Score one for Bill Shaikin of the LA Times (pictured). He was first to report this morning that Frank and Jamie McCourt have reached a mediated settlement in their divorce dispute.

Shaikin’s item is getting picked up left, right, and center this AM by USA Today, ESPN, and many others. This is how you maintain the home plate cred of an embattled newspaper, by making sure that you can still out-hustle competing outlets to a nearby, downtown scoop.

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We thought the divorce of Jaime and Frank McCourt might turn up some fun stuff. We were right. The Dodgers pay rent $14 million to be at a stadium they own. Creative accounting? Inspired!

KTLA’s Bill Shaikin writes:

The Dodgers pay rent to Blue Land, which is not involved in stadium operations. Boies said the rental payments offered the McCourts the option of working around restrictions on receiving cash directly from team coffers.

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