In his talk today at Town Hall Los Angeles, Times publisher David Hiller said he may launch a free tabloid patterned after the Tribune's Redeye in Chicago. The Reuters story is pretty skimpy, but Hiller apparently said he likes the potential of such a tabloid to grab young readers who commute on the elevated train to Santa Monica. Town Hall's website, by the way, generously offers a transcript of the 2005 appearance by Jeff Johnson, the publisher who was axed to make way for Hiller.

Speaking of Santa Monica: Blogger Canuck Out of Water thinks that city would be crazy to cut down the mature, sidewalk-eating ficus trees that shade the downtown area. She's trying to stop it.