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City Hall spending, Villaraigosa delays, Whitman stages, a new candidate runs for assessor and a local politics obituary. Plus more, all after the jump.
- Mayor Villaraigosa and Controller Wendy Greuel ordered a spending freeze that affects city departments and restricts purchases, travel and other payouts. LAT, DN, LAist
- Villaraigosa has delayed the press conference to propose his new environmental surcharge on DWP bills, saying more time is needed to check numbers. LAT, DN
- A funny thing happened when Meg Whitman's campaign filmed a 30-minute infomercial Wednesday night in Orange County, "besides stuff like covert filming by her opponents, cops being called, crowd screening and Meg goosing the audience for applause." SFGate
Plus: Whitman and Steve Poizner both are using books to push their campaigns. Sacto Bee - Jose Cornejo, the chief deputy to Councilman Tony Cardenas, announced Thursday he will get into the race for county Assessor, for the seat being vacated by Rick Auerbach. DN
- Councilman Bill Rosendahl said he opposes the current details of the Bundy Village project and doesn't like the developer saying he is for it. LA Daily
- Layoff notices at City Hall will lead to seniority bumping that could take months to sort out and affect thousands of employees, not to mention public services. LAT
- Metrolink is considering a plan to raise fares by 3 to 6 percent and discontinue dozens of low-ridership weekend and weekday commuter train lines. DN
- Six UCLA students were tied up and robbed in a late-night home invasion robbery near campus. KABC
- The couple whose late-night hit-and-run killed USC student ft Adrianna Bachan pleaded no contest and could face up to three years each in prison. LAT
- New family-organized field searches for Mitrice Richardson are scheduled for Sunday, March 28. Malibu Surfside News
- Authors John Heilemann and Mark Halperin discuss "Game Change" with Patt Morrison n KPCC at 2 p.m.
- Saturday on "Of-Ramp," host John Rabe marks ten years on the air at KPCC by playing tape from the archives from when he didn’t know how to say La Cañada or Eli Broad.
- Anne Volk Finn, who twice sought to take over the City Council seat held by her late husband Howard Finn, died at 94. LAT