Weekly archive
April 4 - April 10, 2010
Saturday, Apr. 10
The Apple Pan and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar turn 63, plus Jackie Robinson and the Hollywood Freeway.
Starting tomorrow, all Los Angeles city libraries are closed on Sundays. The Central Library in Downtown is open 10 to 6 other days, and stays opens until 8 p.m. only on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
ESPN's Bill Simmons has written an interesting column explaining the conversion of an old-school baseball writer (him) to the modern sabermetric analysis embraced by an increasing number of major league...
A day after saying things were looking better, City Hall is back to describing a $222.4 million budget deficit for the current fiscal year that ends June 30.
Friday, Apr. 9
On Saturday morning, the Culinary Historians of Southern California are hosting a discussion on "the heyday of the Los Angeles Times Food section." Former Food section stalwarts Betsy Balsley, Donna Deane, Rose Dosti and Barbara Hansen will be on the panel at the Central Library in Downtown.
Myrna Loy crossed over from the silents to carve out a career as the witty, urbane type in 1930s Hollywood fare. She attended the Westlake School for Girls, but for decades a statue said to be based on her stood outside Venice High School. Venice alumni raised the money to restore the sculpture, and on Saturday a restored sculpture will be re-dedicated.
Thursday, Apr. 8
Hundreds of dump trucks a day have been
driving through a Sylmar neighborhood to dispose of sediment from the Station Fire.
Catching up on some notes.
That immediate budget crisis the mayor, the City Council and the CAO have been talking about? Not happening. Money has been found to pay city employees using a transfer from the reserve fund and some newly discovered cash.
I'm LAX bound this morning. I expect lighter posting over the next couple of days. Watch Mark at
LA Biz Observed for updates on City Hall and other news.
Wednesday, Apr. 7
More budget wrangling, a power grab, a credit downgrade and a lawsuit -- and that's not all.
Jeremy Oberstein, the communications deputy to City Councilman Paul Krekorian, noticed a Los Angeles Fire Department alert about a fire at a familiar address. He tweeted:
@LAFD I live there!!!!!! Is it bad?! Half an hour later, this follow-up scrolled across Twitter.
The Getty adds its entry to the growing list of blogs by and about art institutions (here is LACMA's Unframed, for example.) It's called The Iris: Views from the Getty,...
Fox 11 reporter Gigi Graciette was in the Calexico area, preparing to cross the border to Mexicali on earthquake duty, when she tweeted this a little while ago: Man just...
The biggest move is that Pat Harvey officially switches to Channel 2 and wil anchor at 5 and 11 p.m. with Paul Magers. Laura Diaz gets 6 p.m. solo.
Sponsored by parents at Wonderland Avenue Elementary School in Los Angeles and posted at Funny or Die. It's pretty good.
The press release from City Controller Wendy Greuel says the audit is intended to "determine if DWP had the necessary funds to complete the anticipated Power Revenue Transfer to the City’s Reserve Fund.
Probably not really, but political blogger Mickey Kaus's previous statements that he didn't intend to actually win against Sen. Barbara Boxer in the Democratic primary have been used by the party to deny him a speaking spot at the upcoming state convention.
City Attorney Carmen Trutanich filed this morning for an injunction naming 80 suspected drug dealers active in the Skid Row area of Downtown.
Blame Villaraigosa and the DWP, the Times says, while the Daily News runs a front page call for the mayor to resign.
Tuesday, Apr. 6
Cardinal Roger Mahony introduced his designated successor thus morning, calling Jose Gomez an advocate for immigrants and the poor. Gomez said that Los Angeles “like no other city in the world, has the global face of the Catholic Church.”
Mark is following today's moves in the poker game about City Hall and DWP finances over at LA Biz Observed....
Tonight on NPR's "Fresh Air", Milo Miles favorably reviews the recent DVD release of the film on the remarkable gathering of musical talent at the Teenage Music Awards International shows held at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium in October, 1964.
Greuel says April 19 is when city workers have to stop working, Whitman writes another $20 million check, The Wrap vs. Newser and more.
Monday, Apr. 5
A press conference has been scheduled for 10 a.m. Tuesday at the cathedral Downtown amid reports in the Catholic media and blogosphere that Mexican-born Jose Gomez, 58 and the archbishop of San Antonio since 2005, will be appointed by Pope Benedict as coadjutor-archbishop of Los Angeles. He would succeed Cardinal Roger Mahony, who is due to retire soon.
There's been a 4.6 aftershock this hour in the desert 16 miles southeast of Ocotillo, Calif., making at least ten earthquakes of magnitude 4 or higher today mdash;including a pair of 5.1's. It's all playing out as expected after Sunday's 7.2, Lucy Jones of USGS explains.
In a day of bad news on City Hall's financial crisis, Controller Wendy Greuel grabbed the biggest headline.
Everyone was surprised when manager Joe Torre tapped natural #4 starter Vicente Padilla to be his opening day pitcher. Padilla, released last year by Texas, didn't disappoint the skeptics. He...
Ex-LAPD chief William Bratton's Los Feliz home, originally listed at $1.875 million, finally sold for $1.4 million.
Picture editor Honore Brown, posting at The New Yorker's Photo Booth blog, writes that photographs such as those by Jim Marshall (who died last month) "don't get made anymore." Brown...
LegalZoom is still looking to leave L.A., seeking funds to cap the Hollywood Freeway for a park, assault charges against jail deputies, Hot Tub Political Machine and more politics and media notes.
Sunday, Apr. 4
The L.A. Times editorial board on Sunday explained its approach to this year's upcoming election endorsements. In recent years, The Times' editorial page has most often endorsed Democrats, but we...
TJ Simers devoted his Sunday column in the L.A. Times to calling out Kobe Bryant as surly, joyless and worse things, "basketball's version of Jeff Kent in so many ways."...
For the first time since 2002, the Los Angeles Kings will play in the post-season.
That was a long quake. Gentle but very noticeable rolling here on the Westside, but too long in duration to be a small quake. Details as they're posted by USGS.
Take 50 seconds and enjoy Saturday's celebration Downtown of National Pillow Fight Day, uploaded to YouTube by
rhivanz.
