Selected items from the media, our in box and other LA Observed sources. Posted occasionally — often in the morning.
Investigative reporter Seymour Hersh reports based on intelligence sources that the official narrative of Osama bin Laden's killing has been wrong all along on several major counts — starting with he was actually a captive of Pakistan security, he had no more operational contact with Al Qaeda, no documents or computer files of any value were recovered at the scene, he was an invalid who did not shoot at the Americans that stormed his compound, and his body was not buried at sea. London Review of Books
Hersh's story "is amazing to read…but his allegations are largely supported only by two sources, neither of whom has direct knowledge of what happened, both of whom are retired, and one of whom is anonymous. The story is riven with internal contradictions and inconsistencies." Vox
The Anaheim Ducks advanced to the third round of the Stanley Cup playoffs, and the Clippers trounced Houston to take a 3-1 lead in the second round of the NBA playoffs.
Some small-business owners who backed Mayor Garcetti's campaign are having misgivings now that he is pushing to raise minimum wages to $13.25 an hour. LAT
Councilman Paul Krekorian is working behind the scenes on a minimum wage compromise. LAT
More workers suffered electric shocks or burns at the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power in 2014 than in any of the previous 10 years, and the public agency this year has already reached that decade’s average by May. DN
Fares will be one of the biggest deciders of whether anyone rides the California High Speed Rail trains should they ever be built. But it won't be cheap. "As a practical matter, no one can say how much an end-to-end ride on the bullet train would actually cost if and when the system becomes fully operational, a milestone the state expects to reach some time in 2028." LAT
The county Department of Children and Family Services did not hand out as much as $571,000 worth of MTA passes and tokens it was supposed to provide foster children in a four-month period, an audit found. Witness LA
David Ryu's City Council campaign energizes Korean American voters. LAT
Councilman Tom LaBonge supporters and insiders are at war over the runoff race between Ryu and longtime LaBonge aide Carolyn Ramsay. LA Weekly
Cathleen Decker on presidential candidates coming to California to raise money but not to campaign: "California isn't competitive in presidential contests, meaning that there's little incentive, particularly this far from election day, to campaign among the masses. Not to mention that campaigning here is a television sport, which requires money." LAT
What If the Key to Ending Homelessness Is Just That—a Key? Mike Kessler/TakePart
Los Angeles County unveiled an open data website last week that provides public access to millions of county records. Star-News, LA County Open Data
Director Erin Lee Carr writes about her dad, the late David Carr. Glamour
An ode to Tri-X: The Kodak film that has been capturing history for 61 years. Wired
Hans Laetz, a longtime LA media hand, created and operates KBUU-FM, the LA area's newest public radio station, out of his daughter's former bedroom in Malibu. It's 97.5 FM and has a news operation. LA Weekly
Janice Min on the future of the celebrity magazine cover. Huffington Post
Tad Friends's latest Letter from California: Marc Andreessen, the Netscape creator turned Silicon Valley venture capitalist. New Yorker
Longtime LA media hands Barbara and Joe Saltzman and the popular book their late son David wrote for child patients, "The Jester Has Lost His Jingle," was featured on CBS Sunday Morning.
Miriam Pawel's biography of Cesar Chavez won the RFK Book Award from the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights. Facebook
Revisiting the Chuck Philips story, though it's not clear why (with an odd headline given that the former LAT reporter is alive.) Ratter
Mark Glaser's MediaShift has parted ways with PBS.org after nearly ten years. Romenesko, Poynter
Ghosts emerge in Vivian Gornick's memoir 'The Odd Woman and the City.' LAT
Robert Price, executive editor of The Bakersfield Californian, in the Zocalo green room.
Disneyland's semi-official cat population. LAT
Supersizing the Port of Long Beach: Big plans to streamline logistics, grow capacity, and switch to 'green' power. OC Register
With support from the South Korean government and venture capitalists on both sides of the Pacific, Los Angeles is emerging as a corner in a tech triangle connecting Seoul to Silicon Valley to Silicon Beach. LAT
Four of the nearly 50 self-driving cars now rolling around California have gotten into minor accidents since September, two of them when the cars were being self-driven. AP
The Ottoman Empire gave Mexico, and thus Southern California, tacos al pastor. PRI's The World
Photos of Expo Line trains being tested on the tracks on the Westside. The Source
The website LA Beat says it compiled a master list of the oldest still-active restaurants in the Los Angeles area. LA Beat
Running to First Base: A Little League story from El Monte. KCET Departures
Monday Morning With Jack Fujimoto, the first Asian American to serve as president of a major college or university in the mainland U.S. SawtelleJapantown.com
Is Haggen the Antidote to the Average L.A. Supermarket? Los Angeles Magazine
Guy Carawan, the Santa Monica native and UCLA graduate who helped turn "We Shall Overcome" into a civil rights era anthem, died at age 87. NYT
First tweet. More to come.
— Alan Alda (@alanalda) May 5, 2015
My thanks to those who pointed out I misspelled my name in my own profile. This is a great start.
— Alan Alda (@alanalda) May 11, 2015
So it turns out #MadMen IS the kind of show that saves a big soapy twist for the end. Wouldn't have predicted that.
— Matthew Belloni (@THRMattBelloni) May 11, 2015
Don Draper, Maverick Ad Man, Dead at 88 http://t.co/eiAJ0l4ZI6
— Kevin Roderick (@LAObserved) May 10, 2015