Zach Behrens

The Hollywood Reporter, Billboard and three other Nielsen-owned trade publications will be sold to News Communications Inc., sources tell Sharon Waxman at The Wrap. A spokesman for Nielsen is not commenting on the matter. Other publications to reportedly be sold include Adweek, Brandweek and Mediaweek. Owned by James Finkelstein, News Communications owns the “Who’s Who” publications and Washington, D.C.-based trade, The Hill....

The state is already looking at a $5 to $7 billion budget deficit for this fiscal year. Next year, another $7 billion. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger will reveal his solutions in January, but today answered questions from the press, according to the LA Times. “I think there will be across-the-board cuts again. We are not going to go and pick and choose [ between programs]. I think that we always have to go and cut...

Attention classical music fans. The Ojai Music Festival today announced exciting programming highlights for next year June, all picked by composer/conductor and the this year's music director, George Benjamin. “Ojai’s tradition of inviting a different music director for each season guarantees variety and vitality across festivals," said Artistic Director Thomas W. Morris....

The way things are going now, being on California's death row seems cozier than a life term without possibility of parole, the LA Times finds. On death row, you get a single cell, good telephone access and "exclusive control over the television, CD player or other diversions in their cells," among other perks. What about that whole death penalty part? A four-year-old moratorium has stopped the practice, at least for now. And in any...

The Sepulveda Dam, as seen through morning fog | Photo by Robbie via LAist Featured Photos on Flickr Which population group is not getting vaccinated for H1N1? It appears to be African Americans. In South L.A., where 33% of the population is African American, records indicate that more Asians (less than 2% of the pop.) are coming in for vaccinations. You probably didn't feel it, but a magnitude-2.4 earthquake four miles north of Yorba...

Some exciting news, if it comes true, via Damien Newton at StreetsblogLA. The Mayor's office has indicated that Ciclovia may be coming to Los Angeles in early 2010. What is that? "For the uninitiated, the city of Bogota put on the first Ciclovia decades ago by closing several of its main streets to cars and opening them to pedestrians and cyclists on Sundays," explains Newton. "Over the years, a culture developed around these gigantic...

The City says no, that intersections with red light cameras are not more dangerous with them, pointing out that red light runner crashes are down. That may be true, but an investigative report by CBS2 finds that accidents are up at most of the red-light camera intersections if you include crashes caused by people stopping earlier than expected to avoid running a red light. Based on data six months before and after cameras was...

Photo by Darren Shannon via LAist Featured Photos on Flickr This is local government at its finest, folks. Last year when then-City Countroller Laura Chick tried to audit then-City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo, a lawsuit against Chick was brought forth. At issue? Chick wanted to audit the City Attorney's workers compensation program, but Delgadillo balked, throwing a lawsuit in the way. More broadly, the question being asked in the lawsuit, does the elected City Controller...

View the full map alignment here (.pdf) Metro staff yesterday recommended that the Crenshaw Corridor be light rail, not a rapid bus line. This comes after urging of many, including County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas, who represents the area. The Line would run about 11 miles, from Exposition and Crenshaw (also home to a future Expo Line station) to the Metro Green Line Aviation/LAX station. Proposed stations, via a committee document (.pdf), would be Exposition/Crenshaw,...

Well, it's not a full-on holiday meal, but a pretty sweet tasting is going for a cheap ten bucks over at the locally-sourced, from farm-to-table themed restaurant, Akasha in Culver City. For two Saturdays, the restaurant will feature different menus for the price. On Saturday, there will be desserts and hors d'oeuvres like Pear and Cranberry Tart with Cinnamon Crumble, Bacon-Cheddar Biscuits, Wild Planet Tuna with Housemade Bread & Butter Pickles and Pomegranate-Jalapeno Jelly.

Although the massively large Station Fire was fully contained last month, it still burns in the Angeles National Forest. That may be confusing, but we'll back up to the common definitions of containment and control, as given by officials in most fire updates to the public:

Photo by Caveman 92223 via Flickr Tomorrow is the 83rd Anniversary of the numbered highway system that gave birth to Route 66, among others. In honor of that, the long-debated ending point of the famed auto-passage will find itself at the Santa Monica Pier in a 9 a.m. ceremony with a parade 66 vintage cars and motorbikes (it begins at Santa Monica and Lincoln) and the unveiling of a replica of the "End of...