Tuesday, 5.16.06

Question for the day: why would anyone wait in line for two hours for a Tommy's burger, whether they are sixty cents or the usual two bucks or so? Madness, I say, madness. You'll find nothing about Tommy's down below, but you will discover plenty of other news and links. Just click on the Buzz to go there.

♦ Front pages and news links

♦ Local Bush speech reaction: A smattering from an LAT editorial, Borderline blog, Mickey Kaus, Hugh Hewitt, Pajamas Media, Kevin Drum, Marc Cooper, La Opini�n coverage.

♦ Slippery slope?: The mayor of Beverly Hills wants to use photo radar to ticket commuters who speed through residential neighborhoods.

"We are a pass-through city, with 300,000 cars a day passing through our city," Webb said. "It's just impossible without this technology to really get a handle on this problem." But Beverly Hills' plan has come under attack in Sacramento and elsewhere, with opponents contending that placing cameras on side streets amounts to an invasion of privacy.

♦ Blog pulpit: Gerry Chaleff uses the LAPD blog to respond to U.S. District Judge Gary Feess' order on Monday extending the consent decree that gives the feds an oversight role in the department. Note to Gerry: a bit more commitment to spelling will help the blog. [Yes, here at LAO too.]

♦ Westly train coming?: Nine members of the L.A. City Council have endorsed Steve Westly in the Dems' primary for governor, compared to one (Janice Hahn) for Phil Angelides. Mayor Villaraigosa is neutral so far, and the Times suggests today that Villaraigosa stands to gain if Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger wins reelection. The LAT also acknowledges for the first time that the Guv on April 21 appointed the mayor's sister, Mary Lou Villar, to be a judge on the Superior Court. The Times notice then didn't mention the connection.

♦ Today in Pellicano coverage: Defense lawyers for ex-LAPD cop Mark Arneson suggested, by way of jockeying for position in the upcoming trial, that the feds haul NYT reporters David Halbfinger and Allison Hope Weiner before a grand jury and ask how they came to see FBI summaries in the Pellicano/Arneson criminal investigation, the Daily Journal's John Hanusz reports. Both Ross Johnson at L.A. Indie and Nikki Finke at Deadline Hollywood Daily comment on the strategy.

♦ Yet another MSM blog: New York Times television critic Virginia Heffernan is covering the network upfronts by blog on the paper website.

♦ Buying talent: Michael Bay put together a group that purchased Venice-based Digital Domain.

♦ Gerald Loeb Awards: Ethan Lindsey at LAist thinks it was a big mistake for the Anderson School to bring in Lou Dobbs for the awards event. Previously: finalists.

♦ Congrats in order: Veronique de Turenne has been tapped to critique books for NPR's Day to Day, says L.A. Brain Terrain.

♦ Consequences: Joseph Medawar, the producer who paid Rep. Dana Rohrabacher $23,000 for an option on a 30-year-old screenplay, has agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy to commit mail fraud and income tax evasion in connection with a bogus television production about the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the LAT says.

♦ New LAT column: Former Times Sports Editor Bill Dwyre launches his twice-a-week gig with a nice piece visiting with Duke Snider, who was back at Dodger Stadium to sign books and see friends.

♦ Note: Daily News and other Los Angeles Newspaper Group sources not included; they were out of service this morning.