Archive by Month
November 15, 2008
Why am I blogging on a Saturday night? Because PCH to Santa Monica, where I was supposed to meet friends for dinner and a movie,... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
That's the word from the National Weather Service, which expects high winds in LA County to last until 2 p.m.. Meanwhile, fires now burn in... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Chief Tribune innovation honcho, Lee Abrams, was in town this week for a Press Club event and, in addition to this YouTube video, left... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Between the Times' photogs and picture editors, they've got some great fire photo galleries on the site. But just as remarkable are civilian shots like... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
The strong smell of smoke woke me and we've got another fire. In Sylmar this time, driven by what the LAFD called near-hurricane-force winds. At... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
November 14, 2008
The latest stats on the Tea fire in Santa Barbara County stand at 2,500 acres burned, more than 100 homes destroyed, and more than 1,800... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Oops -- the NY Times' travel section on Sunday will have a piece about visiting Santa Barbara, our own Mark Lacter points out. One week... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Martin Eisenstadt, who has a blog but doesn't actually exist, is a senior fellow at the Harding Institute for Freedom and Democracy, which also doesn't... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
There's a cottage industry of black humor and killer irony at the Times thanks to Lee Abrams' smug memos, with their hefty helpings of hubris... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Talk about a power vacuum. The LA Times Washington bureau is no more. What we get instead is a Tribune Washington News Bureau which, as... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Even as water-dropping aircraft dip into low reservoirs in the Santa Barbara area, residents have been asked to cut their water use to near-zero. Wash... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
The fire in Montecito, now called the Tea fire, has burned 1,500 acres and destroyed at least 80 homes in the high-priced enclave. (Insurance execs... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
November 13, 2008
Mandatory evacuations as a wildfire races through the Santa Barbara area, tears through Montecito. Winds gusting to 50-plus mph. Power out in parts of the... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
First more than a thousand anti-Prop 8 protesters gathered at the Mormon temple in Westwood. Now, after employees reported receiving an envelope filled with white... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Here's another body blow for our hometown paper -- Virginia Ellis, the Times' Sacramento bureau chief, is retiring. She'd been planning to leave last year... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Here we go again -- more hot and windy weather on the way. Guy McCarthy at Watershed News gathers the details: Just a few days... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
One of my favorite assignments ever while at the Daily News (pre-web so I can't link) was a profile of Robert Jastrow, the brilliant physicist... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Anand Jon, the Indian-born fashion designer who has dressed celebutante Paris Hilton and singer Janet Jackson (big photo gallery on his still-live web site) faced... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
OK -- man, alligator, bar. The patrons freak out, the Huntington Beach cops get called to Johnny's Saloon, and even though this all happened on... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Did anyone really think the same-sex marriage issue in California was over? According to a new story in Capitol Weekly, the move to repeal Prop... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Yeah, me neither. But the Great SoCal Shakeout just got started so millions of our fellow Californians are role-playing the disaster, Metro trains are slowing... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Kevin's taking a break and here I am, doing my best not to break the blog while he's gone. See any bad links or (I... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
I'll be vacating the virtual premises through the weekend and into next week. If there's posting to be done — and there surely is —... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
November 12, 2008
The Variety name went up in giant letters today on the former People's Bank tower in the Miracle Mile stretch of Wilshire. The Hollywood trade... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Without any inside info, I did wonder if Rebecca Schoenkopf would be staying on as editor of CityBeat after new publisher Will Swaim — her... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
The El Coyote manager who donated to Proposition 8 through her church probably should not have been invited to the press conference.... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Los Angeles-born Olympic wrestling champion Henry Cejudo will write his memoir, "The Americano Dream," for Celebra. It's about growing up Mexican American in South Los... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Assistant national editor Millie Quan will become the new Column One editor at the Los Angeles Times, not the senior editor in Features as announced... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Anger — and the resulting finger pointing — continues apace over the passage of Proposition 8, which appears to have added a ban on same-sex... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Back from the holiday...here are some news notes. The Supreme Court rules that the Navy's interest in conducting sonar tests whenever it wants trumps concerns... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
November 11, 2008
Jay Fiondella moved to Los Angeles to act, roomed with Leonard Nimoy, and opened Chez Jay near the beach in Santa Monica in 1959. It... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
November 10, 2008
For a writer at a New York gossip blog, Gawker's Alex Pareene seems to have a strong opinion that Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa should... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
The race's new operator finds the last Monday in May preferable to the President's Day holiday in February, so runners get three extra months to... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Esha Momeni, a 28-year-old Iranian-American working on a documentary about the women's movement in Iran, has been held since being arrested on Oct. 15. A... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Harcourt has been music director and host of Morning Becomes Eclectic for ten years. He'll leave Nov. 30 to pursue independent projects and host a... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Gov. Schwarzenegger hopes the state Supreme court overturns Proposition 8 and urged the Republican Party to move away from some of its core conservative... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Volunteers to leave, that is. Time is asking staffers in its magazines to raise their hands if they want to get bought out before the... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
November 09, 2008
Congrats to former City Controller Rick Tuttle, who was married tonight to Rebecca Rona. I'm told the festivities at UCLA's Faculty Center attracted, among others,... $MTEntryExcerpt$>
Noon on Saturday was the deadline for candidates to file their declarations of intent to run in the March 3, 2009 primary election in the... $MTEntryExcerpt$>