Mayor Sam's Morning Update

More on the bus line accident which we reported earlier today. Following the incident in which a pickup truck ran into an Orange Line bus, an organization calling itself United Riders of Los Angeles is calling for a 72 hour shutdown of the line in order to study safety issues. United Riders of Los Angeles appears to be made up of long time anti-MTA activist John Walsh and Gary Hendrickson, an anti-CRA activist from North Hollywood. (I am sure that Bart Reed or Kymberleigh Richards - if they're reading - will fill us in more.) Councilwoman Wendy Greuel and Mayor Villaraigosa both reject the call for an Orange Line moratorium.

In other transit news, The Bus Riders Union is urging Los Angeles Mayor and MTA board chairman Antonio Villaraigosa to extend the Metropolitan TransportationAuthority's federal consent decree when it expires in October of next year. The Bus Riders Union has also developed its own foreign policy, taking sides against Israel in the mid-east and comparing the struggle of Palestinians to the plight of Jews in Nazi Germany.

The company that reality TV star Anna Nicole Smith shills for, Trimspa, is being sued by the Live 8 Organization, accusing Smith of being drunk and scantily clad when she was to make a personal appearance during the benefit concert's live telecast. Live 8 had agreed to have Smith appear on the program and air promotional spots in exchange for a $320,000 donation. (Boy that's almost like an LA Observed story with a puff piece on a who cares celebrity complete with requisite cheesecake photo of the starlet in question.)

Anti-LAX expansion activists are celebrating with today's settlement in the LAX re-organization plan, and one local elected official says that this never could have been possible under the Hahn Administration. Congresswoman Jane Harman, D-El Segundo told reporters that the situation needed the new Mayor Villaraigosa to bring about the solution.

Friday night Villaraigosa will attend Councilman Jose Huizar's community swearing-in ceremony at the Los Angeles Theater. Maybe Brady Westwater will be there.

Tomorrow USC grads Bernard Parks and Greig Smith will place a friendly wager with Mayor Villaraigosa, a Bruin. All of course, in advance of the big USC-UCLA game on Saturday. And yes, the Trojans are going to win again.