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State Department warns journos in Libya, Alarcon cleared of one accusation, Abby Sunderland memoir sells and more books notes.
The State Department warned that Libya will consider reporters that enter country illegally to be Al Qaida collaborators. Romenesko
The Los Angeles County district attorney's office served search warrants Wednesday at two homes connected to another former top Bell official, "suggesting that the investigation into corruption in city government has expanded." LAT — Also, Robert Rizzo's hearing will be put off until Monday.
Mayor Villaraigosa makes his pitch for federal funding of transit projects on Larry Mantle's "Airtalk" at 10:30 a.m. on KPCC.
Rick Caruso's company is launching a major expansion plan and says it will bid on contracts to operate retail sales in Terminal 2 and the Tom Bradley International Terminal at LAX — an involvement that should make him ineligible to run for mayor, but won't. LAT
The City Ethics Commission cleared Councilman Richard Alarcon of misusing his position to have a block of Wakefield Avenue in Panorama City where his wife owns property to be downgraded from a busy highway to a quieter "collector" street. LAT
Councilman Paul Krekorian put up an online survey of 49 questions "designed to help shape the city’s policies governing the neighborhood council movement throughout Los Angeles." Google doc
Gov. Jerry Brown and wife have taken a dog, a a Pembroke Welsh corgi named Sutter Brown. SF Chronicle
And Brown won't be attending the National Governors Association meetings in Washington this weekend. Capitol Alert
The LA Weekly pushes for Measure L again. LAW
Oscar season is when L.A.'s bogus reputation for being a one-industry town "goes from largely unwarranted to sadly justified," writes Meghan Daum. LAT op-ed
The press barrage for "Battle: Los Angeles" includes references to the night 69 years ago today that some in L.A. feared a Japanese air raid on the city was happening. LA Weekly
The rise and fall of formerly homeless "golden voice" Ted Williams, now relocated to Los Angeles and living in a halfway house. LAT
Teen-aged sailor Abby Sunderland's book "Unsinkable," written with Lynn Vincent, sold to Thomas Nelson for publication in April 2011. Publishers Lunch
Affidavits filed in a lawsuit claim to reveal that it was Roger E. Ailes, chairman of Fox News, who urged publishing powerhouse Judith Regan to lie to federal investigators several years about her affair with Bernard B. Kerik. NYT
CNN Anchor Don Lemon "opens up for the first time in his new inspiring and riveting memoir," titled "Transparent," due for release in May 2011. Via release
"A Discovery of Witches" by Deborah Harkness is the top hardcover fiction book in Southern California independent bookstores this week. IndieBound
Daniel A. Olivas' upcoming novel, "The Book of Want," gets a nice review in this month's Los Angeles magazine.
Freeway fiction from KPCC's Adolfo Guzman-Lopez. SoCal Focus
Author Joe Mathews and L.A. Business Journal editor Charles Crumpley stop in at the Off The Presses politics podcast today. LA Talk Radio
Father Greg Boyle, author of “Tattoos On the Heart,” speaks at Santa Monica College on March 10.
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The home where LAFD veteran Glenn Allen died is now being treated as a crime scene.
The ACLU and the Council on American-Islamic Relations filed a lawsuit alleging that the FBI violated the 1st Amendment rights of hundreds of Muslims by using a paid informant to illegally monitor several Southern California mosques based solely on religion. LAT