Will anyone listen to new controller?
What won what whereNews and notes are tucked away after the jump. Mark remains away at LA Biz Observed; follow LAO on Twitter through the day.
- Joel Grover's camera catches Getty House, the mayor's official residence in Windsor Square, watering the lawn during banned hours. That's sure to spoil Villaraigosa's 9 a.m. presser to claim the city's water restrictions are working. KNBC
- The Board of Education voted 6-1 for a plan to turn over as many as 250 campuses to charter groups and other outside operators. LAT, DN
- Deputy Chief Sergio Diaz has let it be known that wants to be considered for LAPD chief. Witness LA
- Five Asian citrus psyllids were found in traps in Santa Ana, the farthest north the pest has been found — potentially a very bad sign for the California citrus industry. LAT
- The county Board of Supervisors voted to ask the UC Regents to take swift action on the proposal to reopen Martin Luther King Jr. Hospital. LAT
- The lesser-known candidates in the 2nd district council race are upset that there are better-funded candidates likely to dominate. DN
- Former LAPD officer David Woon Chong was sentenced to four years in prison for threatening a Redondo Beach restaurant patron with his gun and a knife while off-duty and legally drunk. Breeze wires
- An uncontained wildfire in the Angeles National Forest above Azusa has burned about 600 acres, caused evacuation of some campers, and provided some visual excitement in the basin. L.A. Now
- Article called 50 Years After America’s Worst Nuclear Meltdown is an explainer on the Santa Susana Field Lab situation. Miller-McCune
- A 2001 environmental impact report on the Cadiz water project in the Mojave has been put online by the Pacific Institute. Chance of Rain
- The Times of London proclaims Jerry Brown "on the brink of an extraordinary political comeback" and uses the old photo of Brown as governor on a plane with Linda Ronstadt.SF Chronicle/Marinucci
- California's aggregate property value fell by 2.4% in the latest fiscal year, the first drop in the 76 years that the state has kept records. LAT, Bee
- A former L.A. Times editor finds inspiration in her first visit to Simon Rodia's Watts Towers. LAT Op-Ed
- You can now get L.A. street traffic info from Google Maps in addition to the other sites that provide it. LAT