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Polanski's role in his own arrest, more outrage on Kittridge Street, and water mains go national. Those topics and more below the jump. Also catch Mark Lacter's morning headlines at LA Biz Observed, and follow Mark and Kevin on Twitter.
- Roman Polanski's attorneys may have helped provoke his arrest by complaining to an appellate court that L.A. prosecutors had made no real effort to capture the filmmaker in his three decades as a fugitive. LAT
Plus: Roy Rivenburg has some fun with Patrick Goldstein's column response to the arrest of Roman Polanski. Not the LA Times - The City Council is expected to offer a $50,000 reward in the weekend gang killing of a four-month-old boy on Kittridge Street in Van Nuys. LAT, DN
- L.A.'s rash of water main breaks makes the new York Times, which ledes: "This arid city is always looking for water. Lately, a lot of it can be found cascading down the streets." NYT
Plus: The rate of water main breaks has doubled over last year. LAT - LAUSD construction chief Guy Mehula has resigned after an "apparent power struggle with district leadership." LAT
Related: Constance Rice argues on Op-Ed page that fight is over Mehula's independence from bumbling administrators. - Joel Kotkin predicts a move toward the political center due to California's economic woes and realization that "California's experiment with ultra-progressive politics has gone terribly wrong." New Geography
- Amateur searchers found the wreckage of a military jet that crashed off the coast in 1955. AP
- Times columnist Hector Tobar urges Cal State students to fight back against budget cuts. LAT
- The last member of Orange County's so-called "Hippie Mafia" group of hash smugglers from the 1970s has been arrested in the Bay Area. Good timing for OC Weekly's Nick Schou, who has a book coming on the group.
- Los Angeles attorney Ken Basin is the only person in the U.S. to make it to the million-dollar question on “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?” then give the wrong answer. LABJ
- Former President Bill Clinton will appear with San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom at Los Angeles City College on Oct. 5 and be guest of honor at a fundraising reception for Newsom's campaign for governor.
- The the Lynda and Stewart Resnick Exhibition Pavilion is halfway through construction. LACMA Unframed
- Readers of Reyna Grande's "Dancing with Butterflies" will notice right away how she "weaves in geographical details from throughout the region, from Highland Park to Boyle Heights, from Downtown to Pasadena." La Bloga
- Karen Fritsche, a fill-in producer at KPCC for four years, has joined "Airtalk" as an associate producer.
- Janine Kahn, the former LAT and OC Weekly blogger, is leaving SF Weekly to become Editorial and Content Manager for Dogster Inc.
- Jeepney tours through Historic Filipinotown. Leimert Park Beat
- KUSC will broadcast Gustavo Dudamel and the Los Angeles Philharmonic's performance of Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 live at 7 p.m. on Saturday.
- Today on "Politics of Culture," the cartoons of Mohammed that shook the Muslim world. 2:30 p.m., KCRW.