Rescue crews are giving themselves until the end of next month to get the operation in mostly workable order. In today's media whirl, that's several lifetimes. Meanwhile, the California health care site seems to be working, more or less.

Mayor Garcetti wants to open the process, but transparency is not so much the issue; it's context. Knowing that L.A. gets 28 percent of its revenue through property taxes is a useless data point unless we can find out why it's higher than previous years.

If the salmonella contamination at Foster Farms tells consumers anything, it's that we're all pretty much on our own when it comes to food safety.

No more non-stops between Los Angeles and Singapore, part of a cutback by Singapore Airlines on ultra long-range routes. Also gone is the Newark to Singapore run, which at nearly 19 hours (yikes!) had been the world's longest non-stop flight.

Some might find the former mayor's advisory roles to be infuriating, but is it any different than an actor or athlete getting paid ungodly amounts to peddle somebody's golf clubs or soda pop?

Gallup poll finds that 58 percent favor legalization and 39 percent oppose, the broadest approval since the pollster start asking the question in 1969 (only 12 percent backed legalization that year).

Not horrible, not wonderful - September's numbers were a tad disappointing, with only 148,000 jobs added to the rolls. But the unemployment rate did drop to 7.2 percent from 7.3 percent the previous month.