Extra, Extra: Save the Tar

"Who Watches The Watchers", by ~db~ via LAist Featured Photos Pool on Flickr.

• A year after the LAPD launched an offensive to rid Downtown of drugs and crime, the results are mixed. Violent crime is down and shoplifting is up, but some opponents of this broken windows campaign are deriding the heavy handed tactics they say police have used. But officials said, look at the results and, hey, it worked for Giuliani in NYC and look how he's doing...
• After initially, and inexplicably, telling hundreds of California delegates they were not wanted, the Obama campaign has reversed its decision. But something may still be rotten in Denmark.
• Fire crews extinguished a blaze in an office building near LACMA this morning. No word yet on the status of the tar or ubiquitous street light exhibit.
• A "high ranking" member of the LA Sheriff's Department is in custody today after authorities arrested him on suspicion of petty theft and fleeing the scene of a crime in Home Depot after he was caught by store security. If a member of the Sheriff's Department can't successfully pull off a low-value heist, what hope is there for the rest of us?
• A 22-year-old former girl's JV Basketball coach at Chatsworth High was arrested for allegedly having sex with one of his players. If he likes young girls, he should have moved to Eldorado, Texas.
• The camp of Villaraigosa detractors is growing: "The mayor’s so obsessed with short-term results that he makes your normal Ritalin-swillers look like Dostoevsky devotees." Mayor Tony, they said, has his eye on one single goal: Sacramento. L.A. be damned.
• Police are still looking for suspects in the fatal shooting of a women Thursday near the 110. LAPD arrested a 30-year-old woman Friday and are on the lookout for those they think helped out with the crime.
• Hot enough for you? Record highs at LAX (91 degrees), Weswood (92), and Long Beach (95). A perfect 80 at the beaches. More of the same tomorrow.