Author: Shelby Grad

L.A. city officials are vowing to look at ways to protect bicyclists on city streets.

Cyclists have been demanding more attention from government around the country, saying they have the right to share the road with cars.

The bike rights campaign has been galvanized by the case of an L.A. doctor convicted a few weeks ago of purposely hitting bikers in Brentwood.

More people are turning to two
wheels for commuting and recreation. Cyclists are asserting their
rights as never before. In Los Angeles, advocates are pushing for more
bike lanes and other road improvements, a cyclists’ bill of rights and
more protection from police.

On Wednesday, the Los Angeles City Council voted to study ways to protect cyclists.

"There are anti-harassment laws protecting us in the
workplace, but cyclists don’t have the same protections when they are
on the road," said Aurisha Smolarski, communications director for the
Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition, told the Daily Breeze.  "Los Angeles has a chance to make
sure we have the protections and the equal rights to use the roads."

Among the ideas being consider: creating bike sharing lanes in certain areas, improving training for police and creating a cyclist "Bill of Rights."

–Shelby Grad

Photo credit: Los Angeles Times

More breaking news in L.A. Now:

Reseda park to be renamed in honor of slain SWAT Officer Randal Simmons

L.A.-area beaches deal with sand erosion, damage from big storms

L.A. to study ways to protect bicyclists, considers ‘bill of rights’

San Bernardino County therapists allegedly fail to report bloody evidence found at home for mentally ill felons

Swedish rapper’s defense in road rage killing is ‘laughable,’ prosecutor says

A Los Angeles jury is set to begin deliberations today in the case of a Swedish hip-hop artist accused of murdering a pedestrian during a 2008 confrontation in a Hollywood crosswalk.

David Jassy, 35, a rapper and music producer who has worked with pop acts including Ashley Tisdale, faces a potential life sentence if convicted in the death of John Osnes, a 55-year-old jazz pianist.

Prosecutors contend that Jassy became enraged when Osnes, a stickler for pedestrian rights, struck at the hood of Jassy’s rental SUV as it drifted into the crosswalk. Jassy responded, prosecutors say, by leaping from his vehicle, punching and kicking Osnes and then running over his body.

Jassy maintains that “crazy” behavior by Osnes put him in fear for his life and the life of his girlfriend, a passenger in the vehicle. He testified that Osnes threw the first punch and insisted that he was unaware he drove over Osnes’ body as he fled the scene.

In closing arguments Wednesday, a prosecutor urged jurors, who have the choice of acquitting Jassy of all criminal culpability in Osnes’ death or finding him guilty of murder or manslaughter, to return a verdict of first-degree murder.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Sarika Kapoor called Jassy’s account of the encounter “laughable.”

“What person gets out of their locked vehicle when they are scared? That makes no sense,” she said.

Defense attorney Alec Rose addressed the jury only briefly Wednesday afternoon before court recessed for the day. He called Jassy “an innocent man” and said the evidence supported his acquittal.

— Harriet Ryan

Read more about John Osnes — including links to past stories on the case — on The Times’ Homicide Report

The bulldog is king in Los Angeles, according to a study by the American Kennel Assn. The study was based on government dog registrations by breed, the group said.

"Angelenos pride themselves on their uniqueness and originality, and
they lived up to that by making L.A. the only city to have the bulldog
rank as most popular dog," association spokeswoman Lisa Peterson said in a news release. "Despite the top four dogs being large breeds, a number of smaller
pooches fill out the Top 10, including the Yorkie, Maltese, French
bulldog and poodle, perhaps due to their prevalence as companions to
the stars."

By the numbers:

Los Angeles’ most popular breeds, 2009

1. Bulldog

2. Labrador retriever

3. Golden retriever

4. German shepherd 

5. Yorkshire terrier

Long Beach’s most popular breeds, 2009

1. Labrador retriever

2. German shepherd

3. Bulldog

4. French bulldog

5. Yorkshire terrier

Photo credit: Los Angeles Times

Former L.A. Police Chief William J. Bratton has tapped two allies in his new post in the private sector.

Bratton stepped down as police chief to work for Virginia-based Altegrity Inc. The company is launching a global investigations firm, Altegrity Risk International, of which Bratton is chairman, according to The Times’ Stuart Pfeifer:

Bratton has tapped former L.A. City Councilman Jack Weiss to run the company’s Los Angeles office and former Deputy Police Chief Michael Berkow as president of its security consulting unit.

Bratton retired from the Los Angeles Police Department in October after seven years to work for Altegrity, which had more than $900 million in revenue last year and is headed by Mike Cherkasky, former chief executive of the Kroll Group.

Photo: Weiss (top); Bratton (side). Credit: Los Angeles Times

— Shelby Grad

The Los Angeles Unified School District has fired a teacher who had been paid his full salary since being barred from the classroom more than seven years ago for alleged misconduct.

Matthew Kim, a former special education instructor, was removed from Grant High School in Van Nuys in 2002 after he was accused of touching co-workers’ breasts and making inappropriate comments to students.

The following year, the L.A. Board of Education voted to fire Kim, who was born with cerebral palsy and uses a wheelchair. But he appealed the decision to a state commission, which overturned it. Kim and district officials have been locked in a court battle over his employment ever since.
Earlier this month, a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge ordered the state commission to overturn its decision and allow the district to fire Kim.

Kim has an appeal pending.

— Jason Song

The long-delayed Expo line was recently dealt another setback when authorities revoked a permit that allowed construction 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

The move could further delay construction of the line, which is already more than a year behind schedule, and add to the $862-million price tag to complete the first segment from downtown Los Angeles to Culver City.

That cost has already grown by $220 million over the project’s original budget of $640 million. The line is planned to eventually reach Santa Monica.

Richard Tefank, executive director of the Los Angeles Police Commission, said the 24-hour permit on one section of the line was revoked last week after an investigation into noise complaints in some of the surrounding neighborhoods.

“The majority of people they [investigators] spoke with indicated that the noise was disruptive for them, impacting their quality of life,” Tefank said, adding that one investigator went to surrounding neighborhoods at 2 a.m. one evening and heard loud disruptions.

Without the 24-hour permit, construction is allowed between 7 a.m. and 9 p.m. Monday through Friday and 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays.

Richard Thorpe, chief executive of the Exposition Metro Line Construction Authority, the organization tasked with building the line, said the 24-hour permit was important to speed up the project. If the construction authority doesn’t have such a permit, Thorpe said, contractors would be forced to shut down some streets and intersections during the day when there is generally heavy traffic.

In a letter to Police Commission President John Mack, Thorpe wrote that the authority had taken several steps to curb severe noise at night including having the project’s contractor request permission from the construction authority before doing night work.

Thorpe and Tefank are scheduled to meet and discuss the revocation of the permit today.

— Ari B. Bloomekatz

State and city officials are turning to traffic violations in their effort to  balance budgets.

Earlier this month, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger unveiled a plan to give cities
and counties the green light to install speed sensors on red-light cameras to catch — and ticket — speeding cars. Those whizzing
by the radar-equipped detectors at up to 15 mph over the limit would
have to pay $225 per violation. Those going faster would be fined $325. The state estimated it would generate $337.9 million through June 2011.

Now, Rick Orlov is reporting that Los Angeles "is quietly seeking a change in state law that
would allow the Department of Transportation to put the Denver boot on
cars that have three outstanding tickets instead of the five now
required." This could generate $61 million in revenues for the city.

What do you think? Should the city and state try to get more money from parking and traffic violators?

Share your views below.

— Shelby Grad

Photo credit: Los Angeles Times

A gold trader has been ordered to stand trial in the slaying of his wife, who was fatally stabbed in the parking lot of a Century City office tower.

James Fayed and his former employee Jose Luis Moya are accused in the high-profile 2008 killing.

Pamela Fayed was
stabbed in the neck and face by someone who was described as
a slender man in his 20s wearing a black, hooded sweat shirt. A red
sport utility vehicle was seen speeding away from the bloody scene. The
stabbing took place in front of several witnesses.

James Fayed
was arrested shortly after his wife’s death on fraud charges stemming
from the couple’s international gold trading business. He was later charged in the slaying.

A month before she was killed, Pamela Fayed had offered to help
federal prosecutors in the criminal probe into the business she owned
with her husband, court documents later revealed. James Fayed’s
attorney said his client was unaware of her offer.

Family and
friends of Pamela Fayed told The Times that for months before her death, Pamela believed her life might
be in danger.

The couple were
engaged in bitter divorce proceedings at the time of her death,
and prosecutors noted in court documents that James Fayed was expected
to be ordered to pay about $1 million in spousal support and attorney
fees on July 29, the day after his wife was killed.

— Shelby Grad

Nadya Suleman’s octuplets celebrated their first birthday this week. It’s was remarkable low-key, without the paparazzi swarming around her La Habra home or raging tabloid headlines.

But Suleman did grant some interviews. In a talk with People magazine, she said she threw a party for her children Sunday and planned another one Tuesday. She said she’s not getting much sleep and said her one luxury is time in the gym.

"I’ve
definitely matured a lot," she told People. "When this started, it was all
about me. But now I find myself in a situation where I have to support
a large family and take care of a large household. I’ve been through
more in the past year than most people go through in a lifetime. I’ve
been sued, harassed, abused, but I’ve held my own. I think about others
now and not so much about myself. I spend more time thinking about
paying bills, paying my mortgage and paying attention."

Suleman has been filming a reality TV show centering on her life in La Habra
with her brood. This month, a California appeals court rejected
an attempt by a former child actor to seek an independent guardian to
look after her children’s financial affairs. The court called the
proposal an "unprecedented, meritless effort by a stranger."

Last week, Suleman said she’s lost 150 pounds since her pregnancy.

— Shelby Grad

A state parole board today will decide whether to recommend releasing the gunman in the infamous "Onion Field" police killing.

Law enforcement officials and organizations — including the LAPD police union and Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley — have come out against parole for Gregory Powell.

Powell was convicted of the March 1963 kidnapping and execution of LAPD
Officer Ian Campbell. The case was chronicled in Joseph Wambaugh’s
bestselling book “The Onion Field.”

Powell, 75, received the death penalty for the crime. However, the
sentence was later commuted to life in prison with the possibility
parole when California briefly outlawed capital punishment.

In
a letter to state corrections officials, L.A. police union
President Paul Weber urged the board to deny parole, calling Powell a
"vicious murderer who has not yet paid his debt to society."

Weber insists that Powell should be forced to serve the maximum sentence and recounts details of the crime in his letter.



Campbell and his partner, Karl Hettinger, had stopped a car carrying
Powell and accomplice Jimmy Lee Smith as they searched for a liquor
store to rob. During the stop, Powell pulled a gun, stuck it in
Campbell’s back, disarmed the officer and forced Hettinger to give up
his weapon too. Then they drove north.



“Near Bakersfield, Powell
spotted a gravel road and ordered Campbell to pull off the freeway,"
Weber wrote. “After crossing a series of dirt roads, Officers Campbell
and Hettinger were ordered out of the car into a vast field, where they
stood still with their arms in the air. Then Powell asked Campbell,
‘Have you ever heard of the Little Lindbergh Law?’ and shot him.”



Hettinger
began running through the field and escaped as Powell fired at him. As
luck would have it, a cloud blotted out the moon, allowing the fleeing
officer to take cover in bushes before he ran four miles to a farmhouse
and summoned help.



Powell was captured a short time later
driving back to Los Angeles. Smith was arrested the next day in a
Bakersfield rooming house. He died in 2007.

Powell’s question
about the Little Lindbergh Law revealed the basis for the killing.
Powell believed, mistakenly, that the law made it a capital offense to
kidnap the officers.

— Andrew Blankstein

RELATED:

Joseph Wambaugh on the ‘Onion Field’

Light rains this afternoon clogged the afternoon commute across Southern California.

The Times traffic map was a sea of red this afternoon, with major delays in the freeways out of downtown Los Angeles. Injury accidents were reported on the southbound 5 Freeway north of downtown, on the 405 south in Culver City, on the 605 south near the 60 and on the 105 near the 710 Freeway.

Less than a half-inch of rain is expected from this new storm system, which is much smaller than last week’s series of rainstorms.

Light showers are expected to continue
overnight, with cloudy skies and a 20% chance of rain Wednesday.

— Shelby Grad

Putting an end to two and a half years of litigation, the online dating site eHarmony.com has reached an agreement to pay a half a million dollars and make its website more “welcoming” to seekers of same-sex matches, settling a class-action lawsuit brought by gays and lesbians in California.

The company had already launched a service for gays and lesbians, called Compatible Partners, in an unrelated settlement with New Jersey’s attorney general last year.

As a result of the settlement agreement filed Tuesday in Los Angeles Superior Court and pending approval by a judge, eHarmony will add a “gay and lesbian dating” category to their main website — which will direct users to Compatible Partners — and allow bisexual users to access both websites for one fee. 

The eHarmony site currently provides links for Christian, black, Jewish, Hispanic, senior and local dating.
California residents who have filed written complaints with the company will receive $4,000 each from the settlement funds.

The website, founded in 2000 by clinical psychologist Neil Clark Warren, an evangelical Christian, did not provide same-sex matching services until last year, contending that the company’s closely-guarded compatibility models were based on studies of married heterosexual couples.
In court filings, attorneys for eHarmony also pointed to websites exclusively providing same-sex matches, such as gay.com or guys4men.com, saying the company “does not stand alone among companies that provide their relationship-matching services to a single sexual orientation.”

Neither the company nor its attorneys immediately returned a request for comment.
As part of the California agreement, the Compatible Partners site will display the eHarmony logo “in a prominent position,” and will state that the service is “brought to you by eHarmony.” The site currently states that it is “powered by eHarmony.”

— Victoria Kim

Officials say last week’s series of rainstorms caused $20 million in damage and cleanup costs.

Los Angeles County officials made the estimate at today’s Board of Supervisors meeting. The cost includes maintaining catch basins and dealing with washed-out roads.

The storms dropped more than 6 inches of rain in some parts of the region.

A much lighter storm moved into Southern California this afternoon, causing mostly drizzle.  Light showers are expected to continue overnight, with cloudy skies and a 20% chance of rain Wednesday.

— Shelby Grad

The notorious Hollywood Freeway is so congested that the Daily Beast recently ranked the 101, during rush hour, as the worst metropolitan-area freeway in the nation.

There are several Southern California freeways that commuters claim are the most congested – and experts say determining which is the worst depends a lot on how one asks the question.

The 405 through the Westside is a perennial champion, as is a section of 91 Freeway between Riverside and Orange counties.

Then there is the dreaded 10 each morning into the Westside.

Transportation officials have discussed making major improvements to some of the Hollywood Freeway’s interchanges and bottlenecks – particularly around downtown L.A. at the 101-110 interchange – but those are years away.

Even the mayor’s deputy of transportation, Jaime de la Vega, talked about the ills of the 101 during a casual conversation last week – Vega said he carpooled with his wife to work on that freeway each day, but his commute was hampered because there were no carpool lanes.

Is the 101 really the worst? Or do you have a different candidate? Tell us what you think in the comments below.

— Ari B. Bloomekatz

Photo: Rush hour traffic on the 101 in Encino. Credit: Al Seib / Los Angeles Times

The two former owners of City of Angels Medical Center will pay $10 million as part of a consent judgment over allegations that they performed unnecessary medical work on homeless people recruited from skid row shelters as part of a Medicare fraud scheme.

The case involves Los Angeles
businessman Robert Bourseau and Dr. Rudra Sabaratnam, who were accused by federal prosecutors of Medicare and
Medi-Cal fraud.

Authorities alleged that City of Angels found healthy homeless people in downtown Los Angeles and brought them to various medical facilities, where they received medical treatment they didn’t need. The defendants then allegedly charged the government.

"The
government’s complaint alleged that Bourseau and Sabaratnam directed a scheme
in which City of Angels paid “recruiters” employed at homeless shelters in the
skid row area of the city to deliver their homeless clients by ambulance to the
hospital for medical treatment regardless of whether their clients in fact
needed or requested such treatment," a U.S. attorney said in a statement.

"The City of Angels would then bill
the Medicare and Medi-Cal programs for a variety of medical services allegedly
rendered to the homeless patients, many of which were not medically necessary."

–Shelby Grad

In the decades she spent honing her craft, Doris Payne employed classic
elegance, refined taste, Southern charm and a sleight of hand that
could earn the envy of a talented magician.

Like the best
illusionists, she had a knack for making things disappear.

Payne’s life as
an international jewel thief is the subject of an upcoming movie, "Who Is Doris Payne?" starring Halle Berry. But given the latest events in
Orange County, the filmmakers may want to consider a new ending.

The
79-year-old was arrested on a rainy Friday afternoon on suspicion of
grand theft after security guards at the Saks Fifth Avenue store at
South Coast Plaza accused her of taking the tags off a Burberry trench
coat valued at $1,300 and walking out without paying, said Costa Mesa
Police Lt. Mark Manley.

Now in custody without bail for a parole
violation, Payne is expected to make her first court appearance today.
Though she has had high-end tastes, the allegation that she took a coat is
a departure of sorts for Doris Marie Payne, who began life in 1930 in a
small coal-mining town of Slab Fork, W. Va.

In a 2008 story in The Times, Payne told a reporter she stole her
first diamond in her late 20s, hoping to raise money to help her mother
leave an abusive husband. From there, she never looked back.

Payne
said she had no idea how many jewels she had stolen but that her career as a thief had spanned the globe from New York and Las Vegas to London, Paris,
Monte Carlo and Tokyo.

The formula was simple, she said. Pick a
fine store and look like she belonged there. Tell a great story. And,
make sure she had pockets, deep pockets, with whatever she wore.

"A clerk would present her with at least five pieces of jewelry, usually
emeralds and diamonds. When she decided which to take, she would place
it on her finger, making sure the clerk saw it there," wrote Times staff writer DeeDee Correll. "Then she
would begin her distractions, discussing other rings on the counter,
then asking the clerk to bring more jewelry. Meanwhile, she would slip
the ring from one hand to the other. ‘I’m going to make sure he sees
this hand I had it on is naked.’ "

Eventually, improvements in security, helped by technology, caught up with Payne.

In
1999, she was convicted and sentenced to 12 years in prison after
stealing a 5-carat diamond ring from a Neiman Marcus in Denver.

While
on parole in Colorado in 2005, she visited other states, taking an $8,500
ring in Nevada and a $31,500 three-stone diamond ring with a platinum
band from a Neiman Marcus in Palo Alto, The Times reported. When police
interviewed her, Payne admitted stealing the ring, giving them her
occupation as "jewel thief."

She was eventually sentenced to two
to five years for pawning the stolen Palo Alto ring in Las Vegas, as
well as stealing a ring in Nevada.

In the spring of 2008, Payne
completed her prison sentence in Colorado and returned to California,
where she was released on parole until her arrest.

— Andrew Blankstein 

Photo:
Doris Payne is shown during her incarceration in the Denver Women’s
Correctional Facility. She is now being held at the Orange County Jail.
Credit: Nathan W. Armes / For The Times

More breaking news in L.A. Now:

‘Magic mushroom’ growing operation found in Lake Los Angeles home; 2 arrested

Storm could bring more snow and closures to mountains

Former owners of medical center to pay $10-million settlement in alleged Medicare fraud scheme

Should California send prisoners to Mexico? Schwarzenegger floats idea. Do you agree?

With California facing more budget problems and more early releases of prisoners a real possibility, should the state export its prison population south of the border?

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger suggested the idea Monday, according to The Times’ Shane Goldmacher, writing at the California Politics blog.

“We can do so much better in the prison system alone if we can
go and take inmates, for instance the 20,000 inmates that are illegal
immigrants that are here, and get them to Mexico,” Schwarzenegger said
during a question-and-answer session at the Sacramento Press Club.
“Think about it.”

According to Goldmacher, the Republican governor has pushed to house California inmates out of state before — but never in a different country. It’s cheaper to build prisons in Mexico, Schwarzenegger reasoned, and it’s cheaper to staff prisons there too.

How do you like the idea? Share your thoughts.

And check out the latest California political news here.

Photo credit: Spencer Weiner / Los Angeles Times

The stalled Grand Avenue project in downtown Los Angeles is now in the running to be the home of philanthropist Eli Broad’s new art museum.

Los Angeles County and city officials authorized negotiations that could bring Broad’s proposed museum to the site on Bunker Hill. Both Santa Monica and Beverly Hills are already being considered as locations for the museum.

 “We have a team of negotiators and they were instructed to proceed with discussions with the Broad Foundation to consider his proposal and reach a mutual agreement,” said L.A. City Councilwoman Jan Perry, who is on the board of the Grand Avenue Authority. The authority is a joint city-county agency that is overseeing the private-public development.

The Grand Avenue project is considered the centerpiece of downtown’s revitalization. Designed by Frank Gehry, the project includes two towers, condos, hotel rooms and a shopping center.

The project stalled last year after its developer was unable to secure a construction loan for the multibillion-dollar project amidst the credit crunch.

Getting Broad’s 2,000-piece contemporary art collection would be a coup for Grand Avenue.

Broad Foundation spokeswoman Karen Denne said “we are considering multiple locations and look forward to making a decision this spring.”

Broad, who has long been a proponent of the mega-project on Grand Avenue and creating a Champs-Elysees for downtown L.A., was until recently a member of the committee overseeing the project on behalf of the joint powers authority. Officials said today that Broad had resigned from the committee in November in order to avoid any potential conflicts of interest as the negotiations move forward.

— Ari B. Bloomekatz and Cara DiMassa

Photo credit: Grand Avenue Authority

Prince Frederic von Anhalt, the husband of actress Zsa Zsa Gabor and known for either being stalked or stalking the paparazzi, has found another way to keep his name in the news.

Von Anhalt, 67, is announcing a run for California governor. How? By unveiling a billboard on Sunset Boulevard today, according to KTLA News.

"When I came to California 26 years ago, we had the ‘good life.’ We were prosperous; people had jobs, affordable homes and money to spend," he said in a statement obtained by KTLA. "The economy was great. I loved the state so much that I decided to make my home here, marry and become a citizen."

On a more serious campaign note, California Politics reports a new Rasmussen poll about the state’s budget woes reveals a deeply frustrated electorate unhappy with its elected leaders and their options to balance the budget.

The Times’ Shane Goldmacher reports the poll had an interesting finding on what California should do.

Asked if the state should file for bankruptcy, cut back on services or raise taxes, the results were:

43% Cutting back on services

28% Raising taxes

15% Filing for bankruptcy

14% Not sure

For full coverage of the governor’s race, Senate race and Sacramento, go to California Politics.

Photo: Zsa Zsa Gabor and Prince Frederic Von Anhalt in 1989. Credit: Doug Sheridan / Associated Press

The decision by a Riverside County school district to pull dictionaries from school shelves because
it includes the term "oral sex" has been generating national debate.

The Menifee Union School District took the action last week after a parent complained about the Merriam-Webster’s 10th edition

This is the definition: "Main Entry: oral sex
Function: noun
Date: 1973

: oral stimulation of the genital."

"It’s just not age-appropriate," school spokeswoman Betti Cadmus told the Press-Enterprise. "It’s hard to sit and read the dictionary, but we’ll be looking to find other things of a graphic nature."

The district is getting some heat (check out this critique on Witness L.A.).

What do you think? Share your thoughts below.