Dubious media events most likely to make tonight's local news

At 8 am, the media masses are invited to Burbank to observe the casting of actor statuettes for the SAG Awards on Jan. 27. And at 9:30, Joe Torre will be available at Dodger Stadium during workouts by the team's prospects.

Broad to put $23 million more into charter schools

Gift to be announced today will fund 17 new campuses. LAT

Bush to whales: screw you

President Bush exempted the Navy from limits on sonar use close to the coast, saying national security needs trump a judge's finding and damage to whales and other marine life. LAT, AP

Antonio gets a B-, Zev a C-

Grades for their performance at last week's transit conference from CityBeat's Alan Mittelstaedt. CityBeat

Obama feels the Nuys

Daily News copy editor Steve Rosenberg's blog chronicled Sen. Barack Obama's visit yesterday to his Van Nuys neighborhood. Come on, Feel the Nuys More pics at his wife's blog, Drawerspace in a Cluttered Mind.

Advancing the Dov Charney trial

As early as next week, trial could begin in the case against American Apparel chief Dov Charney brought by former sales employee Mary Nelson, who contends that he fostered a hostile work environment with sexually explicit language, sexually inappropriate behavior and inviting her to masturbate in front of him. She contends she was fired upon consulting a lawyer. The Times and other media outlets are fighting subpoenas from Nelson's attorneys for unpublished material. LAT

Eddie Murphy's marriage lasts 15.......days

But they're still friends. TMZ

Incredible shrinking L.A. Times

Yes, some cities did disappear from the weather page. The Times is downsizing pages early in preparation for a transfer to narrower newsprint. LAT blog

Hunkering down in the LANG empire

With negotiations on a new contract coming up, and the Singletonians at Long Beach working without one, the shop steward in the Daily News cityroom has called for a staff get together at the local El Torito. The Paper Trail

Goldberg on the Left

Jonah Goldberg, the LAT's conservative Op-Ed columnist, guests at 11 am on KPCC's "Airtalk" with Larry Mantle to discuss his new book "Liberal Fascism: The Secret History of the American Left from Mussolini to the Politics of Meaning." Also, David Lazarus, the Times' consumer columnist, will guest host for Patt Morrison from 1 pm to 3 pm (as he did Wednesday.)

Bratton at Manhattan Institute

LAPD chief William Bratton is scheduled to give the keynote speech at a Manhattan Institute conference called "Policing Skid Row: Is the Safer Cities Initiative the Right Approach?" at the the Downtown Marriott, 1 pm.

Bobbi Holtzman, stage director was 81

The director of many L.A. productions and co-founder of the Northridge Theatre Guild during the 1960s died on on New Year's Eve of complications from vascular dementia. Steve Mikulan in the LA Weekly