been convicted of corruption charges for misusing public funds, and some employees and contractors have taken home nearly $1 million a year. Democrats were torn between the speaker's legislation and a counter-proposal by Sen. Kevin de Leon, another Los Angeles Democrat who last week proposed a laundry list of reforms the city should make in order to stave off disincorporation. City officials approved many of those plans at a special council meeting last week. De Leon and other city supporters worried about the loss of as many as 55,000 jobs in the industrial haven near downtown Los Angeles. De Leon called his proposal a moderate and balanced approach to addressing corruption in the city. It would require Vernon officials to sell off city-owned housing, establish an environmental mitigation fund and adopt a host of reforms. "The saga of Vernon will not be complete until the city follows through on its commitment to implement the aggressive reforms I proposed. I am seeking permanent and lasting reform in that city," de Leon said after the vote. Perez has argued that the city has had ample time over the last months to make meaningful reforms, and could have signaled its good intentions by selling its housing, which has been rented for years to family members and friends of local officials for far below-market rates. cies, Ta Kung Pao reported Wednesday. Charles Li, chief executive of the Hong Kong bourse operator, told a finance forum held in Hong Kong Tuesday that the pace of internationalization of the yuan is too slow and that HKEx will launch measures to speed up the process. These include setting up a yuan equity trading support facility aimed at overcoming the potential challenge of insufficient yuan liquidity in the city. The facility will enable investors to buy yuan-traded shares in the secondary market with Hong Kong dollars if led into Mexico to arm Mexican Cartels share responsibility for the violence that has been devastating Mexico," U.S. Attorney Ken Gonzales said in statement. Rick Reese, 55, the owner and operator of New Deal Shooting Sports in Deming, his wife Terri Reese, 48, and his sons, Ryin Reese, 24, and Remington Reese, 19, were arrested in nearby Las Cruces, where they were opening a new shop, New Deal Shooting Sports II, according to Gonzales' office. Following the arrests, state and federal officers executed search warrants on the Deming gun shop and the family home, authorities said. The Deming Headlight reported four armored personnel carriers and two helicopters assisted in the raid of the Deming gun shop, and agents were also seen at the home, which the paper said was fortified by barbed wire and contained power generators, storage sheds and a garage with several military-style vehicles parked inside. The gun shop is less than 30 miles from the border town of Columbus, whose mayor, police chief and a town trustee were caught in federal gun smuggli