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Morning BuzzCouncil's term limits gambit sparks ire
City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo called on the mayor to veto the council's action putting a term limits extension on the November ballot with ethics reform language tacked on. Ethics commissioner Bill Boyarsky said the rushed action over the advice of Delgadillo "showed absolute contempt for the Ethics Commission. I'm really outraged by this." Meanwhile, if the term limits extension passes, it means a bunch of already-retired council members come back and try to reclaim their jobs. LAT, DN
Intelligent yes, but not human
A 28-year-old chimpanzee named Judeo at the L.A. Zoo died last week from a rattlesnake bite, despite an hours-long effort to save him. "He found the snake and went over and picked it up," zoo Director John Lewis said. The Daily News story is graphic:
At first, Judeo looked fine, said keepers, who performed the difficult task of separating him from his fellow chimps. But then Judeo began to tremble. To twitch. To sweat and breathe heavily as he grimaced in apparent pain. Keepers said he stumbled, as if off balance. His right hand, bitten by the viper, began to swell....
"The loss of this male is tremendous," said zoo curator Jennie McNary. "This group of people ... they would have done everything to save the animal. (Afterward) we all went up to the health center to say goodbye."
Nice doggy
Pit bulls are not as dangerous as you thought. Usually.
CityBeat's Real Best L.A.
The other weekly hits the streets today with a fat, bound version of the best of L.A. roundup that everybody does. Stories that catch my eye on the website: Q-and-A with Huell Howser, readers' favorite secret treasures of L.A., and declaring the West Valley cool in Beyond the 405.
That does it. Boycott French's mustard.
Two of the Los Angeles artworks on display at the Pompidou Center in Paris were destroyed when they fell off a wall and another piece was damaged. LAT
"It's tragic," said Lyn Kienholz, head of the California / International Arts Foundation, who acted as a go-between for the French contemporary art museum. "It never should have happened. There's no excuse."
"It's not our guilt," [said] Catherine Grenier, who curated the show for the Pompidou.
AFTER THE JUMP: Who feeds Villaraigosa's school slush fund, legal doubts now about the school plan, mail supporting Mel Gibson's hatred, and the making of "Water of Power."
Politics
Where Villaraigosa's cash comes from
LA Weekly's David Zahniser dug into the disclosure reports for Mayor Villaraigosa's $1.1 million (and growing) fund to bankroll his LAUSD takeover effort. What Zahniser found were developers along the Santa Monica Boulevard corridor giving $275,000 — and free to ply the mayor's pet causes with as much juice as they wish because the campaign is not subject to contribution limits. It's looking like a repeat of Mayor Hahn's anti-secession committee, which became the place for special interests with business before the city to exercise their God-given rights to inundate elected officials with persuasive money. A spokesman confirmed that Villaraigosa solicited the donations personally.
Mayors of New York and Chicago back the school plan
Michael R. Bloomberg and Richard M. Daley sign an L.A. Times op-ed piece endorsing what Villaraigosa wants to do. But some legal opinions now say the whole thing might violate the state Constitution.
Mayor takes schools show to the Valley
Daily News editor Ron Kaye will moderate a Villaraigosa "town hall" forum on his schools plan at Valley College, 4:30 pm to 7 pm today.
There is audio of Bellman
KPCC does have audio of Joel Bellman's response to Salam Al-Marayati from Tuesday. It's at the end of this piece about the Baghdad security agreement. Audio
Julie Jaskol takes a new gig
The former City Hall deputy has moved to the Getty as assistant director for media relations.
Media
Steve Lopez gets a lot of pro-Gibson, anti-Jewish mail
The Times columnist says "I've read far too many e-mails from readers supporting Gibson's anti-Semitic remarks.: He also suggests the sugar tits remark may be apocryphal.
Add Amy Wilentz's book
I mentioned yesterday the reviews in the New York Observer and Harper's. She also writes a first-person report on the writing of the book for CaliforniaAuthors.com.
Not original
A writer for Adult Video News liked the lede on a Philadelphia Inquirer story so much that he used it himself.
Noted
The making of Richard Montoya’s "Water & Power"
By Steven Leigh Morris in LA Weekly.
Mar Vista farmers market
There's a new Sunday market out my way: 9 am to 1 pm on Grandview Boulevard between Venice and Pacific.
Today
NRDC snags the mayor
Every year the National Resources Defense Council releases a survey of beach health. For today's media show at Will Rogers State Beach, they got Mayor Villaraigosa to come.
Around LA Observed
Earlier at News & Chatter
Sheriff spokesman Steve Whitmore's Hollywood connection
Channel 2's staff gets the order to clean up their desks
City Council demands clean language
Channel 2's staff gets the order to clean up their desks
City Council demands clean language
On the blogs
Native Intelligence: Bruce Feirstein gazes into Mel Gibson's future, sees Oprah and Katie waiting.
LA Biz Observed: Chris Thornberg leaves the UCLA Anderson Forecast for private practice.
SoCal Sports Observed: David Neiman says that if Tour de France winner Floyd Landis did take synthetic drugs, perhaps it was worth the risk.
Chicken Corner: The new Echo Park blog.
LA Biz Observed: Chris Thornberg leaves the UCLA Anderson Forecast for private practice.
SoCal Sports Observed: David Neiman says that if Tour de France winner Floyd Landis did take synthetic drugs, perhaps it was worth the risk.
Chicken Corner: The new Echo Park blog.