Morning Buzz: Monday 3.31.08

Joe Torre era begins

"Opening Day never gets old," Torre tells Steve Herbert of City News Service. CNS via KNBC

Ethier forces Juan Pierre to bench

Pierre was only the 11th-best Dodger at getting on base last season, and just about the worst this spring. Since that's most of what he brings to a lineup the left field job goes to Andre Ethier, who out-hit Pierre in every rate stat last season and who fields better. Wonder how Times columnist Bill Plaschke, who values stolen bases and bunts over actual runs, is taking it. LAT

Opening Day ode to Vin Scully

Christine Daniels (LAT) does the honors and points out:

When Vin Scully settled in behind his microphone at the Coliseum 50 years ago, Los Angeles had the narrator it needed and the Dodgers had the pitchman they required to break the ice, to melt any pockets of resistance that might have been scattered around the Southland....

But as the Dodgers crank up the celebratory machine to mark their 50th anniversary in Los Angeles, a different emotion surfaces when considering Scully's place with the Dodgers. Scully is 80 and in the last year of his contract with the club. He hasn't yet decided on his plans for after this season. For the time being, anyway, every game, every inning Scully's calls carry with them an underlying, undeniable theme for listeners: Let us enjoy them while we can.

Cardenas v. Chick could be coming to a head

Some City Council members are frustrated by the impasse over control of gang programs are considering action to free the issue up from Councilman Tony Cardenas's committee. Also, Villaraigosa's political advice team of Ace Smith, Michael Trujillo and Miguel Espinoza is headed to North Carolina to help Hilary Clinton. Rick Orlov/DN

People are talking about...

Lewis Segal's last ballet review for the Los Angeles Times savaging "Swan Lake" at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion: "American Ballet Theatre didn't create dreadful productions of the three full-length Tchaikovsky classics simply by blind obedience to tradition. No, in revising and restaging 'Swan Lake,' 'The Nutcracker' and 'The Sleeping Beauty,' artistic director Kevin McKenzie worked hard at cluttering the narratives with bizarre new plot twists and special effects, even sometimes messing with the music via resequencing and interpolation....his greatest crimes (or sins, if you consider the genuine 1895 'Swan Lake' to be holy writ) were those committed against his dancers." LAT

Newsweek to lose many staffers in buyout

Number totals 111 in editorial and on business side. RadarOnline

Pritzker Prize for architecture

French architect Jean Nouvel is the winner. He has a design proposed for Century City. LAT

We won't have Aloha Airlines to kick around anymore

Venerable but bankrupt island hopper shuts down today. AP

Mark Ridley-Thomas goes dotcom

The candidate for Supervisor launched a campaign website.

Doonesbury's vacation

The Times explains why several comics are being tested in the space temporarily vacated by Garry Trudeau. Reader's Rep Journal

From our contributors

David Davis reviewed Kadir Nelson's "We Are the Ship: the Story of Negro League Baseball," in Sunday's Los Angeles Times Book Review. LAT