Page 3: Credit Where Due

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Credit Stan Kroenke and his Los Angeles Rams organization for the wonder that’s unfolding at the LA Stadium & Entertainment District in Inglewood – and the high-tech, high-falutin’ Premiere Center that opened last week in Playa Vista as a sales center for would-be sponsors, suite owners and season-ticket customers. … Credit brothers A.G. and John Spanos – execs and co-owners of the Los Angeles Chargers, which eventually will become a tenant alongside the Rams at the stadium – with bringing an impressive personal touch to the event as they took in the model layout, video boards and simulations – and also took time to chat amiably with various visitors, including a contingent of media that included Sam Farmer, the L.A. Times’ veteran NFL beat writer. … Credit our Special Report on the business of sports – which includes a front-page piece and a section inside – for staying on top of the high-tech trends when it comes to stadia and sales, as Garrett Reim reports on page 17. … Credit Kroenke for keeping in touch with the latest on the field of play, as his recent investment in an e-sports team suggests (see story, page 4). … Credit Christie Hefner for an impressive podium presence as she set the stage for last week’s Hugh M. Hefner First Amendment Awards at the Playboy Mansion in Holmby Hills, where Timothy Garton Ash was honored in the category of book publishing, Jenni Monet was lauded for print journalism, Hasan Elahi got a nod in arts & entertainment, and Burt Neuborne received a lifetime achievement award. Judges Lara Bergthold and Erwin Chemerinsky were on hand – the latter made the trip down from his new perch as dean of UC Berkeley Law – but cohort and Times Editor-in-Chief and Publisher Davan Maharaj was a late scratch, apparently called by executives of parent company tronc Inc. to a meeting in Chicago … Credit Hefner especially for her well-chosen words to sum up the obvious frustrations her audience has with President Donald Trump, whose pithy broadsides against the media were characterized by more than a few among them as menacing. Hefner could easily have satisfied the crowd with some red-meat lines but stuck with a measured approach, calling the current fix a “time of all times.” … Credit members of the growing digital currency crowd in Silicon Beach with moxie on the hire of Jack Abramoff, the onetime super-lobbyist whose fall from grace came hard on an influence-buying scandal a dozen years ago. Abramoff has not only signed on to help train lobbyists to deal with lawmakers pondering regulation of bitcoin and other versions of digital currencies, but also agreed to do it in front of the cameras for a reality show in the works from Blockchain Entertainment and Ignition Creative. … Credit Peter Burke, president of Best Cos.’ Group, with the line of the day at the Business Journal’s sponsored Best Places to Work Awards Luncheon at the Sheraton Grand. Burke noted that some companies are giving employees a “Bring Your Parent to Work Day.” He then got big laughs with the obvious rhetorical question: “What could possibly go wrong?” Look for photos of all the fun next week …Credit Hong Kong Airlines with moving fast with plans for direct flights from LAX to its home base starting in December (see story at right). The move follows a recent report here that mainland China-based Air China will begin direct flights from LAX to Shenzhen – a metro market adjacent to Hong Kong. Should be interesting to see the sorts of fliers who gravitate to each of the cities. Shenzhen has become a major tech and manufacturing center in China, while Hong Kong counts financial services and shipping as its chief calling cards these days. … Credit Taylor Sheridan for bringing the Western back to Hollywood – even if movie folk and their trade press call his achingly well-done “Wind River” a “police procedural.” … Sullivan Says: There’s no better place to sit out a sweltering afternoon than the Ahrya Fine Arts on Wilshire Boulevard, which isn’t mincing words about its upcoming “Western Weekend.”

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