The return of BBC World News with Mike Embley pushes that Japanese news program to 5:30 and Globe Trekker to 6 p.m

But he says it was worth it, despite the toll on his family.

Kay Mills, the former Los Angeles Times editorial writer who authored five books, died Thursday at age 69.

Sean Smith is leaving as Los Angeles bureau chief of Entertainment Weekly to serve overseas in the Peace Corps.

Miguel Angel Corzo, President and CEO of L.A. Plaza de Cultura y Artes, announced a halt to the archaeological excavation where the remains of early Angelenos have been found.

Jamie McCourt, who gets substantial ammunition to argue that she remains co-owner of the Dodgers, also shared the same room today as Roz Wyman, the former City Council member who played a key role in bringing the Brooklyn Dodgers to Los Angeles.

"Before Black Swan, I had never danced in my life, and I will never dance again."

Somehow I'm not surprised that the whole Ted Williams/homeless guy with golden voice saga spawned either an imitator or a spoofer.

Quick and early for Friday, but still pretty good.

Brad Smith got the endorsement of the Los Angeles County Democratic Party the other night in the 12th district City Council race in the west Valley. On Thursday, Smith dropped out of the contest.

Ana Patricia Candiani will be the new 6 p.m. weekday anchor on KVEA starting Jan 31, forcing other moves in the lineup.

On gun violence, signs of life in the economy, Boyarsky on redevelopment and schools, and the return of Angeleno Datebook.

Michael Russell says his employer of 17 years, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, and its awards are tainted by fraud and corrupt practices.

Rizzo brought too much heat for obscure Orange County museum.

On the Guest DJ Project, KCRW gathers the musical choices of a pretty wide variety of people, Angelenos and not. Recent guests have included Colin Firth (who gets his star...

LAO Contributor Jenny Price, who has written here before about guns and her brother's killing, at Native Intelligence.

KTLA's Eric Spillman spotted this Google-mobile at, by the looks of it, Fairfax and Pico.

More good news from Rep. Giffords hospital room, Jerry Brown vs. UC, Brown's big risks on budget, up close with activist Cary Brazeman and medical reports on local greats Etta James and Frank Robinson.

Artist Stuart Rapeport, inspired by his favorite line from Steve Lopez's encounter with disgraced Bell official Robert Rizzo in the parking lot at the International Surfing Museum in Huntington Beach.

Four protesters who tried unsuccessfully to block destruction of dozens of trees in the Arcadia Woodlands for a sediment-dumping project were arrested for trespassing this evening.

I'm not sure where Ron Kaye's grand plan to topple the L.A. City Council with a slate of candidates stands, but he'll be columnizing on Sundays in Glendale and Burbank.

After a three-hour closed-door session, City Administrative Officer Miguel Santana said the City Council had voted unanimously to submit a parking garage concession agreement to potential private operators. But no details.

From Channel2's irrepressible Jackie Johnson.

The Miami Heat came to town on a 13-game road win streak. They had LeBron James and friends, and they were playing the Clippers. Clips win 111-105.

Actor Peter Fonda was driving in Pacific Palisades this afternoon when he discovered an apparent suicide. Plus: Jane Fonda tweets.

Instant classic Steve Lopez column in tomorrow's L.A. Times. A tipster dropped me a line the other day to say she'd spotted an infamous former public official in Huntington Beach,...

Ex-governor Arnold Schwarzenegger declares victory on pension and budget reform.

Elvis Mitchell, the longtime print film writer and critic who hosts "The Treatment" on KCRW, has signed on as co-chief film critic (with ex-Salon critic Stephanie Zacharek ) for the expanding Movieline.

Robert Masello's novel "Bestiary" came closer to the truth than he could have imagined.

Not included in the Sofitel Hotel's pool shots: the big ol' shopping center right across the street.

The new W unveils the first official look at American actress Rooney Mara as Lisbeth Salander, the kick-ass heroine of the Swedish trilogy by the late Stieg Larsson.

Giffords prognosis improves, wounded deputy identified, AP and Shepard Fairey reach settlement over the Obama Hope poster, plus Mark Kriski and a bunch of media notes.

Officer Tomiekia Johnson, 31, originally told police she shot her husband two years ago because he was abusive.

Regular followers of Here in Malibu know about Veronique de Turenne's "sweet 1949 Plymouth."

Nearly two months later, the paper says eight men are not sex offenders and parole violators.

A Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department deputy was shot in the cheek Tuesday night in East Los Angeles. The gunman was killed.

Ed Lee, San Francisco's administrative officer, was appointed and sworn in today as the city's first Chinese-American mayor.

Tropico de Nopal is west of Downtown, but the gallery space and its director are of the Eastside.

Los Angeles writer Heather Havrilesky, staff critic on film and TV at Rupert Murtdoch's forthcoming iPad news site, has a new memoir out, "Disaster Preparedness."

Ack. Another independent bookstore in Los Angeles is closing.

Golden voice man detained by LAPD, more Brown budget reaction, Newsom becomes Lite Gov and the second issue of Slake.

KOCE president and CEO Mel Rogers still can't quite believe that his little Orange County station that nearly went off the air a few years ago has suddenly become the public broadcasting powerhouse of Southern California.

I was tied up most of the day, but these were highlights from other contributors to the site. Think books and politics, with a little fashion.

Today's column: the rising political dominance of the Bay Area at the expense of Southern California.

Arianna Huffington was escorted by Port Authority police off United Flight 7118 at La Guardia after refusing to turn off her Blackberry, according to a report by Gawker's Valleywag.

Human remains at La Placita, Dennis Zine's dating, rats at City Hall, Playboy to go private, TNT's view of the Valley and more.

Sylvia Bursztyn created Sunday crossword puzzles for the Los Angeles Times for 30 years. She was found dead of natural causes in her Granada Hills home on Dec. 30, according...

LA Observed contributor Deanne Stillman was outside the University Medical Center in Tucson on Sunday for the outpouring of public support for the six victims killed in Saturday's shooting and for Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, who remains in intensive care with doctors optimistic about her chances for recovery.

Guy McCarthy of Watershed News grabbed a shot of the Sunday cloud cover over the basin from Baldy Village, below the summit of Mount Baldy.

Lawyer F. Lee Bailey, who's now 77, has posted a lengthy argument on his consulting firm's firm website contending that O.J. Simpson did not kill his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ronald Goldman in 1994.

San Francisco Police Chief George Gascón said he had no idea when he walked into Mayor Gavin Newsom's office that he would be asked to take over as District Attorney.

Bunch of developments in the campaign by AEG's Tim Leiweke to rush through approval of a football stadium next to Staples Center and, he hopes, secure an NFL team to play there before Ed Roski's proposed stadium in Industry gets one.