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Curated news, notes and observations most weekdays from LA Observed.
Daft Punk won the Grammys for record of the year and album of the year. Full list of winners
Republicans are hoping to use the California drought for political advantage, including an attack on environmental regulations. LAT
Bobby Shriver purchased stock in 11 oil and gas companies in 2010, records show, despite earlier statements from the campaign that he had inherited his portfolio. Sheila Kuehl's consultant says he needs to explain. BuzzFeed
Mayor Eric Garcetti's upcoming budget will include a proposal to phase out the city's business tax. The City Council may be an obstacle. LA Weekly
Councilman Jose Huizar announced the city will remove one lane of traffic on Broadway between 1st and 11th streets to create "increased pedestrian access." DT News
A plan to transform Los Angeles into a more livable city — one parking space at a time — goes citywide this week. DN
Rick Orlov's Monday Tipoff column. DN
Jason Collins, the NBA player from Los Angeles who said before the season that he is gay, will sit in the First Lady's box at Tuesday's State of the Union speech.
Cities throughout Southern California are making it easier for the average citizen to find out how their tax dollars are being spent due to a move toward digital democracy being led by a new web company. KPCC
"SoCal Connected" continues to collect awards even though it is gone: three Golden Mikes on Saturday night. The winners include the first-ever Golden Mike for the Cal State Long Beach student-run radio station KBeach, for Best Radio News Public Affairs Program. Photo: Winner John Rabe. List of Golden Mike winners.
Orange County Register food critic Brad A. Johnson calls for letter inspection grades at OC restaurants after getting food poisoning four times, but the paper won't name the restaurants. Register
Jay Leno talks to Michael Schneider about leaving late-night television and says he won't be back. "You can't really do something like this again. Because if you're not No. 1, you'll get 'Oh, Jay sucks, he's not No. 1.' And once you do this, you don't really want to do 'The Tonight Show Lite.'" TV Guide
"Press Play," the new Madeleine Brand show on KCRW, debuts today at noon. "The World" moves to 3 p.m. and "All Things Considered" willnow start at 4 p.m. Brand divulges her My LA to Z picks for Los Angeles Magazine. LA Mag
Ezra Klein explains a little about the new media venture at Vox Media that he is creating with Melissa Bell, Matt Yglesias and others. The Verge, BuzzFeed
Sam Zell's plan to build a bridge across the border and lure Americans to use Tijuana International Airport. NYT
Sharon Waxman celebrated five years of The Wrap with a column reminiscing a little. On the site's first day, Variety laid off 30 people across town. The Wrap
In the early days, I was a broken record: Speed. Accuracy. Voice. And most of all: Be Essential, written on a slip of paper above my desk, lest I forget. We decreed: No Variety “ankling,” “helming,” “boffo,” or “bonzo” at TheWrap. After one too many refugees from the trade papers came through our newsroom afraid to write a negative headline I hung the First Amendment on the wall.At the time, it seemed clear that there was a need for a publication that would serve the information needs of entertainment professionals in the digital age. To provide breaking business news and informed analysis in real time, and serve it up on every platform where they sought to be informed – desktop computer, tablet, mobile and email.
And that is what we’ve done as we’ve grown from five people working in my guest house/kids’ playroom, with early staffers stepping over boys’ gym shorts strewn on the bathroom floor, to a bustling newsroom and business operation of 30-plus people bursting out of our loft space in West L.A. (Note to aspiring digital media anythings: we’re still hiring.)
Today the Guardian launches a new section devoted to ideas, discussion and predictions about cities all over the planet. Guardian
Michael Sigman on veteran theater critic Steven Leigh Morris' plans to launch Stage Raw, a community-funded digital publication. Huffington Post
Joe Linton is returning to Los Angeles and will be the day to day editor of Streetsblog LA.
A former Cal Poly SLO student and protege of Jim Hayes blogs on his mentor's apparent final days. Blog
Stephen R. Glass, a former journalist who became infamous for fabricating magazine articles, will learn Monday whether the California Supreme Court believes he possesses the necessary moral character to practice law. LAT
Courtney Love won a landmark Twitter libel case Friday in which a Los Angeles jury determined the musician did not defame her former attorney in a tweet. LAT
The billions being spent on new rail lines in the LA area "risk being wasted if city leaders do not promote, and residents do not allow, new growth around rail stations and corridors," says the author of "Railtown." LAT Op-ed
Microbeads, small bits of plastic that absorb toxins, are a major problem in the Los Angeles River. LAT
Six of Broadway's dozen movie theaters were open to the public Saturday, and representatives of the Los Angeles Historic Theatre Foundation were on hand to lead tours. LAT
As California’s drought persists and water levels dip to historically low levels, gold prospectors are taking to Northern California rivers hoping to spot something shiny. AP
UberX moved Friday to halt pickups in the central terminal area at LA, due to ticketing by police, but will continue facilitating rides to the airport. Daily Breeze
A house-sitting British couple in Pasadena did not notice a bear on their front porch. La Canada Patch
Rabbi Harvey J. Fields, who for 18 years presided over Los Angeles' oldest synagogue, Wilshire Boulevard Temple, and was prominent in interfaith efforts to mend race relations after the 1992 riots, died Thursday at his home in Beverly Hills. He was 78. LAT
So?? What do you think of the New Do? #GoingBackToMyRoots pic.twitter.com/P4nl98GIpV
— Wendy Burch (@goodnewswendy) January 27, 2014As a huge KISS fan, a great memory was giving @GeneSimmons a tour of West Wing at the White House in '03. pic.twitter.com/ZQ9RtaAkzz
— Jimmy Orr LATimes (@JimmyOrr) January 26, 2014