Recently in Los Angeles Category

The author's family said he was battling cancer. He died in Los Angeles, according to the AP.

Crichton had several friends at Caltech. Besides the hugely popular "Jurassic Park," Crichton wrote "The Andromeda Strain" and an interesting book about Japanese-American relations that had an LAPD hook, titled "Rising Sun."

Here's a portion of the AP story:

"Through his books, Michael Crichton served as an inspiration to students of all ages, challenged scientists in many fields, and illuminated the mysteries of the world in a way we could all understand," his family said in a statement.

America's Most Wanted will devote part of its show Saturday to the tale of the Grim Sleeper. The LA Weekly outlined the story several weeks ago. Here's a link to the show's Web site. This from the AMW press release:

AMW host John Walsh and special guest LAPD Chief William Bratton will share the latest developments in the case of "The Grim Sleeper," a serial killer who earned his nickname after committing at least 11 violent murders in the 1980s, only to resurface and strike again 13 years later.
 
Walsh will also take viewers to the mean streets populated by the city's homeless, and ask them to help solve the brutal and senseless murder of John McGraham. McGraham was a fixture on the streets of L.A.'s Koreatown neighborhood, a man who'd been given a raw deal by life but was making the best of it. The community considered him to be one of their own, and protected him as best they could. In October 2008, someone doused the helpless man with gasoline and set him ablaze, leaving him to die in the streets.

LA Weekly this week chronicles the case of a serial killer on the prowl in south Los Angeles. The killer who was prolific in the mid 1980s resurfaced in 2002 and 2003, according to the Weekly, who gave the person or persons the moniker Grim Sleeper:

Local journalists haven't even assigned him a creepy nickname, like Night Stalker (Grim Sleeper was chosen by the Weekly to mark his 13 years of inactivity before killing again).

It's coincidental that I began my column this week on the crime wave of 1985 and 1986, because apparently the Grim Sleeper was most prolific during this period. Going through teh Tribune archives over the past several days, I believe I read some news accounts of the at least three of the slayings. I'll post up scans later this week.

A summary of some items we've been covering over the weekend:

1. EL MONTE -- Homicide detectives are investigating the mysterious death of a man whose body was found on the property of an office building Sunday.
2. ROSEMEAD -- The man who died in a fiery crash at the end of a police chase Saturday was driving an SUV that belonged to a woman found shot to death at her Gardena business.
3. LA PUENTE -- A man allegedly shot and wounded two of his roommates during an argument at their house Saturday.
4. SOUTH EL MONTE -- Officials have released the name of a man found who was fatally shot in his car last week.
5. NORWALK -- A man was shot and wounded in the parking lot of a convenience store Sunday.
6. SONORA -- The Montrose Search and Rescue Team rescued a 34-year-old man Sunday after he spent two nights at the bottom of an abandoned mine shaft.

This from ABC7:

DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Funeral services at Our Lady of the Angels Cathedral are held Friday morning for Juan Escalante, an L.A. sheriff's deputy who was shot to death in front of his parents' home.

The reward for his killers is nearing $100,000, but the gunmen have still not been found.

A large law enforcement presence gathered for the funeral set to begin at 9 a.m.

As family and friends said their final goodbye, police are still looking for suspects involved in the 27-year-old deputy's murder.

The gun, and several others were seized as part of the county's DISARM program, officials said.

Reporter Brian Day attended an Antonovich press conference downtown Monday morning, but had some difficulty getting answers to a couple of key questions.

Like, why does Antonovich care about stuff that happens outside the Fifth *Supervisorial district?

How many guns of this caliber have been seized in the San Gabriel Valley?

Unfortunately he didn't get answers to those questions. Just a nice photo of Antonovich with a ton of guns.

*I've corrected this post. As Tony Bell points out below, Supervisor Mike Antonovich represents the Fifth Supervisoral District. My bad. The rest stands. Officials told Brian the guns came from the 77th Precinct, which is outside the Fifth District.

I would still like to know how much of the money and guns that were seized as part of DISARM came from the San Gabriel Valley?

Marcelino Corniel lost his life in the Iraq war. IndyMac then lost between $71,000 and $36,000 of the $370,000 life insurance policy Corniel purchased to ensure the livelihood of his family.

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I can't say that I was shocked so much as I was disappointed when I viewed reader responses on our website. Some comments blamed Corniel's mother, Elaine Lopez, for investing poorly, while others seemed to equate losing a son in war with winning the lottery.

I don't dispute that Lopez could have invested her money more wisely, but at the same time it's not like she went out and bought a Cadillac. Lopez placed $70,000 in a money market checking account and the remaining $300,000 in a CD, from which she used the $1450 a month interest yield to sustain her family.

I believe Lopez, when she says that IndyMac Bank managers persuaded her not to withdraw the money by claiming the addition of a third beneficiary would insure the entire sum.

The Monday after the news of Indy Mac's financial trouble broke, I went to Indy Mac and spoke with patrons. My questions were met by belligerent customers who informed me that bank representatives warned them against speaking with the press, and cited the media as a cause for Indy Mac's problems. Funny, I don't remember receiving a check from Indy Mac for managing their stocks to 23 cents a share, what they were prior to any article running.

Despite my Ivy League education, the hours I spent reading regulations, the two interviews I conducted with securities lawyers, and numerous calls to the Federal Deposit Insurance Company, I still fail to understand how the FDIC is not returning somewhere between $36,000 and $71,000 of Lopez's money.

Sure, Lopez was naïve for taking the word of a bank manager. But I bet she wasn't the only one to lose money because of promises made by IndyMac representatives. It's possible that IndyMac's employee's weren't intentionally deceiving Lopez. Maybe bank officials just didn't comprehend the same regulations that two securities lawyers, and a financial adviser failed to understand well enough to answers my questions.  But should incompetence excuse so-called officials from accountability?

When did regulations start to cloud our understanding of right and wrong? After all regulations are created by men, frequently flawed, and certainly subject to change.

Some have argued that Lopez should feel lucky to still have $300,000. Why? Because her son went to great lengths to protect his family? The $370,000 wasn't a gift from the government or a death benefit, but something that Corniel payed for with both his money and life.

Despite promises that he would be a recruiter, and by the spring of 2005 Corniel was back in Iraq, stationed with the 184^th Infantry out of Fullerton, CA..The 184^th was sustaining heavy causalities when Corniel decided to purchase the additional $170,000 in life insurance.

As an Iraq veteran, I knew a lot of servicemen who declined to pay the $40 a month for the  $250,000 in Serviceman's Group Life Insurance. At the same time I was never aware of anyone who sought additional life insurance. But Corniel, who was the patriarch of his family, wanted to ensure that his two younger sisters and mother were taken care of in the event of his death.

On New Years Eve  of 2005, most 23-year-old-Americans were drinking themselves into stupors while Corniel was defending their freedom to do so. As a former Marine attached to "Killer" company, Corniel had already seen a good deal of combat. But unlike some men, he didn't try to get a family hardship discharge and avoid his second tour. Corniel sacrificed his life for our freedom, with the knowledge his family would be able survive in his absence.

Corniel's legacy was intended to send his sisters to college, and support his illmother, not pad the bank accounts of rich men, as some would argue his service did. I urge Americans to remember Corniel as they drive their yellow ribbon adorned sport utility vehicles. And think about the regulations that qualify the loss of his legacy, while justifying the outlandish incomes of IndyMac's executives.  In the end you can blame Lopez for mismanaging the money, but don't think it couldn't happen to you.

A parody of the Los Angeles Times Web site had me laughing this morning, especially this story about the "creepy" Burger King mascot, complete with mugshot:

For months, he'd been sneaking into customers' homes at dawn, disrupting their slumber with offers of cholesterol-rich breakfast items.

"People were definitely creeped out," an LAPD spokesman said. "But there wasn't much we could do besides tell them to get a restraining order."

Then, three months ago, the frozen-faced mascot apparently snapped, leaving a trail of bodies, blood and curly fries. Police were baffled at first - crime scene tests indicated the killer's DNA consisted solely of polystyrene resins and Thousand Island dressing. h/t Fishbowl LA 

LA Observed points to a post on Eater LA labeled as a "serious rant." Here's the gist: Some moron at the County Health Department has decided that the mustard at Philippe's is "unsanitary."

As far as I know (and I have several T-Shirts to prove it) Philippe's has been in business for 100 years -- since 1908 to be exact. County officials and city officials eat there often. So what happened? Did some health inspector not get invited to lunch with the boss and decide to take it out on the restaurant?  That's my guess.

Any attack on this fine eating establishment is an attack on all of us who love french dip and sawdust floors.

Here's the rant:

Blasphemy! From one angry French dip lover: "Who's the stupid idiot in the health department that forced the removal of the Mustard pots on the tables at Philippe!? Are they serious? A 100 year old tradition out the window because of some by-the-book bs! Seriously?! If it was good enough in 1908, it's good enough for 2008. They have a squeeze-ee bottle at the counter with little paper cups you can fill up. But really. Come on! After 100 years, NOW it's unsanitary

Avenues gang members rounded up.

Man shot twice confronting Hollywood taggers.

Black Student Union at Charter Oak High School targeted by yearbook vandal.

Suspicious packages create stir at ELA College.

City begins overhaul of former strip club site at Corky's Corner.

Several weeks ago I wrote about a group of French journalists who contacted me regarding a documentary about crime in Los Angeles.

Initially they suggested following me around for a couple of days and asked that I give them the names of people familiar with LA area crime. I coughed up the names. And, it sounds like the project is coming along fine.

The next time I heard from these folks it was to see if I could arrange an interview with James Ellroy. He's loved like Jerry Lewis over there apparently.

I declined and told them to arrange the interview themselves. Don't know if that happened or not. Somehow I doubt it did.

Anyway, here's the latest email exchange between me and the Frenchies:

In the course of researching a column for Friday's paper, I ended up interviewing Munir Sirhan, brother of Sirhan Sirhan, the accused assassin of Robert F. Kennedy who died 40 years ago Friday.

Munir had some interesting things to say and introduced me to some people who believe there's more to his brother's story than the lone gunman narrative.

Among those taking up Munir's cause are Summer Reese, who is affiliated with KPFK radio, and Dr. William Pepper, who has a pretty interesting history of his own, and knew both Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy.

Pepper and several other researchers interested in the Kennedy assassination are getting together tonight near LAX to discuss new theories and information that's become available in recent months.

Here's a YouTube video about the organization known as COPA.