Staff announcement: Rick Meyer

Following is a memo announcing Rick Meyer's leaving The Times, sent by Managing Editor John Arthur on Monday, Dec. 31, 2007:

Baseball affidavit

A front-page story today reported that former major league pitcher Jason Grimsley accused a number of baseball players of using steroids and performance-enhancing drugs, according to a federal affidavit that was unsealed Thursday. The Times article named the players in the affidavit, and went on to report that "the unsealed affidavit contradicts a story The Times published Oct. 1, 2006."

A correction ran as well.

Headline for a 'rock pioneer'

This post was originally published Dec. 18, and because of a technical problem was temporarily unavailable.

"Ike Turner, 1931 - 2007: Rock pioneer was known for abusing wife Tina Turner."

That headline brought more than a dozen complaints to the writer of the obituary (who didn't write the headline).

Staff announcement: Sam Zell named chairman, CEO

Following are excerpts from Sam Zell's note to staff upon becoming the chairman of the board and chief executive officer of the Los Angeles Times' parent, Tribune Company:

Blue eyes and evolution

Science stories are well-read but they don't often bring as many questions and comments as the one that ran Dec. 11. That story reported on a study that found, "The pace of human evolution has been increasing at a stunning rate since our ancestors began spreading through Europe, Asia and Africa 40,000 years ago." Not only was evolution a spark for some readers to write, but so was the last line, which quoted University of Wisconsin-Madison anthropologist John Hawks, who led the study: "Nobody 10,000 years ago had blue eyes. Why is it that blue-eyed people had a 5% advantage in reproducing compared to non-blue-eyed people? I have no idea."

Science writer Karen Kaplan responds to the readers.

Staff announcement: Tribune chairman and CEO resigns

Dennis FitzSimons announces his resignation as chairman and CEO of The Times' parent, Tribune Co., in this memo on Wednesday, Dec. 19, 2007:

Staff announcement: More changes at the magazine

As a follow-up to the memo of Monday, Dec. 17, here's the announcement of a new style editor and new roles for others at Los Angeles Times Magazine from its consulting editor, Lennie LaGuire, on Wednesday, Dec. 19, 2007:

Trump and the consumer reporter

When consumer reporters go after companies or government agencies, some results are predictable: Their targets sometimes object; their readers often write.

The response to recent Consumer Confidential columns about Donald Trump by reporter David Lazarus has  been especially strong, though. More than 200 readers wrote to say thanks, and Trump called to tell Lazarus that he'd see him "in court."

A roundup of kudos

Some recent coverage that has brought plaudits:

Staff announcement: John B. Oakes Award for Distinguished Environmental Journalism

Following is a memo announcing an award to reporter Judy Pasternak for her work on the “Blighted Homeland” series, sent by Editor James O'Shea on Tuesday, Dec. 18, 2007: