Follow LA Observed on Twitter here
As Jerry Brown "attempts to qualify and gain voter approval this year for a ballot measure that would raise sales and income taxes, he has been reverting to type, once again issuing pronouncements and political slogans that are specious and self-contradictory." Dan Walters/Bee
Rep. Darrell Issa, "the dogged Republican investigator from Vista who has himself been an investigative target," is taking on California’s bullet train proposal. California Watch
Rep. Howard Berman has out-raised Rep. Brad Sherman recently, but Sherman has more cash left to spend — about $4 million to Berman's nearly $2.5 million — new campaign filings show. A "super PAC" that supports Berman's candidacy reported large contributions from two Los Angeles-area business titans, shopping center magnate Peter S. Lowy and a firm headed by venture capitalist Marc Nathanson. LAT
Los Angeles County officials are counting on a surprising source of revenue to fill their expected $76-million budget shortfall: shrinking welfare rolls. LAT
The family of Abdul Arian, the unarmed 19-year-old who was killed by police on the 101 freeway after a chase and threatening the officers, filed a $120-million claim with the city of Los Angeles. LAT, DN, KPCC News
Setting the stage for discussions after Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa releases his budget this week, the City Council began discussing on Monday major policy issues being considered to close a projected $222 million shortfall. DN
Horrific details of alleged abuse at the hands of deputies inside Men's Central Jail were revealed Monday, when a chaplain and ACLU jail monitors testified before a panel about beatings they witnessed. DN, KPCC News
The company that operates pay phones in California prisons will install equipment to block cellphones and text messages. LAT
Jim Romenesko details his "stress-free" breakup with Comcast, going cable free and getting rid of his televisions. Romenesko
The AP Stylebook has adopted "the modern usage of hopefully." Romenesko
David Ulin, the LA Times book critic, talks about the lack of a fiction winner in the Pulitzers on "Airtalk with Larry Mantle" at 11:30 a.m. on KPCC.
Mark Ebner goes deep inside celebrity poker games in Hollywood. Hollywood Interrupted
Another AOL Patch site expands: Chatsworth is now Chatsworth-Northridge.
Mary Fulginiti, a former ABC News producer and correspondent and federal prosecutor, joined Kroll Advisory Solutions as a managing director in Los Angeles. That's the firm where former LAPD chief William Bratton and ex-city councilman Jack Weiss are top guns.
Caroline Cagney, formerly a contributing writer and stylist at Los Angeles magazine and Angeleno, is a new associate style editor at C California Style.
Former mayor Richard Riordan to Warren Olney: ‘Blacks felt like they were victims.’ Which Way, LA?
A USC conference From the Ashes: The 1992 Civil Unrest and the Rise of Social Movement Organizing is set for April 26.
DNA tests on seafood sold at Los Angeles sushi bars, other restaurants and grocery stores reveal that more than half of the fish is not labeled correctly, the nonprofit organization Oceana says. LAT
Actor Vincent Gallo is suing Los Angeles over the Arts District Business Improvement District, saying it provides "no benefit" to the area and complaining that it's "run by a private company that is doing everything in its power to keep it running." Curbed LA
Melanie Lundquist, co-founder of the Partnership for Los Angeles Schools, speaks at Town Hall Los Angeles Wednesday at noon at the Millennium Biltmore.
