Just yesterday I noted that our new header image was a famous mural off Fairfax. This photo is from earlier today when a truck from Graffiti Control Systems removed the locked gate from the private property where the mural is located and buffed it. The mural was completely legal and commissioned by the building owner, who can be seen in the photo as well obviously upset that artwork she had on a building she owned had been destroyed. LA Taco did some research and found that Graffiti Control Systems is based in North Hollywood (also on Facebook and yelp) and contracts with the city of LA to remove graffiti – though something is definitely out of the ordinary here unless they are in the habit of buffing anything they see regardless of where it is. You may recall a few years ago a very culturally significant mural of Ed Ruscha was painted over “on accident” and Saber’s Guiness Book of World Record holding LA River piece was wiped without notice.

While there is much ongoing (and forever ongoing) debate about the artistic value of graffiti, the city clearly need to do some work on educating it’s clean up crews on the difference between a tag on a garage door and a legal and commissioned mural. Especially since Los Angeles is so well known for it’s murals which a huge part of the life of it’s residents. Seeing artwork like this destroyed is disgusting. I hope Lynda, the owner of the building this mural used to be on, files a law suit against the city for trespassing and vandalism.

UPDATE: GCS has admitted this was an error and will be paying to have it fixed.

Because I’d've forfeited yesterday’s and every damn game going forward until the apprehension of the suspects wanted in the post opening-game beating that put a Santa Cruz paramedic and father of two into the hospital in critical condition. Plus I’d put up $100,000 in team money as a reward for their arrest and conviction.

But nothing so extreme and outrageous and defiantly zero tolerance occurred to the the Dodgers who instead give us a front office spokesperson who gives us this: “It is extremely unfortunate that this incident took place on what was otherwise a great day at Dodger Stadium for tens of thousands of fans.”

Really?

Sure, I understand the show must go on and the  game must be played. But I also understand that doctors are trying to decide whether or not to remove a part of the victim’s brain.

From the Daily News:

Bryan Stow, 41, is in a medically-induced coma today with brain injuries delivered by two Dodgers fans. Stow, wearing San Francisco Giants apparel, was jumped, knocked to the ground and repeatedly kicked in the head after Thursday night’s game, his relatives said.

According to police the attackers are 18-25 years old, were wearing Dodgers attire and had shaved heads and thin mustaches. One had a small goatee, and the other had numerous tattoos on his neck, said Detective Percy Morris at a news conference Friday. A female reportedly drove the getaway car the suspects got into after the assault.

Police urge anyone with information on the attack to call police at the Northeast Station at 213/485-2563.

“people have a right to ride a bicycle in the City of Los Angeles”

A soon to be law makes harassing (previously only assaulting was a crime) a cyclist illegal. Which opens the doors to civil suits for those convicted of harassing someone simply for riding a bike. Any cyclist in Los Angeles will tell you harassment is an almost daily event which makes this news huge. Much more info about this over on the LA DOT Bike Blog but needless to say, this is a fantastic step in the right direction towards making LA a better city for everyone.

Have you ever wanted to start your own taxi or livery business?  Ever just want to take cop car for a spin and couldn’t fearing the consequences?  Well you can if you buy one of these retired beauties from the CHP.  The potential uses are there, it just takes a little creative thinking.

They are sold out of Torrance with lists updated daily.  They even start as low as $2,500, arrest history not included.  For all your retired cruiser shopping needs its as easy as a quick phone call to 310-538-0469 for daily updated listings.

I’d probably skip the old Taurus sedans and go straight for the Crown Vic…been in a few over the years and can tell you they ride and handle much differently than the straight up civilian version.  Just remember caveat emptor as these cars though well maintained have had a lot of hard miles put on them.

Pics courtesy CHP Southern via twitter and used with their permission.

Sistine Culvert

Who knew, but under a new state law parents of gang-bangers are going to be held accountable for their kids actions.  Monterey Park is taking it a step further with the parents/guardians of the bangers in LAUSD to meet with the victims according to an article appearing in the Pasadena Star News yesterday morning.

Part of the program includes educating the parents on resources to keep their kids out of more trouble.  The assumption of course is that these parents give a damn in the first place.

Some assclown chucked a body into a recycling bin somwhere in the city and it wasn’t found until it made it’s way all the way downtown to the processing center. I don’t know if it was mixed in with the paper or plastics or glass but I do know that a body doesn’t fit into any one of those categories. Also, in addition to that being a less than respectable way to treat a previously living person, it’s also totally messing things up at the recycling plant and the whole place just turned into a crime scene. Nice move, dick.

Our good friend e*star recounts her horrific mugging in broad daylight while the rest of Hollywood stood idly by. It sounds like she gave the girl a good ass-kicking:

She careened me towards the white picket fence at June and De Longpre, pulling my hair. I whipped her back around, kicking her in the stomach. We continued as I screamed from within the far reaches of my lungs to the passing cars who probably thought they were witnessing a chick fight, what with my female mugger.

It’s comforting to know that events like these are still taking place while the LAPD is running radar on Coldwater & Burbank to catch soccer moms speeding on their way to work.

We’re glad you’re OK, Esther. Thank you for sharing your story with us, and for standing your ground in your new neighborhood.

This just got sent to me but it as apparently what happened at the Hollywood XXI store (6801 Hollywood Blvd, #1C-134 Los Angeles, CA 90028) earlier this week. There are some comments on YouTube with more information, but it sounds like two deaf shoppers were in XXI when security suspected them of shoplifting and grabbed them as they left the store, one guy didn’t comply with their verbal instructions (he’s deaf) so they tackled him and choked him on the street in front of the store, which is what you can see in this video. According to the comments, the 2nd guy (with the white shirt freaking out that his friend is being attacked) was able to produce receipts for everything. If anyone knows more about this let me know and I’ll post an update.

I am drafting this blog post from my desk at an office building/warehouse in Chatsworth where the water has been turned off all morning. “Why has the water been turned off?” you ask (or more likely you’re not asking because you really don’t care, but I’m going to tell you anyway). The water has been turned off because last night the plumbing itself was stolen. That’s right, someone stole a length of copper piping from the line that runs in front of the building where I work–and probably other buildings as well. Apparently (who knew?) you can get about $200 reselling a section of piping like that, so people go cruising neighborhoods looking for accessible copper piping to dismantle and sell. I lived through the “no radio” days in the urban east coast, and I must say, this tops that. So now, we here at my office are all crossing our legs and holding it while we wait for the repair to be finished; my boss is ordering a cage for the pipes in front of the building; and somewhere a couple of guys are happily smoking crack. The economy? I’m thinking it’s not improving.

LAPD Bomb Squad by Clinton Steeds (2009)

I came home this evening to find a lot of police activity in my neighborhood and had to do a little detour. I realized that the happenings were pretty close to my street. In fact, one end of my street, about half a block from my house, was yellow taped off. I really wanted to find out what was going on, but wasn’t too keen on wandering over to the scene. I learned some basic information from a neighbor (suspicious package, homes evacuated), but I wanted to follow the progress.

Someone suggested I go to an online police scanner, which hadn’t occurred to me. I found what looks to be a pretty good resource. Radio Reference.com’s Los Angeles County page has live communication feeds from a variety of police, fire, and EMS departments. I tuned in to the Los Angeles Police and Fire-San Fernando Valley Divisions broadcast and  learned fairly quickly that the situation was resolved and that the “resources” were being released. In a relatively short period of time, I heard all kinds of things from animal bites to suspects being apprehended. I know I’m not the only one who get frustrated when up-to-the-minute info is not readily available, even on Twitter. You might want to bookmark this one.

This Saturday, May 8, is the 2nd annual city-wide gun buyback program.

Go to one of the five drop off locations with any type of weapon you want to get rid of and you may receive up to $100 in gift cards for hand guns and up to $200 for assault weapons (as specified in the State of California). You can choose a Ralph’s gift card or a pre-paid Visa card.

It’s all anonymous and there will be no questions asked.

Last year the LAPD collected over 1700 firearms, including a grenade launcher. (Seriously!) Read the full press release from the Mayor’s Office here.

The five buyback locations are open from 10am to 3pm:

EAST LOS ANGELES – Hollenbeck Area
Legacy LA
1350 N. San Pablo Street
Los Angeles, CA 90015

SOUTH LOS ANGELES – Harbor Area
Park & Ride Parking Lot
1300 West Pacific Coast Highway
Wilmington, CA 90744

SOUTH LOS ANGELES – 77th Area
Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church
7900 South Western Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90047

WEST LOS ANGELES – Hollywood Area
Farm Fresh Ranch Grocery Store
5520 Sunset Blvd
Los Angeles, CA  90028

VALLEY – Mission Area
Facey Medical Center Parking Lot
11165 Sepulveda Boulevard
Mission Hills, CA 91345

Last October, a year after the horrific Mid Wilshire-area murder of John McGraham I posted that I was still awaiting justice.

Today justice came. McGraham’s killer, 31-year-old Benjamin Martin, was sentenced to spend the rest of his life in prison with no possibility of parole.

From the latimes.com article:

Martin reportedly disliked homeless people lingering near the barber shop where he worked. A co-worker later told police he had seen Martin shout at the homeless to move away from the shop, sometimes striking out at them.

A customer said that he saw Martin on a separate occasion chasing McGraham down 3rd Street, hitting him with a bag of towels and kicking him in the back. The barber yelled, “I don’t want to see you around here again,” according to the customer.

When the manager of the barber shop learned of the attack, Martin was fired. Three months later, prosecutors said, Martin returned to the area with revenge on his mind.

That was the night of October 9, 2008. On the south side of 3rd Street at Berendo Martin confronted McGraham. Dousing him with a bucket of gasoline Martin set him on fire with a flare and fled. Residents came to McGraham’s aid and tried to douse the flames but it was too late. He died at the scene of his burns.

McGraham’s gruesome end brought the diverse community together to grieve the loss of the troubled man who had been a fixture of the neighborhood and to demand his killer be found. Three months of investigation later Martin was arrested and charged with one count of murder with special circumstance; allegations of murder by torture and murder by means of lying in wait, making the monster eligible for the death penalty.

I am much more satisfied with this sentence.

I know times are tough and sold ad space is sold ad space, but did you really have to run the Stihl ad on page 16 of the front section of today’s paper? You know, the one partially pictured at right that among a whole passel of fossil-fueled devices features a certifiably badass leafblowing dude sporting the latest in righteous gas-powered leafblower technology beneath the headline “This Spring I Want Something Lightweight” (and to which I answer “Try a fucking rake, blowhard.”).

The reason I ask isn’t because of anything wrong with Stihl, just the primary subject matter of this specific ad because for the last 12 years or so there’s apparently been something you folks there in your downtown bunker might not have heard about known as a citywide ban on gas-powered leafblower use or more officially “Los Angeles City Municipal Code 112.04(c),” which nutshelled says: “Gas powered blowers cannot be used within 500 feet of a residence at anytime.”

See the problems with the devices are myriad: they make a whole mess of noise pollution, and while making all that noise they’re also creating a bunch of air pollutions what with the harmful emissions they shit and all the particulate matter they push off the ground and into the air. Overall it’s a lose/lose but it appears a lack of prevailing wisdom on the subject (or maybe you knew and just don’t give a crap) allowed you to shill for Stihl, and having done so you gotta know that a whole bunch of yard-warrior homeowners are gonna go grab them some of that anti-green goodness and start using it on any given Saturday or Sunday morning, probably around 10 a.m. Hopefully they’ll all live next door to wherever you all get up in the morning.

You see where I’m going with this? Yeah: NOT a very conscientious, connected decision there, guys. Not by a longshot. In fact if there was a Lame Hall Of Fame, I’d nominate you for the Way Out Of Touch category. So in an effort to help you help yourselves and your paper from looking so idiotic in the future, after the jump I’ve put together a quick list of other things your ad sales department might want to just say no to, no matter how much money that four-color half-pager might bring in. It’s far from complete and some of the subjects you’re probably familiar with, but it should give you a place of responsibility and integrity from which to start:

Read the rest of this entry →

One of the article’s I read about the slaying of Ronald Barron, the former gangmember turned interventionist, stated that the shooting Sunday night after the Super Bowl took place outside a bar with a red door on the 5000 block of Pico Boulevard. So when I detoured to that block this morning — just a couple side streets away from my normal morning bike commute route — I went looking for that red door.

But I didn’t need it to find the crime scene’s location, because what drew my eye first was the large curbside shrine placed there by friends in memory of and mourning for the man senselessly murdered by a tagger he confronted after leaving that bar with the red door.

Among the assemblage of cards, plush toys, empty glasses, bottles and candles, most moving to me was a vase of white roses that had fallen over. Wrapped around the slender container were a red and a blue bandana. Separate they are the colors of rivalry and hatred, but these two were tightly entwined, representative of a unity born of sorrow. Born of enough.

I stood that vase back up.

A few other photos of the shrine are here.

At first sight when I read the headline in this mornings Pasadena Star News my parent hat was on and thought bravo keep the child sex offenders at bay.  Then I got to thinking, do we have a civil liberty issue at hand?  What’s to stop them from crossing the city limit anyway?

Monrovia joined the ranks of several other cities in the area that place significant restrictions on where a registered sex offender, on parole or not, can reside or even congregate within the city limits.  Only 2% of the city residential housing stock is now available to these folks.  2%.

The law enacted is based on the Prop 83 Jessica’s Law that was passed a few years ago.  LA County was the first to enact similar restrictions that apply to the unincorporated areas of the county.  Challenges to similar restrictions have stood the test of law.

Here’s where my libertarian streak rears its head.  If the laws say these guys served their time for the crime and are free to go why are they being restricted so much more differently than other criminals once released?  I mean a petty thief released can go free to live and congregate once his time and parole is served yet these folks are treated differently.  I understand the chances of recidivism is high among the offenders, but the code as passed doesn’t allow for shades of gray.

I’m not advocating those sex offenders for violent crime or involving children get a break.  But what about the non-violent ones.  As an example, a guy at a party misreads a girls intentions and plants a kiss on her only to get slapped, then a police report charging him with sexual battery lands him on the offender list?  Or the couple that have consensual sex only to find out one of the partners lied their age and it becomes a sex with a minor charge landing them on the list?  Shades of gray.

Aside from the liberties issue of residing where you wish after you’ve served your time there is another concern.  Isn’t this classic NIMBY and just shoving the problem to another city to deal with?  The article points out that an opinion is held that it is the states duty to relocate them when released from prison,  really?

What say you?