The Los Angeles Times soon will move its long-time headquarters from downtown Los Angeles --- one block from City Hall and other city-county operations that are key sources for news --- to outside the city limits at El Segundo, notes Grumpy Editor.
With the move, tiny El Segundo (population about 17,000) with be home to two newspapers: The Times and the long-established weekly El Segundo Herald.
Behind the action is Patrick Soon-Shiong, a biotech billionaire who is buying the L.A. Times from Chicago-based Tronc for $500 million.
The Times’ current home, a 1935 art deco building in the Los Angeles Civic Center, is about 19 miles from El Segundo, close to Los Angeles International Airport and home to Los Angeles’ giant Hyperion sewage treatment plant.
With the news, Times staffers grumble about the longer commute they will have through the City of Angels’ growing traffic to the new newsroom.
A question that remains: How will events, originating from the Los Angeles Civic Center, be covered. Currently, Civic Center is within easy walking distance from The Times building at First and Spring Streets.
IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE...
TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE. With the upcoming new round of negotiations with the U.S. and South Korea, North Korea on Saturday says it has suspended nuclear and long-range missile tests and plans to shutter its nuclear test site.
WILL IT BE SWEDEN OR SWITZERLAND? In a surprise visit to North Korea, CIA Director Mike Pompeo meets with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and expresses optimism over a planned summit with Sweden and Switzerland among locations being considered for the meeting.
ALMOST $3 MILLION FOR A BASEBALL CARD. A 1952 Mickey Mantle Topps baseball card, when Mantle was a rookie, sold for $2.88 million, reports Sports Illustrated. Seller is former NFL offensive lineman Evan Mathis.
MARINES REPLACING AGING AMPHIBIOUS VEHICLES. Cost of a Marine Corps push to replace its aging fleet of Assault Amphibious Vehicles (AAV) remains $60 million below original projections of $810.5 million. The Marines seek 208 amphibious vehicles, described as a better protected and faster way to carry troops from ship to shore, by 2022.
CAUTION URGED IN STARTING TRADE WAR. Biggest risk to global growth comes from the U.S., say Bloomberg View editors. “If Trump really does start a trade war at a time when U.S. financial conditions and macroeconomic policy pose risks of their own, watch out," they warn. "The road back to economic sanity could be bumpy.”
ARMY RECRUITMENT GOAL FIZZLES. The U.S. Army will not meet its goal to recruit 80,000 soldiers this year and has lowered it to 76,500. Army leaders claim the service has been able to encourage more experienced members to stay on the job to satisfy a growing demand for troops. Six months into the recruiting year, the service has brought in just 28,000 soldiers.
MUNITIONS DROP HIGHEST IN FOUR YEARS. The U.S. drops more bombs and other munitions in Afghanistan last month than it did on Islamic State fighters in Iraq and Syria for the first time since the anti-ISIS campaign began in 2014, reports Stars and Stripes.
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