Thursday morning headlines

No recession, but... Economists at UCLA's Anderson Forecast say that California and the U.S. are being whacked by a terrible housing market, high oil prices, falling government revenues, blah, blah, blah, though none of it is enough to result in a full-blown recession. That's pretty much what they had projected last quarter. For all the bad news, California still has several healthy sectors, including health care, tourism (remember the weak dollar), and education. Besides, the economy has already taken some of its hardest hits. "Be calm my friends. Be calm," wrote Forecast Director Edward Leamer. (LAT)

Mortgage freeze: Seems too little too late, but President Bush is announcing an agreement with lenders that will fix interest rates on some subprime loans for five years. The deal focuses on borrowers who face resets on their initially low introductory rates. The freeze will apply to mortgages issued between January 2005 and July 2007 that are scheduled to reset between January 2008 and July 2010. Shares of Countrywide Financial are way up on the news, as are those of other financial issues. (Bloomberg)

Near-miss report: The number of close calls at U.S. airports, especially LAX, suggests "a high risk of a catastrophic runway collision," according to the federal Government Accountability Office. In fiscal 2007, LAX logged eight near-misses, which is a lot. In the last eight years, the airport had the most close calls of the busiest commercial airports. It also posted the highest number of those considered the most severe. (LAT)

USC-Coliseum deal?: Not yet, but they're finally working on some arrangement to keep the Trojans from moving to the Rose Bowl. After holding a two-hour closed session, the Coliseum Commission seems ready to prepare a counteroffer for USC (it's even bringing in lawyers to package a proposal). "We're going to get it done, and we're going to get it done now," said Coliseum Manager Pat Lynch. (Daily News)

NBC layoffs: Expect big cuts in the news division in an effort to save $20 million to $40 million. The NY Post reports that the cuts will be weighted evenly between NBC News and MSNBC (CNBC is spared because of its tussle with Fox Business Network). Among those being let go are MSNBC's head of primetime programming Bill Wolf and Editorial Director Davidson Goldin.

Strike update: More talks are scheduled for today, but very little seems to be happening. The Writers Guild submitted a counter-offer to the media companies' proposal last week that the media folks are supposedly studying. One area being revived is the guild's efforts to represent writers on reality shows. Meanwhile, the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, apparently realizing that most folks have been siding with the WGA during the writers walkout, has hired flacks Mark Fabiani and Chris Lehane to spruce up its image. That certainly doesn't sound like a contract deal is in sight. (DHD)

On the PR beat: Dan Schnur, who has bounced between political pundit and Republican campaign strategist, is joining PR giant Edelman as head of California's public affairs practice. Just recently, Edelman hired Tony Blankley, former press secretary and advisor to Speaker Newt Gingrich, to be executive vice president for global public affairs.

Consulting conflicts: Apparently they're pervasive among the folks who consult companies on executive compensation (what a surprise!). A Congressional committee chaired by Rep. Henry Waxman also found that consultants who do other work for companies while helping them with executive pay recommended higher pay packages (another shocker!). From the NYT:

As executive compensation has grown in size and complexity, pay consultants have become increasingly influential. And board compensation committees have rebutted criticism of rising pay by maintaining that the outlays were justified through the use of outside consultants. But the consultants who advise on pay are often employed by large companies that provide other services to the same corporations, like actuarial work on pensions and management of employee benefit programs. Contracts for these services often generated significantly more revenue than advising on executive pay.

Toy story: Fox executive Lisa Licht has been hired by Hasbro Inc., to be general manager of entertainment and licensing, a new position. Licht, who oversaw Fox's promotional campaign for "The Simpsons Movie," will develop movies, TV shows and video games based on Hasbro's line of children's toys and family products such as Monopoly and My Little Pony. (LAT)

Storm approaching: They're talking about up to 3 inches of rain starting later today and rolling out sometime Saturday. It'll also be chilly through the weekend.