At least two Japanese gangsters who received liver transplants at UCLA Medical Center then donated $100,000, the LAT reports. (WitnessLA adds some context to the UCLA transplant stories.)
Todd Purdum's piece on Bill Clinton in the July Vanity Fair tries to get at his relationship with Ron Burkle and asks, among other things, what the former president is doing spending time with Gina Gershon and hanging around a guy whose globe-circling jet is known unofficially as Air Fuck One. Mark Lacter gives it a thorough read. LA Biz Observed
Adrienne Crew took in the just-concluded BookExpo America for Native Intelligence, and at Jacket Copy Erika Schickel covered George Hamilton's party and Carolyn Kellogg made the drive to Santa Monica. More party reports from Donna Wares at California Authors and Tina Dupuy at Fishbowl LA.
Prospect Park Books put out a Downtown eating guide for BEA that is an advance look at the forthcoming "Eat: Los Angeles," a guide with contributors that include Eating LA's Pat Saperstein, food writers Amelia Saltsman and Linda Burum, and former Times editor Lennie LaGuire.
CityBeat editor Rebecca Schoenkopf signed her collection of Commie Girl columns for the OC Weekly at BEA and has a tour coming up for "Commie Girl in the O.C."
Variety is ditching its current ground-floor digs on Wilshire Boulevard to move a few blocks west into the top floors of the former People's Bank tower that also houses Los Angeles and Tu Ciudad magazines, Radio One and TokyoPop. That's a Wayne Ratkovich building now — and directly across Wilshire from the new LACMA entrance.
Dual L.A. sports beat roundups from Phil Wallace at SoCal Sports Observed: here and here.
9:04 AM Fri | Why LAUSD paid Mark Berndt to go away, dangerous stalker escapes from mental hospital, Pete Schabarum says term limits has missed the mark, sheriff watchers speculate on a shakeup and debating whether Carmen Trutanich is indeed a liar.