Follow LA Observed on Twitter here
A lot of people still read newspapers, HuffPost's Antonio for Senate rumor called silly, and pot come backs to the City Council — more after the jump.
- Nearly three in four U.S. adults still read newspapers in print or online at least once a week, Scarborough says. The study 79% of white collar employed adults, and 84% of college graduates, read a printed newspaper. Nielsen Wire
- The "flat-out silliest political story in months was to be found on the home post of Huffpost in recent days. Headlined 'Antonio Villaraigosa may call the U.S. Senate ‘home’ in 2012'..." CalBuzz
- There are 45 initiative measures being circulated for voter signatures in California, with another 38 awaiting titles and summaries by the Attorney General. California's Capitol
- LAPD chief Charlie Beck pledged to correct accounting practices in the LAPD's purchasing division. DN, Fox 11
- The buffer zone proposed by the City Council would require almost all marijuana dispensers to close and is probably dead as soon as the issue comes up again, perhaps today. LAT
- DWP chief S. David Freeman said the utility shelved plans for a 970-acre solar farm near the Salton Sea that did not have City Council support. LAT
- For a second year, the MTA's 24-hour service for New Year's on the Metro Red, Purple, Blue, Green and Gold lines will exclude the Orange Line across the Valley. DN Updated: MTA changed its mind.
- Private money from Eli Broad and foundations is paying for key senior staff positions in the Los Angeles Unified School District. LAT
- The combined deficit of the city’s two major pension plans is $11.5 billion, says activist Jack Humphreville. CityWatch
- Iconix Brand Group ended talks on buying Playboy Enterprises after determining it would be too complicated to separate the Playboy brand from the company's other assets. Bloomberg
- Author and screenwriter William Stadiem has sold "Moneywood," called "an insider's look at the money-driven, high-stakes world of Hollywood producers during the 1980s and at how that era's ways of valuing greed and excess over artistry have shaped the Tinseltown of today," to St. Martin's. Publishers Lunch
Also:Time columnist Joel Stein sold his first book, "an insightful, humorous look at the absurdities of modern American culture and fatherhood," to Grand Central.