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♦ Michael Hiltzik's previous gaffe involving invasion of colleagues' email privacy when he was stationed in the Times' Moscow bureau is now making the rounds of conservative bloggers delighted by his current controversy. Cathy Seipp, one of the bloggers bashed by Hiltzik in his pseudonymous guise, goes there at the National Review website today and also claims his Times work is being scrutinized. Meanwhile, Claude Brodesser at Fishbowl LA questions the whole fuss.
♦ Bill and Hillary Clinton are in town for a fundraiser (for her Senate campaign) tonight at Ron Burkle's Green Acres estate in Beverly Hills. John Fogerty performs. The women's group Code Pink plans to protest outside.
♦ Martin Ludlow gets three years probation, a temporary ban on political fundraising and $45,000 in fines and court costs on the state charges of illegal activity in his City Council campaign.
♦ No standing on protocol for the LA Weekly. In its fat 262-page LA People issue, Mayor Villaraigosa shares page 70 with chef Fred Eric—one page behind the write-ups on Villaraigosa's chief of staff, Robin Kramer, and Times columnist T.J. Simers.
♦ Tim Grierson, editor of The Simon, is getting married tomorrow and his contributing writers offer words of encouragement and discouragement.
♦ Mitchell Netburn, executive director of the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA), announced his resignation. He will return to New York City to be senior vice president of a non-profit.
♦ Thom Andersen's Los Angeles Plays Itself will run at American Cinematheque for four nights starting next Wednesday.
♦ The Los Angeles County Young Democrats endorsed Alex Padilla in the Valley state Senate race.
♦ LA Alternative reports on downtown residents who wonder if the renaissance will help them or force them out.