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Five officers lost by the CHP, the budget-less legislature leaves town, which campaigns Hollywood is giving to, the politics of free tickets and a weak editorial, plus much more inside.
- A ride-along in the Valley with the CHP, which has lost five officers in roadside incidents in the past six weeks. DN
- The Legislature is leaving town for a July recess without passing a state budget...again. Bee
- Who Hollywood's usual donors are supporting this year in the California races. So far, the Republicans are avoiding Whitman and Fiorina. The Wrap
- The politics of the mayor's free tickets from big City Hall players such as AEG, the Dodgers and the Oscars. LAT
- Weird editorial on the tickets scandal from the Daily News, considering how many stories its own reporters have already done on Villaraigosa "mustering time" on the budget: "What's more outrageous than any overuse and abuse of free event tickets is what it says about Villaraigosa's priorities. He can find the time to mug for photos with every B-list celebrity at every Hollywood event, but he cannot muster the time or energy to fight to save the city from financial ruin." Yeah, like it's one or the other. You can almost see some old guy in the Valley shaking his fist. DN
- Stung by an $8 billion pension fund loss last year, Los Angeles County supervisors will be asked today to spend an additional $200 million to shore up its wilting retirement system. DN
- Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas and Celeste Fremon talk about the probation department, the feds and the Board of Supes. Witness LA
- The CRA's plan to replace Molly's Burgers on Vine Street in Hollywood with an eight-story office building is meeting some resistance. LAT
- Karin Klein contrasts the daily challenge of life at Locke High School with the Abby Sunderland story and writes "not that I'm looking to denigrate the skills and moxie required to take on Abby's impressive outing," suggesting that is what she's doing. LAT Op-Ed
- Fox TV camerawoman Patti Ballaz testified that she needed multiple surgeries after being pushed to the ground by an LAPD officer in the May Day Melee and has not returned to work. KPCC News
- Mitchell Stern, the former CEO at Fox Television Stations and DirecTV, is the new CEO of Freedom Communications, parent of the Register. OC Register
- SB Nation Los Angeles launches today as another national sport site with a section devoted to L.A.
- Blake Hennon points out that L.A. has lost six football teams — not just the four cited by the No Way L.A. campaign in Jacksonville — if you count the XFL champ Los Angeles Xtreme (one season in 2001) and the USFL's Los Angeles Express. You could also count the 1926 travel team the Los Angeles Buccaneers and the Los Angeles Dragons of the aborted Spring Football League.
- Martin Perlich will host a "Politics of Culture" episode today devoted to the legacy of longtime L.A. Philharmonic leader Ernest Fleischmann. Guests include L.A. Times music critic Mark Swed and composers William Kraft and John Williams. KCRW, 2:30 p.m.
- Allyn Ferguson, an Emmy-winng composer for television and movies, died at age 85. LAT