Follow LA Observed on Twitter here
Selected items of news and notes from the media, our in box and other LA Observed sources.
Art Leahy will step down as CEO of the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) on April 5, after six years. The Source (Metro photo, right)
Metro is slowly adding wi-fi at transit stations. LA Weekly
KCETLink named Michael Riley the station's president and chief executive officer, succeeding Al Jerome. Riley had previously been president of ABC Family. KCET
About 55 percent of applicants seeking California's new immigrant driver's licenses on the first day failed the written test. The failure rate in the general population is about 50 percent. Multi-American
Continental crosswalks appear at Barrington and National, but why so long to get the repaved streets repainted? Streetsblog
Los Angeles police say they have recovered O.J. Simpson's 1968 Heisman Trophy that was stolen from a display case at USC more than 20 years ago. LAT, KTLA
After Jonathan Gold got a lot of push back about his elitist list of best LA dishes of 2014, he recognize "the need for some kind of alternative, a user-friendly list of wonderful dishes without the smack of the abbatoir about them. Even I don’t eat jellied pigskin every day, or even want to." His alt list: Daily Dish
Despite what Sam Quinones wrote, gangs in LA aren't going anywhere. Witness LA
Steve Lopez discovers that LA traffic congestion is not a Westside thing. LAT
Financial journalist Tom Petruno Q&A in the Zocalo green room.
Touring the secret passages of the 101-year-old Globe Theatre as it prepares to reopen downtown on Broadway. Curbed
Gray whales are being spotted in record numbers off Southern California, thanks to clear skies, a mostly calm ocean, lots of eyeballs on the water, and what appears to be an earlier migration period than normal — perhaps due to warming of the sea near Alaska. Pete Thomas
Bill Plaschke remembers the Los Angeles Rams. LAT
Took some out of town guests to the @GriffithObserv this evening, and showed them this scientific paradox. #mydayinla pic.twitter.com/7R2nr2JB0K
— Militant Angeleno (@militantangleno) January 7, 2015