♦ Are we surprised?: Prosecutors said in court papers that Anthony Pellicano recently conspired with Chicago mobsters to put a prison hit on Alexander Proctor, the ex-con Pellicano allegedly hired to scare Times reporter Anita Busch. The theory is that Pellicano fears that Proctor will testify against him.

♦ Pulse of Irangeles: The New York Times drops in on Woodland Hills and Westwood for a piece on how Iranians here want the U.S. to deal with Tehran. There's a website slidehow of Monica Almeida photos.

♦ Catching up: The Times reports on the weekend endorsements in the 20th Senate district.

♦ Doug Dowie loses one: His civil suit for wrongful firing from Fleishman-Hillard will be thrown out of court, the judge says. Meanwhile, a federal jury continues deliberating in his and John Stodder's criminal case.

♦ Back to the future: City Hall communications hand Matt Szabo has returned temporarily to the service of Councilmember Wendy Greuel, taking the place of departed (to MPAA) press deputy Elizabeth Kaltman. This means a blogging hiatus for Szabo.

♦ PCH through the South Bay: "Nobody could have imagined the amount of traffic we have now," says a Hermosa Beach police official.

♦ Up and around: Gita, the Los Angeles Zoo's 47-year-old elephant, is recovering from foot surgery and has a publicist.

♦ Add James Beard awards: Suzanne Goin won for best California chef and for her book, Sunday Suppers at Lucques. Eiichi Takahashi won for Nobu Now. Journalism winners

♦ Found in Beverly Hills: Fifty cent egg creams. At Barney's, no less!

♦ Welcome to L.A.: Architectural Record does Los Angeles. Cover line: "Where La Dolce Vita meets Sunset Strip." (Via Curbed LA.)

♦ On radio: Norman Mailer guests on KPCC's "Patt Morrison" after 2 pm.

♦ Crime beat: Courtroom sketch artist Mona Shafer Edwards, whose new book is i>Captured!: Inside the World of Celebrity Trials, schmoozes with anyone who comes by the SPJ mixer at the Cat & Fiddle in Hollywood, 6:30 pm.

♦ Playoffs: Clippers lose, Mighty Ducks try to go up 3-0 tonight in Denver.

♦ L.A. obituary: Mike Qualls, the former Herald Examiner politics editor who was communications deputy for City Attorney Jim Hahn then spokesman for the city Board of Public Works, died Sunday at age 63. He may have suffered a brain hemorrhage at home. Daily News

♦ Larry Atteberry: The retired Los Angeles TV news reporter and anchor died Friday of cancer. He broadcast for KCOP and KTTV, which noted his death over the weekend. Ron Fineman's On the Record is the only other media to report it as far as I can tell. Fineman also notes that Fox-11 apologized on the Thursday night news for remarks by reporter Tony Valdez during the Monday immigration that ticked off listeners to KFI's "John & Ken" show. The KFIsters also have denied that they campaigned to get Valdez fired. (Previous post on that.)