Results tagged “CrimeScene” from Crime Scene

There's no margin in cop killing.

Just ask members of the Avenues gang, affiliates of the Mexican Mafia, who got rolled Tuesday up by the LAPD, the FBI and an alphabet soup of local, county and federal law enforcement agencies.

It stemmed from the Aug. 2, 2008 killing of Los Angeles County Sheriff's Deputy Juan Escalante. A guard in the county jail, Escalante was gunned down in front of his parents' home in the Cypress Park neighborhood just northeast of downtown.

Cops have charged three affiliates of the gang with the killing, and are seeking a fourth. The arrests didn't keep the LAPD and the feds from using every weapon at their disposal to crack the Avenues' hierarchy, many of who happen to be incarcerated.

The list of crimes detailed in the 222-page federal indictment includes murder, robbery, witness intimidation, money laundering, weapons possession and dealing drugs like crack and speed.

| Link: Copy of Avenues Indictment

It could put some of these guys away for life in federal prisons away from the corrupting influence of county jail and state prison.

If the indictment is any indication, members of the gang don't fear police. They don't fear the prisons and certainly don't fear Joe Citizen.

Among their mottos is "Avenidas don't get chased by police, we chase them."

Another motto, "Avenidas don't just hurt people, we kill them."

As for those named in the indictment, several have had federal cases before, including Alex "Pee Wee" Aguirre, who was a defendant in a large scale case against the Mexican Mafia brought by the feds in 1995.

Some of the acts mentioned in the federal indictment unsealed Tuesday were chronicled as far back as 1999.

Much of the new case appears to have been made with wiretaps. Men and women were captured on tape discussing things as mundane as where they should live or as sinister as creating lists of who should be killed.

A lot of it was done by tapping the cell phone of Richie Aguirre who was doing time in Kern Valley State Prison, but was able to smuggle in a phone nonetheless.

As such, gangsters aren't the only ones to have to answer for what appears in the indictment.

Gun control advocates should explain how exactly gun control works. Gang members seem to have an endless supply of what are essentilly illegal semi-automatic assault weapons at their disposal.

State and local law enforcement officials have to do some serious soul searching as well.

Sheriff Lee Baca for one should explain how it is that drug smuggling is occurring in the county jails.

State prison officials should explain how the Mexican Mafia is allowed to hold executive level discussions while incarcerated. They might also want to explain how drugs and cell phones get past the screws and into the joint.

These are the same prison guards that nearly bankrupt this state with their outrageous pay, benefits and retirement plans. These are the same prison guards who look the other way when racial tensions flare and prison riots break out.

How much do you want to bet none of this Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger or whatever political apointee heads up the state prison system?

Guys like defendant Richie Aguirre know the real score when it comes to state prison guards. During one wiretapped conversation he advises a young woman to stay out of the profession.

"Aguirre told an unidentified female that she should not become a prison guard because they become corrupt and are used to smuggle narcotics into the prison for the inmates."

Lunchtime Wednesday.

Cars crowd the parking lot of 7-Eleven at the corner of Pacific and Puente avenues in Baldwin Park. Outside it's hot. Probably 95 and getting hotter.

Inside, El Monte resident Tony Garcia buys a hot dog and smothers it with relish, mustard and onions.

About 21 other Oscar Meyer meat products rotate slowly on the grill, beckoning the hungry.

Far away in New Jersey, The Cancer Project, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit vegan group has been making news with its class action lawsuit demanding hot dogs come with warning labels:

"Warning: Consuming Hot Dogs and Other Processed Meats Increases the Risk of Cancer."

The lawyers want $2,700 for each of their clients to cover damages and attorney fees. That's some serious lunch money.

"We believe that the consumers should be informed. The plaintiffs feel burned," notes Jeanne Stuart McVey, a spokeswoman for the group. "They thought hot dogs were safe. They learned they were wrong."

The defendants in the suit include wieners, dogs and two types of frankfurters.

Brats, kielbasa, andouille, Italian sweets, Slim Jims and foot-long Dodger dogs are apparently unnamed co-conspirators and don't figure in the case.

Neither does liverwurst, pastrami, bologna or bacon.

Good thing they didn't find a way to include chicken Top Ramen either, because in my house that list would cover the four basic food groups.

McVey said the case rests on science. Specifically she said the suit cites from 58 studies that link processed meats, like hot dogs, to cancer.

But those studies probably didn't take into account anyone who bought hot dogs during the past four weeks at the Baldwin Park 7-Eleven.

Just ask Mohan Kamthasamy, who has sold 2,020 "Big Bites" since June 24. Those sales far outweigh the 1,096 purchases of nacho chips, chicken and steak taquitos, pizzas and cheeseburger rolls during the same time frame.

And there's a good reason for it, that goes well beyond the "A" rating bestowed on Kamthasamy's store by the county Health Department.

"Everybody wants fast food," Kamthasamy said. "We've never had a problem with people getting sick.

"And, everyone likes hot dogs. School kids, professional people, gardeners, they want to get something to take. And, it's cheap too. You cannot beat the price."

Kamthasamy sells a Big Bite, a bag of chips and a pop for $2.99.

Garcia estimates he buys three hot dogs a week from 7-Eleven. And, that estimate doesn't include the number of times he takes a young relative to the convenience store for a dog after school.

"He loves it," Garcia said.

Having eaten my share of Oscar Meyer hot dogs from 7-Elevens around the country, often washed down with a beer and a cigarette, I can say with confidence that warning labels are a waste of time.

Cheers.

Given the fact that the U.S. government just got a 60 percent in General Motors, my guess is that it's only a matter of time until we see this commercial on late night television:

Announcer:Here's Barack Worthington and his dog Spot!

Background singers:

If you need a bailout go see Barack.

When you want some easy money go see Barack.

When your corporate bonds are junk,

Cause your owners' spend like drunks

Go see Barack, go see Barack, go see Barack.

Cut to Barack.

He's wearing an oversized Cowboy hat, a big, sterling silver belt buckle and smiling way too much. Standing next to Barack is a leashed-and-drooling, buck-toothed, braying donkey.

Barack: Our goal is to help GM get back on its feet ... and get out quickly.

Some said a quick bankruptcy was impossible ... they were wrong.

Some unnamed critics predicted car sales would fall off a cliff and they were wrong.

Spot breaks from his leash and proceeds to jump up and down on the hood of a 2009 Pontiac GTO.

Barack (laughs) : Hey now Spot, don't go trashing all this fine surplus merchandise.

(He jerks Spot's leash. Now speaking through clenched teeth and in a serious, whispered tone): We gotta move these heaps quick. I just put another $30 billion in this junk pile and...

(Smile comes back, Barack turns to camera, begins to speak fast):

Let me tell you good folks about the deals we have this week at Barack Worthington's Government Motors:

Here's a 2009 Chivy Suburban. Looks nice, runs great, gets 14 miles per gallon on them city streets and 19 on our government-owned highways.

You better hurry. We'll be going green next year and you might never get another full-sized utility vehicle like this ever again.

Call us collect. You already bought and paid for this fine vehicle when you sent your taxes in this April. So why not pay for it again?

It's the American thing to do.

Barack winds up his pitch, The music returns.

Barack just grins and holds tightly to Spot's leash.

Fine print appears at the bottom of the screen:

Bailout of GM not subject to public discussion. Taxpayers will be lucky if the government ever gets paid back. Don't expect any relief on California Vehicle License Fees either. Any similarities between Obama Administration fiscal strategies and Soviet-style economic policy are merely a figment of your imagination.

If we can't feed the poor, fix the highways, mend the prisons, solve the immigration problem, lower the trade deficit, tighten up the banks, improve the real estate market, end the medical care crisis, or make affordable public transportation available, don't hold your breath for the U.S. Government or its assignees to honor your warranty either.

Your mileage may vary.

I'll be updating throughout the day to this entry from Twitter.

Memorial Day got me to thinking about my grandfather Roy Hebert.

He dropped out of school in the eighth grade and earned a living as a journeyman glassblower in Ontario, Canada. Perhaps seeking adventure, as a 17-year-old he enlisted in the Royal Canadian Army.

A few months later he was on the front lines in Belgium, fighting in Passchendaele, where the Allies ultimately took 300,000 casualties.

My grandpa was among the wounded. He spent more than a year in a British hospital.

While there, he wrote this six-page letter to my grandmother on stationery emblazoned with the Canadian flag. To me it's a reminder of why it's so important to honor our troops for the sacrifices they make:

April 3/18

Dear Friend,

...

Well Myrtle you asked me if I could tell you about my experience so I'll try to tell you a little of it. You know if I were to tell all, I'd be writing for a month or so.

I'll tell you about the Passchendaele scrap in Nov. 1917. Just before we went up to Ypres which was our horse lines we had a few week preparation in a place called bastric. We got to our horse lines about four p.m. and at 7 p.m. half of our boys had to go up to the front line (two) of them being (brothers) and they just got a few hundred yards when (one) got both of his legs blown off and and the other wounds about the body which I witnessed on the morrow when I went up top to bring them their rations. On the third day we, the other half, went up to the front line and took our positions on the left side of the village at the back of it as we had not captured the village as yet.

At 6 a.m. the next morning the barrage was to start so we fixed a few shell holes in a hurry. We pulled a few dead Fritzies in the holes to keep dry. Then got the machine guns ready. At 6:30 a.m on Nov. 6, the day of the battle, he put up a barrage on us and I'll bet in a half hour of time there wasn't a square yard of ground that wasn't freshly turned over by shells.

At 6 a.m. we put up our barrage and the infantry went over the top and captured the village. After they captured it they were relieved but we had to stay and hold the line for nine days after which is the worst part of the battle. We were shelled continuously besides aeroplanes firing at us with machine guns and dropping bombs on us. But the good Man was with us for there was five duds, 9.6s, which came in our emplacement one right after the other. All I got in all that time was a slight wound on the right hip and a scratch on the back of the left hand when a big piece of shrapnel to the protector glanced off my wrist watch, beside being buried by a shell one night.

Then for a rest we came out of the line on the 10th day and pulled ourselves along in the mud from Passchendaele to Ypres, which is about six miles. We had a few hours sleep then the next morning we started on a five day march from Ypres to Mericourt.

Just before we started, while we were waiting ,Jerry dropped a bomb out of a plane into a shell hole with about five dead mules in it and half full of green water which was about 20 feet from where I was standing. It buried and covered me in rotten mule flesh and water also mud. But the mules were all that saved me and many others ...

As tea is on the way, I'll close hoping to hear from you soon and often. I am as ever. Yours truly,

Roy.

In your face Governor Musclehead.

You tried to hold the state hostage by putting a gun to our heads and threatening us with dire consequences if your budget plan didn't pass.

It didn't. Now it's up to you and your dysfunctional cronies in Sacramento to fix California. The sad thing is that none of you have the political skill to pull the state out of the mess it's in.

Here are some suggestions from me, an average voter, living an average life in an average California suburb.

Don't threaten to release the dregs of the state's prison population into our streets. Instead renegotiate contracts with the prison guards. If they don't want to work, fire them. There's plenty of out-of-work Californians who would would relish any sort of job that would permit them to take care of their families.

No doubt many are qualified to work as prison guards.

Move on from there by throwing the special interest lobbies out of the Capitol - get the money changers out of the temple now.

Then, give back the cash you've stolen from local governments and let the people decide how best to spend their own money in their own neighborhoods.

Also, privatize useless bureaucracies like the state lottery. Contract out to the lowest bidder all maintenance, engineering and testing work done by Caltrans.

Force school districts to cut back on bloated administrations that include $100,000-salaried assistant superintendents. Get rid of mandates that force teachers to teach to the test instead of teaching to the natural abilities of their students.

Eliminate stupid multi-million dollar scams like the California Air Resources Board's plan to force gas station owners to check tire pressures using a state-approved gauge.

Don't believe there's such a thing?

Check out what the Redding Searchlight wrote back on March 28:

"The air board passed new rules governing tire inflation. They require oil-change shops, smog stations and auto mechanics to check and properly inflate the tires of each vehicle they service, using state-authorized gauges and up-to-date manuals, and to keep records available for inspection by the tire-inflation police."

UNREAL!

And you, Governor Musclehead, had the nerve to blame California voters for the mess we are in ???

Clearly your campaign was the equivalent of cutting out individual letters from newspaper and magazine articles and pasting them on a yellowed piece of lined paper.

"PAy uP NOW or YOUr staTe DiEs!"

If we don't negotiate with terrorists in this country, why the hell would we give in to your demands?

Nice try. Use the remaining 18 months of your term to fix this state. If you can't do that, then get back to Hollywood now, perhaps you can pair up with Danny DeVito for Twins II.

After all, as your character Julius Benedict said in the original, "If you choose to bluff, you must be prepared to have the bluff called."

Serious questions need to be asked of the El Monte Police Department's brass.

Last Wednesday the department came under scrutiny after one of its officers kicked a prone suspect in the head. That the kick came at the end of a high-speed pursuit offers little -- if any -- justification.

Richard Rodriguez, 22, of El Monte, a tattooed member of the El Monte Flores street gang took the full force kick to the head in stunning hi-def on live television. Rodriguez was subsequently booked for parole violations, evading police and several other crimes. He is being held in Men's Central -- probably waiting for a bus back to state prison, where he belongs.

The officer who delivered the kick, identified as George Fierro, returned to work the next day. Fierro, come to find out, owns a clothing company that caters to gang members and glorifies the Mexican Mafia.

His "brand" so sickens good cops that at least one tried to warn California gang investigators about a potential rogue in their midst.

"Has anyone seen or know about this gang clothing that a police officer is selling to gangsters," LAPD Detective David Espinoza wrote. "I understand the gangs really love this cop. I understand the clothing has hiding places for contraband, guns and dope. Things that can hurt our real cops on the street."

It's hard to believe, El Monte police Chief Tom Armstrong had no knowledge of Fierro's extracurricular activities.

There are many other questions Armstrong needs to answer.

At a press conference the day following Rodriguez's beat down, Armstrong sent Lt. Ken Alva to face the music. He read from a prepared statement, took a limited number of queries, then retreated to the safety of the police station.

On Friday, Armstrong and Alva took the day off. That came despite the fact that both men are very highly paid public servants and their department is facing a crisis.

Armstrong refused Monday to release a tape of the pursuit, which is a public record.

Why?

Did Fierro have a reason other than the catch-all "parole violation" for pulling over Rodriguez? Certainly a tape would show that.

What about the department procedures regarding so-called "distraction blows?" The policy seems pretty vague compared to professional standards required by the LAPD and county Sheriff's Department.

The City Council also needs to be questioned. For too long those who have taken campaign cash from police department sources have done nothing to improve its image.

Those who don't get the money have been whining for years about public safety.

If there was ever a chance to clean house in El Monte, now's the time.

In case you missed it, Governor Musclehead offered all Californians an Austrian blessing Monday.

I'll paraphrase it:

May your children be uneducated.

And fires ravage your homes.

May your tax dollars be stolen

and prisoners free to roam.

That sums up the sort of fear-mongering demagogic rhetoric Arnold offered as he pleaded with Californians to vote in favor of more taxes at the polls Tuesday.

Speaking in Culver City earlier this week, the Taxinator also threatened cuts in health care and public safety spending if his tax plan is not passed.

He's blaming all of us for the state's misfortune - instead of looking in the mirror and pointing fingers at Republican and Democrat hacks whoring out tax dollars to special interests.

"The people are angry at Sacramento, the people are angry at the politicians," Schwarzenegger said. "But they should not let that anger out on killing those initiatives, because what they will do is they will hurt their local communities."

See, it's your fault.

Arnold has reverted to his role as Det. John Kimble in Kindergarten Cop.

At one point in the pic he yells at the kids, "Stop whining! You kids are soft. You lack discipline."

He will teach and we will learn. It's only a matter of time before he utters the German phrase he spoke later on, "Das macht mich stocksauer. Jetzt bin ich sauer."

(Translation: "This makes me mad. Now I am angry.")

Next Gov. Musclehead just might start stamping his feet and flexing his muscles to show he means business.

According to the San Jose Mercury News, here's how Schwarzenegger plans to pay us back when his plan backfires and dies at the ballot box:

"Some of the possibilities he has mentioned in recent days if the measures fail include laying off more than 50,000 teachers, closing dozens of fire stations, releasing 40,000 nonviolent prisoners early and borrowing $2 billion from local governments around the state," Mercury News reporter Mike Zapler wrote from Sacramento.

Are you scared?

The governor's failure stems from a total lack of leadership. Instead of standing for something, he stands for compromise.

In Sacramento that doesn't work. Just ask state Assemblyman Anthony Adams, R-Claremont, who is facing a recall for his willingness to work with Democrats on the budget plan that put us where we are today.

It's hard to believe the only solutions to the mess we face involves closing schools and releasing felons or stealing more money from hard-working people.

How about paying prison guards less? How about cutting staff in the capitol? How about a spending cap that isn't tied to increased taxes. Just stop spending.

These are tough times. The governor needs to get some discipline, stop being soft and knock off the whining.

I'll offer him an Irish blessing from my ancestors in return:

"If God sends you down a stony path,

may he give you strong shoes."

Moe the Chimp and Octomom have something in common.

No. The pair is not headlining with the Amazing Bearded Lady and the Human Pin Cushion outside the pig races at a county fair somewhere.

They are part of what's driving a huge change in local reporting around the country.

On the Internet, tales of Moe's escape from a San Bernardino animal sanctuary last summer drove eyeballs to our Web site in amazing numbers. As a result we continued to cover the saga until it became clear Moe was no more.

As for Nadya Suleman, the La Habra woman who gave birth to the world's longest-surviving set of octuplets, not only is she a one-woman baby machine, she is also is a force of nature on the Internet.

Our blog, Octorazzi, dedicated to Octomom's every move, has seen so much Web traffic, it even drew attention from CNN's Nancy Grace over the weekend.

We editors sit in our ivory tower, stroking our beards and discussing what we believe you want in the newspaper: The economy, swine flu, and city council skullduggery.

Sometimes it's the sort of steady community-oriented coverage that afflicts the comfortable and comforts the afflicted. Sometimes its nothing more than a story about the local Lions Club doing something nice for a blind senior.

Online you tell us you want Octomom, Moe, crime, crime and more crime.

In fact, most of this is journalism in the same way McDonald's is food. It's empty, tasteless and devoid of nutritional value.

The U.S. Senate took up a discussion of the future of newspaper journalism Wednesday. During a lengthy hearing before the Commerce, Science and Transportation Subcommittee, Sen. John Kerry, a Massachusetts Democrat, called us "challenged."

We are in fact challenged.

Unfortunately, those challenges extend well beyond Octomom and Moe. Twitter, Facebook and Google News are all perceived as threats to traditional newspapers.

"You are whistling past the graveyard if you don't believe that's the wave of the future," said one participant in the hearing.

Others taking part in Wednesday's hearing included David Simon, a former Baltimore Sun cops reporter, who created "The Wire" for HBO and Arianna Huffington, founder of the Huffington Post.

Simon rightly pointed out that "citizen journalists" (read bloggers) will never be able to do the sort of investigative journalism that remains the hallmark of newspapers. Huffington, on the other hand, defended her blog and the citizen journalists who contribute as the absolute future of reporting.

"The day I run into a Huffington Post reporter at a Baltimore zoning board hearing is the day I believe we will have reached equilibrium."

C-SPAN, which streamed the hearing live on the Internet, subtitled their video "Hearing to Examine the Future of Journalism."

I guess there's hope. Neither Moe nor Octomom were called upon to give an opinion.

This from the Associated Press:

The White House on Monday expressed "concern" and "sadness" over the state of the ailing US newspaper industry, but made clear that a government bailout was not in the cards.

"I don't know what, in all honesty, government can do about it," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs told reporters. "That might be a bit of a tricky area to get into given the differing roles."

Gibbs was responding to a reporter who asked what the White House thought about the recent closure of several US newspapers and a threat to shut down the venerable Boston Globe.

"Obviously (President Barack Obama) believes there has to be a strong free press," the spokesman said. "I think there's a certain concern and a certain sadness when you see cities losing their newspapers or regions of the country losing their newspapers."

Somewhere in the past decade I gave up on professional baseball.

I don't know if it was the meatheaded, ill-mannered, less-than-likeable ignoramuses who play the game, or the idiotic commissioner who turned a blind-eye to rampant steroid abuse.

Of course Commissioner Bud Selig had his reasons for ignoring the stench coming from diamonds and clubhouses around the country. The game needed more fans to fill the cheap seats. What better way to get them there than a season-long home run derby between a couple of pimply pin-headed suspected 'roid rangers?

As the list of suspected steroid abusers inflated, the list of suspect statistics simply grew.

The game had died.

So did the little boy in me who would grab the sports section every morning to peruse box scores and standings and devour game stories, notebooks and features about the game.

The kid who once bought baseball cards for his kids would just as soon buy them serial killer trading cards, which meant never.

Why contribute to the farce? I thought. Why make my kids believe jocks in pinstripes and sanitary socks are any more heroic than hack politicians or convicted Wall Street money changers?

Something happened Friday night that forced me to re-evaluate my hard-line stance.

It started with being hungry.

I left work early and fell asleep about 5:30 p.m.

I woke up about 9 p.m. and went to the kitchen to make something to eat. Standing there debating Top Ramen or fried eggs, I heard Vin Scully's lilting up-and-down cadence describe a bottom of the ninth, two-out, 0-0 tie and a walk to Matt Kemp that loaded the bases.

I looked over and saw the kid in the next room watching the game. He was buying into the Dodgers, perhaps because of Scully's magnificent call; certainly because of the situation.

Listening to Scully call the next 10 pitches to Russell Martin, I was hooked too. After running the count up to 3-2, Martin drew a bases-loaded walk that sealed a win for the Dodgers and highlighted a weekend for the Blue Crew that has kept the team unbeaten at Dodger Stadium so far this season.

Although I had considered plunking down $49.99 to buy the Pacquiao-Hatton fight Saturday night, Vin talked me out of it. I watched the Dodgers instead, and again marveled at the smoothness of Scully's voice and perfection of his call at the end of a 10-inning game.

I guess he should have it down, after all, Vinny's been doing this for 60 years.

He's not a homer, he doesn't give his opinions and it's amazing to hear him call play-by-play, sometimes without saying anything at all. Even his pitch for Farmer John ("Easternmost in quality, Westernmost in flavor") has flair.

Turns out there's a grass-roots call to get Vin Scully named the Grand Marshal of this year's Tournament of Roses Parade.

The theme?

"A Cut Above the Rest."

Need I say more?

Once the Pontiac motto said it all: "We build excitement."

Sadly, if there's anything left to be said about the once proud brand it's this: "We build nothing."

It's funny to watch Pontiac commercials from the 1960s on YouTube. There's a great pseudo psychedelic ad with Paul Revere and the Raiders extolling the features of a rust-colored fastback roaring down a test track somewhere in the desert.

Judge! The special great one from Pontiac, GTO!!

Hurst gear shifter,

three speed or four

Pontiac Ram Air, 366 horse

Mag-type wheels, 60-inch spoiler, airfoil

The Judge will rule!!

My brother had a 1970 455-HO 4-speed GTO he bought from a cousin in Claremont who bought it from a guy in Omaha.

"You can't even get one like this in California because of all the smog crap they have to put inside," my cousin claimed as he handed my brother Steve the keys.

The car was loaded and fast. I remember a trip down Baseline from Claremont to Cucamonga that probably took all of three minutes.

But I also remember Steve working for hours on the clutch, the carb, the belts, the electrical system, and a million other minor problems.

Ultimately that was the problem with the Detroit iron. For all the marketing and the hype, it wasn't reliable.

Lay the blame at the doorsteps of GM, Ford, Chrysler and UAW.

On Monday, after GM announced it would no longer make Pontiacs, I got in my Saturn and cruised my little corner of the San Gabriel Valley looking for one. I saw an unremarkable G6 and an old Firebird.

Needless to say there were plenty of Lexus, Toyota, Nissan, Honda and Kias.

It's interesting to note that the Pontiac brand was named for an American Indian war lord who led a 1763 rebellion against the British at Fort Detroit. Chief Pontiac's success perhaps emboldened the colonists who successfully tossed Brittish rule less than 20 years later.

Pontiac as a symbol of a young free nation had to be a powerful -- if subliminal -- marketing tool.

Pontiac's rebellion began on April 27, 1763. The Pontiac brand died April 27, 2009 -- 246 years to the day.

My brother ended up selling the rusted-out hulk of his GTO to a guy in Spokane, who fixed it up and cruised on Friday nights along Sprague Avenue.

Forty years after it was built, the car is probably in a junk heap somewhere -- just like Detroit, a symbol of an America that no longer exists.

Octomom's "krazy" life

Octomom must have needed a reminder she has 14 kids.

Nadya Suleman, the La Habra woman who gave birth to the longest surviving set of octuplets, decided to get a tramp stamp in Hollywood.

She got a tat of an angel surrounded by 14 stars -- one for each kid.

That she choose a place called Kustom Kulture and got inked by a guy named Dik, probably says more about her and the true demise of our culture than I ever could.

Shockingly, (as the tablods like to say in all caps) Octomom chose to get inked in the wee hours of the morning. Who was watching the kids is anyone's guess.

I wonder if the good-hearted people of middle America who reached into their pockets to help this woman and her brood with gifts of diapers, cash and toys realize their donations are going to frivolous pursuits, while the kids are attended to at midnight by hired help?

It amazes me that the county's child protective services hasn't stepped in and put an end to this farce.

Then again perhaps Nadya is doing her part to help the local economy by keeping freakish unkempt paparazzi and tattoo artists named Dik employed during tough times.

Did you see this story?

Leaders of both parties in the state Assembly passed out raises to staff members in February and April. The raises could cost us taxpayers something like $500,000 over the next year.

Fortunately, they rescinded the raises late Wednesday afternoon.

Haven't they been telling us we need to implement tax hikes and spending cuts to keep the state budget in balance?

More than 10 percent of Californians are out of work. Yet the shiftless bureaucrats who have run this state into the ground handed out taxpayer money for a few weeks like it was candy that fell out of a piñata shaped like Joe Taxpayer's pockets.

Even worse, both Assembly Speaker Karen Bass and her Republican counterpart defended the pay raises with mumbo-jumbo about how it's somehow saving money.

The reason for pulling back seems even more cynical: the raises could taken out of context and used as ammunition in the fight against the May 19 ballot measures.

Something seriously smells in Sacramento. It's not the breeze wafting north from Coalinga either.

My guess is it's a foul combination of hubris and arrogance. And it's only getting worse.

"I see people out of work and the only jobs saved in this budget are the jobs of bureaucrats," former state Sen. Dick Mountjoy said Wednesday.

Mountjoy, 77, is so sick of the whole mess he's supporting the recall of Republican Assemblyman Anthony Adams. He said he will even throw his hat in the ring to replace Adams if the recall ever makes the ballot.

It was Adams' vote in favor of a state budget which raised taxes and fees that sealed the deal for Mountjoy, a Republican who represented the same district from 1980 until 1994.

Despite term limit legislation that prevented Mountjoy from serving in the state Senate beyond 2000, he still has a term to give in the state Assembly.

In Mountjoy's opinion, California is so broken the state needs to go broke before it can be fixed.

"We begged for the day this thing would run out of money," Mountjoy said.

Pointing to spending increases built into the state budget, he added, "It's stupidity."

Adams appeared at an Earth Day celebration in Glendora on Wednesday at the side of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. But he did not reply to a request for comment on the recall. It marked the second time in recent weeks that the two appeared side-by-side.

The last time the Taxinator showed up at an Adams event, the assemblyman got served with recall papers. Mountjoy dismissed Arnold as a lame duck without much political capital.

"I don't think too many people pay attention to him. He's not the most popular person in the world right now," Mountjoy said.

The only reason Adams and Musclehead became friends in the first place stems from Adams' support of Schwarzenegger's ridiculous tax-and-spend budget plan, Mountjoy said.

Giving up retirement to return to Sacramento would be tough for Mountjoy. And he admits it. But seeing friends in and around his hometown of Monrovia suffer because of higher taxes has made him fighting mad.

"I need the job like Custer needs another Indian," Mountjoy said.

As for the prospects of running one more time, Mountjoy was hopeful: "I think the recall has a good chance. It's doable."

I spent much of the past four days driving around California.

It felt like I was living that old Hank Snow song:

I've been everywhere man
I've breathed the mountain air, man
Crossed the deserts bare
Travel ... I've had my share, man
I've been everywhere
I've been to:
San Jose, Saratoga, Santa Cruz, Sacramento, Los Gatos, Davenport, Buttonwillow, San Francisco, Bakersfield, Stockton, Lodi, Fresno.

Well, maybe not Fresno ...

If there was anything to take away from the trip, it was the feeling that we live in a beautiful state, which is a reason to be a proud.

The thought has occurred to me often, but most of those instances were during good economic times.

(Sigh).

Even though it's beautiful, California is also broken.

I think I saw some proof of that in the Central Valley Thursday. On the 5 Freeway just south of Los Banos what looked like thousands of campesinos marched alongside the California Aqueduct. Many held signs that said "Agua = Vida."

After stopping to watch from a vista point and then reading more about it in the Fresno Bee, I learned the marchers are angry that water deliveries from the Sacramento Delta will be cut off to tons of farms in the western San Joaquin Valley.

All because of a tiny fish known as the delta smelt. This little beast, that's apparently endangered, has already wrecked its share of havoc here in the Southland. Because of environmental protections, we will have to reduce our usage by 10percent and pay more for it this summer.

A federal judge ordered the protection. Californians are powerless to stop it.

In the Central Valley, protection of the smelt will result in thousands of acres going fallow and hundreds of layoffs. That means farms which provide food to much of the nation will be producing less fruits, nuts and vegetables.

Which in turn means we'll be paying higher prices at the grocery store or simply importing more from Mexico and South American countries, which probably don't care too much about endangered, tiny fish.

When is that same federal judge going to step in and order the state to protect endangered jobs and family farms?

If this judge was around 10,000 years ago he probably would have ordered the La Brea tar pits boarded up. Then, saber-toothed cats, dire wolves and wooly mammoths too stupid to take care of themselves would be saved from extinction.

Imagine living in that California!

Here's what the state Department of Fish and Game says about the smelt:

"Delta smelt are found only in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Estuary (the area where the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers flow into San Francisco Bay. ... The threats to the population are multiple and synergistic."

Whatever that means.

Here's what the state Department of Food and Agriculture says about protecting farms and jobs in California:

" "

Can you hear the nonendangered crickets?

I paid my taxes Wednesday.

It hurt.

The check I've sent to Washington isn't as large as other checks I've sent. But, like everyone else in these tough economic times, I see it as a big bite out of my wallet and an imposition on my ability to spend money for items that might actually help stimulate the economy.

As far as I'm concerned, the tax burden the middle class has been assaulted with is nothing more than a redistribution of wealth that seems right out of the Soviet Union's old playbook.

Fortunately, I'm not alone in my middle class rage.

Thousands of Americans got out Wednesday to hold tax day tea parties from West Covina to Fairbanks, Alaska and from Glendale to Sault Sainte Marie, Mich. The forums for their protests ranged from mall parking lots to city halls to the White House.

Patterico, a conservative blogger and Los Angeles County prosecutor who usually sticks to dissection of the liberal bias in mainstream media, summed up the thoughts of many Wednesday.

"Sarah Palin and Bobby Jindal, bless their hearts, aren't Ronald Reagan. And that's who we need," Patterico wrote. "I'm about ready to grab a shovel, drive up to Simi Valley, and start digging."

KFI's radio talk show hosts John Kobylt and Ken Chiampou Wednesday gathered listeners together in Burbank to discuss the effects of taxes. Those they interviewed sounded angry too.

"These people must be fresh from the other tea parties today," Chiampou said at one point.

A chiropractor who identified himself only as Chris told the talk show hosts he was taking part in a noble effort by protesting taxes.

"Back in the 1770s the people said they'd had enough," Chris said. "It's the same today. We've had enough."

People I know told me Wednesday that the only folks attending the tea party rallies were old, white people making more than $300,000 a year.

I'm telling them, if that's the case, it's too bad. The truth is high taxes hurt everyone - and the working poor and middle classes bear the brunt more than those who can afford to subsidize government worker salaries, legislative per diems, and Octomom's 14 kids.

The government is out of control.

Here's my my proof as reported Wednesday by the Huffington Post:

"Tax protesters threw what appeared to be a box of tea bags toward the White House on Wednesday, prompting officials to lockdown the compound. The Secret Service also used a robot to inspect the package thrown in an apparent act of defiance meant to echo the rebellion of the Boston Tea Party."

Clearly the government is also out of touch.

So, since we can't dig up Ronnie, or Thomas Jefferson and get them to lead us out of this mess, we're going to have to do it ourselves.

Since my two little guys are on Spring Break, I'll be out of the office this week on a sort of vacation. In any event, posting will be light for a while. In the meantime, Brian Day will be here from Wednesday through Sunday to keep up with the breaking crime news from around the valley.

See ya around.

--Frank

I`m staring at a black and white photo taken inside the Citrus Courthouse in the early 1960s.

A defendant is sitting at the counsel table. His chin rests on clenched fists. Cameras are in his face.

In the photo, press photographers surround Dr. Raymond Bernard Finch. After three sensational trials, a jury has convicted the West Covina doctor and his mistress, Carole Tregoff, of killing Finch's wife, Barbara.

The verdict has just been read - the cameras and reporters are there to record everything, just as they had from Day One.

In July 1959, Barbara Finch turned up dead on Larkhill Drive. Someone found her body stuffed between shrubs lining the long driveway leading up to her split-level home above the South Hills Country Club. Finch had been shot to death.

Cameras in the courthouse were part of the scenery.

It's something you will never see in a local newspaper again.

Just last week, one of our photographers took a photo of attorneys having a discussion in the lobby of Pasadena Superior Court.

A terse letter from Alan Parachini, county court spokesman and onetime ACLU flak, followed. It noted that our photographer was in violation of local rule such and such.

This from a guy who represented the ACLU.

We took the photo off the Web. Times have changed.

It's been almost 50 years, but this week another woman turned up dead on Larkhill Drive. Her name was Susan Molina. The home

where she lived and died overlooks the back yard of the Finch split-level.

Investigators believe someone bludgeoned Molina to death then stuffed her body in a closet.

That's about all we know, obtaining that much information from police was a struggle.

It's interesting to compare media coverage and police techniques of 50 years ago. Especially fascinating is seeing in black and white the much closer and far more trusting relationship cops and reporters had in 1959.

In the Finch case, press photographers got a shot of the body with the help of a cop who illuminated the crime scene with a flashlight.

In the Molina case, cops faxed a dry, tersely worded four-paragraph press release several hours after they had wrapped up their investigation.

When Finch's husband was arrested, a photographer and reporter interviewed the doctor in his jail cell.

By contrast, West Covina police announced the arrest of two persons in connection with a homicide that occurred Wednesday night and tried to withhold the names.

Forget about a jailhouse interview. Times have changed.

Film has been replaced by microchips. Newspapers are rapidly dwindling in readers and stature.

Cops who once worked homicides because they had a passion for justice have been replaced by cops who are concerned about their clearance rates.

A cop who would have held a flashlight now has to worry about how evidence will withstand the scrutiny of a DAs office concerned about getting convictions. They dot I's and cross T's to appease appelate judges willing to put cold-blooded killers back on the street because of a technicality.

Times have changed - maybe for the better ...

They don't trust us. Why should we trust them?

Pasadena police Chief Barney Melekian met over lunch Monday with me and Pasadena Star-News City Editor Hector Gonzalez.

The primary purpose of the meeting was a wide-ranging discussion of the officer involved shooting that led to the death of Leroy Barnes in Pasadena in February.

Melekian said his department's investigation had concluded the shotting was justified. He also said that the facts of the case in some way explain the two statements issued in the immediate aftermath of Barnes' death.

The Chief also said he regretted putting together a statement so early. But explained it was his way of compensating for taking 14 hours to release a statement in the wake of the last fatal Pasadena OIS.

"Fourteen hours was too long," he admitted. "Next time I'll find that golden window of opportunity between 90 minutes and 14 hours."

Melekian also lamented the decline of newspapers in America. And likened the plight of journalists and newspapers to the status of police departments and police officers 20 years ago.

"It seems like you all are talking just among yourselves," he said. Cops "used to do that. But then we learned."

The lunch took place at Japon Bistro on Colorado. Hector ordered tempura and california roll; the chief had the tempura and sushi plate.