AM news: schooling edition

too cool The LA Times takes a special interactive look back at real estate hotspots and starts with the Pacific Electric building at 6th and Main. While the tour guide notes the building now has loft-dwellers who share rides to Coachella, he entirely skips Cole's PE Buffet on the ground floor. Cole's serves both a mean dip sandwich and fantastic beer on tap — between you and us, it's one of the best bars in the city.

for school Taft High School is the national Academic Decathlon champion. It's the third win for the Woodland Hills school in the Decathlon's 25-year history, which means Taft has taken 12% of all the trophies. (We did that without a calculator, really).

lesson learned LA Times writer Michael Hiltzik will no longer have his business section column nor his blog after anonymously posting on blogs of his critics. He'll be reassigned after returning from a suspension without pay. We're guessing with his free time he won't hit the blogosphere.

book learning The LA Times Festival of Books has reached its midway point. While we've begun our posting, we've got lots more to come (with photos!). In the meantime, topnotch local litblog The Elegant Variation is posting thorough notes on some panels; we're intrigued by the description of the publicist as a "nitwit... the enemy."