Fire closures

Public schools in Malibu, Topanga and Canyon Country are closed for the day, as well as Pepperdine and College of the Canyons. Hard to believe, but the weather forecasts are for 100 degrees mid-week and possible rain by the weekend. Weird.

Deaton's future at DWP could be decided this week

Ron Deaton is seriously considering retirement as the highest-paid city official in Los Angeles, but he's rehabilitating from the cardiac problems and coma he fell into while vacationing in Costa Rica in July and may not go easily. H. David Nahai resigned from the DWP commission to put himself in position to succeed Deaton as head of the agency. LAT

NFL rejected Coliseum three months ago

The league told Los Angeles officials to forget about a new team, citing economic risks. L.A.'s side kept the rejection quiet. DN

What was wrong with Gloria Jeff

Jon Regardie of the Downtown News on the deposed head of the city Department of Transportation:

Jeff, brought in with much fanfare 18 months ago, didn't gel with L.A.'s unique political culture. So much was so wrong on so many levels, from an apparent lack of foresight on the part of Villaraigosa and his staff (Hiring 102: check references), to the fact that many on the City Council and those who worked below Jeff chafed repeatedly at her brusque manner. In short, there were few if any team-building lunches at the Olive Garden. Seems Jeff had the social skills of the Joker from "Batman" (sorry, that's not a very nice thing to say about the Joker).

Appreciation for Casa Bianca's late Sam Martorana

Jonathan Gold writes, "The first time I stepped into Casa Bianca, I knew it was the pizza parlor I had always hoped to find in California...Casa Bianca serves the best neighborhood-pizzeria pizza in L.A." LA Weekly

Thirst could be in our future

The New York Times Magazine cover delivered a sobering look at the future of water shortages in the West.

A catastrophic reduction in the flow of the Colorado River — which mostly consists of snowmelt from the Rocky Mountains — has always served as a kind of thought experiment for water engineers, a risk situation from the outer edge of their practical imaginations. Some 30 million people depend on that water. A greatly reduced river would wreak chaos in seven states: Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada and California. An almost unfathomable legal morass might well result, with farmers suing the federal government; cities suing cities; states suing states; Indian nations suing state officials; and foreign nations (by treaty, Mexico has a small claim on the river) bringing international law to bear on the United States government. In addition, a lesser Colorado River would almost certainly lead to a considerable amount of economic havoc, as the future water supplies for the West’s industries, agriculture and growing municipalities are threatened. As one prominent Western water official described the possible future to me, if some of the Southwest’s largest reservoirs empty out, the region would experience an apocalypse, “an Armageddon.”

Also: Drought plans by local businesses. LABJ front page

Outside the LAT tent

LAPD supporter Robert C. J. Parry argued in the Opinion section that the Times is guilty of "decades of factual omissions, routine second-guessing of police officers and a consistent support of activist agendas" in its coverage of the department. LAT

Stanley Gold and the Jewish Federation

The incoming chairman talks about his plans for the region's major Jewish organization: "It is largely irrelevant...I'm gonna make it relevant." Jewish Journal

Beckham's season ends on a downer

David Beckham's pass gets picked off, Chicago scores and makes the playoffs, Galaxy go home. The line for his first season in Los Angeles: 252 minutes played, no shots on goal. LAT

More on the National Theatre

Cinema Sightlines revisits the 1970 opening of the last single-screen movie house in Westwood Village.

Freelancer-blogger gets married
Adam Baer of Glass Shallot (and Travel & Leisure) married Lina D’Orazio on Saturday in Malibu. NYT

And news of LA Observed contributors:

Los Angeles Noir, edited by Denise Hamilton, won the mystery category of the Southern California Independent Booksellers Association awards. Peony in Love by Lisa See and An Alphabetical Life by Wendy Werris were also among the winners announced Saturday night.

Erika Schickel reviewed Sick Girl, a memoir by Amy Silverstein, in Sunday's LAT Book Review.