Morning Buzz

Morning Buzz: Wednesday 1.22.14

Curated news, notes and observations most weekdays from LA Observed.

Politics and government

The contest to become California's next Assembly speaker could be over, with multiple lawmakers and staffers telling The Bee that Assemblywoman Toni Atkins, D-San Diego, has secured enough votes to lead Assembly Democrats. Bee

Neel Kashkari, a moderate Republican who ran the bailout of financial institutions under the Bush and Obama administrations, jumped into his first-ever political race Tuesday - this year's contest to challenge Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown. Chronicle, AP, LAT, CPR, Flash Report

Metro broke ground on the $2 billion, 8.5-mile Crenshaw light-rail line but the political bickering continues over whether and how to connect to LAX. LAT, LANG, Metro

expo-line-cc-zevweb.jpgThe Expo Line has been a success by the numbers, already reaching the ridership expected by 2020. ZevWeb

Proposal for restructuring Metro fares is released; fares would be raised and free transfers allowed. Metro

As expected, Republican ex-lawmaker Tony Strickland says he's abandoning his challenge to Rep. Julia Brownley (D-Oak Park) and entering the race to succeed retiring Rep. Howard P. "Buck" McKeon (R-Santa Clarita) in a neighboring district. LAT

State Sen. Roderick Wright says he believed he was following election law about his residences. LAT, LANG

Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas acknowledged Tuesday that a taxpayer-funded project to install a security system in a converted garage at his home involved improvements "over and above" that job, but said he reimbursed the county for the upgrades. LAT

Bobby Shriver held hundreds of thousands of dollars in oil and tobacco stock, despite his advocacy on environmental issues. Those were holdovers from his family, consultant Bill Carrick explains. BuzzFeed, LAT

Shriver and Sheila Kuehl were on KCRW's Which Way, LA?.

Sheriff candidate Bob Olmsted will hold an 11 a.m. news conference outside the Men's Central Jail to announce his plan to "fundamentally reform the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department."

Mayor Eric Garcetti named top aide Sue Stengel to be the LAFD's independent assessor. She is an attorney who has been Garcetti’s policy director on policing and crime in the city’s Office of Homeland Security. DN

Councilman Jose Huizar formally responded in a court filing to the accusations by former aide Francine Godoy. KPCC

Huizar released a statement asking the community to pray for his four-year-old daughter with leukemia. Highland Park Patch

Our little angel, Aviana, just turned 4 years old on January 15th. Your prayers and the quality care she has received at Children’s Hospital are the reason she is in remission and was able to return to school last week. She is a remarkable little girl who has fought hard with great courage and high spirits. Her doctor has placed her on a rigorous two-year treatment plan, which will include numerous and various medications and procedures, including chemotherapy. Please continue to pray for her recovery.

Councilwoman Nury Martinez has hired Linda Serrato-Ybarra as her Communications Director.

The University of California has released to Los Angeles city officials a list of about 1,500 old concrete buildings that are potentially at risk of collapse during an earthquake. LAT

Media and books

LA Weekly critic Steven Leigh Morris is asking the Los Angeles theater community to support his new site, Stage Raw, with advertising. Bitter Lemons

Why the larger Best Picture pool is actually shrinking the number of Oscar contenders. Grantland

Quentin Tarantino is upset that his script for an ensemble western to be called "The Hateful Eight" leaked after he gave it to a small circle of actors. Deadline

Robert Kovacik of NBC4 is the new president of the Los Angeles Press Club. The ither new officers are: Vice President: Patt Morrison, Los Angeles Times / KPCC; Secretary: Christina Villacorte, Daily News and Gloria Zuurveen, PACE News; Treasurer: Anthony Palazzo, Bloomberg News.

Former studio head Sherry Lansing on leaving movies behind for a career focused on improving education and fighting cancer. Los Angeles Magazine

Yes, people are reading long-form journalism on their phones if it's good. The Atlantic

Erika Hayasaki, a professor of literary journalism at UC Irvine, began writing her new book, "The Death Class: A True Story About Life," when she was a reporter at the Times. LAT

Kay Ryan, the United States poet laureate from 2008 until 2010 who won the 2011 Pulitzer Prize in poetry, is in a Marin County rehabilitation hospital after being hit by a car while riding her bicycle near her Fairfax, Calif., home on Jan. 13. LAT, Marin Independent Journal

News of Porn Industry's Move to Vegas is Flat-Out Wrong. LA Weekly

Photographs by John Rabe will be on exhibit at the Bermudez Projects gallery on
West 9th Street in Downtown from Feb. 8 through March 29.


Courts and cops

The Board of Supes discussed how to name an interim sheriff. KPCC

Yes, You Can Still Ignore That Red-Light Camera Ticket, says the LA Weekly.


More news, notes and observations

In-n-Out Burger doesn't want to be part of the growing Downtown LA community unless it can stick to the suburban model of drive-through lanes and a parking lot. Brigham Yen

The Grammy Museum will focus some attention on music from its own backyard in LA with an exhibition coming in May looking at the Laurel Canyon scene of the late 1960s and early '70s. LAT/Pop and Hiss

Students and alumni are trying to save USC's masters in professional writing program, slated to close in 2016. Jacket Copy

Liberal arts majors may start off slower than others when it comes to the postgraduate career path, but they close much of the salary and unemployment gap over time, a new report shows. Inside Higher Ed

Japanese pitcher Masahiro Tanaka signed with the New York Yankees for seven years and $155 million. ESPN


Tweet of the day


More by Kevin Roderick:
'In on merit' at USC
Read the memo: LA Times hires again
Read the memo: LA Times losing big on search traffic
Google taking over LA's deadest shopping mall
Gustavo Arellano, many others join LA Times staff
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Morning Buzz: Wednesday 4.16.14