Monday news and notes: August begins

Selected items from the media, our in box and other LA Observed sources. Posted occasionally — often in the morning.

Andi Gusmari, the missing Special Olympics athlete from Albania, walked into a police station in Hayward, in the Bay Area, about 1:30 a.m. today in good condition. Daily News, ABC7, AP

The Special Olympics World Games wrapped up Sunday evening at the Coliseum. Twitter

Gov. Brown declared states of emergency because of wildfires burning across the state. AP

Big story by Chad Terhune of the LA Times on how that deadly superbug got into UCLA's medical center, how it spread via a medical scope that could not be adequately cleaned, and how UCLA docs figured out the mystery. LAT

Los Angeles is building way more housing, but not nearly enough. Curbed LA

Hollywood has donated $4.5 million to the super PAC allied with Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign, according to figures filed with federal regulators Friday. Hollywood Reporter

City Councilman Mitch Englander and Kathryn Barger, chief of staff to incumbent Michael D. Antonovich, lead the fundraising so far for the open race to succeed Antonovich on the Board of Supervisors next year. Rep. Janice Hahn has the most money in the race to succeed Supervisor Don Knabe. LAT

Mayor Eric Garcetti has raised $2.23 million already for his 2017 reelection campaign. LAT, DN

Garcetti recused himself from votes on the MTA board due to conflicts of interest with donors 56 times in 2014. Councilman Mike Bonin recused himself 34 times. LAT

The mayor appointed entertainment lawyer Matthew M. Johnson to the police commission, succeeding Paula Madison if he is confirmed. Johnson was a donor to Garcetti's campaign and part of his transition team. LAT

The Los Angeles City Council will decide Wednesday whether to jump into the fray on the issue of allowing ride share services at LAX. KPCC

Garcetti declared another war on homelessness. DN

Hillary Clinton's campaign is weighing the implication of VP Joe Biden getting into the presidential race on the Democratic side. NYT

The Koch brothers are freezing out Donald Trump from their influential political operation — denying him access to their state-of-the-art data and refusing to let him speak to their gatherings of grass-roots activists or major donors. Politico, OC Register

Expansion plans for the Archer School for Girls in Brentwood and at other private schools have neighbors in several areas kind of upset. LAT

A Huntington Park city councilman said Monday he will appoint two immigrants in the U.S. illegally to become commissioners on city advisory boards. LAT

California's drought is gaining political potency, Cathleen Decker writes. LAT

Faced with unflattering YouTube videos of City Council meetings posted by a critic, the city of Inglewood has filed a federal lawsuit alleging that the posts violate the copyright of council videos — "a tactic some legal scholars say is unusual, unlikely to succeed and fraught with financial risk for the small city that is set to break ground on a $1.86-billion NFL stadium." LAT

Moshe Matsri, the reputed boss of L.A.’s Israeli underworld, was sentenced to 32 years in federal prison. LA Weekly

Ruben Espinosa, a journalism in Mexico who left Veracruz after repeated threats, was found beaten and shot to death in Mexico City. LAT, Guardian

Nikki Finke's fiction website Hollywood Dementia.com has gone live.

David Remnick in praise of Jon Stewart. New Yorker

Salon.com has recognized the union voted in by its staff. Poynter

Chris Woodyard, the Los Angeles bureau chief for USA Today, and Patricia Rose were married over the weekend.

SPJ (Society of Professional Journalists) San Diego reports at least 55 of the 170 people who attended last Wednesday’s annual banquet fell ill, and several had to be treated at hospitals. Romenesko

Depressing op-ed by author Susanna Moore on the number of endangered animal and plant species in Hawaii. LAT op-ed

One of the paradoxes of Watts is that the community has been transformed from an African-American enclave to a Latino one — yet its problems have remained the same. LA Weekly

The #100days100nights campaign may be fake, but the fear in parts of South Los Angeles is very real. Sandy Banks column/LAT

Watch the story of Watts's Jordan Downs housing project on the cusp of major redevelopment. Curbed LA

Metal band Steel Panther will host the final show at the House of Blues tonight. The Sunset Strip venue is to be torn down for a new development. CBSLA

Masao “Mas” Takahashi, who journeyed from a World War II internment camp to infantry combat in Europe and later became a fervent advocate for Japanese-American veteran rights, has died after a battle with cancer. He was 90. Daily Breeze

Sad stat of the day from PBS's Paula Kerger: "Our entire content budget is less than the promotion budget of HBO for one big series." #tca15

— Michael Schneider (@franklinavenue) August 1, 2015

We both said "Oh God" at first sight of Lake Oroville. Even though we've seen a lot of dry reservoirs. #drylandsCA pic.twitter.com/7k53O61s1r

— Diana Marcum (@DianaMarcum) July 30, 2015

I feel it's only right to say, "goodnight, Vin," when Vin Scully says, "goodnight everybody."

— Taylor Blake Ward (@TaylorBlakeWard) August 1, 2015