Everything for the past week

The star of HBO's "The Sopranos" has died in Italy of a heart attack or a stroke.

From ducklings to ducklettes to ducks -- they grow up so fast.

Good lede from Associated Press: "Apparently, Men's Wearhouse Inc. doesn't like the way its founder looks anymore."

Hofmeister is the latest former entertainment editor and reporter at the Los Angeles Times to try her hand at crisis PR with Sitrick And Company. She was at the LAT for 17 years, first as a business reporter covering media and Hollywood. She later became editor of the Business section, then the assistant managing editor overseeing coverage of entertainment.

Gov. Brown vs the public records act. Millennium project reduces height but Caltrans still worried. Turnstiles close on the subway this morning. iPads for everyone in LAUSD. Is the Register looking to Long Beach? Los Angeles Magazine does a crime issue. KPFK staffers warned to say "alleged" in a memo. Plus ex-USC professor nabbed in Mexico, road rage on video and Umami Burger comes to the Arts District.

"We are shocked and devastated by the news that Michael Hastings is gone," says Ben Smith, the editor-in-chief of BuzzFeed. "Michael was a great, fearless journalist with an incredible instinct for the story, and a gift for finding ways to make his readers care about anything he covered from wars to politicians."

Nikki Finke certainly doesn't sound fired. Today she announced the hiring of new television columnist Lisa De Moraes, who spent about 15 years covering TV at the Washington Post.

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa made his most direct comment yet about his future political plans in a conversation with "Airtalk" host Larry Mantle on KPCC. He doesn't say when he would run for governor, which is kind of crucial. More inside.

The revised lineup, brought about in part by the demise of NPR's "Talk of the Nation," will include a one-hour repackaging of that day's two-hour morning show, "Take Two." There will also be the NPR interview show, "Tell Me More," hosted by Michel Martin, on weeknights.

Here's a proposal that's hugely important for local businesses and developers, and yet it's barely gotten noticed.

Mediabistro is calling it a hiatus but says that "within the next few weeks, all existing FishbowlLA content will be folded into the FishbowlNY archives." Current editor Richard Horgan will move over to FishbowlNY "to cover the Hollywood trades, awards season and a broad range of national media stories."

Final approval is expected next week, but today's 13-1 vote pretty much assures that L.A. will be the nation's largest city to prohibit stores from using plastic bags.

Back when a cove was all that was here.

LA to ban plastic bags in markets. Garcetti heads to NYC. A new parklet on Spring Street. IRS goes after Sam Zell's Tribune deal. New LAT bureau chief in Sacramento. Jake Jacoby and the Hillside Strangler et al. Indiewire's Hollywood influencers. When Vin Scully almost became a Yankee. And more.

UCLA's baseball team is in Omaha for the College World Series for the third time in the last four years.

The daughter of BoingBoing editor Mark Frauenfelder was going through security with a school group at LAX on Sunday when a male TSA officer hissed at her, "You're only 15, COVER YOURSELF!" Not cool.

JJ Yore was a journalist on the creative team that created Marketplace in 1988, and was the executive producer until moving upstairs to VP/General Manager in 2011. Today the word got out in the Downtown Los Angeles offices that Yore will be leaving.

Mayor-elect Eric Garcetti just announced that the chief of staff in his City Council office, Ana Guerrero, will fill the same role when Garcetti moves down to the mayor's third floor suite. "Ana was the key player in my work to cut budget costs and revitalize neighborhoods," Garcetti said in a statement. "Together, we're going to build on this foundation with new solutions to fix City Hall and strengthen communities citywide."

Again with the only-in-SoCal preferences.

Murder suspect from the Valley arrested in Joshua Tree, an Obama ambassador from HBO, Metro bus drivers sickened by pesticides, LA grapples with digital billboards, Garcetti breakfasts with Greuel, LAPD buys 188 cars, LA may be part of Rupert Murdoch's soccer plans, Dodger dollars don't add up, plus media moves, Zoey Tur and the 19th anniversary of OJ's slow-speed chase.

Wilshire Boulevard will be closed two extra hours for this Ciclavia. On Thursday evening, I will take part in a panel put on by Ciclavia and Hidden LA for the Getty's Pacific Standard Time Presents: Modern Architecture in LA.

This weekend's New York Times Magazine had a long feature on how artist James Turrell has "knocked the art world off its feet," partly by opening three major shows in different cities inside a month. One of those cities is Los Angeles, as we have posted already. What hasn't been covered in LA is just how close the intricate LACMA show came to not being ready on time.

Another slide show. Also, Happy Father's Day!

Steve Harvey's latest column of observations from around Southern California. Including Satan in a Dodgers jacket.

The golden rule, as Maisie sees it.

The Santa Monica College shootings and the NSA's mass surveillance should make clear that security requires controlling both the guns and the spies.

Airports chief wants to keep job under Garcetti. The mayor-elect's Reddit chat. Koch brothers fire back at Reed Hundt. Tow truck driver who killed a Metro bus driver did not have a commercial license. Figure much less local snow in the future. Hollywood skyscrapers a big lobbying topic. Schwarzenegger confirms role in 'Terminator 5." Plus unpaid interns, Al Michaels, Levon Helm and it's UCLA graduation day (and week.)

Just as the sun slipped out of sight.

Metro's newest route map of the rail system includes the busways and rail lines that are in planning or under construction, such as the Crenshaw line and the Regional Connector downtown. If you are a fan of transit, or just a student of Los Angeles, the map is a welcome glimpse into the future.

The newspapers themselves, including the LAT, have been valued at up to $1 billion, but that doesn't include Tribune's financial ties to CareerBuilder and Classified Ventures, two big sources of revenue.

The Dodger Stadium beating victim has returned home to Santa Cruz after more than two years in hospitals and rehab facilities. Insurance stopped paying for his care at his latest facility in Bakersfield. Why aren't the Dodgers paying for all of this?

California's daddy issues. Garcetti returns to Reddit tonight. Glendale to invest in Alex Theatre. Vicente Fox meets Giselle Fernandez. Soledad O'Brien gets HBO deal. Investigating the lyrics of "Louie, Louie." Jesus Saves sign. Andrew Breitbart. Ellen Page. Phil Jackson. Ned Colletti and more.

Take My Picture Gary Leonard runs on Thursdays at LA Observed.

Actually, Miami International and JFK seem to be in worse shape, according to the WSJ. And we're not even into the summer vacation season.

And I'm not saying that any of this actually happened...

Bob Tur is one of the city's most recognized news helicopter pilot-reporters, from his coverage of the 2002 riots and the O.J. Simpson slow-speed chase. He told KNX NewsRadio that he is in the early stages of aggressive hormone replacement therapy to fully transform from male to female.

In February of 2011 — yes, 2011 — the LA Times won $35,000 along with the Selden Ring Award at USC. When one of the reporters began asking where's the cash, he got the run around. As of today, the final plans for the prize money remain less than transparent.