Morning Buzz: Thursday 2.5.09

• Associated Press wants credit and money from Shepard Fairey for the Obama photograph he based his now-famous poster on. AP
• MSN and BermanBraun are rolling out Wonderwall as a celebrity news site hoping to compete with People, US and TMZ. LAT
• Times writer Greg Miller responds to Salon's criticism of his story about Obama and rendition. Salon
• An exotic dancer at the Babes and Beer nightclub in Tarzana was doused with flammable liquid by two suspects and set on fire, leaving her gravely injured. DN, L.A. Now
• Yesterday's settlement in the MacArthur Park Melee case does not cover the journalists who were attacked. Witness LA
• The labor-financed campaign for Measure B in Los Angeles is targeting newly registered Obama voters. LAT
• The Archdiocese of Los Angeles is taking legal action against an Iraq War veteran who claims he was sexually abused by a priest as a teenager, but who missed the statue of limitations to sue while on active duty. CityBeat
• One of the victims of the Christmas Eve massacre in Covina has been hit with a big bill from her former landlord for "insufficient notice to vacate." SGV Tribune
• The Times has re-started The Homicide Report blog in scaled-back fashion, and without originator Jill Leovy. Homicide Report
• Praise from a friend for Joann Killeen and Michael Furtney, the PR reps working for the octuplets mother. PR in LA
• Today's Daily Journal runs a correction on the paper's Jan. 26 story about Joe Francis and the Bernhoft Law Firm:

  A story published Jan. 26...may have inadvertently created the impression Joe Francis was firing his lawyers at the Bernhoft Law Firm, by saying the firm was “about to be tossed on its ear.” In fact, as was reported in the same story, it was the Bernhoft firm that first sought judicial permission in a Nov. 28 motion to withdraw as Francis’ counsel. The Daily Journal regrets any misperception this caused.

• Rep. Howard P. "Buck" McKeon, the Santa Clarita Republican, said he will run for reelection.
• Rimshots from a headline in Not the LA Times: Facebook group saves LA Times Metro section, and eTrueSports breaks the news that Manny Ramirez to be named HHS secretary

Mark Lacter | Native Intelligence | Sara Catania