Local News

Want to get under a newspaper person's skin? Tell them you don't need their work because you get most of your news from the Internet. Inky survivors can't stand to hear that because they know that — technological advances and upstart websites notwithstanding — the bulk of news on the Web actually still originates with newspaper reporters. But it turns out that the audience doesn't merely fail to recognize who produces most local news. Even those who do give credit to their local paper don't express particular concern about finding an alternative if their paper goes away, a new and detailed survey of community news consumption habits shows.

EveryBlock, a website that aggregated local news, has suddenly announced that it "has closed its doors. " Users of the site were greeted to an unexpected farewell message Thursday morning via email or upon logging in to the site. EveryBlock also linked to its goodbye blog on Twitter, saying "Farewell, neighbors. " "Thanks for the contributions, for the questions, and for allowing us to connect you to each other, in many cases to make great things happen in your community," the message reads.

Kansas Coach Charlie Weis might not want to pick up the student newspaper after Saturday's 56-16 loss at Kansas State. Weis was critical of the University Daily Kansan this week for not supporting the home team. In a tweet this week, Weis said "Team slammed by our own school newspaper. Amazing! No problem with opponents paper or local media. You deserve what you get. But, not home! The paper touted Kansas' game in a headline as "Road Kill Ahead. " Turns out the the paper was right.

Kansas Coach Charlie Weis might not want to pick up the student newspaper after Saturday's 56-16 loss at Kansas State. Weis was critical of the University Daily Kansan this week for not supporting the home team. In a tweet this week, Weis said "Team slammed by our own school newspaper. Amazing! No problem with opponents paper or local media. You deserve what you get. But, not home! The paper touted Kansas' game in a headline as "Road Kill Ahead. " Turns out the the paper was right.

Los Angeles is infamous for its androids of local news. Yet here's a nourishing thought. Is it possible that behind the automated heehawing, crime-busting, team-covering, truth-fudging, headline-belching theater of these newscasts some warmblooded humans lurk? You know, actual thinking, caring individuals as interested in serving the public as their careers? A few high-minded revolutionaries hoping some day to win control of news operations from the glib Hollywood Squares?

One man died and another man was injured Friday after their motorcycles collided during a high-speed race on a busy thoroughfare, authorities said. Richard Walter Jones, 21, was southbound on South Hill Street at 12:40 a.m. when he collided with another southbound motorcyclist, Steven Breeding, 21, also of Oceanside. Jones was taken to Scripps Memorial Hospital, where he died at 3:45 a.m. in the operating room.

College winners: Rancho Santiago College's publications El Don and In-Print have received nine awards in the annual Journalism Assn. of Community Colleges contest. In individual categories, Joan Medina placed fifth in investigative news; Patrick Mitchell, third, editorial; Matt Payne, sixth, opinion; Lowell Bennink, third, sports feature, and June Moffett, sixth, light-humor essay. C.W. Little is faculty adviser of the publications.

The Los Angeles Times is expanding its local news coverage with five new geographic sections, beginning Friday with the debut of a weekly insert featuring news from the Crenshaw district, Baldwin Hills, Ladera Heights and Leimert Park. To be called Our Times Crenshaw, the section will be produced by Times Community News, which, like The Times, is a subsidiary of the Times Mirror Co.

Topanga Canyon homeowners won an eight-year fight against a proposed $100-million mountain resort Thursday as the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors ordered the project converted instead into a luxury home subdivision. The supervisors rejected plans for a 150-room hotel, 150 houses, a large museum and a shopping center on a 257-acre parcel near the canyon's northern border with Woodland Hills. Instead, they gave developer Christopher R.

Facebook and Internet portals such as Google and Yahoo increasingly provide Americans their gateway for news, but the bulk of voters who catch up on current events daily turn to traditional sources, particularly local television stations, according to a nationwide poll. Traditional news sources on TV and in print also remain more trusted than the burgeoning alternative ecosystem of blogs, late-night comedy shows and social media outlets, the USC Annenberg/Los Angeles Times Poll on Politics and the Press found.

The only woman in a sea of men in suits, Dorothy Townsend can't help but stand out in the official photograph of the Los Angeles Times team that won a Pulitzer Prize in 1966 for coverage of the Watts riots. The picture also inadvertently documents Townsend's other historic role at the newspaper. After insisting on being reassigned from "the women's pages" in early 1964, she became the first female staff writer to cover local news in a city room long populated only by men. Townsend, who wrote for The Times from 1954 to 1986, died March 5 of cancer at her Sherman Oaks home, said her cousin, Louise Hagan.

Want to get under a newspaper person's skin? Tell them you don't need their work because you get most of your news from the Internet. Inky survivors can't stand to hear that because they know that — technological advances and upstart websites notwithstanding — the bulk of news on the Web actually still originates with newspaper reporters. But it turns out that the audience doesn't merely fail to recognize who produces most local news. Even those who do give credit to their local paper don't express particular concern about finding an alternative if their paper goes away, a new and detailed survey of community news consumption habits shows.

President Obama may be stuck in Washington during the debt ceiling debate, but that doesn't mean he's not reaching out to voters in key battleground states. On Wednesday, the president will again sit down for interviews with local television reporters, something he's done nearly a dozen times this year, according to a review of his daily schedule. Aside from two weekend trips to Camp David, Obama hasn't left the nation's capital since June 30, just after he admonished Congress to get to work on a deal to avoid a potentially catastrophic default.

A new report from the Federal Communications Commission warned that the "independent watchdog function that the founding fathers envisioned for journalism" is at risk in local communities across the country. In a 475-page report released this week titled "The Information Needs of Communities: The Changing Media Landscape in a Broadband Age," the government regulatory agency — which watches over television, radio and certain aspects of the Internet — said there was a "shortage of local, professional, accountability reporting" that could lead to "more government waste, more local corruption," "less effective schools" and other problems.

Imagine if the San Francisco Chronicle beefed up coverage of the state capital and asked Gov. Jerry Brown which agencies deserved the most coverage. Or what if Fox News planned to take a closer look at the United Nations with the blessing of Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon? The snickering that ensued would be prolonged, followed by a righteous blast of indignation from other news outlets. Journalism born out of such cooperation would rightly stink of conflict. That will be at least the initial aroma around the latest journalistic initiative by America's fastest-growing news outlet, Patch.

Among the many promises made in its just-approved takeover of NBC Universal, Comcast Corp. pledged to sustain and even add hundreds of hours to the news and public affairs programming at the 10 TV stations NBC owns around the country. As a baby step in the right direction, NBC should start by putting in the garbage-disposal all those no-calorie "news" segments about, for example, "The Biggest Loser," "Law & Order," "America's Got Talent" and movies from Universal Pictures. Convert those time slots, instead, to some meat and potatoes coverage about what's happening in our neighborhoods, our schools, our city halls.

When we last checked in on Patch.com , the fastest-growing news outfit in America was staffing up and making the most robust media foray into suburbia in years. Patch this week opened its 600th hyper-local website, in the Atlanta neighborhood of Buckhead. The sites, which provide basic news coverage and ask readers to bolster reportage on their towns, have opened in 105 California communities, with more launching every day. The remarkable thing about Patch, besides its explosive growth in recent weeks (it had 565 sites just one week ago)