Wednesday morning headlines

Stocks edge lower: Slight pullback after yesterday's big day. Dow is down about 10 points.

Private sector adds 187,000 jobs: January's numbers are ahead of expectations but below the gains in December. Government's employment report comes out Friday. (Reuters)

Wall Street pays out big time: Total compensation and benefits hit a record $135 billion in 2010, according to a WSJ analysis, up 5.7 percent the year earlier.

"Things are shifting back to where they were before," said J. Robert Brown, a law professor at the University of Denver who studies compensation and corporate-governance issues. Buried in the numbers, though, are signs of how Wall Street's pay culture is bending in response to pressure from regulators and shareholders. Last year, deferred compensation made up as much as half of total pay, up from about a third previously, estimates Alan Johnson, managing director of Johnson Associates Inc., a New York pay consultant.

More flights canceled: For the second straight day, the big Midwest storm is creating havoc for the airlines. Seems doubtful you can get to Chicago today. (LAX Flight Departures)

AEG wants exemptions: Environmental Impact Reports take months to prepare and are often followed by more months of pushback. The guys behind a proposed downtown stadium would like to skip that part. (LAT)

Taxpayers waiting for stadium bill: LAT columnist Michael Hiltzik says it's only a matter of time:

Do you really think this project will be built without any taxpayer contribution? Me neither. All that's really open for debate is how much the taxpayers will contribute, and where in the blueprints for the stadium and its appurtenant infrastructure that contribution will be hidden.

Rosendahl bailing out on bus lane: The plan for busways from downtown to the Westside hasn't even been implemented and the L.A. councilman wants to drastically downsize. From the LAT:

Wilshire Boulevard was supposed to get almost nine miles of bus-only lanes stretching off and on from MacArthur Park to Centinela Avenue. Then in December, transit officials cut a mile out of the proposal in Westwood to ease the concerns of high-rise residents who fear that it would push already heavy automobile traffic into even fewer lanes. Now Los Angeles City Councilman Bill Rosendahl wants to downsize the project again to 5.4 miles, stop it at Beverly Hills and eliminate not only the Westwood section but the remaining route to Santa Monica.

American Apparel gets reprieve: The L.A.-based manufacturer has received a waiver from lenders to help it avoid defaulting. (LAT)

Blue Shield postpones rate increase: The health insurer will sit tight for 60 days as Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones reviews the filing. Rate hikes averaging 6.5 percent and topping out at 18 percent would have gone into effect March 1. (LAT)

BP to sell local operations: That includes a refinery in Carson and the local Arco gasoline operations. Company says it expects to get at least $4.4 billion for the refineries. (LAT)

Council whittles budget: Cuts totaled $16 million, including $2.2 million from police and fire, but that still leaves $30 million to trim by July. (Daily News)

Council rejects shipyard plan: Long Beach-based Gambol Industries had been trying to operate on the site of the shuttered Southwest Marine terminal. From the Daily Breeze:

A shipyard will be worked into a new master plan under development for Terminal Island, said Geraldine Knatz, executive director of the Port of Los Angeles. Additionally, Knatz said she would find a way to restore the dilapidated structures on the Southwest Marine site. "Unfortunately, when I hear master planning in the city of Los Angeles, I think 10 to 15, 20 years before we actually get results," Councilman Tony Cardenas told Knatz.