In South Africa, Obama continues his focus on youth

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa — President Obama's first audience of South Africans assembled Saturday in Soweto, and he recalled the protests that tore through the neighborhoods here in 1976, galvanizing the anti-apartheid movement.

The 51-year-old president was among the few in the room old enough to remember.

The town hall, packed with young people at the University of Johannesburg, was the latest in a series of international youth outreach efforts staged by the president. Obama's foreign travel schedule these days can sometimes look like a globe-trotting college tour.

Nearly every presidential stopover includes a speech at a university auditorium, or if logistics demand, an off-campus venue filled with young faces. His weeklong tour through sub-Saharan Africa includes two events at South African universities; Obama will deliver another speech Sunday, at the University of Cape Town, where in the 1960s U.S. Sen. Robert F. Kennedy dramatically declared that world challenges require the "qualities of youth."

"Don't lose those qualities of youth," Obama told the group of 650 young people at the Soweto forum. "Your imagination, your optimism, your idealism. The future of this continent is in your hands."

For all the looking forward, Obama also spent a considerable amount of time looking back, as the nation's iconic elder statesman Nelson Mandela lay critically ill in a Pretoria hospital.

Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama are not scheduled to visit the man who served as South Africa's first black president, the White House said, but the Obamas spoke Saturday by phone to his wife, Graca Machel, who has maintained a vigil at his bedside. Obama later met with other family members at the Nelson Mandela Foundation headquarters.

"I expressed my hope that Madiba draws peace and comfort from the time that he is spending with loved ones, and also expressed my heartfelt support for the entire family as they work through this difficult time," Obama said later, using Mandela's clan name, as South Africans often do with affection. "I also reaffirmed the profound impact that his legacy has had in building a free South Africa, and in inspiring people around the world, including me."

Obama's outreach to the under-35 set serves a distinct purpose for a president trying to maintain his youthful image abroad and working to define his foreign policy legacy. The speeches often allow Obama to keep some distance from conflicts or sticky relationships with problematic national leaders. Instead, he offers brighter, but vaguer, notions of hope, calls for political engagement and investment in the future.

Obama also uses such events to send indirect messages to the leaders in question. Obama met Saturday morning with South African President Jacob Zuma, whose African National Congress — the party of Mandela — many observers say has lost its way. Zuma's government is widely viewed as riddled with corruption and is under pressure to engage or lose the support of the next generation of South Africans.

Obama made no references to such issues at a news conference after their meeting. But a couple of hours later, he pointedly urged young people to "hold leaders accountable."

Obama's focus on the future is crucial to his strategy in Africa, where 1 in 3 people are between the ages of 10 and 24, and an estimated 60% of the continent's population is younger than 35. Many live in dire poverty with poor nutrition, housing and schooling, conditions ripe for the political instability that has beset the continent.

The White House said Obama was working to nurture the next generation of African political leaders. It announced on Saturday a new fellowship program that it said would bring 500 young Africans to the United States each year for leadership training and mentoring. The effort is an extension of the Young African Leaders Initiative that Obama launched shortly after taking office.

It is far from clear whether such efforts, or eloquent speeches, will cement the president's legacy with the next generation here.

Other foreign powers, including China, are pouring private investment into Africa, and U.S. influence has been waning. The young people in Soweto on Saturday appeared enamored of Obama's image, although not his policies.

While the young people waiting for Obama at the town hall clapped and sang apartheid-era songs — changing the lyrics of one traditional Zulu song to "Obama is coming!" — the president also was asked detailed questions about his trade, foreign aid and counter-terrorism policies.

A group of young people who participated by videoconference from Nairobi, Kenya, questioned the president's decision to skip their country — a longtime U.S. ally and homeland of Obama's father — on his Africa tour in part because its democratically elected leaders are facing charges before the International Criminal Court. Obama, they said, appeared to be breaking a promise to visit Kenya during his presidency.

At one point in the proceedings, Obama appeared to acknowledge that the fruits of his public relations push would take years to appear.

"You guys are all going to do great things," Obama said. "I'll be retired by the time you do them."

kathleen.hennessey@latimes.com

robyn.dixon@latimes.com

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Prop. 8 sponsors ask U.S. Supreme Court to stop same-sex weddings

SAN FRANCISCO — As same-sex couples raced to marry in California, the sponsors of Proposition 8 filed an emergency request to the U.S. Supreme Court asking it to stop weddings on the grounds that its decision was not yet legally final.

"If courts were free to disregard well-defined procedures at their whim, the public's confidence in the judiciary would suffer," lawyers for ProtectMarriage said in their 12-page application.

An attorney for the challengers of Proposition 8 expressed certainty that the request would be denied.

It went to Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, who hears matters involving the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. The 9th Circuit issued an order late Friday that allowed gay marriages to resume, a decision ProtectMarriage said was premature and in violation of procedural rules.

Kennedy wrote Wednesday's ruling that required the federal government to recognize same-sex marriages. He dissented in the Proposition 8 decision, which said ProtectMarriage and other initiative sponsors could not stand in the place of state officials to defend their measures in federal court.

UC Davis law professor Vikram Amar said Kennedy would agree to stop the marriages only if the court was willing to consider reopening the Proposition 8 case at the request of ProtectMarriage. Amar estimated that only one or two such requests are granted in a decade.

"I would be pretty shocked if he granted a stay," Amar said.

ProtectMarriage contended that the 9th Circuit should not have taken any action in the case until Wednesday's Supreme Court decision on Proposition 8 was technically final. The group said high court rulings are not binding for 25 days, a period in which a party in a case can ask for reconsideration.

The 9th Circuit normally waits 25 days before acting on a case just decided by the Supreme Court. But in a surprise move, a three-judge panel that included liberal jurist Stephen Reinhardt lifted a hold it had placed on a 2010 injunction ordering state officials to stop enforcing the gay marriage ban.

Gay couples were marrying up and down the state within hours.

Amar said the appeals court had the power to take such action. Chapman University law professor John Eastman, a supporter of Proposition 8, disagreed, saying the court's action had violated legal rules.

The couples who filed the federal challenge of the 2008 ballot measure headed out to get marriage licenses within an hour of the 9th Circuit's decision. One couple married Friday evening at Los Angeles City Hall, the other at San Francisco City Hall. San Francisco will continue to issue licenses and perform marriages through the weekend.

ProtectMarriage said the 9th Circuit's decision smacked of "corruption."

"Suspiciously, the 9th Circuit's announcement late Friday ordering same-sex marriages came as a surprise, without any warning or notice to Proposition 8's official proponents," ProtectMarriage said in a statement.

"However, the same-sex couple plaintiffs in the case, their media teams, San Francisco City Hall, L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and the California attorney general all happened to be in position to perform same-sex marriages just minutes after the 9th Circuit's 'unexpected' announcement."

The Supreme Court cleared the way for same-sex marriage in California by deciding 5 to 4 that ProtectMarriage did not have the legal authority to appeal the injunction against the measure. State officials, who did have the power, refused to appeal the injunction by now-retired Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn R. Walker.

ProtectMarriage has argued that the injunction applied only to the two same-sex couples who sued, and the group has not ruled out a long-shot challenge in a state or federal district court to limit the effect of Walker's ruling.

But Gov. Jerry Brown and Atty. Gen. Kamala D. Harris, supporters of gay marriage, said Walker's order compelled them to stop enforcing the marriage ban statewide.

maura.dolan@latimes.com

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The Supreme Court's new view of equal justice

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court promises "equal justice under law" — the words carved into stone on its facade — and last week, the justices set out a new definition of equal justice that they see as suited to this time.

On the last day of their term, they struck down a 1990s-era federal law that denied all legal recognition to the tens of thousands of same-sex couples who have been legally married in the last decade — a ruling that set off gay rights celebrations from the court's steps to the West Coast.

The scene could not have been more different than the day before, when the court struck down part of a 1960s-era voting-rights law that put the South under special scrutiny. Looking glum and voicing anger, African American lawyers and veterans of the civil rights movement spoke of a betrayal.

The pair of rulings, taken together, may have had few fans, but they reflect a consistent view of equal justice at the court's center, one held by Justice Anthony M. Kennedy. It is skeptical of old liberal laws that put heavy emphasis on race, and just as skeptical of newer conservative laws that are biased against gays and lesbians. Both fail the test of equal justice, Kennedy said.

The Constitution promises liberty and equality to all, Kennedy says, and that means the government may not divide people into groups based on their race or ethic heritage, and now, their sexual orientation.

Since the 1960s, liberals have insisted the laws must sometimes take account of race and give special protections to black people to make up for a history of racial discrimination. But that time has passed, say Kennedy and the court's conservatives.

They had soured on the Voting Rights Act during the 1990s. Then they faced a series of cases from the South in which lawmakers — under pressure from Washington officials invoking the act — had drawn odd-shaped districts with the aim of electing more blacks and Latinos. The court's conservatives called it "racial gerrymandering."

Many were shocked last week when the nation's highest court — once a beacon of hope for racial justice — handed down a ruling that voids a key part of the Voting Rights Act. But to the justices in the majority, it means putting less focus on race when drawing election districts.

Kennedy sounded the same theme Monday in the decision that criticized an affirmative action policy at the University of Texas. School officials should avoid judging students based on their race, and instead try a "race-neutral" approach to bring diversity to the campus, he said.

His opinion striking down the federal Defense of Marriage Act, which prohibited recognition of any marriage except one between a man and a woman, was based on the idea that it interfered with the "the equal dignity of same-sex marriages."

The government has no business treating the deep commitments and loving relationships of gay couples as "second-class" or less worthy of respect, he said. With those words, a new era of equal rights had arrived.

The court's gay rights ruling is sure to trigger new lawsuits in the 37 states that forbid same-sex marriage. Those states will face this question: What is the justification for denying equal rights to these couples?

But if one era of equal rights was beginning, another appeared to have ended.

Although it is unlikely the House and Senate will write a new law to fix the court's problems with the Voting Rights Act, in an Arizona case the high court made it clear that Congress has broad power to set regulations for elections. A 7-2 decision written by Justice Antonin Scalia rejected a law that required would-be voters to show proof of citizenship upon registration. It conflicted with the simplified registration form created by the federal Motor Voter Act, he said.

That ruling appears to allow Congress to adopt national standards that could, for example, require states to open polling places for early voting or set limits on the identification cards voters must show at the ballot box. President Obama seemed to endorse that concept Thursday, saying, "We should have mechanisms that make it easier to vote. And that is within Congress' power."

Moving beyond the major social issues, this year's court term saw another round of big wins for corporations. The justices said corporations could use arbitration clauses to shield themselves against class-action lawsuits, even when they may have short-changed their customers and violated the law. They gave makers of generic drugs a shield from being sued, tossing out a jury verdict in favor of a New Hampshire woman who suffered a toxic reaction and bad skin burns from a pain pill.

They also shielded international corporations from being sued for alleged roles in human rights violations overseas. And the justices made it harder for employees to sue their employer if they say they were harassed on the job or were retaliated against for having complained about discrimination. Most of these decisions came on 5-4 votes, when Kennedy joined with the court's conservatives.

Police and prosecutors also won two important decisions. In a Maryland case, the justices voted 5 to 4 to uphold the routine taking of DNA mouth swabs from people under arrest. Crime experts say this will lead to expanded computerized databases and help investigators solve unsolved cases.

And in a Texas case, they ruled prosecutors could tell the jury that a suspect refused to answer a key question posed by a police officer. This 5-4 ruling limits the reach of the famous "right to remain silent" that stems from the Miranda ruling.

Looking ahead, trouble looms for the Obama administration and liberal advocates on three fronts.

The so-called contraceptive mandate is being challenged by dozen of employers who say they object, on religious grounds, to being forced to pay for birth control as part of a health insurance policy. The Obama administration stands behind the provision as vital for working women, but the court's conservatives are likely to see the issue as one of religious liberty and excessive regulation by the government. At least one of those cases is likely to reach the court in its next term.

The justices are also likely to decide soon on how far states can go to regulate abortion. Republican-controlled legislatures have passed a series of new laws that restrict the time frame in which women can obtain an abortion, or that require them to undergo ultrasound tests. More than 20 years ago, Kennedy cast a key vote for a compromise ruling that upheld a woman's right to abortion but left room for state regulation. Antiabortion lawmakers are eager to test that compromise.

And in the fall, Obama's lawyers will have to defend the president's use of recess appointments to fill vacancies on the National Labor Relations Board. Since World War II, presidents have increasingly used temporary recess appointments to fill seats when the Senate refuses to act.

But a U.S. appeals court in Washington declared Obama's use of these appointments unconstitutional, and the Democratic president is asking the conservative-leaning high court to restore his authority.

david.savage@latimes.com

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South Africans hold their breath as Nelson Mandela's health worsens

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa -- The health of former President Nelson Mandela, already critical, has deteriorated further in the past two days, according to a government official Thursday, as the nation prepared for his death.

As Mandela spent his 20th day in a hospital after contracting pneumonia early this month, presidential spokesman Mac Maharaj told state-owned SABC news that Mandela's condition had worsened, forcing President Jacob Zuma to cancel a trip to Mozambique  on Thursday.

Zuma visited Mandela in the hospital late Wednesday, and subsequently decided to cancel the trip, a move seen as underscoring Mandela's fragility. It marked the first time that Zuma made a significant change in his official schedule because of the elder statesman's health.

PHOTOS: South Africans hold vigil outside hospital treating Nelson Mandela

A statement announcing the cancellation of the trip said doctors were "still doing everything they can to ensure [Mandela's] well-being."

South Africans have left messages of love and support outside the hospital, Mandela's home and on social media networks, but in recent days the tone has changed -- from hope for recovery to gratitude for what he has done for South Africa.

Mandela is revered as the man whose struggle against apartheid and huge personal sacrifice of 27 years' imprisonment helped bring equality to South Africa.

But he often urged supporters not to think of him as a saintly figure, and to remember the thousands of others who also struggled for black freedom from oppression.

He retired from public life in 2004 and has played no active role in the ruling African National Congress since, concentrating instead on charitable work.

But though his death would have little effect on South Africa's political landscape, he remains a person of enormous emotional significance to South Africans, as a freedom fighter who brought democracy and racial reconciliation to the country.

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'Not going to be scrambling jets' to get Snowden, Obama says

DAKAR, Senegal -- "I'm not going to be scrambling jets to get a 29-year-old hacker," President Obama said Thursday as he sought to downplay the nearly weeklong hunt for Edward Snowden, the fugitive leaker of national security secrets.

"I get you that it's a fascinating story for the press," Obama told reporters at a news conference with Senegal's president here. But "in terms of U.S. interests, the damage was done with respect to the initial leaks."

Obama said he is interested "in making sure that the rules of extradition are obeyed," and that U.S. officials had conducted "useful conversations" with Russian officials and officials in other countries that might be interested in offering political asylum to Snowden.

But, he said, "in the meantime, we've got other business to do."

Since Sunday, when Snowden, a former contractor for the National Security Agency, hastily left Hong Kong to avoid a U.S. extradition request and flew to Moscow, the frustrated efforts by U.S. authorities to apprehend him have generated intense international interest. To some, the standoff, in which Snowden has spent much of the week in a "transit zone" at Moscow's international airport, has become a symbol of waning U.S. power.

With his tone of voice expressing a barely concealed disdain for Snowden, who is 30 years old, not 29, Obama put a different gloss on the subject. In response to a question, he said he had not called either Russian President Vladimir Putin or Chinese President Xi Jinping to discuss the Snowden affair because the case is a "routine law enforcement matter" and "I shouldn't have to" get personally involved.

"We've got a whole lot of business" with Russia and China, Obama said, noting that he did not want the case to be "elevated" to the point where Moscow or Beijing would ask for concessions on other issues "simply to get a guy extradited."

Obama also soft-pedaled concerns about other, unreleased NSA documents that Snowden may have in his possession. Snowden's allies have said he has a cache of documents downloaded from agency computers that would be released if any harm comes to him. News organizations that have published material from Snowden have said they withheld some documents that appeared too sensitive to reveal publicly.

But Obama said the chief damage from Snowden's disclosures so far has simply been revealing "the fact of some of these programs," which the government had previously kept secret. Further details that Snowden might "dribble out" would be less problematic, he said, because "I'm confident that these programs abide by the laws."

ALSO:

Nelson Mandela receiving prayers for 'a peaceful, perfect end'

France's Hollande comes crashing down after a euphoric start

Ecuador official says media 'trying to confuse' on Edward Snowden

david.lauter@latimes.com

Twitter/@DavidLauter

kathleen.hennessey@latimes.com

Twitter/@khennessey

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For Michael Jackson fan, covering trial is her duty

She takes two buses to get to the courthouse each day and depends on donations from fans to run her website.

She has no formal training as a journalist but for tens of thousands — maybe multitudes more — she is the oracle for all things Michael.

Inside the cramped downtown Los Angeles courtroom each weekday, Taaj Malik furiously taps away at her iPad as the Michael Jackson wrongful-death case unfolds, taking notes for a transcript she will later post on a website crammed with court documents, autopsy reports, links to court exhibits, salutes to Jackson and an occasional plea for money. Thousands visit the website daily.

With nearly 40,000 following her "Team Michael Jackson" Twitter account, the 52-year-old Malik blasts out tweets during breaks and keeps up a running dialogue with followers.

"It was a great day to watch that roach squirm on the stand, Hes adapting many personalities, none r working cause ever1 can see he's a #LIAR," she writes as one witness is grilled.

"What a pair of MUPPETS," she snaps after two ranking music executives testify.

When a follower thanks her for the stream of information from the courtroom, Malik deflects it quickly. "No, dear... Its my duty with Michael and the truth! Dont say thank you! :)."

The Orange County resident, who ran a housekeeping business until she was injured in a car accident in January, climbs out of bed at 4 a.m. to begin her trek downtown. She is part of a worldwide fan community consumed with the minute details about the King of Pop, fully primed to feast on the latest legal entanglement to invoke his memory.

The wrongful-death trial is playing out in a courtroom with seats for only a handful of observers selected each morning via lottery. Most days the few available slots go quickly and Malik — along with much of the print and television media — is herded off to an overflow room to watch the proceedings on a closed-circuit feed.

There is no televised coverage of the trial, so fans are left to search for what details they can find on Twitter, Facebook and — if they must — the mainstream media. Jackson fan forums and websites have been in full gear since the trial began two months ago.

"Ultimately it's a thirst for knowledge," said Pez Greaves of British-based fan club MJ Vibe, which produces a quarterly magazine dedicated to Jackson.

At fan site Positively Michael, a forum was created exclusively for this trial. Volunteer site administrator Lynn Mathis, who is based in Indiana, is not attending the trial but she uploads a mix of articles for visitors to dissect, such as "Was Michael Jackson Really Worth $40 Billion?" and "Rumored use of Michael Jackson body doubles could be raised in trial."

"We post a lot of news items and perspectives on both sides of all people involved," she said. "We sort of take the position of do your due diligence, read and make your decisions for yourself. Our guests spike when there's a trial because we have a reputation of having objective coverage."

For those suspicious about the mainstream media — and many Jackson fans seem to be — someone like Malik is a go-to source. For some, her tweets serve as real-time dispatches from the civil trial.

Although Malik has her critics, she receives praise from those who consider her an ally in the ongoing fight to protect Jackson's reputation. Katherine Jackson, the pop singer's mother, knows Malik though she is unfamiliar with her tweets or Web page because she does not use the Internet, a family attorney said.

Malik lives off a legal settlement from the car accident — she said back injuries from the accident left her unable to continue work as a housekeeper — and her mother and an aunt send her regular allowances.

She created her website in January 2011 when preliminary hearings for the Conrad Murray case were taking place. Her mother, who lives in Britain, gave her $30,000 to buy and post the court transcripts for those hearings. Malik later sent in daily transcripts of the trial, which ended with the doctor convicted of involuntary manslaughter for giving Jackson a fatal dose of propofol, a powerful anesthetic typically reserved for surgical procedures.

The current civil trial, which promises to offer a panorama of Jackson's final days, feels special to Malik.

"This one means everything to me," she said, "more than Conrad Murray because the charges were an insult. I mean, involuntary manslaughter? This trial is definitely bringing out the truth."

Malik was born in Pakistan and she lived there until she was a teen, when she moved to Staffordshire in central England with her family. She later married a fellow Jackson fan (he got the albums and CDs when they divorced).

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L.A. bike-sharing program hits a snag

Bike-sharing in Los Angeles has hit a roadblock.

In spring 2012, Tustin company Bike Nation predicted the first phase of its L.A. bike-share program would be up and running by summer 2013. Soon after, officials said, as many as 4,000 bikes would be available to rent by the hour, the day or the week — similar to CitiBike, the program that launched in New York City last month to much fanfare.

To make money, the company planned to sell advertising on the 400 sleek, silver rental kiosks that it would place around Los Angeles. But a contract between the city and two media firms will almost certainly prevent that from happening, the company recently learned.

Bike Nation has delayed the bike-share launch while it reconfigures its business model and searches for corporate sponsors. Bike Nation's executives say the earliest the program will roll out is sometime next year.

"Our business has to make financial sense," said Bike Nation Chief Operating Officer Derek Fretheim.

The company expects to launch initially without ads but possibly add them later. Executives wouldn't say how much ad revenue they had expected.

Bike Nation pitched the bike-sharing program to the mayor's office in March 2012 and said it would cost the city nothing. It planned to put kiosks downtown and in Hollywood, Venice and Westwood. Cyclists would be able to rent bikes for $6 a day or $75 a year.

The city has since developed a permitting process for bike-sharing, which is available to any company. Each kiosk would be reviewed separately. So far, Bike Nation is proposing kiosks at Union Station, City Hall, the county Hall of Administration and Los Angeles Police Department headquarters.

In the U.S., where bike-sharing has proliferated in the last five years, cities use grants and corporate sponsors (CitiBank is helping fund New York's CitiBike) to shore up systems that can't be sustained on membership and usage fees alone.

Some European bike-shares are run by companies that hold exclusive rights to the advertising space on the rental kiosks. But in the U.S., Bike Nation reasoned, advertising would be a new twist.

But advertising on a bicycle kiosk in Los Angeles falls under a city contract with CBS Outdoor and JCDecaux, which jointly hold the rights through 2021 to sell advertising on "street furniture," which includes bus stops, public toilets and newsstands.

Bike Nation executives knew about the contract and had hoped to find wiggle room because it does not specifically mention bicycle kiosks. But any item placed in the public right of way, even if it isn't listed in the contract, is in CBS' and JCDecaux's purview, according to a spokeswoman for the city's Bureau of Street Services. That includes sponsorship messages.

The company has "extended the olive branch" to CBS/JCDecaux, Fretheim said, hopeful that JCDecaux would be amenable because the French company runs a bike-share program in Paris that depends on advertising revenue. But "nothing has been defined on their side," he said.

CBS declined to comment publicly, but an official speaking on background said the company supported bicycle sharing in Los Angeles. JCDecaux did not respond to emails seeking comment.

After Eric Garcetti replaces Antonio Villaraigosa as mayor July 1, Los Angeles may be more flexible on the terms of the contract, said Navin Narang, a managing partner of First Pacific Holdings, the private equity group that owns Bike Nation.

The most viable immediate approach to bike-sharing, Fretheim said, would be to woo a corporate sponsor, similar to New York City's agreement with Citibank and London's with Barclay's. Already, he said, Fortune 500 financial companies have expressed interest.

laura.nelson@latimes.com

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L.A. votes to let AEG run Convention Center

For the first time in its 42 years of operation, the city-run Los Angeles Convention Center will transfer to private management under a pact approved Wednesday by the City Council.

In awarding a contract to Anschutz Entertainment Group, the council overruled objections by local hoteliers who said AEG would have an unfair advantage filling its hotel rooms while booking conventions.

AEG owns the JW Marriott and Ritz Carlton hotel complex adjacent to its L.A. Live and Staples Center properties in downtown Los Angeles. But council members, after questioning city Chief Administrative Officer Miguel Santana, unanimously voted in favor of the contract.

"It's a marriage that's appropriate to move forward on," Councilman Tom LaBonge said. AEG's expertise in operating entertainment venues, he added, would "create a synergy that will make a big difference." AEG's worldwide portfolio includes more than 100 companies offering entertainment, sports and exhibition venues.

Santana said hotel bookings would primarily be handled by the Los Angeles Tourism & Convention Board, a nonprofit entity separate from AEG. AEG offers a professional management team that can reduce operating costs at the Convention Center and respond more quickly to changing industry demands, he told the council.

AEG agreed to interview current Convention Center workers who want to continue with AEG, but employees also have the option of switching to other jobs in the city. AEG will also present three candidates for a general manager position, now vacant, and give the city final say on who gets the post.

"We have an ambitious plan to take the Convention Center to the next stage and will be focused on driving more hotel activity citywide," Ted Fikre, an AEG vice chairman, said shortly after the unanimous vote. "We think there's a lot of room for improvement."

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and the council set a goal of attracting 425,000 annual visitors by 2020, a 50% increase over current levels. By filling more hotel beds, and bringing in more shoppers and diners locally, those visitors would add about $19 million in hotel and bed taxes to city coffers, Santana said, citing a consultant's report.

Under the terms of AEG's contract, the firm will be paid a $250,000 annual management fee and would qualify for another $250,000 if it meets agreed-upon performance measures. Final wording of a management agreement is expected to come back before the council in coming weeks. The council rejected a protest by a second bidder, Pennsylvania-based SMG, that the scoring process unfairly favored AEG's winning bid.

Built in 1971 and expanded in the 1990s, the Convention Center has fallen on hard times in recent years as the city struggled through job cuts and lean budgets. Fikre said AEG would work hard to improve the venue's competitive standing in the industry.

He dismissed concerns that the company would use its authority to benefit its own hotel, a tall glass-and-steel building that he said already regularly fills with visitors going to events at L.A. Live and Staples Center.

"It's true that we own L.A. Live and the hotel," he said. "But we view that as an asset, not an impediment, to filling other hotels across the city."

catherine.saillant@latimes.com

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South Africans hold their breath as Nelson Mandela's health worsens

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa -- The health of former President Nelson Mandela, already critical, deteriorated further these past two days, according to a government official Thursday, as the nation prepared for his death.

As Mandela spent his 20th day in a hospital after contracting pneumonia early this month, presidential spokesman Mac Maharaj told state-owned SABC news that Mandela's condition had worsened, forcing President Jacob Zuma to cancel a trip to Mozambique  on Thursday.

Zuma visited Mandela in the hospital late Wednesday, and decided to cancel the trip, underscoring Mandela's fragility. It marked the first time that Zuma made a significant change in his official schedule because of the elder statesman's health.

A statement announcing the cancellation said doctors were "still doing everything they can to ensure his well-being".

South Africans have left messages of love and support outside his hospital, his home and on social media networks, but in recent days the tone has changed, from hope for recovery to gratitude for what he has done for South Africa.

Mandela is revered as the man whose struggle against apartheid and huge personal sacrifice of 27 years' imprisonment helped bring equality to South Africa.

But he often urged supporters not to think of him as a saintly figure, and to remember the thousands of others who also struggled for black freedom from oppression.

He retired from public life in 2004 and has played no active role in the ruling African National Congress since, concentrating instead on charitable work.

But while his death would have no impact on South Africa's political landscape, he remains a person of enormous emotional significance to South Africans, as a freedom fighter who brought democracy and racial reconciliation to the country.

ALSO:

Nelson Mandela receiving prayers for 'a peaceful, perfect end'

France's Hollande comes crashing down after a euphoric start

Ecuador official says media 'trying to confuse' on Edward Snowden

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Snowden stopping in Moscow en route to Cuba, Russian says

MOSCOW -- NSA leaker Edward Snowden is flying from Hong Kong to Havana via Moscow, a Russian Foreign Ministry official said Sunday.

The former National Security Agency contractor is expected to land in Moscow at 5 p.m. Sunday, a Foreign Ministry official told the Los Angeles Times on condition of anonymity.

The next flight to Havana is Monday afternoon so Snowden most likely will spend his time in the transit zone of Moscow Sheremetyevo airport, he said.

"Snowden doesn't have a Russian visa, and he can't get outside the transit area of the airport," the official said. "Even if there is an Interpol warrant for his arrest, of which we are not aware, our law enforcement agencies won't be able to do that in the transit area."

The official said Snowden is traveling in the company of at least one lawyer associated with WikiLeaks.

The Kremlin is not aware of Snowden's plans, said Dmitry Peskov, President Vladimir Putin's spokesman. "We know nothing about [Snowden's] plans, whether he is coming to Moscow or not," Peskov said.

Should Snowden ask for political asylum, Russia is ready "to consider his request," Peskov said. "We have special procedures for such cases."

Leonid Kalashnikov, deputy chief of the foreign relations committee of the Russian Parliament's lower house, said he wouldn't be surprised if Russia granted asylum to Snowden.

"The United States and the West in general more than once granted asylum to Russian special services defectors, so if we do it for a change, I don't think this will seriously harm our relations," he said. "But at this point we are not aware of such intentions on his part.

"Snowden is visiting Moscow in transit, and where he will end up in the end and which country will dare to finally host him, we can't say at this point," he added.

sergei.loiko@latimes.com

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DWP to build groundwater treatment plants on Superfund site

The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power plans to build the world's largest groundwater treatment center over one of the largest Superfund pollution sites in the United States: the San Fernando Basin.

Two plants costing a combined $600 million to $800 million will restore groundwater pumping of drinking water from scores of San Fernando Valley wells that the DWP began closing in the 1980s, the utility said. The plants also will ensure that other wells remain open despite pollution plumes steadily migrating in their direction.

The plans mark a major shift at DWP, reversing a trend of recent decades in which the utility has offset diminishing use of groundwater with imports from Northern California and the eastern Sierra.

"By 2035, we plan to reduce our purchases of imported water by half," said James McDaniel, the DWP's senior assistant general manager.

The shift is necessary because environmental restrictions in the Sierra have reduced those imports and because the cost of water from the north has risen sharply — 84% over the last decade.

The San Fernando Basin accounts for more than 80% of the city's total local water rights, but because of contamination plumes of toxic chemicals including hexavalent chromium, perchlorate, nitrates and the carcinogen trichloroethylene, only about half of its 115 groundwater production wells are usable.

At the current rate of migration of pollutants, the city would be unable to use most of its groundwater entitlements in the basin within five to seven years, forcing it to buy and import more expensive water from the Metropolitan Water District, DWP officials said.

One treatment center will be built on DWP property in North Hollywood just north of Vanowen Street, between Morella and Hinds avenues. It will process three times as much water per second as the world's largest existing groundwater treatment facility, officials said. The DWP will build a second, slightly smaller center near the intersection of the 5 and 170 Freeways.

Construction is to begin in five years, said Marty Adams, director of water operations for the DWP. The DWP hopes to have both centers operating by 2022, producing about a quarter of the 215 billion gallons the city consumes each year.

The cost of the treatment centers will be largely borne by ratepayers, backed by municipal bond sales and spread out over 30 to 40 years, McDaniel said. The size of the rate increase for the project has yet to be determined, and the utility said it expects to field many questions from public officials and customers as the plans move forward.

Part of the cost will be offset by reducing demand for more expensive imported water and from financial compensation under the federal Superfund laws, which requires payments by parties responsible for contamination.

Over the last decade, local groundwater has provided about 11% of the city's total supplies, and nearly 30% in drought years. About 36% came from the Los Angeles Aqueduct system in the eastern Sierra Nevada and 52% from Metropolitan Water District supplies pumped from Northern California.

This year, amid ongoing drought conditions, the Los Angeles Aqueduct system is conveying less water from the Sierra than at any time since it was built in 1913.

Environmental organizations welcomed news about the treatment plants.

"The key thing is that Los Angeles is looking ahead. With climate change, we can no longer rely on snow in the Sierra Nevada range to be our reservoir," said Lenny Siegel, spokesman for the Center for Public Environmental Oversight.

Conner Everts, executive director of the Southern California Watershed Alliance, said environmental organizations have wanted to recharge the aquifer with more storm water and other sources "but DWP said it wasn't possible because of the pollution."

"It's exciting that the DWP is finally moving forward with greater reliance on local water supplies," Mark Gold, associate director of UCLA's Institute of the Environment and Sustainability, said. "However, it's long overdue. Could they have done this five years ago? Yes."

The basin's groundwater was contaminated primarily by improper storage and handling of chlorinated solvents, including trichloroethylene, also known as TCE, which was widely used after World War II to degrease metal and electronic parts. The solvents were dumped into disposal pits and storage tanks at industrial plants and military bases, where it seeped into the aquifer.

Other contaminants came from automobile repair shops and junkyards, unlined landfills, dry cleaners, paint shops, chrome plating businesses and historic dairy and agricultural operations.

The EPA determined in 2011 that TCE can cause kidney and liver cancer, lymphoma and other health problems.

The public can be exposed to TCE in several ways, including by showering in contaminated water and by breathing air in homes where TCE vapors have intruded from the soil. TCE's movement from contaminated groundwater and soil into the indoor air of overlying buildings is a major concern.

The DWP is currently drilling monitoring wells throughout the region to identify as many contaminants as possible and develop strategies for removing them, said Susan Rowghani, director of DWP's water engineering and technical services. Each contaminant will require its own specialized purification process.

For example, the current process for removing TCE is to pump water to the top of an aeration tower and, as the water flows back down, use an upward blower to send a countercurrent through it. TCE becomes trapped and is vaporized into a controlled airstream that is then filtered through activated carbon to ensure that it is not released into the atmosphere.

louis.sahagun@latimes.com

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CicLAvia fills Wilshire Boulevard with bicycles

Quincy and Monica Jeffries had never seen Wilshire Boulevard so quiet. They smiled up at the blue-green facade of the Wiltern theater.

"You just drive by, and you don't recognize all the beautiful buildings," Monica Jeffries, 40, said.

The couple had traveled from Santa Clarita to participate in CicLAvia, which offered a rare opportunity to enjoy a car-free 6.3-mile stretch of Wilshire Boulevard, from downtown to the Miracle Mile area. The Jeffrieses rode Trikkes — three-wheeled, scooter-like vehicles with no motors or pedals.

Sunday marked the seventh CicLAvia, a recurring event that is intended to give Angelenos a different perspective on the city. Wilshire was closed to motorized vehicles between Grand and Fairfax avenues for seven hours, the longest a CicLAvia has lasted.

Under a gray June-gloom sky, some riders had speakers in their bicycle baskets blaring music — one man's blasted Daft Punk songs — and others sang as they rode.

Some sported Spandex and rode with focus. One man pedaled quickly and stared ahead, while the young girl riding tandem behind him gazed around at the Korean barbecue restaurants they passed.

Les Golan, 57, pedaled her bicycle with her cockatiels — all 19 of them — perched on her shoulders, chest and neck. The music teacher has participated in multiple CicLAvias with her birds, which were all named after popular musicians and singers such as Billie Holiday and Dean Martin.

CicLAvia's organizers called Sunday's route the most pedestrian-friendly one yet. It began and ended with pedestrian-only zones, which featured activities such as Pilates and bicycle helmet decoration.

Judy Harper of Echo Park posed for a picture with a large Oscar statue near one end of the route at Fairfax Avenue. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences plans to open a film museum nearby.

"It's so beautiful to see," Harper, 52, said of the event. "People don't believe L.A. is a riding city, but it's great because it's relatively flat and we have beautiful weather."

The $350,000 cost to stage each event is paid for by the nonprofit CicLAvia and by the city, which uses state and federal money. CicLAvia was inspired by similar ciclovía events in Colombia, which started more than 30 years ago as a response to the congestion and pollution of city streets.

Sunday's event drew more than 100,000 people, CicLAvia spokesman Robert Gard said.

J.J. Keith, 33, a writer from Hollywood, clutched her husband Alden's shoulder as she tried to maneuver in a pair of roller skates. Alden Keith, 35, pushed a stroller carrying their young son.

Their daughter Beatrix, 4, rode ahead on a Razor scooter, wearing a blond ponytail and pink helmet. She smiled as she got too far ahead and her mother told her to slow down.

"She's just always wanting to scooter," Alden Keith said, laughing as his wife tried to catch up to Beatrix. "We don't have a lot of parks without cracks and potholes; this really is one of the only places she can do it."

As her parents slowed down, Beatrix turned around and looked up at them. "What's wrong with you guys?" she said, adding that she was done "relaxing."

A few blocks later, her parents were grinning. A tired Beatrix rode in the back of the stroller while her father carried the scooter on his shoulder. Her mother had traded the skates for a pair of sandals.

emily.foxhall@latimes.com

hailey.branson@latimes.com

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Snowden stopping in Moscow en route to Cuba, Russian says

MOSCOW -- NSA leaker Edward Snowden is flying from Hong Kong to Havana via Moscow, a Russian Foreign Ministry official said Sunday.

The former National Security Agency contractor is expected to land in Moscow at 5 p.m. Sunday, a Foreign Ministry official told the Los Angeles Times on condition of anonymity.

The next flight to Havana is Monday afternoon so Snowden most likely will spend his time in the transit zone of Moscow Sheremetyevo airport, he said.

"Snowden doesn't have a Russian visa, and he can't get outside the transit area of the airport," the official said. "Even if there is an Interpol warrant for his arrest, of which we are not aware, our law enforcement agencies won't be able to do that in the transit area."

The official said Snowden is traveling in the company of at least one lawyer associated with WikiLeaks.

The Kremlin is not aware of Snowden's plans, said Dmitry Peskov, President Vladimir Putin's spokesman. "We know nothing about [Snowden's] plans, whether he is coming to Moscow or not," Peskov said.

Should Snowden ask for political asylum, Russia is ready "to consider his request," Peskov said. "We have special procedures for such cases."

Leonid Kalashnikov, deputy chief of the foreign relations committee of the Russian Parliament's lower house, said he wouldn't be surprised if Russia granted asylum to Snowden.

"The United States and the West in general more than once granted asylum to Russian special services defectors, so if we do it for a change, I don't think this will seriously harm our relations," he said. "But at this point we are not aware of such intentions on his part.

"Snowden is visiting Moscow in transit, and where he will end up in the end and which country will dare to finally host him, we can't say at this point," he added.

sergei.loiko@latimes.com

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DWP to build groundwater treatment plants on Superfund site

The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power plans to build the world's largest groundwater treatment center over one of the largest Superfund pollution sites in the United States: the San Fernando Basin.

Two plants costing a combined $600 million to $800 million will restore groundwater pumping of drinking water from scores of San Fernando Valley wells that the DWP began closing in the 1980s, the utility said. The plants also will ensure that other wells remain open despite pollution plumes steadily migrating in their direction.

The plans mark a major shift at DWP, reversing a trend of recent decades in which the utility has offset diminishing use of groundwater with imports from Northern California and the eastern Sierra.

"By 2035, we plan to reduce our purchases of imported water by half," said James McDaniel, the DWP's senior assistant general manager.

The shift is necessary because environmental restrictions in the Sierra have reduced those imports and because the cost of water from the north has risen sharply — 84% over the last decade.

The San Fernando Basin accounts for more than 80% of the city's total local water rights, but because of contamination plumes of toxic chemicals including hexavalent chromium, perchlorate, nitrates and the carcinogen trichloroethylene, only about half of its 115 groundwater production wells are usable.

At the current rate of migration of pollutants, the city would be unable to use most of its groundwater entitlements in the basin within five to seven years, forcing it to buy and import more expensive water from the Metropolitan Water District, DWP officials said.

One treatment center will be built on DWP property in North Hollywood just north of Vanowen Street, between Morella and Hinds avenues. It will process three times as much water per second as the world's largest existing groundwater treatment facility, officials said. The DWP will build a second, slightly smaller center near the intersection of the 5 and 170 Freeways.

Construction is to begin in five years, said Marty Adams, director of water operations for the DWP. The DWP hopes to have both centers operating by 2022, producing about a quarter of the 215 billion gallons the city consumes each year.

The cost of the treatment centers will be largely borne by ratepayers, backed by municipal bond sales and spread out over 30 to 40 years, McDaniel said. The size of the rate increase for the project has yet to be determined, and the utility said it expects to field many questions from public officials and customers as the plans move forward.

Part of the cost will be offset by reducing demand for more expensive imported water and from financial compensation under the federal Superfund laws, which requires payments by parties responsible for contamination.

Over the last decade, local groundwater has provided about 11% of the city's total supplies, and nearly 30% in drought years. About 36% came from the Los Angeles Aqueduct system in the eastern Sierra Nevada and 52% from Metropolitan Water District supplies pumped from Northern California.

This year, amid ongoing drought conditions, the Los Angeles Aqueduct system is conveying less water from the Sierra than at any time since it was built in 1913.

Environmental organizations welcomed news about the treatment plants.

"The key thing is that Los Angeles is looking ahead. With climate change, we can no longer rely on snow in the Sierra Nevada range to be our reservoir," said Lenny Siegel, spokesman for the Center for Public Environmental Oversight.

Conner Everts, executive director of the Southern California Watershed Alliance, said environmental organizations have wanted to recharge the aquifer with more storm water and other sources "but DWP said it wasn't possible because of the pollution."

"It's exciting that the DWP is finally moving forward with greater reliance on local water supplies," Mark Gold, associate director of UCLA's Institute of the Environment and Sustainability, said. "However, it's long overdue. Could they have done this five years ago? Yes."

The basin's groundwater was contaminated primarily by improper storage and handling of chlorinated solvents, including trichloroethylene, also known as TCE, which was widely used after World War II to degrease metal and electronic parts. The solvents were dumped into disposal pits and storage tanks at industrial plants and military bases, where it seeped into the aquifer.

Other contaminants came from automobile repair shops and junkyards, unlined landfills, dry cleaners, paint shops, chrome plating businesses and historic dairy and agricultural operations.

The EPA determined in 2011 that TCE can cause kidney and liver cancer, lymphoma and other health problems.

The public can be exposed to TCE in several ways, including by showering in contaminated water and by breathing air in homes where TCE vapors have intruded from the soil. TCE's movement from contaminated groundwater and soil into the indoor air of overlying buildings is a major concern.

The DWP is currently drilling monitoring wells throughout the region to identify as many contaminants as possible and develop strategies for removing them, said Susan Rowghani, director of DWP's water engineering and technical services. Each contaminant will require its own specialized purification process.

For example, the current process for removing TCE is to pump water to the top of an aeration tower and, as the water flows back down, use an upward blower to send a countercurrent through it. TCE becomes trapped and is vaporized into a controlled airstream that is then filtered through activated carbon to ensure that it is not released into the atmosphere.

louis.sahagun@latimes.com

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CicLAvia fills Wilshire Boulevard with bicycles

Quincy and Monica Jeffries had never seen Wilshire Boulevard so quiet. They smiled up at the blue-green facade of the Wiltern theater.

"You just drive by, and you don't recognize all the beautiful buildings," Monica Jeffries, 40, said.

The couple had traveled from Santa Clarita to participate in CicLAvia, which offered a rare opportunity to enjoy a car-free 6.3-mile stretch of Wilshire Boulevard, from downtown to the Miracle Mile area. The Jeffrieses rode Trikkes — three-wheeled, scooter-like vehicles with no motors or pedals.

Sunday marked the seventh CicLAvia, a recurring event that is intended to give Angelenos a different perspective on the city. Wilshire was closed to motorized vehicles between Grand and Fairfax avenues for seven hours, the longest a CicLAvia has lasted.

Under a gray June-gloom sky, some riders had speakers in their bicycle baskets blaring music — one man's blasted Daft Punk songs — and others sang as they rode.

Some sported Spandex and rode with focus. One man pedaled quickly and stared ahead, while the young girl riding tandem behind him gazed around at the Korean barbecue restaurants they passed.

Les Golan, 57, pedaled her bicycle with her cockatiels — all 19 of them — perched on her shoulders, chest and neck. The music teacher has participated in multiple CicLAvias with her birds, which were all named after popular musicians and singers such as Billie Holiday and Dean Martin.

CicLAvia's organizers called Sunday's route the most pedestrian-friendly one yet. It began and ended with pedestrian-only zones, which featured activities such as Pilates and bicycle helmet decoration.

Judy Harper of Echo Park posed for a picture with a large Oscar statue near one end of the route at Fairfax Avenue. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences plans to open a film museum nearby.

"It's so beautiful to see," Harper, 52, said of the event. "People don't believe L.A. is a riding city, but it's great because it's relatively flat and we have beautiful weather."

The $350,000 cost to stage each event is paid for by the nonprofit CicLAvia and by the city, which uses state and federal money. CicLAvia was inspired by similar ciclovía events in Colombia, which started more than 30 years ago as a response to the congestion and pollution of city streets.

Sunday's event drew more than 100,000 people, CicLAvia spokesman Robert Gard said.

J.J. Keith, 33, a writer from Hollywood, clutched her husband Alden's shoulder as she tried to maneuver in a pair of roller skates. Alden Keith, 35, pushed a stroller carrying their young son.

Their daughter Beatrix, 4, rode ahead on a Razor scooter, wearing a blond ponytail and pink helmet. She smiled as she got too far ahead and her mother told her to slow down.

"She's just always wanting to scooter," Alden Keith said, laughing as his wife tried to catch up to Beatrix. "We don't have a lot of parks without cracks and potholes; this really is one of the only places she can do it."

As her parents slowed down, Beatrix turned around and looked up at them. "What's wrong with you guys?" she said, adding that she was done "relaxing."

A few blocks later, her parents were grinning. A tired Beatrix rode in the back of the stroller while her father carried the scooter on his shoulder. Her mother had traded the skates for a pair of sandals.

emily.foxhall@latimes.com

hailey.branson@latimes.com

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Motivated home buyers skip the bidding wars

Ryan Mathys spent weeks prospecting.

He drove up and down the little avenue in Solana Beach, taking notes and knocking on doors. He scoured public records. He blanketed the seaside neighborhood in northern San Diego County with inquiries.

All the detective work had a dollars-and-cents purpose: to find homes the owners would be willing to sell.

Southern California housing prices are rising sharply, and there's a shortage of houses available for sale.

So agents like Mathys are resorting to reconnaissance and back-channel networks to find homes that haven't yet hit the market. They're cold-calling homeowners with offers and targeting specific neighborhoods with direct mail. Some come bearing bizarre gifts in return for a listing. One agent offered a seller the use of his exotic car; one of his clients offered free dogs.

And they're chasing so-called pocket listings, homes privately marketed among those in the know. The low-profile nature of the listings makes them hard to quantify. But agents and other real estate experts say they've become common in the booming Southland market, where the median home price shot up nearly 25% in the last year.

Mathys — a 10-year veteran who, with his partner Tracie Kersten, specializes in high-end San Diego properties — said he'd never before seen the market this tight or felt the need to get this creative.

His hunt in Solana Beach began this year when Marc Snyder, a technology executive from the East Coast, called him looking for a future retirement home. Snyder, 46, was selective. He fell hard for a particular house on a narrow street. He made an offer but lost out to an all-cash buyer.

So Mathys sent a letter to every home on the ocean-view side of the street to see if someone else was interested in selling. He outlined his client's personal story and qualifications. Mathys knocked on doors. He searched property records for the names of homeowners and reached out through social media and email.

He finally persuaded the owner of a three-bedroom, two-bathroom ranch home with a panoramic view of the Pacific. Snyder offered $2.15 million for the home, which is set for closing soon. He plans to remodel. The price means a hefty commission for Mathys. (Agents for the buyer and seller typically split a percentage of the sale price.)

Mathys finds his approach worthwhile. "You feel more proactive than sitting there waiting for the next one to come up — and then watching 10 other people swarm all over it," he said. "It gives you a little bit more of a feeling of control in this market, where buyers don't have that much control."

Sellers, by contrast, need only hint at a desire to sell, and a line will form.

"They are spreading the word through whisper campaigns or pocket listings, through the broker network and the Web," said Nick Segal, a real estate agent who estimates that 30% of the deals at his Partners Trust firm are secured without a listing. "You say, 'I have got something coming on the market; it's quiet.'"

Many of the low-profile deals involve investors, who have swarmed Southern California in recent months, closing deals quickly with cash. Whether agents rake in big commissions or go hungry depends on their savvy and network of contacts.

"It is a market where the strong survive," said Michael Gray, a real estate agent in La Cañada Flintridge.

Pocket listings have been common for some time among celebrities, primarily because of privacy concerns. Now they're proliferating across the economic spectrum because of the mismatch between supply and demand.

Some sellers want to keep a low profile because of a divorce or a job loss. In other cases, the home may need some work or be undergoing repairs. Marketing it quietly can be a way to test the waters or to secure a hassle-free sale from an investor. Some sellers simply don't want a lot of strangers traipsing through their homes.

Michael Kerwin, 65, sold his Altadena home this month without ever listing the two-bedroom, one-bathroom bungalow. His agent, Addora Beall, found an investor who snapped up the property within days for more than the asking price. The all-cash purchase closed in seven days, faster than it would have with a buyer who needed a mortgage.

"I could have waited for more money. But I told her the price I wanted to get ... and she got just a little bit more," Kerwin said in a phone interview from Amarillo, Texas, on his way to Pittsburgh to live with his new bride. "I was a motivated seller ... but I didn't think it would happen quite this fast."

Agents representing investors often waive their half of the commission to sweeten the pot for the seller's agent.

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New Rowland Heights mosque a product of grass-roots effort

The sand-colored mosque rises against the San Gabriel Mountains, its blue-tiled dome and six minarets cutting a striking profile in an industrial area of Rowland Heights.

Inside, lush tapestries from Pakistan adorn the walls, and ornate chandeliers from Dubai hang over the prayer rooms. At the head of the men's prayer space, the 99 names of Allah are engraved in Islamic calligraphy into glass around the Arabic symbol for God.

After four years of construction and $5.5 million in fundraising, the Islamic Center of San Gabriel Valley formally opened its soaring new mosque Saturday. For Muslim worshipers, the transformation of their prayer space from a dilapidated church next to a smelly chicken farm purchased three decades ago to a 45,000-square-foot structure with a school, mortuary, health clinic and three libraries marks a coming of age for their community.

It's also powerful evidence of a building boom of new mosques in Southern California and around the nation.

Over the last several years, new mosques have risen in Mission Viejo, Irvine, Anaheim, Reseda, Rancho Cucamonga, Rosemead, Diamond Bar and Tustin. Additional mosques are slated for Temecula, Ontario, Lomita and Corona.

Strikingly, all of the new mosques have been funded entirely by local Muslims, who began settling in the region in the 1960s. Before 2001, new mosques were often funded by foreigners; the Saudis financed the King Fahad Mosque in Culver City, and Libyans helped build Masjid Omar near USC.

Stricter government scrutiny of foreign investments from Islamic countries after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, along with reluctance by local Muslims about accepting foreign money, helped change the practices, according to Shakeel Syed, executive director of the Islamic Shura Council of Southern California.

"Post 9/11, the dynamic completely changed," Syed said. "The Muslim community at large in North America realized it is better if we develop our own funding, however long it takes."

Syed said many Muslims have built successful businesses over the last few decades and are now positioned to give back. Some did relatively well during the recession, as they were able to buy undervalued properties while not taking on risky investments or interest-incurring debt, which is barred in Islam, he said.

The majority of mosques in the United States are still existing buildings converted to an Islamic prayer space. But the number of newly built structures — such as the new Islamic Center of San Gabriel Valley — has doubled in the last decade, to 632 in 2011 from 314 in 2000, according to the American Mosque 2011 study. Among metropolitan areas, Southern California is home to 120 mosques, second only to the New York area, the study found. (Estimates of the Muslim American population vary, but a 2011 Pew Research Center study placed it at about 2.7 million nationwide and growing.)

At the new Masjid Qubaa in Rowland Heights, several members donated $100,000, and a few gave $500,000. The women held a fashion show, which raised $100,000. Dozens of skilled craftsmen contributed services and construction materials, which significantly reduced the structure's cost.

Syed Rizvi, the center's president, reflects the arc of success experienced by some of the community's more affluent members. He arrived in the United States from Pakistan in 1975 with a single suitcase and $7,500. But he had a medical degree and eventually opened several kidney dialysis centers. He donated a six-figure sum to the project, said Yasmeen Khan, a mosque leader.

"We were professionals, but we were not rich," Rizvi said. "America gave that opportunity for us all."

A couple from Orange County gave the mosque an interest-free loan from their pension. And, Syed said, the Islamic Center of Corona gave the Rowland Heights group a bridge loan of a couple hundred thousand dollars — a common practice among Southern California mosques to share their resources.

The mosque construction attracted no local opposition — unlike projects in Temecula, Lomita and Ontario. There, neighbors raised concerns about potential problems with noise, traffic and parking — objections Muslims have successfully addressed, according to Ameena Mirza Qazi of the Council on American-Islamic Relations. Some of those debates were marked by anti-Islam comments and fears about terrorism expressed by some opponents.

Qazi said some Islamic centers have chosen to locate their new projects in industrial areas to avoid protests by homeowners. But doing so, she said, prevents mosques from serving as neighborhood centers, a traditional role for many religious institutions.

The San Gabriel Valley community, however, always located its Islamic center in an industrial area because the land was cheaper.

The original space, a church purchased in 1983, could fit only 300 people and was so cramped that worshipers during the monthlong Ramadan observance had to break their ritual fasts outside — even when the holiday fell during the chilly winter months. They bought a chicken farm to expand and rented space at Santa Ana High School, almost 25 miles away, to hold Sunday school. Preparations for burials were held at a mosque in Garden Grove.

By the late 1990s, members decided it was time to build a comprehensive facility. But the blueprint continued to change as the Muslim community grew.

Syed Raza, the architect, said the first plan drawn up nearly 15 years ago called for a 4,500-square-foot mosque — about one-tenth the size of the final design. The three-story structure includes separate entrances and prayer spaces for men and women, who can watch the imam's sermon through closed-circuit TV on the second floor. Syed of the Shura Council said that most new mosques include separate prayer spaces for the comfort of both genders but that all intermingle in other areas of the center.

Worshipers are especially excited that the center will now finally house all of their needed facilities in one space, including the charter school and mortuary.

Non-Muslims are welcome to visit and use the services, mosque leaders said. Females will not be required to cover their heads as Muslims do, and young men can wear Bermuda shorts. Muslim leaders in Southern California say they are trying to be less insular and reach out more to the non-Muslim community by holding blood drives, food giveaways, interfaith meetings and other activities.

Last week, thousands of elated worshipers flocked to the gleaming new mosque for its inaugural Friday prayer meeting.

"It feels like it's a whole new world," said 19-year-old Omar Yamak. "You have a sense of love of the community."

angel.jennings@latimes.com

teresa.watanabe@latimes.com

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Hong Kong says Snowden has left for a third country

A guard at police headquarters in Hong Kong. (Kin Cheung, AP / June 22, 2013)

By Julie Makinen

June 23, 2013, 1:44 a.m.

BEIJING -- Edward Snowden left Hong Kong on Sunday morning, officials in the Chinese territory said, and the former National Security Agency contractor was en route to a third country.

The South China Morning Post, a Hong Kong newspaper that had repeated contact with the American during his several-week stay in the city, reported that Snowden left on a Moscow-bound flight and would continue to a third country.

Hong Kong officials said in a statement that U.S. authorities had asked Hong Kong to issue a provisional arrest warrant for Snowden but that the documents provided by the U.S. did not "fully comply with the legal requirements under Hong Kong law."

Without "sufficient information to process the request for provisional warrant of arrest, there is no legal basis to restrict Mr. Snowden from leaving Hong Kong," the government said.

On Friday. U.S. authorities revealed that Snowden had been charged with theft of government property and two violations of the Espionage Act: unauthorized communication of national defense information and providing U.S. classified intelligence to an unauthorized person.

Hong Kong authorities said they had informed the U.S. Government of Snowden's departure and said they would continue to seek details from Washington about Snowden's revelations that U.S. hacking activities had targeted facilities in Hong Kong.

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Teen who murdered baby in dad's arms gets 90 years to life

Sixteen-year-old Donald Ray Dokins' short stature and baby face belie the crime he committed: the fatal shooting of a 1-year-old boy in the arms of his proud and doting father.

As he prepared to sentence the teenager, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Pat Connolly could barely contain his contempt.

"You have no intestinal fortitude to sit up and look at me," Connolly said to Dokins, who was staring at the floor, avoiding the judge's gaze. "You have hatred in your heart that I can't understand."

Prosecutors say that on June 4, 2012, Dokins, a then-15-year-old gang member, rode up on a bicycle to a family gathered outside a home in Watts. He drew a revolver and opened fire, killing 14-month-old Angel Mauro Cortez Vega and wounding his 21-year-old father, Mauro Cortez. Dokins, authorities say, mistakenly believed the father was a member of a rival gang because of the color of his T-shirt.

Prosecutors charged Dokins as an adult. Connolly sentenced him to 90 years to life in prison.

"You'll never have another opportunity to kill an innocent victim," Connolly said. "You're not capable of showing remorse today, but I hope some time you will be able to…. A man can't change the length of his life, but he can change its depth and substance."

Before the sentencing, friends and relatives of both the victims and Dokins addressed the court.

Dokins' brother Derrick Washington described his sibling as a straight-A student who wrote poetry. Washington broke down in tears, asserting his brother's innocence.

"He's not a monster. He's just a little boy," said Washington, wearing a rosary around his neck.

Another family member told the judge that Dokins wouldn't be around to raise his own daughter, who police said is close to the same age as the child he killed.

Susan Cuscuna, a creative-writing instructor in the state's juvenile-justice centers who has taught Dokins for more than a year, said he is a "very good" student.

"He's little in size and little inside, and he's frightened," Cuscuna said.

Dokins' killing of a 1-year-old Latino has required him to go into "the shoe" — a protective-custody unit, she said.

Threats to Dokins' life are so grave, said his attorney Winston Kevin McKesson, that he opposed broadcasts of the sentencing, fearing that additional pictures of his client in the media would jeopardize his life.

Connolly allowed journalists to photograph and record the proceedings, saying that Dokins "has made his bed, and he will now lie in it."

Liliana Nava, 23, narrated the brief life of her son, sobbing as she marked his exact age: 1 year, two months and three days. Her husband, Mauro, a construction worker, could not attend out of fear it would worsen his anxiety attacks, so she spoke on his behalf.

"We loved him, and to us, he was perfect," said Nava, wearing a pendant of an angel commemorating her son.

The baby's godmother, Marisol Perez, 34, described the day before the shooting, when she and her husband played with Angel in a nearby park. She read aloud a poem titled "Memories," eliciting tears from family and friends present.

"Our family chain is broken, and nothing seems the same," Perez said.

The sentencing capped a trial that concluded in early April when a jury at the Compton Courthouse found Dokins guilty of first-degree murder and attempted murder after less than 90 minutes of deliberations, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Danette Gomez, who prosecuted the case.

During the trial, three witnesses identified Dokins as the killer: a family friend present on the night of the shooting; Nava, who was standing near her husband; and a neighbor who saw Dokins fleeing from the scene on his bicycle.

A gray hooded sweatshirt — which witnesses identified the shooter as wearing — was found burning in an abandoned home, Gomez said. Investigators found Dokins' DNA on the sweatshirt's cuff and collar.

At the time of the shooting, Dokins' gang was actively feuding with a rival gang from Grape Street, authorities said. Prosecutors argued that Dokins shot both victims because the child's father was wearing a purple T-shirt, the signifying color of the rival gang. The child's father is "absolutely not" a member of a gang, Gomez said.

Since his arrest, Dokins has maintained his innocence.

McKesson, Dokins' attorney, sought a new trial Friday, arguing that the eyewitness testimony was inconsistent and that conclusive evidence was lacking. Investigators say they did not find the gun or the bicycle used in the slaying.

Connolly denied the motion, saying the evidence "overwhelmingly" showed Dokins' guilt.

matthew.hamilton@latimes.com

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LAPD's firing of Christopher Dorner was justified, report says

Christopher Dorner, the ex-Los Angeles police officer who went on a killing rampage to avenge his firing from the LAPD, lied repeatedly to further a "personal agenda" during his short time on the force and deserved to be thrown out of the department, police officials concluded in a report released Friday.

Police Chief Charlie Beck ordered an internal review of Dorner's 2009 firing to address claims Dorner made about the department in a rambling manifesto he posted online, in which he described an LAPD rife with racism and corruption.

Beck made the move after a chorus of critics from within the department and outside its ranks latched on to Dorner's allegations, saying that although they condemned the killings, Dorner's dark description of the agency rang true. That swell of harsh criticism, Beck and others feared, threatened to undo years of work by police and city officials to rehabilitate the department's reputation after decades marked by abuses and scandal.

"I directed this review because I wanted to ensure that the Los Angeles Police Department is fair and transparent in all that we do," Beck said Friday in a prepared statement. "All of us recognize that as a department we are not perfect; nonetheless, this report shows that the discharge of Christopher Dorner was factually and legally the right decision."

Dorner was fired in 2009, and in February of this year, police say, he shot to death an Irvine woman — the daughter of the attorney who defended him at his disciplinary proceedings — and her fiance. Dorner then killed two police officers and wounded three other people as he evaded capture during an intense manhunt, authorities said.

After more than a week on the run, Dorner was discovered in the mountains near Big Bear and chased into a cabin in the woods, where he died from what the report confirmed was a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

The 39-page report, written by Gerald Chaleff, a former criminal defense attorney who serves as a special assistant to Beck, staunchly defended the decision to kick Dorner out of the LAPD. Police investigators at the time, Chaleff concluded, were right when they found that Dorner, then a rookie, fabricated a story in 2007 accusing his training officer of repeatedly kicking a handcuffed, mentally ill man.

Chaleff focused largely on the fact that Dorner waited nearly two weeks before he reported the alleged kicking to a supervisor and then offered conflicting explanations for the delay. For example, he at one point told investigators he trusted only one supervisor at his station and wanted to wait until he could report the abuse to him. Records, however, showed that the supervisor and Dorner worked the same shift on several days before he spoke up, the report found.

The report also buttressed the finding of officials at the time of what motivated Dorner to fabricate the story of the kicking. He made up the story, Chaleff said, only after his training officer warned him that his performance in the field had been poor and that she was contemplating whether to give him failing marks in an upcoming assessment.

"The inconsistencies in Dorner's various explanations as to why there was a delay in his reporting the alleged kicks to a supervisor, and the fact that he offered no reasonable rationale for such delays, cast considerable doubt on the credibility of his allegations," the report said. "Dorner's statements concerning the delay continued to change throughout his testimony and appeared to be self-serving and in several instances were blatant fabrications."

Chaleff wrote that he found no credible evidence to support Dorner's claim. The mentally ill man who was arrested was too sick to be coherent, and three witnesses to the arrest all said they did not see the man get kicked.

Chaleff also knocked down allegations made by Dorner that his training officer was friends with a member of the disciplinary board that fired him and others involved in the investigation. Interviews with the various officers, as well as others who might have known about the alleged relationships, turned up nothing to support Dorner's claims, according to the report.

The report outlined other apparent lies Dorner told and what Chaleff said were his attempts to use the LAPD's discipline system "to further his own agenda." In one instance, internal affairs investigators asked him if he had suffered any retaliation at work for reporting his training officer, and Dorner said he had not. Days later, however, he filed a retaliation complaint, saying an unknown officer had urinated on his uniform jacket. Tests on the jacket by the LAPD lab disproved the allegation.

Chaleff emphasized as well that Dorner appealed his firing twice in the courts and to the LAPD's independent inspector general, and each time the decision was upheld.

"Based on the evidence at hand, it appears that the allegation of his training officer kicking an arrestee was ... an allegation to further his personal agenda," Chaleff wrote. "After careful examination of all the evidence, it is clear that Dorner could not be deemed credible."

Also on Friday, the city's inspector general of the LAPD, Alex Bustamante, examined the department's review of the Dorner case. In a brief report, Bustamante said he "ultimately concurs with the department's conclusions" and found no evidence to bolster Dorner's claims. Bustamante's report did point out some inconsistencies in the voluminous case file on Dorner's firing but said none of them would have affected the decision to remove Dorner from the force.

Rafael Bernardino, a member of the Police Commission, which oversees the department, said he didn't think the department's review of the case was necessary since "I never even considered Dorner's claims to be realistic."

"Perceptions of the department are different than the reality. They change long after the facts of the place have changed, and I understand that the chief had to be sensitive to that," he said. "I grew up in Los Angeles and I know the troubled history of this department … but it is different today."

Beck ordered a second review, still underway, that will examine the LAPD's discipline system in general and claims by officers that it is unfair.

joel.rubin@latimes.com

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California's job picture gets brighter

Just a few years ago, California was hemorrhaging tens of thousands of jobs and had one of the highest unemployment rates in the nation.

But on Friday the Golden State reached a turning point: Helped by a recovering housing market, its jobless rate plunged to 8.6% in May, down from 9% in April and the lowest level in nearly five years. The improved economy has cut the number of unemployed Californians to 1.5 million from a peak of 2.3 million in 2010.

Economists said the latest batch of government data showed the state is creating jobs faster than the labor force is growing, a sign of true strengthening in the labor market. Some previous dips in the unemployment rate were the result of discouraged job seekers dropping out of the workforce.

"California is making a big comeback," said Esmael Adibi, a Chapman University economist. "That's why you see such a sharp drop in the unemployment rate."

The state's employers added 10,800 employees to their payrolls in May, according to figures released Friday by the state Employment Development Department. Nearly all industries added workers, led by the leisure and hospitality sector, which added 9,000 jobs, mainly at hotels and restaurants.

Over the last year, California has added 252,100 jobs. That has helped California lower its unemployment faster than any other state since May 2012, when the jobless rate stood at 10.7%. The unemployment rate is also well below the 12.4% peak reached in February 2010.

The gains mean that California is no longer competing with Mississippi and Nevada for the dubious distinction of having the highest unemployment rate in the nation. Five other states now have higher unemployment rates than California, according to federal data.

Although the state's economy is improving, it is far from healed. California's unemployment rate is higher than the 7.6% national rate, and the state is still 601,000 jobs short of its peak employment level reached in July 2007.

"We are not at Champagne and caviar yet," said Brandi Britton, district president of professional staffing firm Robert Half International. "Although it certainly feels like each month gets better."

Driving the job expansion this year is the construction industry, which is heating up along with the real estate market. Nearly 39,000 jobs have been added since May 2012, although last month showed a decline of 8,500 jobs that economists believe was an anomaly.

But it's not just laborers swinging hammers and hanging up drywall. The housing recovery has had a ripple effect that's leading to hiring in related industries such as banking, insurance and retail.

That is good news to Aaron Lobliner, a 28-year-old urban planner who graduated from college in 2009 near the depths of the recession.

Unable to find full-time work, Lobliner hustled for two years flipping burgers at an In-N-Out restaurant and working part-time internships in his field. He recently nabbed a full-time job in Orange County working on a housing development in Rancho Mission Viejo.

My job "is tied to the real estate industry," Lobliner said. And "there's been a significant uptick in hiring. People are hiring architects again. People are hiring engineers. And you need planners. We're all in the same boat."

These kinds of white-collar jobs have driven the recovery over the last year. The professional business services sector, which includes many higher-paying jobs, added 73,000 new positions in the last 12 months.

Still, many of the jobs being created in California are low-wage jobs. The leisure and hospitality sector posted the second-highest employment gain during the same time period, swelling by 64,000 jobs.

A separate government survey of households offered more clues about the state's economic well-being. Total employment grew by nearly 84,000 in May. That's an indication that Californians have turned to self-employment or consulting work not captured in the payroll data.

This might be part of an overall shift in the state's job market, economists and employment experts said. They worry that many companies might rely on temporary or contract workers even after the economy fully recovers.

"We may be hitting an employment tipping point," said Michael Bernick, former director of California's Employment Development Department. "The cost of unemployment insurance, worker's comp and most of all healthcare is becoming so large that companies are looking at other options such as independent contracting, technology or overtime for existing employees."

That means job seekers such as Jerry Levinson, 51, may continue to struggle by piecing together part-time work or settling for a salary far below their expectations.

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'Gay cure' ministry Exodus International to close

Exodus International started in Anaheim 37 years ago as a small ministry to help those struggling to reconcile their homosexuality with the Bible's teachings. It grew into the leading practitioner of the controversial "gay cure" movement, with 260 ministries around North America.

While Exodus claimed to have purged thousands of people of sexual urges that tormented them, its leaders recently began expressing doubts about the mission. Last year, its president, Alan Chambers, renounced the idea that homosexuality could be "cured."

This week, the organization abruptly announced it was closing down. Chambers offered a dramatic, public mea culpa, refuting decades of Exodus' teaching and apologizing for the "shame" and "trauma" the group had inflicted.

The demise of the gay cure movement underscores the growing acceptance of homosexuality in society, even in the evangelical Christian community. Polls show increasing support for gay marriage, and leading conservatives, including Dick Cheney and Rob Portman, have expressed support for gay rights. A May Gallup poll showed that 59% of American adults said gay and lesbian relationships are morally acceptable, up 19 percentage points since 2001.

"Evangelicals are not immune to this," said Randall Balmer, chairman of the religion department at Dartmouth College. "They get swept along with the cultural currents as well."

Chambers' statement won praise from gay-rights groups, who long criticized his views. But some were quick to point out that Exodus had been losing influence among evangelicals in recent years as gay conversion became increasingly out of the mainstream.

"I think there's a tendency to see Exodus folding as a parable of Christian capitulation and ethic," said Russell Moore, president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention. "That is not what's happening. Instead what you have is an organization that has some confusion about its mission and purpose.... What is not happening here, is an evangelical revision of a biblical sexual ethic."

Chambers discussed his change of heart in an interview with the Los Angeles Times on Thursday as well as in a lengthy statement and speech to a religious convention in Irvine.

"We need to change the way we do things," he said.

Chambers said that gays had been wrongly made to feel rejected by God, and that Christians should accept them even if they believe homosexuality — like pride and gluttony — is a sin.

"I am sorry that some of you spent years working through the shame and guilt you felt when your attractions didn't change," Chambers wrote in a statement on his website. "I am sorry that I ... failed to share publicly that the gay and lesbian people I know were every bit as capable of being amazing parents as the straight people that I know. I am sorry that I have communicated that you and your families are less than me and mine."

Chambers, who is married to a woman and has two adopted children, told The Times he is still attracted to men and comfortably lives with that tension, but that others may be unable to do so. He said that 99% of people who went through gay-conversion therapy did not lose their same-sex desires.

Chambers' apology was welcomed by gay rights activists, who called it a "big surprise."

"I think it is demonstrative of the major shift that we as a society have gone through in terms of our understanding of who gay and lesbian people are and how they live," said Ross Murray, director of news and faith initiatives at gay rights group GLAAD.

"At one time, it was pretty mainstream to have those thoughts and feelings about gay and lesbian people. Over time, Exodus and people who have promoted change programs have been more and more marginal or fringe.

"In more and more communities, churches are grappling with homosexuality in more open terms. These are the cultural realities around us."

Chambers first made his apology Wednesday night at Exodus' annual conference in Irvine and in advance of a show that aired Thursday night with journalist Lisa Ling in which he is confronted by "ex-gay survivors."

"It was excruciating," he said. "They told their true stories in a way that I will never forget. They told stories of abuse and pain, missed opportunities, awful words that were spoken to them. Stories of abuse and pain from the church and even from Exodus."

Linda and Rob Robertson came from Redmond, Wash., to speak at the conference. Strict evangelicals with four children, they shared their own torment with the Bible's teachings and their son, Ryan, who came out to them when he was 12.

She said she and her husband forced him to choose between God and being a gay man, and for the next six years he tried everything possible. He went to reparative therapy with Exodus, but nothing worked.

At 18, with no answers, he became addicted to drugs, his mother said.

"We didn't intentionally, but we taught Ryan to hate himself," Linda Robertson said.

Although they later tried to form a more accepting relationship, he ultimately died of a drug overdose in 2009.

Since then, the Robertsons have become advocates for gay and lesbian young adults who feel shut out by the church.

"We have to stop warring," Rob Robertson said. "We've got to stop fighting."

anh.do@latimes.com

kate.mather@latimes.com

joe.mozingo@latimes.com

Times staff writers Joseph Serna and Paul Pringle contributed to this report.

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House farm bill is defeated

WASHINGTON — A revolt among rank-and-file Republicans helped kill the farm bill in the House on Thursday, the latest vote to reflect the influence of conservative groups that have often been at odds with the chamber's GOP leadership.

More than a quarter of the Republicans joined with most Democrats to defeat the nearly $1-trillion bill to reauthorize farm subsidies and nutrition programs, legislation that has traditionally been bipartisan.

House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) said last week that he supported the measure despite a few objections because it would institute some needed reforms.

But prominent outside forces, including the Club for Growth and Heritage Action for America, urged Republicans to defeat it. Both groups oppose farm subsidies, but focused their objections on the cost of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or food stamps, which made up most of the price tag.

The vote underscores the challenge House leaders face in moving major legislation, such as an immigration overhaul. Other significant legislation that has split Republicans, such as Superstorm Sandy relief and a debt-limit increase, has needed support from Democrats to pass.

Before the farm bill vote failed, 195 to 234, Boehner acknowledged the delicate position he was in. "My job isn't to try to impose my will on 434 other members. My job is to try to facilitate a discussion and build bipartisan support," he said.

The Club for Growth cheered Thursday's vote as one of its most significant victories to date, saying it was a testament to the "new generation of conservatives in Congress."

"The food stamp program is out of control," said Rep. Mick Mulvaney (R-S.C.), who rode the tea party wave to election in 2010. "It has grown 430% since 2001. And this bill did little if anything to curtail that out-of-control spending."

The Club for Growth has achieved considerable sway over the rank and file because it has spent money to support conservatives in primary challenges. Incumbent Republicans, many in districts that are more conservative since redistricting, now increasingly fear the threat of a primary challenge more than the general election. Both conservative groups said they would use Thursday's vote in considering whether to support incumbents in Republican primaries.

At the same time, fewer Democrats remain in the House who represent districts with sizable rural populations. Just 24 Democrats supported the farm bill. Most Democrats protested the measure, saying that cuts to the food stamp program, known as SNAP, were too deep and would hurt low-income families.

Republican aides faulted House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco), who they say undermined a pledge from the Agriculture Committee's top Democrat to deliver 40 votes. But even that number would have put the measure shy of passage.

Still, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) said the Democratic leadership chose at the "last minute" to "derail years of bipartisan work" on the issue.

Rep. Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.), the Democratic whip, blamed the Republican leadership for failing to prevent the adoption of a "poison pill" amendment to make further changes to SNAP. He engaged Cantor in a tense and lengthy exchange on the House floor until Cantor ended it by announcing that the House would adjourn until Monday.

Democrats in Congress delighted in what they said was an embarrassment for the House leadership.

"What is happening on the floor today was a demonstration of major amateur hour. They didn't get results, and they put the blame on somebody else," Pelosi said.

Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) said it was "incredible" that Boehner could lose more than 60 Republicans on the vote. "I think the speaker has to realize that he can find a pathway forward if he will work with Democrats," he said. "But if all he's going to do is cater to the tea party fringe in the House, this kind of thing is going to keep happening."

The Democratic-controlled Senate has already passed its own version of the farm bill with Republican support, 66 to 27.

Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), who chairs the Senate Agriculture Committee, called on Boehner to bring that bill to the floor. "It's up to the House to find a way to stand up for rural America … and to do it in a bipartisan way that can get the votes necessary to pass," she said.

The Senate also passed a farm bill in the last Congress, but the House never brought a plan to the floor for a vote. The last farm bill to emerge from Congress passed in 2008.

It's unclear what will happen next. If lawmakers fail to take up the entire farm bill, it's possible they could approve funding for individual programs for a year, a practice they have done in the past.

michael.memoli@latimes.com

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