Follow LA Observed on Twitter here
Morning BuzzMayor apologizes to Muslim leaders
Villaraigosa met Sunday with the Muslim community groups that had criticized him for attending a pro-Israel rally and not responding to their invitations for an earlier get-together. He blamed a staff screw-up. LAT
Bad luck on I-5
A man and woman changing a tire on the side of the freeway in Santa Clarita were struck and killed by a Toyota Tahoma driven by a 19-year-old woman who is suspected of DUI.
No winner, but most everybody's happy
Yesterday's FC Barcelona-Guadalajara match ended in a 1-1 tie but set records for largest soccer crowd ever at the Coliseum and biggest crowd to see a club match in the U.S. Ronaldinho played the second half and was named the match MVP. The condition of the field, however, was called "an embarrassment to the city of Los Angeles [and] disrespectful to the teams" by the commissioner of Major League Soccer. Times, Breeze, Daily News
San Pedro's implosion
The relic Pacific Trade Center came down just as promised. The Times calls it "a reminder that a 40-year-old redevelopment of downtown San Pedro had been a costly failure." LAT, Breeze with video, Press-Telegram
Not in last place anymore
The Dodgers come home today on a nine-game winning streak. If they just hadn't lost 13 of 14 before the streak.
AFTER THE JUMP: Another Building and Safety controversy, Rose & Kindel lobbyists too, the chill between Villaraigosa and Newsom, $5 million for the Huffington Post and John Densmore of the Doors pays tribute to Love's Arthur Lee. That and more inside the only morning Los Angeles news roundup you could ever need.
Politics
Ex-Building & Safety prez under scrutiny
Patrick McGreevy reports in the Times that Efren Abratique voted three times to approve permits for the engineering firm Psomas that was paying at least $10,000 annually to his company.
Rose & Kindel deals focus of Daily News
The Los Angeles firm lobbies for the LAUSD (and has made more than $1 million doing so) at the same time it represents companies that win school district contracts, reports Beth Barrett. The LAUSD and Rose & Kindel say there is no conflict, the mayor's people say there is.
Antonio and Gavin "noticeably standoffish"
Rick Orlov says that California's best-known mayors did not warm to each other during last week's global warming summit at UCLA.
D.J. Waldie sees Los Angeles growing up
The latest political tensions at City Hall are a sign, he says in a Sunday Current piece, even if they are milder than previous bouts.
Media
$5 million for Huffington Post
The site, which now has 450 bloggers signed up, will receive the investment from a group led by venture capital firm Softbank, the New York Post reports.
Network TV's worst week ever
The week of July 4 had the lowest ratings in the recorded history of network television, averaging 20 million viewers during a given minute. Chris Anderson (The Long Tail) looks at other signs of media weakness.
A modest proposal for the Times
Calvin Naito suggested in Sunday Current that if we pony up $300 each to buy the Los Angeles Times, then Eli Broad's billions won't be needed.
Individually, we'd each gain power, wealth and access, but none of us would be so empowered as to sway all coverage.
Times book editor on Plan B
David Ulin discusses his wife's decision to take the morning-after pill.
L.A. has a taco lifestyle
No I didn't know that either, but it's the basis for a group blog from the people behind Cityfeeds, a company that steals the feeds from a couple of dozen Los Angeles blogs to sell ads against. The editor of Taco is Erich Redson.
Barlett and Steele to Vanity Fair
Longtime investigative reporters Donald L. Barlett and James B. Steele, dumped by Time, will write two pieces a year and be called contributing editors, the NYT says.
Noted
John Densmore appreciates Arthur Lee
The longtime member of the Doors pens a piece in the LAT on first seeing Lee, the lead singer of Love who died last week.
After experiencing Love, I knew I had a ways to go before being hip...This was a revolutionary band, way before Jimi Hendrix. No black man had crossed over from "soul music" into rock before Arthur. I desperately wanted to be in this band. Arthur clearly had tons of talent and charisma, a quality that our singer, Jim Morrison, hadn't developed yet.
Robert Rosenkrantz released
As expected, the killer of a 17-year-old Calabasas high school classmate was let out of prison after 21 years.
Other Klimts to be sold
Four of the Gustav Klimt paintings shown at LACMA this year after being returned from Austria will be sold at Christie's this fall. They were looted by Nazi Germany from the family of Maria Altmann along with the portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer that sold this year for $135 million.
Arlene Raven, 62
The art historian, writer and co-founder of the Los Angeles Women's Building died Tuesday of cancer.
In-N-Out matriarch dies
Esther Snyder was 86 and had been president of the family firm. She and her late husband started In-N-Out in Baldwin Park in 1948.
Today
Eric Garcetti
The City Council president speaks to a breakfast gathering of the Current Affairs Forum at the Wilshire Grande. Think the term limits measure will come up?
Tennis
The JP Morgan Chase Open gets underway today at Home Depot Center.
Around LA Observed
Earlier at News & Chatter
Breakfast with the Beatles dropped by KLXS
Mayor OKs term limits vote
Local Muslims protest Villaraigosa snub
Mayor OKs term limits vote
Local Muslims protest Villaraigosa snub
New on the blogs
LA Biz Observed: Morning headlines
Our contributors
Denise Hamilton reviewed Winter's Bone in Sunday's Los Angeles Times Book Review.