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Selected items from the media, our in box and other LA Observed sources. Posted occasionally — often in the morning.
Vice President Joe Biden announced this morning that he will not run for president. He did the deed in the White House Rose Garden with President Obama looking on. NYT
The “probability is 99.9 percent” that an earthquake measuring 5.0 or greater will occur within the next two and a half years within 60 miles of the faults that caused the March 28, 2014 La Habra quake, according to a study by a JPL geophysicist. San Gabriel Valley Tribune
Lamar Odom was transferred to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center to try and recover from serious medical issues.
The DWP voted to raise rates to make up for money being lost to water use reductions during the drought. DN
Mayor Garcetti received a warm reception Tuesday at a chamber of commerce luncheon in the Valley. DN
A Los Angeles City Council committee voted to exempt retired and reserve police officers from the city's ban on firearm magazines that hold more than 10 rounds of ammunition. LAT
Joe Mathews notes Politico's hiring of Carla Marinucci for the California Playbook and urges that newspapers go after more of the political advertising money: "Billions in fact, are going into politics and lobbying, and newspapers in particular have gotten little while Politico, among other publications, has prospered by following that money and getting a cut of it. The new, stronger California operation of Politico will grab even more of our political money, and that’s good, at least for Politico." Fox & Hounds
AP Sacramento reporter Judy Lin has been hired by CALmatters. Note
Sacramento mayor Kevin Johnson announced he won't run for a third term. Bee
What's holding up the start of Uber and Lyft pickups from LAX? LAT
Chris Rock is officially returning for a second run as Oscar host, with organizers in the Academy Of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences confirming this morning yesterday’s trickle of news that he was in talks for the gig. Deadline
Bill Cosby and his longtime lawyer and staunch defender, Marty Singer, have parted ways. The Wrap, NYT
"All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr is the top hardcover fiction book selling in SoCal independent bookstores. "M Train" by Patti Smith leads the nonfiction list. Bookweb
The Wrap’s appeal of a lawsuit has prompted a change to a California statute protecting online news sites from frivolous libel actions, "a change that was long overdue in the age of the Internet," Sharon Waxman writes. The Wrap
James and Lachlan Murdoch in their first interviews as the heads of 21st Century Fox: Politics, Roger Ailes, Dad and plans for the future. THR
Tears and Terror: The Disturbing Final Years of Mickey Rooney. THR
Nikki Finke's new Hollywood fiction website could become a TV anthology series. EW
Kristine McKenna is helping David Lynch write his quasi-memoir "Life & Work," for 2017 publication by Grand Central Publishing. Rolling Stone
John Cook, a longtime Gawker editor, will become the executive editor of Gawker Media, the portfolio of websites that was left leaderless after a tumultuous summer for the organization. NYT
Consumer Reports has just assigned Tesla’s Model S a “worse-than-average” rating in a new, annual report about the predicted reliability of new vehicles. TechCrunch
James Franco’s bar mitzvah spectacular. Jewish Journal
When Toni Tipton-Martin was a food and nutrition writer for the Los Angeles Times, she remembers searching through the newspaper's massive collection of cookbooks to find even a slice of her culture. She never found books authored by African Americans - a situation both shocking and, perhaps, unsurprising. Houston Chronicle
Retailers are exasperated -- and empathetic -- over number of homeless streaming to Sylmar strip mall. LAT
In California's drought, the struggling monarch butterfly may have found a sprinkling of hope in all the lawns being torn up and replaced with milkweed. AP
The Last Mexican of Venice is gone. The flippers got her. Rip Rense
San Francisco’s last gun store closing with final burst of controversy. KQED
Why the Dodgers' choice on Don Mattingly is not simply 'keep him' or 'fire him.' Bill Shaikin/LAT
Michael J. Fox on set of Back to the Future, rehearsing Johnny B. Goode, 1985. pic.twitter.com/BcbAAdpaH5
— Historical Pics (@HistoricalPics) October 21, 2015