An infusion of green(backs) for the Green Line

The Green Line in South Los Angeles may be the oddest light-rail line in California, notorious for going from nowhere to nowhere. Sen. Jenny Oropeza, one of the key lawmakers who has been blocking progress on a ballot measure that would improve L.A. County's public transit system, wants credit for changing that. Because of her obstructionism, there's a good chance that the Green Line will run from somewhere to nowhere. Yippee.

Oropeza, a Democrat out of Long Beach, is one of several local politicians who have been holding Measure R -- a ballot initiative that would impose a half-cent sales tax increase on L.A. County residents to pay for public transit -- hostage. Like most of the others, Oropeza wanted to make sure a good share of the proceeds went to her district. Today, she sent out a news release crowing that AB 2321, which would place Measure R on the ballot, now includes language guaranteeing funding to extend the Green Line to Los Angeles International Airport. The bill, with the opposition from Oropeza and others withdrawn, has now passed through the Senate Appropriations Committee.

The Green Line runs along the 105 Freeway in South L.A. from Norwalk to...(Keep reading)

--Dan Turner