Whither Riordan's L.A. Examiner

Whatever came of Richard Riordan's plans for a Los Angeles Examiner to avenge his unhappiness at the L.A. Times and promote the virtues of the city he loves? RiShawn Biddle of the L.A. Business Journal updates the whereabouts of the principals on his new personal blog, The Usual Suspect, and asks the question.

According to a source, Riordan may be revamping the paper once again after potential investors told him that it needed a more upscale focus--and a lower circulation base. When will the revamp come out? Nobody knows.

Disclosure: When the former mayor was seeking a top editor about a year ago he called and we had a five-minute conversation. I think both of us quickly realized we weren't made for each other. I do think it would be fun for L.A. if Riordan started a paper, but it has always seemed to me unlikely to happen in any serious way. Biddle says that designer Eric Almendral is the only one still employed on the project.

Update 10:30 a.m.: Dan Weintraub at the Bee says Riordan is up for appointment as Schwarzenegger's education secretary, but Weintraub suggests the job be eliminated.