Follow LA Observed on Twitter here
Curated news, notes and observations most weekdays from LA Observed.
BART is on strike again in the Bay Area. AP, SF Chronicle
Mayor Garcetti said Thursday he was considering a new "chief resilience officer" to oversee preparations for a major earthquake and ensure Los Angeles can minimize the disaster's damage. Here come's the pun: He promises to take "some very concrete steps..." LAT
A team of scientists has declined to give the city a list of older concrete buildings that may collapse during a major earthquake, the mayor's office said. LAT
School board member Tamar Galatzan said she will seek to have the board censure Board President Richard Vladovic over the allegations against him. DN
Garcetti appointed Lynnette Amerian, his former executive assistant and a longtime City Hall hand, as interim Chief of Protocol for the Mayor's Office.
Q&A with Larry Levine, the longtime Valley political consultant turned food writer. SFV Business Journal
Plan for a Healthy Los Angeles has a new website.
The DMV mounted a one-day sting operation, issuing 241 citations statewide for improper use of disabled permits or illegal parking in handicapped spaces. DN
Humorous BuzzFeed promotional video: How To Piss Off Everyone In L.A. In 47 Seconds. Video
Don’t Be a Creep: Lessons from the latest terrible, sad, fascinating scandal in the science blogging world. Slate
Poet Hiram Sims teamed up with local photographers to produce what he calls "photoetry." You can see the results in a new book "Photoetry: Poetry and Photography in South Central LA." Intersections
Where do Wikipedia donations go? It's complicated. Mashable
Q&A with Damien Newton, bicyclist, bicycle advocate, founder and editor of Streetsblog LA. Opinion LA
The state Court of Appeals granted Los Angeles a temporary stay that allows the LAPD to resume its Special Order 7 policy of not allowing officers in the field to order 30-day impounds of cars driven by unlicensed drivers. LAT, KPCC, LA Weekly, LAT
A federal jury has found Sheriff Lee Baca personally liable for $100,000 in punitive damages for a jail beating that his deputies inflicted. Witness LA, LAT
The City Council agreed this week to pay out $2.3 million to settle a 2009 excessive force lawsuit by a partially paralyzed stroke-survivor who said he sustained injuries when a Los Angeles Police Department officer served a search warrant on his home. Our Weekly
Some 200,000 Californians are on a secretive database that tracks suspected gang members. Police don’t tell them, but prospective employers, landlords or school officials often find out. WWLA/KCRW
Here's a Look at the Potential Big Redesign For Union Station. Curbed LA
Trousdale, Los Angeles’s Forgotten Architectural Mecca, Makes a Comeback. T Magazine
Transit corridors may offer the best opportunity for development of new workforce housing that can help bridge a widening affordability gap faced by a majority of middle-class families in the county, according to a new UCLA report commissioned by the Los Angeles Business Council and released today at the LABC’s Mayoral Transportation, Housing and Jobs Summit. Report
The Southwest Museum in Mount Washington will open its first exhibition in seven years when “Four Centuries of Pueblo Pottery” goes on display Saturday, with free admission. "Like most things involving the site, the show is fraught with uncertainty and controversy, none of it having to do with the artistry and cultural history on display." LAT
The will start online public sale of World Series tickets on Saturday at 10 a.m. on www.Dodgers.com. Twitter followers in theory get access 15 minutes earlier.
Sister Antonia Brenner, a Beverly Hills-raised mother of seven who became a Roman Catholic nun and moved into a notorious Tijuana prison where she spent more than three decades mending broken lives, easing tensions and dispensing everything from toothbrushes to bail money, has died in Baja. She was 86. LAT
Sara Fritz, a former Washington reporter for the Los Angeles Times, died Wednesday in Washington at age 68. She had developed a lung infection after successful hip surgery. LAT
GPS's in Los Angeles are forever recommending left turns where they are technically legal but actually impossible.
— Karina Longworth (@KarinaLongworth) October 18, 2013
