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More on President Obama's visit, baseball v. McCourt, the subsidy behind the downtown NFL stadium and Riordan's backing of Beutner, plus Rick Dees, WeHo's John J. Duran and more.
President Obama's visit today threatens to disrupt Holy Thursday activities at St. Augustine Catholic Church, which is across the street from Sony Pictures in Culver City. "It's ridiculous," the pastor said. "Obviously, they didn't have anyone who knew anything about the Catholic Church." LAT, Patch, LA Weekly
Steve Soboroff, the Dodgers' new vice chairman, blasted Commissioner Bud Selig's decision to take over the team as "irresponsible" and dismissed concerns that Frank McCourt is too financially strapped to operate the Dodgers. He said a $3 billion deal with Fox is in place, if Selig lets it happen. LAT
Fred Claire, the ex-GM, says takeover could be start of a better era for Dodgers. SGV Tribune
How did Los Angeles city leaders turn $1 million intended to help downtown’s homeless and low-income denizens into a proposed subsidy for the global architecture firm designing downtown’s proposed NFL football stadium? LA Weekly
How lobbyist John Ek gets his way at City Hall. LA Weekly
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa unveiled a $6.9-billion budget Wednesday that, despite lethargic tax revenues amid a struggling economy, expands an array of city services.The proposal for the 2011-12 fiscal year calls for eliminating a $457-million shortfall while increasing pothole repairs by 20%, restoring one day of library service cut last year and putting an end to rotating staff reductions at the Fire Department. LAT, DN
Richard Riordan, backing friend Austin Beutner for mayor over friend Rick Caruso, says Caruso "should move to Santa Monica and run for mayor of Santa Monica.” City Maven, LAT, DN
The L.A. City Council voted 11-0 to seek a change in takeoff routes at Santa Monica Airport. LAT
Capitol Weekly released the lower half of its top 100 state "political warriors." Capitol Weekly
West Hollywood Mayor Pro Tempore John Jude Duran talks about Kobe Bryant, Elizabeth Taylor and possibly running for county Supervisor when Zev Yaroslavsky vacates. L.A. Independent
Rick Dees, a morning-radio fixture for two decades at KIIS-FM (102.7), is returning to the L.A. airwaves May 4, when he takes over a.m. duties at KHHT-FM (92.3). LAT
The Economist today published a special report on the state of California: "an experiment in extreme democracy gone wrong." The Economist
Zocalo announces its website's editorial team: Andrés Martinez, former editorial page editor of the Los Angeles Times, is editorial director. T.A. Frank, formerly at The New Republic and Washington Monthly, is ideas editor. Joe Mathews, author and former political reporter for the L.A. Times, is now California editor. Megan Greenwell, former Washington Post reporter, is managing editor. Zocalo
Jon Heyman from Sports Illustrated guests on "The Madeleine Brand Show" on KPCC at 9:05 to talk about the Dodgers.
Dr. Michael Gottlieb, the UCLA scientist who identified the start of the AIDS epidemic in 1981, writes that "It is not easy for young people to imagine what HIV/AIDS was like in the ‘80s and ‘90s." Frontiers
The DWP will break formally ground today on the state's largest ultraviolet water treatment facility at the Los Angeles Aqueduct Filtration Plant in the Granada Hills area.
A former cadet with the San Fernando Police Department sued the city and its police chief this week, claiming that she was wrongfully fired as a result of a sexual affair she carried on with the chief. DN
McCourt: Selig just has Dodger Dog envy. eTrueSports