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"This is not the first time I have passed out cold," KUTV's Brooke Graham blogs cheerily. "I am known to faint any time I am in high altitudes and get too cold. (So does my twin sister Britt)."
LA Observed archive
for December 2013
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"This is not the first time I have passed out cold," KUTV's Brooke Graham blogs cheerily. "I am known to faint any time I am in high altitudes and get too cold. (So does my twin sister Britt)."
Dominis, a Los Angeles native, learned photography at Fremont High and went on to shoot several of the most iconic photos from the era when Life was America's most popular picture magazine.
One Long Beach police substation doesn't have to go far to obtain donuts. Photo inside.
A spokesperson for the State Department took note today of Sunday's passing of Mike O'Connor, the former NPR and KCBS-LA reporter who was the Mexico representative of the Committee to Protect Journalists. Full text inside.
After 28 years in business, Mrs. Nelson's Toy and Book Shop will close in January, the store announced in a note that cites the inability to compete with online sales and big box stores.
USA Today has gone without a formal chief of the Los Angeles bureau for about two decades or so. That changes on Wednesday.
O'Connor covered wars for NPR and the New York Times, and Los Angeles for Channel 2, before taking on the delicate mission of protecting journalists trying to cover corruption and the deadly drug wars in Mexico.
The National Anthem before the Rose Bowl game on Wednesday will be performed by Darlene Love, Merry Clayton, Lisa Fischer and Judith Hill. You know their voices if not necessarily their names.
The countdown to 2014 was projected on City Hall tonight, it looks like. It's part of a big 3D digital mapping show planned for Tuesday night. "I believe we have every 40K projector in California for this event," says the creator.
Putting stars on bikes: good idea. I had never heard of Susan Peters and her story until the 2012 book, "Hollywood Rides a Bike: Cycling With the Stars," by Philadelphia film critic Steven Rea and my friends at Angel City Press.
The Tucson native shows off her hometown and takes a New York Times Travel reporter into Mexico to visit the birthplace of her grandfather. The van carries enough bags to mount a rock tour. "Except nobody’s looking to score drugs or get laid,” Ronstadt quips.
Quite a photo over at The Eastsider LA. As onlookers watched, the hawk laid there unmoving for several minutes while the snake unraveled itself and slithered away.
Dodgers outfield sensation Yasiel Puig has picked up the second reckless driving arrest in his short U.S. driving career. This time he was in Florida — he got the Mercedes up to 110 miles an hour, according to police.
Lee Margulies and Sherry Stern retire from the Calendar section, and Scott Martelle will come back as an editorial writer five years after he was laid off while covering a presidential election for the Times. Details inside.
Photographer Thomas Alleman found that the ubiquitous billboards for American Apparel say something to him about street art and about Los Angeles. His series, “The American Apparel,” takes its name from the 1976 Lee Friedlander photo project, “The American Monument.”
A pod that has visited SoCal waters the last three winters jumped, surfed the boat wake and made a kill while researchers watched. "They were making eye contact with us. I don't see how it can get any better."
Officer Don Thompson, a 26-year veteran assigned to the bomb squad, spotted the wreck, jumped over the center divider and cut the unconscious driver out of a burning Mercedes. Both savior and saved suffered burns requiring treatment.
If you formed an all-star team of baseball players from South Los Angeles — and you could, easily — the graceful Oriole who beat the Dodgers in the 1966 World Series would be on it.
On December 26, 1963, Capitol Records released an American record from a band that was creating great excitement in the United Kingdom and Europe, but not so much in the United States. Something clicked.
B&N has developed this distasteful practice of shuttering bookstores at the close of business on New Year's Eve. That's when the Old Pasadena store turns out the lights for good.
The shuttering of bookstores has been a perpetual story for the past decade in Los Angeles. These are the booksellers that have shuttered since LA Observed began posting.
After ten years, Mickadeit is putting down his Orange County Register column to practice law in Costa Mesa. His first legal advice: "Never talk to a reporter without your lawyer present."
The director of USC’s Jesse Unruh Institute of Politics quit the Republican Party a few years ago and plans to run as an independent. Alex Padilla is already in the race.
More Tribune/LAT spinoff and Register coverage. Michelle Shocked vs. Chris Willman. Politico looking at California? Union Station kicks out the homeless. LAFD agrees to go into live fire zones. And more.
Myers worked in Hollywood over at least five decades and was the publicist for, among others, Marilyn Monroe, Mickey Rooney, Judy Garland and Cary Grant.
Aaron Kushner's year-end cheerleading note to the staff in Orange County includes the news nugget that the newspaper will sell its Santa Ana home. The editor of the LA Register will be an LA Times and Register veteran.
Smashing your car into any cop's vehicle is never advised, but this was really the wrong guy to hit.
Huizar named in 2005 groping complaint. The California water wars. Drivers and homeowners are the problem in LA. David Ulin's and Michiko Kakutani's favorite 2013 books. Mark Zuckerberg donates $1 billion. And some media notes.
Rep. Henry Waxman posted a letter today to Tribune CEO Peter Liguori asking for more information about the company's intended spinoff of its newspapers and how it will affect the Los Angeles Times. Plus: Two more LAT retirements.
LAPD Chief Charlie Beck today placed on leave the three officers who shot and killed Brian Beaird after a chase that ended with the crash of his Corvette downtown.
Filmmakers visiting YouTube's studios for a conference got wind of the work done at the Gibbon Conservation Center in Santa Clarita. They were hooked.
When Orange County congressman Dana Rohrabacher and his family moved out of their rented Costa Mesa home last year, they reportedly left behind "a shockingly horrific pigsty, a dump worse than a college fraternity house."
"It's an act of insensate stubbornness on my part," says Shearer. "But I get really remarkable feedback from listeners and as time goes on and things in the world get weirder, I think the intensity of the appreciation increases."
The Lakers have had Kobe Bryant on the floor for just six games this season, and now they won't see him again until February — at least. Steve Nash also will miss four more weeks.
Members of the Antaeus Company classical stage troupe made a humorous end-of-year fundraising video that uses a lot of pixelated skin to make the point that actors need costumes.
Baca gave special treatment to hiring of friends and family. The department admits hiring bad deputies. Exide Technologies ordered to clean up in Vernon. Garcetti orders release of lots of data. City Council cracks down on Starbucks stakeholders. Plus Chuck Cecil, Young Turks, Al Goldstein and more.
Most of the jobs lost are in sales, finance and circulation departments that duplicate functions also provided at the Orange County Register. No “frontline journalists” would be affected, Aaron Kushner says obliquely.
This is a nice response to the anti-gay posturing coming from Russia's leadership. Not everyone agrees.
The rebuilt Mulholland Drive bridge opened this morning across the 405 freeway in Sepulveda Pass.
LAPD officer hurt in crash. More DWP politics over those unaccounted-for funds. Jan Perry confirmed to new department. School board delays decision on vacancy. DuPont award winners. Rose Gilbert dies. Plus more.
Andrew Walsh, formerly of KIRO in Seattle, is the executive producer. Three KCRW veterans are shifting to the new show, and three outside producers have joined the staff.
Uber charged a woman $357 for a Saturday evening ride from the Westside to Hollywood. But it's an app so it must be cool, right? Taxis are looking better.
The proprietors' grandfather founded Alta Dena Dairy in 1945.
While Mayor Eric Garcetti and his family are headed off to Australia today for a ten-day vacation, his staff has posted an invitation to suggest what the city can do better next year.
The end of the world as we know it, as might be reported by the New York Times, Washington Post, The Guardian, TMZ, Twitter, Instagram and others.
Gov. Brown really dislikes standardized tests. Arrested sheriff's deputies go to court. KCRW's interview with Aaron Kushner. Weinsteins go back with Miramax. Time notes Helen Brush Jenkins. No more god at the Natural History Museum. Looks like an epic dry year in LA. Plus more.
News industry analyst Ken Doctor talked to the Register's Aaron Kushner and came away with some more details (and questions) about the strategy behind the Orange County newspaper chief's upcoming move into Los Angeles. Plus: Kushner is on KCRW and I discuss the move in tonight's LA Observed segment.
Russo's is "the only independent general bookstore between Santa Clarita and Sacramento." The Bakersfield store expects to close January 31.
Big City Hall deficit looms. Garcetti plans Australian vacation. Pushing George McKenna for school board. The end of AOL Patch as we know it. NPR's sponsored desk model of news. Cast changes and big plot twist on "Homeland." A new George Hurrell book. And much more.
People who live near an Expo Line station "dramatically reduced the number of miles they drove and tripled their rail ridership" after the new light-rail line opened last year, says a new USC study out today.
The staff of the Los Angeles Public Library has once again offered its recommendations for the best books of 2013. Here are the lists.
Joan Fontaine won her best actress Academy Award in 1941 for Alfred Hitchcock's "Suspicion" and was nominated twice more. She feuded for much of her career with sister Olivia de Havilland.
O'Toole died Saturday in London. "Ireland, and the world, has lost one of the giants of film and theatre," said the president of Ireland in a statement.
In Los Angeles in the 1960s, there were three huge local news stories that riveted people in front of their televisions — mostly to watch KTLA Channel 5, because that was the only station with a news helicopter.
Here's the Orange County Register newsroom email that went out looking for volunteers to cover Los Angeles.
Pat Kingsley talks. Californians' view of labor sours. Family connections in California politics. Los Angeles County surpasses ten million people. June Mountain reopens and the Proud Bird stays open. Plus more.
The leak was accurate: the Orange County Register is planning to expand into Los Angeles County. The new paper will publish seven days a week after the first of the year, and they are thinking big.
Former city of Bell administrator Robert Rizzo will plead guilty to federal felony charges and face a maximum of eight years in prison, prosecutors just announced.
After the fire department shut down its popular Twitter feeds, citing some new lawyer advice, Mayor Eric Garcetti's spokesman told them to not be ridiculous. The feeds are back up.
Hollywood development plan may be tossed out. City Council drops gift hike. Council members in Jerusalem. Brown gets extension of prison deadline. Paul Tanaka's concealed weapons record. Two LAPD officers arrested. Sriracha shortage begins. Loyola Law gets fashionable. Plus more.
The renowned Crenshaw High School Elite Choir sang today for President Obama and the holiday celebration in the Diplomatic Reception Room of the White House.
Jerry Hairston Jr. retires as a player at 37 to join the TV crew, according to reports. "Game will not miss me but I will miss it," he says on Twitter.
$5.9 million for LAPD cops given ticket quota. DWP worker contract ratified. Duck boat tours on the LA River? Baca's ill-timed fundraiser. HuffPost changes its comments practice. Ex-LAT president lands at Sirius XM. Speaking with Benedikt Taschen. Jimmy Kimmel on when it's cold in LA. Plus downtown's long-ago war on hills. And more.
KPCC is continuing to hire in strategic areas, but the Sacramento bureau is closing and three reporter slots were eliminated. The growing newsroom is now 95 strong, one of the biggest in LA in any medium.
One source says the topics will include expansion into Los Angeles.
The Tribune Co. took concrete steps on Tuesday to formally spin off its newspapers from the parent company and, some would argue, cast them adrift from the more profitable TV stations until someone comes along to buy the LA Times and other papers. But Times reporters and editors have already gotten a new look at life as a corporate orphan, and it isn't reassuring.
There are two winners from print, two from broadcast, and a new media representative. Plus a special award to a local public information officer.
More sheriff arrests fallout. LAPD cracks down on downtown jaywalking with $250 tickets. Delta water tunnels may not deliver. Recount dropped in the Valley. Striking social workers to hit Board of Supes meeting. In praise of LAT's David Willman. USC gets its OJR back. Plus more.
While today's indictments were not unexpected, Baca said, "it is nevertheless a sad day for the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. We do not tolerate misconduct by any deputies."
Angela Spaccia, the former assistant city administrator in Bell, was found guilty today on 11 of 13 counts of felony corruption, including misappropriation of public funds. She was found not guilty on one charge; another ended in a hung jury.
Weisman and the team announced he is leaving Variety (where he is a senior editor covering television) to become the Dodgers director of digital and print content. Dodger Thoughts will suspend publication.
The FBI moved in this morning to start arresting current and former Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies and officials on criminal corruption and civil rights charges. U.S. Attorney Andre Birotte Jr. has scheduled a 1 p.m. news availability in the downtown federal building.
LAX rail line. City Council members get a raise. Garcetti chief of staff could be looking to run. Robert Sam Anson remembers his five months as editor of Los Angeles Magazine. Bicyclist killed in collision with sheriff's car. Paul Walker tribute in Valencia. Plus more.
The former manager of the Dodgers, now a baseball official, was chosen by a special veterans committee to enter the Hall of Fame next year. He was elected along with retired managers Bobby Cox and Tony LaRussa.
It was last December 9 that the news came out of Mexico that the popular LA-based singer Jenni Rivera had died in a plane crash. The news led to a crushing outpouring of emotion by her fans and by music critics who knew and admired her, followed by the public struggles of the mainstream news media to figure out the meaning of this mega-star in the Latino world living among us in Encino.
The Los Angeles Film Critics Association could not decide between "Gravity" and "Her" for best film of the year, but they gave the director award to Alfonso Cuaron for "Gravity."
It's the first time the Bruins have a won a national title in women's soccer, despite regularly placing women on Olympic teams. It's the 110th national athletic title overall for UCLA, an NCAA record.
Nine years after first opening in Malibu (at another location), the owners of Diesel, A Bookstore say they need to get out and focus on their other stores. “We’re just...
City Hall's looming deficit. FPCC wants to know more from Sen. Kevin de Leon. Forest roads to close in anticipation of snow. Tom Schnabel doing a Mandela hour this morning on KCRW. Nikki Finke's Mandala tweet. Capital & Main is new name for LAANE's Frying Pan News. Arrest for theft from Paul Walker Porsche. And more.
Barbara Jones, who covers the LA Unified School District and the Board of Education for the Daily News, is leaving the newspaper business to become the chief of staff to board member Tamar Galatzan.
LaMotte died this morning while in San Diego for the annual convention of the California School Boards Association. The longtime member of the Los Angeles Board of Education from South LA was first elected in 2003.
Clear Channel is moving Limbaugh from KFI to KTLK — which will drop 'progressive talk' and become The Patriot 1150, with Sean Hannity and Glenn Beck also on board.
Statements by the Mandela Foundation, President Obama, Mayor Garcetti and President Jacob Zuma of South Africa.
Good poll for Jerry Brown. Setback for high-speed train. Poverty up to 18% in SoCal. Plus more.
This will make Bratton the only cop to have run the NYPD, the LAPD and the NYPD again (and be mentioned in London papers as a possible head of Scotland Yard.)
A dark or silver Mercedes-Benz struck an LAPD officer and his motorcycle on Pacific Coast Highway at Sunset a little before 8 p.m. tonight. The officer was taken to UCLA with non-life threatening injuries.
Thousands of people across the LA area received a nerve-jangling email alert this afternoon from the city of Monterey Park. In some cases more than one or two.
Universal says the film production in Georgia is shutting down indefinitely. The coroner also gives some details on the deaths of Walker and Roger Rodas.
LAPD numbers dropping. Driver gets ticket for Google Glass. First Wienerschnitzel added to monument registry. Newsweek to resume print. "The Goldfinch" back on top. A warning about visits to Paul Walker death site. George Lewis in the green room. Plus more.
Sebastian Ridley-Thomas won outright tonight in the special election in the 54th Assembly District.
It's time again for the annual ritual in Los Angeles County — the mass burial of unclaimed or indigent individuals left in the coroner's morgue.
Don Shirley at LA Stage Times has the toll: Capsule theater reviews will drop from the current seven or eight per week to about two, and commentaries by Steven Leigh Morris will appear every other week, instead of weekly.
The former Dodger infielder has been hired as a TV and radio commentator, according to Times blogger Steve Dilbeck, citing "a person familiar with the situation who spoke on the condition of anonymity."
Former governor Gray Davis, former city attorney Carmen Trutanich and high-profile defense lawyer Mark Geragos are co-hosting a $1,500-per-napkin fundraiser for Baca next week.
Jerry Brown celebrates another casino. Supes call for probe of sheriff hiring. Recount in the Valley. Where is "El Mandril?" A Paul Walker shrine grows in Angeleno Heights. Surf Air lands at Hawthorne Airport. And questions about LA's neon story.
The female puma known as P-19 is nursing three cubs born a few weeks ago in the Malibu Springs area, the National Park Service said today on Facebook. Two females and a male; DNA is being tested to determine the father.
The newsroom at Channel 11 was told this afternoon that co-anchor Carlos Amezcua's last day was Friday. The word is that he's leaving to focus on his outside media company.
A former storefront in place since World War II has been removed on 6th Street to expose a courtyard between wings of the Pacific Mutual Building. Pain Quotidien and Tender Greens are coming soon.
Sacramento Bee opinion page columnist and senior editor Dan Morain is moving up to editor of the editorial pages. Morain, 58, previously worked at the Los Angeles Times and the Herald Examiner.
Fascinating Column One in the LA Times this morning about two researchers with time on their hands. They mapped some — but a lot — of the swimming pools in and around Los Angeles.
Jean Smart portrays Finke as a secret blogger whose true identity is unknown to her family. Good line: "Mom, you're on the Internet."
Youssef, the longtime OC Weekly music writer-photographer who documented his battle against colon cancer in a column for the paper, died over the weekend surrounded by family and friends.
Roger Mahony's legacy. Bad hires by LASD. Library closures by LAUSD. Garcetti's challenge with the LAFD. Feuer tries and fails to speak Spanish. Shunning Ron Calderon. The race for Supervisor. Why re-do the LA River? Paul Walker, Dick Dodd and more.
New York Magazine has been slowly tapering back from being a true weekly, putting out just 42 issues this year. But in March they make it official.
The film and TV actress takes to the New York Times Modern Love column to explain that she is involved with a woman and did not relish breaking the news to her son.
Breaking my posting fast with a short video.
Clinton fundraises in LA
Jim Henson Studios on La Brea became a presidential campaign stop on Thursday.
Brown declares disaster area
The natural gas leak above Porter Ranch now qualifies for various government actions. Story
Performing arts with cheer
Donna Perlmutter closes out 2015 with productions downtown and on the Westside.
