Morning Buzz: Tuesday 4.7.09

Mayor Villaraigosa told city unions that to avoid layoffs, workers need to defer raises, cut work hours and pay more for retirement benefits. The Times editorialized for the plan. LAT, editorial, DN
A veteran LAPD officer with a history of misconduct allegations, Silvio Sam Filipovich, 43, was arrested in Travis County, Texas, for allegedly forcing himself on a motel employee while she was retrieving a crib for his child. LAT, Austin Statesman
The number of quake dead in Italy reached 207, while news of the disaster hit some Angelenos hard. BBC, LAT, DN
The Getty Museum announced it will return to Italy a Roman fresco fragment dating to the third quarter of the 1st century B.C. The fragment came into the Museum's collection in 1996. Via release
The city's Board of Airport Commissioners agreed to pay $175,000 to five former airport officials for legal fees they incurred during the "pay-to-play" investigation, most of it going to former commission president Ted Stein. Breeze
Jerry Brown is to Apple...as Gavin Newsom is to Facebook...as Antonio Villaraigosa is to Yahoo!...as John Garamendi is to Sun Microsystems...as Meg Whitman is to eBay...as Steve Poizner is to Intel. Calbuzz
Writers and editors say Peter Bart "ran Variety as a fiefdom -- rewarding friends, slighting enemies, pitting reporters and editors against one another -- and all with showman's zeal for self-promotion." John Horn and Claudia Eller/LAT, Patrick Goldstein
A second new Downtown skyscraper project is being backed by Korean interests, this one near the Convention Center. LAT
Protesters showed up at the Brentwood home of supergraphic purveyor Frank Rahban. Curbed LA
About half the tickets at President Obama's Town Hall in Los Angeles went to Demoratic insiders, even though Obama told the audience "We haven't prescreened anybody." Michael Blood/AP
Chris Brown pleaded not guilty to charges of felony assault and criminal threats in the Rihanna incident. LAT
Vermont's legislature voted today to override the governor's veto of a gay marriage bill, becoming the fourth state to legalize same-sex marriage. AP
Santa Barbara County supervisors are expected today to rethink their previously rethought stance in favor of offshore drilling. LAT
Vin Scully talks about his playing days at Fordham, in an audio file. Fordham
Zócalo hosts a panel at the Hammer Museum in Westwood at 7 celebrating the 100th anniversary of author John Fante's birth. Panelists include biographer Stephen Cooper. LAT
James G. Boswell II, creator of the massive cotton-growing empire in the San Joaquin Valley, died at age 86. LAT

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