Photo by Tyler S. Andrew via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr

• President Bush announced today that deployments to Iraq are being reduced to 12 months, down from 15 months: "The move was recommended by the Pentagon, concerned that the longer deployments were placing too much stress on the force."
• LA Now asks, are supergraphics fugly? Councilman Jack Weiss is making the case for legislation to restrict how many of those super-huge billboards can go up in the city.
• A Daily Breeze reporter has been blogging a behind-the-scenes look at the hurdles involved with crime reporting: "What I'm up against in this endeavor are some pretty classic reporting hurdles exacerbated by two of the area's largest bureacracies: LAPD and LAUSD."
• Would you return $140,000 in cash if you found it on the street? One man in Highland Park did, and was rewarded with $2,000 by the armored car company that lost the cash.
• Santa Ana is making a weight loss resolution: in a city where almost three quarters of the adult population is obese, officials are calling for the citizens to collectively lose one million pounds over the next year.
• The federal government is billing the Westland/Hallmark slaughterhouse at least $67 million for expenses incurred during their massive beef recall. The charges could be as high as $117 million.
• Tentative talks with a Long Beach facility have fallen through, so now it appears that there is very little hope left for the survival of King-Harbor hospital.
• David Beckham: just like us! He gets traffic tickets! The Galaxy star was pulled over in Hollywood the other day for a "mild" traffic offense.