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City Council hopefuls get a date, Garcetti gets an NYT story, Cenk Uygur gets mad and Katzenberg says the movies "suck." Plus more.
Gov. Jerry Brown has taken uncommon power over the state Fair Political Practices Commission, including by making the general counsel a political appointee. Bee
The special election in the 15th city council district to replace Janice Hahn will be held Nov. 8. If a runoff is necessary, that will be Jan. 17, 2012. City Maven, DN
The City Council passed an ordinance that makes it a crime for drivers to threaten cyclists verbally or physically, and allows victims of harassment to sue in civil court without waiting for the city to press criminal charges. LAT
The New York Times does a story on City Council President Eric Garcetti because of his stint playing a mayor on his dad's TV show and because "he is openly pondering a run for mayor of Los Angeles." NYT
President Obama nominated Los Angeles attorney Michael Walter Fitzgerald to be a federal judge. A former assistant U.S. attorney here, Fitzgerald would be the first openly gay judge on the U.S. District Court for the L.A. region. LAT
Sherry Bebitch Jeffe and husband Doug Jeffe co-bylined a piece on "California as the place where the demise of moderate GOP lawmakers took root." Politico
A State Water Resources Control Board vote to give the DWP an additional nine years to phase out once-through cooling at its three coastal power plants is "a defeat for the health of our local oceans" and horrible for fish, says Heal the Bay's Mark Gold. Spouting Off
LAUSD superintendent John Deasy suspended a new policy that reduced the importance of homework to students' final grades. LAT
Cenk Uygur is leaving MSNBC, and not quietly, after his weekday slot was taken away and reportedly will go to Al Sharpton. He visit tonight on Keith Olbermann's show on Current. NYT, Salon, HuffPost
DreamWorks Animation's Jeffrey Katzenberg told an audience that this year's movies "suck," adding "It's unbelievable how bad movies have been ... right now today it's a particularly dreary moment." Fortune, Big Picture
Friday is the last day at La Opinión for executive editor Pedro Rojas. "I needed a break,” he told Veronica Villafañe. “In this job you have to be on call 24 hours a day, every day. I’ve been in the business a long time. Now I need to relax for a few months.” Media Moves
Amy Lee, the Huffington Post writer who was suspended for “over-aggregating” a post, is back at her job. Romenesko
Inside the story of Ezri Namvar, the so-called "Bernie Madoff of Beverly Hills" who is under house arrest in Brentwood and living in an $8 million mansion while he awaits sentencing for wire fraud. The mansion has been foreclosed and the bank is trying to evict him. There is a dispute over the water bill, and the lawn has turned to weeds. "We would have paid everybody off if it wasn't for the bankruptcy," he tells Gene Maddaus. LA Weekly
A blog history of bus service through Sepulveda Pass. More Than Red Cars
With still to-be-determined state budget cuts looming, University of California Press has decided to suspend the publication of its poetry book series New California Poetry. The press expects to take a cut of about 10% in direct funding from the University of California. Jacket Copy
The Rancho Palos Verdes City Council has smacked down Trump National Golf Club's second bid in four years to erect a "privacy hedge" of ficus trees between its driving range and neighboring coastal homes that mogul Donald Trump once called "terrible from every standard." Daily Breeze
Sports Illustrated columnist Jon Heyman tweeted yesterday that there isn't another player in baseball that he would trade the Dodgers' Clayton Kershaw for straight up.
Lillian Mobley, a prominent community activist in South L.A. who fought to establish and keep open the doors of Martin Luther King Jr./Drew Medical Center, died at age 81. LAT, The Wave