Morning Buzz: Thursday 5.14.09

TV video shows an El Monte police officer kicking the head of a chase suspect who appears to have surrendered. Fox 11, LAT, SGV Tribune
A Channel 2/9 camera about to go on the air from Whittier caught a man being run over by a van while trying to stop the driver from fleeing the scene of an accident. CBS 2
An internal LAPD review concluded that SWAT officers acted appropriately in the 2008 hostage situation in Winnetka where Officer Randal Simmons was killed, but is critical of poor communication and of officers who didn't properly hold their positions. LAT
The council's Budget and Finance Committee sent up proposed budget cuts that would "eviscerate Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's police hiring program and almost certainly lead to significant cutbacks for parks, libraries, street-paving programs and other city services." Villaraigosa pleas for unions to help him avoid deep layoffs. LAT, DN
Los Angeles, Ventura and San Diego will become the first counties in California to begin checking the immigration status of all inmates booked into jail, over ACLU objections. LAT
UTLA teachers won't strike on Friday but plan to picket before school and engage in civil disobedience and a downtown march after school. DN
MAPLight.org Los Angeles debuts with a site making city ethics commission data on campaign contributions easier to search and absorb, with a grant from the John Randolph Haynes and Dora Haynes Foundation. Site
Congressional Quarterly's Liriel Higa [name fixed!] sizes up 2010 race for governor and says it all awaits Sen. Feinstein's decision whether to run. CQ
Asian American voters have cast about 37% of the 10,000 absentee ballots already sent in for the CD32 election, Chu adviser Parke Skelton tells Politico.
The LA Weekly revisits the issue of LAPD chief Bratton making political endorsements and finds it "a spectacle Angelenos have rarely seen." LAW
Count Heal the Bay extremely disappointed that the regional water board relaxed cleanup requirements for the Santa Susana Field Lab site. Mark Gold
The LANG newspapers may be reeling, but the group's San Gabriel Valley papers are looking to hire a reporter. Journalism Jobs
Four lion statues from 1915 that used to decorate the entrance to L.A.'s Selig Zoo will be placed today at the zoo in Griffith Park. LAT and release
The 28 acre site of Griffith Park on the East Bank of the Los Angeles River in Atwater Village "could be the Next Great Urban Park in Los Angeles." City Project
Descanso Gardens plans to break ground in June on a $2.1 million art gallery located adjacent to the historic Boddy House. Via release
University of California Television (UCTV) has arrived citywide on Time Warner Cable. Release
New babies were born to the Sparks' Candace Parker and to Rep. Linda Sanchez.

LA Biz Observed headlines