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Station Fire fight hurt by cost concerns, Giuliani in town campaigning for Whitman, Villaraigosa at the White House, LA's future with PBS shows, Forbes' bizarre list of powerful women and more media and book notes. Tucked safely inside, after the jump.
- A desire to control costs slowed the arrival of "critical resources" in the attack on last year's disastrous Station fire as the U.S. Forest Service delayed ordering reinforcements from other agencies that had crews and equipment at the ready, according to an internal federal review. The finding contradicts statements made for more than a year by Forest Service officials, who have insisted repeatedly that cost concerns never impeded the Station battle. LAT
- Former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani campaigned for Meg Whitman in L.A. over the weekend. AP, KPCC News
- The L.A. police union says it endorsed Whitman not because of a secret deal but because they like her better as a candidate. LAPPL blog
- Mayor Villaraigosa will appear this morning at a press availability at the White House following a meeting with President Obama and other mayors on the importance of investing in our nation’s infrastructure.
- The size of the office staffs (and budgets) for Los Angeles and county electeds. DN
Plus: A citizen's lawsuit against the Board of Supervisors spending. DN - Orlov's Tipoffs: Van Nuys Airport, charter reform, Janice Hahn and the Dodgers. DN
- Former Bell City Council member Victor Bello, arrested in September on felony charges of misappropriating public funds, told investigators more than a year ago that the city was plagued with bribery, voter fraud and "unethical retirement arrangements," according to a letter obtained by California Watch.
- A perfectly fine L.A. Times piece on the weekend's Latino Book and Family Festival at Cal State LA devolved into a stream of racist reader comments on line. LAT
- Los Angeles will still have the full slate of PBS programs such as "Sesame Street" and "Masterpiece" next year even if KCET doesn't air them, the head of PBS says. LAT
- Inside Nick Denton's Gawker blogging empire. New Yorker
- Forbes' new list of the world's most powerful women includes Lady Gaga at # 7, Sarah Palin #16, Arianna Huffington #28, Carly Fiorina #51 and Nikki Finke #79. Even Finke finds it bizarre.
- Journalist Greg Mitchell's 1992 book from Random House, "The Campaign of the Century: Upton Sinclair's Race for Governor of California and the Birth of Media Politics," is out in a new edition from PoliPoint Press. Mitchell's blog
- Former L.A. Times staff writer Judy Pasternak is in town to talk about her book on the Navajo lands, "Yellow Dirt: An American Story of a Poisoned Land and a People Betrayed." Info
- Richard Horgan joins the roster of bloggers at Fishbowl L.A., now five strong. FBLA
- Sandra Hernandez is leaving the Los Angeles Daily Journal to become director of communications at the ACLU of Southern California. Hernandez was the first to report that federal agents were forcibly drugging immigrants before putting them on deportation flights.
- The Pomona College alumni magazine profiled L.A. author John Shannon.