Villaraigosa's school 'takeover' kicks in

Classes begin today at Roosevelt High and the Santee Education Complex, the two year-round high schools that became part of Mayor Villaraigosa's scaled-back strategy to take over failing L.A. schools. A lot is at stake for the mayor, UTLA and students. Villaraigosa was at Santee this morning, will go to Roosevelt at 11:30 am. LAT, DN

Video suggests LAPD cops lied in drug case

Charges against a cocaine suspect were dismissed after surprise video footage contradicts the accounts of arresting officers and one is overheard telling another to be creative in his writing of the arrest report. LAT

Fourth-driest spring on record

Just 0.16 inch of rain fell in Downtown Los Angeles between March 1 and June 30, says Bill Patzert, climatologist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. DN

Report crime by text message?

The LAPD is considering whether to invest in the technology to let the public text in tips. The department is already working to develop a 911 system that would accept cell-phone pictures from witnesses. DN

Star-News website flagged by Google

Visits to the Pasadena Star-News site from a Google search are being intercepted with the warning that the newspaper is a "Reported Attack Site." Reporter-G

Moving toward sales tax vote in November

Move L.A. Executive Director Denny Zane talks about how the group built consensus for a measure to raise money for transit projects by asking voters to approve a half-cent sales tax hike. The Planning Report

Robyn Ritter Simon campaign money

A press release claims the 5th council district candidate raised $110,000 in the first half of 2008.

Martin Kaplan joins Jewish Journal

The USC media professor who blogs regularly at Huffington Post has begun a weekly column in the Jewish Journal. JJ

Jerry Roberts blogging about California politics

The former editor of Wendy McCaw's Santa Barbara News-Press, also a former Sacramento reporter for the San Francisco Chronicle, is blogging regularly for the weekly Santa Barbara Independent. SBI

Ventura County Star cuts back pages

Editor Joe Howry admits that it's not about making the paper better, just about cutting costs. E&P

Loeb Awards announced

No local winners in the prizes sponsored by UCLA's Anderson School of Management, but an honorable mention went to former LAT reporter Charles Duhigg, now at the New York Times. UCLA