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Curated news, notes and observations most weekdays from LA Observed.
Snow and cold temperatures in the East are grounding flights and forcing the federal government to send some workers home. ABC News
Neel Kashkari, a Republican former U.S. Treasury official who is expected to announce soon whether he is running for governor, will deliver what he has billed as a “major speech” Tuesday afternoon in Sacramento. LAT
UC President Janet Napolitano is on a listening tour of the campuses but keeps running into critics of her previous role as Homeland Security secretary in the Obama Administration. NYT
After President Barack Obama signed long-awaited legislation attempting to reduce helicopter noise in Los Angeles County, groups on both sides of the issue expressed disappointment with the plan. DN
Four months after a botched computer upgrade delayed unemployment benefits for tens of thousands of Californians, jobless workers are still finding it nearly impossible to reach state employees for help. LAT
A taxpayer-funded project to provide a home security system for Los Angeles County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas included improvements to his converted garage that involved a week of work and upgrades to the building's electrical service, according to interviews and records. LAT
Mayor Eric Garcetti led the Kingdom Day Parade in South LA. KPCC slide show
More than a dozen prospective candidates have already stepped forward to compete for seats held by two of City Hall's most prominent political veterans: Councilmen Bernard C. Parks and Tom LaBonge. LAT
Venice activists and officials would like to streamline the development process so that developers would apply only to City Hall for permits. Opponents could still appeal projects to the Coastal Commission. LAT
Grantland founder and editor Bill Simmons posts a long mea culpa over the site's flawed story by Caleb Hannan about aninventor named Essay Anne Vanderbilt, a.k.a. “Dr. V.” He cites the editorial process and "our collective ignorance about the issues facing the transgender community in general, as well as our biggest mistake: not educating ourselves on that front before seriously considering whether to run the piece. We found out that Dr. V committed suicide sometime in October, at least four or five weeks after Caleb’s last interaction with her." Grantland, Christina Kahrl, Deadspin
Los Angeles Times editorial: Stop the foot-dragging on climate change. LAT
KCET said it will start airing "Democracy Now!," the national, daily, independent, award-winning news program hosted by Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez, weekdays at 9 a.m.
As Netflix Rises, HBO and Showtime Subscribers Shrink as Percentage of U.S. Households. Variety
With the adult film industry facing a critical challenge to its continued existence in Los Angeles, more than 2,000 porn industry members will gather this week in Hollywood for an annual conference on topics from legal issues to new cutting-edge technology. DN
A note to the staff from LA Times editor Davan Maharaj takes "a moment to review the exceptional work you produced in 2013, and offer my heartfelt thanks for it." All is hunky dory at the Times, apparently. LAT
Ezra Klein, an analyst, columnist and pundit who runs The Washington Post’s Wonkblog, will leave the newspaper, taking two of his colleagues with him, according to an internal memo sent on Tuesday. Mr. Klein is “looking to start his own news organization,” according to the memo, but his destination was not identified. NYT
Tavi Gevinson, 17, the creator of online magazine Rookie, "is Part Tina Brown, part Dorothy Parker, the quick-witted Gevinson has the ear — and Tumblr accounts — of a new generation of young women. Not to mention the eye of the media, the fashion world and, lately, Hollywood filmmakers." LAT
Meruelo Media sprang to life 2 1/2 years ago with the acquisition of a pioneering Los Angeles Spanish-language TV station, KWHY Channel 22. Last month, Meruelo agreed to pay $15 million to buy another L.A. fixer-upper, radio station KDAY-FM (93.5). LAT
Michael Kinsley is leaving the masthead of The New Republic to become a contributing editor at Vanity Fair. For a time he was the editorial page editor of the LA Times. NYT
Capital New York will start asking readers to pay for its morning newsletters, customizable alerts and breaking news blasts. The annual fee for Capital’s three verticals—City Hall, Albany and media—will be $5,990 for up to five users after the paywall goes live. AdWeek
Is sponsored content the secret to making money for the news business? KPCC
How an intern created The New York Times’ most popular piece of content in 2013: the dialect map of the U.S. Knight Lab
Der Spiegel scales back its English edition. CJR
Robert Rector remembers what it was like in the LA Times Valley Edition offices after the Northridge earthquake in 1994. Blog
The Press-Enterprise in Riverside unveiled a redesign. Freedom Communications
The two miles of South Vermont Avenue that stretch north from Imperial Highway, the border of the Westmont and Vermont Vista neighborhoods, are home to churches, liquor stores, mortuaries and one of the highest rates of homicide in L.A. County. A detective calls it “death alley.” LAT Homicide Report
Under cover of one of the worst environmental reputations on the planet, Los Angeles is becoming an unlikely model of sustainability, argues Jon Christensen. High Country News
Chinese air pollution blowing across the Pacific Ocean is often caused by the manufacturing of goods for export to the U.S. and Europe, according to findings by UC Irvine and other researchers published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The study is the first to quantify how much of the pollution reaching the American West Coast is from the production in China of cellphones, televisions and other consumer goods. UC Irvine
Southern California industrialization and wildfires like the recent Colby Fire contribute to mercury in the Arctic waters and our sea food, a new study involving JPL suggests. SB Sun
For the Winter Olympics, the Russian hosts are planning a grand display of two recently captured killer whales. "And we’re supposed to say what, exactly?" LAT Opinion
Hundreds of millions of dollars are funneled into hotels, restaurants and limousine companies from January to March due to the Hollywood awards season. LAT
The city of Pasadena is considering plans to narrow portions of Colorado Boulevard and use that space to widen sidewalks and create tiny parks. LAT
