Law Enforcement

Discount store clerk, a mother of five, fatally shot during robbery
Police are investigating the shooting death of a clerk at a discount store in Florence two blocks from the LAPD's 77th Street station. Martha Sanchez, a 39-year-old mother of five, was killed about 8:50 p.m. Tuesday at the Happy Bargain store in the 7400 block of Broadway by a man "who walked into the store, robbed it and shot Sanchez numerous times" before fleeing on foot, according to a news release from the Los Angeles Police Department.
Los Angeles Times

Man killed in officer-involved shooting in West Adams District
A man was killed during a confrontation with police in the West Adams district Wednesday. Officers responded to a report of a man with a gun at approximately 6 p.m. near West Adams Boulevard and Hauser. A LAPD spokesperson told CBS2/KCAL9 News shots were fired and the suspect was hit. No officers were hurt. The department's Force Investigation Division, responsible for the investigation of all incidents involving the use of deadly force of a LAPD officer, is investigating.
CBS LA

Students react to LAPD's monitoring of The Row
Students living on W. 28th St, better known as The Row, will find extra company on certain days this semester in the form of Los Angeles Police Department officers. According to USC Interfraternity Council Vice President of Judicial Affairs Carlos Portela, the IFC, working in conjunction with LAPD and the Dept. of Public Safety, have been in talks since the spring 2013 semester about ways to reduce crime on The Row.
Daily Trojan

LAPD seeks public's help in locating missing 20-year-old man with autism
The Los Angeles Police Department is seeking the public's help in locating a missing man with autism. Joseph Swett, 20, was last seen when he went for a walk Sept. 13 in the 8600 block of Sunland Boulevard in Los Angeles, his mother Mary Kathleen Swett told KNX 1070s Claudia Peschiutta. Swett's mother said her son left without an ID, money or a phone, and that he may be in Echo Park, Burbank, or near Los Angeles International Airport.
CBS LA

Police seek public's help to find missing, possibly suicidal man, 29
Police Thursday sought the whereabouts of a 29-year-old Reseda man who has been missing since Sunday and who is described by his family as possibly depressed or suicidal. Miguel Angel Garcia was last seen in the 13500 block of Pierce Street in Pacoima, according to a Los Angeles Police Department statement. He lives in Reseda but frequents the Pacoima area and was seen near the hills above Sylmar before he went missing, police said.
City News Service

Man allegedly poses as LAPD captain, steals assault-rifle parts in Castaic
A Simi Valley man was in jail Wednesday and facing charges that could include weapons violations and impersonating a police officer, authorities said. Jeffrey Edmonds, 37, was arrested Tuesday and was booked on suspicion of grand theft, impersonating a peace officer, and weapons violations, Deputy Josh Dubin of the sheriff's Santa Clarita Valley Station said.
City News Service

FBI crime reports show slight increase in violent crime nationally
The nation saw a slight increase in violent crimes last year and a decrease in property crimes, according to the latest FBI data, even as overall levels in the Los Angeles area remain near record lows. The FBI's annual Crime in the United States report compiles criminal data under the Uniform Crime Reporting program from 18,290 cities. It showed that nationwide there were 1.2 million violent crimes of murder, manslaughter, rape and aggravated assault and 8.97 million property crimes, with losses of $15.5 billion.
Los Angeles Daily News

FBI hinting at 10-day shutdown if sequester continues
FBI officials are hinting that the agency might furlough employees for more than 10 weekdays and shut down its offices on those dates if the government-wide spending cuts known as the sequester continue through the next fiscal year. Such a plan would affect FBI personnel more than the agency's current sequester measures, which do not involve unpaid leave.
Washington Post

Prisons

Brown wants extension on inmate transfers, but Corrections Department making preparations
Facing a looming deadline to move about 8,000 inmates out of California's prison system, Gov. Jerry Brown is once again asking federal judges for an extension. The extra time would allow California to implement a plan authorized by SB 105, which passed the Legislature last week with near-unanimous support. But California's Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation isn't waiting around for the judges' response. As Brown and legislative leaders focus attention on their rehabilitation and treatment-centered approach, the department is already laying the groundwork for relocating prisoners.
KQED San Francisco

The Economy

Poverty kept rising in Los Angeles after downturn, new data show
Poverty continued creeping upward in the Los Angeles area last year, long after the declared end of the recession, new estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau show. The numbers are another sign of continued suffering after the economic downturn: More than 17% of people in the Los Angeles, Long Beach and Santa Ana metropolitan area lived below the poverty line last year. That number rose year by year since 2007, when roughly 13% lived in poverty. Economic hardship is even more common within the city of Los Angeles, where the share of people living in poverty rose from 18.5% to more than 23% between 2007 and 2012, the new figures show.
Los Angeles Times

City Government

City turning vacant land into new L.A. River park
City officials broke ground Wednesday on a community park in Sherman Oaks, part of the second phase of a $10 million project to revitalize parts of the Los Angeles River. The construction - stretching from Sepulveda Boulevard to Kester Avenue on the south side of the river adjacent to the 101 Freeway - includes a quarter mile of paved bike path, the small Morrison Street park and decorative fencing to replace the chain-link fence that currently lines the path. The project is expected to be completed in the next nine months.
Los Angeles Daily News