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Selected items of news and notes from the media, our in box and other LA Observed sources. Posted some days, often in the morning.
Waze is directing LA drivers to once-hidden streets to avoid 405 Freeway traffic — and the neighbors are mad. AP
David Denby, a film critic for The New Yorker since 1998, will step down from that role in early 2015, though he will remain a staff writer. Anthony Lane will be the magazine’s sole film critic, and Richard Brody will cover film online. NYT
Bill Cosby briefly broke his silence in an interview with The New York Post's Page Six, but did not address the rape allegations. AP
LA Times reporter Ruben Vives' personal life arc, from being an illegal Guatemalan immigrant whose mother worked for Times staffer Shawn Hubler to the Pulitzer Prize for his work on Bell, is featured in NPR's Big Break series. NPR
Photographer Phil Stern died Saturday at age 95. Variety, LAT
The LA Times got a “protective order” for its financial claim against the OC Register. OCBJ
Miguel Helft has been named San Francisco bureau chief of Forbes. FBNY
The LA Weekly is showing off a new beta website design with less pagination of stories. Site
Another change for the L.A. Police Protective League: No more big expensive Christmas party at Union Station for politicians and friends of the union. DN/Orlov
Two Korean American candidates are running for LA City Council seats in the March 3 election, and they are offering strikingly different messages. LAT
Hidden homeless make do in the shadows of downtown L.A.'s luxury. LAT
An interview with Chris Strachwitz, the founder of Arhoolie Records. Oxford American
MGA has plans to develop the Chatsworth site of the former Los Angeles Times Valley Edition plant. Bis Now
California population inches up to 38.5 million. Sacto Bee, CalFacts
Kobe Bryant surpassed Michael Jordan on the NBA's all-time scoring list Sunday and moved into third place behind Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Karl Malone. ESPN
