Two weeks ago in his first column for the Northeast Observer, ex-councilman Nick Pacheco was handicapping Richard Riordan's run for governor on the day Schwarzenegger announced. Ouch. This time he's on safer ground, but covers a lot of it. I'm interested in his observations on city hall, and on that he reports buzz about Bernard Parks being closer to a run for mayor based on some poll showing that Jim Hahn's support is eroding. He also concludes, as have others, that Parks was rewarded for smartly giving Alex Padilla the decisive 8th vote needed to retain the council presidency.

Pacheco also chides the L.A. Times for reporting on the Nazi past of Schwarzenegger's father, dissects Kobe Bryant's defense tactics so far, and says as a former prosecutor that if convicted Kobe will do time.