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Variety for sale
Reed Elsevier wants to sell Reed Business Information and get far away from the advertising-driven market. In addition to Variety, this puts Broadcasting and Cable, Publishers Weekly and New Scientist up for grabs. Variety
More payroll pain for LAUSD teachers
Incorrect W2s have been mailed to thousands of district staffers. Glad to see they got that problem licked. DN
Four paparazzi arrested or cited
West Hollywood sheriff's hit two of the Britney Spears swarm and two of the Lindsay Lohan swarm. Two of them work for TMZ. LAT Related story: LA Weekly
Were you invited?
Nikki Finke compiles a list of surviving and new Oscar parties around town. DHD
Villaraigosa plan to sell land sparks outcry
Intent to help the budget deficit by selling old fire stations and other acreage runs up against the desire for affordable housing projects, says Councilman Rosendahl and others. LAT
UCLA sues animal rights extremists
The university wants to protect faculty members who use animals in research from continued attacks at home. LAT
Omar Sharif must pay valet he slugged $318,190
Altercation in 2005 outside Mastro's Steakhouse began when the parking valet wouldn't take Euros and the actor called the Guatemalan valet a "stupid Mexican." LAT, DN
Sam Slovick's Skid Row documentary
Film based on his pieces for the LA Weekly has debuted on MySpace. LA Weekly
L.A. may make homeowners pay for sidewalk repairs
Even if the city's poor choice of street trees is to blame for the damage? LAT
Photo tour of BCAM
Arts Journal blogger CulturteGrrl visits and photographs the new Broad Contemporary in two parts.
Book deals
Atlantic contributor and former LA Weekly staffer Amy Waldman has sold her novel "The Submission," "a multilayered story of the selection of a 9/11 monument for Ground Zero -- when the winning architect is revealed to be a Muslim, the fallout in the public and the press threatens to derail the memorial and the promise of healing it offers," to Farrar, Straus, for publication in 2009. And Stephen J. Cannell has sold "At First Sight" to Vanguard Press. Publishers Lunch
At lunch with...
Councilman Herb Wesson, the former Speaker who also used to be chief of staff to Supervisor Yvonne Burke, speaks to the Current Affairs Forum at the Wilshire Grand. On the agenda include housing, jobs and economic development.
Denis O'Connor, mosaic muralist was 74
O'Connor left his mark on the streetscape of Los Angeles in the mosaics he did on the fronts of Home Savings and Loan buildings, which now house a variety of institutions and retail outlets. LAT