File: (L-R) "The Sarah Silverman Program" writer Harris Wittels, comedian Sarah Silverman, executive producer/head writer Dan Sterling and actress Laura Silverman, arrive at Comedy Central's Emmy Awards party at the STK restaurant Sept. 21, 2008 in Los Angeles.; Credit: Ethan Miller/Getty Images

Harris Wittels, a comedy writer who worked on "Parks & Recreation," has died at 30, the Los Angeles Police Department's Jane Kim tells KPCC.

Wittels was discovered by his assistant around 12 p.m., Kim said, and was already dead. Kim said that Wittels' death was a possible overdose, but that the Coroner's Office would determine the cause of death. Wittels had attended drug rehab twice.

Comedy Central, where Wittels worked on "The Sarah Silverman Program" and "Secret Girlfriend," confirmed Wittels' death, as did the comedy show he appeared at Wednesday night.

Comedy Central tweet

Meltdown Show tweet

Wittels was also well known for his @Humblebrag Twitter account and later book, helping to popularize the idea online of the false modesty of bragging while trying not to look like you're bragging.

Wittels had spoken about his struggles with addiction in places including Pete Holmes's podcast "You Made It Weird" in a November episode.

"I just really stopped caring about my life," Wittels said on "You Made It Weird," explaining how he got into doing drugs. "I just really started to think, well, if I'm only here for 80 years, then who cares if I spend it high or not?"

Wittels received his first big break when Sarah Silverman saw him performing comedy and gave him a job writing for her Comedy Central show.

Wittels also wrote for HBO's "Eastbound & Down," several MTV awards shows and the American Music Awards. He had a recurring role on "Parks & Recreation" and was a regular guest on the "Comedy Bang Bang" podcast.

Comedians, actors and fans mourned Wittels' death online.

Harris Wittels Storify

See Wittels in a scene from "Parks & Recreation":

Wittels on Parks & Recreation

Listen to Wittels on "Comedy Bang Bang":

Wittels on Comedy Bang Bang

This story has been updated.

This content is from Southern California Public Radio. View the original story at SCPR.org.

A job seeker fills out an application during a career fair at the Southeast Community Facility Commission on May 21, 2014 in San Francisco; Credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

California employers added 44,200 jobs in August, the largest gain of any state in the country. The state's unemployment rate stood still at 7.4 percent, compared to 6.1 percent nationwide.

"When the national numbers came out for August, and we saw a significant slowdown in job creation, we were a little bit concerned that we'd see the same thing happening here," said economist Kimberly Ritter-Martinez of the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation. "But in California, we stayed pretty much on track, outpacing the nation in terms of job creation." 

The construction sector was a huge contributor to California's job growth in August, with a gain of 13,600 jobs.  The other sectors with large gains were Education/Health Services (+12,200), and Professional/Business Services (+10,600). 

"We've been seeing steady increases in construction employment for some time, but it has been a slow steady increase," said Tom Holsman, CEO of the Associated General Contractors of California.

"Recent increases are attributable to many projects that have been in the early stages of startup gaining momentum," Holsman added, citing LA County Metro transit projects and the new Wilshire Grand Hotel construction project as local examples.

In Los Angeles County, the unemployment rate also stayed flat at 8.1 percent, but it remains far lower than the 9.9 percent of August of 2013. In the last twelve months, the L.A. County Metro area has gained 6,600 construction jobs, a rate of 5.6 percent.

Ritter-Martinez, of the LAEDC says other economic indicators support a boost in construction jobs at the Los Angeles and statewide levels: permits for new housing construction, remodeling, and non-residential construction are all on the rise. 

"Builders and developers are reporting that they're having trouble finding some skilled labor for construction," Ritter-Martinez said. "It's taken so long for that sector to come back, a lot of construction people have gone off and found other kinds of jobs or moved out of the region." 

In Orange County, the unemployment rate was 5.4 percent, down from 5.7 percent in July. The unemployment rate in the Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario area was 8.7 percent in 
August 2014, down from a revised 9.3 percent in July 2014.

Thirty experts were trained to deliver specialized training courses for judges on how to review corruption–related disputes and prevent corruption in the judiciary during a two-day session, organized by the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine and the National School of Judges on 5-6 July 2016 outside Kyiv.

The trainees, judges-lecturers of five regional branches of the School, enhanced their knowledge of anti-corruption legislation, including national regulations and relevant international conventions, major aspects of judges’ ethics, including the identification and prevention of real and potential conflicts of interest, and judicial review of corruption-related disputes. The purpose of the session was to create a pool of experts able to deliver training courses for their peers at the National School of Judges on a regular basis.

According to the Judicial Education Concept adopted by the School, the training methodology was based on interactive techniques and included discussions, case studies, mini-lectures, various exercises and role plays, and screenings of short simulation videos on the topic.

To ensure the sustainability of OSCE efforts, the training course on anti-corruption will be submitted for institutionalization at the National School of Judges by the end of the year. This course will form part of the School’s mandatory curriculum for every judge appointed to the post.

The training session was part of a project by the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine to enhance the quality of judicial education and training.

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Fr. Stephen looks at creation and its "voice" as described in Old and New Testament and sees what it means for our realtionship with the world around us.

Fr. Stephen reflects on the hidden nature of God's work.

Fr. Stephen offers thoughts on the providence of God—His will working good for us all despite what we may see or think.

Ever wonder what the phrase, “the Divine Energies,” means? Fr. Stephen looks at its inner depths and its constant place in our lives. Give thanks to the Lord for He is good! His mercy endures forever!

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Bill's special guest is none other than his daughter Dr. Alexis Marianes. Dr. Alexis Marianes received a PhD from The Johns Hopkins University in molecular biology working on stem cells. Her Bachelors of Science in Marine Biology was from the College of Charleston and she completed Post Doctorate studies at The Medical University of South Carolina focusing on alligator embryology. Dr. Marianes has taught at The Johns Hopkins University, the College of Charleston, and the University of West Indies. She is completing work as a part of the Sustainable Innovations Initiative NGO in Trinidad performing pioneering research for a variety of other universities, governments, businesses and NGOs regarding a wide variety of creatures, species and natural biological habitats and phenomena, including a project featured on the Discovery Channel regarding the Ocelots of Trinidad. Dr. Marianes is soon headed to the Brazilian Atlantic Forest for additional studies regarding a wide variety of species and habitats of God’s creation.

Fr. Tom continues his series on Darwin and Christianity with some musings on God and Creation.

On this Great Feast of Pentecost, Fr. Andrew discusses how the sending forth of the Spirit re-creates us, all mankind and the whole cosmos.

Matthew continues his examination of oneness, this time showing how we become one with God, participants in the communal life of the Holy Trinity.

Having been born in the image of God, we strive to achieve His likeness - becoming one with Him. And our relationship with His creation is a part of that spiritual development.

Matthew begins a series exploring the spiritual aspect of environmentalism by asking, "Why does God create?"

Matthew illustrates how the communal nature of God is why Christians can say that God is love.

Join Fr. Nick and Dr. Roxanne Tuesday evening for a new episode of Healthy Minds Healthy Souls. This week, they're talking with Spyridoula Fotinis about stewardship of God's creation, both at the individual and parish level, and reflecting on history and initiatives from the Ecumenical Patriarch.

Are we participating in the new creation that Christ offers to us through his life, death and resurrection?

Fr. Philip LeMasters shares about the rich, foolish farmer. "The barn of the rich fool was a pagan temple in which he worshiped only himself. If we live according to the standards of our world of corruption, we will become just like him by seeking to lay up treasures for ourselves to the point that we will shut ourselves out of the new life that Christ has brought to the world."

It is only by dying to the old ways of death that we may live as His “new creation.”

As members of Christ’s Body, the Church, we reap the blessings of the faithful obedience of Joachim and Anna and of their daughter the Theotokos. We must now use our freedom to take up our own crosses so that we may unite ourselves evermore fully to Christ in His great Self-Offering for the salvation of the world.

There is perhaps no more powerful example of our need for Christ’s healing of our souls than that contained in today’s gospel reading. A rich man with the benefit of the great spiritual heritage of Abraham, Moses, and the prophets had become such a slave to gratifying his desires for indulgence in pleasure that he had become completely blind to his responsibility to show mercy to Lazarus, a miserable beggar who wanted only crumbs and whose only comfort was when dogs licked his open sores. The rich man’s life revolved around wearing the most expensive clothes and enjoying the finest food and drink, even as he surely stepped over or around Lazarus at the entrance to his home on a regular basis and never did anything at all to relieve his suffering.

This week’s readings for divine liturgy correct any notion we might have that the physical, material world does not matter. While the physical is ordered under the spiritual realm by God, it is also meant to be taken up into it, transformed. We see this careful balance and valuing of the spiritual and material worlds in the lives of the Theotokos and St. Edith of Wilton, as well as in the Old Testament narratives of the “fiery serpent” and the promised “new heavens and new earth.”

Today, we consider the Old Testament readings appointed for March 17 (Isaiah 13:2-13; Genesis 8:4-21; Proverbs 10:31-11:12) in the light of the life of Holy Bishop Patrick, and especially the prayer of the “Lorica” (the Breastplate) ascribed to him.

58. Book 1:"The Creation of the World" from The Bible for Young People by Zoe Kanavas (Narthex Press, 2005) (8.30 mins) Book 2: Ella's Story: The Duchess Who Became a Saint by Maria Tobias, Chapter 4 (Conciliar Press, 2004) (begins at 9:50, duration 16.45 mins)

59. Book 1: "The Creation of Eve" from The Bible for Young People by Zoe Kanavas translated by Rev. Spencer T. Kezios (Narthex Press, 2005) (6.45 mins) Book 2: Ella's Story: The Duchess Who Became a Saint by Maria Tobias, Chapter 5 (Conciliar Press, 2004) (begins at 7:25, duration 18.51 mins)

Dn. Michael continues his series," In But Not Of," and discusses chapter one of On the Incarnation.

At the feast of Theophany, the Baptism of Christ, we celebrate much more than a historic event. Fr Thomas teaches us that we participate in the beginning of the re-creation of the world by God in Christ through the Holy Spirit.

The feasts of the Nativity and Baptism of Christ are dramatic examples of the intersection of the spiritual and material in the life of humanity. Fr Thomas teaches us that we must acknowledge and experience this intersection to participate in God's recreation and renewal of the world.

On the Sunday after Theophany, the reading from the Apostle teaches us that there is a close relationship between Christ's filling all of creation with Himself and the gifts that He bestows on us. Fr Thomas reminds us that those gifts need to be discerned and exercised to continue the work of renewal in the world and in our parishes.

Fr. Gregory Hallam begins with a message for the children followed by Dn. Emmanuel who tells us that what we are seeking to understand is both life and the world from God’s viewpoint, not from our own.

The Genesis account of Eve being created from the rib of Adam has, throughout history, often been interpreted in negative ways. In this week's broadcast, through a brief text by St Irenaeus of Lyons, Fr. Dcn. Matthew examines a patristic vision of this creation grounding the true intimacy and mutual responsibility of the human community, male and female as "helpers" of one another in the work of salvation.

The Genesis account of Eve being created from the rib of Adam has, throughout history, often been interpreted in negative ways. In this week’s broadcast, through a brief text by St. Irenaeus of Lyons, Archimandrite Irenei examines a patristic vision of this creation grounding the true intimacy and mutual responsibility of the human community, male and female as ‘helpers’ of one another in the work of salvation.

Fr Dcn Matthew explores the homilies of St Symeon on man and creation, and in particular the way in which the Christian response to ecological concerns resides in the theology of sacrifice and the participation in divine Communion - including brief remarks from a recent talk by Metropolitan Kallistos of Diokleia.

Fr. Pat Reardon's newest book on Genesis is the topic of our conversation as we explore the beginnings of Salvation history. The book is entitled Creation and the Patriarchal Histories and is published by our sister ministry, Conciliar Press.

We talk with Richard Barrett, Artistic Director for the St. John of Damascus Society about an ambitious project to create a musical setting for the Vesperal Psalm (103/104) blending the various Orthodox music styles. This will eventually be a video presentation including beautiful images from creation. This was launched through a Kickstarter fund raising campaign.