Which Way, L.A.?

Education Crusader Richard Riordan Steps Down

His foundation has distributed books and computers to schools all over the country and taught thousands of children to read, and when he was Mayor of Los Angeles, Richard Riordan made public education a priority, even though it wasn-t part of the job description. But when Richard Riordan resigned last week as Arnold Schwarzenegger-s Secretary of Education, polls showed that just 19% of Californians thought there-d been progress in education. Thirty-one percent said things were going the wrong way. We talk with Richard Riordan about his own efforts and what he sees for the future. Making News: Circulation Down at the LA Times The Los Angeles Times has 2.4 million readers on weekdays and 3.5 million on Sunday. While that sounds like a lot, it-s a decline of 6.5 and 8 percent respectively in the past six months. Former Times reporter Bryce Nelson, who now teaches journalism at USC-s Annenberg School for Communication, says a younger audience is renouncing print journalism for online and cable news. Reporter's Notebook: Parasitic Wasp Takes on Glassy-Winged Sharpshooter Just one thirty-second of an inch long, the glassy-winged sharpshooter is raising havoc with California-s wine industry, laying waste to the state's grape vines. Will introducing another insect save the $45 billion wine industry? Jay Van Rein, spokesman for the State Department of Food and Agriculture, says the Department has plans for a kind of shoot-out in the vineyards, with the help of a parasitic wasp from Minnesota.