Afternoon shorts *

⇒ USC Annenberg awarded the Selden Ring investigative reporting prize to the Washington Post for stories on Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Copley News Service reporters Marcus A. Stern and Jerry Kammer were finalists for their stories that led to the resignation of California Congressman Randy Cunningham.
⇒ Marc Weingarten is on Fresh Air with Terry Gross talking about Truman Capote, Hunter S. Thompson and his new book, The Gang That Wouldn't Write Straight.
⇒ A new Orange County local politics blog Total Buzz launched today on the Register website (outside the registration wall.) Reporters Martin Wisckol, Norberto Santana Jr. and Peggy Lowe write the items.
⇒ Kitty Felde did a tribute to Octavia Butler on KPCC's Talk of the City. Butler's book Kindred is the current One Book, One City selection for Pasadena.
⇒ The lion in Altadena was captured and Edison Elementary School reopened.
⇒ No obits on the Los Angeles Times site as yet for Butler or Eddie Nalbandian.
⇒ Los Angeles County sheriff's deputy Gabriel Gonzalez was found guilty in federal court of sexually assaulting women while on duty.
⇒ Marc Cooper does duty as The Nation's man at David Horowitz's Restoration Weekend and blogs: "Generally speaking, the audiences at these events are usually quite gracious and easy-going if indeed out-to-lunch politically. It’s a much friendlier venue than your usual lefty gatherings."
⇒ KCRW commentator and former "Cheers" writer Rob Long is the subject of Patrick Goldstein's column in tomorrow's LAT: "'Martini Shot' reaches only a fragment of the audience that might tune in to a network TV show, but it's a striking example of the benefits of today's niche-oriented media universe. Freed from having to compromise to reach the biggest possible audience, Long has been allowed to reach inside himself, giving birth to a voice that is more authentic and compelling than anything you'd hear in a thousand hours of network TV. Long makes gentle fun of the insecurity and self-involvement of showbiz types, often using himself as a convenient target."
⇒ Robert Parry, back from Iraq duty, has started a blog where he declares himself a Johnny Cash Christian: "That is, I am flawed and fail, but do try. I strive to have compassion for the poor and the dowtrodden, prisoners and the oppressed...I believe in the superiority of Trojan Football, and think dogs are a man's best friend."