• An airline pilot uses his 40 years experience to bring his stricken jetliner down safely in the Hudson River, and the governor of New York dismisses it as "a miracle?"
• A 25-year-old gang member released on parole in June was arrested in connection with this week's murder of four-year-old Roberto Lopez, Jr. on Court Street. Wires
• Privatizing of Long Beach Airport is unlikely to actually happen. Press-Telegram
• So many people waited in line to apply for 58 affordable units at the Hollywood Community Housing Corp. that the police were called. LAT
• The Los Angeles County Democratic Party made its endorsements for the March 3 city election. Sausage Factory
• Attorney General-designate Eric Holder said he favors a shield law that would allow journalists to protect secret sources by refusing to testify before courts and grand juries. SF Chronicle
• Philip Recht, a partner at Mayer Brown LLP, was appointed chairman for the Central City Association.
• L.A. writer Amy Wallace has a cover story in Men's Journal on Mickey Rourke: "Sure, he isn’t as pretty as he was, but he is having more sex and attracting attention for his acting, not his antics." MJ
• Filmmaker Laura Bialis is now blogging live from Sderot about the rocket attacks on Israel. Jewish Journal.
• Perry Rubin, the 13-year-old daughter of KTLA entertainment reporter Sam Rubin, will be the special backstage correspondent at the "Kids’ Inaugural" concert honoring military families scheduled to air on the Disney Channel at 8 p.m. on Monday, January 19. Inaugural blog
• James Thorpe, director of the Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens for 17 years until 1983, died at age 93. LAT

Plus: Mark Lacter gets an LABO item out of yesterday's Current Affairs Forum lunch where I questioned LAWA's Gina Marie Lindsey.

Yesterday's LA Observed in digest form
This week's posts