Morning Buzz: Monday 2.1.10

Your list of Grammy winners, plus blue whales change their octave, Cardinal Mahony's succession, the budget mess at City Hall, a bunch of endorsements for Janice Hahn and Ed Roski's political donations. And more, after the jump.

Here's your list of Grammy winners, including Taylor Swift for album of the year and Beyonce six times.
Blue whales off the SoCal coast are communicating in a lower key than in the 1960s, possibly because they are happier now. LAT
Considering the politics and possibilities of Cardinal Roger Mahony's succession. LA Daily, Catholic Vote Action
Budget cuts at City Hall portend big changes, including possibly 500 more layoffs on top of 1,000 already on the table. LAT, LAT, DN
Plus:
City Attorney Carmen Trutanich will fight the proposed cuts to his office staff. KPCC, LAT

Ron Kaye sent a personal note to his Saving LA email list calling on followers to attend a City Hall rally today to protest proposed budget cuts and show elected officials "that the day of reckoning has arrived." Neighborhood council reps also plan a 12:30 press conference.

Neighborhood council funding on the table. Neon Tommy, City Watch

Time to consider a cut in LAPD staffing, the Downtown News says in an editorial.
Times columnist Steve Lopez got an audience with Mayor Villaraigosa and thus declares "a fresh start" in their relations. LAT
Mayor Villaraigosa appointed Wayne Moore to the Board of Fire and Police Pension Commissioners, Annie Chu to the Cultural Affairs Commission and Gail Kennard to the Cultural Heritage Commission.
Eight members of the Los Angeles City Council endorsed colleague Janice Hahn's campaign for lieutenant governor. They are Eric Garcetti, Paul Koretz, Tom Labonge, Bernard Parks, Jan Perry, Bill Rosendahl, Herb Wesson and Dennis Zine.
The city is looking for a general manager of animal services, and it's a hard job to fill even with 33 applicants so far. LAT, DN/Orlov
Developer and would-be NFL stadium builder Ed Roski Jr., ramped up his contributions at the end of 2009, donating $505,000 to California political campaign chests including $300,000 toward a proposed ballot measure that would change term limits for future legislators. LAT
Patt Morrison interviewed Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas in her Saturday Op-Ed column. LAT
Candidate Meg Whitman severed her ties with the Santa Clarita city councilman who called himself "a proud racist" over illegal immigration. AP
Lancaster Mayor R. Rex Parris has made himself controversial by calling on his desert city to assert itself as "a Christian community." LAT
In a special edition of The Talk of the Town, J.D. Salinger is remembered by Lillian Ross, Adam Gopnik and John Seabrook. Plus Ross shows unpublished photos from her private collection. The New Yorker
Today is the ninth anniversary of the Angels Flight accident that has kept the railway closed ever since. DT News