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Supes OK more Newhall Ranch homes, city spreads out pension costs, car wash workers unionize, one paper adds a book section and honoring Wanda Coleman. Plus more inside.
Also: Wednesday morning headlines from Mark Lacter at LA Biz Observed
Gov. Jerry Brown will give lawmakers his plan for pension changes on Thursday, the governor said in a letter to legislators. Capitol Alert
The Board of Supervisors on Tuesday signaled its intent to take greater control of First 5 LA, an independent voter-approved agency that uses cigarette taxes to fund health, safety and educational programs for children. LAT
The Supervisors approved the second, Mission Village segment of the giant Newhall Ranch project near Santa Clarita. LAT, DN
The City Employees' Retirement System board decreased its expected investment return from 8% to 7.75% per year, but bowed to pressure from Mayor Villaraigosa and spread the cost of that change over the next five years. LAT, DN, City Maven
The City Attorney's Office filed suit against Hollywood's Roosevelt Hotel, claiming it erected and maintained illegal supergraphics on its exterior walls. DN wires
Sherry Bebitch Jeffe posts a tribute to Timothy Hodson, the recently retired executive director of the Center for California Studies at California State University, Sacramento, who died oif brain cancer at 61. Prop Zero
The Chicago Tribune, sister paper of the L.A. Times, is planning to launch a weekly book section in January and charge about $2 for it. Crain's Chicago Business
There are few living writers who've done more to document in poetry, as Wanda Coleman has done for more than 40 years, what it's like to live in Los Angeles. Adolfo Guzman-Lopez
Author Chip Jacobs has discovered that his quadriplegic uncle was Ed Wood's sound man on
“Plan Nine from Outer Space.” It's a Hollywood story. Blog
Workers at the Bonus Car Wash on Lincoln Blvd. in Santa Monica have become the first in Southern California to unionize. LAT
A Mexican fishing boat possibly used for smuggling people or drugs into Southern California was discovered Tuesday on a Rancho Palos Verdes beach. Daily Breeze
Sherman Oaks homeowners Joe and Orit Picker argue their illegally built wall should be allowed to stay so they can have privacy from paparazzi that target their celebrity neighbor, actor Shia LaBeouf. DN
A visitor from San Francisco has a review and some suggestions about riding Metro. Brigham Yen