Weather models show California's historically dry weather is expected to continue. Gov. Brown today declared a drought emergency. The Obama Administration named 27 counties as disaster areas.

Brown declares drought. Maldonado drops out. Congress passes LA helicopter noise bill. Moves in the race for sheriff. A critical audit of the sheriff's department. More quake coverage. OC Weekly on the Register's new editor. A profile of LARB's Tom Lutz. Justine Bateman at UCLA. The second-to-last Munchkin dies. And more.

The parking lots at Dodger Stadium have more ridiculous palm trees per square mile than just about anywhere in Los Angeles.

Firefighters in and around Glendora stayed on the line tonight to fight the fire that began about 6 a.m. Thursday near homes in the San Gabriel Mountains foothills.

I guess that at 4:31 on Friday morning, Channel 4's tweets will begin. They did this before during the anniversary of the LA riots.

"The 32 friends and colleagues leaving us have helped the Register navigate through some very challenging times....We enter 2014 with real opportunities and real challenges."

The whereabouts of Glendora, the closest city to where the fire is burning today in the San Gabriel Mountains foothills, is confounding the local media.

Reports have been coming since last night about expected management changes and layoffs today in the Orange County newsroom. Sources are saying that editor Ken Brusic is being replaced by Rob Curley, with associated shifts down the line.

Fire burning above Glendora. New MOCA chief talks to LA Times. County employees did work at Ridley-Thomas home. Transit officials don't want light rail under LAX. And more.

“American Hustle” tied with “Gravity” for the most overall nominations with 10. “12 Years a Slave” came in with nine. Some highlights and the full list.

Check out to the NOAA satellite pictures and a release from Mono County. Plus: Olympic hopefuls like Lindsey Jacobellis (video) are in Mammoth this weekend.

The Museum of Contemporary Art in downtown Los Angeles is poised to name as its new director Philippe Vergne, director of the Dia Art Foundation in New York, according to Jori Finkel in the New York Times. The LAT, which laid off Finkel last year, doesn't have the story.

The position open now is for an on-air host of entertainment programing. As I understand the plan, the coverage will begin as a segment on "Take Two" then expand to a half-hour show.

A second round of layoffs at the Riverside Press-Enterprise since the purchase last fall by Freedom Communications includes back-office, newsroom, information technology and production workers. But new reporter hires will mean no net loss of newsroom head count. Plus an update on the LA Register.

Buck McKeon, the Republican chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, won't go through another reelection battle this year, Politico reports. His district includes the Santa Clarita Valley area.

"Enjoy him, L.A.," writes ESPN's David Schoenfield. At 25, Kershaw is the first baseball player to make $30 million a season over the life of his contract.

Will SoCal lead the state Legislature? Plan for Grand Avenue gets Supes' OK. No charges for cop who shot at phantom Dorner. Lucy Jones to work with City Hall. Film and TV production has really fallen since 1996. That odd Eagle Rock meme. The Velaslavasay Panorama, two tweets of the day and more.

The former NBC 4 reporter will host a monthly show on the economic life of Southern California on PBS SoCal. The first episode airs Thursday evening at 5:30 p.m.

Perhaps THR should have chosen a little different wording for one of the click-bait links in its story on today's PCH brush fire in Pacific Palisades.

Dana Goodyear's latest piece for the New Yorker from Los Angeles is about Valley Fever, which is caused by a toxic fungus found in the California soil.

Subject line: "Energy Statement." Fake sender: PG&E. Actual email address: in Russia.

This native Angeleno has finally seen one too many palm trees. Occasionally we'll highlight one that stands out, even in this city of misplaced Washingtonia and Phoenix.

The city-owned SUV that Mayor Eric Garcetti rides around in struck and injured a female pedestrian at 2nd and Spring streets, outside the Los Angeles Times building. An LAPD driver was behind the wheel. The victim was taken to the hospital by LAFD ambulance.

Lots of things are popular but not cool - like the Super Bowl, or crystal meth.

Won't be able to post a Morning Buzz. But I do want to point out a familiar face in that 1994 photo of the quake-disheveled Daily News newsroom.

The Natural History Museum's entomology people give the intriguing details. "Some ant decapitating flies, like zombie hunters, aim for the head..."

Former LAPD official Jim McDonnell has endorsements from Chief Charlie Beck, DA Jackie Lacey, City Attorney Mike Feuer and Supervisor Don Knabe, among others. He is currently the chief of police in Long Beach.

Former Fullerton Police Department officers Manuel Ramos and Jay Cicinelli were found not guilty of all charges in the 2011 beating death of homeless schizophrenic Kelly Thomas.

Rep. George Miller won't run. LA 2020 Report sounds a lot like a 1988 report. Doug McIntyre blames illegal immigration. Golden Globes now "the gold standard of awards shows." Meghan McCain joins TakePart Live. "Smogtown" goes Chinese. Neiman Marcus says its credit card data hacked too. Plus 80 years of the Warner Bros ranch, and more.

"Press Play" will debut Monday, Jan. 27 in the noon to 1 p.m. time slot. It will feature news and culture talk and be KCRW's first new daily program in more than a dozen years.

The Daily News package includes a dramatic shot of what the newsroom in Woodland Hills looked like when staffers tried to get in. The paper's executive editor recalls the day.

He wrote a column on Saturday taking retailers like Target to task for not doing a better job of safeguarding credit card data. Hours later, he found that his own American Express card was among the pilfered.

Number 5 on the New York Times Travel section's feature on 52 places to visit this year is Downtown Los Angeles. Right after Albania and before Namibia.

Coming up on three years since the catastrophic Tohoku earthquake and tsunami in Japan, officials say flatly there is no threat to food or beachgoers. No matter what you might see on Facebook.

We're swinging into a week full of earthquake conversation and recollection in LA media. January 17 will be the 20th anniversary of the Northridge earthquake.

BuzzFeed calls its listicle 40 Movies That Define Los Angeles, which is a big overreach. But it's a fun list nonetheless. A couple I would have added, inside.