Morning Buzz: America Tropical and more

America Tropical, the restored 1930s mural by David Alfaro Siqueiros, will be officially unveiled at Olvera Street this morning.

George Joseph, the billionaire chairman of Mercury Insurance, has poured another $8 million into his self-funded campaign to pass Proposition 33, a change in California insurance law he's been trying to get for a dozen years. LAT, AP

Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky used his position on the Coliseum Commission to score a pair of hard-to-get tickets to the 2004 Super Bowl in Houston. Whether he paid for them, why he obtained them and who provided them is in dispute, the Times reports. LAT

Grab some popcorn, because City Attorney Carmen Trutanich and his former consultant John Shallman are squabbling again. "I apologize to the City of Los Angeles for Carmen Trutanich," says Shallman. "I feel like Dr. Frankenstein who, in his attempt to do good, created a monster and unleashed it on an unsuspecting populace." LA Weekly

Plans to build a nearly $20 million pedestrian bridge across Lankershim Boulevard at Universal City are raising eyebrows. DN

Politicians express appreciation for Mervyn Dymally. LAT

The Board of Supervisors today is expected to address the blue-ribbon report on county jail violence by sheriff's deputies. KPCC

In the annual State of the District speech, LAUSD Supt. John Deasy touted the district's record-high graduation rate of 64 percent, the improved proficiency of its English-learners and the growing number of students taking and passing the rigorous college-prep curriculum. But he said it all is threatened if Prop. 30 fails to pass. DN

That teenaged hiker who left a note on a Sierra peak 40 years ago is now a San Diego County Superior Court judge, Tim Taylor. LAT

The map of space shuttle history in Southern California. LAT