Monday news and notes

Selected items from the media, our in box and other LA Observed sources. Posted occasionally — often in the morning.

Ridership is dropping on Metro rail lines and buses. The agency cites factors such as service interruptions and the ability of undocumented immigrants to get drivers licenses. LA Weekly

Bystanders are injured in 1 in 10 LAPD pursuits, more than anywhere else. LAT

Gov. Brown's link between climate change and wildfires is unsupported, fire experts say. LAT

Finally, after all these years, Jerry Brown intends to live in the old governor's mansion in Sacramento. Bee

Will Antonio Villaraigosa be the next governor of California? La Opinion

Mayor Eric Garcetti on Friday defended his economic record before a San Fernando Valley business group that’s been sharply critical of City Hall’s approach to job growth. DN

Latino groups are turning up the volume on efforts to get NBC's "Saturday Night Live" to drop Donald Trump as the scheduled host Nov. 7. LA Weekly

Ivanka Trump is her father’s his most influential adviser, "his de facto first lady in waiting and his character foil: the cautious, measured power behind the striving, showy candidate." Politico

Some Venice activists plan to object at a Wednesday hearing at the West LA Planning Commission about Gjusta's change in status from a takeout bakery to restaurant, which it actually always was.

Steve Lopez can't believe that the lawyer who got dumped by the Los Angeles Unified School District last year after arguing that a 13-year-old student was partly to blame for her sexual abuse by a teacher is back on the job. LAT column

San Francisco’s Prop. F on the November ballot is a pricey, high-profile battle that could seriously restrict how Airbnb and other home-sharing sites do business. California Playbook

Sara Catania, our former Run On blog author, has a new job as West Coast Editor in Charge of Reuters, based in the U.S. Bank Building downtown. She has been VP of Digital News at NBC Southern California. Her exit note

State Treasurer John Chiang announced that Marc Lifsher, the former LA Times reporter in Sacramento, will be Communications Director for the State Treasurer’s Office.

Vocativ has appointed Jezebel editor at large Jessica Coen (and former Gawker editor) as its new editorial director. Politico Media

Warner Bros. Television Group has signed an exclusive multi-year development and production pod deal with Tavis Smiley.

Gregg Easterbrook will be joining The New York Times data blog, The Upshot, with his Tuesday Morning Quarterback column.

Google’s massive effort to scan millions of books for its digital library does not violate copyright law, a U.S. appeals court ruled. GalleyCat

Tracy Morgan’s return to Saturday Night Live lifted ratings for the late-night show, which was up week-to-week and matched its top overnight demo score since last winter. Variety

Dysfunctional train wreck at Tribune Publishing rolls on. Fortune

"Self-criticism: A theater critic's search for nuance in the age of Yelp." Charles McNulty on ten years as the LA Times theater critic. LAT

Mario Testino adds Kristen Stewart to his towel series of celebrity nudes. Instagram

CBS has refused to run advertising for "Truth," the film starring Cate Blanchett and Robert Redford that revisits a painful episode in the network's past involving a discredited 2004 news story on former President George W. Bush's military service record. AP

Nate Silver's 538.com calculates that in the history of the world, roughly 100,825,272,791 people have ever died. "Let’s call it 100.8 billion." 538 Life

Rescue crews on Sunday resumed efforts to free a humpback whale entangled in netting that was spotted about 1 mile off the coast of Rancho Palos Verdes. City News Service

Locking bikes to LA parking meters is illegal but that might change. KPCC

The Lyell Glacier, Yosemite’s largest when visited by John Muir in 1872, could melt and disappear in as soon as five years. SF Chronicle

Some in Mammoth Lakes are riled up by all the short-term rentals in town. LAT

Colin Hanks' 'All Things Must Pass' an ode to Tower Records. LAT

'Hollywood Home Movies: Disneyland' is an E-ticket to the park's past. LAT

Largely true:

19 of the worst things you could say to someone who lives in L.A. http://t.co/KekT12TCbe pic.twitter.com/S9U4X9Eebo

— BuzzFeed (@BuzzFeed) October 17, 2015

DTLA's Bar Mattachine serves up cocktails with a garnish of gay history. Slate

I find the sound of public radio fund drives strangely soothing.

— Susan Orlean (@susanorlean) October 16, 2015

If you're standing in a 100-person line for eggs, you're doing it wrong. pic.twitter.com/1t79UUfY9c

— Carolyn Kellogg (@paperhaus) October 17, 2015

It doesn’t count as brunch unless a couple is fight-whispering next to you.

— Alex J. Mann (@alexjmann) October 17, 2015