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LAUSD's test scores beat the mayor's, Brown backs high-speed rail, AEG wants more protection, Suzanne Marques gets a promotion and photogs in Long Beach watch out. Plus of course, Bratton won't run Scotland Yard.
Test scores in English and math improved more at LAUSD schools than at schools run by reform efforts or Mayor Villaraigosa's program, a Times analysis found. LAT, DN
Gov. Jerry Brown turned down a challenge from the mayor of Los Angeles to reform Proposition 13, saying he would prefer to focus his attention on bringing financial stability to California. AP
Mayor Villaraigosa dismembers Proposition 13 in his “grand bargain,” writes Joel Fox. Plus Fox and USC's Dowell Myers on "Which Way, L.A.?" Fox & Hounds Daily, KCRW
Brown said Wednesday that California's embattled high-speed rail project should move forward, despite growing criticism about the project's management and cost. Capitol Alert, Fresno Bee
California prison officials took a handful of reporters inside Pelican Bay State Prison, among them KPCC's Julie Small. KPCC News
The University of California announced a merit increase plan for non-unionized employees that seeks to fend off faculty hiring raids while mollifying critics of high executive salaries during the state's budget crisis. LAT, Chronicle
AEG wants a requirement that any legal challenge to its downtown NFL stadium be heard before an arbitrator. DN
Five months after Los Angeles voters approved a measure to ban campaign contributions from contractors with city business, the City Council delayed a vote on the implementing ordinance, arguing that the law is confusing, weak and may not represent the will of the people. City Maven
A spokesman says that Councilwoman Jan Perry will keep a $1,000 contribution to her mayoral campaign by controversial sign company magnate Michael McNeilly. Sausage Factory
The Los Angeles labor leader (Pat McOsker) who represents the highest-paid firefighters in the U.S. is "running for the City Council on a pledge to preserve public-safety spending even as the city faces $911 million in deficits during the next four years." Bloomberg
Civil rights activist Jesse Jackson visited a Ralphs supermarket in South Los Angeles to support union grocery workers locked in contract talks with three major supermarket chains. KPCC News
"Battle for Brooklyn" is a movie "that everyone who cares about neighborhoods should see," says activist Cary Brazeman. Dream City Blog
Suzanne Marques was named entertainment reporter for the CBS2 and KCAL 9. Twitter
Police Chief Jim McDonnell has confirmed that detaining photographers for taking pictures “with no apparent esthetic value” is within Long Beach Police Department policy. Long Beach Post, Cultural Weekly
When Manchester Boddy owned the old Los Angeles Daily News. Daily Bulletin
Blogger Darleene Powells is headed to bed rest at the 34th week of her second pregnancy. Darleeneisms
Rapper The Game apologized for a tweet causing calls to jam the Compton sheriff's office lines, and won't be prosecuted. LAT
Not that it was ever going anywhere, but Britain's prime minister dropped his move to hire William Bratton head the London police. Bratton may still offer unpaid advice. NYT
It's unlikely that the buyer of the late civil rights lawyer Ben Margolis' home in Los Feliz will understand the meeting of the minds that led to architect Gregory Ain, writes Greg Goldin. LAT op-ed
The L.A. Philharmonic announced a second season of live broadcasts into theaters, starting Oct. 9. In February Gustavo Dudamel will conduct the combined L.A. Phil and the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela from Caracas.