courtesy of KELSEY WHIPPLE

Michael Moore, rallying the troops in Denver

First Michael Moore came out swinging on Twitter. Clueless customs officials at LAX had detained an Academy Award-nominated Palestinian filmmaker, he claimed. They "couldn't understand how a Palestinian could be an Oscar nominee." Even producing an "Oscar invite" wasn't good enough. The filmmaker, Emad Burnat, had to call Moore. And Moore had to call lawyers.

Finally, Moore tweeted, "After 1.5 hrs, they decided to release him & his family & told him he could stay in L.A. for the week & go to the Oscars. Welcome to America." Such drama!

But now we know the truth: Burnat was detained for all of 23 minutes. As anyone who's ever traveled internationally can tell you, that's hardly cause for concern.

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Lisa Cyr / Flickr

Finally, there's free wi-fi at LAX. Sort of.

Forget for a second that the LAX is one of the nation's crappier major airports, cursed by midcentury architecture and an array of politically-connected restaurant offerings that make you actually want eat the airplane food.

This is, as the original President Bush would say, a point of light:

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Beep beep!

​L.A. International Airport is at or near the bottom in customer satisfaction surveys, mostly because of the atrocious food and beverage offerings.

Airport officials have been working on this, and after three years of trying, they think they've found the answer. Food trucks.

Food trucks? God help us all.

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Rick Caruso

​Mall magnate Rick Caruso has withdrawn from the bidding for a concessions contract at Los Angeles International Airport, citing delays and constraints imposed by airport staff.

Matt Middlebrook, Caruso's senior vice president, said the bidding process has become "too cumbersome and too long." He said the delays were "emblematic of part of the problem with the city of L.A. and its atmosphere toward business."

"I think you'd have a hard time finding anybody who would stand up and say L.A. is a business friendly town," Middlebrook said.

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​There's another twist today in the never-ending saga over the $600 million LAX concessions contract. SSP America has filed a protest, alleging that the airport screwed up when it shut the company out of bidding last month.

Rival firm HMS Host -- which has been at the airport for 45 years -- won the largest share of the business. Two other firms that are also at the airport -- Delaware North and CMS/Camacho -- won the rest. A victory for the status quo.

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Not much to smile about: Mary Sue Milliken and Susan Feniger were snubbed by LAX

​These are tough times to be a celebrity chef. Last year, a star-studded group of L.A. chefs (including Nancy Silverton, Joaquim Splichal, Mary Sue Milliken, and Susan Feniger) came very close to winning a spot at L.A. International Airport.

But, as we detailed in last week's cover story, "Mr. Juice: How Lobbyist John Ek Gets His Way At City Hall," the chefs were thwarted by bare-knuckle City Hall lobbying on behalf of the incumbent contractor, HMS Host. The chefs' winning bid was thrown out and LAX restarted the bid process, which gave Host a chance to hang on to its lucrative airport business.


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Unite Here

Workers warn of unsanitary conditions at LAX facilities

As if we need another reason to avoid airport food...

Now, LAX workers warn that poor conditions at local food prep facilities may pose safety hazards to travelers.

Workers responsible for in-flight food at 12 airlines held a protest near the airport on Friday to highlight hazardous work conditions at LGS Sky Chefs and to negotiate a labor contract.

"We want Sky Chefs to address the serious kitchen understaffing that has led to problems for the workers and for the clients who receive the food," said Sky Chefs employee, Clara Meza.

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Alan Rothenberg

​Alan Rothenberg resigned today from the Los Angeles Airport Commission, in a move that should make it easier for the commission to award airport concession contracts.

Rothenberg was the source of a conflict of interest that forced the commission to recuse itself on the first round of concession contracts last summer. The job of awarding the contracts fell to the City Council's Board of Referred Powers, which dragged the process out and was widely seen as overly influenced by the bidders' lobbyists.

In a letter to Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Rothenberg said he was stepping aside to allow the second round of concessions contracts to move forward without needless delays.

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Los Angeles Times

Let's keep our privates private.

If you're a frequent traveler, here's one holiday gift you'll want to unwrap before Christmas Day approaches - underwear that works double-time to shield your genitals from radiation and conceal them from pesky airline screeners.

The novelty underwear comes with ultra-strong, weapons-grade tungsten lining and fibers that supposedly bounce away harmful x-rays.

It also includes material

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Ka-ching! Magic Johnson cashes in.

​Overturning the wishes of LAX staff, a five-member council committee on Monday awarded an airport retail contract worth $30 million a year to a business group that includes Magic Johnson.

Councilman Bernard Parks provided the key vote, refusing to go along with LAX's preferred vendor, Areas USA. The Lakers' legend was the highest-profile supporter of Parks' failed 2008 campaign for the county Board of Supervisors.

Separately, the Board of Referred Powers put off a hearing on five food and beverage contracts, Those contracts have been hotly disputed, raising allegations of conflicts of interest and lobbyist influence.

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Last bidder standing

​In the battle for the right to serve rapidly prepared food to LAX passengers, most of the attention has gone to the two heavyweights: SSP America and HMS Host.

But with both of them knocked out of the bidding by City Attorney Carmen Trutanich on Tuesday, it's time to get to know the only company still standing: Delaware North.

Delaware North is a multibillion-dollar operation that already runs a Wolfgang Puck Express and a Pink's Hot Dogs at LAX. So what is Delaware North's bold, innovative plan to revitalize the airport's food offerings?

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​In an escalating war over the lucrative contract to sell food at LAX, incumbent bidder HMS Host put on a tasting this morning at Maria's Italian Kitchen. Assessing the food is not in my skill set, so the Weekly sent a food critic (who didn't like it).

Meantime, Host continues to play an effective inside game at City Hall. On Monday, Host charged that rival bidder SSP should be disqualified due to a conflict of interest. That was enough to get the city to cancel tomorrow's hearing on the contract while the city attorney's office studies the matter.

But it looks like Host has the same conflict.

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By J. Patrick Coolican and Steve La

The fight over LAX concession contracts goes on, as a city board Thursday postponed a hearing on the lucrative airport food deal.

The only thing pretty much everyone can agree on in this battle is that the food at LAX is currently an embarrassment, when it should be introducing the entire world to the region's prandial culture.

The bidding process has been contentious, with several bidders fighting for contracts worth hundreds of millions of dollars. LAX staff made recommendations to the City Council, which will determine who wins the contract. HMS Host, which has been running most LAX concessions since 1965, received the lowest scores on all of its bids.

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LAX is now offering restrooms for dogs. The international airport recently added five gated relief stations featuring water bowls and fire hydrant replicas.

The doggie restrooms were added in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. Larry Rolon, the airport's coordinator for disabled services, said that the restrooms were implemented in order "to better assist travelers with disabilities who are accompanied by guide dogs or other assistance animals."

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Cardenas kickoff: $500/seat

​All this summer, L.A. City Hall is embroiled in a big-money battle for the right to sell quick-serve cuisine to LAX passengers.

Just one of the eight packages is worth $600 million in sales, so you can imagine how much lobbying pressure has been applied to the Board of Referred Powers, the committee that will decide on the contract in the coming weeks. Chaired by Councilman Tony Cárdenas, the board had its first meeting on July 8. The next is tentatively set for July 29.

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​Just about every lobbyist in Los Angeles was on hand Thursday for the first of several hearings on the proposed concession contracts at Los Angeles International Airport.

The contracts are worth hundreds of millions of dollars to the concessionaires. Their lobbyists have been working the corridors of City Hall for a couple of months in an effort to bend the ears of the five council members who serve on the Board of Referred Powers.

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Some LAX janitors mull a strike

You know what would be really great during July 4 holiday weekend if you traveling through LAX?

Dirty terminals.

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