Antonio's back

Once upon a time, he was here just about weekly. But since a certain suburban daily reported on a certain L.A. mayor's extramarital affair, he's been pretty scarce around these parts. Who could blame him?

But Antonio Villaraigosa, being Antonio Villaraigosa, just couldn't stay away.

I heard the murmurings that somebody biggish would be here. Not David Brewer. Not even Arnold.

Nope. A-Dog is back.

He thundered into the newsroom as always, in Mr. Happy mode (I guess we should say Mayor Happy).

He made a point of giving Beth Barrett a big hug. She's the reporter who broke the Mayor-Mirthala story in the Daily News (yes, I know that others -- many others -- knew, but Beth was the first to get it onto newsprint).

What are Antonio and the Daily News biggies talking about in the meeting room? Who knows? I'm too busy proofing out movie-review pages -- and besides, I wasn't invited (features copy editors don't usually get in on such things).

It probably has a whole lot to do with the mayor's takeover of a couple of troubled high schools and the elementary and middle schools that feed into it.

But whatever the "substance" of the meeting, Antonio is back in the media-loving saddle again.