Law Enforcement

L.A. County starting over on emergency communications system
Los Angeles County leaders Thursday put the county at risk of losing hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funds when they voted to scrap years of planning for a vast emergency communications system and restart the search for companies to build the complex project. The drastic decision came three years after officials from the county and the many independent cities within its borders launched the massive project, which is expected to cost about $700 million to design and build.
Los Angeles Times

Rally today for Erica Evelyn Escobar, allegedly killed by man released by California on 'non-revocable parole'
The family of 27-year-old Culver City murder victim Erica Evelyn Escobar will protest a controversial policy that put her alleged killer under minimal supervision after he was released from prison last year. Thirty-one-year-old Zachariah Lehnen is accused in the early May double murder of Escobar and 89-year-old World War II vet Lucien Bergez at the latter's Culver City home. The rally, with State Sen. Ted Lieu scheduled to attend, happens at 11 a.m. today at the Ronald Reagan State Building, 300 S. Spring St.
LA Weekly

City attorney considers filing charges in near riot in Hollywood
When a deejay sent a Twitter message Wednesday telling people to come to a concert in Hollywood celebrating the release of a movie about raves, he wrote: "Let's see if the magic of social networking will work today." Well, it did - in ways he never imagined. Police arrested three after violence broke out Wednesday during the deejays performance in front of Grauman's Chinese Theatre before a movie premiere. The city attorney's office may charge event organizers.
Los Angeles Times

Police search for man suspected of raping woman in Studio City alley
A woman in her 50s was raped at knifepoint as she walked in an alley parallel to Ventura Boulevard in Studio City, and police were looking Thursday for the suspect. The attack occurred about 11 p.m. Tuesday, as the victim was walking in the alley south of the 12000 block of Ventura Boulevard, officials said. The assailant grabbed the woman from behind, held a knife to her throat, forced her to the ground and sexually assaulted her. The suspect was described as a 40- to 45-year-old African-American, 5-foot-4 to 6 feet and 130 to 170 pounds.
Los Angeles Daily News

Video shows brazen 'smash-and-grab' jewelry store robbery
Los Angeles police are investigating a brazen downtown robbery, in which three men wearing hooded sweatshirts rushed into a jewelry store, pepper sprayed the owner and smashed the display cases, taking more than $7,000 in costume jewelry. Police suspect it is latest in a series of robberies tied to South L.A. gangs targeting jewelery stores in Los Angeles and Orange counties. "We've been seeing these smash-and-grabs occurring for several weeks," said Lt. Paul Vernon of the Los Angeles Police Department. The robbery occurred Friday afternoon at the 21st Century Jewelry store on Broadway.
Los Angeles Times

Navy description of LA port community raises ire
The USS Abraham Lincoln's pilots have flown missions over war-torn Afghanistan and taken part in war games off the coast of Malaysia in recent months. But when the huge aircraft carrier dropped anchor in Southern California this week, Navy officials told its crew to stay out of the Port of San Pedro because the place is too dangerous. Maps given to sailors by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service outlined the bustling port's downtown shopping district in red, describing it as a "high drug use-distribution area."
Associated Press

Palisades Park Advisory Board discusses LAPD Facility
The Pacific Palisades Park Advisory Board opened its meeting Wednesday evening at the Palisades Branch Library with an appeal to the community for additional board members. The volunteer position requires a one-year commitment and the ability to attend four meetings per year to discuss matters concerning Palisades Park and Recreation Center. A $6,500 donation from the American Legion for an LAPD facility at the park had to be temporarily returned while a building permit is acquired from the city of Los Angeles. The facility will not be a staffed substation, but a drop-in station so that officers don't have to leave the Palisades to do things like fill out reports, according to board member Haldis Toppel.
Pacific Palisades Patch

Retired LAPD sergeant's slaying in Walnut remains unsolved
Four years after the unsolved shooting death of a retired police sergeant and school teacher outside his Walnut handyman business, detectives and family members are renewing their calls to bring his killer to justice. Ruben Whittington, 61, of Diamond Bar, had just left his Mr. Handyman business in the 300 block of South Lemon Avenue on July 29, 2007, when he was fatally shot, sheriff's investigators said. No motive has been established in the killing, and nothing was believed to have been stolen from Whittington.
Whittier Daily News

The Economy

California small businesses were hit hard by recession
California's smallest businesses - those without employees - were clobbered by the first two years of recession, a new Census Bureau report shows, with more than 80,000 ceasing operations and the survivors' annual incomes dropping by more than $20 billion. The number of California's non-employee businesses hit a high mark of 2.76 million in 2007 but by 2009 had dropped by 82,878, the Census Bureau report, based on Internal Revenue Service data, found. Business receipts declined from $145 billion to $121 billion during the two-year period.
Sacramento Bee

Legislation

Rep. Howard Berman proposes helicopter noise bill for L.A.
Rep. Howard L. Berman (D-Valley Village), hearing a din of constituent complaints, introduced legislation Thursday targeting noise from low-flying helicopters above Los Angeles residential neighborhoods. Berman's Los Angeles Residential Helicopter Noise Relief Act would require the Federal Aviation Administration to establish rules on flight paths and minimum altitudes for helicopter operations in Los Angeles County residential areas within a year of the bill being signed into law. Exemptions would be allowed for emergency responders and the military.
Los Angeles Times