Weekend desk clearing

Plus LA Biz Observed has a post on the studios and the Teamsters avoiding a Hollywood strike with a deal this weekend.

Mayor Villaraigosa will formally name chief zoning administrator Michael LoGrande to be city planning director on Monday morning. LAT, DN
Plus: The Daily News has some recommendations for LoGrande already. DN editorial
Villaraigosa accepts the Daily News' challenge to prove he's not disengaged as mayor and talks to Rick Orlov about it. DN
An 11-year-old hanged himself just hours after L.A. County social workers came to check on reports he was suicidal. LAT
New USC athletic director Pat Haden adds 2036, the year a website predicts he will die, to his email signatures. LAT
The three Northridge neighborhood councils, Cal State Northridge, the Mulholland Institute and other groups have launched a major planning effort in the Valley community. Northridge Vision.org
Related: New Northridge South council and cellphone tower. DN
Google has missed its deadline to provide the city of Los Angeles with a new email system. MarketWatch, LA Weekly, LAT
My favorite un-New York Times-ish paragraph in Jennifer Steinhauer's report on how Angelenos usually lord our weather over the rest of the country, but are feeling grumpy about this summer's coolness: "Ha, ha, ha, ha!" NYT
As the National Journal tries to make its political coverage more timely and edgy, it offered buyouts to everybody on staff and likely will move Ron Brownstein to a new role as editorial director of the National Journal Group. NYT
John Peterson has been polishing the stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for 14 years. LAT
L.A. Times readers are no clearer on where the Westside begins and ends than the Times itself. LAT
Natasha Vargas-Cooper's blog Mad Men Unbuttoned is now a book, and a book party at the Formosa. Fishbowl LA
Dan Haren, the front-line starting pitcher the Dodgers needed, was available after all — and went to the Angels Sunday in a four-player trade. The Dodgers got a nice 1-0 win today, though, over the Mets on pitching by Clayton Kershaw and rookie Kenley Jansen. Reuters, LAT
Irvin R. Lai, a prominent Chinese American community leader in Los Angeles "at the forefront of virtually every civil rights issue in Southern California," died at age 83. LAT