Frazier Park’s Brian Cody Prosser, an Army Staff Sargeant, became the first US soldier from California to be killed in Afghanistan after a U.S. bomb missed its target on December 5, 2001.

20 year old Army Specialist Mary J. Jaenichen, from Temecula, is California’s most recent casualty from the war in Iraq after being killed May 9th.

As of last Wednesday, of the United States’ 4563 casulaties between the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan 492 were from California. The Los Angeles Times has just unveiled a database of these soldiers, providing photos and memories along with the raw data of dates of death, hometowns, and where their remains are buried. If you knew any of these military men or women, the Times allows you to leave your own thoughts.

Nearly 500 Californians have lost their lives while in service to their country in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. At least 58 were immigrants; more than 160 were parents, who left behind more than 300 children. One descended from two presidents; another was a Guatemalan street orphan taken in by an American family as a teenager. One high school lost six of its graduates.

More on the project at the L.A. Times. 

…photo by Doc Brown/Matthew K., used under Creative Commons…

-Severe Weather Update-

Markland reported a few hours ago the severe weather alert in the area.  Crime Scene Blog reports that around 5PM in Sierra Madre below last months fire zone.  He even has a short film clip up.

This follows a call from a friend of mine in Sierra Madre about the same time reporting that she heard numerous sirens in the area below the canyon that was damaged in last months fire.  As information is available I will share.

UPDATE#1 8:00PM  Crime Scene reports: Sierra Madre evacuations

Posted by Frank Girardot at 5:53 PM | Sierra Madre | fire | flood | wildfire

At least three streets in Sierra Madre have been evacuated as a precaution against flash flooding and mudslides, officials report.

The streets are Skyland Drive, Woodland Drive and Lotus Lane, officials said. An Emergency Operations Center has been opened. Evacuees will be taken there.

And a comment from the FC Blog from a Sierra Madre resident:

Bill Coburn Says:
May 22nd, 2008 at 6:50 pm

I was in downtown L.A. at jury duty, just got in and found these updates in my e-mail….

Received: 6:30pm – Public Works has made sand and sand bags available at Mary Market’s and the Public Works Yard. The Fire Department has sand bags ONLY available. There are voluntary evacuations of residents on Skyland, North of Idle Hour. There also voluntary evacuations on Woodland, North of Mary’s Market. The Sierra Vista Park at 611 East Sierra Madre Blvd has been opened as an evacuation center.

Received: 5:03pm – Due to the conditions created by the recent Santa Anita Fire and the recent rain, the City of Sierra Madre will be providing sand bags to residents. Sand and sand bags are available at Mary’s Market, the Fire Station and the City Yards. Residents will need to fill the sand bags with sand if they are needed. Thank you.

5/23/08 Update.  Mud slides confirmed in Sierra Madre.  FCBlog as the most current info with on their Thunderstorm post that includes some photos by Bill Coburn.

CNN.com is reporting that the former head of UCLA’s “willed body” program has been  indicted, along with a business associate, for selling human body parts from UCLA on the black market to “medical, pharmaceutical and hospital research companies.”  The case itself is a bit of a walking corpse, dating back to the 2004 arrests of the body snatchers.

Screenwriters, start your computer engines.  “Hostel V,” anyone?  Has enough time passed since news of this tragedy to joke about UCLA’s “student body” or its “willed bodies?”  Sure.  Let ‘em fly.

Last night ABC7 News had an interesting story reporting that a billboard posted by the Monrovia Police Officers Association was harming business in Monrovia.  The story left out a lot of information and as such would lead one to believe what was reported had merit.  They didn’t even report that Arcadia PD ran nearly the exact billboard this past summer and it barely raised an eyebrow in the area.

The Monrovia City Hall dispute with the MPOA is multi layered.  Among the issues is that for the last 7-8 years the department has been understaffed.  The level of under-staffing varies on your sources, is alleged to be between 4-12 officers at any given time.  This has lead to mandatory double shifts to bring the police protection to minimum levels.  A couple of sources, some outside MPD, and blog comments claim that basic policing such as visiting the parolees residing in town to ensure they have been fulfilling their parole obligations were suspended for a period of 6-7 months in early 2007 as there was not adequate staff.

Another area of concern that is continually raised is the low morale of the officers.  Part of that low morale involves reported unfair treatment of officers.  Although the city denies there is a morale issue, two officers, Solarez and Cobb successfully brought suits against the city for harassment based on race or sexual orientation.  Eventually those suits were ultimately settled in their favor.  I understand from comments on another blog from a credible ex-MPD source that another officer has a claim for similar allegations pending.  The city manager trivializing the suits as a “cost of doing business” in a weekly report added to MPOA frustrations.

In terms of business in Monrovia, many have told me in recent weeks that their businesses are reporting a rebound since the spate of Murders in Monrovia that left 4 Dead  one a paraplegic creating a lot of sorrow and a community gripped with fear. 

Several opined that the billboard was ridiculous, but had not hurt their business.  Others expressed outrage that the community reputation was besmirched.  Others hoped that it did not backfire and harm the MPOA efforts to have their concerns heard by the community.

Overall business from my contacts has been down-trending the same as retail in general in LA and the nation.  Several of my friends in department store management or specialty stores around the area opined that their individual stores were trending about the same as what is being reported by the Old Town Merchants.

Robert CJ Parry who writes at the FC Blog did the best recap yet of the issues at the core of the dispute in his post “Monrovia’s Issues, Consolidated” that ran yesterday.  (More details after the jump). Read the rest of this entry →

I don’t know about you, but when I look at the news, I tend to skim through it online and maybe read a story or two that catches my eye.

But when you hear about something first AND THEN start looking for more information, well, that’s a whole different way of looking at the news. Last year, with the Virginia Tech massacre still in progress, I had arrived at work (not having seen or heard any news yet) and saw the IM status message of my brother’s girlfriend (then a student living on-campus at VT): “Campus shooting. Under lockdown.” I spent the rest of the day online chatting with her and keeping tabs on all the news as it developed.

I had a similar feeling this morning I signed online to check email and received a slew messages from my good friend who lives in OC. Her teenaged daughter (B) is freaking out she said, because there was a fatal car crash last night on the 5 freeway; 3 people were killed. And B was supposed to have been in that car, but it was the “one night she didn’t go out with her friends in Hollywood.”

Last night around 3am, there was a wrong-way driver in a Toyota Yaris driving northbound up to 80mph on the southbound 5 near Commerce. He collided with a Nissan Sentra filled with the friends of B; the female driver and a female passenger in the car were killed, along with the wrong-way driver. Two male passengers in the Nissan Sentra are critically injured. There was another friend (D), who was driving in another vehicle who witnessed the collision and said that both cars went airborne after they crashed. D called B at 6am to tell her what had happened.

And although the group had been at a club in Hollywood, they had not had any alcohol. They were simply driving the right way on the freeway, trying to get home after a fun night out.

There is some coverage in the local news, at CBS and NBC (video and slideshow available), but this is the type of story I normally would have glanced at and not given another thought to.

Today, I am looking at the story with my friend and B in mind, and I send my deepest condolences to everyone who has been impacted by the losses of these young lives.

Photo from NBC4.tv

Didn’t get as close as I would have otherwise (the kids were in the car) but with winds at 5-10mph and the air temp only around 90, this doesn’t look near as sketchy as last year’s Griffith Park fire.

Not yet, anyway. LAFD’s Twitter feed had it at 1/4 acre in light brush off of Hobart in Griffith Park, about 21 minutes ago.

Update: CBS 2 is reporting the fire had trees going up earlier on, but it’s laying down and smoldering at the moment. You may return to your work.

Until the next one starts up, of course.

The 5:55 p.m. update update: LAFD has it at 3 acres total, with 50 senior citizens in brief holding pattern but all’s well now.

Final update: LAFD says knockdown was declared at 6:29 p.m.

No pictures or solid info at the moment but Wil just called me saying he’s stuck in traffic (and I could hear sirens around him) because of a (what appears to be) massive fire in Griffith Park that he said seems to be headed right to the Observatory. Local news sites don’t have any info on it at the moment, but I’ll post again as soon as I know more.

Update: CBS2 has a live chopper cam of the fire. They aren’t saying much but you can clearly see there are several fires, at least one that looks to be right next to the Observatory, and lots of firefighters on it. From my house in Silver Lake I can hear all kinds of sirens rushing past now too. Mack just posted a photo as well.

Does this mean we’ll be seeing gay marriages right here in L.A.?

I honestly was starting to think I wasn’t going to see this in my lifetime… of course, the case will likely be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. Then again, the Supremes have been avoiding this subject for a while… so what does this mean?

In a 4-3 ruling, the justices rule that state marriage laws are unconstitutional.

SAN FRANCISCO — – The California Supreme Court ruled today that same-sex couples should be permitted to marry, rejecting state marriage laws as discriminatory.

The state high court’s 4-3 ruling was unlikely to end the debate over gay matrimony in California. A group has circulated petitions for a November ballot initiative that would amend the state Constitution to block same-sex marriage, while the Legislature has twice passed bills to authorize gay marriage. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed both. [full story]

Coverage at CNN

Photo taken at the Massachusetts Statehouse in May 2004 by Violentz

A male motorcyclist was pronounced dead at the scene of an accident that took place shortly after 3pm around 11500 Sunset Blvd, a few hundred feet west of the 405 underpass. The motorcylist was reported to have been trapped underneath a truck.

Via LAFD Alerts, spokesman Brian Humphrey writes to “anticipate Sunset Blvd closure for investigation.”

This accident follows an earlier entrapment report from the southbound 110 at the 105, where the LAFD initially reported an SUV had collided with and become trapped under a big rig, only to amend with this message:

Female SUV driver/sole occupant not trapped; Fled scene after colliding w/rear of bobtail truck.

Biking home tonight up Historic Filipinotown on Vendome north of Temple I stopped, having sighted the above cordoned off crime scene on Dillon Street just south of the 101 Freeway overpass (map). A patrol car leaving the perimeter pulled up to me and I asked the officer driving what happened.

“Do you live in the area?” he inquired.

“Yes.”

“Where?”

I told him and he paused before telling me it was a homicide and then added “be careful” as he pulled the cruiser away and left.

“You too!” I said.

I stayed a few minutes more and observed officers climbing over the low guardrail and moving out of sight into the foliage, presumably where the body was located.

UPDATED (05.08): I emailed Ruben Vives and Jill Leovy of the L.A. Times’ Homicide Report blog and heard back from Vives last night who wrote that the victim is a woman and detectives aren’t sure how long she’d been dead because her body was already in the decomposition stage.

FWIW, my first impression was the obvious one: gang-related. But then there was something about the semi-secluded location of the victim that seemed more like the body had been intentionally dumped. In an eerie coincidence it was only a couple days ago I got caught up in reading about the Hillside Strangler, and so to pass a murder scene so close to home that was similar to several from that case is creepy.

Robert Nudelman, a man whose name is synonymous with Hollywood historic preservation efforts, has passed away.

From Eric Garcetti’s blog:

I’m saddened by the passing of Robert Nudelman, who served as the Director of Preservation Issues for Hollywood Heritage. Robert was a friend and someone with whom I worked closely during the last seven years to ensure that Hollywood’s history would be preserved and celebrated as it entered its second Golden Age.

Robert believed in Hollywood, even during times when few others did. His perseverance helped ensure that the neighborhood’s renaissance became a reality. He will be greatly missed, but his work will remain a part of Hollywood’s enduring history.

UPDATE: Patrick Range McDonald at LA Weekly shares his own memories and thoughts on Nudelman, and believes Robert’s passing will now result in a lower quality of life in Hollywood and beyond:

The death of Robert Nudelman will have a major impact on the future face of Hollywood and, as a result, Los Angeles. In fact, years from now, his passing may be seen as a turning point, when developers and accommodating politicians finally got the upper-hand over community activists in the never-ending battle to demolish much of old Hollywood in favor of a bulkier, more dense, and architecturally-uninspired new Hollywood, with huge traffic problems to boot.

On Friday night I received some sad and unexpected news – the victim in Thursday afternoon’s crash on the 101 along the Cahuenga Pass was an old friend, Polly Tolonen.

While I wasn’t close to Polly, I’d bump into on occasion and was always greeted with a beautiful smile and abundant kindness. She was a fantastic actress, funny as hell, and somehow was able to convince everyone that her turtle, Goober, had as much personality as any dog or cat (of course, maybe Goober actually had that much character).

The 32 year old Ann Arbor native had built a rather large circle of friends, as displayed by the number of people who crowded The Galley in Santa Monica an hour after a memorial was held for her this afternoon.

A brief obituary listed on Legacy.com, via the LA Times, mentions that she is survived by, “her parents, brother Larry Tolonen of Grand Rapids, MI, sister Heidi Bonetti of Dallas, TX, brother Chris Tolonen of Seattle, WA, three nephews and a niece whom she dearly loved, and scores of friends she touched along her journey.”

Comments for this entry are closed – however, Legacy.com also includes a page where friends can leave messages for Polly and her family.

Happy birthday, New Beverly!

Wait a second, you’re 30? Get out of here!

Let me take a look at you. Wow, you look really good! No, I mean it.

Thirty? Sheesh. I feel like we just met the other day. That was, what, 14 years ago? I was an 18-year-old freshman at UCLA trying to get into film school, and you must have been sweet sixteen.

Or were you?

Okay, let’s be honest. You’re older than 30, right? It’s alright, Arclight and Cinespace aren’t listening.

Listen, Bev, the “New” in your name may fool some, but most of us know your history. No, I’m not talking about your Slapsie Maxies days, when you hung out with mob boss Mickey Cohen and dabbled in vaudeville. And no, I’m not referring to your cinema society days when you went by the names “Riviera” or “Capri.”

Photo: Thirty years later, and still made out of people! The New Beverly on May 5, 2008. Photo by Mike Winder.

Read the rest of this entry →

Thanks to CBS2.com, for the excellent headline and also the following lede:

And you thought you were having a tough day? Police say a drunken man, who had driven the wrong way down the elevated carpool lanes on the Harbor (110) Freeway, before flipping his car over, was then shot, twice, by another motorist he got into a fight with.

Here’s the gist of what happened…

1. Drunk driver was was going south in the northbound freeway’s elevated carpool lanes
2. His car flipped over
3. He gets gets out of his flipped car and walks down the ramp
4. He flags down a car that has three people in it asking them for help
5. The three people refuse to help
6. Drunk dude reaches into the car to punch one of them
7. One of the guys in the car shoots the drunk guy twice in the shoulder

Here’s the full story.

Think political discourse in this country has turned dumb, dumber, dumberer, and even dumbererer?

Then you owe it to yourself to see documentary filmmaker Errol Morris’ latest Standard Operating Procedure, a movie that fearlessly pulls back the curtain to expose the story (or rather, several stories) behind the infamous Abu Ghraib photographs. The film by the director of The Thin Blue Line, Mr. Death, and The Fog of War opens today in Laemmle’s theaters around town as well as the Westside’s Landmark.

At a special Hammer Screenings preview at the Billy Wilder Theater last week, a packed house sat silently and intently as the film presented profoundly disturbing interviews with several individuals behind the photographs and their subsequent investigation.

Errol Morris’ use of his patented Interrotron—a device he created to make face-to-face interviews possible while his subjects look directly into the camera—allows the audience to peer straight into the eyes (and seemingly the souls) of the army soldiers, military police, and others involved.

Photo: Still from the film Standard Operating Procedure. © 2007 Max Ave Productions. Courtesy Sony Pictures Classics. All Rights Reserved.

Read the rest of this entry →