Powerful L.A. women gather Downtown

Councilwoman Wendy Greuel hosted a reception for Los Angeles Magazine publisher Amy Saralegui last night at Elevate Lounge attended by a range of women, among them Controller Laura Chick, Board of Public Works president Cynthia Ruiz and Deputy Mayor Janelle Erickson from City Hall...Ana Garcia of KNBC, Patt Morrison and Kitty Felde of KPCC, and LAT foreign editor Marjorie Miller from the media...plus Janet Clayton, head of Think Cure; Linda Dishman, head of the Los Angeles Conservancy; Kathy Feng, head of California Common Cause; Billie Greer, director of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's Los Angeles office; architect Brenda Levin, writer MG Lord and Emmy-winning composer Laura Karpman.

Transit getting more popular

Metrolink said Tuesday was a record day for riders with 50,232 a 15.6% increase over the same week last year. Metro Rail ridership is also up, and freeway use down. Gas prices are cited. LAT

Testimony on Jamiel Shaw's gang ties

When he was killed, the teenager wore a red belt emblazoned with black skulls and a crudely written "20," used by the Rollin' 20s and had some of the gang's images on his iPod, an LAPD officer testified. A neighbor also said Shaw had friends in the gang and was known by the nickname "Deuces Wild," and a detective testified that Shaw's girlfriend told police he was a gang member. LAT

Theft of neighborhood council money

Police are investigating accusations that Frank Prater, former chairman and treasurer of the Empowerment Congress Central Area Neighborhood Council, stole $30,000. The story is from The Wave's Betty Pleasant. CityWatch

City Hall's extra boost for developer

Even some fans of the Midtown Crossing development at San Vicente and Pico "say they are mystified by the degree to which the city has worked with CIM Group, the real estate company building the project." LAT

Cortines on the radio

Deputy mayor and unofficial LAUSD chief Ray Cortines was on Warren Olney last night with Times reporter Howard Blume and Caprice Young, the former Board of Education president who now runs the California Charter School Association. KCRW

New L.A. Times Metro reporter

Esmeralda Bermudez comes from the Portland Oregonian. LAT

Friday headlines from LA Biz Observed