Whittier: June 2008 Archives

Unlike the mythical panty story, this actually happened in the San Gabriel Valley.  Whittier Daily News reporter Ruby Gonzales has the scoop on a guy who died around April 15. Apparently the county tax collector was looking for him but the grim reaper got there first:

A man apparently died three months ago but his body was discovered Tuesday afternoon after a county worker came knocking.

Guy King, 65, was found on his couch next to a paper bag with a carton of milk and some yogurt that expired on April 18, said Whittier Police spokesman Jason Zuhlke.

He said King apparently kept to himself and his family lives out of state. A neighbor last saw King two months ago.

The grisly discovery was made Tuesday afternoon in the 10800 block of Kibbee Avenue by a county employee and a neighbor.

Zuhlke didn't know what county department the worker was from and why he was at King's home.

However, records show the bank had a lien on the house.

Over the weekend there were five homicides and one suicide recorded in local cities. The first incident involved a man who shot and killed his girlfriend before killing himself on the 605 near Telegraph Road Saturday afternoon.

Later on, four San Gabriel Valley homicides occurred within a six-hour window.

Here's a timeline and brief description of each:

VIOLENCE TIMELINE:

A few weeks ago, I had a surprise late-night encounter with three coyotes roaming the streets of Los Feliz.

It seemed like feral dogs were everywhere that week. Photographer Watchara Phomicinda snapped a picture of a skinny one rooting about an empty field in Irwindale. I can't remember where else they turned up, but they were around.

Last year at this time it was black bears. Bears in Monrovia; bears in Duarte; bears in Bradbury; bears in Azusa.

Old-timers probably know this already, but I was fascinated to find out that predators are nothing new in the San Gabriel Valley or Whittier for that matter.

Grizzlies, wolves, cougars and coyotes roamed pretty freely in these parts right up until the turn of the 20th century.
They're pretty much gone. If only we could say the same about their human counterparts.

***
Whoops.
In my haste to write a brilliant column each week, I've been making grammatical errors. To all you English teachers out there, my deepest apologies.

I had this pointed out to me via a marked-up column sent in the mail by Ms. Beryl Collins of Arcadia.

The mark-up, done nicely in red ink, actually contains just three sentences.
It begins with, "What school did you attend?"

To answer that I guess I have to tell you a little about myself. For the most part I am a product of the California public school system.

After my parents moved to California, I attended Laura M. Hansen Elementary in Saratoga and Joaquin Miller Junior High in San Jose.

The Jesuits took over from there, and although there were some summer school classes at Lynbrook High, I graduated from Bellarmine College Preparatory in San Jose.

Since then, I've attended UCSD, San Jose State, Pasadena City College and Mt. San Antonio College.

That seems like a lot of education. Even after all that, I still don't know how to construct a proper sentence.

The sentence below was one example pointed out by Ms. Collins. It appeared in a column that ran in this newspaper on June 3:

"I'm sure there's countless similar stories."

She suggests I should have constructed the sentence as: "I'm sure there are countless similar stories."

All I can say is that I'm really glad she hasn't been reading my text messages.

U no wot i mean?

Thanks for the tip, Ms. Collins, I'm sure there are countless similar examples.

***

Are the copper thieves getting bold or what?

Whomever hit an Edison substation in Whittier knew exactly what to take, and absconded with copper grounding wire. It could fetch a tidy sum at the recycling center.

What's probably most irritating about the theft is that Edison had to turn off the power in most of Pico Rivera and portions of Whittier on a hot afternoon.

One can only hope the thief's refrigerator was affected and his (or her) beer got warm.

The DA's office released their report Wednesday into the snafu surrounding the slaying of Monica Thomas-Harris, by her estranged husband. The report hit newsrooms one day after Cooley cruised to reelection.

Thomas-Harris, 37, was shot to death by "Keno" Curtis Jan. 5 in a low budget Whittier motel room. Their bodies were found by a maid doing a routine cleaning inspection.

Here's the report.

LAPD chased this guy into Santa Fe Springs, Pico Rivera and Whittier before he was caught. Apprently the suspect was wanted for a DUI.