Morning Buzz

Morning Buzz: Tuesday 5.11.10

How to buy entry into the governor's house, Pete Wilson on immigration, the cost of city layoffs, plus Villaraigosa on jury duty, George Will, Roman Polanski, Mike Piazza and a Leimert Park reading for Lena Horne.

  • For $50,000 you can attend a fundraiser for Gov. Schwarzenegger at his home in Brentwood on May 18, right in the middle of budget season — and chance to "chomp cigars" with him later. Schwarzenegger has previously proposed a ban on fundraising during the budget process. LAT
    Plus: Schwarzenegger joked Monday that he avoided Arizona for fear of being deported. Sacramento Bee
  • Former Gov. Pete Wilson is doing a radio spot on immigration on behalf of Meg Whitman. DN/Sausage Factory
  • Another try is being made to reform the pro-business bias of Proposition 13. Dan Walters
  • Labor contracts renegotiated last year by Mayor Villaraigosa and the City Council mean that budget-cutting layoffs would cost the $32 million by triggering a 3% raise to more than 15,000 full-time members of the Coalition of L.A. City Unions, and six months later anoither 2.75% pay increase. LAT
  • Villaraigosa had jury duty yesterday in traffic court. DN/Sausage Factory
  • Los Angeles "is chin-deep in California's trickle-down misery," writes George Will, who finishes with a history lesson that references Gaylord Wilshire. Newsweek
  • Superior Court Judge Peter Espinoza denied Roman Polanski's request to unseal transcripts of recent testimony by the original prosecutor in his 33-year-old sex crime case. LAT
  • The owner of the former Studio City Golf and Tennis Club isn't amused by the dream of some politicians and residents to make it part of a Los Angeles River Natural Park. He wants to build senior condos. DN
  • Conditions in the Pacific Ocean seem to be shifting toward the La NiƱa phenomenon that "almost always robs rain from Southern California and the Southwest." SD Union-Tribune
  • Playboy's June edition hits newsstands Friday with a 3-D Playmate of the Year centerfold and 3-D glasses. AP
  • A group of hunters donated 250 pounds of elk, deer, sheep, bear and wild pig to the Union Rescue Mission kitchen. LAT
  • The LA Weekly has been named a winner in the best food blog category of the 2010 awards from the Association of Food Journalists. AFJ
  • Mike Piazza was the best player the Dodgers have developed in a long time, but he was traded when Fox owned the team and says now he hopes to be inducted into the Hall of Fame wearing a New York Mets cap. NYT
  • A groundbreaking ceremony for the upgrade of Pauley Pavilion will begin at UCLA at 12:30 p.m. UCLA Newsroom
  • James Gavin, the author of "Stormy Weather: The Life of Lena Horne," will speak at EsoWon Books on Wednesday at 7 p.m. EsoWon

More by Kevin Roderick:
Standing up to Harvey Weinstein
The Media
LA Times gets a top editor with nothing but questions
LA Observed Notes: Harvey Weinstein stripped bare
LA Observed Notes: Photos of the homeless, photos that found homes
Recent Morning Buzz stories on LA Observed:
Thursday news and notes
A little bit of mid-week reading
A few links from a few different places
Let's talk about anything but the weather
A few links from here and there
A couple of links from a couple of places
A bit of news from a few places
Morning Buzz: Wednesday 4.16.14


 

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