Law Enforcement

Family, friends mourn loss of West Covina native, a Los Angeles police officer
Friends and family members on Tuesday remembered Jesus "Jesse" Ravega as a humble man of God, a strong family man and a passionate worker who was ready to risk his life every day as a Los Angeles police officer. Nearly 300 friends and family members gathered at Faith Community Church, 1211 E. Badillo St., on Tuesday to say goodbye to Ravega, a West Covina resident who died on Sept. 2 in a motorcycle crash. Ravega, 48, was on his way to work when he fell at the 101-110 Freeway interchange while trying to pass a tractor-trailer, which then ran over the officer.
San Gabriel Tribune

Crime alerts for Hollywood Hills West, Mar Vista and eight other L.A. neighborhoods
Crime reports are up significantly for the latest week in 10 L.A. neighborhoods, according to an analysis of LAPD data by the Los Angeles Times' Crime L.A. database. Five neighborhoods reported a significant increase in violent crime. Hollywood Hills West was the most unusual, recording three reports compared with a weekly average of 0.3 over the last three months. Mar Vista topped the list of six neighborhoods with property crime alerts.
Los Angeles Times

LAPD sets up perimeter, searches for parolee near the Venice Pier
Los Angeles police were searching vehicles leaving an area along the Marina Peninsula on Tuesday night as they looked for a parolee at large in the beachfront neighborhoods south of the Venice Pier. A perimeter had been set up in an area bounded roughly by Washington Boulevard on the north, Strongs Drive on the east and Pacific Avenue on the west, said Officer Karen Rayner of the Los Angeles Police Department. Officers were searching vehicles to ensure that the unidentified parolee would not flee the area. It was unclear what caused police to look for the parolee.
Los Angeles Times

Reward offered in August robbery of letter carrier
The U.S. Postal Inspection Service announced Tuesday a $50,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of a suspect who robbed a U.S. Postal Service letter carrier. On August 20, a suspect allegedly robbed a letter carrier at 1627 W. 60th Place at about 10:45 a.m. The suspect was described as an African-American male in his mid-40s with a dark complexion standing between 6 feet 1 and 6 feet 5 inches tall, weighing approximately 190 pounds with a thin build, with thin short hair. He was last seen wearing a black jacket, T-shirt and green pants.
ABC7

City Government

L.A. council rejects reviving red-light-camera program
L.A.'s red light cameras were shuttered for good on Tuesday, as the City Council rejected a proposal to bring them back at four intersections for monitoring new safety measures. "Enough is enough," said Councilman Bill Rosendahl. "We have debated this over and over again and it's time to finally end this. The courts won't enforce it and it's a nuisance on drivers." The 10-3 vote, with council members Bernard Parks, Jan Perry and Ed Reyes voting to keep the program, will bring to an end all aspects of the red light photo program.
Los Angeles Daily News

Legislation

After city scandals, lawmakers crackdown on car impounds
Bills written to shield illegal immigrants in California from losing their cars to impound have been stalled, vetoed or voted down for years. In the past two weeks, however, two such pieces of legislation reached the governor's desk with minimal political scuffling. Sobriety checkpoints are intended to target drunken drivers, but in California, the roadway operations catch sober, unlicensed motorists far more often. A majority of these drivers are illegal immigrants.
California Watch

Immigration

Broader database checks to reduce people in US with expired visas who pose security risks
The Obama administration is cracking down on immigrants in the U.S. who have overstayed the terms of their visas by using a system that automatically checks multiple national security, immigration and law enforcement databases at the same time, a senior Homeland Security Department official said. The common practice has been to make manual checks of individual databases. The new system has already identified dozens of investigative leads, said John Cohen, deputy counterterrorism coordinator at the Homeland Security Department.
Associated Press

The Economy

California incomes plummet, poverty rises
California's poverty rate jumped to its highest level in thirteen years during 2010, and state household income dropped by almost 5 percent, according to census figures released this morning. About 16.3 percent of Californians lived in poverty last year, up a full percentage point from the previous year. The US definition of poverty is an annual income of $22,314 for a family of four, and $11,139 for a single person in 2010. Median household income - the middle number in a list of incomes ranked from lowest to highest - in California fell from $57,061 to $54,459.
Sacramento Bee

Politics

Assemblyman Feuer signals possible bid for L.A. city attorney
State Assemblyman Mike Feuer (D-Los Angeles) filed paperwork Monday to raise money for a possible 2013 bid for L.A. city attorney, 10 years after he lost a tight election for the office. Feuer formed a fundraising committee for the office currently occupied by Carmen Trutanich, who is "exploring" a run for L.A. County district attorney in 2012 -- and who has already raised $500,000 for that campaign. Feuer and Trutanich are both represented by campaign consultant John Shallman, who helped Trutanich win the city attorney seat in 2009.
Los Angeles Times

7 candidates qualify, 7 more pending for 15th District council race
As of the end of the business day Monday, seven candidates had qualified -- with seven more candidates pending qualification -- for the Nov. 8 special election ballot to fill Janice Hahn's Los Angeles City Council seat. Qualified for the ballot are Joe Buscaino, Rebecca Chambliss, Assemblyman Warren Furutani, Pat McOsker, Rudy Svorinich Jr., Gordon Teuber and Jayme Wilson. An additional seven candidates turned nominating petitions in late Monday, the deadline to do so.
Torrance Daily Breeze