Ex-mayor Richard Riordan formally endorsed Bob Hertzberg for mayor this afternoon on the "John and Ken Show" on KFI. Not much surprise there—Riordan's wife Nancy Daly has been co-chair of the Hertzberg campaign, and as we learned in today's Times profile, the Riordans and Hertzbergs vacationed last winter in Sun Valley. In the last mayor's race, it was a big deal when Riordan—the soon-to-depart incumbent—endorsed Antonio Villaraigosa in the runoff after pushing Steve Soboroff in the primary. He backed the losers in both cases (while his ex-best friend and campaign chair Bill Wardlaw was busy orchestrating the Hahn victory) but the nod helped give Villaraigosa some gravity. No doubt Hertzberg is hoping for some good bounce too. And earlier today, the Hertzberg camp got to tout Gov. Schwarzenegger's verbal embrace of their call to break-up the school district.

* And a meaningless note: The first lawn sign spotted in my Westside neighborhood belongs to...Hertzberg. A Bill Rosendahl sign also showed up today. He's running in the hot 11th council district against Flora Gil Krisiloff and Angela Reddock.

** Friday stories: Times, Daily News, Daily Breeze