It’s just not stop action over here these days. The past two hours have been packed with sirens and helicopters and what seems to be a barricade blocking off Lucile between Effie and Crestmont. A quick chat with an officer reveals that someone in one of the houses there thought it would be a good idea to point a rifle at one of his neighbors, who in turn didn’t seem to agree that it was such a hot idea and informed the authorities directly. The helicopter seems to have stopped circling but the roads are still blocked off so I’m guessing this is at least near being wrapped up. Exciting!

We just made a pretty exciting announcement – You can now read all the Metroblogging sites, including blogging.la super easily from any Helio mobile device. Of course if you don’t have a Helio then this isn’t *that* exciting for you, but for those of us who do it’s pretty awesome. We’re right off of the main Helio web start page under “Surf Helio” next to The Onion and Maxim. Full announcement is here. Enjoy!

Its the best night of the year tonite, as everyone in an area that recognizes Daylight Savings Time gets to stay up an extra hour, or get up an hour later, and drag that hour hand back one hour. Officially, this happens at 2am Sunday morning, when the time magically becomes 1am.

Halloween Will Be a Little Brighter Next Year

Daylight Savings Time has traditionally ended on the last Sunday of October, but some pansies in Congress (cough, Republicans, cough) decided that extending DST to the first Sunday of November would allow trick-or-treaters one extra hour of daylight in what is known as the “Halloween Safety Act.” Part of the Energy Policy Act of 2005, the new dates for observing Daylight Savings Time begins next year.

Part of the Halloween magic for me has always been that it always got darker just before the holiday – alas, no more. More importantly, isn’t part of the Halloween fun the novelty of being able to go knock on your neighbors door and extort them for candy, after dark?

(photo taken at Elsie’s Watch Repair by nailmaker via Flickr)

One of the perks of my company is that we get free bottled water (Crystal Geyser) and sodas. About a month ago, I stopped drinking the water because it smelled and tasted… funny. The more I smelled the water, the more it smelled like phlegm. I was beginning to think I was coming down with something because every bottle I opened tasted like phlegm. So I stopped drinking the water at work and began downing diet soda, instead. (Yes, it’s as healthy as it sounds.)

But then when I bought a bottle of Crystal Geyser at a liquor store on my way to a screening the other day and it had the same phlegmmy taste, I knew it wasn’t me!

Thank you, intarweb for solving the mystery of the Phelgm Water‚Ñ¢! Too bad I’m still afraid of the bottled water, even though I know it wasn’t really phlegm.

Here are some key snippets regarding the Crystal Geyser recall, explanation for, and apology of the Phlegm Water‚Ñ¢. The full text can be found at http://www.crystalgeyserasw.com/recall

First and foremost, we would like to emphasize that there is no health or safety issue with our product. Nonetheless, this situation was of great concern to our company from a consumer satisfaction perspective as we pride ourselves on bottling the highest quality alpine spring water.

Immediately after receiving complaints we began investigating. Our investigation has revealed that we were unknowingly supplied bottle caps containing resin which did not conform to our company’s specifications. Although these caps were made from food grade materials which are approved by the FDA, they contain materials which may be susceptible to taste or odor problems. It is for this reason that it is our company policy not to use caps containing this grade of resin, even though these caps are widely used in the beverage industry.

When these caps are exposed to adverse storage conditions, such as excessive heat or light, they may breakdown and transfer a taste or odor to the water. We believe that this summers’ heat wave in southern California caused this problem. Again, this resin is made from food grade materials which are approved by the FDA, and therefore, the off-taste does not pose health or safety risks to our consumers.

If you have 8-oz or 16.9-oz product produced by our southern California Olancha plant from July 17th through September 30th, 2006 -whether opened or unopened- we suggest that you return it to the store where it was purchased. Your product will, of course, be replaced with the good tasting alpine spring water that you are accustomed to drinking. It is very important to us that we provide you with water of the highest quality and satisfaction.

The only bottles that may be affected have code that begin with “O1, “02″, and “O4″ and “Sell By” dates that range from 07/17/08 through 09/30/08. Remember, only 8-oz and 16.9-oz product with these specific codes and “Sell By” dates may have been affected and should be replaced.

That’s right folks, our 50th city is live now. Swing by Graz and see what the bloggers there are up to. Of course this is our 2nd Austrian blog joining our friends in Vienna. For new readers who want some trivia, this whole crazy Metroblogging project started right here in Los Angeles back in November, 2003. And now here we are, 50 cities later. Welcome Graz!

Pranks Turns Tragic When Shopping Cart Falls on Woman

PASADENA, October 24, 2006 – A shopping cart that had been hoisted atop a supermarket flagpole by pranksters fell on a Ralphs employee and broke her neck.

“The cart fell on (her) when she untied the rope to raise the flag, something she did every day when she went to work,” police Lt. Lisa Perrine said Tuesday. The accident occurred Saturday morning outside the Ralphs in the 300 block of West Colorado Boulevard, she said. Someone apparently raised the empty cart aloft during the night. Perrine did not know how much the shopping cart weighed or how it was attached to the top of the pole.

Shantie Marjal, 62, of Eagle Rock has been hospitalized in serious condition.

I wonder if this is a Halloween prank gone seriously wrong? Not to be a killjoy, but while many pranks are harmless, some do have the potential to maim and kill. I hate reading tragic stories about people who are injured or killed because of some “seemingly harmless prank.” Don’t people know there are consequences for their actions?

Kevin Roderick at LA Observed points to an LA Weekly article about an epidemic of staph infections on skid row, with the disclaimer, “The pictures with the story are fairly disgusting.”

Of course, I took the bait. And he’s right. I’ve lost my appetite for breakfast (and lunch, and dinner).

If you don’t know about staph infection, read up.

The article says that this nasty infection is even spreading to aid workers who are having minimal contact with the currently infected homeless, and criticizes the LA Dept. of Health Services for not taking the issue seriously.

Alas, I encourage you to check out the article, if only for the pix… and then decide if we should ignore this potentially city wide epidemic as merely a skid row problem…

Reader Scott Lowe writes into tell us about an accident at Swork in Eagle Rock (at Eagle Rock and Colorado). Anyone have any more details on this, it’s the first I’ve heard of it myself and I definitely don’t condone Minivan on Coffee Shop violence.

Today I drove past [Swork] and saw that the glass front doors appeared to be broken and were being boarded up. Watching the news tonight (I haven’t found anything on the web yet), I learned that a driver leaving the gas station across the street somehow stepped on the accelerator (it was suggested that the driver might have had a seizure), hit another car, and ended up plowing into Swork’s front door. Six people were hospitalized for their injuries.

Update: Brian Humphrey checks in with the word from the LAFD inthe comments:

“The first 9-1-1 call came from the coffee shop at 12:21:57 on Sunday afternoon with a caller stating one vehicle had traveled into the coffee shop.

The *preliminary* report from the first arriving Firefighters was of four patients, including a child with facial trauma.

Three LAFD ambulances transported patients to Glendale Memorial, Huntington Memorial and Kaiser Los Angeles Hospitals.

None of the injuries was considered life threatening.

The City’s Department of Building & Safety was summoned to assess the integrity of the structure.

LAPD was to handle the incident investigation. In case anyone wishes to follow-up with them, it was LAPD Incident #2320 of that date. “

Reading the coverage of Saturday’s meeting in today’s L.A. Times, I’m sorry that I didn’t make it to the unveiling in Lincoln Park yesterday of the three finalists’ conceptual designs for the new Los Angeles State Historic Park (aka The Cornfield) — if for no other reason than to roundly hiss and piss upon the submission of the eastcoast-based firm of Field Operations, which hypes its idea as “a radical proposal, a practical solution.”

I have an in-built skeptometer that pegs whenever practicality is proferred as a point of sale, but I’ll certainly agree with the “radical” part, in which their plan expands faaaaaaar beyond the park’s intended and allocated acreage to include nothing less than the demolition and relocation of Dodger Stadium, which they abruptly refer to as “obsolete.” What I particularly love is that the New York company trotted out an L.A.-based architect named Thom Mayne to deliver that edict… as if having a local say it somehow lends it more credibility while also buffering any blowback at the outsiders for saying the destruction of the treasured landmark is long overdue.

Putting emotions aside as best I can at the thought of one of my favorite places disappearing from the landscape, I still can’t get past the incredulity I feel toward Field Operations for redrawing the park’s footprint at an increase of some 640%, from its existing 32 acres to 205 — 60 of which would of course be allocated for residential and commercial development. How does that happen? Did they just look a little to the side of the Cornfield and say “Hey, what’s say we get rid of Dodger Stadium!?” Not that I’d ever be against more urban parkland, I just find it highly suspect when out-of-towners color so far outside the lines. It may just be me, but if I’m designing a 32-acre parcel into public parkland, you can count on me to pretty much stay within those boundaries. You can also count on me to shake my fists at any New Yorkers who come here with little regard for anything other than their grand plans of remaking the place in their own image and for their own gain.

(Cory Lidle (right) with baseball writer Randy Miller over Clearwater, Fla. Credit: phillyBurbs.com)

Hollywood, CA born Cory Lidle was killed on board the small airplane that crashed into a New York City highrise earlier today, resulting on four fatalities according to the New York Coroner’s office.

Lidle, along with the rest of his team, had recently “cleaned out his locker” after Saturday’s third loss against the Detroit Tigers in the post-season MLB playoffs.

Lidle’s plane, a 2002 Cirrus SR20 Fixed Wing/Single Engine aircraft, was registered to his address in Lakeland, FL. The Cirrus SR20 is considered a very safe small aircraft, featuring an emergency chute that can be deployed by the pilot in mayday situations. While inital reports are that Lidle may have issued a “mayday” call, and had been flying irregularly, it i unknown if he had attempted to utilize the chute prior to the crash.

Lidle was born in Hollywood on March 22, 1972, and went on to play baseball at South Hills High School in West Covina along with fellow Yankees Jason Giambi and Aaron Small. (source: Wikipedia)

Lidle was traded to the Yankees from the Philadelphia Phillies last July. Former teammate Arthur Rhodes previously complained of him, “The only thing Cory Lidle wants to do is fly around in his airplane and gamble.” (source: Wikipedia)

Lidle is survived by his son Christopher and wife Melanie.

This is all over the place at this point, but the word is a small plane has crashed into a residential building in NYC, after it was seen “doing tricks” by witnesses leading investigators to believe the crash was not intentional. More updates on Metroblogging NYC. Moments ago CNN reported that the plane was registered to the Yankees’ Cory lidle who was born in Hollywood and lives in West Covina.

Metroblogging New York is giving frequent updates on the breaking news from New York:

Holy crap! At about 2:45 pm, a small plane or helicopter (they still aren’t sure) crashed into an apartment building on the Upper East Side.

CNN is reporting there is no indication that this is a terrorist attack, although the FAA is on high alert:

NORAD (North American Aerospace Defense Command) said it had put fighter aircraft into the air over numerous U.S. cities, though they said they had no reason to believe the event in New York was anything more than an accident, sources told CNN’s Barbara Starr.

No indication whether or not if military jets are patrolling over Los Angeles, but if anyone sees or hears of anything, please drop word in the comments.

UPDATE: Reports are that New York Yankee’s pitcher Cory Lidle was the pilot and owner of the plane. First responders found his passport in the street near the crash. (via CNN)

Just when it seems all’s going well — or at least better — along comes the news that the Los Angeles basin has climbed back to the top as the nation’s smog capital, beating out rivals Houston and the San Joaquin Valley for that distinction:

“As of Sept. 27, the southland exceeded the federal ozone health standard on 86 days, compared with 83 days during 2005 and 88 days in 2004, according to the South Coast Air Quality Management District.”

Houston rang up only a measly 34 days, while the San Joaquin Valley missed it by that much with 82. Even with the strictest air-quality requirments L.A. is proof you can’t keep bad airborne particulate matter down.

Tuned into the Channel 7 news at 11 to find this high speed chase already in progress. Apparently it’s been going on since about 10PM and they seem to have scrapped all the other news because this chase is the only thing they’ve shown for the last 20 minutes. In that time he’s gone from Pasadena down the 110, to the 105 east, to the 605 north and now he’s on surface streets. I guess they think this driver is a murder suspect or something, it’s really hard to tell because the anchors on Channel 7 are pretty much just making shit up at this point in order to keep talking. Seriously. “He’s in this Honda, he’s driving, he’s still driving, still in the honda, we don’t know the name of the suspect or if he has any weapons in the car with him, no word if he has a sandwich or anything else in there either, looks like he’s still driving in that honda and…” And on that note, it’s over – 11:25 the dude crashed through a fence and about 97 LAPD officers jumped out and grabbed him. That’s that.

A click over to L.A. Observed has revealed that L.A. Alternative is folding, with this week’s issue being its last to hit the newsstands. I’ve been a regular reader since first moving to Silver Lake in 2003 and even had the pleasure of working with Managing Editor (and frequent Blogging.la commenter) Michele and Associate Editor Evan George on their June 9 cover feature (alongside Ryan of losanjealous.com) and I’m damn sad to see this independent voice go silent.