'That was my garage'

Larry Himmel, a reporter for KFMB in San Diego, reported on video as flames burned down his own home. KTLA video

Journalists on the scene

Veronique de Turenne has been blogging from Malibu all weekend. Al Martinez columnizes in the Times from within Topanga Canyon. Celeste Fremon of WitnessLA also reports from home in Topanga.

Malibu rage

Steve Lopez comments on the weird phenomenon of blog commenters using the Malibu fires as an occasion to vent about rich people and celebrities. LAT

Gloria Jeff gets $95,000 severance

Some members of the City Council object, but the amount being under 100k freezes them out of the process. The money was voted by the claims board, which in reality is Councilman Bernard Parks (a Jeff supporter) and Chief Assistant City Atty. Gary Geuss. LAT, DN

LAX geometry flawed, says chief of FAA

Bobby Sturgell, the acting FAA administrator, would like to see the north runways moved further apart and reconfigured. Neighbors are opposed. LAT

William Bradley adds a title

The journalist-blogger behind New West Notes (via Pajamas Media) is also now a senior fellow of the USC Annenberg School's Knight Digital Media Center.

Journo cracks Huffington Post

Shana Ting Lipton has her first post, about Hillary Clinton.

Contacts update

Roger Lotz is the new press secretary for Rep. Brad Sherman. He's based in Washington.

Freelance photographer killed in crash

Bridget O’Brien, 26, the former photo editor of the UCLA Daily Bruin, died when she swerved to avoid a deer on a highway near Cleveland. She was driving her husband, who also died, and other members of the band Electric Jellyfish. Daily Bruin