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The Times website is rolling out some design tweaks today—press Ctrl-F5 on a PC to reload the new stylesheet if the pages look screwy at first. They have shrunk and repositioned things, squeezed more news into the upper screen and moved Entertainment and The Envelope out of the top spots in the left hand links column. First up now: California/Local News.
The biggest changes are on the entertainment pages, which had been almost unnavigable for me before. An editor's note from Joel Sappell— with an overreaching hed: "A New Day on the Web in L.A."—explains:
Starting today at latimes.com/entertainment, you'll find the most original and vibrant show business reporting available anywhere. Every day we'll deliver a lively mix of stories from the Los Angeles Times' veteran Hollywood reporters, who'll take you behind the scenes of an industry bursting with characters and conflict. You'll also find several new features created exclusively for the web:# The KinseyGram, a top-of-the-morning roundup of entertainment news from magazines, newspapers and websites. Compiled by our box-office guru R. Kinsey Lowe, The KinseyGram will give you links to stories along with sharp commentary.
# Channel Island, a blog by television reporter Scott Collins. On screen and off, from overnight ratings to on-set strife, Collins will be your roving eye through the TV industry.
# Spinoffs, a series of rotating, bite-sized features that offer a quirky yet insightful take on the news of the day. For example, to critique each weekend's new movie releases we've brought together our own "Focus Group"--a rapper, an evangelical minister, two teenagers and a soccer mom.
Functionally the new array works better for me because I can find things easier. Your mileage may vary.