It's been unsettling to watch the massive layoffs at the LA Times and Daily News, but when you read a sanitized story like today's Los Angeles Times California section report on The Donald's effort to save Johnny Carson sidekick Ed McMahon from foreclosure, it's a reminder that newspapers have a fatal habit of leaving many uncomfortable, relevant news facts on the cutting room floor.

Wake up! Readers — well, the readers who are left — want actual news. Trump asks “How could this happen?” How could well-liked TV personality McMahon be losing everything in his old age? The answer is in the Weekly cover by Daniel Heimpel several days ago headlined The Mold Rush. McMahon's obsession with “toxic” mold is at the center of his sad life, and, like a strange religion, has enveloped thousands of true believers. Editors and writers at the Times had to perform extensive mental gymnastics to leave that overriding fact out of their latest look at McMahon's weird, ongoing travails.

Advertising disclosure: We may receive compensation for some of the links in our stories. Thank you for supporting LA Weekly and our advertisers.