Jamzilla

Jamzilla coming this weekend to the 405 Freeway
Jamzilla is coming, and it could seriously mess with traffic on the 405 Freeway over the long Presidents Day weekend. The monster-evoking moniker was adopted by transportation officials for the freeway lane closures slated to begin late Friday, just in time for the post-Valentine's-Day-dinner rush. For 80 hours - from about 10 p.m. Friday until 6 a.m. Tuesday - most or all lanes on the busy northbound side of the freeway will be closed. The shutdowns through the Sepulveda Pass will allow workers to pave and re-stripe the highway where they've been adding a carpool lane.
Los Angeles Times

Law Enforcement

Crime alerts for Elysian Park and six other L.A. neighborhoods
Crime reports are up significantly for the latest week in seven 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. Elysian Park was the most unusual, recording three reports compared with a weekly average of zero over the last three months.
Los Angeles Times

LAPD looks for driver in fatal hit-and-run near Atwater Village
Los Angeles police late Thursday were looking for the driver of a vehicle in a fatal hit-and-run incident near Atwater Village. Passersby saw the body of an adult male shortly before 10 p.m. in the road near Fletcher and Riverside drives, the Los Angeles Police Department said. Fire Department medics and LAPD officers responded. A witness reported seeing a possible black Hyundai in the area, Officer Bruce Borihanh said. Investigators were at the scene gathering evidence. No other details were immediately available.
Los Angeles Times

Possible street race leaves motorcyclist in critical condition
At approximately 11:35 p.m. Thursday, a motorcyclist and vehicle were seen traveling at a speed in excess of 60 mph on Sunset Blvd and Rosemont Avenue in Rampart Area. The two vehicles continued eastbound on Sunset Blvd when the motorcyclist lost control, ran off the roadway, and collided with the wall of LAFD Station #20 located at 2144 West Sunset Blvd. He was taken to LAC+USC Medical Center by paramedics from Station 20 with severe head injuries. He was listed in critical condition. The driver of the vehicle, described as a possible Mitsubishi Lancer, white in color, fled the scene eastbound on Sunset Blvd.
LAPD Central Traffic Division Nixle Alert

Car-to-car shooting victim, 22, dropped off near USC, dies at hospital
A man who was wounded in a car-to-car shooting in the South Los Angeles area -- and then dropped off a short time later near the USC campus -- has died at a hospital, authorities said Thursday. Paramedics were sent to 36th Street and Vermont Avenue about 10:40 a.m. Wednesday after someone called 911 and said a wounded person was lying on the ground, the Los Angeles Police Department reported.
City News Service

Alleged smasher of LAPD patrol car charged, due in court
A man who allegedly smashed the windows of an LAPD patrol car in front of tourists in a busy area of Hollywood was expected to appear in court Thursday to face multiple criminal charges. Leyston Rice, 27, was charged with one count each of vandalism, burglary from a vehicle, and grand theft, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office.
KTLA

Man who shot at police Monday charged with attempted murder
A man who allegedly opened fire on two Los Angeles police officers in Reseda was charged today with attempted murder and possession of a firearm by a felon. Cliff A. Gershowitz, 50, was scheduled to be arraigned this afternoon in Van Nuys Superior Court on three counts of attempted murder, including two involving police officers, and one count of possession of a firearm by a felon.
Northridge - Chatsworth Patch

Man arrested in stabbing death of Gramercy Park grandmother
Authorities Wednesday arrested a man in Chicago who is suspected of fatally stabbing a 45-year-old woman in her Gramercy Park apartment, officials said. Laevin Meikel Weatherspoon, 27, has been charged with murder in the killing of Wanda Threadgill, according to the L.A. County district attorney's office. Threadgill is believed to have been killed Dec. 5.
Los Angeles Times

Ex-LAPD Chief William Bratton endorses Jim McDonnell for sheriff
Former Los Angeles Police Chief William J. Bratton on Thursday announced his endorsement of Long Beach Police Chief Jim McDonnell to be the next L.A. County sheriff. McDonnell's "uniquely varied skills, recognized and respected leadership, and decades of experience with both the LAPD and the Long Beach Police Department will lend themselves to facilitating meaningful change," Bratton said in a statement released by McDonnell's campaign.
Los Angeles Times

Wrong-way 60 Freeway driver charged with six counts of murder
A Fontana woman was charged with six counts of murder Thursday in connection with the wrong-way car crash on the 60 Freeway on Sunday that killed six people, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office. Olivia Carolee Culbreath, 21, was not in court because she remains hospitalized with serious injuries in the jail ward at Los Angeles County USC Medical Center.
San Bernardino Sun

Death Penalty

Signature-gathering begins for initiative intended to resume executions in Calif.
A group of former politicians say California's death penalty is broken. They claim to have come up with a way of fixing it and resuming executions that have been on hold for years. On Thursday, former L.A. County District Attorney Steve Cooley and former California governors George Deukmejian and Pete Wilson will begin a signature-gathering campaign in Los Angeles to place a constitutional ballot initiative on the November ballot that they say would allow California to resume carrying out death sentences.
KPCC

Public Safety

Crossing guard had been denied at Hollywood school where mother died
The Los Angeles Unified School District requested a guard more than a year ago to monitor a crosswalk near a Hollywood school where a mother escorting her child was fatally struck by a big rig Tuesday, but city transportation officials said they could not fulfill the request due to "limited resources."
Los Angeles Times

Guns

Court overturns concealed-carry rule in blow to California gun law
A federal appeals court on Thursday struck down a requirement by San Diego County that residents show "good cause" to carry a concealed firearm, a ruling that could force local governments across California to revisit the way they license handguns. A three-member panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, acting on a 2009 lawsuit, ruled in a 2-1 decision that San Diego County's restrictions amounted to an unconstitutional infringement on citizens' Second Amendment rights to bear arms.
Reuters