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Times says Bamattre to quit today
Fire chief William Bamattre, never able to stem longstanding controversy over the racist and sexist extremes of the LAFD's culture, has "become a liability" in City Hall, the LAT says: "In the last two days, City Hall officials, including Fire Commission President Dalila T. Sotelo, began contacting representatives of firefighter groups and asking for names of candidates for interim chief, according to sources familiar with the discussions." Mayor Villaraigosa is expected to hold a press conference announcing a change. Hey, this is what you wanted when you tossed out the weak-mayor system and conferred new powers on the office, right?
Breeze sale "on hold"
A "technical issue" delays the likely sale of Copley's South Bay Daily Breeze to Dean Singleton's MediaNews Group until next week. How close did it come? "On Tuesday, Breeze employees were told to fill out two timecards for this week, one ending Nov. 30 and the other beginning Dec. 1. In addition, the Breeze recently separated its Internet hosting service from Copley's system." There's gossip about company credit cards also being cancelled. Breeze
AFTER THE JUMP: Politics notes, media notes and more.
Politics
Living wage escalates
And you thought it was over? The LAX hotels have launched a referendum campaign to overturn the city's ordinance requiring that hotel workers on Century Boulevard be paid more than workers on Pico or Sepulveda. And workers threw up a tent city outside a hotel to dramatize their cause. Breeze
Photo op of the day
Mayor Villaraigosa and Magic Johnson launch the “I Stand with Magic” campaign against AIDS in the African-American community, 9 am at the Magic Johnson Theatres in the Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Mall.
Bradley landfill to close
Waste Management gives up trying to expand and will convert to a fully enclosed transfer facility. DN
Media
Food fight over Spanish language TV
NBC Universal, which owns Telemundo, has filed a FCC complaint alleging that rival TV Azteca is corrupt and should lose its license for Channel 54 here. LAT
Add Huffington Post news
Maegan Carberry joins the L.A. office as an editor.
Ron Fineman returns
He has a new On the Record out today with news that WGA members rejected the latest CBS offer and a health update:
My latest PET-CT scan shows a reduction in the cancer in my chest. That comes from the CT portion of the test. The CT also shows more cancer in my abdomen, while the PET shows less cancer in my abdomen. Yes, that is confusing. My doc says the CT would likely be more accurate. Nevertheless, the good news is that it appears the oxaliplatin that I took must've had some positive effect in the fighting the cancer. But as you may recall, I stopped taking it because of two allergic reactions. So now we will see if there may be a way to work around the allergy problem. I'll discuss that with my oncologist next week.
It's the first positive news I've had in a long time. And again, I am pleased that the cancer still has not spread to a major organ. So let me thank you for all of your support and prayers. It could be helping! Though I should also add that my back pain has gotten worse lately, and we're still not sure just what is causing that pain. So while all is less than perfect, it is nice to have some positive news.
Reverse parachute
Former Daily Journal staffer Mark Thompson, publisher of Seasonal Chef, freelances a column and features about New York City judges for Judicial Reports.com out of his Culver City home office.
Moving on up
The Press-Telegram moves this weekend out of its long-time downtown Long Beach home and into a leased office tower.