Morning Buzz: Thursday 3.26.09

• Most of the state ballot measures up for a publc vote in May are losing. LAT, Bee
• New PPIC poll finds Californians still just as divided as ever on gay marriage. Union-Tribune
• Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa plans this morning to appoint Councilman Jose Huizar and Rita Robinson, general manager of the city�s Transportation Department, to his seats on the MTA board, thus adding more votes behind his push to extend the deadline for AnsaldoBreda to make good on its contract for rail cars. LAT
• L.A.'s latest Arbitron radio ratings: why do news station rate so low? Franklin Avenue
• Councilman Herb Wesson called for public hearings on whether to rescind the two-term limit on William Bratton as LAPD chief. LAT
• The city's Department of Animal Services reinstated vouchers for free spaying and neutering under pressure from the city council. LAT, DN
• Craig Newmark doesn't use his own craigslist much, since as he said last night: "because while it�s not a conflict of interest, it kind of feels that way." Z�calo
• KUSC will honor outgoing L.A. Phil music director Esa-Pekka Salonen with special programs in April, including live broadcasts of his final performances (and his first in 1984) plus a documentary. Culture Monster
• Bergamot Station in Santa Monica is not proposed as a rail yard for the Expo Line if it ever gets that far west, but people are protesting it anyway. LAT
• Judith Lewis covers last Sunday's March for Water. CityBeat
• Remembering the day Raymond Chandler died 50 years ago today. LA Weekly, Daily Mirror
• Los Tigres Del Norte will be at UCLA for a 10 a.m. press conference launching the Frontera Collection of Mexican and Mexican American Recordings, which has some 32,000 78 rpm recordings in its collections. UCLA Newsroom

LA Biz Observed