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Curated news, notes and observations most weekdays from LA Observed.
LAX may scrap all bids for a lucrative media contract and start over because of the role of former airport commissioner Alan Rothenberg. LAT, Daily Breeze
Mayor Eric Garcetti and City Hall viewed through the USC perspective. Daily Trojan
Garcetti's appointees to the DWP commission are Mel Levine, Jill Banks Barad, Michael Fleming, William Funderburk and returning member Christine Noonan.
Garcetti did not attend VICA's recent office holders luncheon, but all involved are quick to say it was not a snub. Rick Orlov's Tipoff/DN
"When it comes to representing the interests of illegal immigrants [Councilman] Gil Cedillo is a true believer," says Doug McIntrye. DN
Retiring LA County Coroner Dr. Lakshmanan Sathyavagiswaran talks about the future and has a book in the works. Off-Ramp
San Diegans are waiting to see whether embattled mayor Bob Filner returns to work today as threatened. LAT
Some Filner perspective from longtime San Diego politics watcher Peter Kaye: Bad as he is, Filner's "offensive and sophomoric amorous adventures don't even put him at the top of the list of San Diego mayors who have failed their constituents — at least not yet." LAT Op-Ed
Teshima Walker, the executive producer of NPR's "Tell Me More" program, died Friday after a battle with colon cancer. She was 44. Walker had previously been Tavis Smiley's producer in Los Angeles. NPR
NPR CEO Gary Knell announced he is leaving after less than 18 months to become the new CEO for National Geographic.
Al Jazeera America is "the most ambitious American television news venture since Rupert Murdoch and Roger Ailes started the Fox News Channel in 1996," writes Brian Stelter. "It faces some of the same obstacles that Fox eventually glided over...Al Jazeera America is going against the grain of seemingly every trend in television news." NYT
The co-owner of the Register says that the newspaper business is stumbling because of two false assumptions: that digital information must be free and that newspapers can only be saved by digital solutions. "I don’t know many industries that can survive pricing their core product at free." How the Register tries to make a paywall work. Register
Despite the odds, Long Beach becomes a two-newspaper town today. AP, OC Register
A preview of Los Angeles magazine's September issue. Go there
Writer Thomas Curwen and photographer Barbara Davidson go deep in a story and video on a trauma surgeon and the staff at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center struggling to save a boy with a bullet in him. LAT
A Hollywood journalist buys into the whole walking interview thing. NYT
Matthew Garrahan of the Financial Times in LA avoids Obamajams during presidential visits by working at home. Sometimes it's complicated. FT
Jim Romenesko's own media site is doing better in Alexa rankings than Poynter, the institutional site that let him go a few years ago. Romenesko
Columnist David Allen time travels and declares Elon Musk's Hyperloop a success. Of course, Jennifer Lawrence is the governor. Daily Bulletin
The LA Times website shovels online another automated non-news story about a small rural earthquake more than 400 miles from Los Angeles. Story, backstory
There will be no felony charges against Kanye West for attacking that photographer outside LAX. The case was referred to the city attorney for possible misdemeanors. CNS
A small brush fire near the Las Virgenes Canyon exit slowed the commute on the 101 freeway west of the Valley this morning. AP
The 405 freeway in Orange County was successfully closed for bridge demolition then reopened early. KPCC, LAT
The 2015 Special Olympics World Summer Games will be the largest sporting event to hit Los Angeles since the 1984 Olympics. LAT
Lauren Bon and the Metabolic Studio will walk the 240 miles of the Los Angeles Aqueduct with mules to mark this year's 100th anniversary. KCET
The Dodgers are the talk of the sports media these days, including in the Wall Street Journal: "They have finally and thankfully wrestled headlines away from all that recent drug drama and the inane argy-bargy in New York, where the Yankees and representatives of Alex Rodriguez continue to sock each other over the head with pillowcases full of gym socks. Thanks to the Dodgers, baseball is back to being about actual baseball." WSJ
The Dodgers lost to the Phillies because of 9th inning errors by Hanley Ramirez, but when you have just gone 42-8, who cares? ESPN
Marty Adler, the founder and curator of the Brooklyn Dodgers Hall of Fame, died in New York at age 76. NYT
"The stiletto heel punctured the victim's cheek and had to be pulled out of her face." Worst baby shower ever: http://t.co/BKLEyZg5aT
— The Smoking Gun (@tsgnews) August 19, 2013
