First thing Friday, 11.11.05

♦ Today's Jewish Journal cover features a large noose and the question: Should Tookie Die?

♦ KCAL-9 News has dropped the weekly appearances of political analysts Kerman Maddox and Allan Hoffenblum to save money, a source says. You mean they got paid?

♦ Video on demand of my recent interview with Times Editor Dean Baquet is now online at the Channel 36 website.

♦ Will the public accept Jake Gyllenhaal as a full-fledged movie star? Good question that John Lippman attempts to answer in today's Wall Street Journal Hollywood Report.

♦ Kobe Bryant will soon re-emerge as the face of Nike, after two years of image rehab. (WSJ)

♦ Mayor Villaraigosa spoke to the Valley Alliance of Neighborhood Councils at the Van Nuys Airtel, scene of many a secession rally.

♦ The Coliseum and the NFL agreed to tentative lease language that could speed up placing a football team in L.A.

♦ Robinson's-May in Beverly Hills will close next spring, making way for development of the parcel behind the Beverly Hilton at Wilshire and Santa Monica boulevards.

♦ Emcee Ian Masters drew a few hmms at Wednesday's night PEN Center dinner when he said that Judith Miller was sleeping with NYT Publisher Arthur Sulzberger. Sandra Tsing Loh pans the fundraiser in a guest-blog she penned for Cathy Seipp.

♦ Remember the "Friends" episode where Chandler announces "I'm going to Yemen"? BoifromTroy is going to Japan, but it took some fast deal-cutting..

♦ The third annual Echo Park Home Tour is Saturday. Two Craftsman-era mansions designed by the late architect Arthur B. Benton will be featured. The event raises funds for the Echo Park Historical Society.