Midweek notes: Xavier Becerra, Jeff Michael, P-45 and more

Our occasional roundup of media and politics news, with some additional items, from a variety of sources. Follow us on Twitter.

Breaking story: Governor Brown has appointed Rep. Xavier Becerra to succeed Kamala Harris as attorney general. This elevates the Los Angeles Democrat to instant statewide status. First domino: Former speaker John Perez says he'll run for Becerra's seat. Brown release

Anchor out: Jeff Michael, the longtime Fox 11 anchor, announced at the end of Tuesday night's news that it was his last newscast for the station. He had been with KTTV for 18 years. He gave a short statement about his time but there were no other details. Co-anchor Christine Devine posted on his Instagram page: "Jeff is the smartest man I know, so conscientious, a quality journalist who brings wisdom, honesty, integrity, and passion each and every night. Truly what a news man should be. As the journey of life takes us on a new path I am encouraged knowing that a new door will open for Jeff and he will make his mark in some exciting new way." Fox 11 veteran Tony Valdez retired earlier this month.

@LAObserved Kevin, you see this? pic.twitter.com/fX3t0aYVkE

— Eric Richards (@EricRichards) November 30, 2016

CAO ankles: Miguel Santana, the highest non-elected adult in City Hall as City Administrative Officer, announced he will leave for a high-paying job running the nonprofit Los Angeles County Fair Association. A major loss, said former county supervisor and councilman Zev Yaroslavsky. LA Times P-45 update: The Malibu rancher who got a permit to hunt and kill puma P-45 now says she wants the mountain lion trapped and placed in captivity. Daily News, LA Times, CBS LA, previously on LA Observed

Media notes

Grant Tinker, the former head of NBC TV and MTM, died at age 91. His shows included "Mary Tyler Moore," "Hill Street Blues" and "Lou Grant." CNN Money, LA TimesHBO’s TV series “Ballers” is moving production from Miami to Los Angeles, and for its next 10 episodes will employ 135 cast, 209 base crew and 5,700 extras. “Ballers” is the seventh TV series to relocate to California under the expanded tax credit program. LABJCBS Trump reporter Sopan Deb is jumping to the New York Times culture beat. Michael CalderoneIMDb has sued California over the new state law requiring the site to remove even accurate ages from online bios if requested. DeadlineIf Trump Tweets It, Is It News? A Quandary for the News Media. New York TimesBreitbart News has lost Kellogg's as a sponsor and calls the move "unAmerican." LA TimesDecades in the making: 16 New York Times journalists recount working at some point on the paper's Fidel Castro obituary, first drafted in 1959.Attention all Netflix users: you can now download shows and movies for offline viewing. WiredMichael Ferro and Patrick Soon-Shiong have both bought up more Tronc shares. LABJ

Politics notes

More than 2,300 scientists, including 22 Nobel Prize winners, signed an open letter to Donald Trump and the next Congress, urging them to “adhere to high standards of scientific integrity and independence in responding to current and emerging public health and environmental health threats.” Washington Post Trump will be the first modern president to get less than half of the vote in both the primary and general elections. With nifty graphic. Washington Post Inside Steven Mnuchin's Hit-and-Miss Path From Hollywood to Treasury Secretary Pick. Kim Masters/Hollywood Reporter Rabbi Susan Goldberg of Wilshire Boulevard Temple has returned from Standing Rock with a report. Jewish Journal Gerrymandering explained brilliantly. Washington Post Wonkblog City Controller Ron Galperin posted on Facebook: "Mourning the loss of our beloved & amazing dog Daisy." She died suddenly on Thanksgiving. And happy trails to Michael D. Antonovich after 36 years on the LA County Board of Supervisors. (Don Knabe too.)

Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich: A Legacy of Service from Los Angeles County Newsroom on Vimeo.

Media people doing stuff

Carolina Miranda writes about visiting Manzanar and Tule Lake: "It connected to my life in ways I would have never imagined." LAT column... MSNBC correspondent Jacob Soboroff guests on an episode of Chelsea Handler's show that posts on Thursday... Former LA correspondent for the New York Times Charlie LeDuff leaves Detroit's Fox TV channel today, Next step unstated... Gina Nahi has been asking other Iranian Jews about Donald Trump, for her Jewish Journal column... David Davis writes for Deadspin on The Story Behind The Perfect Photo Of Sports' First Streaker... CNN's Brian Lowry had a co-byline on the LA Times' Grant Tinker obit. He quips: "Former LA Times colleague suggests Tronc saw my byline...and wants to figure out how to retroactively lay me off." Plus: CBS LA weathercasters Evelyn Taft, Amber Lee and Jackie Johnson are ready for the Trump era.

Finally posting this gem 💎 You may want to cover your ears 🙉 and we may need to stick to doing the weather ☔️ love my girls @jackiejohnsonla @amberleetv giving us an "A" for effort 💯 happy holidays🎄🕎!! @cbsla

A video posted by Evelyn Taft (@evelyn_taft) on Nov 30, 2016 at 10:22pm PST

Place

In advance of the Dec. 9 opening of "La La Land," Fandango has created a video mashup of other Los Angeles-based movies and a map to the locations seen in the new film, which stars Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling.

Also: Alison Martino posts that her Vintage LA site and Facebook page has been given a coverage spot on the red carpet for the opening of "La La Land." She posts: "What thrills me the most about this opportunity is that VLA is now considered a valuable and legitimate Entertainment media source and is becoming a reliable brand. This is something I've worked very hard for these past 6 years."

Tusks, a tooth and a skull from ancient mammoths or mastodons have been uncovered 15 feet deep in the excavation for the Purple Line subway station at Wilshire and La Brea. These are the first fossils found in the work on the Purple Line extension, but more ancient remains are expected the closer the work moves to the La Brea Tar Pits — which have already provided thousands of old animal bones and remains. Metro The Source, LAT
Los Angeles in Buildings: The Bradbury Building. KCET/Colin MarshallA look at the $80 million At Mateo project in the Arts District. Los Angeles MagazineAnd another drone-over-LA piece by Mingomatic.

Selected tweets

They said if America voted for Hillary, Goldman Sachs would run the government—and they were right!

— Justin Miller (@justinjm1) November 30, 2016

Always exciting when Sundance announces, even though I've rarely heard of the films. Which I guess is the point. https://t.co/4Qvonc5pW5

— Kenneth Turan (@KennethTuran) November 30, 2016

Journalism friends, assemble: Ron Burgundy Will Ferrell-themed bar coming to LA https://t.co/BbFdQsoYQO

— Saba Hamedy (@saba_h) November 30, 2016