An ex-Tournament of Roses volunteer with a squeaky-clean image is being held in the 2004 murder of another volunteer Donna Kelly, 59, who disappeared before her daughter found her body in her mothers car. Detectives say that DNA evidence linked Richard Allan Munnecke, 71, of Alhambra was found on Kelly's decomposed body. more ›

Monterey Park police have now released a sketch of the suspect they believe is linked to more than a dozen crimes targeting lone women followed home late at night and robbed of valuables, reports KTLA. Officials are cautioning area residents about incidents reported in Alhambra, San Gabriel, South Pasadena, and Monterey Park in recent weeks. more ›

The fourteenth amendment states it clearly: A person born on U.S. soil is a full-fledged citizen subject to state and federal law. This direct path to citizenship lends itself to a shady business model that has prompted the city of San Gabriel to shut down at least one converted townhouse with 10 newborns and 12 Chinese nationals citing building code violations. more ›

It was a bizarre incident involving an alleged argument, food fight, purse-snatch and car chase in the streets of the San Gabriel Valley involving a political leader and a female friend. Now, however, former San Gabriel mayor Albert Y.M. Huang will not be facing domestic violence and robbery charges, according to the Pasadena Star-News, primarily because the victim has disappeared. more ›

Much like in the high-profile cases of the ex-Mrs. Tiger Woods versus the golfer's SUV and Jay Leno versus Conan O'Brien, a CGI rendering of the events that allegedly transpired last week that resulted in the arrest of now-former San Gabriel Mayor Albert Huang is helping people all over the world visualize the bizarre confrontation. more ›

It was 1 a.m. at the New Taste Dumpling House last Friday in San Gabriel. Mayor Albert Y. M. Huang and an unidentified women apparently got into a fight over money -- she reportedly throws a a steamer of dumplings at him and he returns with throwing vinegar. Huang then allegedly took her purse, tried to take her SUV before fleeing in his own vehicle, which she clung onto as he drove at speeds as high as 45 mph. Now, after lots of media attention and the arrest on suspicion for felony robbery and assault, Huang has resigned, both from his post as mayor and from the city council, according to the LA Times. Huang says it was all a misunderstanding and his lawyers say "he wants to prove his innocence." more ›

San Gabriel's mayor, Albert Y.M. Huang, is speaking out about his arrest on Friday following an incident during which he allegedly took a woman's purse, according to LA Now. more ›

Well here's a lede you don't read everyday. Courtesy of the LA Times's Sam Allen: "The mayor of the city of San Gabriel was in custody Friday on charges of felony robbery and assault after he allegedly took a woman’s purse and sped down a residential street with her clinging to the side of his sport-utility vehicle." Luckily the woman, who clung to the car for more than a quarter mile, was not seriously hurt. 35-year-old Mayor Albert Y.M. Huang was arrested and had his bail set at $100,000. more ›

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents arrested four Chinese nationals over the weekend as part of a takedown of two brothels operating in the San Gabriel Valley, according to abc7. more ›

It looks like June is when we'll see the groundbreaking for the MTA Gold Line's Foothill Extension, which will take the tracks from its current terminus in Pasadena to the Azusa/Glendora border, reports the Pasadena Star-News. more ›

Crime Mapping is a website that "automatically retrieves data from a records management system," and tracks and maps the information for the public to view, explains KTLA. The San Gabriel Police Department has joined with about two dozen California law enforcement agencies to make use of the Google-powered mapping site so that are residents "can now track crime trends in their neighborhoods." The service for San Gabriel launched today, and marks the first time a police department within Los Angeles County is making use of the service, which "requires no man-hours from police." more ›

As the Morris Fire continues to burn in the San Gabriel Canyon of the Angeles National Forest, a spot fire that has developed on the eastside of the San Gabriel River has officials concerned. "It's becoming very active now," explained Robert Brady, a Fire Information Officer with the Forest Service. He said there's more dry fuel for the blaze on that side of the river. more ›

The Los Angeles region could get another National Recreation Area congressional designation under a study that is proposing three different concepts for the San Gabriel watershed and mountains. Congress directed the National Parks Service to study and evaluate resources in a large area from the Antelope and Santa Clarita valleys down to the Orange County border. No, it doesn't mean we'd be within minutes of a new National Park in the traditional sense--Yosemite, Joshua Tree--but it could mean better managed cultural sites or new trails and protected open spaces. more ›

Organic is not-so-secret code for expensive. (Even though LA organic is cheaper than other cities.) Expensive is code for not for Recession Obsession readers. That was until this author/adventurer stumbled upon Green Zone in San Gabriel. more ›

For unknown reasons, two men masked by bandanas walked into the Coffee Shop Cafe in San Gabriel last night around 11:15 and opened fire on the customers leaving at least one man dead and six others injured. The men then ran away leaving no one robbed and police puzzled over motive. The deceased man's identity has not been released and security cameras in the cafe were not in working order to record the incident. more ›

Today around 12:30 p.m. at Nogales High School in La Puente, a call came into 9-1-1 -- there was a gun on campus. Sheriff Deputies responded and found out it was a prank. "Apparently unsupervised students in a classroom there called 9-1-1 to report someone with a gun," reported Frank Girardot of CrimeScene Blog, which covers San Gabriel Valley area crimes. He says at least two students were in custody. more ›

Today the small town of Montrose, known first as "Glendale's first suburb," hits the big 9-5, and the Founders Day Celebration is expected to be a big draw. more ›

I'm for feeding birds all year, but as we're celebrating it this month, stop a moment and be grateful that our warm-blooded friends live in the California climate. As the Wild Bird Centers of America reminds us: more ›

Photo by kpe II via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr more ›

• To update our avalanche story from yesterday, 3 have now been confirmed dead after the snowy storm struck near the town of Wrightwood in the San Gabriel Mountains. One missing person was located Saturday, after apparently walking out of the snow encrusted mountain. Another missing person was located Friday, but died on Saturday morning.
• Remember when Fred Thompson was running for president and NBC stopped showing re-runs of Law & Order featuring the ex-Senator because of fair election laws? Well, one blogger thinks that USA should stop running episodes of Walker Texas Ranger because of the exposure it gives to Mike Huckabee lover supporter Chuck Norris. He "has gone way beyond what other celebrities like Oprah, Sylvester Stallone or Jon Voight have done."
• Bert Parks never saw this coming, but the format of the Miss America pageant has been changed to reflect the sentiments of a younger generation used to shows like America's Next Top Model and American Idol. Miss America will now basically be a reality show in which organizers hope infuse some much needed life into the boring traditional pageant.
• There is nothing more terrible than losing a son. But finding out through the press that your son is dead, as Heath Ledger's dad did, must have stung like something awful.
• We already know that 9 USC students were arrested on suspicion of public drunkenness this morning, but you might not have heard that 9 men and women were arrested in Pomona today for allegedly advertising sex on the Internet. They were nabbed at a motel by undercover cops. God, when did illicit, dirty, immoral, solicited sex become illegal?
• Though rains pounded the southland into a wet submission the last couple of days, the five inches are just a drop in the bucket as far as our drought is concerned. Or, so says the state agency in charge of water, who fears that people will stop conserving water in the wake of the storm that is supposed to continue off and on through Monday.
• Even though 7 percent of you don't seem to care, 53 percent said Yes on Props 94-97, while 41 percent said No. A harbinger of things to come or an aberration? Ten days to find out.

*UPDATE: Saturday, 2:45 p.m.* more ›

Welcome to the bizarre world of 'Weird Los Angeles', where shaggy-haired man-beasts roam the back roads, eerie phantoms drift through the night and peculiar objects move silently across the zenith. We'll be taking you on a weekly tour of the cities anomalies, beginning with sightings of Bigfoot, where it seems reports date back to the 1970s. more ›

The Pasadena Star-News is looking for you. Or if there are problems to rant about in general throughout the SGV, then the San Gabriel Valley Tribune might be where you go. Or hey, same goes for Whittier and the Whittier Daily News. "It's a new year and we are on the lookout for letters to the editor. If you have a person that wants to write one, or is expressing an opinion on an article or photo, direct them to write a letter to editor..." That's Mickie of Mickie's Zoo talking. She's a professional belly dancer (swords are her specialty), a singer in a rock band and a full-time journalist. She also has been crowned the Queen of the 31st Occasional Pasadena Doo Dah Parade that will take place on January 20th. more ›

You Me and Iowa more ›

Welcome to a two-part review of the year’s best cookbooks. In part one, I’ll list five new books that inspired me in the kitchen in 2007…part 2 will include five rediscoveries that you might want to add to your shelf. more ›

Last week Monday, Metro released a series of service enhancements and additions including the new Gold Line schedule. In the additions bucket came two new Metro Rapid lines, both starting in Downtown. more ›

Making sure that many have a safe holiday, fire fighters will be on watch because of SoCal's low humidity and high winds, a perfect mixture for wildfire. As of this posting, the Los Angeles Fire Department has not issued a Red Flag Warning. more ›

Photo by ellwoodite via LAist Featured Photos Flickr Pool more ›

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