Extra, Extra: Jermaine O'Neal Hearts Kobe and Outsourcing Local Journalism

• Indiana Pacers star power forward Jermaine O'Neal wants to be traded to the Lakers. Bad.
• Even Southern California is starting to feel the pinch of congestion and overcrowding.
• Frustration with a lack of action at the federal level has prompted states to enact a raft of new immigration laws in the first 6 months of 2007 - more than twice the number that was passed during the same period last year.
• A North Hollywood man was arrested for sexually assaulting an 8-year-old boy in Van Nuys.
• The siblings of a 29-year-old South L.A. man shot by a State Park Ranger in Tapia Park allege that he was shot "in cold blood."
• The New Yorker shows the L.A. blogosphere some love with its new "Postcard from Los Angeles" blog.
• That'll make local reporting a bit trickier: the San Gabriel Valley Newspaper group's copy desk is being moved to San Bernardino.
• Have you ever wondered what the 10 busiest fire stations in L.A. are?
• Hundreds of rescuers are searching for a party of six coal miners trapped 1,500 feet below ground by a powerful cave-in near Salt Lake City, Utah.
• More progress in Iraq: 28 people, including at least 19 children, were killed when a suicide bomber blew up this truck this morning in a Shiite area of Tal Afar.
• More presidential candidate positions on the issues than you can shake a stick at.
• Miss Lohan is going to try to see if rehab outside of LA might work better for her.

Photo by Stephanie Asher via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr