LAPD Chief Charlie Beck called in CBS2 anchor Pat Harvey for an exclusive interview today in which Beck said he would take a look at some of the allegations of racism made by disgraced ex-cop Christopher Dorner. Beck told Harvey that his motive in re-opening the case that led to Dorner's firing was to keep the department's trust among African-Americans. "I'm not doing this to appease Dorner," Beck said.

Supporters of Measure A on the March 5 ballot say that Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa will take part in a Monday news conference announcing support for the sales tax increase, along with LAPD Chief Charlie Beck and LAFD Chief Brian Cummings.

Roger L. Simon was a novelist and screenwriter who went through a very public political conversion from left to right in the early 2000s. His blog hammering on the left turned into Pajamas Media and now into a conservative website and video outlet called PJ Media.

Michael Parrish was a longtime presence on the magazine journalism scene in Los Angeles as an editor and writer. He was founding editor of the Los Angeles Times Magazine, a contributor to Playboy, New West, California and other magazines, and a lecturer at USC Annenberg. He died today in the LA area, according to friends.

It appears that fugitive ex-cop Christopher Dorner abandoned his Nissan truck on a fire road above Big Bear Lake due to a broken axle. Of course, that doesn't explain why he lit the truck on fire before heading into the forest, but it suggests that abandoning the truck and setting out on foot just before a snowstorm hit the area may not have been his first choice.

For Wendy Greuel's mayoral campaign, these were a couple of good if expected endorsements. She has campaigned hard in the Valley. The National Women's Political Caucus of Los Angeles County also announced its endorsement.

Two memos have nice words for Curtis, but there's no mention of him going on to anything else. KPCC had all the upheaval last year over the hiring of new morning host A Martinez and the subsequent departure of Madeleine Brand, whose morning show without Martinez was KPCC's most listened-to local program. Then last month the staff voted to unionize the newsroom with SAG/Aftra.

In the race for mayor of Los Angeles, Councilman Eric Garcetti doesn't have a record of accomplishment that stands out among the others, or better connections, or more popular positions, or much more money. One advantage, though, with some voters is his image as a blogger, bike rider, composer, chef and performer — like at last night's appearance alongside Moby.

The manhunt for fugitive ex-cop Christopher Dorner is complicated by snow in the Big Bear area. There have been no sightings elsewhere, the San Bernardino sheriff said. Plus: Eric Garcetti raises about $250,000 at Hollywood fundraiser and plays with Moby, Beutner grills the candidates, LAT endorses Feuer, end of the Berman-Waxman machine, and author Daniel Olivas on the Catholic sex abuse scandal.

Developer Korean Airlines today unveiled the AC Martin design for the new Wilshire Grand tower at Wilshire Boulevard and Figueroa Street and said it will be 73 stories — one floor more than the US Bank tower downtown.

Law enforcement all over Southern California is on alert after the events of this morning in Riverside County. Police suspect that Christopher Dorner, a former LAPD officer, killed one officer and wounded two others. Dorner has threatened cops in a Facebook manifesto and the LAPD is on citywide tactical alert. Updated post.

The political adviser for Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg and other Hollywood figures signed a letter to industry activists asking for contributions of $15,000 to an independent expenditure committee that plans to air commercials pushing Wendy Greuel for mayor.

A pre-Grammys email from the CBS standards and practices department all but dares performers to show a little skin at the upcoming show. How many ways are there for a musician (or an audience member) to violate the CBS code? A whole lot.

This cannot be called a surprise. Losing candidates for DA don't usually have happy careers in the office after taking on the boss.

An ex-LAPD cop is the suspect in those two Irvine slayings, the department was sued by a Hollywood executive who says officers beat him, the Sheriff's Department moved to fire seven deputies who belonged to a secret clique, and a Building and Safety inspector agreed to plead guilty to bribery.

Here's the trailer for Danny Tedesco's 2008 documentary on the famed Hollywood session musicians dubbed The Wrecking Crew, screening on Saturday night at the Saban Theatre followed by a Q-A with musicians from the era.

Assistant city editor Kerry Cavanaugh is leaving the Daily News to be a producer on "Which Way, LA?" and "To the Point." Here's the note from City Editor Harrison Sheppard that is going around the Woodland Hills newsroom.

Just count the ways in which you could not imagine this story taking up high-profile space on the front page of the NYT or WSJ, or in earlier eras of the Los Angeles Times. Jimmy Orr, the LAT's managing editor for digital, writes a 1,500-word first-person story talking about an episode from his previous life as a press spokesman for the George W. Bush White House — when he came up with the idea for a webcam featuring the Bush dog Barney.

Channel 4 is expanding its weekend newscasts, beginning this Saturday. Robert Kovacik and Kathy Vara, who now co-anchor at 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. on weekends, will also do a new "NBC4 News at 5PM" show.

Both Greuel and Garcetti have bases in Hollywood. The race is pitting mogul against mogul, agent against agent, says the Hollywood Reporter.

AP floated Speaker Perez for Labor Secretary, Gov. Brown calls the Texas governor's anti-California ad "barely a fart," coverage of Greuel's sop to the LAPD and LAFD unions, Pleitez has a plan now, Trutanich switches on pot shops and more.

Barry will discuss his new book, "Insane City," with Matt Groening at Live Talks LA on Thursday. For us he talks about Neil Diamond, Justin Bieber and the difference between Miami and LA, and he has some advice for the Lakers. Check it out inside.

The county of Los Angeles has put together a video explaining how the Affordable Care Act is already changing medical care for the two million uninsured in the county, and how county departments are preparing for the full impact once the new act takes effect. Watch inside.

KPCC's press release last week for its mayoral debate coming up on Wednesday night talked about the "four major candidates for mayor" who would be taking part. I guess some discussions ensued. Here's how the release reads now.

I intended to post on this a couple of weeks ago, but it slipped with the whole cold/flu/whatever thing. Nathan Masters has done a really nice piece at KCET's website on the train stations that dotted Los Angeles before rail service was consolidated at the "union" station in 1939.

Archdiocese says it warned LAUSD about Pina, Greuel and Garcetti swear solidarity with SEIU in private, ex-LAPD official may run against Sheriff Baca, Congress may try to regulate LA helicopters and Steven Cuevas (in picture) heads LA bureau of 'California Report' for KQED.

A new group, Friends of Pershing Square, is trying to get the conversation going. Why not tear down the walls, open up the park again and invite people to come in?

Yussuf J. Simmonds is recuperating from a stroke suffered in December while he was in Washington, D.C. "People who want to support Simmond’s convalescence can send contributions to the Los Angeles Sentinel," says the paper.

Sounds as if the Press-Telegram newsroom is in a bit of mourning this week. Tracy Manzer is leaving their midst after 18 years to move to Washington with her husband, the press secretary for new congressman Alan Lowenthal.

Los Angeles Magazine in a new piece up today calls Kevin James "the surprise of the mayor’s race." The story, though, is really about how candidate James has softened the kinds of things he used to say when he was an anger talk radio host.

Jason Leon, 32, a teacher at the Tarzana middle school, was taken into custody today on an arrest warrant and charged with four counts of child molestation and three counts of battery. The victims were girls aged 13 and 14 at the time of the alleged crimes.

The former Cold War missile base in the hills above Chatsworth has become an "unsanctioned playground for hikers, taggers and vandals, raising safety concerns among neighbors and triggering a Los Angeles Police Department internal investigation."

Users of the Chrome web browser, and that's more of the web all the time, were met by a big scary malware warning today at popular news sites. There's no real threat.

Greuel jumps ahead in TV ads, exploring the Jewish and Valley connections in the race for mayor, an interactive map from the Times, editor opf the NYT chats with Alec Baldwin, Virgin America will fly from LAX to San Jose and more.