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Joe Torre joins Caruso bid for Dodgers, Wesson wields the gavel, Jan Perry as mayoral candidate, more on the deputy who nabbed the arson suspect, MTV caves to Movie Smackdown and an auxiliary bishop admits fathering two children. Plus Michele Bachmann drops out.
Former Dodgers manager Joe Torre resigned his executive position with Major League Baseball this morning to join with developer Rick Caruso in bidding to buy the team. Torre would run the Dodgers' front office if the group succeeds, says Bill Shaikin. LAT
Republicans won't have Michele Bachmann to kick around anymore, at least not in 2012. The Minnesota congresswoman halted her presidential campaign this morning.
California High Speed Rail's peer review group told lawmakers it could not recommend bond funding for the project's construction with its prospects for long-term funding so unclear. LAT, Bee
New City Council president Herb Wesson gaveled together his first meeting. Bernard Parks was absent, recovering from elective surgery. DN, City Maven
Political leaders in the Valley called for a major re-do of the city's council district map at a Tuesday night hearing. DN
Los Angeles magazine kicks off a series of interviews of 2013 mayoral candidates with Jan Perry, talking to Wall Street Journal bureau chief Gabriel Kahn. LA
The Department of Neighborhood Empowerment will take over managing of neighborhood council elections. KPCC News
Bill Moyers says this week on KCET's "SoCal Connected" that “the growth of inequality in this country is the biggest story of our time." He also says of President Obama, "You gotta fight for the people. He's not a fighter. He's a good, smart guy, but he's not a fighter.” The interview with Val Zavala first airs Friday at 8:30 p.m.
A follow-up from the year-end desk clearing: MTV has reportedly changed the name of its upcoming web show to "Movie Brawl" after getting a letter from the folks at Movie Smackdown.
Arianna Huffington is featured as an international woman of influence in the December issue of British Harper's Bazaar.
Journo Rebecca Schoenkopf had a mostly nice time with the cute boys and girls in Santa Barbara for New Year's, then she ran into The Bigot. Four Story
Daniel Frankel, who had been news editor at The Wrap, takes over as West Coast editor for Paid Content. Focusing on entertainment, advertising and publishing, he tells LA Observed.
KIIS/102.7 FM's helicopter traffic reporter Commander Chuck Street lost the sponsorship of Perpsi Cola after 20-plus years, so he will shift to a ground-based studio for the Ryan Seacrest morning show on Monday, Jan. 9. OC Register
David Lazarus guest-hosts for Larry Mantle on today's "Airtalk" on KPCC.
Some more detail on West Hollywood reserve deputy Shervin Lalezary, who made the collar on arson suspect Harry Burkhart. He became a reserve deputy in 2007, and in December completed the training that allowed him to patrol alone. He was on his third (or fourth, depending on the source) solo patrol shift when he stopped Burkhart near Sunset and Fairfax. AP
Dorothee Burkhart, mother of arson suspect Harry Burkhart, was in court herself yesterday and expressed concern that her son was mentally ill and "missing." LAT
Auxiliary Bishop Gabino Zavala of the Los Angeles Archdiocese resigned and admitted that he is the father of two teenagers who live out of the state with their mother, the Associated Press reported. LAT
A new film series at Downtown's Million Dollar Theater sponsored by the UCLA Film and Television Archive opens tonight with "It Happened One Night," the Frank Capra classic. Info
The best Google doodles of 2011. Mashable
Former UCLA basketball coach Gene Bartow died at age 81. LAT