Extra, Extra: Garcetti for Mayor?

"Fifty Merc," by James Herman via LAist Featured Photos Pool on Flickr.

• It's been a killer week for Los Angeles County. At least nine have died since last Sunday, most having been murdered by gangs. The amount is not unprecedented, but it is greater than the county's average homicide rate, the LA Times said.
  
• And, if this morning's news of a homicide suspect in North Hills shooting himself in the finger is any example, those perps may not be the brightest.
  
• Is L.A. City Council President Eric Garcetti gearing up to challenge Mayor Tony for Angeleno supremacy this fall? At least one site, GarcettiForMayor, asks "Can we 'draft' Garcetti?"
  
• Warren G, the Regulator himself, was arrested this morning in Hollywood for possession of marijuana with intent to sell. Police found enough of the sticky icky in his car to charge the rapper with more than just possession.
  
• A centuries old Torah, purchased on eBay for $1,300, was dedicated today in a Torrance synagogue. The buyer, a longtime member of the synagogue, was playing a Pechanga slot machine when learned the bid was accepted. His next pull, apparently, netted him $5,000 in jackpot winnings. No shit.
  
• Listen, I know things are tough for newspaper, but why is the Daily News covering a local street clean up Sunday? Doesn't seem befitting for the city's second largest newspaper to cover something a neighborhood rag would be all over. That is one reason the DN will be gone in about a decade.
  
• Another gay pride has come and gone. Officials estimated about 400,000 took part in the colorful festivities with Olivia Newton-John performing on the main stage. Metblogs covered the event, as did the Times.