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Jack Weiss makes his ambition more or less official, Anthony Pellicano comes back to town, the Ambassador gets a proper send-off, Channel 13 News adds a comic, more bad news at Rocketdyne and the L.A. homeless agency—plus a new obits writer at the Times, something new for Mark Austin Thomas and new advice on how to pitch Angeleno magazine.
And we're in La Niña, baby. Turn the page...
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♦ Councilman Jack Weiss says he will run for City Attorney when the job is next open: either next year if Rocky Delgadillo is elected state attorney general, or in 2009 when Delgadillo and Weiss are termed out. Former mayoral candidate Bob Hertzberg also threw his hat in the ring. Both were close advisers to the Villaraigosa campaign, though maybe not so close to each other.
♦ Anthony Pellicano will return to Los Angeles in federal custody to face new charges, says the LAT.
♦ Blogs Franklin Avenue and LA Voice cover last night's Ambassador Hotel wake at the Gaylord Apartments. Michael Schneider received a rousing ovation for his Ambassador's Last Stand blog and shared the stage with Diane Keaton. Jim at Trained Monkey has a fuller blog roundup.
♦ The Times' morning story on USC dean Yash Gupta stepping down has more detail than yesterday's web story and does mention up high that he was a candidate in Arizona.
♦ Mayor Villaraigosa is in Williamsburg, Virginia to participate in the House Democratic Caucus Issues Conference. He returns to L.A. tonight.
♦ Channel 13's news has added a new segment called The Angry Angeleno, filled by comedian Ernie G.
♦ Two new studies show slightly higher rates of cancer in residents around the old Rocketdyne engine testing lab in the hills between Chatsworth and Simi Valley: incidentally, the headwaters of the Los Angeles River.
♦ Looks like we're in a La Niña year, meaning less rain this spring and summer and more fire danger, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says.
♦ Beth Barrett has a piece in the Daily News saying the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority "repeatedly violated regulations by using about $1.7 million in federal funds to bail out other programs."
♦ FishbowlLA advises freelancers how to pitch Angeleno magazine, whose editor says "Our readers live in big houses in the hills and need a very good reason to come down from those hills."
♦ New obituaries writer at the Times: Jocelyn Y. Stewart, who had been a state reporter on the Metro staff.
♦ I'm told that KPCC's Mark Austin Thomas is going to be named co-host of the "Marketplace Morning Report."
♦ The Times' Bob Pool takes a tour of the Packard Lofts at Olympic and Hope, and revisits the history of early car dealer and broadcaster Earle C. Anthony. Pool accepts the version of the neon legend that has Anthony mounting the city's first sign there at his Packard showroom, rather than the prevailing story that it went up in a more visible spot downtown.
♦ Cindy Sheehan has a commentary about her arrest in the Capitol on the Times' op-ed page.
♦ Author, Court TV anchor and legal analyst Rikki Klieman spoke to the First Friday Club at the Wine Bistro in Studio City. Early call: 7:30 am.