First thing Monday, 11.21.05

♦ Curveball was a screwball and the Germans knew it, but President Bush exaggerated his bad info on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction anyway, the Times said in Sunday's lede story by Bob Drogin and John Goetz that's getting a lot of attention.

Today's front pages

New York Times See/Read Washington Post See/Read LA Times See/Read Daily News See/Read Daily Breeze See/Read Press-Telegram See/Read Register See/Read Star-News Read Variety Read Hwd Reporter Read La Opinión Read

♦ The L.A. Business Journal spots a new locale: the "Greater Westside." Also in this week's LABJ, DWP commission prez Mary Nichols is interviewed by Howard Fine. And KPCC radio had its best fall fundraising drive ever, taking in pledges of $1.2 million, while KCET-TV is facing a $1 million budget gap.

♦ If you thought the Times felt thin this morning, you weren't wrong. Only twelve pages in the front section, six in Business.

♦ Lynell George's piece in the LAT Magazine hit the mark about worsening traffic condensing the geography of our lives, but I could have done without the "24/7 gridlock" canard. I drove all over town this weekend, and do so most days, without seeing even 1/1 gridlock. But like her, I do avoid certain streets and certain hours.

♦ Mayor Villaraigosa's new script on schools takeover: shake things up.

♦ Councilman Eric Garcetti's ambition to be president of the City Council is back on and he may have the votes to replace Alex Padilla, Rick Orlov says in his Monday column. Elsewhere in the family, ethics commissioner and former DA Gil Garcetti had photos and an essay from his book on Cuba in the LAT Magazine on Sunday.

♦ Negotiations on the city-subsidized hotel tower at Staples Center broke down and Anschutz Entertainment Group is looking for a new equity partner, the Daily News' Beth Barrett reported Sunday. Apollo Real Estate Advisors pulled out.

♦ Letter in the Daily News about adding strobe lights to Orange Line buses: "Here's a better idea: Why not paint those motorists who routinely run red lights, disobey traffic signs and drive while talking on their cell phones bright orange? And take away their cars. For all the driving Southern Californians do, you'd think they'd be better at it."

♦ USC's Marty Kaplan writes "Journalism: R.I.P" at the Huffington Post on the Bob Woodward affair: "Mainstream journalism has cancer. The diagnosis – stage three, terminal – was made this week, by anyone with eyes to see."

♦ William Campbell blogs at WildBell about being fired from his job at the L.A. Zoo for blogging about a coworker, but he says "It had been time for me to move on for years."

♦ Nice clean new look at la.foodblogging.

♦ The blog LGF Watch, which had been devoted to critical posts about the Little Green Footballs blog, has morphed into a chronicle of the new OSM blog effort.