oddball, weird, assorted: February 2008 Archives

As you can see Crime Scene is getting remade ... per the LADN guidlines recently discussed on LA Observed.

There will be ads (not content specific -- yet), a better search capability and faster loading pages ...but bear with us because the complete task may take a few days.

Thanks for all your support!

Frank

This morning I was reading the Californian, an edition of the North County Times, when a front page (above the fold) correction jumped out at me.

Here's what Romenesko had to say about the bad "joke."

There are so many icons that define Los Angeles.

The freeways, the palm trees, the snow-capped mountains, the beach, the Hollywood sign, AM radio.

AM radio?

Think about it. Radio makes a steady and comfortable companion for all those hours spent driving on the freeway looking at palm trees on the way to snow-capped mountains, the beach or Hollywood.

I got my first real inside look at L.A. radio this past week when KFWB set up a studio of sorts in our Pasadena newsroom. Their plan is to give drive-time exposure to stories appearing in the daily paper. It’s a kind of quid pro quo; they get a near exclusive and we get to hear our voices on the radio.

I’ve been a fan of AM radio for more years than I care to count. In the ’70s, my dad bought me a crystal radio Heathkit. I have no idea how it worked, but it received just one station, KGO 810-AM in San Francisco.
I would lie in bed at night listening to what probably was the earliest talk radio in the country. There were some interesting hosts: Al “Jazzbo” Collins, Ira Blue, Ronn Owens.

But it wasn’t until I moved to Los Angeles in 1984 that I grew a deep and everlasting appreciation for the AM medium. KABC was the big station at the time, and Michael Jackson (not the singer) was their star. He did something like two hours of local talk followed by a syndicated hour.

Jackson could be infuriating, but at the same time his show made me feel like I was part of something larger as a resident of metropolitan Los Angeles. It was kind of like he was saying, “Welcome to Los Angeles.”

There were other unusual radio shows then, too. Jim Healy comes to mind. His half-hour local sports shows on KMPC and KLAC were punctuated with recordings of sports celebrities that were profane and hilarious.

“Is it true?” was Healy’s great catchphrase. I remember Healy following the question one time with a description of Milton Berle waiting in line at Santa Anita to place a bet. The star was taking advice from a “guy with a hole in his shoe.” I still smile at the picture in my head.

Healy’s half-hour was the ultimate insider’s sports program. It punctuated the whole “Welcome to Los Angeles” theme of local radio back then.

Local radio changed in the ’90s. Rush Limbaugh supplanted Michael Jackson in the mornings. Healy died.
KFI became prominent and John and Ken are the voice of local talk. They made a name covering O.J. Simpson and unsuccessfully trying to get Congressman David Dreier tossed out by the voters.

Beyond that, if their show said anything it’s “Welcome to Los Angeles. Now go home.”

Times change.

Through it all, KFWB has stayed true to its mission — “You give us 22 minutes, we’ll give you the world.”

And (for now anyway) the San Gabriel Valley.

So this 18-year-old Rio Hondo student goes missing. We write about it ... twice. Her parents are frantic.

Well, there's a happy ending of sorts. The full story, by reporter Tracy Garcia, will appear in tomorrow's paper. But, here's a small advance taste of a real Valentine's tale:

It was major drama earlier this month for 18-year-old Rio Hondo College student Crystal Domingues — her family reported her missing, then apparently hired a private detective who tracked her down. 

The detective found her... at the Irvine home of Rio Hondo professor Muata Kamdibe. Domingues was a former student of his, Kamdibe says, and Domingues and Kamdibe say they are in love. To prove it, they’re getting hitched this weekend in Vegas.

Good luck with the in-laws.

Back from a few days off, and the beef saga seems to be taking center stage in much of today's news.

Obviously, the Daily Bulletin has been all over the story here's a link to their latest, describing the arrest of a Pomona man in connection with the abuse of cows at the facility.

Here's a couple of links to websites directly associated with the Westland/Hallmark Meat Co. saga.

First is the company's most recent statement, here. Second is a Q&A put out by the USDA, here.

Westland/Hallmark is the target of the largest beef meat recall action in U.S. history. In all, 143 million pounds of beef have been recalled by USDA.

The videos depicting how these poor animals were mistreated are sickening to say the least. One could make a good argument for Kosher, Halal or straight vegetarianism after seeing this.

Apparently a lof of this beef went into the federal school lunch program, which provides hot lunches to poor kids.

Nice.

Alhambra Airport, Crawfords Corner, Montgomery Ward, Fedco, Street Cars, Wardy surfboard shop, The "old" Icehouse, Helm's Bakery trucks, The Royal Coachmen Restaurant, The Crushed Grape on Garvey, Victoria Station on Restaurant Row.

Local blogs recently put together a list of places in the area that used to be here, but aren't now.

Don't forget Bullock's on South Lake in Pasadena and Buffums in Pomona. At least Rick's on Greenleaf in Whittier is still going strong.

I won't claim to have known all of these landmarks that have disappeared from local neighborhoods, but as of this month we can add one I did know (and love) to the list - Bungalow News in Pasadena.

As reporter Janette Williams wrote this week, Bungalow on East Colorado is closing its doors for good in just 10 days, Feb. 24 to be exact. It will be a sad day for Pasadenans, especially those seeking esoteric mags that are virtually unavailable anywhere else - except in cyberspace.

That's part of the reason behind the closure, according to owner Larry Frisina, whose parents started the business in 1962.

I used to go to Bungalow to pick up Sunday copies of the Detroit News/Free Press and day-old copies of the San Francisco Chronicle. I also bought more packs of Marlboro Lights and MAD magazines than I care to count.

While there were plenty of customers in Bungalow buying the latest copy of "Contemporary Stone & Tile" or "Diplomatie, Affaires Strategiques et Relations Internationales," they were usually outnumbered by the raincoat crowd in the side section perusing copies of more "adult" fare.

These days I get the Free Press and Chronicle online. No doubt the raincoat crowd has turned to the Internet as well.

Besides cyberspace, older businesses in Pasadena's Playhouse District have to contend with the gentrification of the neighborhood. What used to be sort of seedy, run-down and filled with some of the greatest used-book stores anywhere is now cleaned up and trendy.

That means higher rents, less parking and more visibility for the raincoat crowd. Which translates to less customers for Bungalow.

Of course my theory about Bungalow's demise doesn't fully explain the changing face of our local streets.

Big-box stores have replaced local hardware stores and five and dimes. Chain restaurants with consistent menus have taken the place of the Stan's and A&Ws of the world.

For that matter, try finding a 25-cent cup of coffee.

I guess that's the point. Who's got beaucoup bucks for day-old newspapers and esoteric magazines when you need the cash for Starbucks?

Forget about the war on terror. Forget too about helping out on the streets where gang violence is out of control.

The FBI has bigger fish to fry, according to the NY Post:

February 8, 2008 -- THE FBI is poking around the celebrity magazine world on the West Coast, investigating allegations of kickbacks and pay-for-play schemes, according to a source who was contacted by investigators.

The source was told that the probe, which appears to be at a preliminary stage, involved "paparazzi and In Touch" magazine.

The source was contacted by an agent named Dennis Webster in the FBI's Los Angeles office. Webster had not returned calls to Media Ink by presstime.

Specifics about what the feds are looking into remain murky, but people at the celebrity magazines have been burning up the lines in recent days since a story about the FBI probe was posted Wednesday on the complex.com Web site and picked up by gawker.com and jossip.com.

However, the source said that West Coast legal circles have been buzzing that Hollywood stars who have long felt they were being harassed by the paparazzi were perhaps pushing the feds to act.

Stars have long been frustrated that local law enforcement has been unable to thwart the paparazzi unless they either pose a real threat to someone or are trespassing on private property.

This is something we're trying on the web. The plan is to stream live video from the Town Hall meeting tomorrow. We'll be using this more and more as another way to deliver news and sports.

UPDATE 5:55 p.m. 02/01/08

We will not be broadcasting live from the event, apparently it is not conducive to that sort of coverage. We will be on hand with video and plan to post it as soon as it is processed.

At our sister paper, the Daily Bulletin, David Allen put together a nice column and several blog entries on things that once were, but aren't now, in the Pomona Valley.

It got me thinking about things that dont' exist any longer in the SGV, and I couldn't come up with a huge list, but there has to be several right?

I'll start my list with the Boat....