LA Noir

Recently I had the misfortune to be in a Days Inn, and, on CNN, which I’d turned on for the sake of companionship, was non-stop coverage of the horrible things Ariel Castro had done to his captives in Ohio. When I turned to online news sources, I read updates on a limo fire that killed a Bay Area newlywed and four of her friends, …

When you live in a big city like Los Angeles, you know about  noise, air and water pollution. But light can be a pollutant as well – its glow far outshining the light from the Milky Way above. In the battle between city lights and starry skies, the city lights win. As part of this international struggle, the county of Los Angeles is about …

Port dispute. Seven of the eight terminals at the Port of Los Angeles and several others at the Port of Long Beach are idle this morning. Longshoremen are honoring picket lines thrown up by about 70 members of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union. The clerical workers are involved in a two-and-a-half-year-old contract battle with APM Terminals, which operates most docks at the twin-port …

Long before the busloads of tourists and soaring skyscrapers and Disney Concert Hall, the Bunker Hill area of downtown Los Angeles was a charming neighborhood marked by its stunning Victorian homes and vibrant street life.  A hundred years ago, as LA grew south and west, the once majestic structures had started to fall into disrepair; by the 40s and 50s, Bunker Hill was most …

In this edition of our KCRW Road Trip series, we mix classic California scenery and Hollywood history. More than 50 years ago, actor James Dean, who loved racing and fast cars, grabbed the keys to his Porsche 550 Spyder and was on his way to a race in Salinas.
The route took a speeding Dean through beautiful rural areas of California. It was Dean’s last …

Does the First Amendment guarantee of free speech extend to lying about being a military hero? In a 6-3 decision handed down today, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that it did, invalidating the 2005 Stolen Valor Act in the process.

The case centered on Xavier Alvarez, who as a member of the Claremont-based Three Valleys Municipal Water District board, claimed to have won the Congressional …

Remember that sweet old guy in Apt. 303? Well he was picked up for murder and racketeering…
It’s been a year since FBI agents swooped down on brutal Boston mob boss Whitey Bulger and his lady friend, Catherine Greig in Santa Monica. They’d led a quiet life there since going on the lam back in 1995. Writer Gideon Brower (and KCRW freelance producer) happened to …

What do you remember most?
The fires and the smoke. Watching the craziness on television, then going outside and smelling the smoke. For days and weeks afterwards you could still smell smoke. I watched on television as the mini-mall literally next to my friends house burned to the ground. I saw my friend and his roommates on the roof of their house with hoses trying …

Two of USC’s 2500 students from China were murdered yesterday morning a mile from the campus. Is violent crime on the rise again in West Adams? Why have Chinese social media sensationalized the incident with reports of “rich kids” in a BMW. Also, “So nice you’ll see it twice.” That’s one headline about this year’s Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, which will be …

 
Nighttime sets up conditions where freedom feels more fun.  As if Freedom is sneaking out after its parents Daylight and Sunshine have gone to bed. It’s the id kind of freedom, exploratory and unbridled. Lincoln Heights’ Night Gallery, open from 10PM to 2AM, thrives on this “freedomnistic” element of the night. Night is the undeclared God of this gallery, making Night Gallery part scene, …

Los Angeles is often denigrated as shallow and superficial, despite its long history of great literary accomplishments. The city has produced Raymond Chandler, Joan Didion, Charles Bukowski, Walter Mosley, and countless others. It’s also the biggest book  market in North America.
So, readers of Los Angeles, rejoice! Some local bibliophiles have produced a new 18″ x 24″ fold-out map that includes all of the literary …

After discussing the LA Fire Department’s emergency response times on Wednesday’s “Which Way, L.A?,” mayoral candidate Austin Beutner released an interactive Google map of the city to highlight what he says is a dramatic slowdown in the time it takes for department personnel to arrive at an emergency. Have you called 911 recently? The national standard calls for fire departments to respond to emergencies …

Everyone loves a good dog story. This new documentary  (narrated by Queen Latifah – though not in the trailer) “Street Dogs of South Central”  follows a mother “struggling to raise her litter of puppies in a harsh urban environment.” While the streets are tough for dogs, the trailer tells us that “amidst the chaos of this strange urban world, life and love continue…”
Watch the …

Monday, we debuted a new contributor on All Things Considered: Tom Lutz, editor and founder of the Los Angeles Review of Books. He’s also an author in his own right, and an instructor of writing at UC-Riverside, which has incubated this new, digital project (as newspapers cut back on their reviews of books, Lutz figured, why not create a new way to spotlight the …

“Corruption” is the word used by Councilwoman Jan Perry to describe the process of drawing new boundaries for council districts. Some Korean American leaders say new maps are being drawn to “punish enemies, reward friends and disenfranchise” minority groups. The rhetoric is heating up as the Mayor gets involved and the Council plans a vote tomorrow.  Will that lead to a lawsuit? Also, the …

You’ve likely heard about the sudden cancellation of the HBO horse racing drama “Luck” after the deaths of three horses during production. Well, that got me thinking about who makes sure animals aren’t mistreated by Hollywood. Today, I’m trying to learn more about the rules and regulations governing the use of animals in film, television and commercial productions. (Of course, others are wondering if …

A new documentary produced by VH1 is premiering at SXSW just in time for the 20th anniversary of the L.A. riots.  “Uprising: Hip Hop & The LA Riots” (narrated by Snoop Dogg) talks to rappers, rioters, victims and police who remember the uprising. “Rebellions, revolutions, sacrifices have to be made… there’s always going to be bloodshed,” says one subject. According to the film’s synopsis:  …

LAist has this story about a man who intentionally drove into a tent early Sunday morning, injuring a homeless woman who was sleeping inside.  Police are still searching for the driver, who had apparently been fighting with other occupants of the tent.
“There was an altercation between the owner of the car and the people in the tent,” said Sgt. Gregory Hoyt of the Los …

The LA Times has a video of a “snake jacking” – a couple went into a pet store and stole a python in plain view (you can see the guy literally pocket the snake). “They did it so boldly,” says the proprietor of Serpentorium, the Northern California pet store. There’s a $100 reward for the snake, but if the thieves return the snake on …

The superintendent of LAUSD, Dr. John Deasy talks to Warren Olney about the decision to remove all the faculty from Miramonte Elementary school. Listen to the interview on “Which Way, L.A.?” after the jump.