A singular story line is emerging from court hearings for six current and former Bell council members charged with corruption: Former city administrator Robert Rizzo pulled nearly all the strings in the small city in southeastern Los Angeles County. 

The city clerk testified Thursday that Rizzo had her provide false salary figures to an inquiring citizen who filed a public records request, the L.A. Times reports.

On Tuesday, a Bell councilman, not charged with corruption, testified Rizzo, not elected officials, ran the city. 

Jerry Brown is swinging through the county today, stopping in Torrance to help former Assemblyman Ted Lieu reach the state Senate.  The governor met with L.A. business leaders yesterday, the Associated Press reported, trying to shore up support for his budget fix of roughly $12 billion in cuts and $12 billion in tax increases.  Support from the business community will be crucial to convincing Republican lawmakers to put tax increases on the ballot.

In a somewhat creepy multimedia piece, KPCC provides us with an audio and photo tour of San Quentin’s death chamber.  KPCC’s Julie Small took the tour earlier this week with Judge Jeremy Fogel, who will soon decide if executions can resume in California.  Also, some more background from the Times.

In lighter news, a Newport Beach man reported his marijuana stolen to police—25 pounds of it. LAist has a round-up of the bizarre decision.

Reach reporter Andrew Khouri here.