Follow LA Observed on Twitter here
No hate angle in synagogue shooting, a Burbank cop kills himself on the street, and Villaraigosa's unfunded subway dream after the jump — plus more. Also see today's Mark Lacter morning headlines at LA Biz Observed, and follow Mark and Kevin on Twitter.
Visiting bloggers: Jack McGrath and Dana Gabbard on transit and traffic.
- Police investigating yesterday's shooting at a Sephardic synagogue in the Valley says "there is absolutely no evidence to support any connection to terrorism or a hate crime." Some reports suggest a business dispute. LAT, DN, Jewish Journal, LA Daily
- Neil Thomas Gunn Sr., a Burbank Police sergeant listed in an FBI probe into police misconduct, shot himself to death Thursday morning on the corner of a residential street, authorities said. Burbank Leader, LAT, DN
- Mayor Villaraigosa will announce today that he will try to accelerate 30 years of planned transit projects, including the Westside subway, into the next ten years, but without saying how he'll get the federal funds to do any of it. LAT, LA Daily
- Even a relatively controversy-free search for the next police chief has inherent political risks for Mayor Villaraigosa, Phil Willon notes. LAT
Plus: Bratton almost leaves with his badge. LA Daily - The county Board of Supervisors extended its ban on reporters behind the board room to include lobbyists and other non-county employees. LAT
- Scott Gerber, spokesman for Attorney General Jerry Brown, admitted that he has been secretly taping phone calls with reporters. SF Chronicle
- Lieutenant Governor John Garamendi is heavily favored to win a special election Tuesday for a House seat int he East Bay area. LAT
- The MTA has agreed to turn over documents about the delay in opening the Gold Line extension. Neon Tommy [Link fixed]
- The California High Speed Rail Blog takes offense at an LA Weekly story about the rail project. Blog
- Times media critic James Rainey discovers that Fox News Channel is Republican. LAT
- LAO contributor Bill Boyarsky interviews, and sizes up, new City Councilman Paul Koretz. Jewish Journal
- The 1913 murder in Georgia of child laborer Mary Phagan, and the lynching two years later of Leo Frank, "is still relevant and intriguing because the conflict at its core foreshadows today's red-state/blue-state hostilities," L.A. author Steve Oney argues. LAT Op-Ed
- The annual free performance known as the L.A. County holiday celebration at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion will be Dec. 24, from 3 p.m. to 9 p.m., with free parking. It's the 50th year.