Morning Buzz

Morning Buzz: Monday 1.30.12

SAG Awards winners, Gov. Brown defends high-speed rail, Mayor Villaraigosa on CNN and at USC, a question for Carmen Trutanich, who runs the LAPD and a detective goes on trial for an old murder. Plus a lot more.

Top of the news

Viola Davis was named best lead actress and Octavia Spencer best supporting actress as "The Help" made strong showing at Sunday's SAG Awards, while "The Artist" continued to build Oscar momentum with Jean Dujardin winning best lead actor. List of winners

Politics and politicos

Gov. Jerry Brown said in an Eyewitness LA interview that California's high-speed rail project will cost far less than the current estimate of nearly $100 billion and that cap-and-trade fees paid by carbon producers will be a source of funding. Capitol Alert, DN wires

Unions in California are girding for an all-out war over a ballot initiative that would curb their ability to raise political cash. San Jose Mercury

City Controller and mayoral candidate Wendy Greuel isn't Jewish, but she's going for the Jewish vote. She attended services "at no fewer than four synagogues during last year’s High Holy Days" and her eight-year-old son "is on the verge of entering Hebrew school at Temple Israel of Hollywood." The Forward

Mayor Villaraigosa was on CNN over the weekend talking about the "divisive" rhetoric toward Latinos of the Republican candidates for governor. ABC, CNN

Mayor Villaraigosa spoke at a USC class on Case Studies in Modern Leadership taught by political scientist and former Republican adviser Dan Schnur. LAT

Jim Newton column: In the impound controversy comes up the old question, who runs the LAPD? LAT op-ed

So does City Attorney Carmen Trutanich "want to keep one of the best jobs in L.A. for four more years" or does he want to run for DA? He should tell us. Downtown News editorial

The Times went out and did a little feature on the weirdly drawn 4th council district we told you about that extends from Silver Lake to the West Valley. LAT

With sheriff's department insiders suggesting there has been correlation between promotions and donations to Undersheriff Paul Tanaka’s political campaigns, Witness LA has started to publish his donor lists.Tanaka is the mayor of Gardena. WLA

Any reasonable person who saw Rep. Dana Rohrabacher's Jan. 27 performance on HBO's "Real Time with Bill Maher" "appreciated that the right-wing Orange County Republican congressman set a new low for political discourse," says OC Weekly.

Media and media people

Johnny Otis and author and journalist Lionel Rolfe grouped together as "literary icons of Los Angeles." KCET

David Remnick, editor of The New Yorker magazine, will deliver the 10th annual Daniel Pearl Memorial Lecture at 5 p.m. at UCLA.

More

The trial of LAPD detective Stephanie Lazarus, who is accused of killing her ex-boyfriend's wife, is set to begin this week more than two years after her arrest based on new DNA evidence. LAT

Glendale police arrested a man who drives around the city nude from the waist down. LAT

Caltrans wants to abandon California highway 39, which runs 27 miles from the city of Azusa nearly to the crest of the San Gabriels, and is trying to persuade the U.S. Forest Service or Los Angeles County to take it over. so far, no sale. LAT

Longtime television episode director John Rich died at 86. LAT


More by Kevin Roderick:
Gustavo Arellano, many others join LA Times staff
Power out Monday across Malibu
Put Jamal Khashoggi Square outside the Saudi consulate on Sawtelle
Here's who the LA Times has newly hired*
LA Observed Notes: Clippers hire big-time writer, unfunny Emmys, editor memo at the Times and more
Recent Morning Buzz stories on LA Observed:
Thursday news and notes
A little bit of mid-week reading
A few links from a few different places
Let's talk about anything but the weather
A few links from here and there
A couple of links from a couple of places
A bit of news from a few places
Morning Buzz: Wednesday 4.16.14


 

LA Observed on Twitter