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Longtime local news figure Ross Becker is leaving NBC4 and the on-hiatus daytime show he anchored, The Local Story, for an anchor slot at KTVX, the ABC-affiliated Channel 4 in Salt Lake City. Becker has a website and inactive blog at TVNewsMentor.com.- Atty. Gen. Bill Lockyer's investigation in the wake of last January's L.A. Times series on the United Farm Workers union found no violations of law — "no basis to any of the allegations that we investigated" — but did detect "the appearance of impropriety" and recommended strengthened procedures.
- Gov. Schwarzenegger underwent surgery today for the broken right femur (oww!) he suffered while skiing last week in Sun Valley, Idaho. The previously undisclosed hospital was St. John's in Santa Monica. He's awake and Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante's lap with the baton is over.
- A Jet Blue flight to Oakland hit some birds just after takeoff and returned safely to Long Beach to regroup and check the engines.
- Gasoline prices here are up 20 cents since Nov. 6, though filling up in San Francisco and Seattle remains costlier.
- Tony Pierce at LAist rants (twice, no thrice) that there is not enough Jesus Christ in the SoCal media's Christmas experience.
- Ron Burkle's ex-nanny is suing him for having sued her.
- Metro's new route map is out with the Purple Line included, but no Expo/Aqua/Bernie Parks line.
At Native Intelligence: They spent Christmas on the floor at TJ Sullivan's place, while Erika Schickel faced the holidays under the shadow of a breast cancer scare.