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Inside the LAPD's red light photo unit, Greuel's cellphone audit, Brown's cuts, Villaraigosa's lunch at Drago yesterday, Rainey on those Schwarzenegger groping stories from '03, Hillary Swank's looks and much more.
Inside the LAPD's Photo Red Light Unit, which runs the cameras that last year issued 46,000 tickets amid questions of effectiveness and fairness. DN
City Controller Wendy Greuel at 9:30 a.m. will present an audit of the city's 11,812 cellphones and what they cost.
Gov. Jerry Brown issued a plan on Tuesday to cut $5.8 million from California's administrative costs by merging two state human resources organizations – including one that he launched 30 years ago. Bee, LAT
Brown's top water official revealed that a giant tunnel diverting water from the Sacramento River is no longer the leading option to solve the Delta's chronic water and environmental problems. Bee
California's high-speed rail project is a disaster-in-waiting, says Dan Walters: "On a whim, politicians and voters decided a few years ago that a bullet train connecting the northern and southern halves of the state would be a jim-dandy thing to have, even though nobody knew how much it would cost, whether it would generate enough riders to justify whatever the cost might be, or whether the money could be obtained. The state High-Speed Rail Authority, made up of politicians and political appointees with side agendas, has supposedly been working on the details. But we still don't know how much it would cost, what the ridership would likely be or what would be the sources of construction money." Bee, plus LAT story
James Rainey revisits the LAT's Schwarzenegger groping story of 2003 and dismisses the criticism then about the story's timing and relevance. LAT
The City Council voted to raise the hotel bed tax to a whopping 15.5%, from 14%, to pay for more tourist promotion. DN
Billionaire Eli Broad's foundation will be reimbursed for the $52 million cost of building a parking structure to serve his new art museum under a deal approved Tuesday by the Los Angeles City Council. DN
At 7 p.m., Warren Olney leads a discussion among some of the top candidates in the 36th congressional district race in the South Bay and Westside. KCRW/Which Way, L.A.?
A reader observed Mayor Villaraigosa having wine with lunch yesterday at Drago and wondered (I hope half-facetiously at least), "What if we had a major earthquake and he had to stand in front of the media in a hardhat directing?" Later in the afternoon he was on "Patt Morrison" on KPCC.
Reserve your seat for Villaraigosa's Town Hall meeting sponsored by the Daily News on May 23 at Reseda High School. DN
The memory of the late Joe Cerrell, a legendary political consultant, could live on at the Italian Hall in the El Pueblo de Los Angeles Historical Monument under a recommendation considered today by the Los Angeles City Council. City Maven
Hillary Swank's beauty came up while she was on "The Business" on KCRW this week and prompted new discussion of the pointless question: is she hot? EW Popwatch
Media question: Can the British royals save the celebrity weekly magazines? Forbes
Patric Kuh of Los Angeles magazine talks about the Top 10 Chinese restaurants in town at 10:30 a.m. on "Airtalk with Larry Mantle" on KPCC.
Dorothy Parvaz, an Al Jazeera reporter missing since she arrived at Damascus airport on April 29 to cover protests in Syria, was deported to Iran and is being held in Tehran. AJ
An LAPD undercover officer shot and killed a transient with a knife near 5th and Spring streets, reportedly while trying to take him into custody on a drug bust. LAT
Mulholland Books will release an e-book on June 6 of "L.A. NOIRE: The Collected Stories," a series of short stories based on characters and cases from the world of L.A. Noire, Rockstar's forthcoming new video game.
Mike Boehm reviews the recently published third edition of "Museum Companion to Los Angeles," Borislav Stanic's "exhaustive guide to every collection of art, artifacts and vehicles, every historic site, aquarium, botanical garden and zoo he's been able to uncover in Los Angeles County." LAT
Dennis McCarthy hangs out John Wooden's daughter in the room in the coach's honor at the Valley Inn in Sherman Oaks. DN
Michelle Krotinger Wolf, former City Hall press secretary to Zev Yaroslavsky, blogs at the Jewish Journal on raising her 16-year-old son with developmental disabilities and dealing with the LAUSD. Jews and Special Needs
A Times editorial wishes Lakers coach Phil Jackson a grand retirement: "He was the ideal coach for a team in a fickle town that has little patience for losers." LAT editorial