Politics, media and assorted news briefs from the greater Los Angeles universe.

• Heavy fog in Sacramento aborted Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's flight from Santa Monica, so he made his fiscal emergency declaration in Los Angeles. Capitol Alert, LAT
  Also: Fox 11's Phil Shuman spots the Governor smoking a post-media stogie, blogs about it.
• State Sen. Jenny Oropeza, D-Long Beach, is the new Democratic caucus chair. Capitol Alert
• Mark Ridley-Thomas takes over as the L.A. County Supervisor for the 2nd district vowing to reopen MLK Medical Center. LAT
• Respected housing blogger Tanta died and got an obit in the New York Times. LA Biz Observed
• Tina Fey discusses her facial scar in a Vanity Fair cover story by Maureen Dowd. Defamer
• New KCRW Music Director Jason Bentley's first track played on "Morning Becomes Eclectic" was “Crash” by composer Mark Isham, from the “Crash” movie soundtrack.
• LA Weekly photographer Ted Soqui ferrets out some of the lowest gas prices in town. LA Photo
• Broadcasting & Cable magazine executive editor Melissa Grego answers questions about her now long-running Mel's Diner blog. LAist
• Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher announced thirteen new partners. LA Legal Pad
• At least one Curbed LA reader must not pay much attention to the national news. Curbed LA
• UCLA's Daily Bruin goes overseas again, dateline Bangkok this time. Bruin
• Daniel Zingale, chief of staff to Maria Shriver and senior aide to the governor, will join the California Endowment as a senior VP for policy and communications based in Sacramento. Capitol Alert
• Former Daily Breeze reporter Dennis Johnson, editor of motorcycle business mag Dealer News, has gone the blog route.
• ESPN Zone opens today at L.A. Live. LAist