Monthly Archives: May 2009

Thursday’s column (Calling Gov. Arnold’s bluff)

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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.”

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The 800-pound corpse

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This from AP in Fresno:

FRESNO, Calif. – Fresno firefighters had to improvise in order to transport the corpse of a 51-year-old man believed to weigh more than 800 pounds out of a residential hotel.

Fire Department spokesman Ken Shockley says firefighters needed to remove a wall of the second-floor apartment and use an intricate pulley system to extract the man Tuesday night.

The body was wrapped in a large tarp when it reached the ground floor. Firefighters used the pulleys, rope and a gurney rated for 1,500 pounds to load the man into a coroner’s van.

Shockley says neighbors told firefighters that no one had seen the man walking around the hotel for more than a month.

Officials have not identified the man.

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Latino gangs targeted in hate crime sweep

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While local public officials continue to deny the existence of brown on black hate crime, the FBI cracked down on a Hawaiian Gardens gang responsible for several heinous crimes.

From the Associated Press:

Federal and local agencies were conducting a series of arrests targeting members and associates of the Varrio Hawaiian Gardens street gang, U.S. Attorney’s Office spokesman Thom Mrozek said.

A series of federal racketeering indictments was due to be unsealed later Thursday, detailing firearms, narcotics and other charges related to the attacks, Mrozek said.

Further details were not released, but Mrozek said the indictments would detail the attacks on several black victims.

The indictments mark at least the second time in less than two years that federal authorities have alleged that Latino gang members attacked black residents because of their race. Local officials have tried to downplay any racial tensions.

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Former Glendora cop nailed in drug bust

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This from the DA’s office:

LOS ANGELES – The District Attorney’s Justice System Integrity Division announced charges today against a former Glendora police officer accused of taking money.

Timothy Radogna, 33 (dob 07/10/75), is charged with one count each of possession of a controlled substance with a firearm, possession for sale of a controlled substance and grand theft exceeding $400.

Radogna could be arraigned as early as tomorrow in Department 30 of the Foltz Criminal Justice Center. The defendant was charged in a felony complaint for arrest warrant on May 14. Radogna is being held on $150,000 bail.

If convicted as charged, the defendant faces a maximum term of nine years and eight months in state prison.

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Sketch of Montebello kidnapping suspect released

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MONTEBELLO — Authorities have released a composite sketch of a man who tried to kidnap an 11-year-old girl Monday before her teenage brother and a friend fought off the attacker.
The incident occurred about 3 p.m. on Marconi Avenue at 16th Street, Montebello police Sgt. Javier Ornelas said.
The suspect was described as a Latino man between 35 and 40 years old, with brown hair and brown eyes. He stood about 5 feet, 10 inches tall, weighed about 250 pounds, was unshaven, and wore a baseball cap and a blue, short-sleeve shirt.
He placed a zip tie around the girl’s neck and forced her into the truck of his car, which was described as 2000-2003, silver, 4-door small car with grey interior, officials said.
Anyone with information is asked to call Montebello police detectives at (323) 887-1262, or after hours at (323) 887-1313.

*Drawing courtesy of the Montebello Police Department.

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Neal’s Birthday

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Neal Williams would have been 29 today.

In 2007, he was stabbed to death and his two young sons were smothered. Police subsequently arrested his wife Man-ling Tsang Williams on suspicion of murder. She faces trial and possibly the death penalty as a result.
Neal’s mom, Jan Williams, of Whittier, remembered her son in a blog post today at Grief’s Journey. Here’s an excerpt:
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Last year was hard. I’ve said this before, I know, but the pain of losing a child is like a primal scream. It feels like a piece of your very soul has been ripped out and there is no comfort or solace for that kind of pain. Time may dull the edge of it a bit, but you will live with the pain of your loss for the rest of your life. There is no “getting over it”. You can come to accept that loss and make it a part of who you have become, so that you can move ahead in life. But, you always feel sorrow that your child is gone.

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From the e-mail bag

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We’re working to verify these stories now. Just thought I’d share some of the mail. First a car crash Sunday in Rowland Heights:

There was a car crash on May 17th, 2009, Sunday. My fiance was behind the car when it got hit by an suv, the car flipped over and landed in Joe’s Crab Shack. My fiance saw the car flipped upside down and he saw the passenger with their eyes open and blood everywhere. He was sure they had passed away, and has been pretty tramatized about it. I’ve been looking everywhere on the internet to see if it was reported and I havent found anything. I was wondering if you will be reporting it? or is there anywhere that they might where I can find it. I just would like to give him some peace of mind and me as well. Thank you so much šŸ™‚ It happened in Rowland heights by the Puente Hills Mall.


Next, a stabbing in Highland Park (also Sunday):

There was a stabbing in Garvanza Park near the corner ofAvenue 64 and Meridian last night (Sunday, the 17th) at approximately6 pm. The small park was full of families at that time and I believe thestabbing victim has since succumbed (based on the memorial that nowstands in the park). There was a heavy LAPD presence in the park justafter the slaying.
As I have seen no mention of this incident in the media anywhere, I thoughtI’d bring it to your attention.


Questions about the Mongols motorcycle gang:


I’ve recently become aware that they’remaking a film about William Queen’s book, “Under and Alone.”
After reading the book, I began to wonder how The Mongols got to be what they are today. I knew one of them, very briefly, 30 years ago, and he and his friends were not like the book described at all.
I read the article in the SGV Tribune and,although they weren’t boy scouts,Tony Vodnik’s description was more what I remember.
He may be able to answer some questions for me.
If you have a way I can contact him via email, and can share that info with me – or forward this to him, I’d appreciate it.


Finally, a drive-by in Rowland Heights:


I was told by a friend that there was a drive by shooting in Rowland Heights last week.
I wanted to make sure of those facts. I saw a deputy sheriff so I asked him if there was
in fact a drive by shooting in Rowland Heights. He said yes there was one.
Why isn’t there any mention of it on your site or in the Newspaper?


Care to chime in on any of these incidents?




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Porn queen died from natural causes

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This from LA Now regarding the death of porn actress Marilyn Chambers:

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“The findings of the autopsy,” according to the coroner’s report, “have established the cause of death to be: effects of cerebral hemorrhage, ruptured cerebral artery berry aneurysm. Other conditions: Hypertrophic heart disease.”

Toxicology tests showed that two drugs in her system — hydrocodone and citalopram — were “within or below therapeutic levels.”

A final autopsy will be available in several weeks, coroner’s officials said.

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Tuesdays Column (Memories of El Monte)

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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.

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Man robbed at home, car stolen from driveway

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PASADENA — A gunman robbed a man at his Pasadena home and stole his SUV Sunday, police said.
The incident occurred about 3 p.m. in the 500 block of North El Molino Avenue, Pasadena police Lt. Tracey Ibarra said.
The victim, a man in his 30s, was just arriving home when the robber approached him, ordered him into the home and stole his wallet, cell phone and car keys at gunpoint, the lieutenant said.
The robber then ordered the victim into a closet before stealing the the man’s SUV from his driveway and fleeing in it, Ibarra said.
The SUV was recovered, apparently undamaged, later in the day in Los Angeles, she said.
The robber was described as a Latino man, about 5 feet 8 inches tall, weighing about 200 pounds, wearing a t-shirt and jeans, Ibarra said.

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