A woman severely beaten in her El Cajon home this week died from her injuries yesterday, and now police are investigating whether the act constituted a hate crime. The woman Shaima Alawadi, 32, was Iraqi but she has been living here since 1993, and she was the mother of five, according to San Diego's KUSI. more ›

There is one part of Saint Patrick's Day celebrations here in the US that fill me with anger and disgust: The drink (and now the cupcake) named "The Irish Car Bomb." more ›

LAX is a safer airport than it was on September 11, 2001 thanks to $1.6 billion in improvements, according to a study released today. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa assembled a panel to review safety and security at LAX, which — as the third-busiest airport in the nation — is viewed as a potential terrorist target. more ›

A couple of passengers got drunk and locked themselves in the bathroom of an LAX flight bound for New York on the tenth anniversary of 9/11. The crew called the TSA, who had a pair of F-16 fighter jets shadow the flight for the last hour of the flight until it safely landed at 4 p.m. at John F. Kennedy Airport. more ›

A local plein air artist is making bank with a painting whose subject freaked out bankers and police. In the process, the artist Alex Schaefer discovered that being suspected of terrorism was good for his livelihood. The painting that earned him a visit from detectives also earned him $25,200 on eBay. more ›

A plein air painter's series on burning banks has police and bankers genuinely freaked out. They're worried, of course, that the artist in question might be a terrorist. They visited him at his home and questioned him. "One of them asked me, 'Do you hate banks? Do you plan to do that to the bank?'" Schaefer told the Los Angeles Times. more ›

Seth Green returns to the New Beverly for a weekend-long guestival! The Robot Chicken guru pairs pulp & circumstance Thursday with a screening of the car-chase classic Smokey and the Bandit & Clint Eastwood's Unforgiven. Plus the weekend and more! more ›

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has formed a 26-member committee tasked with making LAX safer while reducing passenger wait times, according to Daily News. The new committee is comprised of city employees and outside experts, including security experts from Israel's famously safe Ben Gurion airport. The committee will focus on counter-terrorism, law enforcement, fire protection and emergency management. more ›

"Los Angeles Airport Police are aware of, and closely monitoring the reported terrorist threat to Europe," he said today. "We will continue to collaborate and work in close partnership with our law enforcement partners at LAX regarding this alert. We remain diligent in the strategic high visibility deployment of uniformed and plain clothes officers on foot and vehicle patrols, as well as, other security measures that are not visible to the public". more ›

$55 million in federal funds have been allotted to Los Angeles and Long Beach, in a joint effort for the two cities to be better prepared to fend against terrorism and natural disasters, reports the Daily Breeze. more ›

The FBI and other local agencies are conducting a three-day training exercise beginning today and are letting the public know, hoping to "prevent unnecessary concern," according to the LAPD. Today's training will test those agencies on their "ability to respond to a terrorist attack involving an improvised nuclear device" and will mostly occur in Los Angeles, Burbank and far-out Barstow (yeah, sounds like "24"). more ›

Before yesterday's arrest of a man suspected of leaving a car bomb in New York City's Times Square on Saturday, Southland police agencies were already taking note. more ›

Over the weekend, Pakistan officials thought they had arrested Adam Gadahn, the Riverside man who is a spokesman and named the "top propagandist" for Al Qaeda. They were wrong. They actually have Abu Yahya Mujahideen Adam, a Pennsylvania native, according to the LA Times. 31-year-old Gadahn (pictured here) "is on the FBI's list of most-wanted terrorists and is the first American since the World War II era to be charged with treason." more ›

A 55-year-old mother and her two sons are in trouble after a series of events that led police to find a home used for child care was also used for nefarious activities. On Wednesday evening, after 23-year-old Benjamin Kuzelka's hand was injured by a bomb, he went to the hospital saying it was a gunshot wound, according to the LA Times. Doctors said the injury was inconsistent with a gun shot and notified police, who in turn responded to Kuzelka's home, finding bomb making materials and marijuana plants. Both the mother, Rebbeca Kuzelka and brother, 21-year-old Grey Kuzelka were arrested. more ›

The LAPD has announced the creation of new program called iWatch, something which LAPD Chief William Bratton calls the "21st century version of Neighborhood Watch." Basically, the program encourages residents to identify and report suspicious behaviors and activities that have been known to be used by terrorists. more ›

A man who stood up and refused to return to his seat as an United Airlines plane was taxiing for departure prompted the jet to return to the gate this morning. The man, "who appeared to be of Middle Eastern descent," was acting suspiciously and ran into the bathroom, according to the LA Times. more ›

Los Angeles now has more cops in the Department than ever before--9,895 active-duty sworn officers, to be precise--but Chief William Bratton said yesterday "he will ask the federal government to allocate billions more from the economic stimulus package to law enforcement agencies across the country to combat a potential rise in crime triggered by the worsening economy," according to the Daily News. The Chief would like to see hundreds more police added to the LA force; despite our growing ranks, the LAPD remains "one of the smallest per-capita departments of any major city in the country." In addition to a likely increase in "property crimes, domestic violence and shoplifting," other concerns regarding safety in LA include terrorism and the potential for trouble to cross our border due to the violence caused by Mexican drug cartels. more ›

No, he didn't get take a new job, but he can't guarantee he will be stolen away at some point. Chief William Bratton is traveling the world today starting off with a trip to Amman, Jordan where he will meet with King Abdullah II and law enforcement agencies to exchange ideas, he says. Along with the LAPD's Counter-Terrorism and Criminal Intelligence top cop, they'll be discussing law enforcement, security, counter-terrorism, criminal intelligence and community policing tactics and philosophies, to name a few. Then he'll be heading to Washington D.C. to attend two police conferences which will seem to focus on how departments should handle budget cuts while still reducing crime. more ›

Yesterday in Seattle, a judge resentenced Ahmed Ressam, the "millennium bomber" who was convicted for planning to blow up Los Angeles International Airport on New Years Eve in 1999, to 22 years. U.S. District Judge John Coughenour did not believe that Ressam had gone back to his Al Qaeda ways after working with the feds catch other terrorists, therefore he would not be a danger when released in 2019. But prosecutors say he did not live up to his deal by retracting everything he said to help the government up until 2003 when he stopped talking. Ultimately, that cost them two high-profile terrorism prosecutions, they said. more ›

"If Bin Laden wants to engineer a late-October surprise in 2008, an attack on a significant American economic target may be one of the most tempting opportunities he has had in recent years," wrote LAPD Chief Bratton in a New York Daily News op-ed today. Co-written with R.P. Eddy, former director of counter-terrorism at the National Security Council, they say Bin Laden may be seeking to sway the election towards the McCain/Palin camp since they would more "likely to engender Muslim anger and resentment than would his opponent." more ›

The inaugural performance at Palm Desert's McCallum Theater featuring Boz Scaggs was canceled last night after a letter containing a suspicious substance and a threatening message directed at Bill Maher arrived at the venue. more ›

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa left Wednesday on a week-long trip to Israel (the third time during his political career) to learn and bring back security improvements to Los Angeles International Airport and the city's Harbor. He will also be sharing what the city is doing with its "green" and environmental technologies and initiatives. more ›

Earlier this afternoon, boingboing highlighted an incident that occurred involving Keith Garsee last night at a Metro Red Line station. He was taking photos when he was stopped by a Metro employee: "Hey! It's against the 9-11 Law to take pictures down here man!" more ›

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In the wake of the big Fidel Castro seemingly-non-news of him stepping down as president (meanwhile the US recently bombed Pakistan without notice or permission), it's interesting to look back at the impact of the man on Los Angeles. The divide between those who wanted to work with Castro's Cuban government and those who vehemently opposed it led to violence -- eleven such terrorism incidents occurred in the Los Angeles area alone according to Cuban Information Archives, a site dedicated to "source materials pertaining to Cuban Exile activities as they pertain to their struggle to wrestle Cuba from Fidel Castro." more ›

Last minute plans? Try some culture via ExperienceLA's calendar. Or try our picks for tonight: Canon at Union Station, Pee Wee's Big Adventure at Angel City Drive-In, or Tonight in Rock. Toady, Oprah Winfrey held a swanky fundraiser for Barack Obama south of Santa Barbara expecting to raise $3-million. Hot chick boards Southwest plane, finds her seat, gets kicked off for being too sexy. The LA Triathlon is tomorrow morning. Find out if you'll... more ›

Green freeways last week. Green rooftops this week. “I do charity work, but I don’t do charity work for major studios,” says Russell Crowe. The New York Times takes a look at the Museum of the American West. 7 banks have been robbed in downtown Glendale since July while city officials look at downtown area's future. Under Secretary for the Preparedness Directorate, part of the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS), George W. Forseman... more ›

by Evan Storey As the five-year anniversary approaches, instead of allowing the networks to saturate your mind with visuals of the twin towers tumbling yet again, do yourself a favor: think about it. Whether or not that Tuesday morning affected you directly, the attacks on the WTC and the Pentagon undeniably changed...something. The Economist purports (subscription required) that September 11th was a turning point: It stands to reason that 19 men cannot change history.... more ›

A plot to explode several airplanes, mid-flight, originating from London's Heathrow via carry-on luggage was foiled this morning as British police arrested 18 terror suspects in London. Flights are being canceled in and out of London, and other European and International flights are being delayed up to two hours. In Washington D.C., Reagan National and Dulles International have announced that they, like seven british airports have done, are banning liquids to be brought into... more ›