With the legendary Ford Crown Victoria-based Police Interceptor no longer in production, it's no surprise that the California Highway Patrol (CHP) has been searching for an all-new vehicle to replenish its fleet. What is surprising is the vehicle the CHP chose -- the Explorer-based Ford Police Interceptor Utility. Look for it in your rearview mirror beginning early next year.Ford Explorer Interceptor... Ford Explorer Interceptor Utility Cruiser RenderingWhile a win for Ford, the CHP's selection of an SUV is a potentially troubling sign for the much-hyped cop car offerings the Detroit Three have been pitching hard to fill the void left by the departure of the Crown Vic. And there's a good reason why: payload.While the old-school, body-on-frame Crown Victoria may have been a rolling tank, ... Continue reading →
I established a Facebook account in 2008. My motivation was ignoble: I wanted to distribute my journalism more widely. I have acquired since then just over four thousand “friends”—in Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, the Middle East, and of course, closer to home. I have discovered the appeal of Facebook’s community—for example, the extraordinary emotional support that swells in virtual space when people come together online around a friend’s illness or life celebrations. Through its bedrock appeals to friendship, community, public identity, and activism—and its commercial exploitation of these values—Facebook is an unprecedented synthesis of corporate and public spaces. The corporation’s social contract with users is ambitious, yet neither its governance system nor its young ruler seem trustworthy. Then came this month’s initial public offering of stock—a ... Continue reading →
Looking in her cupboard last week, Shulamis Labkowski got a morsel of unwelcome news. The mother of three from Oakland, Calif., inspected three bags of Trader Joe's semisweet chocolate chips, a staple in her kosher kitchen. They were alike in all ways but one: Two of them had a small D on the label, meaning they were classified as dairy under Jewish dietary laws. The changed label was tough to swallow. Kosher law forbids mixing meat and dairy at any time, but Trader Joe's chips used to be deemed "pareve," meaning they could be eaten with either meat or dairy meals. An avid baker, Mrs. Labkowski tore through five to seven bags a week to make treats without worrying about running afoul of the rules. ... Continue reading →
A Twitter feud between Gov. Jerry Brown’s press secretary and writers from the Sacramento and Fresno Bee has found its way into the newspaper’s pages. Thursday’s paper included an item on the Tweeting exploits of Brown press secretary Gil Duran, including his sending a picture of a crying baby to the author of a critical Tweet and a personal tete-a-tete with Bee columnist Dan Walters. Walters started by riffing on a Brown remark that California was “not some tired country of Europe,”Tweeting to his 1,540 followers that “California may be a tired American state.” That earned a sharp response from Duran: “No, it’s just you that’s tired, Dan. Just you.” This dust-up followed a back-and-forth between the columnist and the Brown press shop earlier in ... Continue reading →
Brian Banks logged onto Facebook last year, and a new friend request startled him. It was the woman who, nearly a decade ago, accused him of rape when they were both students at Long Beach Poly High School. Banks had recently ended a five-year stint in prison for the rape, and was unemployed and beaten down. So he replied with a question: Would she meet with him and a private investigator? She agreed. At the meeting, which was secretly recorded, Wanetta Gibson said she had lied. "No," she was quoted as saying, "he did not rape me." That admission set off an extraordinary chain of events that culminated Thursday morning. A Superior Court judge dismissed Banks’ conviction, undoing 10 years of turmoil in a hearing ... Continue reading →
A former Long Beach high school football star convicted of raping a classmate a decade ago had his conviction dismissed Thursday after his accuser recanted her story. Brian Banks trembled with sobs after a brief hearing in which prosecutors said they had no objection to his conviction being reversed. His mother and girlfriend, seated in the courtroom, let out cries of joy. "My only dream in the world is just to be free," Banks said at a post-hearing news conference, his eyes red from crying, his face frozen in disbelief. Banks was a 17-year-old college football prospect when, in 2002, a classmate accused him of kidnapping and raping her. Banks maintained the sex was consensual, but his lawyer suggested he take a plea deal rather ... Continue reading →
A t the top of the Santa Monica Mountains range in Beverly Hills, standing in the middle of the "urban forest" campus of the environmental group TreePeople, California Assemblywoman Betsy Butler, a leggy blonde in a powder-blue business suit and spiked heels, looks out of place. Butler is in Coldwater Canyon for a brief campaign stop at TreePeople's Green City Fair, where the style is determinedly casual — middle-aged men munching on organic fruit are wearing wide-brimmed straw hats and loose pants with sneakers; Millennials in T-shirts and jeans sit at booths and peddle ideas and products that promote the wonders of a "green" life. ILLUSTRATION BY FRED HARPER Torie Osborn PHOTO BY NANETTE GONZALES Torie Osborn Butler might easier blend with the ladies who ... Continue reading →
Orange County Sheriff Sandra Hutchens said her decision to tighten up the internal affairs process — called by one union leader ”an act of war” — was crucial to harnessing a department reeling from a lack of accountability, transparency and leadership. Hutchens’ statement, in a court declaration , refers to her action last year to stop allowing deputies, sergeants and detectives to review their internal affairs files before being interrogated. For more than 28 years, those employees have been allowed to see the evidence against them before answering a single question, giving them the opportunity to get their stories straight in administrative probes. The pre-interview access didn’t apply to criminal investigations. Hutchens ended the practice on Jan. 1, 2011, prompting the Association of Orange County ... Continue reading →
