⇒ Retired NFL defensive lineman Darrell Russell and a former Trojan teammate at USC, Michael Paul Bastianelli, died early today after a high-speed car crash on La Cienega near Pico.

⇒ John Carroll's East Coast gig that I reported in October means the former Times editor will do research and "deliver a major address regarding the state of the news media." At the Times he waged battle against the forces of Fox News (and wrote that memo about liberal bias), and he says in today's official release: "My topic is an urgent one: nothing less than the fate of journalism."

⇒ The 2002 swiping of two Maxfield Parrish paintings from the Edenhurst Gallery on Melrose has made the FBI's top-ten art theft list, the L.A. Independent says (via LA.com).

⇒ LAist compares today's home sections in the NYT and LAT and declares the Easties the winner "without even breaking a sweat." Nice mention of Wilshire Boulevard too.

⇒ Matt Szabo has an op-ed in the current IN Los Angeles.

⇒ Art.blogging.la points to a new issue of the L.A.-based Journal of Aesthetics and Protest.

⇒ Tami Dennis is the new editor of the Times Health section. Rosie Mestel is deputy.

⇒ Greg Critser and Steve Wasserman have been added to the schedule of upcoming Zócalo lectures.

⇒ The city planning department and the Enterprise Foundation are sponsoring a design competition, "Small Lots, Smart Design," to encourage more creative building in Los Angeles. Details.