South Los Angeles

Aug 9 2011

Missing persons, unsolved killings

LOS ANGELES, Calif.—LAPD detectives have significantly widened the number of cases they are reviewing as they search for more victims of the Grim Sleeper serial killer, it was reported today.

Detectives are now looking at 230 missing persons cases and unsolved killings going back to the mid-1970s, seeing whether there are any links to Grim Sleeper suspect Lonnie David Franklin Jr., who has been charged in 10 killings, the Los Angeles Times reported on its website this morning.

Aug 4 2011

Lillian Mobley laid to rest

Hundreds of people, including politicians, community leaders and just regular folk turned out to pay their respects to Lillian Mobley at her homegoing celebration Friday at Ward AME Church. Affectionately known as “Mother Mobley,” she was a tireless advocate of improving the lives of people living in South Los Angeles.

Aug 2 2011

Crime and drug prevention

LOS ANGELES, Calif.—Communities throughout Los Angeles County will participate tonight in the 28th annual National Night Out crime and drug prevention event.

“National Night Out is designed to heighten crime and drug prevention awareness; generate support for and participation in local anti-crime efforts; strengthen neighborhood spirit and police-community partnerships, and send a message to criminals letting them know neighborhoods are organized and fighting back,” said Stephanie Martin of the Manhattan Beach Police Department.

Aug 1 2011

Lonnie Franklin Jr.

LOS ANGELES, Calif.—Prosecutors will seek the death penalty against the man suspected in the “Grim Sleeper” serial killings, a deputy district attorney announced today.

A jury will be asked to recommend a death sentence for 58-year-old Lonnie Franklin Jr. if he is convicted, Deputy District Attorney Beth Silverman said. Franklin has been indicted on 10 counts of murder and one count of attempted murder.

Franklin, a one-time city employee, has been locked up since his July 7, 2010, arrest.

Jul 29 2011

Friday and Saturday

LOS ANGELES, Calif.—Los Angeles Police Department officers will staff two sobriety/driver’s license checkpoints this weekend, beginning tonight, in an ongoing effort to combat drunken driving.

From 8 p.m. until 2 a.m. Saturday, officers will run a checkpoint at La Cienega Boulevard between Rosewood and Oakwood avenues near West Hollywood.

And from 8 p.m. Saturday to 2 a.m. Sunday, there will be a checkpoint on Manchester Avenue between Main Street and Broadway in South Los Angeles.

Across Black America

Here’s a look at African American people and issues making headlines throughout the country.
 

Alabama
Freeman A. Hrabowski, president of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, will address the annual African American Business Council luncheon on June 28. Hrabowski, who is chairman of President Barack Obama’s Advisory Commission on Education Excellence for African Americans, has a national reputation for his work studying the performance of minority students in math and science. Hrabowski, named one of the 10 best college presidents in the country by Time magazine, was a child leader in the Civil Rights Movement in Birmingham in the 1960s.
 

Arkansas
The Liberty Counsel filed a motion and a brief in United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas seeking to intervene on behalf of a Concepts of Life crisis pregnancy center to defend against a suit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union and the Center for Reproductive Rights. The groups seek to impose a permanent injunction before the Human Heartbeat Protection Act goes into effect July 18. Liberty Counsel also filed a brief opposing the ACLU’s request for an injunction. The “Heartbeat” bill states that when a woman seeks an abortion at or after the 12th week, doctors must test for a fetal heartbeat before an abortion is performed and inform the pregnant mother that the child in her womb has a heartbeat. If a heartbeat is detected, a woman cannot have an abortion, except in cases of rape, incest, and if a mother’s life is in danger. “As we promised when the legislation was introduced, Liberty Counsel will defend this law without reservation for the people of Arkansas, born and pre-born,” said Matt Staver, founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel. “No right is more foundational than the right to life. Without life, all other rights are irrelevant,” concluded Staver.