The Downtown News says the Morrison Hotel at Pico and Hope near Staples Center is for sale. The hotel appears in a photograph on the cover of The Doors' 1970 album "Morrison Hotel." In the story, photographer Henry Diltz tells how the picture came about, and says that after shooting it, the band retired to a Skid Row dive bar called the Hard Rock Cafe. When a picture of that bar ran on the album cover as well, a London man asked permission to use the name for a chain of restaurants. The rest, as they say, is history.

Attention L.A. history buffs: the Downtown News also tries to track down the era and location of a mystery photograph found in a downtown office, and comes up empty. It's labeled "Seventh Street and Broadway, 1908," but clearly is later and probably somewhere else. The story and photo are here.

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6:50 PM Thu | Largest crowd for a Walk of Fame star ceremony that many could remember, outside the Capitol Records tower on Thursday. Photo by Gary Leonard.
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