Morning Buzz: Monday 3.16.09

• The Getty plans to slash its operating budget nearly 25% for the coming fiscal year, "an emergency response to investment losses that have totaled $1.5 billion since July and nearly $2 billion since mid-2007." LAT
• What happened to artist Chris Burden's scheduled show featuring one hundred kilo of pure gold at the Gagosian gallery in Beverly Hills. Dana Goodyear/The New Yorker
• Rick Orlov rounds up the names being talked about as candidates for the 2nd district City Council seat and quotes Council President Eric Garcetti pooh-poohing talk of an appointment. Meanwhile, the 46,000 uncounted votes in the March 3 election will be tallied on Thursday. Orlov/Daily News, LAT
• Former President Bill Clinton ended his high-profile business connection to Ronald Burkle's Yucaipa Cos. and gave up a final payment that was once estimated at up to $20 million. WSJ
• Sen. Dianne Feinstein makes a habit of playing coy about running for governor, and former San Francisco political reporters Jerry Roberts and Phil Trounstine predict she won't run this time either. Their new blog is CalBuzz: "We rather envision ourselves as a Germond and Witcover for California politics - except we're both the fat guy in the middle seat." LAT OpEd, CalBuzz
• Look who else might run for governor: Rep. Loretta Sanchez. Politico
• Rep. Maxine Waters said in a statement that she didn't do anything improper in advocating for OneUnited Bank. WSJ
• Conservative talk radio in California is on the wane, with the ranks thinned by the economy's downturn. Michael Finnegan/LAT
• One journalist returns from unpaid furlough intent on fighting to save the newspaper industry in general and more specifically the company that publishes his column. Wesley G. Hughes/SB Sun
• Another corner of Van Nuys wants to relocate to Sherman Oaks, and this one knows how to get media attention. DN, LAT
• The Dodgers' new spring training facility in Arizona has not been a hit with sponsors. LABJ
• John Mirisch, a film distributor who writes Blog Beverly Hills, was elected to the Beverly Hills City Council. LAT
• San Francisco may rename Third Street for former politician Willie Brown. SF Chronicle
• Jim "Poorman" Trenton is reviving his Loveline persona online at Luvchat. Register
• Warm sendoff to the late probation officer Mary Ridgway by Celeste Fremon: "She incarcerated kids without blinking whenever she deemed it necessary. At times, bleeding hearts like me thought she was too quick to "violate" this or that homeboy...Still, for all her renown in certain circles, Ridgway's photo never appeared on Page One of any L.A. newspaper. No local publications profiled her." LAT Opinion
• Up close and personal with Brynn Cameron, USC senior, basketball star and mother. NYT
• Former NPR entertainment business reporter Kim Masters takes over today as host of KCRW's "The Business" and interviews Disney chairman Dick Cook, 2:30 p.m. at 89.9 FM

LA Biz Observed headlines | Native Intelligence