Archive by Month
March 31, 2008
Bunch of people let go today. If I get details I'll pass them on.... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Hats off to the new Dodgers show producer, Charles Steinberg. The ceremony before today's opener evoked "Field of Dreams." While a dramatic beat played across... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
I've received a couple of emails from fans who did just fine getting to the Coliseum game on Saturday, by avoiding the Dodger Stadium shuttles.... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Short piece in the U.K. magazine on L.A.'s move toward more density — and how cities around the West want to avoid becoming the next... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Joe Torre era begins "Opening Day never gets old," Torre tells Steve Herbert of City News Service. CNS via KNBC From the weekend Zahniser's car... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
This updates the preliminary list I posted on March 4. It's based on my best information, but I'm sure there will be additions or deletions... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Times City Hall reporter David Zahniser cracks Column One for the first time with a first-person story about his 1989 Toyota Camry being stolen and... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
March 30, 2008
I'm told that two of the original CityBeat columnists have given up their gigs in response to last week's dump of editor Steve Appleford. Natalie... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
A few hundred fans applauded Dutton's Brentwood Books on Sunday afternoon, filling the courtyard where so many authors have spoken on their L.A. tours. The... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Take a look at the line for the Dodger Stadium shuttle bus to Saturday's Coliseum game. Jon Weisman blogged that when he left the game... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Stephanie Simon, a national reporter based in Denver for the Los Angeles Times, will roam the heartland for the Wall Street Journal starting April 14.... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Dith Pran was the Cambodian journalist whose ordeal in the Khmer Rouge death regime was depicted in the 1984 film "The Killing Fields" and, earlier,... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Pretty weird: the Dodgers didn't even send out a left fielder, opting instead to use a fifth infielder/rover. But it sounds like the party inside... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
That's the name of one of L.A.'s most literate film blogs, mentioned here now and then through the years. Now here's the backstory behind the... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Calendar section writer Robert Welkos, co-author with Joel Sappell of the Los Angeles Times' seminal investigation of Scientology awhile back, took a lighter touch than... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Times legal affairs writer Henry Weinstein's voice carries a lot of weight in the newsroom and his departure may be the one affecting staff morale... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Many of the journalists who departed the L.A. Times on Friday sent farewells to the newsroom. Some directed messages at Tribune owner Sam Zell. Here's... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
March 29, 2008
An email going around from an LA Weekly staffer says someone at the paper has decided to throw out most of the printed copies of... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Friday was clean out their desk day for the editors, writers and other staffers who left the Los Angeles Times in the lastest wave of... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
I won't be joining the mass baseball party this afternoon at the Coliseum — here's why, from my KCRW commentary yesterday — but those who... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
March 28, 2008
I've got a bunch of things to do away from the computer, and today really is a holiday for some, including UCLA staff: Cesar Chavez... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
March 27, 2008
The headline is NYU journalism professor and blogger Jay Rosen's response to Warren Olney's question about how big a black eye the L.A. Times has... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Gustavo Arellano announced in today's OC Weekly column that he's dropping the long-running ¡Ask a Mexican! gig that has brought him fame and...well, maybe just... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Reporter Myron Levin, one of the veteran reporters to take the Los Angeles Times buyout, checked out today with a farewell email to the entire... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
The Washington state 19-year-old who cracked the phone system and got Orange County dispatchers to sent a SWAT team to a home in Lake Forest... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Romenesko adds up the stream of comments on the errant Tupac Shakur story: 25 pages (now 30 and counting, because they limit each to ten... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
The L.A. Times will resume calling its staff critics what they are. Memo today: From: Wolinsky, Leo Sent: Thursday, March 27, 2008 11:58 AM Subject:... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
The Los Angeles Conservancy is out with its preservation award winners for the 27th year. Of the residential restoration of the Eastern Columbia building downtown,... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Betty Pleasant, the Wave's Soulvine columnist, has been hammering away that there is a racial aspect to the gang murders sweeping South Los Angeles and... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
CityBeat's L.A. Sniper columnist Alan Mittelstaedt captures Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky's persuasive argument that the Times' cutback of local coverage through the years contributes to the... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Should Marcus Allen be CAO? Daily News editorial says no, citing Allen's crossover from city service to lobbyist: "Allen's experience aside, he is a questionable... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
March 26, 2008
Veteran Los Angeles Times reporter Chuck Philips and his editor, Deputy Managing Editor Marc Duvoisin, issued statements of apology for the story that linked Sean... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
After this week's issue went to bed earlier today, the staff of CityBeat was told that founding editor Steve Appleford is being replaced by Steve... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
The firefighter who suffered fatal injuries today in Westchester was identified this evening as Brent A. Lovrien. He was a 10-year veteran assigned to the... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
An underground explosion around 2 pm blew off manhole covers on Sepulveda Boulevard near La Tijera. Both streets were closed briefly for air ambulance operations.... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Friends, fans and employees of Dutton's Brentwood Bookstore will gather in the courtyard one last time this Sunday at 5 pm. The shelves already look... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
As a reporter, I liked to write about L.A's infrastructure — freeways, water, refuse. I always thought there was a book in the history of... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Sam Zell wants his "partners" in the Tribune empire to send their ideas to a new online Idea Bank -- and to make withdrawals too.... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Fabian Wesson, wife of City Councilman (and former Speaker) Herb Wesson, has opened a committee to explore running for the Assembly in 2010 when Speaker-elect... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
CBS executives are moving to the Studio City complex from Television City this weekend. The influx of all those suits figures to disrupt the Radford... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
The report in the Smoking Gun that the Times got duped on its recent Sean Combs- Tupac Shakur story has been top of the page... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Every so often we get a glimpse of how things really work, without the cautionary impulse and spinning that takes over when people are talking... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
The Smoking Gun claims that the L.A. Times relied on FBI documents fabricated by con man James Sabatino for the paper's report last week that... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Designing for drive-by bullets Planning for street shooting is becoming part of the L.A. architecture, according to the Times. "When we look at the pragmatism... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
From the South Bay Daily Breeze: Correction about concert I am grateful for the very kind words by letter writer Rosemarie Persek ("SP event was... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Riffing a little on Los Angeles magazine's 64 Greatest Things in L.A. contest, Los Angeles Metblogs has started polling on the 64 Worst Things about... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Ever since Lee Abrams began memoing his future co-workers all over the Tribune Company with his ideas on Innovation!, I've been getting emails that skewer... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
March 25, 2008
Back when boxing was a big spectator sport in Los Angeles, Art Aragon fought major bouts at the Olympic Auditorium, Wrigley Field and Hollywood's Legion... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
The City Council will wait a week to vote on the hike sought by the Department of Water and Power. Time for more politicking study.... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Borrowing a page from Frank Girardot in the San Gabriel Valley Tribune, adopted sister paper the Daily Breeze has launched its own crime scene blog.... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Newsom, one of the California mayors who might run for governor in 2010, said today in the state capital that it's "wildly premature" to consider... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
A couple visiting from Colorado had their bikes stolen — and their vacation spoiled — by a "mid 30’s well-dressed white couple" in Santa Monica... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Chief administrative officer Karen Sisson is returning to her alma mater, Pomona College, to be vice president and treasurer. She has been CAO since December... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Lee Abrams hasn't started yet, but writes another memo in which he gets all enthused thinking of original ideas...that newspaper and TV editors and website... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
The news got out yesterday that Tribune would switch its San Diego affiliate to Fox from the CW Network. Now here's the memo explaining the... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Christian Lander, the Culver City-based writer of the hit satire blog Stuff White People Like, has gotten a William Morris agent (Erin Malone) and a... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Two Long Beach city council members marched with Press-Telegram workers outside the beleaguered newspaper's offices yesterday. P-T, LB Report Also in Long Beach: Surgeons say... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Ugly Downtown parking structure to finally go Parking Lot 17, the "Erector set" structure across from the courthouse at 1st and Olive, was reviled the... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
March 24, 2008
Radio One has agreed to sell KRBV-FM, also known as V100, to the company that used to operate KBIG and KZLA here. Bonneville is paying... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
The every-burgeoning Los Angeles entertainment desk of Associated Press snagged a photo editor from Getty Images. Press release on the hire of Guinevere Smith as... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Lisa Napoli did a nice story on today's Marketplace about Ngawang, a 23-year-old DJ in Bhutan who is visiting — and discovering — Los Angeles... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Greg Krikorian, a Los Angeles Times veteran who is the lead reporter on the Anthony Pellicano trial, applied for and received the recent buyout. He's... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
CEO Sam Zell enjoyed the little dig his Chicago Tribune got in on the rival Sun-Times, which held a contest to let readers' express their... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Eric Alterman's piece considers the HuffPost as a step along the path of evolving news and opinion, away from the printed newspaper. Some tidbits: First... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Contents of SWAT report Reporter Eric Leonard obtained a copy from outside the LAPD, posts the PDF file and summarizes the conclusions, including a relaxation... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
When the season opens next Monday, Canter's will have a stand selling corned beef and pastrami on the third-base side of the field level at... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Just fyi, this is the day that heart surgery is scheduled at Children's Hospital for Davik Teng, the 9-year-old girl from rural Cambodia who was... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Eric is off this week doing his duty as the parent of a pre-college teen, so everybody can take some time to play with their... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
March 23, 2008
Talk about corrections. Months after finalizing Sara Jane Olson's prison release date, five days after letting her out — but two days after police groups... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Writing as an alum of the Long Beach Press-Telegram, author and journalist Dennis McDougal bemoans the paper's downgrade in a Sunday Opinion piece for the... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
March 21, 2008
In his blog on the Times website, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar says that one of the most common perceptions of him when he played basketball — that... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Once around: Child advocate and former L.A. first lady Nancy Daly Riordan guests with Laurel Erickson on a special edition of KNBC News Conference, airing... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
The celebrity chaser who revealed that Britney Spears tips the paparazzi where she's going to be has sued X-17, alleging that three of the agency's... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
MaryKaye Schilling is leaving to return to New York, according to an abrupt memo from the newly assigned editor helping with management issues on the... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
More planning commission patronage Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa appointed Fabian Nuñez aide Ricardo Lara to the city planning commission, which is mostly interesting because he recently... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Remember a few weeks back when LAO posted the news on Associated Press muscling up its entertainment and celebrity overage out of the Los Angeles... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
March 20, 2008
The former Kathleen Soliah was released this week from the Central California Women's Facility in Chowchilla after serving six years. Nabbed after two decades in... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Demolition didn't take long. A crew took down the scaffolding yesterday, leaving a bare lot at the corner of Gayley and Lindbrook where the newest,... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Foreign Editor Marjorie Miller marked the fifth anniversary of the Iraq war with a "well done" message to the Iraqi nationals who help staff the... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Tribune CEO Sam Zell just sent all the "partners" — his title for the employees who put up the money for him to buy the... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Andrew Kamenetzky, half of the brotherly duo that travels with the Lakers and covers the team every day for their L.A. Times-owned blog, was denied... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
The body of Alexander Merman, 35, was found shot to death in his Montana Avenue apartment last night. Over the weekend, aspiring actress Juliana Maureen... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
The common link is the Los Angeles Press Club. Shearer, the actor and host of a popular KCRW show, will emcee the club's June 21... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Sam Zell's new company endured a $78 million loss in the fourth quarter of 2007 compared to a a profit of $233 million in the... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
As we suggested yesterday in Payback time. Became official at 11 am.... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Alan Miller was a charter member of the investigative team in the Times Washington bureau and won his Pulitzer in 2003 for stories on problems... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Villaraigosa takes a furlough day The mayor asked other employees to do it, so today he goes off the books and will lose $858.26 in... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
March 19, 2008
Rip Rense attended last week's Los Angeles Herald Examiner reunion, but he found it too surreal and disorienting to see his old colleagues — and... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Scene: Detectives Deland and Gallardo drive to Malibu to give Celeste the bad news: her husband died in the restroom of a North Hollywood theater,... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Steve Oney's piece from last June about Iraq war casualty Chris Leon is a National Magazine Awards finalist in profile writing. He shares the... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Chief William Bratton has scheduled an 11 am press conference tomorrow with State Sen. Mark Ridley-Thomas, the candidate for county Supervisor. They don't officially label... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Well, just a new name. Jamie Court has abandoned the snooze-inducing Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights in favor of...ta dah...Consumer Watchdog.org. Broadcasters everywhere will... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
The Los Angeles City Council voted 10-5 this morning to stop work on the annexation application of the heavily lobbied Las Lomas project in Newhall... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Note to KTLA: the TV station that Sam Zell's Tribune company owns in South Florida is moving in with the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel newspaper. Zell... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Explaining the homicide jump With 93 murders so far compared to 69 last year, the LAPD took the step of analyzing each and announcing that... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
March 18, 2008
Chief Bratton gave his side of the SWAT report controversy, and talked about having women in the unit, this afternoon on "Patt Morrison" on KPCC.... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
The English-born writer of science fiction died in Sri Lanka, his home since 1956. NYT, BBC, AP... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
The headline above is the first line of Dr. Mauricio Heilbron Jr.'s Op-Ed piece in today's Long Beach Press-Telegram. The boy is the 11-year-old who... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Longtime L.A. Times pop critic Robert Hilburn has signed with ModernTimes/Rodale to do a "deeply personal and highly opinionated memoir" of his decades covering the... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Director Anthony Minghella dies after surgery The Oscar winner, who directed "The English Patient," "The Talented Mr. Ripley" and "Cold Mountain," died this morning in... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
March 17, 2008
Mark over at LA Biz Observed hopped quickly on the death today of Roland Arnall, founder of subprime loan giant Ameriquest. Arnall has been a... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
New U.S. Attorney Thomas O’Brien redistributed the 17 lawyers in the public integrity unit in Los Angeles among the major fraud and organized crime sections,... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
David Willman of the L.A. Times Washington bureau is no longer on the buyout list, he confirms. (I previously termed it that he "withdrew," but... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Tracing the hip-hop wars In another of his periodic investigative pieces on the murders of hip-hop stars, Chuck Philips says there is evidence that the... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
The Downtown News' Jon Regardie saw some news in Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa repeating to Charlie Rose the company line that will he run next year... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
March 16, 2008
An LA Observed reader emailed to alert me to the big news out of the Federal Reserve and to wonder why his hometown paper... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
KNBC Channel 4 has tapped David Markland, a "city captain" at LA Metblogs, to write a couple of items a day under the California Faultline... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
The Dodgers manager, looking dapper at the Great Wall. (Now picture Tommy Lasorda.) Josh Rawitch has a report on the Dodgers' day around Beijing and... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Councilman Tony Cardenas told Controller Laura Chick Friday to "get out of my face." DN LAT reporter Martha Groves describes in first-person detail (plus... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
For last week's reunion of Los Angeles Herald Examiner alums, organizer Alex Ben Block, columnist for Hollywood Today.net, and Josh Kleinbaum, managing editor of interactive... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
March 14, 2008
Higher trash fees on City Hall agenda The last hike was unpopular but went through, so Mayor Villaraigosa has directed city budget experts to consider... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
March 13, 2008
Mark Cuban, the Dallas Mavericks owner and media-savvy blogger, writes that the rush by respected publishers to re-brand their content as coming from bloggers "is... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Every so often, one of the local media outlets returns to the theme of "The Valley, it's not so bad" and pretends the concept itself... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Oscar Medrano Jr., 47, was picked up by sheriff's deputies at his Gardena jewelry store on suspicion of molesting a 14-year-old girl. No charges filed... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Journalists turned out at the Beverly Hilton Hotel for a press conference where the Girls Gone Wild founder again ranted about being in jail for... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Along with the story on 22-year-old escort Ashley Dupre's life and some quotes from her beyond the MySpace page, today's New York Times also reconstructs... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Elizabeth Hill announced Thursday she will retire from her "dream job" as Legislative Analyst at the end of the year. "It's time for a new... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
"I am ecstatic with no-bullshit excitement and pride in joining The Tribune Company," writes Lee Abrams, hired from XM Satellite Radio. He calls news and... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Ron Kaye, editor of the Daily News, delivers an homage on the paper's Op-Ed page to Jim Bellows, the editor of the Los Angeles Herald... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
In-N-Out's traffic snarls The line backups at In-N-Out stands have been a fact of L.A. life for years, especially for nearby businesses and residences. But... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
March 12, 2008
Journalist Sharon Waxman is happy with her new silver Prius, except there are so many around that look alike. Today at Trader Joe's, she threw... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Looks like it's down to Villaraigosa cousin and labor favorite John Perez. Arturo Chavez, an aide to Sen. Gil Cedillo, and Ricardo Lara, an aide... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Here's a YouTube video of New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, at UCLA yesterday, declining to make an endorsement in the presidential race but saying nicer... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
A San Marino home has about a million bees buzzing around it — in the walls and in the house — and honey is oozing... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Eric Estrin selected two winners who have never met for the LA Observed Script Project t-shirt this week. Bill Braunstein was new to Los Angeles... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
How NYT got the Spitzer story And kept it quiet. NY Observer From Tuesday Howard Berman gets foreign affairs Keeper of LA's saints Columnist blogs... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
March 11, 2008
Two days ago, Dodger Thoughts blogger Jon Weisman signed up as a YouTube user and posted footage of Dodger farmhand Clayton Kershaw throwing one spring... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Rep. Howard Berman, in his 13th term, today was officially named chairman of the House committee on foreign affairs, replacing the late Tom Lantos. Originally... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
The Los Angeles Times has lost more subscribers in the past four years than any U.S. newspaper and it isn't even close. Editor & Publisher... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Last weekend's New York Times did a nice spread on J. Michael Walker and his one-of-a-kind Los Angeles book, "All the Saints of the City... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Wes Hughes, a former editor at various levels of the Los Angeles Times, was a city editor and columnist at the San Bernardino Sun until... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Twelve U.S. journalists from ethnic media have been selected to take part in a week-long program, "Immigration: Reporting the Full Story," put on March 16-23... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa enjoyed the show front and, um, center, at the Martin Schoeller exhibition opening reception at ACE Gallery in Beverly Hills. Captured by... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Paul Oberjuerge was writing his column for the San Bernardino Sun when he got the call. They were "eliminating the position of sports columnist for... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
CNNMoney.com did a little web photo feature on where successful website startups such as Craigslist began. In the case of Digg, it was Kevin Rose's... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
In his first visit to the Wall Street Journal’s D.C. bureau, new owner Rupert Murdoch told staffers that he would put more resources into Washington... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Latest round of Chick v. Cardenas Exchange of letters yesterday afternoon with City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo over gang programs. WitnessLA Jane Usher email invites suits... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
March 10, 2008
The latest entry on the Los Angeles Times politics blog comes from a new — but no longer unexpected — source. It's credited not to... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
That audio of O.J. Simpson hollering at sports memorabilia collectors in a Las Vegas hotel last year was worth $165,000 to TMZ.com, reports The Smoking... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Ed Padgett at the Los Angeles Times Pressmens blog posted the news on Friday: 31 employees out, most in Orange County, some at the downtown... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
The best political contest of the year in Los Angeles, by far, is the showdown between Councilman Bernard Parks and State Sen. Mark Ridley-Thomas to... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Jane Galbraith is leaving as director of communications for Councilman Tom LaBonge after six years to work in the public affairs group at the Department... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Turf fight over gangs Controller Chick and Councilman Cardenas are still at odds over who should oversee the anti-gang funds available to the city. "I... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
March 09, 2008
What did they charge to see a silent movie in 1923, a quarter? At UCLA's Royce Hall this afternoon, many in the nearly full house... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Tad Daley, a writing fellow with International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War, rides on weekends with Los Angeles Wheelmen, Santa Monica Critical Mass... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
The documentary Citizen McCaw opened Friday night to a sell-out crowd of 2,200, reportedly including Wendy McCaw's sister, said to have remarked that she loved... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
March 08, 2008
The new website created and bankrolled by Liz Smith, Lesley Stahl, Peggy Noonan, Mary Wells and Joni Evans went live today. Backed by $1 million... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Couple of bad links fixed Sports columnist Paul Oberjuerge, science writer Elise Kleeman and former LAT editor Wes Hughes are among the staffers out of... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
March 07, 2008
My LA Observed commentary on KCRW today talks about the scene that awaits Lindsay Lohan when she reports to the Los Angeles County morgue for... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Donna Barstow takes some pics and blogs her thoughts about the Department of Water and Power.... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Certain eyes popped wide open when the Times reported last week that Nancy Daly Riordan, the ex-mayor's ex-wife, had sold her Malibu home for a... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Staffers at the San Gabriel Valley Tribune, already reeling from firings yesterday, have been told to show up today: "Please arrange your schedule to meet... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Tyler Green at Modern Art Notes has the memo and the explanation from spokesman Ron Hartwig that staff reductions are a result of new CEO... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Associate Editor Leo Wolinsky had handled page one duties through several of the recent editorships at the Los Angeles Times. For the first time in... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
An editorial in today's Long Beach Press-Telegram admits to challenges ahead, but says some of the fears about the paper's future have been overblown. Excerpt:... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Other deadlines intervene today. But check out Mark Lacter's Friday morning headlines at LA Biz Observed.... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
March 06, 2008
You've read about the story, now here's the invitation. Tomorrow night's event for City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo was put together, reports David Zahniser in the... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
After losing four sports staffers last week at the Daily News, the sports editor who doubles as writer of the paper's successful Kings blog had... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Ten newsroom positions will be eliminated from Pasadena to Whittier "before the day is out," says ex-staffer Gary Scott at his blog. Other departments are... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
NPR's board of directors says that Ken Stern is leaving by "mutual agreement." The memo from chairman Dennis Haarsager follows:... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Her years in Los Angeles taught Nancy Rommelmann, an ex-New Yorker, that no one is more provincial than New Yorkers. So she isn't surprised that... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Long Beach resident and LA Observed reader Ron Schweitzer sent a letter to the Press-Telegram explaining why the latest cuts there pushed him into becoming... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
One reporter each at the Pasadena Star-News and San Gabriel Valley Tribune so far, says former LANGland editor and reporter Gary Scott. More expected at... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Slope slides down to the street, knocks out power and pretty much screws traffic in that part of Westwood. LAT Also: Commuting isn't fun on... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Times sports columnist (and former editor of the section) Bill Dwyre gave a nice shout out in today's column to laid-off sports staffers at the... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
LAPD addresses big jump in homicides Murder in Los Angeles is up 27% so far this year. "One death is one too many, but we... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
March 05, 2008
As Mayor Napolitano leaves the Brentwood party with Celeste, her husband is gagging on an unwanted mouth full of gnarly Scottish peat in the men's... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Mayor Villaraigosa may have missed the Texas party for Hillary Clinton after Steve Lopez came gunning for him, but His Honor looks like he had... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
The Anthony Pellicano trial jury was seated today. The government's opening statement is set to begin tomorrow at 8 am. The prosecution's official witness list,... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
The Bay Guardian won its predatory pricing lawsuit against the SF Weekly, receiving about $15 million in trebled damages. Longtime BAG owner Bruce Brugmann had... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Veteran Times reporter Henry Weinstein will be on KCRW's Which Way, L.A.? tonight at 7 pm talking with host Warren Olney about the effects of... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
One is that Speaker Bass is related to State Sen. Mark Ridley-Thomas, reports Shane Goldmacher of the Sacramento Bee. She also went to Hamilton High,... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Harrison Sheppard is returning to the Woodland Hills office, where he will do a mix of editing and reporting, the Sacramento Bee's Capitol Alert says.... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Mark Lacter and I were just on "Airtalk" talking with Larry Mantle about the buyouts at the Times and other local papers. You can hear... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Pellicano trial begins today Although the case has not lived up to its billing as Hollywood's biggest scandal in decades, it still will offer "plenty... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
March 04, 2008
It's been a while since LA Observed readers first met math-challenged weather babe Jackie Johnson. If you have always craved just a little bit more,... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Assemblywoman Nell Soto, the 81 year-old Democrat from the San Gabriel Valley, hasn't been in Sacramento since at least September. She has been out ill.... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
This is the unofficial list going around the Los Angeles Times newsroom of staffers who applied for the buyout, whether nudged or not. Some applications... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Celeste Fremon is expected to guest on "Patt Morrison" on KPCC at the top of the 2 pm hour, to talk about the fake Margaret... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Dance critic Lewis Segal got the tap on the shoulder. His position is being eliminated, Sasha Anawalt writes: In a city where dance riddles the... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Madness has swept KCRW and they're letting me host Politics of Culture today at 2:30 pm — a half-hour of live radio on the blurred... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
From yesterday Margaret B. Jones' whopper MediaNews on 'negative watch' 'Citizen McCaw' premieres Friday The week in sports Past 24 hours on LAO 2... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Three Pulitzer winners from the John Carroll-Dean Baquet era turned in papers by yesterday's deadline, I'm told. Many other veteran reporters and editors have decided... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
She's Margaret Seltzer, she went to preppy Campbell Hall, and she never ran drugs for the Bloods in South L.A., she confessed to the New... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
No print edition, just online, and not much more ambitious than the mix already posted at the Anschutz media empire's obscure Los Angeles site —... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
March 03, 2008
Alumni of the late Los Angeles Herald Examiner, as they called it toward the end, are gathering March 13 at the L.A. Press Club. The... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Emmy winning writer, director, producer and blogger Ken Levine will do the post-game honors on KABC 790 AM this season. Levine has done play-by-play gigs... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
News and politics did well in the LATimes.com stats for February, so maybe there's hope yet. Politics blog Top of the Ticket led the pack... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
The documentary on Wendy McCaw's wreckage in Santa Barbara premieres Friday night up there. Filmmaker Sam Tyler, who will speak after the showing, says they... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
From the weekend Disappointed in Antonio Who's leaving Daily News Long Beach columnist whiffs Tales of County Jail All weekend posts Mayor cuts short... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
March 02, 2008
My weekend reading hit upon two fair, non-whiny examples of backlash against paparazzi and their nearly as notorious kin, those who snap celebs on cell... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
In the course of advising Los Angeles what it needs to become a super-city like London, New York or Shanghai, Times architecture critic Christopher... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
In his first column since the newspaper he has headlined for 30 years was decimated, "Mr. Press-Telegram" Tom Hennessey took a deep breath and railed... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
The Paper Trail, blog of the Daily News newsroom guild, names names and posts tributes to the staff who departed Friday. Included in the toll... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
The newspaper based in Monterey Park was hit with damages, penalties and interest in the class-action suit won by reporters and other staffers last year.... $MTEntryExcerpt$>