Law Enforcement

Gunman killed Westlake woman 'for no apparent reason,' police say
Authorities are asking for the public's help as they search for a gunman they say fatally shot a Westlake woman Tuesday night. Witnesses told police that a gunman got out of a dark-colored sedan near 8th and Coronado streets around 9:40 p.m. Tuesday. He approached Lorri Ann Anderson, 51, and shot her multiple times "for no apparent reason," Los Angeles Police Officer Norma Eisenman said. He then got back in his vehicle and drove away.
Los Angeles Times

2 sought in killing of LA man near Central Park
Police on Thursday continued an aggressive manhunt for a gunman and a getaway driver who ambushed and killed a Los Angeles man in midtown Manhattan, saying they're following multiple leads and have searched the victim's home for clues. The push came amid published reports that the New York Police Department had identified the driver. Officials dismissed the reports, saying they consider the driver a possible witness who has run the risk of working with a stone-cold triggerman.
Associated Press

LAPD releases sketch of 'Ear Gauge stalker' who groped women in Sylmar
Police have released a sketch of a man who attacked and groped two women in Sylmar. About 2:40 a.m. Sunday, a man walked up to a woman pushing a baby stroller around an apartment complex at 12960 Dronfield Ave. After starting to make conversation, he reached under her dress and groped her, Los Angeles police Lt. Paul Vernon said. The woman screamed, and he ran away.
Los Angeles Daily News

Ex-soap opera actor charged in undercover LAPD cocaine sting
Los Angeles County prosecutors charged former soap opera actor Scott Evans on Thursday with felony attempted possession of a controlled substance. Evans, 29, who played a police officer on the ABC daytime drama "One Life to Live," was arrested Dec. 4 by the Los Angeles Police Department after allegedly trying to buy cocaine from an undercover officer. Evans was due in court Thursday. The Massachusetts native is the brother of "Fantastic Four" actor Chris Evans.
Los Angeles Times

LAPD searching for man who robbed Starbucks and Subway by asking for job
Police are searching for a man who robbed several Starbucks coffee shops and Subway restaurants in the West Valley by entering at closing time, asking for a job application and a glass of water before pulling out a gun and robbing the places. He's actually picked up the name the "Job App Bandit." The crimes were committed between Sep. 2 and Nov. 10, and he hit four Starbucks, four Subway's a Coffee Bean and two others which outside of the LAPD's jurisdiction in Ventura and Burbank, but most likely related.
LA Weekly

Feds say L.A. 'sweatshop' sweep finds widespread violations
Federal and state labor authorities Thursday announced the discovery of "widespread" labor violations by downtown garment manufacturers that help supply retailers like Aldo, Urban Outfitters and Forever 21, among others. During an August sweep of a building at 830 S. Hill St., the U.S. Department of Labor and the California Labor Standards Enforcement division found that 10 garment businesses paid workers an average of $6.50 an hour, significantly below the federal standard of $7.25 an hour and the state minimum of $8 an hour.
Los Angeles Times

Oakland Police Department placed under court control
A federal judge has placed Oakland Police Department reform efforts under his direct control, citing nearly a decade of inadequate attempts to comply with a legal settlement in a case that unmasked systemic police brutality and racial profiling. U.S. District Judge Thelton Henderson on Wednesday signed off on an eleventh-hour agreement reached last week between the city and plaintiffs' attorneys under which he will appoint a full-time "compliance director" with sweeping powers to dictate changes related to the case.
Los Angeles Times

Public Health

Illegal cigarette sales to teens on the rise, report says
Illegal sales of cigarettes to minors has increased for the first time in three years across California, and the use of smokeless tobacco products such as snus are rising among youth, according to a first-of-its-kind report released by state public health officials on Thursday. This year alone, illegal tobacco sales to minors rose to 8.7 percent from 5.6 percent in 2011.
Los Angeles Daily News

Los Angeles County

Los Angeles County population tops 9.9 million, 26% of state
More than one in four Californians lives within Los Angeles County, according to new numbers from the state Department of Finance. The county's population grew by nearly 51,000 residents over the last year. In all, more than 9.9 million people now live in Los Angeles County, accounting for more than 26% of California's population. The state's overall population is now more than 37.8 million, an increase of about 256,000 people since 2011, according to the report.
Los Angeles Times

City Government

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa picks Riverside official as L.A.'s new information technology chief
Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa announced Thursday his new nominee to take over the Information Technology Agency. Steve Renker, who began his career in Los Angeles working on computer programming, has most recently served as chief information officer for the city of Riverside, where he oversaw development of a citywide free wireless system.
Los Angeles Daily News

Griffith Park Observatory will stay open late Dec. 21 to prove the world won't end
Officials at the Griffith Park Observatory are so confident the world will not end on Dec. 21, as allegedly predicted by the Mayan calendar, that they're keeping the observatory open past midnight on that date. The observatory normally closes at 10 p.m. but it will remain open an extra 121 minutes to demonstrate that claims regarding the Mayan calendar, planetary alignments, rogue planets, galactic beams, and other related phenomena have no basis in fact, the observatory said in a statement.
Los Angeles Daily News