Category Archives: Events Los Angeles

With its six towers and a large metal door, this Pasadena house looks like it could belong to royalty. In fact, the neighbors affectionately refer to it as the Urban Castle.

Trevor Paglen focuses on the typically unseen aspects of conflict and military action.

On the wall of my mother’s den hang two framed 19th century military rosters. One chronicles the Union troops my great-grandfather, a civilian soldier, led during the Civil War. The other lists the 11 battles he fought in — Malvern Hill, Fredericksburg, Gettysburg, Spotsylvania, etc. — from 1862 to 1864. Spotsylvania is where he took a Minié ball to the midsection, a wound that likely would have killed him had it not passed through his leather belt first.

The utility company that serves San Bruno confirmed Thursday night that one its gas line ruptured in the neighborhood where a  roaring fire left at least one person dead, destroyed a number homes and injured a couple of dozen victims.

Pacific Gas & Electric said that the broken line one was one theirs but added that the cause of the blast had not been determined.

"If it is ultimately determined that we were responsible for the cause of the accident, we will take accountability," the utility said in a statement.

The explosion tore a huge crater in the neighborhood and quickly disintegrated a couple of homes as flames, whipped by powerful winds, raced down streets and sent many residents fleeing on foot and in their vehicles, according to witnesses.

–Robert J. Lopez

‘The Beautiful and the Damned’ exhibition in Santa Monica, made up of Ann Summa’s images from L.A.’s vibrant scene, stays away from the grubby.

‘The Beautiful and the Damned’ exhibition in Santa Monica, made up of Ann Summa’s images from L.A.’s vibrant scene, stays away from the grubby.

LAPD Officer Frank Hernandez, the 13-year department veteran who shot and killed Manuel Jamines, a death that has sparked three days of violent protests in the Westlake district, has been involved in two previous shootings while on duty, according to LAPD officials and records.

On Sunday, authorities said, Jamines was threatening passers-by with a knife, and when confronted by three officers, ignored their orders to drop the weapon. Hernandez fired two rounds when Jamines came at him with the knife raised over his head, officials have said.

Citing privacy laws, Police Chief Charlie Beck declined to discuss the past shootings or any details of Hernandez’s personnel file. He voiced support for Hernandez, however, and indicated that the 39-year-old officer’s performance should not come under suspicion because of the multiple shootings.

“If we had any concerns about his ability to use deadly force, he wouldn’t be out in the field,” Beck said in an interview Wednesday. “Each of these [shootings] need to be looked at in their individual contexts.”

In the previous shootings, Hernandez was found by LAPD officials and the agency’s oversight board to have acted within the department’s policies on the use of deadly force, according to LAPD sources who spoke on the condition that their names not be used because of privacy laws.

Hernandez first used his handgun in November 1999, his third year on the force. While assigned to the department’s Southwest Division, he and his partner responded to a robbery call and tracked the female suspect into the backyard of a home, according to an account released at the time by the department.

The pair opened fire when the woman allegedly pointed a handgun at them, according to the account. She fell to the ground, but allegedly reached for her weapon and ignored Hernandez’s orders to stop, causing him to shoot her again. A loaded semiautomatic handgun was recovered at the scene, according to the department’s account. At the time, the woman was listed in stable condition.

Almost a decade later, in December 2008, Hernandez and a different partner were helping to search for assault suspects in the LAPD’s Rampart Division. They approached an 18-year-old man they suspected of being involved in the assault, according to a department account of the incident released at the time. The man tried to flee, then pointed a gun at the officers, the account said. Hernandez shot the man once, wounding him.

Hernandez remains ineligible for patrol assignments for the time being, police officials said. An officer involved in a shooting is kept off the streets until the chief has received a formal briefing on the incident and the officer is cleared by a department psychologist to return to full duty.

— Joel Rubin

Merle Haggard, Bill T. Jones and Jerry Herman also honored.

Merle Haggard, Bill T. Jones and Jerry Herman also honored.

The Hammer Museum and LAX Art are teaming for the event, which will feature area artists and exhibitions around the city.

For years, cutting-edge contemporary art has been one of L.A.’s greatest exports. Biennial curators from other cities fly here to do studio visits, make discoveries and take them back home.

A man taken into custody on burglary charges Monday attempted to escape from a Los Angeles County jail, but sheriff’s deputies captured him a short time later, officials said.

Ryan Martinez, 20, of Palmdale, was arrested Monday in Santa Clarita and accused of residential burglary, L.A. County sheriff’s officials said. Martinez was in a locked jail interview room at the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station. Investigators were waiting for one of the alleged victims, who was expected to provide a positive identification of the suspect.

When the victim was brought into the interview room, authorities discovered “chalky powder on the floor.” Martinez had removed ceiling tiles, climbed into the ceiling crawl space and replaced the tiles behind him, officials said.

Deputies surrounded the building and searched the station. Martinez was soon captured after he was spotted running through the building.

Martinez was charged with attempted escape, in addition to his original felony burglary charges. He was taken to the inmate reception center in downtown Los Angeles and was being held Monday night in lieu of $130,000 bail.

– – Scott Gold