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- An audit found that L.A. County pays $1.5 million a year for 8,000 unused phone lines — and the audit is only half done. LAT
- Mayor Villaraigosa is Intellectually "no match for Mr. Brown, nor ideologically for Mr. Newsom. But he is a Machiavellian politician, ready to make or cross allies" and "nor is Mr. Villaraigosa quite the disaster the local press alleges," says The Economist (via L.A. Daily)
- Legendary L.A. rock radio station KMET (formerly at 94.7) will be recreated for a day July 10 on FM 100.3. DN
More good stuff after the jump.
- The LAFD is way behind on its annual fire safety inspections of buildings where the public gathers, blaming staff losses and budget cuts. LAT
- LAUSD officials looked ahead and project a $1.1 billion deficit through 2012, likely causing more class size increases, program cuts and steep reductions to services. DN
- Mayor Villaraigosa is in line to become president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors in 2011, assuming of course he is still a mayor. Bee
- Ray Richmond has parted ways with the Hollywood Reporter after all these years, not amicably. Deadline Hollywood Daily
- Former L.A. Times food writer Amy Scattergood is apparently editor of the food blog for the LA Weekly. Squid Ink
- Some international chatter about some Christians' desire to burn Francesca Lia Block's "Baby Be-Bop," a young adult novel in which a boy, struggling with his homosexuality, is beaten up by a homophobic gang. The Guardian
- The Elegant Variation's Mark Sarvas gets just one L.A. appearance for the paperback issue of his novel "Harry, Revised," June 20 at Book Soup. Info
- Former LAT and LA Weekly writer Daniel Hernandez returns from Mexico City to speak at a Zocalo event June 25 at MOCA. His blog, Zocalo
- The AIA's Dwell on Design conference and coincident Mobius LA event are June 25-28 downtown. Info
- The Orange County Museum of Art's decision to sell 18 California Impressionist paintings is discussed by the L.A. Times' Christopher Knight and Mike Boehm on this week's Off-Ramp on KPCC, also at the blogs of Tyler Green and Culture Grrl
- City officials may force the Long Beach Museum of Art to sell off artwork to cover bond debt. LAT
- Los Angeles county unveiled a system of notifying residents of emergencies via land-line phones, but people can add their own cell phones and email addresses. LAT
- Kings president and general manager Dean Lombardi and other team officials plan to twitter live from the team's table at the NHL draft June 26-27 in Montreal.