Story Created: Jul 6, 2009 at 9:32 PM CDT Story Updated: Jul 6, 2009 at 9:32 PM CDT Los Angeles (From The Observer) - City officials are ruing the fact that they have to mount a massive, last-minute security operation for Michael Jackson's public memorial in LA, when they are facing a daunting recession-fuelled budget deficit and making agonising choices about cutting services and jobs. Publicly, the city has embraced Tuesday's memorial at the downtown Staples Centre sports and convention arena as an "extraordinary event" for a much-loved figure, and has accepted its role in providing security and crowd control, just as it does for political marches or victory parades for championship-winning local sports teams. A little less publicly, however, officials are deeply worried about handling crowds that could number in the... [read full story]
