Español at City Hall

Spanish-language lessons and bilingual press conferences are all the rage for L.A. elected officials, even the non-Latinos like Jan Perry and Wendy Greuel. Alex Padilla's Spanish news updates on 9-11 are seen as a watershed. LAT

State of the City advice

Mayor Villaraigosa gives the third SotC speech of his administration at 5 pm at Parker Center. The Times editorial page suggests "he must make clear that he has a firm grip on two pressing matters that he has accepted as bases for evaluating his administration: the budget and gang violence." The Downtown News, meanwhile, says "we hope the mayor will rivet us with words or reveal a plan that exhibits true vision and ideas beyond just policing." LAT, DTN

Thank you, Gov. Spitzer

The Smoking Gun had 58 million page views last month, including the many generated by its L.A. Times expose. "When I think about how many hours — hundreds of days, really — I spent in records offices looking for stuff I can just get on my desktop, it drives me crazy,” says editor William Bastone, a veteran Mafia reporter who used to work at The Village Voice. David Carr/NYT

Beverly Hills wants speeder cameras

Surveillance is not just for red light runners anymore. But the Legislature has so far balked. Steve Hymon/LAT

Budget crisis hits El Pueblo

Surprise closings, shorter hours, 17 fewer parttime guides. Richard Guzmán/Downtown News

Crack down on taco trucks

People may love them, but Eastside restaurants don't appreciate the competition. Supervisor Gloria Molina proposes to increase the $60 fine to $1,000, with a sweetener that they can stay in the same spot for an hour instead of thirty minutes. Jean-Paul Renaud/LAT

Wesley Snipes in the news

Attorney Bob Berhoft, who helped get Wesley Snipes off tax fraud charges, is a guest on KCRW's "The Business" with Claude Brodesser-Akner at 2:30 pm. And word around town is that Amy Wallace is about to land a pretty hot Snipes story in Portfolio.

Nina Revoyr's new novel echoes old Hollywood

"The Age of Dreaming" revisits the William Desmond Taylor murder of 1922 in which actress Mary Miles Minter and her mother were both rumored as possible suspects and lovers of the director. "Revoyr's consideration of racial tensions adds new dimension to the old tropes of ambitious beauties, secretive men, evil showmoms and the glossy emptiness that is fame." Carolyn Kellogg/LAT Book Review

LAT.com digs for more page views

How about a gallery of eight photos from the Pirelli calendars, pegged to a Sunday arts story. Tastefully nude, of course.