*Big-name layoffs begin at the L.A. Times

NBA writer Mark Heisler is out, according to a source, as are other familiar bylines. I've heard a few names, as has Kevin, and we're trying to sort it out. But clearly this is a big round of staff cuts, in number as well as stature. Farewell notes are already going around.

*Two more names: Sports columnist Jerry Crowe and assistant business editor Sharon Bernstein.

**Two more: columnist Tim Rutten, who had been at the paper for 40 years, and Margot Roosevelt, who has covered environmental matters for many years.

I'm told that this round of layoffs will not be very big - perhaps a dozen or so on the news side. Disappointing ad revenues are apparently behind the cuts.