Los Angeles Fire Chief Retires Amid Racial, Hazing Flaps

December 1, 2006 California - The city's fire chief announced his retirement Friday amid a furor over a black firefighter's claim that he suffered racial discrimination when his spaghetti was spiked with dog food. Chief William Bamattre, whose predecessor left abruptly a decade ago during a similar racially charged crisis, told Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa in a letter that he will step down January 1. In a statement, the chief did not directly address the controversy but said he was "very proud of ...