Monday morning headlines

Never mind Alaska: Pipeline corrosion is not just an issue in Prudhoe Bay. Turns out that California's maze of oil, fuel and natural gas pipelines have their own problems with maintance and safety. There have been some nasty incidents over the years, but overall the pipelines are still considered relatively safe.

The third brother: When it comes to L.A. business, the name Gores is usually asssociated with either Alec, founder of Gores Technology Group, or Tom, who heads the investment group Platinum Equity. Both are billionaires, according to surveys. But there's also Sam Gores, who run the Paradigm talent agency and has tried to stay out of the limelight. Well, until now. He gets profiled in today's LAT. As of late, he's been making some low-profile acquisitions.

Broker blues: The telltale sign of a softer real estate market is the loss of brokerage jobs - and it seems to be happening in L.A. The Los Angeles Business Journal reports that in the last couple of months, at least a half dozen offices have closed or are in the process of doing so, most on the Westside or in the San Fernando Valley.

Expectation game: You know things are a tad slow when the Monday morning debate centers on why "Snakes on a Train" didn't live up to its Web-generated hype. By the way, summer attendance at the movie theaters is up 4.4 percent over last year's weak showing.

Speaking of the Web: Did you know that MySpace.com is home to at least 12 Paris Hiltons, 16 David Spades and about two dozen Eva Longorias? And yes, most all of them are fakes. So a couple of guys have set up their own MySpace site called 100% Verified Celebs and MySpace Personalities, which authenticates MySpace celebrity profiles for free. MySpace prohibits imposters, but there's no verification system.

Slower Spending?: There's been considerable chatter about lower-income consumers being squeezed by high gas prices, but folks with upscale tastes could be feeling the pinch as well. This morning's Wall Street Journal (subscription required) notes that Starbucks, Whole Foods and Williams-Sonoma have reported disappointing sales. The slowdown could go beyond pump prices:

Wendy Liebmann, president of consulting firm WSL Strategic Retail in New York, finds evidence in a recent survey of 1,500 consumers of a broader shift in consumer behavior after almost a decade in which most were "trading up" for high-end items. Many are now cutting back, she says, with low-income households becoming more likely to stick to dollar stores and supercenters and middle-income families visiting more mass merchants and grocery stores than specialty outlets.

C-17 fallout: The Long Beach Press-Telegram says that shutting down the C-17 program short-sighted. The community of Lakewood is really taking it on the chin.