Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who chairs the Senate Intelligence Committee, and other senators sent a letter to Sony calling "Zero Dark Thirty" a "dangerous combination" of fact and fiction on the U.S. use of torture. KPCC
City Council President Herb Wesson is drawing criticism for naming Erin Pak, wife of prominent campaign fundraiser and land use consultant Chris Pak, to the campaign watchdog Ethics Commission. LAT
The LA Times' Catherine Saillant pulls together the disparate threads of previous coverage to say the 2013 mayoral race looks wide open — and is only the third time in 75 years that there is no incumbent to dominate the race. LAT
A new private poll in the race shows 44 percent of likely voters undecided, and among those who have taken a position Eric Garcetti looks to have a 3-point lead over Wendy Greuel that is within the margin of error. LA Weekly
Plus: Garcetti fundraiser at the Hollywood Hills home of Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss. LAW
Mayoral candidate Eric Garcetti talks about taking foster children into his home, and about having Jewish and Latino heritage. Bill Boyarsky/Jewish Journal
City Attorney candidate Mike Feuer on gun violence and Newtown. Huffington Post
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has decided to allow sea otters to roam freely down the Southern California coastline, abandoning a 1980s program to relocate the voracious shellfish eaters from waters reserved for fishermen. LAT
How injured bicyclist Don Ward discovered that the driver who hit in 2009 and failed to stop was City Hall lobbyist and downtown nightlife blogger Glenn Gritzner. LA Weekly
Former LAT and NYT reporter David Cay Johnston was on KPCC to talk about his new book, " "The Fine Print: How companies use 'plain English' and other tricks to rob you blind." Take Two
Actor-comedian Joy Mohr will take over Jim Rome's three-hour time slot on Fox Sports Radi on Jan 2., airing 9 a.m. to noon in Los Angeles on AM 570. Fishbowl LA
A cold air mass over the Southland sent temperatures plummeting this morning — and a record low of 14 degrees for a December 20th was recorded in Lancaster. CNS
What other short-listed designs looked like for the Downtown LA federal courthouse to be planned by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill. Curbed LA
Work begins Friday on a 19-story luxury apartment tower just south of the Broad art museum rising on Bunker Hill. Downtown News
The Clippers won their 11th game in a row, 93-77 over New Orleans. ESPN LA
Don Haidl, the former assistant sheriff in Orange County who was convicted of tax crimes and then cooperated with federal investigators in their case against convicted Sheriff Mike Carona, died at age 61. Register
UCLA China expert Richard Baum died at 72 of cancer. LAT