Follow LA Observed on Twitter here
Republican advertising man Fred Davis said his new Better Way LA super-PAC will try to raise and spend at least $4 million to support Kevin James, the conservative candidate for mayor. LAT
Candidates Garcetti, Greuel and James all have their campaign headquarters on the Valley side of the hill. Jan Perry is downtown. DN
Richard Riordan's signature gatherers for pension reform hit the streets, amid an admission by Riordan that the plan was developed without an actuarial study that would determine its costs. LAT, DN
SEIU local 721 is against the sales tax hike being proposed in City Hall. LAT
LAPD officer Jorge Santander shocked a handcuffed woman with a Taser stun gun while joking with other officers at the 2010 scene, then appeared to lie about it on police reports. Chief Charlie Beck is attempting to fire Santander and three others. LAT
Some City Hall types, including coluncilman Joe Buscaino, are growing mustaches for November's crusade to raise awareness of prostate and testicular cancer. LAT
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa was back in Washington, D.C. today, joining the Center for American Progress Action Fund and Half in Ten to discuss a new report on the nation’s progress in cutting poverty. Sausage Factory
Villaraigosa's lame-duck status, plus more Berman-Sherman fallout. Tipoff/DN
Rough weekend for the LA Times digital edition, based on this screen grab sent in by a reader.
A Facebook page was started by fans upset that Channel 5 dropped Wendy Burch from the "KTLA Morning News" on weekends. She was replaced by Lu Parker. Where is Wendy Burch?
Bill Johnson has returned as a columnist at the Orange County Register after stints at the Rocky Mountain News and Denver Post — stints that were "under a cloud of controversy involving factual errors and outright fabrications--including one notorious column that involved Johnson's previous days at the Register that's either an outright lie, or an embarrassing display of ignorance of the county he's now supposed to cover three times a week." OC Weekly
Former LA Times reporter David Ferrell has also returned to the Register, where he worked before making it to the Times. Per Facebook
Jonathan Gold on reviewing the Olive Garden and on the NYT review of Guy Frieri's new Times Square restaurant. Romenesko
William Knoedelseder, the author and former LA Times writer, will be on "Airtalk with Larry Mantle" at 12:40 p.m. on KPCC to talk about his new book, "Bitter Brew: The Rise and Fall of Anheuser-Busch and America’s Kings of Beer."
Also new from a former LA Times person, Susan Brink: "The Fourth Trimester:
Understanding, Protecting, and Nurturing an Infant through the First Three Months," from UC Press.
Hammer Museum director Ann Philbin in the green room. Zocalo
LA Times hockey columnist Helene Elliott, on covering the NBA while the NHL is shut down: "They've been good to deal with, to be honest. And there's always some kind of drama surrounding the Lakers that is fun to write about..." Facebook
An attempted robbery inside the House of Blues was foiled by what the Sheriff’s Department calls a “vigilante” when the assailant stabbed the would-be robber. Or maybe it was two robbers. WeHo News, LAT, City News Service
The 'last bookshops of Los Angeles.' Neon Tommy
