Friday desk-clearing

• The pilot of a private plane reported stolen was arrested upon landing at LAX.
• Los Angeles magazine editor at large Amy Wallace begins a new column on business innovation and creativity called Prototype in Sunday's New York Times.
• Rep. Xavier Becerra, Controller Wendy Greuel and LAUSD Superintedent Ramon Cortines guest with Conan Nolan on this week's "News Conference" on Channel 4, Sunday at 9 a.m.
• Contrary to Betty Pleasant's assertion linked in the Morning Buzz, Councilman Herb Wesson is "an enthusiastic supporter of Karen Bass for Congress," says spokesman Ed Johnson.
• Gabriel Snyder, the Gawker editor who lost his job this week, posted his thanks on Twitter: "To everyone who's extended a kind word, I can't tell you how much it helped to get through this last week." Here's the Gawker staff's send-off.
• Nikki Finke says in a tweet that "I think that someone is punking the news media by offering me as an interview. Neither I nor Deadline.com has ever employed a publicist."
• Frank Monteleone, who joined Valley institution Barone's Italian Restaurant in 1950, died at age 85.

Plus: LA Observed contributor Deanne Stillman, the author of "Mustang: The Saga of the Wild Horse in the American West," is cited in a Smithsonian article on The Mustang Mystique. And today's LA Observed commentary on KCRW digs into the latest episode in the McCourt v. McCourt soap opera.