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Ramon Cortines assumes de-facto control of LAUSD
The mayor's advisor, not Supt. David Brewer, now has all responsibility for day-to-day operations of the district, says Naush Boghossian. "Brewer would have to be an ostrich not to get the feeling that something is moving around him," said Jaime Regalado, director of the Edmund G. "Pat" Brown Institute of Public Affairs at California State Los Angeles. DN
National Magazine Awards announced
Local interest: Three Caitlin Flanagan columns for The Atlantic won in review and criticism, called by the judges "thoughtful and bracingly honest, filled with humor and empathy, and free of cliches and political correctness." The photo-portfolio award went to a Vanity Fair gallery of Annie Leibovitz pictures "in which contemporary Hollywood stars posed in elaborate film-noir-style scenes." And the profile-writing award also went to VF's Evan Wright for a piece on Hollywood agent Pat Dollard, "a 23,000-word monster of an article chronicling his subject's harrowing but frequently amusing descent into drugs, madness, violence, and, improbably, his resurrection as a hero of the pro-war right." WashPost
Ziman and Lee patch it up
Daphna Ziman and Rev. Eric Lee sat down together for lunch and photos weeks after she accused him of anti-Semitic remarks (and a few days after the episode hit the Wall Street Journal.) LAT
Pellicano jury deliberates
The panel must decide 78 counts against Pellicano and the co-defendants: racketeering, conspiracy, wire fraud, identity theft, bribery, wiretapping. LAT
Population of 4 million is now official
The state Department of Finance yearly estimates are used between U.S. censuses. And the state say Los Angeles had 4,045,873 residents as of Jan. 1. California itself is at 38 million and counting. DN
Scully clarifies that he has no plans to retire
Bill Plaschke implies previous remarks by Vin Scully were about contract negotiating, then does his duty and pushes McCourts to let Scully stay off road trips entirely. LAT
Report from the Sierra
The snowpack is low and the reservoirs lower, meaning there's a possibility of water rationing this summer. LAT
Rosendahl field deputy arrested
Len Nguyen was arrested by Los Angeles County Sheriff's deputies in West Hollywood on April 13th, following an incident in which he was "extremely intoxicated, confused and disoriented" and tried to force his way into a condominium unit that was not his, according to a statement from L.A. Councilman Bill Rosendahl. The Argonaut
Key Press-Telegram editor leaves
Jason Gewirtz, executive city editor at the Long Beach paper, submitted his resignation last week and is leaving May 10th to become managing editor at Sports Travel Magazine. "This is a tremendous loss for the Press-Telegram, and an even bigger loss for Long Beach. Jason in my opinion was the glue and heart of the PT," writes Robert Garcia. LB Post
Schwarzenegger with Patt Morrison
KPCC will air a recorded interview with the Governor at 1 pm on "Patt Morrison."
There's already a transcript and audio (and photos) up on the web.