First thing Thursday, 2.9.06 *

LAT photo Jack Weiss steps in on the police commission ruling, more jail riots, the gang war rages in Watts, girls behind bars, more left-turn arrows—it's a busy morning here at the roundup. After the jump: Another red flag day, express service on the Gold Line, that camel photo comes home, another reporter turns blogger and Rick Caruso in the Wall Street Journal.

Plus the talker story of the day: Disneyland is grudglingly stocking ever larger uniforms for park employees because America's waistlines are expanding. "Disneyland can't be as picky as it used to be," said a theme-park scholar.

* Oops: I fixed the omitted link to the LA Weekly story on the Watts gang war, which includes a scene of Councilwoman Janice Hahn chasing down a PJ Crip "like she was Pittsburgh Steeler strong safety Troy Polamalu."

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 Opini�n Read

Slate: Today's Papers

♦ Councilman Jack Weiss will hold a committee hearing on the police commission decision to stop divulging the names of LAPD officers involved in shootings. Also, the Greater Los Angeles Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists voted to protest the commission's decision, and a judge ruled in favor of the Times that internal reports on misconduct by sheriff's deputies should be public.

♦ Those jail riots continue in Castaic. The toll now is one dead, ninety injured and many deputies wishing they could find a job elsewhere. On the Times op-ed page, Patt Morrison adds some historical perspective.

♦ The Watts gang war picked up [link added] over Super Bowl weekend. �There hasn�t been anything like this in years,� the lead homicide detective for Southeast Division told Michael Krikorian. �It�s a mess. A real mess.� Also in the Weekly: the county jail riots are hard on inmates and their families back home, as Celeste Fremon finds out.

♦ CityBeat has a cover piece by Bonnie Schindler on girls in the county juvenile detention system, and Dean Kuipers on Mayor Villaraigosa being the biggest fan of his school takeover plan. Plus: the graceful exit of Dutton's in North Hollywood.

♦ The city plans to double the number of intersections with left turn arrows in the next four years. Let's just hope they are the smart kind that switch to green—not a red arrow—so that drivers don't have to wait for no reason when there is no oncoming traffic.

♦ The red flag warning for fire danger will extend until Saturday. It was 87 yesterday in Woodland Hills.

♦ There are still 156 displaced victims of Hurricane Katrina living here, waiting for whatever comes next.

♦ Morning radio rounds for Mayor Villaraigosa: 6:57 am on KBIG 104.3 with Charlie Tuna, then 7:35 on 102.7 KIIS FM with Ryan Seacrest. At 9 the mayor and other electeds gather at Union Station to unveil express service on the Gold Line.

♦ That Civil War camel picture that was for sale on eBay has a fitting new home. The director of the Drum Barracks Civil War Museum in Wilmington, where the image was taken in 1862, bought it.

♦ Times sports writer Helene Elliott gives Larry Mantle an advance look at the Olympics from Turin on "Airtalk" at 11 am, KPCC 89.3 FM.

♦ OK, so the Bay Guardian may not be the best source on the new regime at Village Voice Media—the BG is suing the former New Timesers, after all. Still, the Bay Guardian so far is the only one covering the transition. Tim Redmond's report has Mike Lacey demanding harder news, allowing less commentary and foreshadowing firings. The BG also says that Village Voice Media's ad power threatens other weeklies in Los Angeles and San Francisco.

♦ Reporter Jeff Weiss has left the San Fernando Valley Business Journal for the novelist life—and a blog, The Passion of the Weiss, "intended to be the 21st Century version of the Texas School Book Depository. A place where a slightly deranged young man can take precision sniper shots at a bloated and decadent society."

♦ Yesterday's Wall Street Journal had a piece on developer Rick Caruso and his strategy for winning approval of his shopping centers, centered up in Albany, Calif. No link since it was behind the pay wall.