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Bell's big problem isn't high salaries but that it's controlled by gangs, says veteran southeast reporter Jeffrey Anderson. Plus Steve Cooley's gifts, Broad and Saban give to Brown and Whitman, the report on Maxine Waters, LAX north runway may be moved and that judge is slapped down for prior restraint of a Times photo.
- A much bigger problem in Bell than high salaries is that "street gangs, a powerful prison gang known as the Mexican Mafia and even more powerful drug-trafficking organizations based in Mexico and Colombia operate freely in this small city and the similarly sized cities surrounding it," writes Jeffrey Anderson, who was covering the corruption in southeast cities for years before the L.A. Times rediscovered Bell. Washington Times
Plus: DA subpoenas records. LAT
And:Maywood is taking steps to break away from its ties with Bell. LAT - DA Steve Cooley has taken gifts of free tickets to Lakers and USC games, plus a trip to Notre Dame and a gift certificate to Spago, from friends in the legal community, based on his disclosure reports. SF Chronicle
- The House Ethics Committee report on Rep.Maxine Waters accuses her of violating three rules — one that requires its members to "behave at all times in a manner that shall reflect creditably on the House," a second that prohibits lawmakers from using their influence for personal benefit and a third forbidding the dispensing of favors. LAT
- Eli Broad and Haim Saban have covered their bets with donations to both Jerry Brown and Meg Whitman, plus more Hollywood contributions in the governor's race. THR
- A state Court of Appeal ordered Superior Court judge Hilleri G. Merritt to abandon her order barring the Los Angeles Times from publishing images of a man accused of murder. LAT
- LAX officials are looking at moving the north runway 400 feet closer to the airport boundary and 625 feet west toward the ocean, causing consternation among neighbors. Breeze
- The City Council is expected to vote today on motions by Council President Eric Garcetti to put charter amendments on the ballot to create a new office of customer advocate to oversee the DWP and open up the agency's budget.
- Controller Wendy Greuel will release an audit of the city Department of Transportation that found waste in a contract for Automated Vehicle Locator Systems on parking enforcement cars.
- Sheriff Lee Baca refused to release documents the L.A. Times requested on the 1970 killing by a sheriff's deputy of journalist Ruben Salazar, saying it would set a bad precedent and be labor intensive. The FBI and LAPD have already released their documents. LAT
- Metro deleted one of its own Facebook comments explaining why only 1% of the transit agency's employees take Metro to work, and a critical follow-up comment from a reader. Neon Tommy
- The September covers of Vogue, Harper's Bazaar and Elle all feature actresses in their 40s: Halle Berry, Jennifer Aniston, and Julia Roberts. THR
- A new blog by L.A. Times photographers, Framework, "celebrates the power and explores the craft of visual storytelling."
- Daily Breeze reporter Denise Nix is leaving the paper to work for the child-advocacy group First 5 LA. Gary Scott
Also: City Hall reporter Dan Abendschein has left the Pasadena Star-News to become editor of AOL's Patch site for Altadena. Gary Scott - Marlene Greenfield will retire after 60 years and two months as a clerk with the LAPD. Breeze wires