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Curated news, notes and observations most weekdays from LA Observed.
The start of construction on California's bullet train, one of the nation's largest "shovel ready" public work projects that was awarded stimulus funding three years ago by the Obama administration, is slipping past already-delayed target dates. LAT
Why there will be no rail link to LAX for a long time: it's complicated. LAT
California is feeling the effects of climate change far and wide, as heat-trapping greenhouse gases reduce spring runoff from the Sierra Nevada, make the waters of Monterey Bay more acidic and shorten winter chill periods required to grow fruit and nuts in the Central Valley, says a new report by the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment. LAT
California's political balance may turn on the result of a special election in the Valley's 45th assembly district, seeking to succeed Councilman Bob Blumenfield. DN
Council President Herb Wesson bought Mayor Eric Garcetti some time on the DWP contract issue, says Rock Orlov. Tipoff/DN
Garcetti says he will have a smaller staff and a more focused set of goals than Antonio Villaraigosa did. And he will think more globally. DN editorial
A judge ordered BART workers not to strike in the Bay Area for at least 60 days. Mercury
San Diego mayor Bob Filner left his promised sex rehab stay early, while Sen. Barbara Boxer wrote an open letter urging Filner to resign and seek treatment. LAT
Magazine writers Joshuah Bearman and Joshua Davis today launched Epic Magazine, "a kind of online literary platform that will commission and publish big, nonfiction narratives that might also make good movies." Writers retain the film rights to pieces but Epic will be a form of producer helping it happen. NYT
Time's new Red Border Films documentary unit aims to produce one 10-minute film a month and two longer, more ambitious projects each year. NYT
Oops: they let the kids run the LA Times website again this morning. A couple of readers sent along this headline mistake, hoping that it was just a typo and that someone didn't think "sighting" and "siting" were the same thing.
"Al Jazeera enjoys the best economic model you can possibly have," says Philip Seib, a journalism professor at the University of Southern California, who has written books on Al Jazeera. "They have a lot of money. They want to be a global player. They want Qatar to be a global player. And to be a true global journalistic force, you have to reach the U.S." USA Today
With KCOP dropping news, retired LA news hand Pete Noyes remembers on Facebook when Channel 13 was number one in the ratings with Baxter Ward as the anchor.
Investigators do not intend to file charges in jail assaults that sheriff's deputy Gilbert Michel said happened, citing lack of corroboration. LAT
Nearly four miles of the southbound 405 in Orange County will be closed for 20 hours straight starting late Aug. 17. LAT
Scientists and divers will spend the next five years culling sea urchins from more than 152 acres of sea floor off Palos Verdes in order to promote the return of kelp. LAT
The Dodgers swept the Rays without Hanley Ramirez in the lineup and are now 37-8 since turning around their season on June 22. They lead their division now by 7½ games.
