AltWeeklies Wire
The Assassination of Deputy Abel Escalantenew
A young father had nothing to do with LAPD's killing of Danny Leon last year. The 27-year-old officer most likely heard about it on the news, like everyone else. But, federal prosecutors believe, Escalante died for it.
L.A. Weekly |
Christine Pelisek |
10-16-2009 |
Crime & Justice
A Year Late, L.A. Tries to Uninvite its Unvetted Pot Shopsnew
The Los Angeles City Council now faces one of its potentially most expensive legal battles ever, a war over medical pot that could draw in shady drug dealers, serious medical-marijuana activists, gubernatorial candidate Jerry Brown -- and even U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder.
L.A. Weekly |
Daniel Heimpel |
09-25-2009 |
Drugs
Foster Youths in L.A.: A Before-and-After Storynew
L.A. is home to the largest foster-care agency in the U.S., with many of its 7,000 employees fighting valiantly to try to fix the system and the lives of children caught in it. But with John, on a brisk night on a corner frequented by former foster youths now homeless, you notice only the system's failings.
L.A. Weekly |
Daniel Heimpel |
09-11-2009 |
Children & Families
Bye-Bye, Bill Brattonnew
Media coverage has been filled with praise for Bratton, but some are questioning how he could so readily accept a job right after Michael Cherkasky played a key role in helping to hand Bratton a historic career and political victory -- the lifting of the consent decree.
L.A. Weekly |
Jill Stewart |
08-14-2009 |
Crime & Justice
Gay Director Todd Holland's Advice to Play it Straightnew
Holland, a 47-year-old gay man who has become a success with critically acclaimed TV shows such as The Larry Sanders Show and Malcolm in the Middle, is an informal mentor to young, gay male actors. They seek his advice, he told an Outfest audience, and he routinely tells them to stay in the closet.
L.A. Weekly |
Patrick Range McDonald |
07-24-2009 |
LGBT
How LAPD's 'Closers' Nabbed A Serial Killer Known as The Westside Rapistnew
In a long-shot quest to find one prominent serial killer, police instead found another. Through tantalizing coincidences and teamwork that tapped the memories of long-retired cops, LAPD found the The Westside Rapist, a man who had slipped away from the cops in 1957 and went on to terrorize elderly women in Southern California for a generation.
L.A. Weekly |
Christine Pelisek |
07-24-2009 |
Crime & Justice
L.A.'s Yawning Loophole for Pot Dispensaries Spawns a Woodstock Economynew
In 2005, every city in California was busy adopting ordinances to allow for medical-marijuana storefronts while keeping out the bad actors and illegal peddlers. But the Los Angeles City Council couldn't get it done.
L.A. Weekly |
Daniel Heimpel |
07-17-2009 |
Drugs
Envirowimps: L.A.'s Big Green Groups Get Comfynew
Big-time environmental activists in Los Angeles have left the street-fighting to the little guys.
L.A. Weekly |
Patrick Range McDonald |
07-10-2009 |
Environment
Phil Spector Is Sentenced to Life and the Victim's Family Speaksnew
Unlike his second trial's verdict reading, Phil Spector's sentencing hearing was the definition of "anticlimax."
L.A. Weekly |
Steven Mikulan |
06-05-2009 |
Crime & Justice
Wiser Gay-Rights Groups Craft a 2010 Ballot Measure for Californianew
The recent coordinated efforts showcased the kind of campaign structure many gay-marriage advocates want to see built for a new ballot measure, in which cash-rich, mainstream gay-rights organizations work closely with their less wealthy grassroots counterparts.
L.A. Weekly |
Patrick Range McDonald |
06-05-2009 |
LGBT
Is L.A. As Safe As Bratton Says It Is?new
The Los Angeles Police Chief says the city is as safe as it was in 1956. But Bill Bratton is manipulating numbers and acting like a politician.
L.A. Weekly |
Patrick Range McDonald |
05-01-2009 |
Crime & Justice
Why Los Angeles Crime-Fighters Fell Years Behind on Rape Testingnew
Experts have suggested a stunning possibility: that 500,000 rape kits, given low priority by scores of police departments, have been sitting untested for years.
L.A. Weekly |
Christine Pelisek |
03-20-2009 |
Crime & Justice
New Gay-Marriage War Coming to Californianew
Whether or not the California State Supreme Court upholds Proposition 8, one thing is certain: The battle to legalize or ban gay marriage in California will not end with the justices’ ruling due before June 3.
L.A. Weekly |
Patrick Range McDonald |
03-13-2009 |
Civil Liberties
A Tough Churchgoing Mom Is at the Center of the Los Angeles Serial-Killer Mysterynew
L.A.’s elusive Grim Sleeper has murdered with impunity for 23 years. The strange journey of his only surviving victim began with a rape and shooting that at the time seemed tragically commonplace.
L.A. Weekly |
Christine Pelisek |
03-13-2009 |
Crime & Justice
Enslaved in Suburbia: Two Women, Two Fractured American Dreamsnew
Inside the world of trafficked indentured servants and the visa violators who care for our old.
L.A. Weekly |
Gendy Alimurung |
02-20-2009 |
Business & Labor
