Earlier this morning I posted about a hit and run in Tujunga Village. Comments on that post confirm that this was the intersection near Vitello’s which is known to be extremely dangerous and without a crosswalk, even though residents of the area have been asking for one for quite some time. An anonymous resident just sent in stills from their security cameras which show the people who were hit literally seconds before the accident in hopes they will bring more awareness to the deadly crosswalk.

Another photo from a different camera after the jump.

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Spotted moments ago on Ed Pagett’s twitter stream, a 40 year subscriber has written a letter blasting Sam Zell and begging him to sell the paper to someone who actually cares about it. Jack McGrath writes:

“I have been a loyal and satisfied Times subscriber for over 40 years. I like the book section, the Sunday opinion pages, the Highway section, the columnists, and the look of the paper. I do not support what you are doing to the LA Times.

Please do all of us a really big favor in Los Angeles. Make an offer to sell the paper to a real LA Lover- such as Richard Riordan, Eli Broad, or David Geffen…”

He goes on to ask other subscribers to write similar letters. See the full letter on Ed’s blog.

This one seen on the Fletcher LA River Bridge heading east. There’s signage too, these seem to have been added by a new city department called “DIY” – I’m not sure what that stands for exactly, perhaps Department of Intertransit Youth or Department of Icycle Youtreach. Something like that I’m sure. Another pic of the signs after the jump.
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Fact: The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim are the least favorite Major League Baseball team in America.

This is according to a newly-released Harris poll, which finds the Halos coming in just above the Toronto Blue Jays. A Canadian baseball team, eh? This is a pathetic result, considering the size of this market and the expendable income of the team’s bleach blond fan base. Although, I still can’t find Los Angeles of Anaheim in my Thomas Guide. (Is that the page that came out when I was hauling ass to an audition? How will I ever find Santa Monica again? Damn you, 405!)

Anyhoo… Feeling warm and fuzzy from watching former Ray Josh Hamilton crush the ball at last night’s Home Run Derby, I decided to help the Angels with their image problem. For this task, we need bold, new ideas. We need to think outside the A.

5 Simple Ways to Make the Angels More Popular:

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A porn director in the Valley has been arrested in connection with the operation of a Hungarian brothel. A brothel. In Sherman Oaks.

Valley pride.

L.A. will keep its parks open until midnight if you promise not to join a gang. Summer Night Lights is a new city program that runs Wednesday through Saturday, from July 4 through Labor Day. These late hours are meant to keep kids busy with extracurricular activities like kickball so they don’t get bored and start doing bad things. They even have hip hop classes and DJ lessons! Great success!

The question has finally been answered: Kids join gangs because the parks close too early.

Photo of Glassell Park “art” from optionthis’ photostream

The Los Angeles premiere of the documentary The Wrecking Crew will be this Saturday night (June 28) at 8pm downtown. The screening is part of the Grand Performances series called Movies That Matter and will be “a free, outdoor festival style screening under the stars.”

You might be wondering who this Wrecking Crew is. They were an unsung group of studio musicians who became a crucial part of pop music history. You’ve actually heard their work on everything from Frank Sinatra to the Monkees and most songs (and tv show themes) in between. Check out the Wrecking Crew website and watch the trailer here.

Wrecking Crew LA Premiere
June 28th, 2008, 8:00PM
350 S. Grand Ave
Los Angeles CA 90071

After the screening of the movie, there will be a live performance by a few members of the (THE!) Wrecking Crew.

If you can’t make Saturday night’s show, you can catch the movie on Thursday July 3rd at The Silent Movie Theater. (Click here for tickets to that evening’s show.)

For more info on Saturday’s screening event and reviews on the film itself, please click on through.

(Full disclosure: the filmmakers are good friends of mine.)

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Q: What do flier-making, zine-creating punks do when they grow up? A: They go to art school and form nonprofits dedictated to student arts education. At least, that’s what my friend Michael did. His nonprofit organization, re:Active, uses the production of a theme-based magazine to inspire students to pursue their creativity and jobs in design-related fields. This Sunday from 4:30 to 6:30 at Family bookstore (436 N. Fairfax) they are launching the latest magazine issue, ”Dead-end door, re:vealed,” a collaborative effort with 826LA and created by the students of LA High. Both re:Active and 826LA are pretty damn cool organizations, and coming out for the launch is a great way to support youth voices. If you can’t make it, you can still buy a magazine online after the launch. Also, re:Active is expanding to the Portland area and is looking for volunteers so spread the word.

The LA Times reports there was a massive 500-man raid on Avenues gang members in Glassell Park early this morning:

The latest enforcement effort against the Drew Street clique began about 4 a.m., when law enforcement officials mobilized in Glassell Park near Fletcher Drive and Estrara Avenue. Agencies involved worked under the Los Angeles High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area task force that includes 18 federal, state and local agencies including Los Angeles and Glendale police, and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.
…
By 8 a.m., authorities arrested 46 people, 28 of whom are named in the indictment. The others were taken into custody on other charges. Another 30 people named in the indictment already were in custody, police said.

Officials have scheduled a community meeting for tonight at 6:00 pm at the Glassell Park Community Center for law enforcement officials to talk to residents about the arrests and indictment.

For the next few days I’ll be writing about Twitter, the microblogging/social networking service that has been making headlines lately as a device to not only communicate between friends, but also a way to broadcast breaking news, seek international help for overseas arrests, hold Presidential debates, and more. (For a fantastic primer on what Twitter is, watch this video.)

To kick things off, I asked a handful of local bloggers who use Twitter frequently to let me know which Twitter “feeds” are indispensable services for Angelenos – these aren’t necessarily the “most fun” feeds (I’ll have those tomorrow), but the ones with the most practical usage… more or less. Here are the top 5 results:

• Los Angeles Fire Department [/lafd] is a feed from the LAFD’s existing Google Groups alerts, notifying subscribers of responses to everything from fires to hazardous waste spills to serious car crashes. Besides being a constant reminder of the the critical need we have of emergency services, it is often the first word on potential park fires and traffic jams.
• SoCal Quakes [/socalquakes] may help let you know if that an earthquake you felt, and not just your drunken neighbor falling to the floor. *Note: it appears this feed hasn’t been updated in weeks – alas, a good backup, albeit one that covers all sizeable quakes worldwide, is Earthquake News [/EarthquakeNews].
• The Roxy [/theroxy] is the classic West Hollywood rock club’s whispering in your ear about sound checks, upcoming shows, and random quips about life in L.A.
• Mars Phoenix Lander [/MarsPhoenix] sends updates from 309 million miles away, as translated by its minders at Pasadena’s Jet Propulsion Labs, making it feel like a local. Of note: news that the Phoenix lander found ice on the Red Planet was broken first via its Twitter feed.
• LA Updates [/laupdates] keeps an eye on LA’s social scene, including where to $3 pitchers of beer, notices of hot shows, and occasional tips on where to download popular music cheaply or free.

I’m also using this brief series to plug LA Metblogs own Twitter feed: twitter.com/LAMetblogs. Instead of using it to duplicate our RSS feed, only occasional, select posts will be sent to Twitter, with the 140 character constraint of “tweets” in mind.

In the meantime, if you use Twitter, let us know what your essential L.A. feeds are… or feel free to plug your own account.

Wolf Blitzer: “Might there be a rush for black gold in California? Experts believe there are billions of barrels of oil underneath the streets of L.A. The problem is, how do you get it?”

According to this afternoon’s Situation Room, oil is already being pumped already, not just from the sporadic pumpjack you see in open oil fields or the random yard, but even at a handfull of “secret” hidden pumpjacks scattered around the city, the most famous being the one at Beverly Hills High School. Another is on Pico Blvd., disguised as a 14 story building. CNN showed a couple others, but I couldn’t identify the location.

Watch here.

Photo from UCLA’s LA Times photo archives: “Oil field littered with oil well derricks in Inglewood, Calif., circa 1920.”