Biz notes

At LA Biz Observed, Mark Lacter reports on a juicy court case between Maxine Swim Group and its former CEO, tells who's going to promote "Desperate Housewives" and "Ugly Betty" to Hispanic audiences, and notes some weekend press handling of Playa Vista. Mark also picks up that John C. McKeon was namd president of the Los Angeles Newspaper Group, the Singleton papers that include the Daily News. McKeon has a stormy past in Los Angeles. He was advertising director at the Times during the Staples Center fiasco and his defense of a profit-sharing tie-in between the LAT Magazine and the arena — telling editors the Times is "a promotional vehicle" — helped spark a rebellion among the newsroom staff. He left the Times in 2001 and since then has been GM of the Tribune's Sun-Sentinel in South Florida, GM of Newsday and VP/Marketing for Knight-Ridder.