Holiday weekend reads

Janice Min's remake of The Hollywood Reporter seems to be working, says David Carr, who calls her "a demure Columbia graduate who knows her way around a Diane Von Furstenberg dress." NYT

The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department has hired one new recruit in 19 months — a lone applicant with ties to Sheriff Lee Baca's son. LAT

The struggle behind the scenes of the 2009 documentary on the last weeks of Farrah Fawcett's life, "pieced together through interviews, e-mails and warring lawsuits settled a few weeks ago, reveals a chaotic final chapter in the life of an American icon — and a particularly indelicate entertainment industry moment, even by the standards of the reality TV era." NYT

Cities in Los Angeles County fit together like jigsaw puzzle pieces, often broken right in the middle of the street, "the double yellow lines bracketing where jurisdictions simultaneously end and start...Often, Los Angeles is on one side of a street and not-Los Angeles is on the other." D.J. Waldie/KCET

Plus:

Groupon has an editorial staff of 400 writers, artists and others crafting pitches and product come-ons. NYT
Donald Spivack, the former deputy chief of operations for the CRA, writes about taking the agency's buyout, coming back temporarily as a consultant and contemplating how he will use his retirement years. "If you’re passionate about what you do, the thought of leaving can be upsetting even if it makes the best sense financially." NYT
Barry Brucker, the new mayor of Beverly Hills, laments that his hometown has begun to resemble every upscale Southern California shopping center anchored by a Pottery Barn and Gap. NYT
Meg Wolfe, choreographer of an upcoming dance piece at REDCAT, talks about the inspiration she received from watching "Miracle Mile," the 1988 apocalypse film set at Wilshire and Fairfax: "The color scheme! Mare Winningham's hair!" The Misread City
Ralph Vartabedian tells the story of the space shuttle Endeavour from spare parts in Downey and Bell to this Wednesday's streak across the California coastline at hypersonic velocity one last time, "carrying its six astronauts and two decades of the nation's human space flight history." LAT
MOCA's claim for the magnitude of graffiti's post-Pop influence on art is overblown, says Christopher Knight. LAT
Photos of this year's placement of 87,000 Memorial Day flags at Los Angeles National Cemetery. Daily News
The Getty will close to visitors on the weekend in July that the 405 freeway is closed. LAT
The aging elevators in the county's Hall of Administration are starting to trap people. DN
Diana Nyad is preparing to try again on that swim from Cuba to Florida. WashPost

Quotable:

"If a story has the obvious appearance of being gang related, we likely don't cover it." - Channel 2 news photographer Bryan Frank

"A real Angeleno will drive 20 miles, through horrific traffic, just to reach a good spot for a walk — an unspoiled canyon, a lonely stretch of beach — and never thinks of this as a contradiction." - Hector Tobar, in his L.A. Times column.

"I sort of consider him as a father figure to me." Echo Park playwright Roger Guenveur Smith on former pitcher Juan Marichal.

"Most pundits felt Don Mattingly needed a year or two managing a minor league team. Well, he's getting it!" - Joel Rapp, letter to LAT Sports section.

Cropped photo: Monica Almeida/New York Times