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Curated news, notes and observations most weekdays from LA Observed.
Officials don't know what mechanism is breaking down or dispersing the DDT deposits on the ocean floor off Palos Verdes. LAT
Developer and potential candidate Rick Caruso reflects on the state of jobs and neighborhoods in Los Angeles and says Mayor Garcetti is doing a good job. NBC4 News Conference
This is a difficult time for the DTLA streetcar project, but it does not have to be fatal, says a Downtown News editorial. "The key is for [Councilman Jose] Huizar to recognize that mistakes have been made, to own them, and to identify and install the person or team who can get the project moving. Don’t pretend a problem does not exist." DTN
Mayor Eric Garcetti’s plan to storm Sacramento for help to end runaway production in Los Angeles will get a good leg up this week when he and his new film czar, Tom Sherak, bring together leaders of the industry to develop a strategy on what is needed from the state. Rick Orlov's Tipoff/DN
About 50 people gathered at the DWP headquarters on Saturday morning to discuss a proposed solar ranch near the Manzanar National Historic Site in the Owens Valley. KPCC
An early look at the Headworks reservoir being built underground next to Forest Lawn in the Valley to replace the Silver Lake and Ivanhoe reservoirs. KPCC
Should L.A. be California’s Capital? Zocalo
Not all Metro stations will get turnstiles and gates, but officials acknowledge they don't know how many riders use the system for free. LAT
The city Department of Transportation (LADOT) and the Downtown Los Angeles’ Gallery Row Organization are hosting a competition that is soliciting designs for a new special edition TAP card. KPCC
Former councilwoman Roz Wyman tells a fun story about raising money for John F. Kennedy in 1960. Off-Ramp
Tuesday is the runoff election between Democrat Matt Dababneh and Republican Susan Shelley in the San Fernando Valley’s 45th assembly district. DN
Anita Busch, the former editor of the Hollywood Reporter and former film editor at Variety, joined Deadlien.com as film editor after several years out of trade journalism. Deadline, Defamer,
Director Alexander Payne and novelist Kurt Andersen, both native Nebraskans, took a road trip through their home state for T Magazine to promote Payne's new film, "Nebraska." NYT
LA Times Washington columnist Doyle McManus will receive the 2013 Arthur Ross Award for distinguished commentary on foreign policy from the American Academy of Diplomacy.
A new large-format, coffee-table retrospective of Jerry Bruckheimer’s film and television career — “Jerry Bruckheimer: When Lightning Strikes, Four Decades of Filmmaking” — has 304 pages and weighs seven pounds. NYT
Wikipedia’s six most revised pages and some of the editorial battles they’ve engendered. New York
Doris Lessing, the "uninhibited and outspoken novelist who won the 2007 Nobel Prize for a lifetime of writing that shattered convention, both social and artistic," died on Sunday at her home in London. She was 94. NYT, NPR
Syd Field, the screenwriting instructor and author of eight best-selling books on screenwriting, died Sunday of hemolytic anemia at his home in Beverly Hills. He was 77. The Wrap
Police said they felt threatened when they shot and killed a 75-year-old resident of Bel Air who brandished a shotgun and had threatened a utility worker checking a gas leak at 3:30 in the morning. LAT
The LAPD said it would investigate allegations made in an AP report that an officer delayed medical attention for airport security employee Gerardo Hernandez during the shooting at Los Angeles International Airport this month. LAT
Paul's Kitchen hangs on in the former Chinatown colony in the produce district. LAT Column One
The Grove's annual tree lighting ceremony and fireworks caught Angelenos unaware — again — on Sunday night. People took to social media to speculate whether something newsworthy was going on. Including this:
THAT was the Grove Christmas tree lighting? I almost ate my cyanide I keep in my locket
— Mindy Kaling (@mindykaling) November 18, 2013
Los Angeles's biggest house is under construction in Bel Air. Curbed
A decade of parkland preservation at the former Ahmanson Ranch. DN
Remembering the Central LIbrary's Shades of LA project. KCET Artbound
Kevin Martin, the Corona weather forecaster who said he measured a record high temperature in Death Valley, is seeking funds to sue Facebook for canceling his account. Patch
Sights and sounds of the November 1966 Sunset Strip riots. Curbed
Laker Pau Gasol collaborated with former Los Angeles Times photographer Lori Shepler on a 290-page photo book, "Life · Vida." LAT
Puig. Kemp. Lakers. Floor seats. Ya know Friday night in LA. pic.twitter.com/QFwE1MNLYC
— Beto Duran (@DuranSports) November 16, 2013
