The Knowledge Network

Even as seasoned as I am, every once in a while something happens that makes me pause. Such was the case last Thursday when I learned late morning that a shooting had occurred in the middle of the night. Someone used an automatic weapon to fire several rounds into four people, at 2 a.m. Somehow, some way, no one died, and the victims were "found in multiple parking lots" adjacent to the site of the shooting.  News coverage of the incident includes video of a nearby resident recording the gun blasts. The location where this occurred surprised me: a random arterial corner in Hawthorne, Calif, a suburb south of Los Angeles. I drive through that intersection every few weeks. Hawthorne is a working-class city that is bordered by similar cities on its north, east and south sides, and wealthier suburbs on its western boundary. It is not necessarily a place I'd expect to see a major shooting. But in talking with a police officer a few days later, I learned that things have chang...

  This year, as the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 World Trade Center attacks has approached, I've thought about why this tragedy affects me so deeply. I didn't know anyone who died in the attacks. The closest I came was a firm in the towers that my brother and his business partner worked with, remotely: their office was on one of the floors directly hit by a plane. Every year at this time I go in search of stories that I haven't yet read or seen, whether they be in print or on video. I comb the internet, almost obsessively, for stones I have left unturned. I have a need to know all of the stories, and each year, I always find more that are new to me. This month one of the highlights that I found was  "Voices and heroes of the 9/11 flights," from the History Channel, which was released five years ago, for the 20th anniversary of the attacks. The near-90-minute documentary follows each of the four fated flights on that day, from before takeoff to their ends. With in...

Hard to tell for sure where this came from, because as mentioned in our last entry here, vacant lots in Los Angeles have been around for decades. But the mayor has ordered "nuisance" properties cleared by the city. Since she is locked in combat for election with a tough opponent, this is no doubt a political move to make her look good to voters. Every press release she sends out touts her efforts as the culmination of a long campaign, a program, or an initiative to do this very thing she is ordering done. Funny how it took the last few months of her tenure to actually do it. Here's the press release: Mayor Bass Directs City Crews to Clean and Secure Nuisance Properties Across Los Angeles  Councilmembers Nazarian, McOsker, and Rodriguez Take Action in City Council LOS ANGELES – Mayor Karen Bass directed City crews to clean and secure nuisance properties citywide and applauded Councilmembers Adrin Nazarian (CD2) and Tim McOsker (CD15) for introducing two motions in support ...