Curated news, notes and observations most weekdays from LA Observed.
The drought is drying up California’s supply of hydroelectricity, prompting utilities around the state to scramble. Sacto Bee
The FBI spoke with former U.S. Labor Secretary Hilda Solis about her role in a 2012 fundraiser for President Obama, but the candidate for Los Angeles County supervisor believes she did nothing wrong and doesn't know if the inquiry is continuing, her campaign consultant said Monday. LAT
Solis and former state Sen. Sheila Kuehl have a considerable fundraising jump over their rivals for two open seats on the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, new campaign reports show. LAT
The city of Los Angeles spends $1 million a year for nine police officers to work for the Los Angeles Police Protective League. KPCC
A transient man believed to be under the influence of drugs made his way to L.A City Councilman Mike Bonin's fourth-floor City Hall office Friday, where he jumped the receptionist's desk and scribbled on the wall, according to a LAPD advisory and a spokesman for the councilman. KPCC
The list of would-be successors to longtime Rep. Henry Waxman continued to grow on Monday. LAT
Congressional candidate Wendy Greuel released her first slate of endorsements Monday, one at a time on social media. KPCC
Waxman leads another quixotic charge for 'net neutrality.' Opinion LA
Susan Shelley will run again for Assembly District 45 after losing by only 329 votes. DN
The money race begins in LA Sheriff’s contest. KPCC
New York's Bill de Blasio has a clear mandate for policy reform, but Mayor Eric Garcetti?= does not, Harold Meyerson argues. LAT Op-ed
The Central Basin Municipal Water District in Southeast Los Angeles, which has been trying to account for a $2.7-million chunk of public funds, has spent an additional $300,000 on lawyer fees to track down the missing money, according to invoices reviewed by KPCC.
KCET Departures rolled out a new website look. "I've been working on this series for 6 years, exploring, experimenting and discovering," Juan Devis, KCET's VP of arts and culture programming, posted on Facebook. "The homepage today was a beauty I had to share." Departures
The marquees of Broadway theaters will be dimmed in memory of Philip Seymour Hoffman for one minute on Wednesday night at 7:45 p.m. Broadway.com
Producers of KPCC's "Take Two" want to know if you have heard people talking about you in another language and how you feel about it. KPCC
Superior Court Judge David Cunningham III, the former police commission president in LA, filed a $10 million claim alleging excessive force and racial profiling by UCLA campus police after being stopped last November, handcuffed and thrown into the police officer over what began as a traffic stop for not wearing a seat belt. LAT, NBC LA, CBS LA, Fox 11, KPCC
Plus: UCLA has cleared the two officers of any wrongdoing. LAT
Another female school teacher (this time in Riverside County) has been accused of having sex with her underage students, setting off a media frenzy that will be much more intense than if she were a man or her crimes were even more aggravated.
Activist says LA's worst red-light camera is the one at Wilshire and Whittier Drive in Beverly Hills. LA Weekly
Eight things worth knowing about Microsoft's new CEO, Satya Nadella. NPR, AP
Moby writes: "I left New York for LA because creativity requires the freedom to fail." The Guardian
I should admit I have an ulterior motive in promoting LA. I'm so outspoken about my love for the city because I want my friends to move here. When friends from New York ask me why I moved here, I say, somewhat elusively, "David Lynch lives here, there's the Museum of Jurassic Technology, rents are relatively cheap, and I can run around outside 365 days of the year. Oh, and there are still recording studios in LA."
Dennis Romero on Moby's take on Los Angeles. LA Weekly
Charlotte Laws of Woodland Hills is trying to stop revenge porn websites like the one that harassed her daughter. DN
Gang members priced out of Echo Park by gentrification return on weekends, says the LA Times.
Venice's famed tolerance is being tested by the homeless. LAT
Making Los Angeles a bee-friendly city. KCRW
A Perris homeless man survived what appears to be an attack by a mountain lion. LAT
The Dodgers raised their remaining season ticket prices by as much as 140 percent. LAT, KPCC
John Markulis, the baker behind Carson-based Puritan Bakery — provider of hamburger buns to In-n-Out, Fatburger, Original Tommy's and other chains, died at age 83. OC Register
I think the people know enough about the circumstances of Philip Seymour Hoffman's death. But hey, keep digging, Woodward and Bernstein!
— Scott Tobias (@scott_tobias) February 4, 2014