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President Obama will return to Los Angeles on Friday, and the city is bracing for a repeat of extreme gridlock because of his visit. Obama felt the sting of Angeleno road rage in August when street closures for his motorcade stretched Westside commutes from the normal 45 minutes to the duration of a one-way flight from L.A. to Chicago. Will traffic conditions be smoother this time? Los Angeles police say don't count on it. Even in places where streets aren't closed, traffic could be affected well into the evening rush hour.

This might be the worst sports bar in the world. Traditions, or colloquially, Traddies, resides down four flights of stairs, below Middle-earth, on the cramped but still-sexy-after-all-these-beers USC campus. As sports bars go, the vibe is just OK - neither unpleasant nor pleasant. The service is a bit noncommittal as well: 40 minutes for a beer, an hour for a burger. Guess they weren't expecting such a big crowd for a USC-Notre Dame game. Would somebody horse-collar that waitress?

President Barack Obama rallied thousands of loyal supporters at the USC campus Friday, urging them to defy skeptics who have predicted losses for Democrats and turn out in force on election day to give his administration more time to turn around the nation's flailing economy and deliver the change he promised in the 2008 election. "We need all of you to fight on. We need all of you fired up," the president told the roaring crowd of students and admirers ? 37,500 of them, by USC officials' estimates ?

Jeff Bregel of USC, a former standout lineman at Kennedy High, was the fifth offensive lineman chosen in Tuesday's NFL draft, a second-round selection of the San Francisco 49ers. Bregel, who was projected as a slightly higher draft pick, was the 37th player chosen overall. The 49ers obtained the ninth pick in the second round from Philadelphia last year in a trade that sent quarterback Matt Cavanaugh to the Eagles.

How many of Food & Wine magazine's Best New Chefs were working out of a food court? Yet that's just what Ricardo Zarate accomplished at his first hit restaurant, Mo-Chica, which was located in Mercado la Paloma near the USC campus. Since then, of course, he's gone on to posher places. Zarate and business partner Stephane Bombet opened Picca at the south end of Beverly Hills in 2011, which was instantly honored as one of the best new restaurants in the United States. This year he re-opened Mo-Chica in a nicer space downtown.

It is curious indeed that "Day of the Jewish Trojan" (Dec. 11) makes no mention of Dr. Norman Topping, USC's president from 1958 to '70. It was he who first reached out to the L.A. Jewish community more than 40 years ago. Whatever real or imagined ethnic barriers there were, that existed during the university's first 78 years, came down. Through his efforts, USC elected its first Jewish member of the board of trustees. Through his efforts, and his good relations with the leadership of the Los Angeles Jewish community, Hebrew Union College was invited in 1968 to move from small quarters in the Hollywood Hills to property adjacent to the USC campus and to share academic offerings.

UCLA Coach Jim Mora apologized before practice Thursday for comments he made during a radio show Wednesday. Mora, in discussing recruiting, said he makes a point to tell parents how safe it is at UCLA, adding, “We don't have murders a block from our campus.” The slayings of two Chinese graduate students near the USC campus in April became international news. Mora stood by his comments Thursday morning, saying that he was not referring to a particular campus. In the afternoon Mora said, “After learning the details of the shooting downtown earlier this year, I can understand how my comments on the radio yesterday could be interpreted as insensitive to the victims and their families.

The National Weather Service's official downtown Los Angeles weather station, located on the USC campus, recorded 26.61 inches of rain for the calendar year 2005. February was the wettest month, with 11.02 inches of rain. (Average for 128 years: 15.9 inches) Annual Totals (Jan. 1-Dec.31) YEAR--INCHES 1878 --20.86 1879 --17.41 1880 --18.65 1881 --5.53 1882 --10.74 1883 --14.14 1884 --40.29 1885 --10.53 1886 --16.72 1887 --16.02 1888 --20.

The authors and screenwriters of "Argo," "Beasts of the Southern Wild," "Life of Pi," "Lincoln,"  "Perks of Being a Wallflower" and "Silver Linings Playbook" have been nominated for the 25th annual USC Libraries Scripter Award.  Usually only five films are nominated, but a tie resulted in six contenders this year. Unlike the other feature film awards, the Scripter honors both the screenwriter or screenwriters of an adaptation as well as the author of the written work on which the screenplay is based.  GOLDEN GLOBES 2013 :  List  |  Red Carpet  |  Winners  | Show moments | Quotes The nominees announced Tuesday morning:  "Argo": Screenwriter Chris Terrio, Joshuah Bearman, author of the article "The Great Escape," and Antonio J. Mendez, author of "The Master of Disguise.