Wednesday morning headlines

More zigzag: Some less-than-stellar earnings results, but otherwise the market just seems to be marking time. Dow is down about 20 in early trading.

Ranking local foreclosures: One out of 63 homes in the L.A. area received some sort of foreclosure notice in the third quarter, the 23rd highest rate in the nation. Vegas, as usual, is tops, at one out of 20. Six out of Realty Trac's top 10 were from California.

Governor worried about Medicaid: He's been generally supportive of a health care overhaul, but warned that the states need more money to cover the added costs of Medicaid. In California, that could run more than $1 billion. (Sacramento Bee)

Dodger dollars: Some juicy numbers were revealed in the McCourt divorce filings, most notably that the couple has a net worth valued at $1.2 billion. Two-thirds of that covers the team, stadium and surrounding land. But there's still scant information on debt, which is a big deal. From the LAT:

Jamie McCourt portrayed the couple as reveling in an extravagant lifestyle, including $400 dinners and $5,000 hotel rooms. She is asking the court for $487,634 in monthly spousal support if she does not return to her job and $320,967 if she does. That amount, she said, would cover, among other things, unlimited travel expenses, access to private jets, money to cover hair and makeup for Dodgers events and access to postseason games, even if the Dodgers are not playing.

Speaking of debt: The giant Blackstone Group took on $20 billion from its untimely purchase of then-Bev Hills-based Hilton Hotels, and now it's trying to get some relief from lenders. From the WSJ:

The downturn in the hotel market, triggered by reduced business and leisure travel, has sent values tumbling and turned the deal into a burden. The firm already has written down the value of its investment by two-thirds, a paper loss of about $3.7 billion on the investment. Hilton has been hit with some bad news since it was acquired by Blackstone. Federal prosecutors are investigating whether the chain and several of its former executives should face charges for allegedly stealing confidential documents from rival Starwood Hotels & Resorts, according to people familiar with the matter.

Broadcasters seek cable fees: Up to now the over-the-air networks have given away their product, but times are so tough that they're looking for some of the cable action. From the WSJ:

For their part, cable companies say the networks are unfairly trying to squeeze them for fees. "At the end of the day, this all gets passed on to the consumer," said Tom Larsen, vice president of legal and public affairs for cable operator Mediacom Communications Corp.

Google wins L.A. contract: The City Council voted to outsource e-mail to a Web-based system run by the search giant. That means transferring e-mail operations for its 30,000 employees to Google's nationwide network of servers. (LAT)

How bad is your commute?: New Census numbers show that the folks in Lake Elsinore have it worst, averaging almost 42 minutes to get to work. L.A. residents spend an average of just under half an hour on the road, which is lower than both NY (39.4 minutes) and Chicago (34.1). (LAT)

Grim news at Forbes: NYT's David Carr hears that up to 60 of the 200 editorial employees at the biz magazine could be let go.