Monday morning headlines

Mixed market: The Nasdaq is being pushed higher by Apple shares (investors reacting to Friday's verdict in the Samsung case). Dow is up a few points.

Hertz buying Dollar Thrifty: The $2.3 billion deal brings more consolidation to the car rental market and gives Hertz more ways to attract business and leisure travelers. (AP)

Diller's IAC buys About.com: The New York Times Co. is unloading the information website for $300 million in cash. From Bloomberg:

About.com, which relies on freelancers to produce stories and how-to videos on topics such as making a stir-fry or preventing a tattoo from stretching, has struggled to attract traffic and advertising dollars. By contrast, New York-based IAC saw revenue from Ask.com and its other search-related sites climb 46 percent to $348.8 million last quarter.

Last week in Sacto: State lawmakers have a lot on their agenda, including public pensions, workers comp, and corporate taxes. From the LAT:

Legislative leaders said they hoped to pass an ambitious agenda aimed at convincing voters that they are responsible stewards of Californians' money. The outcome is likely to set the stage for Gov. Jerry Brown's high-stakes campaign to raise billions of dollars in taxes to close the state's deficit. "The hope is that our work here lays the foundation," said Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez (D-Los Angeles).

Zev's decision on mayor's race: LAT columnist Jim Newton is reminded of Yaroslavky's previous brushes at running.

In the few interviews he gave last week, he emphasized that, although this was not the right time or the right job for him, he would remain civically involved. "I live in this city, care about this city," he said several times. Only when I looked up my story from 1999 did I realize that he used the exact same phrasing then, a reminder of how long he's been weighing this question. Yaroslavsky might have been a good mayor. I, for one, think he might even have been a great one. He certainly would have served with intelligence and independence.

Dodgers in preliminary talks with Fox: They can't formally start negotiating until October, but Reuters reports that any deal to extend the TV rights contract will likely top the 20-year, $3 billion agreement worked out with former owner Frank McCourt - a deal that was rejected by Major League Baseball.

Box office report: Very slow weekend, with "The Expendables 2" at the top of the charts at $13.5 million, An anti-Obama documentary opened at a strong $6.2 million. (LAT)