♦ Deputy Maria Cecilia Rosa's death was homicide, not an accident, with robbery the apparent motive. The Sheriff's Department says her gun had not been fired.
♦ About one hundred Westchester High students walked out and marched to the Univision studios hoping to talk to a news anchor. They will be cited for truancy, school officials say.
♦ Beverly Hills High's own Jack Abramoff gets five years and ten months for his little corrupt lobbyist stunt.
♦ Anne Thompson of The Hollywood Reporter caved in to Universal's ban on access by writing studio head Ron Meyer a handwritten apology note for using off-the-record remarks by him, Nikki Finke reports. Thompson, you may remember, previously insisted that Meyer was on the record.
♦ Great Defamer item on what happens when you flip off a faux presidential motorcade in Burbank. Think handcuffs and ten cops.
♦ Double dose of Wednesday political analysis from knowledgeable blogger Joe Scott: His "hunch" that Steve Westly may beat Phil Angelides for the Democratic nomination for governor and, on the mayor: "Villaraigosa’s halting first reaction to the student walkout does not inspire confidence regardless of the spin."
♦ Photojournalist David Hume Kennerly, formerly of Newsweek, is now a contributing editor for NBC News. Friday's "Today Show" will air a piece on him and his work with musicians in the Santa Monica schools, the Santa Monica Daily Press says.
♦ VenicePaper has a piece on an activist who was arrested trying to stop demolition of two homes for apartments.
♦ Pamela Barnes has been upped to president and CEO of the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation.

Oh, and also: the Dodgers' Jeff Kent signed on to play at least another year after this coming season, for another $11 million.