effect at quarterly dates under SB 1099 by Sen. Rod Wright, a Los Angeles Democrat. In 2011, 103 state entities introduced 491 new regulations, each on their own timeline, according to the Office of Administrative Law, whose charge is to review those regulations for clarity and content."
As to new laws, there certainly are a lot of them.
From the AP's Don Thompson: "California also is studying whether to create the nation's first state-administered retirement savings program for some 6 million private-sector workers, although it will take additional legislation before the program can be fully implemented."
"Other laws address emotional issues such as guns and hunting. Second Amendment advocates can no longer carry rifles and shotguns in public to protest gun control laws, and hunters are banned from using hounds to track bobcats and bears."
"Gov. Jerry Brown signed nearly 900 bills into law in 2012, most of which take effect Jan. 1. The legislation covers a wide range of topics, from pension changes for public employees to new funding mechanisms for a state park system that has been tainted by financial scandals."
Hooray for Hollywood: 2012 shaped up as a record year at the box office, despite the economic uncertainty of the recession and the entertainment choices available to the public..
From Bob Strauss in the LA Daily News: "It's estimated that when ticket sales for 2012 are added up after tonight, the dollar figure will be $10.8 billion. That beats the annual record of $10.6 billion from 2009 and represents a healthy 6 percent increase over 2011's $10.215 billion..."
"'The Avengers' had the biggest opening weekend of all time with $207.4 million," noted Paul Dergarabedian, president of the Box-office Division at Hollywood.com. "`The Hobbit' was the biggest December opening ever. `The Hunger Games' opening with $152 million in March that was unprecedented for that month. And there was the biggest single day opening for a musical ever with `Les Miz' (`Les Miserables') on Christmas Day."
"Even this Valentines Day, the first time ever that four movies opened with over $20 million outside of the holiday season. The records just kept on coming."
The state-local relationship known as "realignment" -- in which the state transfers authority to the locals over myriad correctional issues -- is having an unintended consequence: Some judges are changing their sentencing patterns.
From the LAT's Paige St. John: "A study by the Chief Probation Officers of California finds an increasing number of judges using split sentences, requiring offenders to spend part of their time in jail and the other part in a community program or under probation. Without a split sentence, the entire term is spent in jail and when offenders are released, there is no followup."
"From the time the new prison law took effect in October 2011 to June 2012, the probation officers group reports, 23% of all local prison sentences were split. That means an increase in the responsibilities of county probation offices, but a lighter load on jails."
"However, the organization says there is an inconsistent use of the sentencing tool among the state's 58 counties. Judges in 18 counties deliver split sentences to more than half their felons, including Contra Costa and San Joaquin. On the other hand, only 5% of Los Angeles County felons, for example, are given split sentences."