Archive by Month
January 31, 2007
Jim O'Shea, the Times' reluctant editor, has moved to a Manhattan Beach condo and taken to commuting downtown via Lexus. He has done an LAPD... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
The three white female victims of the Halloween beating in Long Beach testified tearfully in court today and asked that the black defendants, in... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Bill Boyarsky directed the Times reporters covering the county Board of Supervisors for more than ten years. He doesn't blame Thomas Mauk for fleeing from... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
The Chandler Trusts, which own a 20% stake in Tribune, are continuing talks with the special committee reviewing offers for Tribune, a source tells Chicago... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
The City Council just voted 14-0 to rescind the living wage ordinance it imposed last year on LAX-area hotels. If the council had not caved,... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Long Beach city hall and the city's main library were shut down for the day after a worker reportedly drilled through a main power line,... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Time Warner will begin carrying KCAL 9 HD on Friday with the 5:30 pm broadcast in high-definition of the Lakers game at Indiana. It's channel... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
“It became clearer and clearer to me that The New York Times was the place where I belonged now,” ex-LAT editor Dean Baquet told the... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Looks like there's a deal on the living wage controversy at LAX hotels. And sexual predators in Long Beach? Click for the whole neatly arranged... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
January 30, 2007
Sidney Sheldon had won a screenwriting Oscar (The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer), a Tony ("Redhead") and created TV sitcoms ("I Dream of Jeannie" and "Patty... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Village Voice Media executive editor Mike Lacey showed up yesterday at the OC Weekly offices and created some ruffled feelings. Lacey brought along VVM executive... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
FBI investigators have contacted current and former city officials in Monrovia and Fontana about Rep. Gary Miller's land sales, the San Gabriel Valley Tribune reported... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Doug Dowie insisted he was innocent in a three-minute speech to the court before sentencing. John Stodder gets 15 months. The Times web story doesn't... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
A small gas explosion slightly injured three at the Century City headquarters of Creative Artists Agency. The building has been emptied as a precaution. *... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
KFWB and City News Service are reporting that Thomas Mauk, who the Board of Supervisors announced yesterday had accepted the job of chief administrative officer... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Doyle McManus, Washington bureau chief for the Los Angeles Times, bucks up the troops with a go-get-em memo. Posted at Romenesko: From: McManus, Doyle Sent:... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Former LAT editor on high Dean Baquet is returning to the New York Times as Washington bureau chief. He'll also be an assistant managing editor... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Bob Carroll Jr. worked with writing partner Madelyn Pugh Davis for more than 60 years, including on all the television series that Lucille Ball starred... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Mayor Villaraigosa got heckled a bit for using Spanish last night — and also got an ovation. Details and the rest of the Morning Buzz... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
During the readers survey, someone asked for the Los Angeles County health department's restaurant closures list that used to run in the Times. Here it... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
January 29, 2007
James F. Goldstein is described in today's Daily Breeze as the National Basketball Association's "favorite eccentric...he attends at least 110 games every year. He sits... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
They run it by collective, call it make/shift — subtitle "feminism in motion" — and plan to launch in March. One of the Los Angeles-based... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Catching up to a Rick Orlov story from the weekend (and Steve Hymon's in the Times), Controller Laura Chick says she is considering a return... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
As a clicks-generating tactic, LATimes.com could do worse than having op-ed columnist Joel Stein chat live with visitors again. Last week's chat brought in a... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Bill Keller, executive editor of the New York Times, was asked by Market Watch's Jon Friedman if ex-LAT editor Dean Baquet would be returning to... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
KFWB and KPCC-FM each won six Golden Mikes to lead the pack at Saturday night's banquet of the Radio & Television News Association of Southern... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Thomas G. Mauk, the executive officer of Orange County since 2004, will start March 12 as chief administrative officer of Los Angeles County. The Board... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Michael Dukakis's campaign to free Westwood of the plague of apron parking — parking in driveways so as to obstruct sidewalks, for the uninitiated —... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Today's Buzz incorporates some shorts from the weekend and a whole lot of Monday news. Just click to venture inside.... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
January 28, 2007
Last week's News & Chatter post on the death of Danny Finegood, who first altered the Hollywood sign in 1976, spurred a lot of response.... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Some of the most talked-about posts from the past week at LA Observed: Black teens guilty in Long Beach assault KTLA's star makes news —... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Mark Saylor is leaving the entertainment practice at Sitrick & Company to launch his own crisis PR firm, Saylor Company. Saylor, the former entertainment desk... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
January 27, 2007
Mayor Villaraigosa gave the Democratic Party radio address this morning and said, with regard to the war in Iraq, "it's time for a new direction."... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
January 26, 2007
LA Weekly editor Laurie Ochoa corrects one of our posts from yesterday. Wall Street Journal showbiz reporter Kate Kelly is returning to New York... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
More findings from last week's LA Observed reader survey: → Half of the 804 respondents live in the city of Los Angeles (so half live... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Protesters against the Iraq war will assemble at noon tomorrow in front of the Democratic Party headquarters at 9th and Figueroa, then march to the... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Allegations of felony assault against nine juveniles are found to be true, not true for the youngest accused. The hate crime allegations are also found... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Flickr user unsure shot posted this photo from Ohio Avenue in West Los Angeles. There's speculation at Flickr that it's connected to the Fiesta de... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
The lumber has arrived, demolition has begun, and Veronique de Turenne is off on the home remodeling ride of her life. She tries at Here... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Kim Masters writes in Slate that the I.M. Pei-designed former Creative Artists Agency home on Wilshire is nothing but trouble. First, co-owners Michael Ovitz and... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Children who grow up close to busy highways "have significant impairments in the development of their lungs that can lead to respiratory problems for the... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Cathy Warner, who is 63, announced her diagnosis at Tuesday's meeting of the Whittier City Council. "It's a responsibility as elected folks to make sure... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
More than 500 LA Observed readers put their media savvy credentials on the line and offered predictions on the top Los Angeles media stories of... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
We filter, you decide. Come on inside for a neat and orderly start on the day's news and observations.... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Thanks again to everyone who answered last week's LA Observed reader survey. I closed it at 800 responses, blown away by the wealth of insight... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
January 25, 2007
The former editor of the Santa Barbara News-Press will provide adult supervision for the UCSB student paper, the Daily Nexus. Roberts' various travails covered here.... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Local bloggers and web entrepreneurs placed well on the Forbes Web Celeb 25, called "the biggest, brightest and most influential people on the Internet [and]...famous... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
An alert LA Observed reader noticed a discrepancy between the Times' online version of yesterday's web shake-up and today's print version. The James Rainey story... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Will Swaim, founding editor of the OC Weekly, told the staff today that he's leaving. He didn't specifically address the New Times ownership, but he's... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
She actually calls it La-La Land on her Today Show blog. Later, the host fills in fans on a trip to Universal Studios and guest... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Channel 5's Morning Show had some fun today with the photo that ran in the Washington Post of Mayor Villaraigosa, uh, deeply in thought during... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Later in life, Daniel Finegood became a husband, father, art lover and longtime member of the board of the Oakwood School. But on January 1,... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
L.A. Times editors are busily trying to come up with a new beat attractive enough to keep Business section rising star Claire Hoffman away from... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
January 24, 2007
Politico, the new politics website, has a nice early scoop. The site posted the full 140-page battle plan for the Rudy W. Giuliani presidential campaign... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
The law firm of Quinn Emanuel Urquhart Oliver & Hedges raised its salary for new associates to $160,000 a year, following the lead of a... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
I watched Channel 5's "Prime News" at 10 pm to see how long they would go with real news before veering away to report on... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Tom Plate has a singular L.A. media distinction. He was the editorial page editor at the Los Angeles Times toward the end of the Chandler... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
LA Observed contributor Jacob Soboroff caught up with local TV news legend Stan Chambers in Hollywood at KTLA's 60th anniversary bash. Click on the pic... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
James Rainey's staff story on today's shakeup at the Times website reveals some behind-the-scenes details on the internal tension over how best to move the... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
This is the big reinvention that publisher David Hiller promised. Joel Sappell is out as Assistant Managing Editor for Interactive, and current Business Editor Russ... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
The Sacramento Bee today announced a big new risky online gamble: a premium politics website called CapitolAlert that costs a whopping $499 a year and... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Thousands of Los Angeles news makers, breakers and shapers have clicked on the Morning Buzz already this week. Join the rush and come on in.... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
January 23, 2007
By day Susan Patron is a senior librarian in the Los Angeles Public Library system, where she has worked for thirty-five years. She is also... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Denise Hamilton writes that Barbara Seranella, who died this week, was the rare mystery author who didn't have to rely on second-hand observations to create... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Sheriff's deputies are "relatively sure" they have the guy who spilled mercury in the Pershing Square Metro station last month. Armando Bustamante Miranda, 27,... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Manhattan's 92nd Street Y is hosting a night this week with three L.A. literary types who happen to be ex-New Yorkers. In advance of Thursday's... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
The PR industry anony-blog Strumpette is making fun today of Villaraigosa press deputy Matt Szabo. He came up in Steve Lopez's recent Los Angeles Times... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Issue number three of Swink — the "bi-coastal, biannual print magazine dedicated to identifying and promoting literary talent in both established and emerging writers," edited... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Oscar nominations and the State of the Union. Go figure. It's also Mark Lacter's morning to talk biz on KPCC. Click for today's helping of... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
After a four-year run, the creator of LA Voice says he has too much going on in his professional and personal life to keep going.... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
They threw a big party down at Staples Center Saturday night for the city's most popular hockey player, so naturally LA Observed had to tag... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
January 22, 2007
The suspect killed this morning by police was handcuffed at the time he was shot, but had managed to reach a gun in his pants... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Two themes, really: Latino-black relations and Daniel Hernandez. (Both came up prominently in the Morning Buzz.) Hernandez, the LA Weekly staff writer and recent blogger,... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Mayor Villaraigosa and LAPD chief Bratton were booed and taunted by homeless advocates at the groundbreaking for the new LAPD headquarters, Rick Orlov reports... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Aficionados of the Santa Barbara coast, as well the neighbors in Montecito, still mourn the demise of the Miramar. The motel squeezed between the 101... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
→ The Times' Robin Abcarian is filing video updates (left) from Sundance on LATimes.com. → Variety's Gabriel Snyder is jumping to the Los Angeles bureau... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
The best-selling mystery author from Laguna Beach died yesterday in Cleveland while awaiting a liver transplant. She had received two livers in 2005 and spent... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
The shooting in the Westlake district occurred as officers climbed the stairs of an apartment building at 4:55 am to answer an assault with a... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Click for the whole big rich cup of Monday news and observations. It's a good one.... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
January 21, 2007
Hussein Mohammed Aidid, an ex-Marine who graduated from Covina High School and worked as a clerk in the West Covina planning department, is now the... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
PIO Brian Humphrey's blog account of Saturday's action log for the Los Angeles Fire Department's helicopters makes a good read. The day began with high-rise... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
January 20, 2007
No sonorous hard sell by Ruth Seymour or endless loops of Roy Orbison at the Cocoanut Grove. Just a simple pitch. We all love putting... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
January 19, 2007
The current New Yorker takes its turn with the tale of Adam Gadahn, the Southern California kid from a hippie family who converted to Islam... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Doherty (next to Mama Cass at this 1966 performance in L.A.) was one quarter of the 1960s hitmakers the Mamas and Papas. His death today... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Hey, please don't forget to take a couple of minutes and give me your opinions on LA Observed. Along with some basic survey questions, you... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
What's in Los Angeles: Helen Mirren grabs the cover of the annual Oscars-targeted Movie Issue. There are pieces on the making of Blade Runner and... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Correction to yesterday's item: it was a homeless woman who jumped to her death from the L.A. Times parking garage yesterday while staffers were arriving... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Sordid stuff out of the Santa Barbara News-Mess never stops. Now owner Wendy McCaw has hit her former editor Jerry Roberts with a claim for... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Govindi Murty, co-founder of the Liberty Film Festival, sits in the guest chair this weekend on "Ebert and Roeper." She joins a lineup that has... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Last chance to take the reader survey and let me know what you think of the site and want more of — or less of.... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
January 18, 2007
Borat has been out since November and has grossed more than $100 million. The DVD release must be in sight. So some attendees at Wednesday... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Martin had been chief of staff to Mayor Richard Riordan back in the day. A fellow Riordan Administration alum, City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo, today named... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Forget the condo towers. A 120-room Waldorf-Astoria hotel now is planned for the high-profile crossing of Wilshire and Santa Monica Boulevards in Beverly Hills. In... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Free today at WSJ.com, economists Peter Gordon of USC and Matthew Kahn of UCLA discuss the costs of traffic congestion: "the problem it poses --... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Authorities now are actively looking for the man shown in surveillance video pouring or spilling liquid mercury onto the platform of the Pershing Square Metro... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Eric at Blogdowntown has posted a heat map showing where the homeless population is concentrated, based on LAPD counts. You can see distinct nodes of... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
The New York Sun has turned its critics and reporters loose to ruminate on the Los Angeles they don't know very well. Some of the... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Time magazine is shuttering its Los Angeles bureau (and those in Chicago and Atlanta) as part of today's layoffs, Ad Age says. People magazine will... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Mark Lacter applies his veteran business editor acumen to figuring out what the heck is going on at Times-Tribune. He was also on KPCC this... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Syndicated columnist Art Buchwald, who died last night, taped his own "obituary video" for the New York Times. It's up on the front page of... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Back in the middle of last week I received a prophetic email from Beverly Hills lawyer Eric Spiegelman. From: Eric Spiegelman Sent: Thursday, January 11,... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Finally, Jonathan Gold weighs in on the great Du-Par's debate. Plus Villaraigosa, Zahniser, Boyarsky and even Lindsay Lohan — click past the jump for your... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
In a revision to her first story for today's paper, Sarah Ellison of the Wall Street Journal says that three proposals were submitted to Tribune... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
January 17, 2007
Twice Updated: Eli Broad and Ron Burkle and the Chandlers are readying competing bids for all or part of the Tribune, Jim Rainey reports in... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Not just a little bit either. There was a snow plow working on Kanan-Dume Road this afternoon, and lots of school kids at play beside... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Eli Broad has opened up a bigger lead on David Geffen as LA Observed readers' most likely (or preferred?) buyer of the L.A. Times. Ron... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Blogger Andrew Hurvitz at Here in Van Nuys sounds exasperated, or worse, at the way the onetime downtown of the Valley has gone. He writes... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
While L.A. Times publisher David Hiller struggles to make the paper more local, his business side has decided to out-source the in-house computer help desk... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Curbed LA turns up a real estate listing for a remodeled postwar home in the Valley flats that has an aquarium embedded in the floor.... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
HuffIt is a new beta-test section of The Huffington Post where readers can indicate (Digg-style) which news stories of the moment interest them. Those stories... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
There's been some in the Santa Clarita area, apparently. (SCVTalk says it's hail.) The National Weather Service at 9:30 issued a winter weather advisory for... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Will the sad bookstore news never stop? Dutton's Brentwood Books on San Vicente "may soon succumb to its landlord's plans to redevelop the site," the... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
L.A.'s Latino vs. black gang violence lands on the front page of the NYT, with a web slide show of photos. The county's choice for... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
January 16, 2007
If you enjoy remembering old local restaurants and already exhausted Jonathon Foerstel's Los Angeles Time Machines, writer Mark Evanier's POVOnline is an entertaining place to... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
In a recent interview with FilmStew, Aaron Sorkin complained about the less-than-cheerleading coverage of "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip" by writers at the Times'... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
What do you get when you put together art and radio? Not much, frankly. But what if you add visuals? ArtScene magazine is doing just... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Less than twelve hours into Pledge Week and the number of replies to the LA Observed Visitor Survey is fast approaching 200. Thank you for... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
The Washington Post's Frank Ahrens looks into a Southern California tale of a disgruntled newspaper family selling to private equity buyers and the cutbacks that... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
You might remember that after losing Tim Brown to Yahoo last November, LAT sports editor Randy Harvey put out the call (second item) for a... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
PI Anthony Pellicano's client isn't as much a fool as he seemed. A week after receiving court permission to represent himself against charges of racketeering... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
The re-incarnation of Du-Par's at Farmers Market hasn't been panned by everybody, but enough to get your attention. Now comes the flackage for the Jan.... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
This is the day to sit down with the Column One story in the Times. Surprise and touching L.A. slice of life that begins with... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Hi all. My traditional State of the Blog message was delayed a bit while I got my head around what has to happen in 2007.... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
January 15, 2007
Full list of winners and nominees at the Hollywood Foreign Press Association website.... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Some lovely holiday finds around the LA Observed blogs: On old Mulholland: Veronique de Turenne ventured into the hills above Malibu in search of The... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
California Connected, produced at KCET, received the Alfred I. duPont award from Columbia University for "War Stories from Ward 7-D," called a "sobering report on... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
You don't have to shiver at the top of Maui's Haleakela volcano to spot Comet McNaught. Clifford V. Johnson has detailed local tips and links... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Government, schools, most banks and the U.S. Postal Service are closed for the Martin Luther King holiday. News, of course, continues. A scaled back but... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
January 14, 2007
Rick Orlov gives a sneak peek at tomorrow's Tipoff column in the Daily News to LA Observed video blogger Jacob Soboroff — psst, there's a... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
January 12, 2007
Merrill Lynch analyst Lauren Rich Fine thinks the most likely outcome of the Tribune Company's dance with potential buyers is no outcome -- that no... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Steven Garcia, the LAPD officer who shot and killed 13-year-old suspect Devin Brown, today released the finding of the confidential Board of Rights proceeding that... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Regarding the bad smell on Wilshire, an employee of KNX NewsRadio emails that it's definitely coming from the excavation at Wilshire and Hauser. In this... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Sure, it's chilly out there. But that's not all. Lots of other news to talk about on a (somewhat late) Friday morning. What's the greatest... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
January 11, 2007
"Potentially record-setting cold conditions," the National Weather Service says in a special weather statement for the Los Angeles area — and not just in the... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Judge Dzintra Janavs denied a motion by the mayor's lawyers to delay enforcement of her December ruling that AB 1381 is unconstitutional. The whole issue... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Variety and the other occupants of 5700 Wilshire Boulevard have been alerted to a funky odor in the neighborhood almost across from the La Brea... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Sure, in Europe he's just a bench warmer on Real Madrid who got dropped from the English national team. But here, David Beckham will do... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Jerry Roberts' 2006 included leaving as editor of the Santa Barbara News-Press, gaining unwanted national media attention, paying lawyers to defend himself against Wendy McCaw... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
The PBS series "Edens Lost and Found" does Los Angeles tonight at 10 pm on KCET. Jimmy Smits hosts the episode, which features TreePeople's Andy... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Elinor Shields leaves the BBC to become managing editor of the Huffington Post, based in New York. She will oversee day-to-day editorial operations, including the... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
→ Los Angeles magazine executive editor Mary Melton had a scare on the Santa Monica freeway: her left rear window exploded, spraying safety glass bits... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
How times have changed. The FBI filled a room at the Westwood federal building yesterday with screenwriters invited in for a seminar on how to... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
What do you do if you're Frank McCourt and the Dodgers just sold 3.6 million tickets? Raise prices by a minimum of 11%, that's what.... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
January 10, 2007
Mogul Kirk Kerkorian got briefings from his high-powered attorney on what P.I. Anthony Pellicano was learning from illegal wiretaps of Kerkorian's ex-wife in their child-custody... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Never a dull moment on the Wendy McCaw/Santa Barbara News-Press beat. Today the American Journalism Review posted its response to her lawyers' complaint about the... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
They're billing it as the First Annual L.A. Weekly Film Critics Poll, gathering votes from 72 critics "who span the spectrum of print, broadcast and... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
The Engineers and Architects Association at City Hall has voted to accept the recent contract deal negotiated with the city. Website.... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Franklin Avenue has posted a fun find: the drawings for a late 1950s plan to redevelop the Ambassador Hotel site with skyscrapers and rebrand it... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
The suspect was reaching for his waistband as he exited a disturbance at a South Los Angeles Masonic lodge early this morning, the sergeant who... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Times columnist Steve Lopez isn't the only one keeping a literal eye on construction of the new LAPD headquarters on the downtown block where a... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
The Los Angeles Newspaper Group has posted an opening for an executive sports editor to oversee the sports coverage at all nine papers in Southern... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Dutton's Beverly Hills closed December 31, but the hard feelings continue. At a city council meeting last night the city manager of Beverly Hills apparently... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Another independent bookstore is on the ropes. Tia Chucha's Cafe & Cultural Center in Sylmar lost its lease and has to move. Co-founder Luis J.... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
The LAPD officer who shot and killed 13-year-old Devin Brown was cleared — in secret. There's a new Rampart reforms watch group, plus items on... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
January 09, 2007
They got their man. Jorge Arroyo-Garcia, better known as Armando “Chato” Garcia, was extradited from Mexico and turned over to Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Items of L.A. note from today's Slate.com: → The John Lennon FBI files that Jon Wiener (of UC Irvine, The Nation and KPFK) finally wrested... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Tyler Green's blog-jabs about the high cost of L.A. art seem to have gotten the goat of the folks at the Los Angeles County Museum... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Veronique de Turenne runs the media gauntlet near Suzanne Somers' house on Old Malibu Road and posts some photos of the scene. Would the torching... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Have you seen the Times spots where fisheyed faces peer into a newsbox and consider whether to drag out a copy of the paper? Advertising... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Let's see — some more details on City Hall's alleged Red Light Bandits, reports from the jam-packed Dowie-Stodder sentencing hearing, a KNX anchor returns and... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
January 08, 2007
The Associated Press bureau on Figueroa threw a party this afternoon for special correspondent Linda Deutsch, celebrating her 40 years with the wire service. She... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Wrap: Four homes and a guest house destroyed, four other structures damaged. Full containment by 8 pm. The blog Code 6 Charles monitored the scanners... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Former Fleishman-Hillard executives Doug Dowie and John Stodder received a sentencing reprieve until January 30. They were convicted last May of federal charges in the... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Kevin Bronson's Buzz Bands column in Calendar Weekend is now a blog. He's been doing it quietly since New Year's Eve, but the news just... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Finally stumbled outside after shaking off a couple of days of chest cold and, wham, it's 80-something degrees at the beach. The plants are gasping... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Jay Levin founded the LA Weekly more than 25 years ago. Lately he has been busy trying to recruit staff and writers around Los Angeles... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
There's one California newspaper in bigger turmoil than the Times: the San Jose Mercury-News. After being taken over by the Dean Singleton crowd last year,... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Word swept through local preservation ranks yesterday that a crew began demolishing Downey's historic Johnie's Broiler about 3 pm — on a Sunday. No permit... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
One of the traffic engineers being arraigned today for shutting down four intersections on the day that EAA went out on strike was featured last... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Can't remember the last time we posted so much on the weekend, including Mark Lacter's exclusive memo from LAT publisher David Hiller on rethinking the... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Regular readers of Kevin Drum's Political Animal blog, successor to CalPundit, are used to his frequent diversions about his cats. So it's not surprising that... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
January 07, 2007
Tim Rutten's Saturday LAT column about the online-vs-print future of newspapers exemplified by the redesigned Wall Street reached at least one influential reader. Times Publisher... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
January 06, 2007
Jacob Soboroff has video up now with Times employees celebrating their success at bringing a union into the paper's downtown and Orange County pressrooms.... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
My favorite posts, or just the newsiest, from the first week of 2007. The lost Hollywood tape of Dr. Martin Luther King. Jim Lampley and... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
General Otis (and Otis Chandler) must be rolling in their graves. For the first time in a long while, workers at the Los Angeles Times... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Slate's Jack Shafer identifies the Los Angeles Times newsroom stars he says are vulnerable to poaching by other media outlets if the Tribune-induced fear and... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
What a story. Two high-ranking city traffic engineers, Gabriel Murillo and Kartik Patel, were charged Friday with breaking into the city's automated traffic system and... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
The newly re-designed and re-conceived Wall Street Journal got a thoughtful review from Mark Lacter on Wednesday at LA Biz Observed. Today it's Tim Rutten's... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
January 05, 2007
Anthony Pellicano can represent himself at his racketeering and wiretapping trial, a federal judge rules. Better than paying a lawyer, the PI figures. CBS2Ed Boks'... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
If you live in Los Angeles and don't want to chop up your Christmas tree so it fits in the green trash barrel — or... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Remember when South Bay bagel shop owner Lynn Diane Olson shocked the legal establishment by getting elected last June to the Superior Court? Although rated... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Not everyone gets or appreciates Gustavo Arellano's satirical and increasingly popular ¡Ask a Mexican! column in OC Weekly. Now reading it can be dangerous to... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Climatologists say the odds are that this year will be the hottest on record, based on a resurgent El Niño in the Pacific and global... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Noted, since it hasn't been included in the mentions here of Jim Lampley's arrest: "I am innocent of the charge of domestic abuse that has... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Examining a plan to inject the city's daily mountain of sludge into the ground under Terminal Island, CityWatch's Marc Haefele revisits past schemes to dispose... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
I won't repeat my rantlet (and here) about casual abuse of the word 'gridlock' by local media and pols. Just check out this photo of... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Mayor Villaraigosa picks up another tribute from People en español, a strange phone call to Channel 2 about Jim Lampley's arrest, Pellicano's day in court... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
January 04, 2007
Posters at Chowhound L.A. only voted 94 times, so consider the very small sample of Los Angeles foodies. But among those who cast ballots, Providence... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Now this is cool. The Jewish Journal has turned up and posted on its website an audio recording of the Rev. Martin Luther King giving... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Michael Goodwin was convicted of murdering his former business partner, Mickey Thompson, and the racing legend's wife in 1988. Prosecutors will not seek the... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Not good, blogs Colleen Cuisine. She didn't go in looking for a gourmet experience but "just hearty good food:" After shuttering its doors for remodeling... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Symbolic little twist to the news that Home Depot's departing CEO Robert Nardelli leaves with an exit package worth $210 million. In an ad on... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
By last night's web stats run, more than 2,200 visitors had found their way to LA Observed by searching on Google for Stephanie Edwards. That's... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
The difference between the news side of the L.A. Times and the newly and earnestly irreverent opinion side was on display in the handling of... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
There's a full helping of media items after the jump today, leading with the arrests of El Cucuy and Jim Lampley, the dropping of Jamie... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
There was yesterday's piece in the Christian Science Monitor (which prompted some email), now outgoing chief administrative officer David Janssen says Los Angeles County needs... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
The Times' Pressmens Club blog has photos up of all the anti-union banners and placards placed around the Olympic plant (and presumably in Costa Mesa... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
January 03, 2007
Ax falls at Channel 2/9: veteran reporter Paul Dandridge has been taken off the bio page, though his blog remains — last updated in August.... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
All that bravado about making the party scene on crutches is so last week. Gov. Schwarzenegger's office just announced that his broken femur will keep... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Meant to re-post this oldie but goodie from 2004 for New Year's. On Dec. 31, 1897, a cameraman for Thomas Edison shot movie footage of... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Workers in the L.A Times press room on Olympic Boulevard downtown begin voting tomorrow whether to bring in a union. The paper, of course, has... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
A study at Central Connecticut State University ranks the most literate cities in the U.S. based on "newspaper circulation, number of bookstores, library resources, periodical... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Eat the Press analyzes how Technorati's somewhat-incestuous Top 100 (which measures not readers or popularity, just inbound links from other blogs) looks different now than... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Cybele's off-shore report at Metroblogging L.A. says that 20 gray whales have been spotted traveling south across Santa Monica Bay this week, one has been... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Arts blogger Tyler Green lives on the East Coast but covers Los Angeles like a glove — all but one of his ten favorite shows... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Today's Christian Science Monitor takes up the question of whether Los Angeles County should have its own elected executive. Reporter Daniel Wood takes off from... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
City news junkies will soon start hearing more about the "912 Commission." More formally called the Neighborhood Council Review Commission, it is required by the... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Tucked away neatly after the jump are items on the Getty's threatened Aphrodite statue, Chief Bratton's future with the LAPD, scant details on Lydia Kennard's... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
January 02, 2007
→ Los Angeles magazine's January Restaurant Awards issue proclaims Hatfield's the best new place in town, Bottle Rock the best new wine bar, Square One... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Last-chance talks between Dutton's management and the city of Beverly Hills failed to stave off the Dec. 31 closure of the Canon Drive bookstore. The... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
We urged City Hall reporters to make the calls last week. Nobody got a story out of it, and now the news breaks on its... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Judith Regan's upcoming fight for her honor with Rupert Murdoch's empire inspires the NYT's Sharon Waxman to muse on Hollywood court battles of yore: think... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Laura Mecoy looked at the Sacramento Bee's offer of recall to the home office and decided it wasn't for her. Instead, the paper's soon-to-be-ex Los... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Time magazine credits convicted Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff with one of the quotes of the year: "God sent me 1,000 hints that he didn't want... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
An unsigned editorial in the Columbia Journalism Review calls on Chicago's Tribune company not just to sell off the Los Angeles Times, but to quit... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
In his Times column today, Joel Stein drums up web traffic and blogosphere chatter by throwing down with his readers. Don't email him, Stein writes,... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Karen Grigsby Bates, who interviewed me last year for NPR's "Day to Day," gets the Q-and-A treatment from Kate Coe at Mediabistro.com. Bates is an... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Federal courts and post offices are closed for the national day of mourning for former President Gerald Ford. County and city offices and public transit... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Right blogger Patterico's fourth annual review of a year in the life of the Los Angeles Times is up. It has become kind of a... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
One last look at the year just past, through the lens of the subjects and posts that LA Observed readers devoured, forwarded and talked about... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
January 01, 2007
KTLA's own viewer forum filled up today with more comments about the Rose Parade broadcast than on any other topic in months. Most are strongly... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Before we get to the Most Clicked On stories of 2006, here are some personal favorites that don't fit anywhere else. Most interesting car wreck... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
You can't make this stuff up. Some gems from the archive: Antonio and the schools: Mayor Villaraigosa began the year talking tough about taking over... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Here are some of the top local media items from LA Observed that won't quite make the Most Clicked On list for 2006: Mel Gibson:... $MTEntryExcerpt$>