Free Republic

LOS ANGELES (CBS) — President Barack Obama is headed back to Southern California — and so is his street-closing, traffic-delaying presidential motorcade. Obama will be in town Wednesday and Thursday on a fundraising trip through Beverly Hills and Orange County. While details are still not finalized and remain highly subject to change, the closures will be over a smaller stretch of the Southland and are not expected to be as disruptive as during previous visits. The president’s itinerary for Wednesday, Feb. 15, includes: •After 3:00 p.m.: Arrival at LAX •Between 3:45 p.m. and 4:15 p.m.: Helicopter from LAX to VA...

Reporter Randy Economy reveals the existence of criminal allegations against LA County Assessor John Noguez to reduce the commercial property taxes of clients of longtime campaign contributor Encino businessman Ramin Salari. Assessor Noguez, who lacks a college degree, was elected in 2010 to manage the $1 Trillion LA Assessors office with strong political backing and support of Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and California Assembly member Gil Cedillo. Villaraigosa and Cedillo supported Noguez even when confronted with facts about Noguez connections to one of the City of Bell’s indicted officials, ex Bell Councilman George Cole and other felons Noguez associates...

The age-old hobby of tossing a football or Frisbee on the beach on a beautiful summer day in Los Angeles will cost you a cool $1,000 thanks to a new ordinance passed by the Board of Supervisors Tuesday. Claiming that such activity could be dangerous to other beachgoers, the Supes outlawed "any person to cast, toss, throw, kick or roll any ball, tube, or any light object other than a beach ball or beach volleyball” on or over a beach.

LOS ANGELES (CBS) — With the city going broke you may be surprised to find out that Los Angeles is the proud owner of a million dollar yacht and it is about to undergo hundreds of thousands of dollars in renovations at taxpayer expense. As the head of the Port of Los Angeles raced down the hall, they tried to block our camera and dodged our questions, not wanting to talk about a yacht owned by the port, which is a city agency. But the mayor said that it is not what we think. “It’s not a yacht. It’s a...

LOS ANGELES (CBS) — When you head down to the beach for a little fun this summer, county officials want you to leave the pigskin at home. The Board of Supervisors this week agreed to raise fines to up to $1,000 for anyone who throws a football or a Frisbee on any beach in Los Angeles County. In passing the 37-page ordinance on Tuesday, officials sought to outline responsibilities for law enforcement and other public agencies while also providing clarification on beach-goer activities that could potentially disrupt or even injure the public. The updated rules now prohibit “any person to...

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Officials at an elementary school rocked by teacher sex abuse claims are investigating yet another allegation of misconduct, this one involving a teacher's aide accused of sending love letters to an 11-year-old boy. The mother of the fourth-grader told the Los Angeles Times that the aide, a woman the mother appeared to be in her 50s, sent at least three letters to her son in 2009, including one that read: "when you get close to me, even if you give me the chills I like that. Don't tell nobody about this!"

An attorney representing a student at Miramonte Elementary School said Friday children were pulled from after-school programs and other teachers' classes to take part in "tasting games" at the center of lewd conduct charges against fired teacher Mark Berndt. In these games, children were photographed while blindfolded and asked to taste a liquid that police now believe to be the semen Berndt, who was arrested Monday. Attorney Brian E. Claypool said his client was 9 when her photograph was taken by Berndt, although she was not his student. FULL COVERAGE: Mark Berndt Claypool said Berndt had two ways of getting...

L.A. schools Supt. John Deasy has called for changes to laws that protect the rights of teachers accused of heinous acts, saying they should be subject to faster dismissal and the loss of pay, benefits and pensions. Deasy made his comments on KNX-AM (1070) radio in response to reports by The Times that a former teacher charged with lewd conduct with nearly two dozen students receives lifetime health benefits from the L.A. Unified School District and a pension of nearly $4,000 a month from the state teachers’ retirement system.

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- A Los Angeles elementary school teacher was charged with committing lewd acts against nearly two dozen students after a film processor gave authorities bondage-style photographs showing children in blindfolds with their mouths taped, and some with cockroaches on their faces, authorities said Tuesday. Mark Berndt, 61, was arrested Monday at his Torrance home and remained jailed on $2.3 million bail, according to a Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department statement.

LOS ANGELES – Coroner's officials on Friday identified a man whose dismembered head, hands and feet were found in a Hollywood park as a 66-year-old from Los Angeles, and police continued to hunt for his killer. The victim's name is Hervey Medellin, coroner's Lt. David Smith said. Public directories show Medellin lived in a Hollywood apartment near the rugged, hillside park where his remains were found. Investigators served a search warrant Thursday night on a Hollywood apartment in the area, but it wasn't immediately clear if it was Medellin's apartment. "They did serve a search warrant last night. They are...

A few weeks ago, I wrote here on PJ Media of a proposal to change the way Los Angeles Police Department officers deal with unlicensed drivers and the cars they are found to be driving. As things now stand, when an LAPD officer stops a driver for a traffic violation and finds him to be unlicensed, the officer issues a citation (or in some circumstances makes an arrest) and, under the authority of the California Vehicle Code, impounds the car for 30 days. This, say advocates for illegal immigrants, imposes an unfair burden on those whose immigration status precludes them...

Los Angeles police detectives are investigating the slaying of a man believed to be of Armenian descent whose head was discovered Tuesday afternoon by two dogs off a hiking trail below the Hollywood sign. Two women were hiking with nine dogs in the rugged hills near the 3200 block of Canyon Drive when two of the dogs found a plastic bag in the brush containing the head... In addition to combing the area for evidence, investigators will seek help from the Los Angeles County coroner to identify the victim through dental records

Police are looking for a 16-to-17 year old female suspect in the fatal shooting of a 17-year-old male in front of his home in Winnetka Wednesday evening. The unnamed suspect fled in a green sport utility vehicle, said Los Angeles police Officer Karen Rayner Police were called to the 6900 block of Cozycroft Avenue, one block north of Vanowen Street, at 6:10 p.m. on a shots fired report, Rayner said. The victim — a high school soccer player — was hit at least three times and taken to Northridge Hospital Medical Center where he was pronounced dead. The victim —...

MINNEAPOLIS – When Meredith Aby met with members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia in 2006, she asked what it would take to get them to stop fighting. Jess Sundin did the same during her trip to Colombia 11 years ago. They returned and openly wrote and spoke about their experiences, while criticizing the U.S. government’s involvement in that country. FBI documents recently found by the anti-war activists suggest the trips may have started an investigation into apparent connections between local activists and radical groups in Colombia and the Middle East. One document says the probe expanded to include...

Coincidence? "Dorothee Burkhart was in Frankfurt as recently as October, court papers said"LATimes link& ". . . investigators said in court documents that a search of Burkhart's Hollywood apartment turned up news articles about the Los Angeles fires as well as a series of car fires in Frankfurt last September."ABC News linkMomma Burkhart was in Frankfurt as recently as October (what about earlier, say September) and where was her son during the time period for which these local newspaper clippings of car fires in Frankfurt were found in their apartment? Newspaper clippings of a local event would indicate he was...

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- A State Department official says a German man was identified as a suspect in the Los Angeles arson spree because his mother was the subject of a provisional arrest request by Germany. Speaking on condition of anonymity because the investigations are ongoing, the official told The Associated Press Tuesday that authorities learned about Harry Burkhart while working on the mother's case and recognized him in security video of the arson suspect. "When they saw the security footage, they recognized him and they contacted the arson task force," the official said. The official said the footage was...

LA Arson Suspect Identified, Possibly Motivated by Deportation BattleBy RICHARD ESPOSITO, RAY HOMER, KATIE KINDELAN and COLLEEN CURRY Good Morning America – 15 hrs ago Officials this evening identified a man arrested after a series of 52 blazes in the Los Angeles area as Harry Burkhart, 24. Burkhart was charged this afternoon with one count of arson of an inhabited dwelling, with more charges expected as the investigation proceeds, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa told reporters. Burkhart was being held without bail. "These were serious and potentially deadly crimes that needlessly endangered thousands of innocent lives," Villaraigosa said. "These crimes...

LAPD officers swarmed and handcuffed what they described as a "person of interest" in the Los Angeles arsonist spree that has left thousands of residents scared out of their wits for days. Fire officials say "it is too early to speculate" if this is the person responsible for the fires. Police have already released surveillance video showing the alleged suspect -- a ponytailed Steven Seagal lookalike (below). As you can see in our video ... the man in custody sports a ponytail Cops previously said 39 fires could be linked to the recent rash of arsons ... and another...

Several more cars burned in suspected arson attacks in the Los Angeles area early Saturday morning, and authorities investigated if they were connected to nearly two dozen deliberately set blazes a day earlier, police said. Seven or eight cars burned Saturday in the North Hollywood area, said officer Robert Collier. He said he didn't have further details of the blazes, but said arson is suspected and there could be a link to the earlier blazes.

At least 16 cars burned Saturday morning in Los Angeles bringing the total number of suspected arson fires to 44 over the last two days, sources told ABC News. In nearly every case, the fires were set in cars parked in and around the Hollywood area. In some cases, the flames spread to nearby buildings. Investigators have not determined a motive behind the blazes, nor have they established whether they are the work of one person or the efforts of people acting together. They are looking at all possibilities behind the blazes, especially the prospect of a serial arsonist on...

Los Angeles authorities investigating a string of more than 35 fires set over the last two days strongly suspect the blazes are the work of more than one arsonist. On Friday morning, 21 fires were started in a relatively small area around Hollywood and West Hollywood. On Friday night and Saturday morning, 16 more fires were reported. They were similar to the ones in Hollywood but were spread out over a much larger area.

A California educator says parents, not schools, need to "step up" and get involved in the health of their children. Since school officials decided to introduce healthier foods to the district's menu, students in the Los Angeles Unified School District have actually been eating more junk food. The Los Angeles Times reports that the attempt to encourage healthier alternatives -- such as black bean burgers, vegetarian curries, quinoa and tamales -- over chicken nuggets and corn dogs has been less than successful. Students have begun bringing their own lunches, which often consist of chips and soda. "It seems to me...

The city of Los Angeles is weighing a lawsuit against Occupy LA protesters to recoup financial damages sustained during the two-month encampment.

A preliminary report by the Los Angeles city administrative officer estimates the nearly two-month Occupy LA encampment at City Hall cost the city at least $2.3 million...the report notes that the estimate does not include the cost of restoring City Hall park...[another] $400,000.

"Nasty, Rotty Stuff" That's the verdict from student Mayra Gutierrez on the new healthful menu introduced this year by the Los Angeles Unified School District. And she's not alone, according to the L.A. Times. "At Van Nuys High School," reports the paper, "complaints about the food were so widespread that Principal Judith Vanderbok wrote to [food services director Dennis] Barrett with the plea: 'Please help! Bring back better food!'" Readers might wonder how, with all of the challenges in reading, writing and arithmetic, school administrators decided that reducing fat and sodium at the cafeteria was a top priority for L.A....

The city of Los Angeles is taking its sanctuary title more seriously than most by ordering police officers to stop enforcing a state public safety law because it creates an “unfair burden” for illegal immigrants. A few weeks ago the mayor, Antonio Villaraigosa​, directed the Los Angeles Police Department ​ (LAPD) to stop impounding the vehicles of unlicensed drivers for 30 days as per state law. The measure is intended to keep potentially reckless drivers off the road and therefore protect the public. It applies to unlicensed drivers as well as those who have had their license revoked or...

LOS ANGELES – Officials identified Saturday the gunman who opened fire on a busy Hollywood street but were still searching for a motive behind the brazen daylight rampage, the Los Angeles Times reported. Tyler Brehm, 26, was shot dead by police after he walked to the corner of Sunset and Vine streets early Friday morning and began firing shots at passing cars and bystanders. Brehm allegedly unloaded about a dozen shots and caused panic in the area before a SWAT team and other police moved in, gunning him down. The fatal shot may have come from a detective and an...

A California woman who won't face felony charges for pepper spraying Black Friday Walmart shoppers is considering a lawsuit claiming that the national retailer didn't provide enough security for the post-Thanksgiving shopping spree. Elizabeth Macias, 32, said she fired the stinging spray after shoppers attacked her two teenage children as they tried to obtain X-Box video game consoles for purchase, attorney Michael Champ, Macias' lawyer, told CBS News' Los Angeles station KCBS Friday

Wiles lives in an apartment overlooking the intersection of Sunset Boulevard and Vine Street and said he looked outside to see a young gunman in a white shirt firing randomly at cars. A brief video, which he provided to The Times, shows a man in the intersection firing a shot at a pickup truck. The gunman was "being crazy and spastic," Wiles said, adding that he heard the man yelling. The gunman started shooting with no apparent motive. He was killed on Vine Street by Los Angeles police officers Friday morning. A man in a silver Mercedes Benz who was...

LOS ANGELES (CBS) — The City Attorney’s Office recommended that 46 people charged with crimes related to the LAPD raid on the Occupy L.A. enacampment not be allowed back to City Hall to continue protesting. Charges were filed against protesters who either resisted arrest or had prior criminal records. “We believe it is appropriate since they were arrested for violating the law in that area that they be ordered by the court not to go back to that area,” Thomas said. He likened it to a husband accused of beating his wife, saying it would be reasonable to request the...

Sanitation officials said Wednesday that they expect to haul away 30 tons of debris from the Occupy L.A. encampment –- everything from clothing to heaps of garbage to oddball curiosities left behind by the protesters who lived at the City Hall tent city for two months. Andrea Alarcon, president of the city Public Works board, said workers already have removed 25 tons of belongings from the City Hall park, all of it heading straight to a landfill. Sanitation crews also have vacuumed up about 3,000 gallons of water that had washed into a catch basin in recent days and are...

<p>The National Lawyers Guild is calling for nearly 300 Occupy L.A. protesters arrested early Wednesday to be released from jail.</p> <p>The majority of the 292 protesters were taken into custody for failing leave a City Hall park after police issued a dispersal order early Wednesday, city officials said. A smaller number also were cited for resisting arrest.</p>

No license, no car — that policy, which activists have long complained unfairly punishes illegal immigrants who cannot get driver’s licenses, may be about to change. Earlier this year, the Los Angeles Police Department began allowing unlicensed drivers at sobriety checkpoints a free pass from having their car towed and impounded if a licensed driver was available to take it. Since then, Mayor Villaraigosa has been developing a new policy with the LAPD that would expand that change to include traffic stops and reduce the number of 30-day impounds, which can cost hundreds of dollars in fees. The police union...

First Occupy Los Angeles was negotiating with its "host" city for 10,000 square feet of free office space, free farmland and free housing in exchange for abandoning its City Hall encampment. Now San Francisco is negotiating with its occupiers to move from the heart of the city's financial district to a currently empty school in the Mission district. Growing desperation on the part of liberal politicians to defuse a situation they originally supported is leading to yet another stupid decision on their part - incentivizing these small groups of people to disrupt the lives and endanger the safety of others.

Occupy L.A leaders said on Tuesday that city officials backpedaled on an offer to lease a downtown space to the group after news outlets published details of the offer. Looking for a peaceful way to end the Occupy L.A. encampment, the city offered to lease a 10,000 square foot office space in the Los Angeles Mall. The city-owned space, most recently occupied by B. Dalton Booksellers, was offered to the protesters for $1 a year lease. But Occupy L.A. organizer Ryan Rice, who met with representatives from Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's office on Tuesday afternoon, said the city staff were unhappy...

It was just last week that an #Occupy LA protester was arrested for masturbating on the steps of City Hall. Now the squatters are getting their own private office building. Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has decided to award the lawlessness, lewd acts, shoplifting and drug use of the Occupy LA squatters. He just offered the hooligans 10,000 square feet of downtown office space and farmland for $1-a-year. The LA Times reported: Los Angeles officials have offered Occupy L.A. protesters a package of incentives that includes downtown office space and farmland in an attempt to persuade them to abandon their...

An Occupy LA protester admits that nothing good can come of this movement unless America is destroyed. Unfortunately, this loon sounds more like the normal Occupy protester rather than the exception. No wonder democrats are supporting the movement. Warner Todd Houston reported this at Right Wing News:

Two mixed martial artists from Oregon were in Los Angeles for a grappling tournament, but they ended up using their skills to do much more than win a match. They subdued an armed robber who was holding up the clerk at their hotel. Watch the security video in this report from KCAL-TV.

Instruments of Salvation By Ari Bussel Did you notice how at every point of time we are given a choice: turn right or left, continue or abort, pay attention or ignore. Our progress in life is just the sum total of numerous small decisions, most seemingly inconsequential. But they all are, shaping our path and defining who we are. Also, this is how we can be grouped into clusters. There are many reasons for doing what we do, some rational, others mysterious. At times we think, hesitate and hardly reach a conclusive decision. Other times we do not spend a...

Los Angeles - Los Angeles police detectives arrested five suspects in connection with the burglary of a SWAT training facility in downtown Los Angeles, in which non-operable training weapons were stolen between October 12th and 13th. During the course of the investigation LAPD Detectives developed significant leads resulting in the service of search warrants at multiple locations on Thursday, October 27th and early morning hours of Friday, October 28th. The search warrants resulted in the recovery of three weapons stolen during the burglary and the arrest of five suspects in connection with the crime.

City officials and protesters are holding a meeting Friday afternoon at the mayor’s office to discuss the Occupy movements throughout Los Angeles County, a police spokesman said. The meeting includes representatives from the Los Angeles Police Department, members of the Occupy L.A. movement and at least one representative of the start-up Occupy San Fernando Valley protest, which is slated to kick off Saturday morning, according to LAPD Cmdr. Andrew Smith. The meeting will likely determine the fate of Occupy San Fernando Valley and lay out guidelines if it is to proceed.

While the City of L.A. is laying off workers and cutting back services, we uncovered one city agency spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on a party. And we obtained the video to prove it. It was like a Hollywood premiere party, complete with a red carpet and paid with public money. Port of L.A. Executive Director Geraldine Knatz was the host. If the attendees did not look like stars, they might have felt like them. We found thousands of dollars spent for dancers, wine to toast the party, and even miniature Oscars. ...The Port of L.A. is the busiest...

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said Wednesday that the Occupy Los Angeles encampment outside City Hall "cannot continue indefinitely" and has asked city officials to draft restrictions limiting when people are allowed on city property. "I respect the protesters' right to peacefully assemble and express their views," Villaraigosa said. "City officials have been in a continuous and open dialogue with the organizers of Occupy L.A. However, the protesters must respect city laws and regulations, and while they have been allowed to camp on City Hall lawns, that cannot continue indefinitely." A spokeswoman for the mayor said he has also instructed city officials...

A slideshow of 134 different recipes from restaurants around the country...

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Los Angeles police officers opened fire on a suspect armed with a machete. He attacked another man inside a food truck, and then smashed the vehicle into two parked cars. The incident happened on Saturday shortly before 4 a.m. at Beverly Boulevard and Berendo Street in the Westlake District. Investigators say the victim was eating outside the taco truck when he was attacked by a machete wielding suspect. The man with the machete then dragged the victim into the food truck. The two employees inside managed to escape before the suspect took off and crashed the...

Hundreds of teachers, parents and Occupy LA protesters joined forces in a march to the Los Angeles Unified School District headquarters in downtown Los Angeles Tuesday, protesting education budget cuts. The United Teachers of Los Angeles did not officially endorse the “Occupy LAUSD” march. -- snip -- Los Angeles Unified School District Superintendent John Deasy condemned the protesters’ claims in a news statement earlier Tuesday. The bulk of that money was used to retain 330 positions that had been slated for elimination, hire an additional 160 certificated employees and 300 clerical and other support personnel. He called the participants of...

Patricia McAllister, who leapt to fame for her proud and succinctly expressed (18 second video here) Jew hatred at OWS Los Angeles, has been fired by the Los Angeles Unified School District. (snip) We can expect more from the Jew haters, to the effect that this incident proves the Jews pull the strings. But will the ACLU or other purported free speech advocates make an issue of Ms. McAllister? My guess is not.

<p>A man has been arrested after witnesses reported that he became unruly while aboard a Southwest Airlines flight.</p>

Los Angeles schools Supt. John Deasy condemned the alleged anti-Semitic remarks by a district employee taking part in the Occupy Los Angeles protest and said she would no longer work for the school system. In a video that gained traction in the conservative blogosphere, Patricia McAllister, a substitute teacher for L.A. Unified, said that Jews run the nation's banking infrastructure and should be forced from the U.S. "I think that the Zionist Jews who are running these big banks and our Federal Reserve, which is not run by the federal government -- they need to be run out of this...

DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- A strong showing is expected in downtown Los Angeles on Tuesday, as more people join the sweeping movement sparked by Occupy Wall Street protesters. Demonstrators with the Occupy L.A. group have been living in tents outside of City Hall for about two weeks protesting against what they call corporate greed. On Tuesday, the teacher's union will join Occupy L.A. in a march to LAUSD headquarters where the school board will be meeting. They are looking to start a second occupation site to protest teacher layoffs. The union wants the district to re-hire the 1,200 teachers...