Weekly archive
December 7 - December 13, 2008
Friday, Dec. 12
Jane Espenson has been part of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "Battlestar Galactica," most notably, and also has written episodes of "Angel," "Gilmore Girls," "Ellen," "The O.C.," "Star Trek: Deep...
Political consultant Sue Burnside denies she was hired by candidate Ben Austin to circulate his petitions: "I was on my honeymoon in South America." Sausage Factory Controller Laura Chick...
In today's LA Observed commentary on KCRW, I call on Eli Broad — or any other philanthropist "who sees the value of smart, independent reporting unhindered by ideology, corporate influence...
Mayor Villaraigosa has appointed investor and former Warner Bros VP (and Clinton Admninistration staffer) Sean Burton to the citywide planning commission. Also: Attorney Justin Sanders to the Community Redevelopment Agency...
Village Books struggles to get by in the little shopping district of Pacific Palisades, but things seem especially grim on that street this year. The bookstore has loyal fans, though,...
Charley Steiner will only do radio on next season's Dodger games, pushing former pitcher Jerry Reuss out of a job and opening a vacancy for a TV play-by-play announcer for...
From the Daily News: An editorial in Tuesday's paper, "Turf war costly," incorrectly reported that the City Attorney's Office hired an outside law firm to sue the city controller in...
The Chatsworth crash of Metrolink 111 was a legacy of "decisions two decades ago that -- knowingly or not -- gambled with passenger safety." LAT What Machine Project might...
Thursday, Dec. 11
The Paley Center for Media honored actor Carl Reiner tonight at the Hyatt in Century City, but apparently the main topic of conversation was the poor quality of the hotel...
KABC 790 talker Larry Elder announced on his show today that after 15 years, Friday would be his last day on the air. He followed with a statement on his...
Page never recovered from the heart attack she suffered earlier this month and died today in Los Angeles. Louis Sahagun in the LAT: Bettie Page, the brunet pinup queen with...
Planning commission president Jane Usher resigned, confirming gossip that swept offices this week, saying she needs a job and offering the mayor some advice in her exit letter. LAT,...
UCLA student Lina Chung isn't just heading off to Rome to study abroad. She's calling a much-needed break from living in Los Angeles. "I have been a faithful girlfriend, devoted...
Zócalo Public Square, the non-profit lecture series that "creates intellectual community across the nation by presenting smart ideas in an open, non-partisan, multi-ethnic space," has upgraded on the web in...
That 15-year-old San Pedro High School girl who reported two men tried to drag her into a truck [see Morning Buzz] has admitted making up the story. "She said she...
The state Air Resources Board votes today whether to require big-rig owners to add diesel exhaust traps and replace about 350,000 older, dirty engines. LAT Golden Globes nomination list...
Wednesday, Dec. 10
Among the journalists laid off in today's announcement of cutbacks at National Public Radio are "Day to Day" co-host Madeleine Brand, "News & Notes" host Farai Chideya, senior correspondent John...
Gabriel Kahn, the deputy chief in the WSJ's Los Angeles bureau on Wilshire since the summer, gets the top job when Bruce Orwall heads for London next month. Kahn (they...
Patrick Goldstein blogs at The Big Picture that Manohla Dargis, who left the LAT for the New York Times in 2004, is seen as a movie killer. It's an open...
“Sowing Hope,” a series in the Merced Sun-Star upstate about efforts to open a medical school at UC Merced, is the first published project of the Center for California Health...
Here are posts at the blogs of Los Angeles-based National Public Radio shows Day to Day (posted by producer Steve Profitt) and News & Notes (host Farai Chideya) about their...
South El Monte mayor Blanca Figueroa has been given an 11 p.m. curfew. She's been known to stay in her office at city hall deep into the pre-dawn hours, but...
Hollywood financier Ryan Kavanaugh's arraignment on fresh DUI and probation violation charges has been put over to Jan. 22. By then, Sheriff Lee Baca's charity hopes that Kavanaugh makes good...
This morning the City Clerk held the random drawing to determine the order that names will appear on the March ballot in Los Angeles. Names starting with Z will lead...
Now that the Los Angeles Marathon has abandoned March (and Sunday), the Pasadena Marathon will grab the opening. The date is Sunday, March 22, 2009. Under the Dome...
A few miscellaneous items: Times publisher Eddy Hartenstein is scheduled to speak with Warren Olney tonight at 7:30 p.m. on "Which Way, L.A.?" on KCRW. He's also on KPCC's "Patt...
National Public Radio stations were just sent this memo about the cutbacks disclosed today, including the cancellations of "Day to Day" and "News & Notes" that LAO has been reporting...
Just about everybody, says law professor and former political consultant Susan Estrich in her column at the Cagle Post: The once mighty Times has managed to give almost everyone in...
Patrick McClenahan has been promoted to President and General Manager of KCBS-TV and KCAL-TV, effective immediately. He has been senior VP and station manager since the stations combined into a...
Word at NPR West is that vice president for news Ellen Weiss will meet with the staff of Day to Day after this morning's show goes off the air at...
Claude Brodesser-Akner, host of The Business on Mondays on KCRW, took a stand on the show against the resignation of Rich Raddon from the L.A. Film Festival over his support...
Mark Lacter points in his LA Biz Observed morning headlines to a column where Washington Post writer Steven Pearlstein calls B.S. on Sam Zell's claim that a "perfect storm" of...
Sheriff Lee Baca wants to charter a plane and fly 347 deputies to Washington to work four days on the Obama inauguration. Cost to Los Angeles County: $1 million....
Tuesday, Dec. 9
"Wall-E" is the best picture choice of the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, with "The Dark Knight" the runner-up. Danny Boyle was picked as best director in 2008 for "Slumdog...
The Los Angeles Unified school board approved 5-2 a buy out of Supt. David Brewer's contract, clearing the way for Ramon Cortines, who had been the mayor's chief education adviser,...
The Loyola Marymount exit polling showed a 61% approval rating for Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, 58% in the Valley. Voters who were asked their choice in the mayoral election next year...
The director of "Nothing But the Truth" blogs some praise for newly laid-off Daily News critic Glenn Whipp and others who have lost their jobs, including Premiere's Glenn Kenney and...
Look up between 5:21 and 5:27 pm. The International Space Station will be passing overhead. Long Beach Report...
News item: Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, arrested on suspicion of corruption, believed that Sam Zell planned to use "certain corporate reorganizations and budget cuts" to get the Chicago Tribune editorial...
Hector Tobar begins a new weekly column in the L.A. Times, adding in his editor's words a voice "whose frame of reference includes the experience and culture of Southern...
If the Los Angeles Times owes you money, you might have to wait a long time. Publisher Eddy Hartenstein told the staff yesterday that the Chapter 11 filing freezes pending...
Monday, Dec. 8
Matthew Garrahan, the Financial Times' man in Los Angeles, updates the U.K. readership on all this hand-wringing out here about the L.A. Times. Excerpt: The speed of cuts implemented first...
NBC will announce that Jay Leno is getting a 10 p.m. slot when his "Tonight Show" run ends. NYT Political writer Joe Mathews offers five steps to victory over...
LAUSD chief David Brewer emerged this afternoon to say he wants the school board to exercise the buy out clause of his contract, but he apparently declined to answer media...
With all that's gone down at the L.A. Times on Sam Zell's watch, it's good to point out that the paper has retained most of its foreign-based staff writers (even...
Clout positioned itself as a lifestyle magazine mostly for gay and lesbian couples. The passage of Proposition 8, to go with the slumping economy, apparently cinched Clout's demise. From an...
The cover of the September "Best High Schools" issue of Los Angeles magazine was singled out by Time as one of the year's ten best. Art director Joe Kimberling and...
From Tribune's internal Q-&-A on the impacts of today's Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing: How are severance payments affected? All ongoing severance payments, deferred compensation and other payments to former employees...
Christopher Lisotta at Frontiers magazine says that Marjorie Christoffersen, the manager at El Coyote who threw a few bucks to the yes of Proposition 8 campaign through her church, has...
Weston Naef, longtime senior curator of photography at the Getty Museum, will retire to curator emeritus status on Jan. 31. The Getty announced in a statement that after retiring, Naef...
Supt. David Brewer plans to make a 2 p.m. statement, media reports say. The Daily Breeze reports that Brewer will step down as head of the Los Angeles Unified School...
Mark Lacter has this morning's news at LA Biz Observed on Tribune filing for Chapter 11 protection. Here's chairman and CEO Sam Zell's statement to the staffs at the LA...
The Pulitzer board announced it will accept submissions of online journalism from "United States newspapers or news organizations that publish at least weekly, that are primarily dedicated to original news...
Bryan Olive, a staffer at the Ayn Rand Institute in Irvine, turned in his leased car last March. In August, the car got a parking ticket in Los Angeles. In...
I can now reveal* the answer to last week's first Where in Los Angeles am I? LA Observed Quiz. It's the statue of Harrison Gray Otis, the former Times publisher,...
Eduardo Bermudez, an officer in the LAPD's Pacific division, was arrested in connection with a rape that followed a department-sanctioned holiday party. LAT Five past secretaries of state gave...
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is in Washington today for a meeting with other big city mayors looking to tap into the flood of public works funds that an Obama Administration is...
Sunday, Dec. 7
New Los Angeles Daily Journal editor David Houston must feel the newsroom needed some rules. "Male reporters won't be required to wear neckties and there is no story quota. However,...
The Los Angeles Film Critics Association will get together Tuesday and announce its winners of the year's movie awards. The org has a newly freshened website — the group photo...
The actress plays a newspaper reporter not — repeat not, director Rod Lurie winks — based on Judith Miller in next week's new thriller, "Nothing But the Truth." Beckinsale and...
The Atlantic author Caitlin Flanagan and Benjamin Schwarz, the magazine's national and literary editor, weigh in on the post-Proposition 8 debate on today's New York Times Op-Ed page. In particular,...
The New York Times has posted a new staff story on the reports about Tribune's internal preparations to possibly file for bankruptcy protection. The nub: Tribune is in danger of...
When Danish fugitive Stein Bagger walked into the LAPD's Central Area station on Saturday to turn himself in, the cops were skeptical. Officer Jack Richter, in the LAT: "We've had...
Mark Lacter has been following the afternoon's developments on Sam Zell preparing to seek bankruptcy protection as soon as this week, if he can't renegotiate the loans that allowed him...
