The last of Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's original team of top advisors at City Hall, Deputy Chief of Staff Jimmy Blackman, will leave on August 13. Blackman told reporters today he has no other job lined up. “I will always remain loyal to Mayor Villaraigosa,” Blackman said a in a prepared statement for David Zahniser at the Los Angeles Times. Blackman goes back to Villaraigosa's time in the state Assembly and the first, unsuccessful run for mayor in 2001.

Expo Line, Bell, Mitrice Richardson, LAX food fight, Eli Broad's museum and more.

It turns out that the property tax add-ons levied by the City of Bell have its residents paying a higher rate than in any local city but Industry, the Times has found. At least, the percentage of assessed value is higher. In reality, of course, under Proposition 13 California property taxes vary hugely by how long you live in your home. If you buy a condo this week in Canoga Park, you might pay more taxes than someone who has lived in a Beverly Hills or Malibu mansion for thirty years.

Immigration rights protesters in chains have blocking the intersection for several hours, but the LAPD has issued a dispersal order. Media reports have the cops moving in to cut chains from about ten protesters and arrest them.

Also: Today on CNN, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said current immigration clashes are occurring because the federal government didn't do its job.

Ronaldo just finished up his first press conference at UCLA's Morgan Center. At least 15 TV cameras were there, more than a dozen still photogs rushed the stage when he came out, and a roomful of media types fired courteous questions. Most of the questions were in Spanish, which the Portugese-born star handled with ease before switching to English. Yes, he's tired from the World Cup but ready to go. Yes, Real Madrid's new coach is great. Yes, they are trying not to think about Barcelona too much, and yes they respect their upcoming match with the Galaxy. "We respect all our opponents," said Ronaldo. Real Madrid is training at UCLA for the next week and reportedly staying at the Beverly Hills Hotel. The team has closed the practices to the public, with a tarp circling the field, but there were several dozen fans around anyway. Celebrity-Gossip.net was the first site to have pictures up, that I found. And UCLA Newsroom, of course.

Peter Hong worked with and admired Eric Malnic, the reporter and editor who worked at the Los Angeles Times for 47 years, bridging the Otis Chander and Sam Zell eras. After Malnic died this week, Hong sent around (and posted on Facebook) some thoughts on sharing the night shift with him, on race and the Times newsroom, and on life in Los Angeles and more particularly the San Gabriel Valley. Posted with permission, after the jump. Hong is currently a deputy to Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas.

This photo isn't actually old. It was shot the other day inside LACMA West, the museum's building at the corner of Wilshire and Fairfax. It shows a remnant of the May Company department store that opened on the corner in about 1940. (I don't have my files with me, though we have a great photo of the intense opening day in Wilshire Boulevard: Grand Concourse of Los Angeles.) More current pics from inside the old store (and on the roof) at LACMA's Unframed blog.

Wired magazine culled some photos of Los Angeles smog from the L.A. Times archive at UCLA. This one of the Civic Center enshrouded, with City Hall in the haze at left, is from January 5, 1948. [January! - ed.] Monday was the 67th anniversary of the infamous really, really black day when people looked around and said dang, we have an air pollution problem here. "People in Los Angeles were very proud of their air," says Chip Jacobs, one of the authors of "Smogtown: The Lung-Burning History of Smog in Los Angeles." "They said that L.A. was the land of pure air, and that moving there could cure tuberculosis and alcoholism. They thought there had to be one simple answer."

Some of my email correspondents have been having some fun with this in the L.A. Times Business section. A caption credits ABC with a hit show called "Modern Town," which doesn't exist. The writer meant either "Modern Family" or "Cougar Town." Variety's Brian Lowry also spots another error in the caption.

Your smart phone says who you will vote for, plus more politics, news and media notes.