Morning Buzz: Wednesday 2.21.07

An audit found that Water and Power workers collected more than $100 million in overtime in less than a year, and that 14% of employees submitted for OT on days they took an absence. Kerry Cavanaugh in the Daily News.

CityWatch was right when it predicted that Lisa Sarno would shift out of the high-profile post as head of neighborhood empowerment to run the mayor's tree-planting program. No replacement has yet been named. Rick Orlov has the DN news story, while former DONE chief Greg Nelson has some advice for the next general manager at CityWatch.

Sorry, I'm awake now — and I take note that the Times editorial board endorsed the incumbents running for reelection to the Los Angeles Community College District board. Can you name them? Are they:

Bureau chief Jennifer Steinhauer is on the case of the new frozen yogurt, um, culture.

Last week a womanizing UCLA professor was described in a quote as a "cocksman." In today's Bob Pool story about Oscar preparations disrupting Hollywood Boulevard (chasing our post from yesterday) a woman jokes about the bent-over workers: "Get a picture of all those butt cracks."

A few days after the LAT fronted a story saying Chicago would be a good host city for the 2016 Olympics, Chicago Tribune (and ex-Times) columnist Mike Downey gets space on the Times op-ed page to argue tongue-in-cheek for Chicago to host the Oscars.

From yesterday's Times: "An article in some editions of Thursday's California section about UC Riverside's citrus research center celebrating its 100th anniversary incorrectly referred to scientists who study insects as etymologists. The proper term is entomologist."

She was found dead, apparently of natural causes, in a Skid Row hotel on Feb. 13. LAT

I'm on a panel on New Media PR at UCLA Extension tonight with Rob Barrett of LATimes.com, Claude Brodesser-Akner of TMZ and KCRW's "The Business" and Larry Gerbrandt, GM of Nielsen Analytics. Eric Schwartzman of Spinfluencer is the host.