Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Kelly Thomas: Councilman says he hired officers charged in case

Booking photos of Fullerton Police Officer Manuel Ramos, left, and Cpl. Jay Cicinelli

Fullerton City Councilman Pat McKinley, the city's former police chief, said Wednesday night that he hired the two officers charged in connection with the fatal beating of Kelly Thomas.

"I hired the two officers charged today and cannot comprehend how they drifted so far from their training," McKinley said in a statement.

Officer Manuel Ramos is charged with second-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter and Cpl. Jay Cicinelli is charged with involuntary manslaughter and excessive use of force.

Photos: Kelly Thomas' death

McKinley, a former officer with the Los Angeles Police Department, was Fullerton's police chief for 16 years before being elected to the City Council in November 2010.

His comments were included with statements that were also issued by Fullerton Mayor Richard F. Jones and Mayor Pro Tem Don Bankhead.

L.A. County poverty rate jumps for third straight year to 17.5%

About one in six Los Angeles County residents were living below the poverty line last year, according to new estimates from the Census Bureau.

It was the third consecutive year of increases in the county’s poverty rate, which rose from just under 15% in 2007 to 17.5% in 2010. In the same period, inflation-adjusted median household income plunged $3,658 to $52,684.

Taken together, the data from the Census Bureau’s annual American Community Survey provide a grim snapshot of conditions in the county after the recession officially ended in June 2009.

"We hoped that we would bounce out of the recession," said USC demographer Dowell Myers. Instead, he said, "The impacts of the recession are accumulating and escalating.... I would expect the data to be worse this year."

The one bright spot, Myers said, is that the poverty rate remains well below that recorded during the last recession in the early 1990s, when more than 20% of county residents fell below the poverty line. He attributed that to a more deeply rooted and resilient immigrant population than in the 1990s.

Brown bear, 12-year-old girl have close encounter in kitchen

After hearing a racket at her home Wednesday afternoon, a 12-year-old girl from the San Bernardino Mountain community of Forest Falls went into her family’s kitchen and came face-to-face with an invading brown bear, authorities said.

The girl ran back upstairs and locked herself in the bathroom, then called her father at work, who in turn called the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department about 2:30 p.m.

“When the deputy got there, the bear had already left the residence. She said the bear ran out of the house and into the backyard," said sheriff’s spokeswoman Jodi Miller.

“The bear did not break into the house," Miller said. "He pushed a door that was unlocked."

San Diego moves to shut down 12 pot dispensaries near schools

The San Diego city attorney Wednesday moved to shut down 12 medical marijuana dispensaries operating within 600 feet of schools.

Having the dispensaries that close to schools "puts our children at great risk," said City Atty. Jan Goldsmith.

The city attorney's office filed civil complaints asking a judge to order the dispensaries closed. San Diego currently has more than 160 dispensaries. At least 31 have closed due to the city attorney's action.

Goldsmith said dispensaries near schools are violating city zoning laws.

L.A. school district and administrators agree on contract

The Los Angeles school district has agreed to a contract extension with the union representing administrators.

The tentative agreement could run through the 2014 school year and must still be agreed to by the 2,200-member union and the Board of Education. The bargaining process began almost a year ago and a deal was reached about 9 p.m. Monday, said Judith Perez, president of Associated Administrators of Los Angeles.

The district sent out a news release announcing the deal Wednesday.

FBI and LAPD slash backlog of South L.A. gang homicide cases

Fbi-joint-southla-map
Kashmier James had spent most of Christmas Day 2010 with family before heading off in the evening to visit with high school friends in the Manchester Square neighborhood of South Los Angeles.

As she arrived at her destination in the 1700 block of 85th Street near Western Avenue, half a dozen people stood talking on the sidewalk.

Her 3-year-old daughter still strapped in her car seat, James got out of her vehicle. Within moments, she was hit with a fusillade of gunfire.

For months, the James killing and dozens of other gang-related slayings like it remained unsolved.

Taxed detectives finally got some assistance in July when the FBI joined forces with the Los Angeles Police Department's criminal gang homicide unit for a three-month operation called Save Our Streets.

The goal was to clear the backlog of unsolved gang killings in the LAPD's South Bureau and to put a crimp in ongoing gang violence in an era of shrinking resources.

Police detain 4 people in Pasadena homicide investigation

Pasadena homicides Pasadena police detained four people Wednesday in connection with the death of a 43-year-old man whose body was found in a parking lot.

The victim, identified as King King, was found about 12:45 p.m Wednesday in the lot behind a business in the 900 block of East Washington Boulevard, the Pasadena Police Department said.

The cause of King's death was being determined by the Los Angeles County coroner's office. The names of the four people who were detained were not released.

Since January 2007, at least 23 homicides have been reported in Pasadena, according to the Times Homicide Report database.

Anyone with information about King's death is asked to call Crime Stoppers at (800) 222-8477.

ALSO:

California measles cases hit a 10-year high

Angry driver allegedly runs down pedestrian in Redondo Beach

Protesters don’t want 100 eucalyptus trees removed in Costa Mesa

-- Robert J. Lopez

twitter.com/LAJourno

Graphic: Map shows Pasadena homicides reported since 2007.

Credit: Times' Homicide Report

Kelly Thomas: A timeline of events leading to his death

Kelly Thomas memorial

Here is a timeline of events that the Orange County district attorney said led to the death of Kelly Thomas, 37. Two Fullerton police officers were charged Wednesday in his death, one with murder, the other with involuntary manslaughter.

JULY 5

8:23 p.m.

-- Fullerton police dispatchers receive a call about a homeless man looking in car windows at the downtown bus station.

8:37 p.m.

-- Officers Manuel Ramos and Joseph Wolf arrive in separate squad cars and make contact with Kelly Thomas

-- Ramos swings his baton at Thomas and punches him several times in the ribs.

Reader photos: Southern California Moments Day 264

Click through for more photos of Southern California Moments.

Crossing the sky: Nastaran Rahnama photographs a Koreatown church in this January photo.

Every day of 2011, we're featuring reader-submitted photos of Southern California Moments. Follow us on Twitter and visit the Southern California Moments homepage for more on this series.

Kelly Thomas: Councilwoman calls for police oversight panel

Click here to see more Kelly Thomas photos.Fullerton Councilwoman Sharon Quirk-Silva said Wednesday she will seek to create a police oversight board after prosecutors charged two city police officers in the fatal beating of a mentally ill homeless man.

In the wake of the beating death in July of Kelly Thomas, Quirk-Silva said, city leaders need to examine and reform Fullerton Police Department policies and procedures “that are lacking.”

The oversight board Quirk-Silver is proposing could be either a citizens advisory group or a panel of people with law enforcement and legal expertise, similar to  the Los Angeles Police Commission, the councilwoman said.

Photos: Kelly Thomas death

“I’m open to researching how things operate in other cities and how it would best work here,” Quirk-Silva said. “I don’t want add another level of government and hinder the police department. But I want it [the panel] to be productive, a board that goes both ways, working for the public and for the police.”

The proposal will be introduced at the next council meeting, she said.

Suicide Draws Attention to Gay Bullying

Five months ago, Jamey Rodemeyer, a Buffalo junior high school student, got on his webcam and created a video urging other gay teenagers to remain hopeful in the face of bullying.

The 14-year-old spoke of coming out as bisexual and enduring taunts and slurs at school. And he described, in at times desperate tones, rejection and ridicule from other teenagers.

Jamey made the video as part of the It Gets Better project, a campaign that was started last fall to give hope to bullied gay teenagers. “All you have to do is hold your head up and you’ll go far,” he said. “Just love yourself and you’re set. … It gets better.”

But for Jamey, the struggle apparently was just too much. This week his parents announced that their son was found dead, an apparent suicide. He didn’t leave a note, but his parents said he had endured “constant taunting, from the same people over and over.” They added that his school had intervened to help, and that Jamey appeared to be benefiting from counseling.

News that a bullied teenager had succumbed to the very pressures he urged others to resist came as a shock to supporters of the It Gets Better project. And it provided a sobering reminder that bullied teenagers who appear to be adjusting may still be in trouble.

Dan Savage, the advice columnist and co-founder of It Gets Better, noted on his blog on Tuesday that Jamey’s death showed that “sometimes, the damage done by hate and by haters is simply too great.”

It sounds like Jamey had help — he was seeing a therapist and a social worker and his family was supportive — but it wasn’t enough. Whatever help Jamey was getting clearly wasn’t enough to counteract the hatred and abuse that he had endured since the fifth grade, according to reports, or Jamey’s fears of having to face down a whole new set of bullies when he started high school next year.

As suicides among lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender teenagers have gotten more attention in the past year, researchers have sought to identify the factors that play the largest role. One study published in the journal Pediatrics in May, which looked at nearly 32,000 teenagers in 34 counties across Oregon, found that gay and bisexual teenagers were significantly more likely to attempt suicide than their heterosexual peers. The risk of an attempt was 20 percent greater among gay teenagers who lacked supportive social surroundings, like schools with gay-straight alliance groups or school policies that specifically protected gay, lesbian and bisexual students.

An editorial accompanying the study said the findings pointed to the need for schools to adopt policies that create “more supportive and inclusive surroundings.

“By encouraging more positive environments,” the report stated, “such policies could help reduce the risk of suicide attempts not only among LGB students, but also among heterosexual students.”

Watch Jamey’s It Gets Better video above.

Protesters don’t want 100 eucalyptus trees removed in Costa Mesa

Trees2
As crews worked Wednesday to remove 100 eucalyptus trees from the area where a motorist was killed by a felled tree, they were met by two protesters who want to save the trees.

"Obviously, this tragedy was horrible, but there might be a way to replant them, make them more stable," said Margie Dorney, a Newport Beach resident, who with her husband was protesting Newport Beach's decision to remove the trees for safety reasons from street medians along Irvine Avenue between Westcliff and Dover drives.

The cities of Newport Beach and Costa Mesa announced Tuesday evening that contractors were going to remove between 100 and 107 trees that arborists determined potentially unsafe. A 29-year-old Tustin woman was killed Thursday afternoon when a 10-ton eucalyptus tree fell on her car at Irvine Avenue, north of 17th Street.

The trees are technically inside Costa Mesa city limits, but Newport Beach has the contract to maintaining the trees.

"It could very well be that there's a problem with the roots, I don't think we've done enough discovery yet to figure this out," said David Hayes, a 61-year Newport Beach resident who lives up the street from where the accident happened. "It just seems to me we need cooler heads to prevail."

Dorney said only about 15 trees were remaining when they arrived to protest Wednesday morning.

ALSO:

Full coverage: Kelly Thomas death

Fallen tree that crushed woman could have domino effect

Angry driver allegedly runs down pedestrian in Redondo Beach

-- Joseph Serna and Mike Reicher

Photo: A workman with a chainsaw helps with the removal of old trees along Irvine Avenue Costa Mesa in the wake of the recent death of a passing motorist who was killed by a fallen tree. Credit: Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times

Suicide of Gay Teenager Who Urged Hope

Five months ago, Jamey Rodemeyer, a Buffalo junior high school student, got on his webcam and created a video urging other gay teenagers to remain hopeful in the face of bullying.

The 14-year-old spoke of coming out as gay himself and enduring taunts and slurs at school. And he described, in at times desperate tones, rejection and ridicule from other teenagers.

Jamey made the video as part of the It Gets Better project, a campaign that was started last fall to give hope to bullied gay teenagers. “All you have to do is hold your head up and you’ll go far,” he said. “Just love yourself and you’re set. … It gets better.”

But for Jamey, the struggle apparently was just too much. This week his parents announced that their son was found dead, an apparent suicide. He didn’t leave a note, but his parents said he had endured “constant taunting, from the same people over and over.” They added that his school had intervened to help, and that Jamey appeared to be benefiting from counseling.

News that a bullied teenager had succumbed to the very pressures he urged others to resist came as a shock to supporters of the It Gets Better project. And it provided a sobering reminder that bullied teenagers who appear to be adjusting may still be in trouble.

Dan Savage, the advice columnist and co-founder of It Gets Better, noted on his blog on Tuesday that Jamey’s death showed that “sometimes, the damage done by hate and by haters is simply too great.”

It sounds like Jamey had help — he was seeing a therapist and a social worker and his family was supportive — but it wasn’t enough. Whatever help Jamey was getting clearly wasn’t enough to counteract the hatred and abuse that he had endured since the fifth grade, according to reports, or Jamey’s fears of having to face down a whole new set of bullies when he started high school next year.

As suicides among lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender teenagers have gotten more attention in the past year, researchers have sought to identify the factors that play the largest role. One study published in the journal Pediatrics in May, which looked at nearly 32,000 teenagers in 34 counties across Oregon, found that gay and bisexual teenagers were significantly more likely to attempt suicide than their heterosexual peers. The risk of an attempt was 20 percent greater among gay teenagers who lacked supportive social surroundings, like schools with gay-straight alliance groups or school policies that specifically protected gay, lesbian and bisexual students.

An editorial accompanying the study said the findings pointed to the need for schools to adopt policies that create “more supportive and inclusive surroundings.

“By encouraging more positive environments,” the report stated, “such policies could help reduce the risk of suicide attempts not only among LGB students, but also among heterosexual students.”

Watch Jamey’s It Gets Better video above.

Kelly Thomas: Councilman wants more details on fatal beating

Click here to see more Kelly Thomas photos. Fullerton Councilman Bruce Whitaker, who early on questioned Fullerton Police authorities about the death of Kelly Thomas, said though the details of the case were not new to him, he was still processing the enormity of the district attorney's announcement that two policeman will be charged in the fatal beating. 

“It’s pretty hard to go beyond what the district attorney has said at this point," Whitaker said of  Dist. Atty. Tony Rackauckas' announcement Wednesday that one officer would be charged with second-degree murder and a second with involuntary manslaughter.

"I’m still absorbing it, what it means and what it means personnel-wise in the city,” the councilman said.

Photos: Kelly Thomas death

“I had great concerns about whether the facts of the case squared up with what we were being told [by police officials]," he said.

Whitaker said Wednesday's news conference confirmed a lot of what he already knew, although he said he wants to get further explanation about the way the encounter with Thomas was initiated and whether police had “probable cause to detain” the homeless man.

“I would like to achieve clarity on the events that preceded the encounter,” Whitaker said.

RELATED:

Full coverage: Kelly Thomas death

Ron Thomas satisfied with charges in son's death

Kelly Thomas begged for his life from 'menacing' officer, D.A. says

-- Andrew Blankstein

Photo: Demonstrators in the Kelly Thomas case deliver their message outside the Orange County district attorney's office in Santa Ana on Wednesday. Credit: Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times

Downtown arts school hires well-known educator as principal

Downtown la arts high school
The new principal of the high-profile downtown arts high school will be the well-known head of a similar well-established school in Washington, D.C., officials confirmed Wednesday.

The selection of veteran arts educator Rory Pullens is the latest chapter for the Ramon C. Cortines School of Visual and Performing Arts, which has been plagued by leadership turnover and other controversies.

In Pullens, the school will have a well-respected leader who is credited with building and maintaining the caliber of program that is wanted to match the architecturally distinctive, steel-clad $232-million structure that looms over the Hollywood Freeway.

“We were looking for a motivational principal who would push forward the school's mission and vision and assist us on our journey to become the premier arts school on the West Coast,” said teacher Greg Schiller, who was part of the school-based interview committee.

Pullens is scheduled to begin work in Los Angeles on Nov. 1.

ALSO:

L.A. school named after guitarist Carlos Santana

San Juan Capistrano family fined for holding Bible study in home

Kelly Thomas: DA charges two officers with murder, manslaughter

-- Howard Blume

Photo: The Ramon C. Cortines School of Visual and Performing Arts. Credit: Bob Chamberlin / Los Angeles Times.

FBI raids San Bernardino airport agency as part of investigation

The FBI on Wednesday raided the San Bernardino International Airport Authority and Inland Valley Development Agency in San Bernardino, agencies accused of rampant mismanagement and questionable financial oversight in a recent county grand jury investigation.

Both agencies oversee the development of the airport, the old Norton Air Force Base, which was shuttered in 1994 and converted to civilian use.

FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller said federal search warrants were executed in six locations as part of a criminal investigation. Authorities with the San Bernardino County district attorney’s office and state Department of Justice also took part in the raids.

Eimiller declined to provide details about the ongoing investigation and said the search warrants have been sealed by a federal court judge.

Among the findings in the civil grand jury report was that airport developer Scot Spencer received millions of dollars worth of questionable contracts from the airport authority. Spencer is a convicted felon who served time in federal prison for bankruptcy fraud and was banned from the aviation industry by the U.S. Department of Transportation.

The investigation is being handled by a special joint corruption task force set up last year because of an abundance of corruption allegations in San Bernardino County. The task force includes the district attorney's office, the FBI, the U.S. attorney's office and the California attorney general's office.
The task force has been very busy this year.

Just last week in a separate case, FBI and IRS agents executed nine federal search warrants that appeared to be related to an ongoing public corruption investigation of a Rancho Cucamonga development and its handling by the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors.

In May, former San Bernardino County Supervisor Paul Antoine Biane and Burum were named in a 29-count indictment that includes charges of bribery, extortion and misappropriation of public funds.
The corruption case involves a $102-million settlement between the county and Colonies Partners in 2006, four years after the developer filed suit challenging the county's easement rights over a flood control basin in the middle of a large retail and housing development in Upland.

And in a third case, a federal grand jury in March indicted former Upland Mayor John Pomierski on extortion and bribery charges in an alleged scheme to extort money and campaign contributions from two businesses seeking city permits and other government approvals.

ALSO:

Fallen tree that crushed woman could have domino effect

Kelly Thomas: Authorities increase security in case of protests

Angry driver allegedly runs down pedestrian in Redondo Beach

--Phil Willon

Santa Barbara City College president to take part in White House summit

The acting president of Santa Barbara City College will take part Wednesday in a White House meeting with national policy and community leaders from across the nation.

Jack Friedlander, acting president and superintendent of City College, will take part in a roundtable discussion about the work being done at the community college level and what effect new innovations are having on campuses and in their communities.

Friedlander will be among leaders from 17 community colleges.

The meeting will also include Melody Barnes, President Obama's domestic policy adviser; Jane Oates, assistant secretary of labor for employment and training administration; and Brenda Dann-Messier, assistant secretary of education for vocational and adult education.

Suspected botulism may have spread to domesticated ducks

Suspected botulism outbreak A suspected botulism outbreak that has been killing wild mallards in Lake Forest has now spread to domesticated ducks, a resident said.

Terry Whatley, 63, of Lake Forest, who has taken it upon herself to rescue sick and injured ducks, said she got a call Tuesday night from neighbors of the Village Pond Park saying they had found a sick bird.

She took the duck home and treated him by flushing out his system with fluids. Whatley said the duck seems to be recovering and is nibbling at food.

L.A. school named after guitarist Carlos Santana

Carlos Santana performing in March 2011 Legendary guitarist Carlos Santana has hit records and 10 Grammys, and now he has a school named after him in North Hills.

The Los Angeles Unified School Board voted Tuesday to rename Valley Region Elementary School No. 12 as Carlos Santana Arts Academy.

The school, which can accommodate up to 650 students, opened this school year, and district officials say it will have a focus on the arts.

Santana, who did not attend the board meeting, said in a statement: “Each child’s soul is the seed that contains light and love.

"By investing patience, compassion, kindness and gentle wisdom, each child will bear the fruit of divinity.

"With gratitude, I am deeply honored that you chose to name your new school Carlos Santana Arts Academy.”

ALSO:

Angry driver allegedly runs down pedestrian in Redondo Beach

Kelly Thomas: D.A. to discuss possible charges against officers

Amber Dubois' mother found remains of nursing student Michelle Le

-- Rick Rojas

Photo: Carlos Santana performing in March in Taiwan. Credit: Chiang Ying-ying / Associated Press

Kelly Thomas: Authorities increase security in case of protests

Kelly.thomas
Officials in Santa Ana and Fullerton are preparing for the possibility of unruly protests Wednesday after Orange County Dist. Atty. Tony Rackauckas announces whether he will file charges against the six Fullerton police officers involved in a violent confrontation that led to a homeless man's death in July.

The district attorney's office received the coroner's report on the death of Kelly Thomas on Tuesday, and Rackauckas is scheduled to announce his decision at 11 a.m. The autopsy results have not been released.

District attorney spokeswoman Farrah Emami said the office has heightened security measures in place but declined to elaborate.

Santa Ana police Cpl. Anthony Bertagna said the department has 10 officers assigned to patrol Civic Center Drive every day and will be monitoring the crowd outside to see if more are needed and if the street needs to be blocked to traffic for safety reasons. 

"Our understanding is that Mr. [Ron] Thomas has encouraged Kelly's Army to show up," he said, referring to Kelly's father, who has taken a high-profile role in the case, pushing for criminal charges against the officers. "How many people that equates to, we really don't know... If the crowd is large, we'll evaluate and decide if we close the streets or anything like that."

Ron Thomas told The Times he plans to show up in front of the district attorney’s office at 10 a.m. and has put the word out to his supporters to join him.

So far, officials said there was a heavy media presence outside the office but no protesters.

In Fullerton, police spokesman Sgt. Andrew Goodrich said officials are not expecting any unrest or issues but are prepared. The department's acting chief, Capt. Kevin Hamilton, will be making a statement after the district attorney's announcement.

ALSO:

Timing of Laguna Beach sexual-assault arrest raises questions

Stressed-out armored car guard allegedly fires gun on 210 Freeway

Amber Dubois' mother found remains of nursing student Michelle Le

-- Abby Sewell

Photo: Larry Dewitt Williams, 56, a self-proclaimed part of "Kelly's Army" who claims to have witnessed the beating of Kelly Thomas in Fullerton, gathers with other supporters in front of the Orange County district attorney's office. Credit: Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times

 

 

 

Fallen tree that crushed woman could have domino effect

Tree crushes car in Costa Mesa
Four arborists have determined that a eucalyptus tree that fell and killed a motorist broke a vital link in its row, and that the other 100 or so trees should be removed, according to Newport Beach officials

The arborists came to the same conclusion independently, said City Manager Dave Kiff.

"The canopy and roots all support each other," Kiff said. "It's like a fence that's all linked together."

The "hedgerow" could have been compromised over many years as the blue gum eucalyptus trees aged or were removed, according to a city statement.

But officials would not go so far as to pinpoint the cause of the collapse last week, and Kiff said arborists are still investigating why the tree fell.

"We just want to focus on what we can do moving forward, on safety."

Haeyoon Miller, 29, of Tustin, died Thursday after a 10-ton tree crushed her Hyundai while she waited at a stoplight.

ALSO:

Angry driver allegedly runs down pedestrian in Redondo Beach

Kelly Thomas: D.A. to discuss possible charges against officers

Amber Dubois' mother found remains of nursing student Michelle Le

-- Mike Reicher, Times Community News

Photo: A crowd gathers at the scene where a giant eucalyptus tree smashed a car waiting at a traffic light at Irvine Avenue and 17th Street in Costa Mesa. Credit: Don Leach / Daily Pilot

Angry driver allegedly runs down pedestrian in Redondo Beach

Jared polk A Redondo Beach man has been arrested for allegedly running over and injuring a pedestrian who had criticized his driving.

Jared Polk, 25, was arrested in Redondo Beach on Sunday on charges of felony hit-and-run and assault with a deadly weapon.

Polk had screeched to a stop at a Hermosa Beach crosswalk narrowly missing two pedestrians with his Honda Element.

One of them threw up his arms and yelled at Polk, said Det. Mick Gaglia of the Hermosa Beach Police Department.

Polk “backed up … and gunned it,” Gaglia said.

Polk allegedly hit the pedestrian, who rolled up over the car and onto the pavement. Polk then drove off.

Hermosa Beach police tracked him down and arrested him in Redondo Beach.

ALSO:

Kelly Thomas: D.A. to discuss possible charges against officers

Day laborer ordinance: Redondo Beach puts off decision on appeal

Amber Dubois' mother found remains of nursing student Michelle Le

-- Sam Quinones

twitter.com/samquinones7

Photo: Jared Polk. Credit: Hermosa Beach Police Department

The Importance of Pet Tags

Is your dog or cat wearing a collar and tags?

Research shows that 80 percent of pet owners believe it’s important that dogs and cats wear personal identification tags, but only one in three pet owners say their pets always wear them. The importance of pet tags was highlighted last week with news of Willow, the calico cat who turned up in Manhattan five years after she went missing from her Colorado home. She had been embedded with a microchip as a kitten, which carried information about her owners 1,800 miles away.

While the story had a happy ending, veterinarians say it’s also a cautionary tale about the importance of pet collars and tags.

“Willow’s story points out why microchipping is a good thing, but shouldn’t be the only thing you do,” said Dr. Emily Weiss, vice president of shelter research and development for the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. “Willow was lost for five years. If she had been wearing a simple collar and ID tag, she might have gotten home the same day.”

To study whether the use of pet tags can be increased, Dr. Weiss and A.S.P.C.A. researchers in Oklahoma City conducted a study in which veterinarians and adoption centers placed collars and ID tags directly on cats and dogs. The group tracked 109 owners of dogs and cats who had been fitted with collars and tags during clinic visits or the adoption process.

Before the intervention, only 14 percent of the animals studied had been wearing an ID tag, but two months after visiting the vet or leaving the shelter, 84 percent of the animals were still wearing their tags, according to the research, published this month in the journal Preventive Veterinary Medicine.

Owners who had removed tags said they did so because the animal was an indoor pet or because the animal indicated some discomfort with the collar. A few others reported losing the tags, and one said tags were unnecessary because the family “lived in the country.” During the study period, 18 pets were reported lost, and 17 of them, including 13 dogs and 4 cats, were found and returned home. Of those, nine dogs and one cat had been returned home because someone used the information on the pet tag to reunite the animal with its owner.

In 2007, The Journal of the American Veterinary Association reported that most lost dogs and lost cats weren’t wearing tags at the time they disappeared. Fewer than half of lost dogs and just one in five lost cats were wearing tags at the time they went missing, according to the journal.

Part of the problem is that people who keep their pets primarily indoors often think they don’t need to worry about identification. But indoor pets can get out. In the case of Willow, a worker at the house accidentally let the cat out.

Another problem is that cat owners worry that collars pose a risk. The fear is that a climbing or adventurous cat may snag the collar on a branch and choke. Dr. Weiss said that the idea that collars pose a risk to cats is a myth, and that the danger of a cat being lost because it doesn’t have a collar is far greater than it being harmed by the collar itself. A.S.P.C.A. research shows that simple buckle collars work better on cats than the stretchable breakaway collars that many owners choose.

She said part of the reason cats seem to show discomfort when fitted with a collar is that they aren’t used to it, and owners should start putting collars on kittens. Even so, she said, most cats do adjust to collars quickly.

“One of the reasons cats have a hard time with collars is that we don’t put them on,” said Dr. Weiss. “We start dogs off young, but cats never have the opportunity to get used to them, so when they finally do wear them, they fuss.”

Dr. Weiss said cat owners often give up on collars too quickly. “The majority of people who did not successfully keep a collar on their cat, it looks like they take it off in about a day,” she said. “The cat doesn’t take it off. The owner removes it themselves.”

Dr. Weiss said the results of the collar intervention study show that most pet owners will keep ID tags and collars on their animals, but that the rate of tagging can be increased if vets and shelters make it more convenient.

“Having a microchip is a great safety measure for emergencies or if the pet loses a tag or collar,’’ she said. “But an ID tag is the simplest, easiest way to assure your pet is going to get home.’’

Study finds less crime near closed pot dispensaries

Southern California medical marijuana dispensary
Crime actually increased near Los Angeles medical marijuana dispensaries that had been required to close last year, a study found.

Researchers at the Rand Corp. think tank compared the 10 days before the city's medical marijuana ordinance took effect June 7, 2010, with the 10 days after, when many of the more than 400 illegal dispensaries were shut down, if only briefly.

The study found a 59% increase in crime within three-tenths of a mile of a closed dispensary compared with an open one and a 24% increase within six-tenths of a mile.

The city attorney's office, which has argued in court proceedings that the number of dispensaries needs to be reduced to deal with "well-documented crime," called the report's conclusions "highly suspect and unreliable" and     based on "faulty assumptions, conjecture, irrelevant data, untested measurements and incomplete results."

Detectives work to ID human remains found near Palmdale

Sheriff’s detectives on Wednesday were trying to identify human remains found partially buried in the desert near Palmdale.

The remains were found by a jogger Tuesday near 103rd Street East and Avenue R-4.

They were taken to the L.A. County coroner's office, which will try to determine a cause of death, said an official with the L.A. County Sheriff's Department.

Anyone with information is asked to call sheriff’s homicide detectives at (323) 890-5500 or leave information anonymously at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).

ALSO:

Kelly Thomas: D.A. to discuss possible charges against officers

Day laborer ordinance: Redondo Beach puts off decision on appeal

Amber Dubois' mother found remains of nursing student Michelle Le

-- Sam Quinones

twitter.com/samquinones7

Kelly Thomas: D.A. to discuss possible charges against officers

Kelly Thomas protest
Orange County Dist. Atty. Attorney Tony Rackauckas plans to hold a news conference Wednesday morning to announce whether he will file criminal charges against the six officers involved in the death of homeless Fullerton man Kelly Thomas.

Officials from the district attorney's office have said they were awaiting toxicology and other test results from the coroner before making a decision on the case. That report was handed over to the district attorney's office Tuesday, but the findings were not made public.

Thomas, a 37-year-old homeless man with schizophrenia who was a regular presence in downtown Fullerton, was injured July 5 during a confrontation with the officers, who witnesses said beat him until he was unconscious.

He died five days later, after being removed from life support.

Police investigate after body found in Pasadena

Pasadena police are investigating the death of a man whose body was found lying on the ground early Wednesday morning.

Officers responded to a call about 12:45 a.m. regarding a body behind businesses in the 900 block of East Washington Boulevard, according to a police statement.

The man was described only as black and about 30 years old.

Police could not be immediately reached to provide further details.

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-- Abby Sewell

Day laborer ordinance: Redondo Beach puts off decision on appeal

Redondo beach protest

Four days after a federal appeals court struck down Redondo Beach’s controversial day laborer ordinance, the City Council late Tuesday delayed a vote on whether to appeal the ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court.

The city’s 1989 ordinance bars individuals from standing on street corners and soliciting work from motorists. Last week, the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals called the ordinance an "unconstitutional restriction on speech" in a 9-2 decision.

Late Tuesday, after two closed sessions, City Atty. Mike Webb announced that the council had "no reportable action." He added that the item will be put on the council agenda for the Oct. 4 meeting.

The council has 90 days from Friday to file an appeal.

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