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Morning BuzzWhy magazines arrive late
A May 4 spot check at the big mail-processing plant in South L.A. found that some first-class mail destined for Los Angeles was delayed six days and that magazines can languish undelivered for ten days. The revelation was contained in a report sent anonymously to Rep. Henry Waxman.
Getty chair John Biggs to leave early
The LAT's Getty diggers report that it will be announced probably today that Biggs is leaving the board eight months ahead of schedule. He cites other time demands and living in New York, but Jason Felch and Ralph Frammolino say:
The announcement of Biggs' departure, which was privately disclosed to the board July 25, comes as The Times has asked Getty officials for information regarding key decisions Biggs made during his leadership of the board, which some current and former board members have criticized.
Next week, the California attorney general's office is expected to release the results of its yearlong investigation of the Getty, which has focused both on Munitz and the board's governance.
In a recent interview, Atty. Gen. Bill Lockyer said the report is likely to find that "insufficient oversight by the trustees" contributed to the Getty's problems.
Among the issues being investigated are several that involved Biggs, including a $3-million severance agreement awarded to former museum director Deborah Gribbon and a lucrative book deal Munitz awarded former board Chairman David Gardner soon after he left the board.
Pompidou Centre expresses regret
"We take utmost care in hanging works of art and we don’t have this sort of thing happen. We are extremely sorry,” spokeswoman Nasser Roya says in the Times of London. Still, museum experts are shocked that two important works of Los Angeles art were allowed to fall from a wall and be destroyed. “It’s extremely upsetting,” said LACMA director Michael Goven. L.A. journalist Emmanuelle Richard monitors media treatment of the story, and Tyler Green at Modern Art Notes has already incorporated the Pompidou into some jokes.
CBS 2 cutting back
Even though it is #1 in the ratings at 11 pm, Channel 2 has been told by the network to stop using all freelance reporters, photographers, writers, assignment desk workers, production assistants and others, says On the Record. The newsroom also produces the news on Channel 9.
Murderer Rosenkrantz could be released tomorrow
Robert Rosenkrantz was 18 when he used an Uzi to kill a high school classmate in Calabasas who had disclosed his homosexuality. Rosenkrantz has been a model prisoner, but his release has been caught up before in gubernatorial politics. Now a judge says he should get out after 21 years behind bars.
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Tower Records in too deep
Major music companies have stopped delivering CDs to Tower stores because the chain can't pay its bills.
WeHo's Pinkberry phenomenon
Deborah Netburn delves into the yogurt rush in the Times:
On Huntley Drive just south of Santa Monica Boulevard in West Hollywood, a small frozen-yogurt shop is nestled between NutriBliss, the natural Viagra store, and a private home. It's called, preposterously, Pinkberry, and it has become an obsession with weight-conscious Angelenos. The yogurt itself is tangy and stiff, without the overbearing sweetness that screams artificial flavoring. And because it is the owner's own recipe, it is impossible to find elsewhere.
So Pinkberry addicts come from Los Feliz, the Valley, South Bay and Beverly Hills to get their fix. They circle their cars around the neighborhood looking for parking and wait patiently in 20-minute lines that have been known to go up the block and around the corner.
Traffic at LAX back to normal
A broken water main flooded the lower roadway outside Terminal Six and caused the pavement to buckle last night. Things are OK now, though the fire suppression system in that area is turned off. Daily Breeze
AFTER THE JUMP: Quinceañera opens with a nice NYT review, more Steve Whitmore trivia, the BBC's actor-wannabe tries Central Casting, plus black politics, term limits and more on the Valley Inn robbery. And a roundup of what's on LA Observed today.
Politics
More bad press for Building and Safety
Andrew Adelman's department has given special treatment to "dozens of construction projects sought by political insiders, including nine current and former city commissioners and donors to the mayor and City Council," Patrick McGreevy reports in the Times. Adelman refused to answer questions about his special-handling Case Management Unit where the connected go for service not available to the public, but a spokesman told the LAT: ""It's not who you are, it's what the project is."
Black political realities are changing
John L. Mitchell says in the Times that African Americans face challenges just to keep what they have, as South Los Angeles goes more heavily Latino and immigrant.
Term limits and the lobbyists
There was more brouhaha Thursday over the City Council's term limits measure, which turns out not to have been written by the League of Women Voters and L.A. Area Chamber of commerce, but by the Sutton Law Firm — lawyers for the Los Angeles Lobbyist and Public Affairs Assn. Controller Laura Chick said that the measure should not go on the ballot and should not pass if it does. LAT
Media
Chandlers v. Tribune
Mark Lacter at LA Biz Observed comments on a Wall Street Journal story about the Chandler family and Tribune holding talks to see what's left in their relationship. The WSJ reporter thinks there's essentially nothing left, while Chicago Tribune business columnist Phil Rosenthal writes there may something close to detente happening.
Another new "background artist"
BBC correspondent David Willis's quest to make it in Hollywood takes him this time to Central Casting, "tucked away on a sprawling suburban industrial estate, sandwiched between a wastepaper recycling plant and a steelworks."
Metaphorically it is as close to the heart of Hollywood as it is possible to get, geographically it is miles away - yet that doesn't stop legions of young wannabes from making the pilgrimage to this sweaty corner of the San Fernando Valley in hope it will provide them with a passport to fame and fortune.
Mother Jones editor fired
Eat the Press says that Russ Rymer was canned yesterday.
WGA keeps Young
Interim executive director David J. Young gets the job at the Writers Guild of America, West.
Noted
Valley Inn robbery more aggressive than first described
Susan Abram reports in the Daily News that two handgun-toting robbers in ski masks and gloves came in with a gun to the neck of a customer who had been outside smoking. "They jumped over the bar and held the bartender at gunpoint," [owner] Sophia Brodetsky said. "They told everybody to get on the floor. The were yelling and screaming, `Put your money on the table!"' Police are frustrated that robberies at Valley restaurants are rising, and the business community is now officially worried: "We're very concerned about it," said Brendan Huffman, president of the Valley Industry and Commerce Association.
Quinceañera reviewed
The Sundance prize winner based in Echo Park is assigned to semi-retired ex-staffer Kevin Thomas at the Los Angeles Times, but gets a good opening day push from Stephen Holden in today's New York Times:
“Quinceañera,” a portrait of a Mexican-American family in Los Angeles, is as smart and warmhearted an exploration of an upwardly mobile immigrant culture as American independent cinema has produced. Set in Echo Park, a working-class Latino neighborhood in the early throes of gentrification, it has a wonderfully organic feel for the fluid interaction of cultures and generations in the Southern California melting pot.
Confronting a bad driver
After a woman gabbing on a cell phone almost rear-ended her, Amy Alkon chased her down, chewed her out and took pictures.
Add Steve Whitmore
The Los Angeles County sheriff's spokesman who is the son of actor James Whitmore did a brief stint as a Los Angeles Times copy editor before his law enforcement career.
Co-owner of Clifton's Cafeteria possibly murdered
Jean Clinton Roeschlaub, 83-year-old daughter of Clifton's founder Clifford Clinton, was found dead under suspicious circumstances in her 16th-floor condominium in Glendale.
Today and the weekend
Put a face to the voice
Kai Ryssdal, host of "Marketplace," guests on tonight's "California Connected" on KCET to explain why Californians shouldn't over-invest in their homes.
Cortines and Delgadillo on "News Conference"
Laurel Erickson hosts the 9 am Sunday show on Channel 4 this weekend and has on Ramon Contines, who is the new education adviser to Mayor Villarigosa, plus City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo, Councilman Jose Huizar and analyst Raphe Sonenshein talking about term limits.
Around LA Observed
Earlier at News & Chatter
Mayor won't commit on term limts, ex-deputy gets 30 years.
On the blogs
Native Intelligence: Denise Hamilton sees "Water and Power" at the Taper, and David Rensin — and his wife — find reading the paper a little too taxing.
LA Biz Observed: How to sell stigmatized real estate and morning headlines.
SoCal Sports Observed: Southern California's champions are one rung away from the Little League World Series and begin play today.
Chicken Corner: Where in L.A. is Chicken Corner? Jenny Burman explains.
LA Biz Observed: How to sell stigmatized real estate and morning headlines.
SoCal Sports Observed: Southern California's champions are one rung away from the Little League World Series and begin play today.
Chicken Corner: Where in L.A. is Chicken Corner? Jenny Burman explains.