♦ Business Week's L.A. bureau chief Ron Grover bestows (virtual) holiday gifts on needy Hollywood moguls in his latest Power Lunch column. Sample: "Brad Grey, Paramount's new chairman, was the toughest mogul to shop for. What do you get for the guy who needs everything -– yet seems more than happy to shop for himself?"

♦ This week's big Pacific waves have not been fun for seals and sea lions.

♦ GE won the competition for Arden Realty, paying $3.2 billion for the region's largest office landlord. Some of its better-known buildings will be sold off to Trizec for $1.2 billion.

♦ The Times' Steve Hymon sizes up the City Hall Christmas tree and finds it lacking a certain pizzaz. He calls the Grove "the fake Italian village in the Fairfax district."

♦ Peaceful resolution of Pasadena's menorah war is covered in the Star-News and the Times.

♦ The Animal Defense League filed a claim seeking $3 million from the city as the first step toward a lawsuit. The group, whose lawyer says it has just two members, is upset with City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo.

♦ Seems like every news outlet in town got to see or hear about actor Brad Renfro being nabbed in an LAPD drug sting on Skid Row.

♦ The top 25 news stories of 2005 as chosen by the clicks of Wall Street Journal online readers.

♦ In signing Kenny Lofton and Brett Tomko, the Dodgers continue to fill the roster with aging ex-Giants for whom decent seasons would not be a shock—but neither would bad years. Also: Between Kings and Ducks, SoCal hockey players will compete in the Turin Olympics for the U.S., Canada, Slovakia, Finland, Sweden, Latvia and probably Russia.