Afternoon news and notes

Police say a murder-suicide in Wilmington claimed five children and their parents who had lost jobs at the Kaiser medical center at Venice and La Cienega. The father apparently faxed a letter to Channel 7. ABC 7
L.A. Opera laid off 17 of its staff, asked others for a pay cut, and took other steps to save $500,000 a year. Culture Monster
Griffith Park was designated a city historical cultural monument, altering how some decisions affecting the park will be handled in the future. LA Now
Mayor Villaraigosa issued an official statement on the death of Ghazaros Kademian, "one of the oldest remaining survivors of the Armenian genocide."
A doctor whose view of the Santa Monica Mountains has been obscured by a supergraphic — it's the building along the Santa Monica Freeway at National and Westwood boulevards — has started up a protest website. LA Daily
That fossilized mammoth tusk on Santa Cruz Island...turns out to be a less exciting whale jawbone. LAist
Altadena author Marla Frazee's "A Couple of Boys Have the Best Week Ever" was chosen as one of three 2009 Caldecott Honor Books. Hometown Pasadena
Rick Warren, President Obama's favorite anti-gay OC pastor, is launching a new quarterly magazine from Readers Digest called Purpose Drive Connection, says the Wall Street Journal.
Praising Harvey Weinstein's hiring of Tom Ortenberg as president of theatrical films: "I hate to be so blunt about this, but one of the biggest problems the Weinstein Co. has faced in recent years is bad karma, which is sometimes worse than bad box office." Patrick Goldstein
Try not to picture it: Mickey Rourke and Evan Rachel Wood locking lips. Defamer