Follow LA Observed on Twitter here
Should the Valley get lower electric rates?
It's an old, and potentially divisive, debate. The DWP is considering separate rates in summer that give the Valley a break since the climate is hotter. Mayor Villaraigosa says it's an issue of fairness, but Council President Eric Garcetti — who grew up in Encino — says you don't want the poor subsidizing the big Valley estates. "Yes, the Valley is hotter. But the flats of South L.A. are also hotter than parts of West L.A.," he said. "So we have to be a lot more nuanced than we have been about it. Temperature cannot be the dominant factor." LAT
Red flag restrictions confusing at best
You impose a law to ban parking — on less than a day's notice, across vast areas of the city, whether it's needed or not — and you wonder why many people ignore the rules? That's if they have heard of the law at all, as many have not. LAT
From one Times to the other
David Streitfeld, a business writer in the LAT's San Francisco bureau, has moved up to the Chicago bureau of the New York Times. Gawker
Animal rights groups claim it flooded UCLA prof's home
The Animal Liberation Front says it broke a window and flooded the home of professor Edythe London, who uses monkeys in her research on nicotine and methamphetamine addiction. The group's communique also threatened setting a fire. UCLA says the attack caused $20,000 to $40,000 in damage. LAT
Children's Musuem gets $10 million gift
It's anonymous, which could be questionable given the political atmosphere around the museum's move to the Valley and scramble for funding. LAT, DN
Hollywood Reporter 'direct'
THR announces a new free service where you can get news and alerts from the trade on your desktop, but you have to download and install software to do it. THR
Breeze, too, announces changes
There's a note to readers on the section lineups that will be common to the Daily News and Press-Telegram.
Gannett joins Metromix
The Metromix websites will be owned equally by Tribune and Gannett, and would expand to more cities. Reuters
Spencer Pratt Q-&-A in Radar
The November issue bills it as a chat with "the self-promoting Machiavelli of MTV’s hit show 'The Hills.'" Also in extended form at Radar Online.
Waxman's back in town, apparently
L.A.-based New York Times reporter (on globe-trotting book leave) Sharon Waxman guest-hosts "The Politics of Culture" on KCRW for the first time, at 2:30 pm. Guests include director Adam Rifkin and others talking about the surveillance culture.
Leonard Vernon, photo collector was 89
The wealthy industrial developer, builder and contractor and his wife, Marjorie, were influential figures in photography circles with a collection of 4,000 images. LAT