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A dead man was officially named Adam Walsh's killer Tuesday, but not because of any new evidence or a deathbed confession. Police simply took another look at 27 years of tips, psychic revelations, often-botched police work and a serial killer's chilling admissions and decided it was time. Time to ease the suffering of the Walsh family and time to point the finger at the man Hollywood Police Chief Chad Wagner said had been the prime suspect all along: Ottis Toole.

Los Angeles City Atty. Carmen Trutanich's campaign against towering supergraphics has yielded several victories in sign-saturated Hollywood, with eight of the oversize images coming down in three weeks -- a major break from the stalemate of previous years. Prosecutors announced Friday that two of Hollywood's tallest and most controversial images, standing at an estimated 11 stories near Highland Avenue and Santa Monica Boulevard, were being removed after the billboard company received a cease-and-desist letter.

Outraged friends and colleagues are rallying to the defense of late '50s screen hunk Jeff Chandler to offset damage done to his reputation by Esther William's racy bestselling autobiography, "The Million Dollar Mermaid." According to Williams, who began a love affair with Chandler during the shooting of "Raw Wind in Eden" in 1956, Chandler was "happy and secure only in women's clothing." Cross-dressing, she writes, gave the actor a sexual thrill.

Hollywood's tallest tower has shed its bones and skin -- and hopefully its reputation as the most cursed building in town. The slender 20-story Sunset Vine Tower that was Los Angeles' first modern skyscraper when it opened to international acclaim in 1963 at Sunset Boulevard and Vine Street has been converted into a luxury apartment building that will have its coming-out party Thursday. The skyscraper has been vacant since late 2001, when an electrical transformer exploded, plunging it into darkness and sending employees of 40 companies with offices there running down stairwells to safety.

The pink lady of Hollywood Boulevard will soon be ready for close-ups again. Built in 1917 for actors because landlords routinely posted signs saying "No Actors, No Dogs," the Hillview Apartments is about to be reborn with the help of a $10.7-million project that is restoring the pink Mediterranean Revival structure to its former glory.

After Roy Radin's disappearance, film producer Bob Evans, believing he was Jacob's next target, traveled to Las Vegas to seek help from two friends who he thought were connected to the Mob, as author Steve Wick reports in this excerpt from the book "Bad Company: Drugs, Hollywood and the Cotton Club Murder."

The hairstylist was sweeping the floor when he heard the guttural screams. "These were not normal screams," the man said. "They were the screams of someone being killed." He ran out onto a darkening Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood and saw the woman -- his neighbor, a psychic reader -- lying on the sidewalk, her clothes burned off, her hair ablaze, her skin peeling off. "She was enveloped in smoke and flames," the man said, asking that his name not be used.

* A film producer sends 10 copies of a script to 10 different directors, attaching notes to each one saying, "You're my first choice." An ethical lapse? Ten little white lies? Or business as usual? * A major studio agrees to a star's salary demand, but insists on paying some of it "on the side" so the true amount won't be used by agents of other actors as leverage in future negotiations. Deceit? Or just a savvy competitive dodge?

One of New York's best-known photo studios said Friday it will open a large branch in Hollywood to take advantage of America's changing tastes in magazine covers and advertising campaigns. Professional models based in New York were the first choice of magazine editors and big advertisers for decades, said Mazdack Razzi, creative director of Milk Studios. Now they demand celebrities. "Celebrities are the new models," said fashion photographer Alexi Lubomirski, who is himself based in New York.

The prospect of a partnership between Roy Radin and producer Bob Evans enraged the woman who introduced them. Laney Jacobs wanted in on the deal to produce "The Cotton Club," which she felt she had put together. She also accused Radin of having knowledge of a $1-million cocaine theft from her garage, where she stored the powder before distribution.

Rolling Stone is about to take a leap into the entertainment industry, starting with a large-scale restaurant and nightclub in Hollywood. Owners of the venerable magazine hope to leverage its status as a preeminent chronicler of the rock music world and pop culture into a new business built on food and drinks. The first Rolling Stone outpost is set to open next summer at Hollywood & Highland Center. "We've been looking for the ideal opportunity to expand the Rolling Stone brand," co-founder and Editor Jann S. Wenner said.

Amid a New Wave soundtrack, girls sporting side ponytails and neon, ruffled prom dresses walked into the parking lot of an old Circuit City on Sunset Boulevard on Saturday night in what amounted to a flashback to the '80s. The premises had been transformed into a "Pretty in Pink" prom-themed movie event and an impromptu homage to filmmaker John Hughes, the man who gave a voice to the teen generation of the 1980s and who died of a heart attack last week. The Hollywood "Almost Free" Outdoor Cinema screened the 1986 film, which explores love and the cruelty of high school cliques.

It was a shocking rampage that showed the difficulties of policing a major city, even in the midst of a historic drop in crime. A man with a long criminal record and a history of mental illness stabbed four homeless men, two of them fatally, in a series of apparently random attacks on busy Hollywood streets, police said Friday. The attacks occurred Thursday afternoon near the spot where, a few hours earlier, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and Police Chief William J. Bratton had held a news conference to tout a major reduction in crime and announce the hiring of 40 new officers for Hollywood.

Somewhere between Debbie Reynolds and Jack Benny, the Laitala family of Duluth, Minn., stopped to marvel at the throngs of tourists shuffling among the sidewalk stars of Hollywood Boulevard. Joel Laitala, a mechanic, focused his camera on a star in the pavement while his wife, Lori, watched as costumed characters -- Superman, Capt. Jack Sparrow and Homer Simpson -- posed for photos with tourists for tips.

When Los Angeles tried to crack down on billboards in 2002, politicians agreed that there was at least one place where oversized signs could keep going up: Hollywood. Even as they attempted to ban new outdoor advertising in much of the city, officials said Hollywood, with its noisy nightspots and gawking tourists, was a good fit for colorful pitches for soda, cologne, movies and alcohol.

Los Angeles police have discovered that the shuttered Channel 13 studios on La Brea Avenue in Hollywood had become a haven for squatters. Officers found squalid conditions inside the landmark building, including discarded hypodermic needles, piles of trash, makeshift bedding in office cubicles and human filth on the floors and walls. "I was disgusted.

Efforts to upgrade a key section of the Hollywood shopping and entertainment district, part of a revival that is making the area more attractive to locals and tourists, have taken a major step forward. CIM Group, the district's largest commercial landlord, said it had agreed to acquire the Seven Seas building, a dilapidated structure that once housed a famous Hollywood Boulevard nightclub. At the request of the city's redevelopment agency, CIM plans to restore the edifice to its 1920s style.

After Playboy centerfold Melonie Haller was assaulted at Roy Radin's Southampton, N.Y., beachfront home, Radin moved to the West Coast in hopes of starting over. There he met Karen (Laney) Jacobs, an aspiring producer who offered to introduce him to a man who could make his dream of a Cotton Club musical a reality.

Don't look now, but in the middle of a recession, night-life players are doubling down, Vegas style, on Hollywood's return. Despite a brutal winter that forced smaller area lounges to shut their doors (see Play, S Bar and Hush Lounge) and pushed several others to open fewer nights per week, several operators -- some from out of town -- are betting that Hollywood's season of discontent might be coming to an end soon. They're positioning new venues to catch the crowds if indeed things turn around.

Holy Hollywood ending, Batman! Maybe this is a job for Superman! That's what Robin was probably thinking after the superhero sidekick was attacked and pummeled as he strolled in his mask, cape and tights among tourists on Hollywood's Walk of Fame. A series of assaults near Grauman's Chinese Theatre has led to a plea for a city licensing system that costumed characters who pose for visitors' photos hope will protect them.