Curated news, notes and observations most weekdays from LA Observed.
For more than a year, John A. Pérez, speaker of the California Assembly, dated a Hollywood funeral director who faces fraud allegations in one of the biggest financial scandals to rock the U.S. funeral industry. CIR
Perez announced yesterday he is running for state controller in 2014. Bee, LAT, KPCC
Column One on Irwin Nowick, officially the "principal consultant for the Senate Rules Committee" in Sacramento, but actually a mysterious and vital presence around the Legislature. LAT
Los Angeles World Airports officials outlined an ambitious plan to connect the Metro rail with Los Angeles International Airport in an appearance Wednesday before two City Council committees. Daily Breeze
Despite the failure of past efforts, the ever-optimistic Los Angeles City Council went on record Wednesday renewing a request to the National Football League to return to the region with one or two professional football teams. DN
AEG won a five-year contract to operate L.A. Convention Center. LAT
Santa Monica will regulate the use of its public parks for fitness classes and charge fees to trainers following complaints from some residents that their space has become overrun by athletic enthusiasts. LAT
Alice Munro, the Canadian author who has made a career of crafting short fiction instead of novels, is the winner of the 2013 Nobel Prize in literature. Jacket Copy
From The New Republic on Wednesday: "Stanley Kauffmann, our film critic of more than five decades, died early this morning at St. Luke’s Hospital in New York at age 97. He died of pneumonia, and peacefully. There will be no funeral. In accordance with Stanley’s request, The New Republic will host a memorial service in New York to celebrate him and his work at a date and time to be announced." TNR, NYT
Paul Thornton, the letters editor at the Los Angeles Times, explains why he will not run letters that state there are no signs that humans have caused climate change. "Saying "there's no sign humans have caused climate change" is not stating an opinion, it's asserting a factual inaccuracy." Opinion LA
The Center for Investigative Reporting in Berkeley is getting a free branding and advertising campaign, courtesy of a leading creative agency. NYT
For the first day of KUSC's fall membership drive, announcers Rich Capparela and Jim Svejda will team up on the air today from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. They will do it again on Friday, Oct. 18.
David Ulin on being from New York and still feeling the tug to go back. Jacket Copy
The Village Voice says it got an exclusive interview with Banksy. LA Weekly
Talking Windy City sportswriting with Ron Rapoport, by David Davis. The Classical
An inside memo at AOL Patch advises local editors how to handle complaints about a new series mapping where in the country divorced men and women live. Romenesko
Pop music critic and author of "Corn Flakes with John Lennon (And Other Tales from a Rock ‘n’ Roll Life)" Robert Hilburn recalls a time when he met John Lennon. PBS American Masters
A judge on Wednesday rejected an attempt to stop the Los Angeles Times from publishing information found in sheriff's deputies' background screening files. "You'd have to be blind not to recognize there's tension between privacy, public safety and the 1st Amendment," Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Michelle R. Rosenblatt said during a hearing on the matter. LAT
LAPD officers learn about science of using deadly force. CBS LA
At a trial in the federal courthouse, five inmates are suing for unspecified damages, saying they suffered skull fractures, broken limbs and other serious injuries after being “unmercifully beaten” by LA County sheriff's deputies at Men’s Central Jail. DN
L.A. Might be The Movie Capital, But Angelenos Aren't Film Buffs. LA Weekly
Does LAX hold the key to American Airlines' future in Asia? The Street
Chef Mark Peel left the project to open an airport version of Campanile at LAX Terminal 4, and his ex-wife and former partner in the real Campanile, Nancy Silverton, is in. Daily Dish
Despite an increasingly secular culture, religion still plays an active role in American life, says USC gerontologist and sociologist Vern L. Bengtson, who explores how religion is inherited in a new book, "FAMILIES AND FAITH: How Religion is Passed Down Across Generations."
One local, one international.
Another loser in the #WeAreMen cancellation: Burbank's Oakwood Apartments, where the show was shot.
— Michael Schneider (@franklinavenue) October 10, 2013
.@ariannahuff #thirdmetric: Die vier Säulen der #thirdmetric: wellbeing, wisdom, giving and wonder. Wir berichten darüber #HuffPostDE
— HuffPost Deutschland (@HuffPostDE) October 10, 2013