A 1992 Retrospective : Chronology : JANUARY

Two grand marshals--a descendant of Christopher Columbus and an American Indian--lead Tournament of Roses Parade . . . White supremacist Tom Metzger begins six-month jail term for unlawful assembly in connection with a cross-burning . . . Authorities uncover scheme to kill Police Commission President Stanley K. Sheinbaum . . . Snowstorms in mountains strand thousands . . . First captive-bred California condors freed in the wild . . . Mother Teresa, recovering from congestive heart failure, leaves hospital in La Jolla . . . Transit officials cancel pact with Sumitomo for Green Line after a “Buy American” furor . . . Judge Joyce A. Karlin, who sentenced a Korean-born grocer to probation for killing 15-year-old Latasha Harlins, is moved from criminal bench to Juvenile Court . . . Priceless music archive lost in Burbank fire . . . Massive renovation plan proposed for Los Angeles Zoo . . . R.H. Macy--which owns Bullock’s--files for bankruptcy . . . Christopher Commission prods Los Angeles Police Chief Daryl F. Gates to retire.

FEBRUARY Jury selection begins in trial of four officers accused in beating of Rodney G. King . . . Fabled lost city of Ubar discovered by L.A.-based team led by a filmmaker and a lawyer . . . New Kids on the Block sing live on “The Arsenio Hall Show” to disprove charges of lip-syncing . . . FBI reassigns 22 agents to gang task force . . . State’s population tops 30 million . . . Rain turns deadly, causes widespread flooding . . . Richard H. Truly, head of NASA, resigns . . . Flames engulf county health services building . . . Santa Barbara’s desalination plant opens . . . Screen Actors Guild and studios reach accord, averting threatened movie production slowdown . . . Jetliner aborts approach at LAX after near-miss . . . Barry Diller stuns Hollywood, quits Fox . . . President Bush declares flooded Ventura County a disaster area . . . Police reform proposals to make chief more accountable and revise discipline process are put on ballot . . . Health care study finds California leads nation in number of uninsured people . . . Elizabeth Taylor turns 60, holds bash at Disneyland.

MARCH Welfare rolls reach record level, with one in seven L.A. County residents receiving assistance . . . One year after King beating, jury is chosen for trial of four LAPD officers. . . Peter V. Ueberroth says he may enter Senate race . . . Disney announces it is bailing out of Long Beach, ending its lease of Queen Mary and Spruce Goose . . . Los Angeles County study says aerospace cuts will cost up to 420,000 jobs and $84.6 billion in personal income . . . Art Buchwald and producing partner win $900,000 from Paramount Pictures in breach of contract suit over Eddie Murphy film “Coming to America”. . . Hannibal the elephant dies at Los Angeles Zoo . . . Rain, rain and more rain . . . State Supt. of Public Instruction Bill Honig indicted on charges of felony conflict of interest . . . Metropolitan Water District ends water rationing, but says drought isn’t over . . . “Silence of the Lambs” sweeps five major Oscars.

APRIL Charles H. Keating Jr., head of Irvine-based Lincoln Savings & Loan, receives 10-year sentence in S & L fraud case . . . Willie L. Williams named new LAPD chief . . . Judge Joyce A. Karlin’s sentencing of Korean-born grocer upheld . . . Convicted murderer Robert Alton Harris executed . . . Four gangs based in Watts housing projects declare truce . . . Not guilty verdicts against four LAPD officers charged in Rodney G. King beating case set off nation’s deadliest and most destructive civil disturbance in modern times . . . News cameras broadcast live footage of white truck driver Reginald O. Denny being pulled from his vehicle and beaten . . . Hundreds of stores looted and burned.

MAY National Guard takes up positions in city . . . Tense peace returns to Los Angeles; fires and looting subside . . . Peter V. Ueberroth named leader of Rebuild L.A. . . . Mayor Tom Bradley lifts curfew . . . President Bush arrives in L.A., calls for healing . . . Coastal Commissioner Mark Nathanson indicted in extortion plot . . . $2-billion state budget shortfall reported for April . . . Army and Marine troops withdraw from L.A. . . . Three suspects seized in Denny beating . . . National Guard units ordered to leave L.A. . . . Comedian Johnny Carson broadcasts his last “Tonight Show” . . . Records show that lack of radios, phones and cars slowed police response to riots . . . Number of homeless people in county rises 16% in one year; 38,400 estimated to be without shelter . . . Seven California Indian tribes sue state for right to expand casino games.

JUNE Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer win Democratic primary battles for U.S. Senate . . . Voters overwhelmingly approve measure to institute Christopher Commission reforms of LAPD . . . Challenger Gil Garcetti forces Dist. Atty. Ira Reiner into runoff . . . Judge Joyce A. Karlin returned to office despite anger over her sentence in Harlins case . . . Truck filled with 13 immigrants fleeing Border Patrol crashes into group of Temecula high school students, killing six people . . . Chief Daryl F. Gates says he may delay departure from LAPD . . . Gates admits he was bluffing . . . 40 residents, government officials and business figures chosen as Rebuild L.A. directors . . . Five Californians win MacArthur Foundation “genius” prizes . . . Police credit gang truce with drop in killings . . . Paramount High School athlete killed by gang members a day before graduation . . . Gov. Pete Wilson calls for stiff budget cuts . . . L.A. City Council considers record $5-million to $8-million payment to settle Rodney G. King brutality case . . . King arrested, then freed, after wife is injured during argument . . . Willie L. Williams takes oath as police chief . . . State budget impasse continues . . . 200,000 attend Los Angeles Gay Pride Parade . . . Magnitude 7.4 earthquake--strongest in 40 years--shakes Landers, near Yucca Valley . . . Mayor Tom Bradley unveils task force to try to reduce tensions over rebuilding of South-Central liquor stores damaged in riots.

JULY Hughes Aircraft announces plans to close 92 facilities, lay off 9,000 . . . State issues IOUs to vendors and workers for first time since the Depression . . . Peter V. Ueberroth says he’ll be Rebuild L.A. boss for up to five years, envisions 57,000 new jobs in depressed areas . . . LAPD unit closed amid charges of spying on athletes, celebrities and politicians . . . McDonnell Douglas plans layoffs of up to 5,000 . . . Rodney G. King arrested on suspicion of drunk driving in Orange County . . . Kolts report, an official investigation of L.A. County Sheriff’s Department, finds “deeply disturbing” pattern of excessive force and brutality . . . County Board of Supervisors commits up to $2.9 million to Hope in Youth, fledgling gang-prevention campaign spearheaded by Cardinal Roger A. Mahony . . . Racial tensions over South-Central L.A. construction jobs grow as blacks attempt to shut down building sites where no African-Americans are working . . . County Chief Administrative Officer Richard Dixon resigns, saying he has become a “source of divisiveness” . . . Vons announces plan to open 12 stores in inner city, creating up to 2,000 jobs . . . Barrio priest Father Gregory Boyle bids farewell to his homeboys . . . GM pledges $18 million toward revitalizing L.A. . . . Analyst says L.A. may need $6 billion to rebuild.

AUGUST L.A. City Councilman Michael Woo becomes first candidate to announce he will run for mayor . . . Mayor Tom Bradley scolds Cardinal Roger M. Mahony for seeking special treatment for Hope in Youth; Mahony says Bradley fails to grasp gang crisis . . . Bank of America stops redeeming state IOUs as state budget talks stall . . . State suppliers go unpaid . . . Federal government files civil rights charges against four officers in King beating . . . Orange County prosecutors say they have insufficient evidence to charge Rodney G. King with drunk driving . . . After two years of improvement, L.A. area’s air quality declines . . . The disabled appeal to Legislature and Gov. Pete Wilson to stop “mental cruelty” and end budget crisis . . . Candice Bergen, TV’s Murphy Brown, wins Emmy, despite Vice President Dan Quayle’s accusation that her unmarried character’s decision to have a baby “mocked the importance of fathers.”

SEPTEMBER L.A. Airport Manager Clifton Moore announces his retirement . . . Ending months of conflict with legislators, Gov. Pete Wilson signs $57.4-billion budget . . . Some officials predict more financial problems next year . . . Eight sheriff’s deputies relieved of duty for involvement in 1990 shooting and beating of suspected kidnaper Arthur Jones . . . Firebombings at mostly Latino Ramona Gardens cause black residents to flee . . . Rodney G. King rejects city’s settlement offer of $1.75 million . . . L.A. County Dist. Atty. Ira Reiner withdraws from campaign for reelection . . . AIDS Walk draws 17,000 and raises a record $3 million . . . L.A. schools Supt. Bill Anton quits . . . Mayor Tom Bradley says he will step down in June, 1993, and join L.A. office of a San Francisco law firm . . . Earvin (Magic) Johnson announces he will rejoin Lakers, despite his infection with AIDS virus.

OCTOBER L.A. school budget approved, including deep cuts . . . City Councilman Joel Wachs says he will run for mayor . . . Spruce Goose loaded onto barge for transport to Oregon . . . Police begin walking beats in Koreatown as part of community policing . . . Sid Thompson appointed interim superintendent of L.A. schools . . . Ex-Bradley aide Tom Houston enters race for mayor . . . Woman dies after surviving briefly with transplanted pig’s liver . . . Rodney G. King switches attorneys in bid to settle lawsuit . . . Teachers union, faced with 9% pay cut, warns of possible strike . . . Julian Nava, former ambassador to Mexico, announces mayoral bid . . . California May Co. and Robinson’s department stores merge . . . Webster report on handling of the riots warns unrest could erupt again . . . Curtain rises on Metrolink rail system . . . Racial tensions flare at North Hollywood High School . . . KLSX fined $105,000 for broadcasts by “shock jock” Howard Stern.

NOVEMBER Earvin (Magic) Johnson retires for second time, cites AIDS controversy sparked by some athletes wary of playing with him . . . L.A. teachers threaten walkout . . . Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein become California’s first women senators . . . Yvonne Brathwaite Burke defeats Diane Watson in close race for 2nd District supervisorial seat . . . Judge halts deep pay cuts for teachers; walkout canceled . . . Councilman Nate Holden enters mayor’s race . . . Transit expert Nikolas Patsaouras announces for mayor . . . L.A. Unified School District appeals court ruling, saying it will become insolvent if forced to restore $20 million in cuts . . . Supporters of President-elect Bill Clinton purchase retreat for his use in Summerland, near Santa Barbara . . . Collapse of Malibu balcony hurls party-goers 20 feet to rocky shore, killing two . . . Supervisor Gloria Molina says she won’t run for mayor . . . Spike Lee’s film “Malcolm X” opens . . . Millionaire lawyer Richard J. Riordan enters mayor’s race . . . Memo on government’s strategy for prosecuting officers accused of beating Rodney G. King is discovered to have been leaked to defense attorney . . . L.A. City Council approves spending up to $2.5 million for Hope in Youth project . . . Metrolink train hits truck, killing its driver . . . City Councilman Richard Alatorre says he won’t join race for mayor.

DECEMBER Officials warn of drought emergency and predict possible water-use restrictions . . . Snack tax, a baffling state revenue raiser that applied to Twinkies but not doughnuts, is removed . . . District judge says state broke law when it paid workers with IOUs . . . County Supervisor Kenneth Hahn retires after 40 years in office . . . Two new earthquake faults found under center of L.A. . . . Plans for largest job training center in West announced . . . Disney wins approval to form hockey team in Anaheim . . . L.A. teachers authorize strike for Feb. 22 . . . Authors of Kolts report repeat call for civilian review of Sheriff’s Department . . . Rodney G. King launches media drive to reshape his image, appears on live radio talk show . . . Protest held at riot flash point of Florence and Normandie avenues turns violent; police respond quickly, arresting 60 .. . Arco announces it will invest $1 million in minority-owned bank . . . Lawyer J. Stanley Sanders joins race for mayor . . . L.A. City Clerk Elias Martinez accused of sex misconduct charges . . . Beverly Hills Hotel prepares to close for two-year face lift.