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Selected items from the media, our in box and other LA Observed sources. Posted occasionally.
Editor's note: My server host has been undergoing denial of service attacks the past several days. The result for LA Observed has been intermittent connecting. The host had the issues under control for much of the weekend — only to see them pop up again today. The host promises a permanent solution is in the works.
The Times apparently interviewed more than 50 people in selected council districts and found: "The sampling of views, though not scientific, offers insights into the mood across L.A. at a time when government and civic leaders are struggling to increase sagging voter participation in city elections — and warning that another dismal, off-year voter turnout could be in the offing." LAT
For almost a half century, Cubans have been the most privileged immigrants in the United States. "The repeal of this Cold War relic of immigration policy is long overdue," author Ann Louise Bardach writes in the NYT opinion pages.
The long, strange purgatory of Casey Kasem isn't over yet. Amy Wallace in GQ
Another exit from the social media desk at the Los Angeles Times: Laura E. Davis to BuzzFeed News. Staff of five back down to two, I'm told.
Whirlwind day with so many emotions. Thank you to @latimes for the heartfelt goodbye and to @BuzzFeedNews for the warm welcome
— Laura E. Davis (@lauraelizdavis) January 30, 2015LA Times staffers, now tenants in their parking garage as well as their own newsroom, had their parking rates raised to $50 a month in the Spring Street garage ($60 in the former corporate garage) — or $9 a day if they opt to go that way. Still a bargain by downtown standards, and they get to pay it pre-tax by payroll deduction.
BuzzFeed posted its guide to editorial standards and ethics. Including this: "Wikipedia, IMDb, and other websites that can be edited by anyone should never be used as sources in a story; they are places to begin research, not to finish it." Yay. BuzzFeed Edit News
Also: Shani O. Hilton, BuzzFeed's executive editor for news, on building up the site's newsroom. Nieman Lab Report
Bloomberg Business redesigns its website bigger and bolder: "Pulls you in as much as it spits in your eye.” Wired
Gina Nahai will talk about "The Luminous Heart of Jonah S.," her gripping new novel set in the diaspora of Iran's Jews to Los Angeles, speaks Tuesday night at the Center for Jewish History in New York.
Marla Cone, the former LA Times environmental writer, was named a senior editor at National Geographic. "I will oversee environmental coverage at both the magazine and on the website, leading Nat Geo’s effort to expand and redefine this coverage," she writes. "I’m honored to join an iconic organization with such a smart, creative and collaborative team."
"Mover and Shaker: Walter O'Malley, the Dodgers and Baseball's Westward Expansion" by Andy McCue won the Society for American Baseball Research's Seymour Medal for best book of baseball history or biography for 2014.
Patricia Adler-Ingram sent an email to members and followers of the Historical Society of Southern California announcing she was "'sorry to announce my resignation as Executive Director." Amicable? No, apparently not.
From now on I will have no participation in any decisions made by the Society. Unfortunately, my priorities and those of the current Board diverge to a point that has rendered impossible any fruitful collaboration.
Cities are enormous collectors of resources for wildlife, says USC professor Travis Longcore: "We bring water into them, we plant plants, we take care of those plants. We have food, we have trash, we have shelter.” Sometimes that's good, sometimes not. TakePart
The Los Angeles County Museum of Art announced eight promised gifts of art from Jane and Marc Nathanson, including works by Roy Lichtenstein, Frank Stella and Andy Warhol. LACMA
Little Saigon's continuing war of words over communism in Orange County. OC Register
Sears is closing at the Westfield Topanga mall in Woodland Hills. DN
Guys please stop retweeting Larry King
— David Sarno (@dsarno) February 2, 2015