Author Archives: Frank Girardot

Desperate search for Megan DiPiazza of Montrose continues

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Here’s what we have so far on the disappearance of Megan DiPiazza:

MONTROSE – Investigators on Wednesday asked for those who know the whereabouts of Megan Sue DiPiazza, the Montrose mother who went missing Sunday night, to come forward with information about the 33-year-old woman.
DiPiazza disappeared from her house Sunday night. She left behind a note “saying goodbye to her family,” Glendale police Sgt. Thomas Lorenz said Wednesday.
The department said foul play is not suspected in the disappearance.
“She is voluntarily missing,” Lorenz said. “There is nothing suspicious here. She left a note that said she was leaving.”

Glendale police officials didn’t know why the Montrose mother left her family but said DiPiazza suffers from depression.

Channel 2/9 has this:

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Suspicious package closes Union Station in LA

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Union Station Map

This from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department via press release:

Union Station has been evacuated and closed due to a suspicious package left on the Red Line platform.
Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department and Metro public information officers are available to speak to media at 530 Ramirez Street (the corner of Ramirez Street and Vignes Street), Los Angeles.

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Suspect named for Einstein and Darwin pleas guilty — insert joke here?

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Homersapien

This from a Department of Homeland Security/ICE press release:

LOS ANGELES – The onetime head of a now defunct Los Angeles law firm was sentenced Thursday to 10 months in prison for his role in orchestrating a lengthy employment visa fraud scheme where the illicit profits were used to purchase several hundred thousand dollars’ worth of vacant cemetery plots and grave monuments.

Joseph Wai-Man Wu, 53, former president of the East West Law Group, pleaded guilty in August 2011 to one count of conspiracy to commit visa fraud, one count of money laundering and one count of obstruction of justice. As part of a plea agreement reached in February, Wu surrendered a portion of his profits derived from the visa fraud scheme, forfeiting to the government 30 vacant cemetery plots and 20 grave monuments, all of which were purchased with proceeds from the scam. Wu used the cemetery plot purchasing scheme to launder some of the money he unlawfully obtained through the visa fraud scheme. The grave plots will now be sold at public auction and the proceeds given to the U.S. Treasury.

Wu’s sentencing is the latest development in a 2½-year investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) that also involved the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of the Inspector General and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ (USCIS) Fraud Detection and National Security Unit.

SNIP

The other two defendants charged in the case were Kelly Einstein Darwin Giles, 49, the only attorney at the former East West Law Group, and Wu’s wife, May Yim-man Wu, 46. Giles, who pleaded guilty Sept. 19 to conspiracy to commit visa fraud and obstruction of justice, is scheduled to be sentenced Jan. 17, 2013. May Wu, who played a minor role in the conspiracy, is participating in a pretrial diversion program.

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Source: Allan Munnecke, Pasadena man suspected in cold case homicide, dies on operating table

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Alan Munnecke

Longtime Tournament of Roses Association member Richard Allan Munnecke, arrested in February in connection with the 2004 slaying of Rose Parade volunteer Donna Lee Kelly, has died, according to an email sent to friends of his family.

…Gail Munnecke called this morning to share the sad news that her husband Allan died during heart surgery yesterday. A memorial service will be held November 30 at San Marino Community Church.
Our most heart-felt condolences to Gail and her loved ones.

Munnecke was connected to the slaying via DNA, officials said.

In February deputies served a search warrant at Munnecke’s home in the 800 block of North Almansor Street in Alhambra. Subsequently, they arrested the 71-year-old on suspicion of murder in Kelly’s slaying.

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Megan DiPiazza, La Crescenta mom, 33, reported missing

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Megan DiPiazza

Glendale Police Wednesday sought information about Megan DiPiazza, 33, whom they identified as a “critical missing” out of La Crescenta, according to Montrose-La Crescenta Patch.

La Crescenta mother Megan DiPiazza, 33, is listed as an endangered missing person and was last seen Sunday night in the La Crescenta or Sunland-Tujunga area, authorities said.

Her car, a 2013 gray, two-door Scion has the license plate 6XJR885, Glendale Police Sgt. Robert William told Patch.

Investigators are looking for anyone with information about her whereabouts.

She is described as 5 feet 6 inches tall, weighing about 120 pounds, with blond hair and green eyes, said Los Angeles Police Sgt. Jim Reid of the Foothill Community Station. It’s unclear what she was last seen wearing.

DiPiazza’s family has taken to Facebook to encourage locals to contact police with any information about her whereabouts, said friend, Cheri Jones, via email.

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Chinese animators do Petraeus, Jill Kelley and Paula Broadwell

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Here’s their lead-in:

General David Petraeus has resigned as CIA director after the FBI discovered that he had had an extramarital affair with his biographer Paula Broadwell. The timing of Petraeus’s resignation has fueled talk of a conspiracy among conservative critics of the Obama administration, as it comes after the presidential election and before Petraeus was scheduled to testify before the Senate Intelligence Committee on the administration’s handling of the terrorist attack on the US consulate in Benghazi, Libya.

As for the video? Enjoy…?

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007 — Top 10 James Bond flicks

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Top 10 James Bond films of all time

What do you like? Here’s my list (from 6-10 anyway)

6. Dr. No (1962).

The original Bond film kicked off the secret agent craze of the early 1960s. Its a low-budget film notable for its great plot and the introduction of the bad guy cabal known as SPECTRE (Special Executive for Counter-intelligence, Terrorism, Revenge and Extortion.) Oh yeah, Ursla Andress is in it – wearing a bikini. Look for Hawaii 5-0’s Jack Lord. He’s in a couple of Bond movies as CIA agent Felix Leiter.

7. The Spy Who Loved Me (1977).

The debut of Jaws. Roger Moore still in the title role. Memorable theme song (“Nobody Does it Better”) by Marvin Hamlisch was sung by Carly Simon. The film opens with a ski chase that ends with Bond unfurling a Union Jack parachute on his getaway.

8. You Only Live Twice (1967).

James Bond dies only to resurface in Japan where a U.S. satellite has been hijacked. He comes face-to-face with Ernst Blofeld, a SPECTRE agent behind a plot to start a nuclear war between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R.

9. Casino Royale (2006)

The Bond reboot with Daniel Craig stays pretty true to the Ian Fleming vision for 007. The movie explains how Bond got his license to kill. It also plays into the whole poker on TV craze as Bond gets entered in a tournament at the Casino Royale in Montenegro.

10. Thunderball (1965).

Sean Connery in a sort of run-of-the-mill mid-1960s Bond. This movie does feature a great underwater fight

As for the other five? Click here!.

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Porn industry considers its options

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The porn industry spent much of the past few days considering its options now that Los Angeles County voters have approved Measure B. The ordinance requires that condoms should be used in porn movies shot in LA.

Not so fast. First of all it won’t apply in Long Beach, Vernon or Pasadena.

But it also won’t apply in other cities in the county, unless (and until) the various city councils decide to adopt Measure B’s provisions. At least that’s the opinion of adultbizlaw.com in a post titled “Ballot Measure B – So What Happens Now?”
porn actresses get together

In order for this law to take effect in cities such as Los Angeles, Glendale, Malibu or any of the 85 independent towns and cities in Los Angeles County – each one of those cities will have to independently debate, vote on and themselves pass/adopt Ballot Measure B as law in their town. How long will that take is anyone’s guess at this point. And it is not certain that all 85 independent towns and cities will even adopt Ballot Measure B. I can envision a situation in which some of the smaller towns that do not have any contact with the adult entertainment industry will simply ignore this law entirely.

Meanwhile the folks behind Measure B are looking for ways to take it statewide.

This from the Long Beach Press-Telegram:

The AIDS Healthcare Foundation said Thursday it is seeking a state lawmaker to carry a bill that would broaden the power of the state and local governments to enforce health codes requiring condom use on porn sets.

Stay tuned. it’s going to get interesting.

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