Morning Buzz: Wednesday 4.15.09

• Fox News' hyping of today's anti-tax tea parties is a "team effort" that includes the news anchors and has been "building up to the protests with Super Bowl-style intensity." James Rainey/LAT, DN, NPR, Patterico, Marc Cooper, tea party website
• A judge struck down parts of the city housing density ordinance that let developers build taller buildings in exchange for setting aside some units for affordable housing, throwing many projects into doubt. LAT
• The latest move on the LAUSD chess board is to approve the layoffs of more than 5,000 workers including teachers; what actually will happen remains to be seen. LAT, DN, KPCC
• State of the city coverage. LAT, DN, editorial, Friendly Fire, L.A. Daily, KPCC, Patt Morrison audio, Witness LA plus the full text from yesterday
• The ACLU and other activists say the county's Men's Central Jail needs to be closed because "the conditions are medieval and drive men mad." LAT, DN, KPCC, KCRW/WWLA
• Metrolink crash survivor Racheal Mofya, a 27-year-old exchange student from Zambia, still faces "months of physical and mental rehabilitation to regain the ability to walk, read, write and speak easily." Catherine Saillant/LAT
• Brand X officially debuts today at the L.A. Times website (and in the old Metromix news boxes) with a welcome note from editors Dean Kuipers and Deborah Vankin. And yes, they did have the website address secured.
• Amazon's weekend "glitch" turned into "an embarrassing and ham-fisted cataloging error" that affected 57,310 books and wasn't gay-centric at all, despite the hysteria of the online lemmings. LAT Tech blog
• Merrick Bobb's LAT opinion piece over the weekend failed to mention a key conflict of interest, says Patterico.
• When James Toback failed to show for a KPCC "Airtalk" segment on Mike Tyson, listener Annette Bening called him and told him to phone in. "As odd as it may seem, this is one of the things I love about live radio," Larry Mantle blogs.
• Sixteen first ladies from Africa, Maria Shriver and the wife of Britain's prime minister will attend the Leadership For Health Summit at the Skirball next week. Info
• In praise of R. M. Schindler's 1948 Laurelwood Apartments in Studio City. Big Orange Landmarks
• Philanthropist and liberal activist Wally Marks, whose family real estate firm helped develop Wilshire Boulevard and the Third Street Promenade and preserved the Helms Bakery building, died Monday at age 78. LAT

Mark Lacter's headlines