Morning Buzz

Morning Buzz: Monday 2.27.12

Villaraigosa's pre-Oscar party, the political Chacons of southheast LA county, state fish and game leader bags a mountain lion, waiting for layoffs at the LA Times, Kobe breaks his nose plus a selection of good reads from the weekend.

Oscars-related

Sean Young, the former actress, was arrested on a misdemeanor battery complaint outside the Oscars Governor's ball for lingering around without a ticket and possibly slapping a guard. The Wrap

David Davis interviews the directors of Oscar-winning documentary "Undefeated," before they had their acceptance speech bleeped and cut off Sunday night. LA 84 SportsLetter

Recapping the Hollywood Reporter pre-Oscars party held in Mayor Villaraigosa's backyard at Getty House. NYT, NY Post

Politics and politicos

In the bruising political world of southeast L.A. County, Hector Chacon and his nieces, nephews, brothers and sisters are "admired and feared." They have run or worked on more than 100 campaigns, and three family members, including Chacon himself, have won public office. "They are go-to campaign gurus, political gatekeepers with checkered pasts whom candidates hire when they want to break into politics — or bat down a challenge from an upstart." LAT

Backers of Illinois osteopath Joe Mercola and his push for a California initiative to require labeling of genetically modified foods — and change what can be called "natural" — tried to harass columnist Dan Morain and the Sacramento Bee into retracting a critical column. "Sorry," says the editor. "That ain't gonna happen."

Dan Richards, president of the state Fish and Game Commission, was photographed posing with a mountain lion he shot on a guided hunt in Idaho this winter. Bee

California's district-line drawers may have accidentally created one swing Assembly district, the 66th in the South Bay, where candidates are playing down their party affiliations. LAT

Mayoral candidate Austin Beutner said the City Council should be taking a more forceful role in looking at the Farmers Field football stadium deal. Orlov's Tipoff/DN
Plus: Video of Buetner speaking at AIA. Vimeo

PR firm Cerrell Associates cancelled a planned series of mayoral campaign debates. Lack of interest on the candidates' part, this far ahead. LA Weekly

Rep. Howard Berman endorsed Mike Feuer for City Attorney.

MTA is getting pushback on plans to discontinue the 305 bus line between Willowbrook and Westwood. LAT

Fighting over development on Chalk Hill in Woodland Hills. DN

Media and media people

The Los Angeles Times emailed its registered website users about the coming "membership program," known elsewhere as a paywall. The spin continues on combining the Food, Health and Home sections into a new Saturday section, including the dreaded marketing phrase "designed to reflect Southern California's unique lifestyle." An unknown number of staff layoffs are expected.
Also: The paywall will not apply to Times Community News papers. Daily Pilot

More news and notes

Kobe Bryant suffered a broken nose while fouled by Dwayne Wade at the NBA All-Star Game on Sunday. He's being evaluated. ESPN

The president and chief executive officer of Prime Healthcare Services resigned last week, with FBI agents questioning former employees about the firm's billing practices. California Watch last week won a Polk Award for its reporting on the company.

The Carnival Splendor cruise ship returned to Long Beach Sunday with 22 passemgers who were robbed at gunpoint on a bus during a land excursion near Puerto Vallarta in Mexico. KTLA

The Museum of Flying reopened at Santa Monica Airport. LAT

AMC will put on a screening of the two-hour season premiere of "Mad Men" on Wednesday, March 14 at the Cinerama Dome in Hollywood.

The art world responds to the death of ceramics artist Kenneth Price at 77. LAT

Red Holloway, a top LA-based jazz saxophonist for decades, died at 84. LAT

Weekend reads

The fact-checker vs. the fabulist. New York Times Magazine

Govindini Murty's guide to the cinema cultural references, art and literary history in "Hugo," in The Atlantic.

The Oscars, The Battle of Los Angeles & The Top 10 Movies in Which Aliens Attack L.A., by Jason Apuzzo at MovieFone

Does progress in OC's Kelly Thomas case mean a standstill for the Mitrice Richardson case and others in Los Angeles, due to the involvement of Michael Gennaco? Mike Kessler on the CityThink blog

Bill Dwyre, the former LA Times sports editor, writes that "I always swore I would not be one of those aging sportswriters who, about the third week in February, starts waxing poetic about spring training. Sorry. Cue the violins."


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


 

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