♦ USC isn't thrilled about the mayor's (and others') plan to drastically alter the Coliseum's innards to entice the NFL. University prez Steven Sample's letter uses phrases like "athletic program reduced to shambles." Mere negotiating gambit? Almost certainly, but still an "unexpected development," the Times reports.
♦ Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Lakshmanan Sathyavagiswaran told the Board of Supes today that while the coroner's refrigerated crypts are so overcrowded that typically a dozen or more bodies wait in uncooled hallways, reports of a maggot infestation are greatly exaggerated.
♦ Also, the mother of Jennifer Syme—the actress who died in a 2001 traffic crash while high on cocaine, not long after losing a baby fathered by Keanu Reeves—complained to the Supes that she learned her daughter's body had undergone an autopsy when called by a tabloid reporter. She wants the county to notify family members of anyone who receives an autopsy report.
♦ Mayor Villaraigosa christened a new carpool lane on the San Diego Freeway for 4.8 miles from the Century Freeway to the 90. It's billed as cutting a whole five minutes off the trip, at a cost of $40 million. Meanwhile, the 405 north of there remains a mess during widening to accommodate the diamond lane.
♦ Mosquitoes infected with West Nile virus have been found in Northridge, Chatsworth and Santa Clarita.
♦ Channel 5 dropped "news" from the title of "The KTLA Morning Show" and announced the producer shifts reported previously: Rich Goldner from morning executive producer to EP on "KTLA Prime News," John Hensley from the marketing department to EP of 'Morning' and Gerald Ruben from EP of "Prime News" to EP Special Projects. On the Record has the press release.
♦ Pellicano case update from Ross Johnson, with audio of reputed mobster Primo Cassarino ranting some years ago. Who cares, you might ask?: "Believe it or not, some of Primo’s associates decided to come to L.A. in the summer of 2002 and help the FBI investigate the criminal threats made against journalists Anita Busch and Ned Zeman. The FBI didn’t ask for that help, but accepted it when it was offered, and put the information into a government document."
♦ Jerry Brown's campaign is pushing a link to another instance where City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo talked about "spending a short time playing professional football in New York and Canada."