Even more Patch work

AOL Patch sites continue to stand itself up in Southern California. The online news network has hired Rich Kane, a former managing editor of the OC Weekly, to cover Laguna Beach.

Patch has also picked up Aldrin Brown, former city editor at the San Bernardino Sun, to oversee the network's San Bernardino-area sites. This confirms the rumors I heard last month, when Brown first departed.

Speaking of SB County, I'm told Redlands - home to leafy trees, a university, decent schools and desirable homes - will remain the battlefield of choice for ad starved news orgs. AOL plans to launch a site there, while the Press-Enterprise and the Redlands Daily Facts, owned by Belo and MediaNews Group, respectively, continue to clash on the newspaper side. The P-E has pulled back coverage in the rest of the county.

Late afternoon rumor patrol

Will the bankrupt Orange County Register sell its headquarters in Santa Ana and move into the offices that housed the bankrupt LA Times' OC edition? I don't know, but the OC Weekly had heard enough talk that it decided to write a story about the rumors.

Also, an anonymous comment on this blog said pink slips were going out at the Los Angeles Times. I haven't confirmed any layoffs, but pressman Ed Padgett says he's heard that at least four press workers at the Times OC facility have been let go.