News

News notes and good reads for Thursday 12.4.14

A roundup from my email in box, selected media outlets and other sources. Note: Al Martinez's column will not appear Friday. He remains under the weather.

Some news

LAPD Chief Charlie Beck has found that three officers violated policy and were not in danger of their lives when they shot and killed Brian Newt Beaird as he was moving away from the officers after a high-speed chase last December. Any disciplinary action is pending, but the city already reached a $5 million settlement with Beaird's family. LAT

New county Supervisor Hilda Solis has joined with Mark Ridley-Thomas to revive a proposal to set up a civilian oversight commission for the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. LAT

City Attorney Mike Feuer announced the closure of 400 medical marijuana dispensaries. DN

City Councilmen Paul Krekorian, Herb Wesson and Mitch Englander appear to be running for reelection unopposed, pending the final list of candidates. Wednesday was the deadline to file. KPCC

Franklin Foer and Leon Wieseltier have resigned as the top two editors at the New Republic. Gabriel Snyder has been named editor. Romenesko

The Los Angeles Times is promoting an investigative project for this weekend on the portion of the U.S. food supply chain that comes from Mexico and the day laborers who harvest produce there for export. The teaser:

Ben Austin is stepping down as executive director of Parent Revolution, the education reform group he founded six years ago to aid parents pushing for change in their children’s poorly-performing schools. LA School Report

The Annenberg Foundation withdrew its proposal to donate up to $45 million to help redevelop Ballona Wetlands after controversy over Wallis Annenberg's caveat that called for a 46,000-square-foot interpretive center and pet adoption center surrounded by walking trails and other public spaces. Daily Breeze

The city of Long Beach has selected a design team for removal of the Terminal Island Freeway, the first freeway removal project in Southern California. LongBeachize

Alison Martino is retiring her original Facebook group Mid Century Modern and Historical Los Angeles in the '60s, '70s, and '80s: "Guys...I ‘m thinking I need to let this page go.. I started this page YEARS years ago...From this point on you can find me on Vintage Los Angeles. Unfortunately there too’s ]sic] much drama on this page. And for the record, this page was a love letter to Ralph Story and architect Welton Becket. Somehow it lost it’s luster…"


Notes and reads

Wilt the Stilt (Chamberlain) Becomes Wilt the Stamp, the first NBA player honored with a postage stamp, by LA artist Kadir Nelson. NYT

An ambitious multimedia report on gentrification in Highland Park by Marketplace: York & Fig

Interview with Deputy Mayor Rick Cole on "how his new job fits into his longtime efforts to promote livability at the neighborhood, city, and regional levels." The Planning Report

bing-crosby-soboroff.jpgAn exhibition of Steven Soboroff's typewriter collection, which tours to raise money for journalism scholarships, opens tonight at the Paley Center for Media in Beverly Hills. His latest acquisition is Bing Crosby's 1925 Corona, shown here.

USC and Olympic basketball legend Cheryl Miller has been reunited with Mike Garrett at small Langston University in Oklahoma. SB Nation

Patti Davis wrote an open letter to Sasha and Malia Obama, first daughter to first daughters: "As First Daughters, you can’t win. There will always be bitchy people sitting at their keyboards, seething with anger at their own lives, ready to take it out on you…"

A history of Central Avenue (in time for CicLAvia South LA) by LA Public Library maps librarian Glen Creason. LA Magazine/City Dig

Karen and Quinn Hatfield are closing their Melrose restaurant, Hatfield's, after eight years to focus on Sycamore Kitchen and a forthcoming new place, Odys + Penelope. LA Magazine

"City of Gold," Laura Gabbert's documentary on LA Times food critic Jonathan Gold and his place in Los Angeles, will screen at next month's Sundance Film Festival. Sundance Institute

Mike Pesca asked LA Times columnist Meghan Daum for grand conclusions she learned from her near-death experience. "Instead, she taught us something about the craft of writing." Slate

The Desert Sun in Palm Springs in hiring in many newsroom positions. Linked In


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