One female hostage held overnight at the Nordstrom Rack in the Promenade at Howard Hughes Center was sexually assaulted and another was stabbed, Los Angeles police said. There were 14 hostages freed by SWAT officers about 3:30 a.m. LAT, AP
Isaac Guillen, a criminal defense attorney who was a gang member before he went to UCLA Law School, was sentenced Thursday to seven years in federal prison for his conviction on racketeering and money laundering charges he committed on behalf of the Mexican Mafia and the 18th Street gang. LAT
Police downplay the issue of lewd conduct in the Sepulveda Basin wildlife area and the LA Weekly wonders if "homophobia" was behind the decision to clear brush from part of the area. LA Weekly
Sheila Kuehl, the former state lawmaker, said she will run for the Board of Supervisors in 2014 hoping to succeed Zev Yaroslavsky.
Yaroslavsky blogs about Huell Howser.
Chapman University in Orange has posted its Huell Howser archives online. Archive
Chapman Magazine's new issue turns into an inadvertent tribute to Howser. OC Weekly
The New York Times will close its environment desk in the next few weeks and assign its seven reporters and two editors to other departments. The positions of environment editor and deputy environment editor are being eliminated, but not enviro coverage. Inside Climate News
LA-based MundoFox has pulled its programming from América TeVe and sued its former Florida partner América CV Network for breach of contract. Media Moves
CBS has crossed the line and ordered its unit CNET to rescind a review of a new product by DISH, which is in litigation with CBS. BuzzFeed
The LA Times' new writer on the Anaheim Ducks beat, Lance Pugmire, also covers MMA and boxing. "I'll leave you to write your own punchlines," the Times' hockey columnist, Helene Elliott, quips on Facebook.
Former baseball great Pete Rose and his ex-Playboy model fiancee, at least 30 years his junior, have a reality show on The Learning Channel. What could go wrong? Tom Hoffarth/DN