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There's a full helping of media items after the jump today, leading with the arrests of El Cucuy and Jim Lampley, the dropping of Jamie White's morning radio show, and a look at the media's coverage of the Long Beach racial attacks. Click to find a bunch more news you want to know about — nicely tucked away and organized. You can even print it out or email it.
Top news
El Cucuy arrested
Renán Almendárez Coello, aka Maximo Almendares, will be charged with making criminal threats over the phone, possibly toward a police officer, in connection with a domestic disturbance at his Northridge home. He surrendered at Devonshire station is out on $50,000 bail. TMZ, Daily News
Jim Lampley too
The former Channel 2 anchor and current boxing analyst for HBO was booked in Vista (near San Diego) and faces a felony count of domestic abuse/corporal injury and two misdemeanors of violating a restraining order and preventing a witness from testifying. He has posted $35,000 bail. TMZ
CHP suicides worst in nation
Eight officer suicides last year has caught the attention of supervisors and national experts, one of whom tells the Daily News: "I don't know of any other large agency that's had as many in such a short time."
Maybe Bill Handel was right
The "Jamie, Jack and Stench" morning show on 98.7 FM was cancelled Wednesday, officially because the show "is not a long-term fit with the music-intensive, artist-driven direction" at the station. Lead host Jamie White was in the news last month when KFI host Bill Handel barged into her studio to upbraid her for saying something to his kids and called her and her show losers.
Politics
Weekly and the Moslems
Maher Hathout, the controversial spokesperson and former chairman of the Islamic Center of Southern California, gets a profile in the LA Weekly. "I believe that a real Muslim ought to be progressive," he tells Mehammed Mack. "Anyone who doesn’t adapt and cope with the dynamics and changes in life is actually rendering the religion archaic and irrelevant. If this is what is meant by ‘progressive,’ then certainly I am." Hathout's award from the ACLU sparked Joel Bellman's Dear Ramona letter last July and the associated fallout.
Chick endorses in the Valley
Controller Laura Chick gets behind Mayor Villaraigosa's candidate in the District 3 school board race. Tamar Galatzan is the wife of Valley Industry and Commerce Association president Brendan Huffman.
Media
Coverage of the Long Beach racial attack
Fishbowl LA's Kate Coe freelances a story to the LA Weekly exploring why most Los Angeles media were slow-to-timid about covering the Halloween night attack on white women by black youths. TV in particular wouldn't touch it. William Pearl's LBReport.com gets credit for first reporting the incident.
On Stein's side
Add Business Week blogger-about-blogs Stephen Baker to the faction that credits Joel Stein's anti-email column with, 1) Getting people to read and talk about Joel Stein, and 2) Incidentally makes a point worth making.
I enjoyed the article, because while there's plenty of good conversation in blogs, there's also lots of empty and pious bleating about conversations. The conversation has grown at super speed into an article of faith, an orthodoxy. It's good to have someone give it a good kick--even if he's not going to benefit from or respond to our insightful, passionate and provocative responses.
Harry Shearer Q-and-A
He talks to CityBeat's Dean Kuipers about his anger over New Orleans and his book Not Enough Indians — called a send-up of politics around Native American gaming.
End the silly debate
Robert Niles, editor of the Online Journalism Review, argues it's time to stop arguing the distinction between mainstream and citizen journalism: "Journalism is journalism, no matter who does it, or where."
Slate's Movie Club
LAT reviewer Carina Chocano is participating in the ninth annual installment of the year-end wrapper on the movies we saw.
Lawyers who went Hollywood
The Hollywood Reporter, Esq. looks at agents and managers who were practicing attorneys first.
New NPR news show
The network plans a show alongside "Morning Edition" aimed at listeners age 25-44.
Noted
If you haven't seen it yet
SNL's pretty funny recut of the Apocalypto trailer at YouTube, poking fun at Mel Gibson's drunken blubbering.
Venice architects in the NYT
Deborah Richmond's and Olivier Touraine's one-window house is featured today in Home and Garden.
Today
On Betty Ford
Jennifer Steinhauer, the NYT's bureau chief in Los Angeles, guests on KPCC's "Airtalk with Larry Mantle" to discuss the legacy of the former First Lady.