The LAT praise is better than lukewarm, but not quite love. Garcetti has "the most potential to rise to the occasion and lead Los Angeles out of its current malaise.... At this time, out of this field, he's the best choice." Also this: "It is hard to see how [Greuel] would rise to the challenge..."

Former Dodgers owner Frank McCourt — I guess we should call him the Dodger Stadium parking lots owner now? — shows up in the filings as a donor of $50,000 to Working Californians to elect Wendy Greuel Mayor 2013. That's the officially independent committee that says it will use big contributions from labor and the entertainment industry to buy TV ads for Greuel.

A letter from the FAA to city officials says it would be within federal policy to charge the school just $1 a year rent for its facility on the west side of Van Nuys Airport at Saticoy Street. Although the city of Los Angeles airports department runs VNY, the FAA is allowed to dip its bureaucratic fingers into all kinds of policy areas at airports.

Dorner questions, Sheriff Baca's friends get gun permits, Jerry Buss ailing, Top Shop draws a crowd plus a Campaign 2013 update: new commercials, PACs and media coverage, an Austin Beuter op-ed and a examination of the Wendy Greuel-DWP union nexus.

A female great white shark tagged in 2012 off Guadalupe Island, which lies about 165 miles west of Ensenada in Baja California, has made her way north toward the islands off Southern California. It's apparently the first time a tagged Guadalupe Island shark has been tracked into the local waters.

Jerry Roberts was the editor of the Santa Barbara News-Press who stood up to the news outrages of owner Wendy McCaw. He's giving $150,000 to a Santa Barbara news startup, SPJ and EFF.

Because the State of the Union speech by President Obama was going to depress TV viewership numbers on the West Coast on Tuesday night, the local stations sold half-hour blocks for infomercials on the movies. But then, voila, lots of eyeballs were watching TV in Southern California. TV Guide's Michael Schneider explains.

The county has produced a nice video showing the restoration work going on inside the long-vacant Hall of Justice in Downtown Los Angeles. The sheriff's department and the DA will move back in when work is done in 2014, assuming all goes well.

MacKay died Tuesday of wounds incurred during the firefight with fugitive ex-cop Christopher Dorner outside a cabin in the 7 Oaks area of the San Bernardino Mountains. He lived in Redlands and was assigned to the Yucaipa station. MacKay is survived by his wife, 7-year-old daughter and four-month-old son.

Channel 4 will pre-empt "Law and Order, Special Victims Unit" to air a one-hour special, "Manifesto for Murder: The Hunt for Christopher Dorner." Airtime is Thursday at 10 p.m.

Spielberg, Katzenberg and Geffen lead the way with $150,000. Boxer will headline fundraiser at Haim Saban's Feb. 20. Plus: Will Ferrell video for Garcetti and more campaign notes.

Associated Press reported that a California driver's license with the name Christopher Dorner and other personal items were found in the basement of the burned-out cabin next to the remains. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa says the episode appears to be over, but that tests are needed to be certain so that LAPD targets and families can relax.

KFI News tweeted that employees of the burrito stand, on Evergreen Avenue since 1952, confirmed Rojas' death. Rojas is credited with creating the Hollenbeck Burrito.

The woman at the Mexican restaurant in Orange County told CBS2 reporter Michele Gile that she knew nothing about Dorner. Ten minutes later, she went inside the home he sometimes shared with his mother. Also: CBS 2 gets pranked.

Several reports say that Christopher Dorner is the gunman who died in a vacation cabin in the 7 Oaks area off highway 38, about 10 miles down the hill from Big Bear. But both the San Bernardino County sheriff's spokeswoman and the LAPD insisted that Dorner's death has not been confirmed and that no body has been recovered. A San Bernardino County sheriff's deputy was killed in the shootout and another was wounded.

Here is the second 30-second TV spot from the Wendy Greuel for mayor campaign. Script and video inside, plus a response from Eric Garcetti.

The American snowboardcross champion who fell at the Vancouver Olympics (and disappointed some in the media) is doing just fine. Jacobellis lives at the beach in Encinitas now.

If I'm the publisher of the LA Times, I probably reject the big ads for "Southland" right now and don't let images of cops with guns take over my website for a small amount of revenue.

Does Dorner profile as a super-criminal or a bumbler, Greuel defends her LAPD vision, Villaraigosa pushes LA Zoo to bring in more cash, Metrolink CFO resigns after bad report, the man who shot Bin Laden, and Never Built: LA meets Kickstarter goal.

Grantland runs an exclusive first look at the cover of Phil Jackson's new book, coming in May.

A couple of intriguing points are contained in the federal court criminal complaint filed last week against rogue ex-LAPD cop Christopher Dorner.

The video is from the Sports Chalet in Torrance on Feb .1, two days before the first two of the murders that authorities attribute to rogue ex-cop Christopher Dorner. It shows a man who is apparently Dorner getting two scuba tanks re-filled with air and purchasing a third tank.

Councilman Eric Garcetti is the first of the mayoral candidates, I believe, to air a TV spot in Spanish. He calls it "Comprobado" and speaks in Spanish about his record. Watch.

Pope Benedict XVI resigns, Archdiocese used money from cemetery fund for molestation settlement, SoCal Connected does feral cats, former FAME minister fired in San Francisco, a savior for Wilshire Boulevard Temple and more — plus Frank Zappa and Pomona College again.

John Rabe, the host of "Off-Ramp" on KPCC, and his husband Julian Bermudez are one of the six featured couples in the current issue of LA Weekly. Also included are Michael Ritchie and Kate Burton, "the first couple of L.A. theatre."

Sick and hungry sea lion pups are showing up almost daily at the Marine Mammal Care Center in San Pedro — a dozen on Saturday alone. What is afflicting the young sea lions is unknown.

I moderated a town hall of the five leading mayoral candidates on Sunday in Hancock Park, and their plans for Getty House — the official city residence — became an issue. Plus the cost to Wendy Greuel of her half-baked LAPD expansion plan, the Times endorses Galperin and more campaign coverage from the weekend.

The LAPD, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and several cooperating agencies announced on Sunday a $1 million reward for information that leads to fugitive ex-LAPD officer Christopher Dorner, who has vowed to keep killing officers and their families. It might be the biggest local reward ever — and was suggested by the wife of Chief Charlie Beck.

"Argo" won the top prize for best film and Ben Affleck was named best director at Sunday's British Academy Film Awards. It's on to the Oscars now. Click inside for full list of winners.

Crain, an 11-year veteran of the Riverside Police Department, was the officer killed the morning of Feb. 7 when allegedly ambushed by rogue ex-LAPD cop Christopher Dorner. He was an 11-year veteran of the Riverside PD, a Marine veteran of Kuwait, and leaves a wife and two children.