PolitickerCA has a blind item saying that Doug Dowie, the former president of Fleishman-Hillard in L.A. whose conviction on wire fraud is on appeal, is doing some work for political consultant Richard Lichtenstein at Marathon Communications. "Could Dowie be back giving advice to L.A. politicians again?," the site asks. Could be, but my information is that Dowie just gets the use of a vacant office and kicks in some occasional writing and editing. He's not an employee, I'm told. During his legal limbo, Dowie has churned out an optioned screenplay — "L.A. Confidential meets City Hall meets the Internet," he describes it — and done some other writing. He's a former reporter and managing editor of the Daily News in the Valley. Dowie's sentence of 42 months in the federal penal system is on hold pending appeal.

Money Player