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A "perfunctory check" at a mortuary on the eve of Alan Goodman's cremation led to the arrest of his wife, tennis umpire Lois Goodman, on murder charges. LAT
Councilman Richard Alarcon's claimed home on Nordhoff Street in Panorama City showed no signs of occupation for three years, though someone would show up occasionally to cut the weeds or put up Christmas lights, a neighbor testified at the councilman's preliminary hearing Thursday. LAT
More than half of voters — 58 percent — said they watch local television news broadcasts daily, with older Americans far more likely than younger voters to rely on television for their news, according to a new USC Annenberg-Los Angeles Times Poll on Politics and the Press. USC
Nikki Finke and Geoff Boucher's former editor at the LA Times, Craig Turner, both reported Thursday that the staff writer and creator of the paper's Hero Complex blog has given his notice. Boucher has said nothing so far except to post on Facebook an exchange with Finke:
Shortest phone call ever:
"Hi it's Nikki Finke, I heard you're leaving the Times."
"I'm not a fan."
Click.
A judge issued a preliminary injunction ordering Walmart to cease all construction on its Burbank superstore and directing the city of Burbank to suspend its approval of the building permits for the project pending trial in the case. City News Service
The state Senate approved naming the Pacific Coast Highway bridge spanning the Alameda corridor after the late lawmaker Jenny Oropeza of Long Beach. Breeze
In Los Angeles County, 15 cases of typhus have been confirmed so far this year, and an additional 17 were still under investigation. LAT
Sitting with the so-called "tree people" who watched Neil Diamond for free in the brush above the Greek Theatre. LAT
Friends are rallying to help Tim Dundon, the compost man of Altadena, who is 70 and in trouble with the authorities over his garden and pets. Chance of Rain
The Wall Street Journal is offering free Wi-Fi through September in more than 1,300 hotspots throughout New York City and San Francisco. Romenesko
The Dodgers are interested in Boston Red Sox slugger Adrian Gonzalez. LAT
