Palmdale

Palmdale City Election Halted by Judge

Palmdale's city election in November cannot go forward, a judge ruled today. A statement from the plaintiff's legal firm said the election was blocked because the municipality has failed to comply with the California Voting Rights Act: The plaintiff argues that the town's at-large election structur ... More >>

The Case of the Bank-Robbing Prostitutes: How a Team of L.A. Hookers Became the "Starlet Bandits"

Pit Bulls' Fatal Attack Leads to Dangerous Dog Crackdown in L.A.

Last month a woman jogging east of Palmdale was fatally mauled by a pack of pit bulls. The shocking attack landed the dogs' owner in jail, where he faces a rare murder charge for something four of his canines allegedly did. Now Los Angeles County authorities are cracking down on "dangerous dogs" wi ... More >>

Pit Bull Discrimination Must Stop, Change.org Petition Says

Some fans of the pit bull breed have been mad at us ever since four members of their favorite dog family fatally attacked a jogger east of Palmdale last month. It's not the first time we've reported on a fatal pit bull attack. But, for whatever reason, our report and others like it struck a chord: ... More >>

Akingide Cole: $1.6 Million Venetian Casino Theft In Vegas Prompts Hunt For L.A. Man

Cops are looking for Akingide Cole of Palmdale because, they say, he took $1.6 million in chips from the Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas. That's quite a haul. Authorities allege the 31-year-old from the L.A. area did it earlier this month by somehow sneaking into "a closed area of the casino" and flee ... More >>

Palmdale Thief Bashes Walmart Greeter Over Head With Liquor Bottle When Asked for Receipt

The Walmart in Palmdale has become a total magnet for oddball thieves with WTF strategies. First there was the guy, in January, who dressed top-to-bottom in the Walmart employee uniform, sauntered into the stock room with a shopping cart, loaded up four flat-screen TVs and walked back out like he w ... More >>

DesertXpress: High-Speed Train Will Run From Vegas to Palmdale, Serve Booze

A high-speed rail from SoCal to Vegas is every party girl and businessman's dream, obviously. But up until now, DesertXpress Enterprises' proposed route, nicknamed the "bridge to nowhere," has been laughable. That's because it ended in freaking Victorville -- a creepy desert trucker-stop of a city ... More >>

Bryan Barnes, Javier Bolden Catch Possible Death Penalty Case in USC Murders

Bryan Barnes, 20, and Javier Bolden, 19, were charged today with capital murder in connection with the shooting deaths of USC students Ming Qu and Ying Wu on the early rainy morning of April 11. The slayings, about a mile from campus, shocked the school and inspired the students' parents to sue USC ... More >>

USC Student Murders See Two Arrested

Updated throughout. Police arrested two suspects in the murders of USC grad students Ying Wu and Ming Qu, LAPD Lt. Andy Neiman told the Weekly. Details of the arrests were being made public at a news conference as we spoke, so he wasn't able to give us more information. The duo was gunned down .. ... More >>

Holly Marie Polson, L.A. Area Teacher's Aide, Had Sex With Teen Boy in Her Car

The sex abuse scandal that has spread from Miromonte Elementary School to campuses across Southern California has pitted some seriously creepy classroom suspects against the justice system. Women have not been immune. Our lady creep of the day is 35-year-old Holly Marie Polson:

Hate Crime in Palmdale? Black Kids Say They Beat Up 15-Year-Old 'Because He Was Hispanic'

Did a race-baiting Facebook post lead seven black teens to smash in the face of a random Latino 15-year-old on March 14? L.A. County Sheriff's Detective Chris Bergo says that while interviewing the seven suspects, one of them -- who attends Cactus Middle School in Palmdale -- "talked about a Facebo ... More >>

Blacks, Latinos Faced Housing Discrimination in The Antelope Valley, But Not in Palmdale, City Says Proudly

​Discrimination is an ugly thing (says the guy who gets keys tossed at him at the valet stand), so it's important we don't accuse innocents. The city of Palmdale today announced that, in fact, that was the case when the California NAACP and The Community Action League brought a suit against i ... More >>

L.A. County Halts Section 8 Crackdown In Antelope Valley

Lancaster Mayor Rex Parris​Update below: Rex Parris pulls no punches in response. Lancaster and Palmdale have been at war with the Section 8 housing program for the last several years, fighting off what they see as an "inundation" of the urban poor into the Antelope Valley.But today they've lost t ... More >>

Palmdale Thief Dresses Up as Walmart Employee, Walks Out With 4 Flat-Screens

On the night of New Year's Eve, a man dressed top-to-bottom in the Walmart employee uniform took off with four flat-screens at the superstore's Palmdale branch, CBS LA is reporting. That's one way to give the middle finger to the Walton empire: By hitting those 1-percenters in their profit margin, ... More >>

L.A. Sheriff's Deputies Torch Own Cars, Commit Insurance Fraud -- Then Blame It on Overtime Pay Cuts

Don't try this at home, like a certain dumbass deputy.​The L.A. County Sheriff's Department has had an embarrassing 2011: After KTLA revealed that a hypocritical "3000 Boys" gang had formed between allied deputies, a front-page LA Weekly expose centered on inmates and visitors who'd been beate ... More >>

Palmdale Seeks Injunction Against California High Speed Rail Authority To Stop I-5 Study

​The city of Palmdale came out swinging on Tuesday, filing a motion in federal court that seeks a temporary injunction to keep the California High Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA) from spending certain funds for a study of a rail line along Interstate 5. "Again we're asking why are we wasting ta ... More >>

Public Counsel Sues Lancaster And Palmdale Over "War" On Section 8 Housing

​Update: Lancaster Mayor Rex Parris calls the lawsuit "inflammatory bullshit." More below. Update 2: Palmdale Mayor Jim Ledford gives his own defense. A public interest law firm filed a racial discrimination suit today against Lancaster and Palmdale, charging that the cities have declared "war" on ... More >>

Alleged Marijuana Growers in L.A.'s Valley Targeted by DEA, FBI Raids

Law enforcement fanned out across the Valley today to bust alleged weed growers.​Updated after the jump with details on what was seized and where. Looks like the long arm of the law fanned out across the San Fernando Valley and Palmdale today to raid alleged pot-growing operations. The Los A ... More >>

Andrea Perry, Single Mom of 6, Discovered Dead by Kids in Palmdale Home; Cops Eye Boyfriend as Stabbing Suspect

Andrea Perry​Fifty-year-old Andrea Perry was running a major family operation out of her two-story Palmdale home, perched on a nice quiet stretch of Desert Holly Lane, before her brutal murder last weekend. Fox11 reports that Perry had six kids, from one to 14 years old -- two of whom she adop ... More >>

High-Speed Train to Vegas From Victorville

Just one hitch: You have to drive to Victorville

Palmdale Teen Dad Stabs Baby, Takes Bullet From Sheriff's Deputy; Both Dad, Baby Die

jamillionaire15 via FlickrThe Palmdale Metrolink Station, near where the crime occurred​Updated after the jump: Christopher Earl Glass was a star high-school basketball player, and may have been traumatized from his grandmother's death six months prior. The Palmdale teen who allegedly abducte ... More >>

Vanessa Fulladosa, 23-Year-Old UC Riverside Graduate, Killed During Mercedes-Benz Stall on 405 Freeway

Facebook23-year-old Vanessa Fulladosa was killed on the 405 in the wee hours of February 18​Updated after the jump: Friends and family remember Fulladosa as a "beautiful person," and more witnesses of the crash come forward. Update: The crash actually occurred at 11:43 p.m. on Thursday night. ... More >>

Mexican Cartels in L.A: Alleged Arellano Felix Plot to Kill Five People Over Drug Debt Unravels, Three Arrested

They're here.​If you need evidence that Mexico's bloody drug war continues to spill across the border, look no further than Palmdale, where authorities this week arrested three men they say are linked to an Arellano Felix drug-cartel plot to kill five family members over a drug debt.

Tagging Crew BDSK Targeted by L.A. Sheriff's Sweep: Authorities Claim Six-Figure Damange to Area Buses, Trains

BDSK in action.​One of the perils of being in the tagging business is that you put your signature on your crime. In fact, your crime is your signature. Kind of like robbing a bank and leaving a placard saying "LA Weekly was here." Anyway, authorities announced Wednesday that they have cracked ... More >>

Your Guide To L.A. Road Closures -- And A Wind Advisory For 7 P.M.

Don't be a dick​Updated after the jump with current conditions and some record storm stats for the books. Originally posted at 12:36 p.m. Update, 3:20 p.m.: The big storm should hit between midnight and noon tomorrow. We'll get at least two inches. (So far, 14 people have been rescued from Or ... More >>

While We Were Thawing Our Toes This Morning, We Noticed That Unemployment Benefits Had Been Terminated For 2 Million Americans

ZastavkiWhad'ya say we all just move to Antarctica​What a bone-chilling way to slide into December. Not to mention the holidays. We woke up this morning after a night of visible breath and twinkly lights to the news that unemployment benefits will likely terminate for 2 million people by th ... More >>

Reyna Chicas, Leader Of 'Cult-Like' Group, Under Psychiatric Evaluation After Fears Of Mass Suicide Pact Prove False

​Updated after the jump with children of group leader being put in protective custody. It was a weird weekend in Palmdale, where authorities were on the lookout for a breakaway Christian church group that was feared to have undertaken a suicide pact. When the 13 people were found at a local p ... More >>

Federal Authorities Crack Down On Pasadena-Based Bloods Gang

streetgangs.com​Thirty-four members of the Pasadena Denver Lane Bloods gang were arrested Tuesday morning following a crackdown by a task force consisting of federal agents and local police. Eleven of the suspects were named in federal indictments of 23 of the members, who were charged with co ... More >>

5.4 Earthquake Shakes Los Angeles

​[Updated at 5:09 p.m. with quake downgraded from 5.9]: A 5.4 earthquake shook Southern California Wednesday afternoon. Several small aftershocks in the 3 range followed. The 4:53 p.m. shaker was centered 13 miles north northwest of Borrego Springs, a desert town in northeastern San Diego Cou ... More >>

County Fights City Over Control Of Palmdale Airport

Palmdale Airport's terminal.​The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors this week called on the city of Los Angeles-run L.A. World Airports to give up control of Palmdale's airfield because the city allegedly violated a court order to develop the high-desert facility as part of a regional air ... More >>

More Food in Cars: Sonic Drive-In Opens in Duarte

If you get hungry on Monday and are driving anywhere near Duarte, Sonic Drive-In officially opens its new store in that town at 6 a.m. Cherry limeades, extra-long chili cheese Coneys, whatever. The new Duarte location is the closest of the chain's drive-ins to the actual city of Los Angeles, so live ... More >>

Suspect Used Random Photos Of Children To Scam Money, Authorities Say

​A man allegedly made up a story surrounding two found photographs, saying the girls pictured were his recently deceased nieces and that he needed donations to pay for a funeral, authorities said. The suspect convinced a market to set up a donation box, but when he came to pick up $437 people ... More >>

9/11: Truth and Reconciliation in Tehachapi

Station Fire Update: Killed L.A. firefighter's baby due

The Los Angeles County Fire Department released two sad biographies of the firefighters who were killed when a boiling wall of flames suddenly appeared near a remote road where they were driving. Their vehicle went over the side, plummeting 800 feet down a cliff. Arnie Quinones, horribly, is expecti ... More >>

No Room at the Inn for Mongols

These are tough times for the High Desert's hospitality industry. Besides the recession-caused drought of tourist dollars felt nationwide, the city of Palmdale boosted its hotel tax from seven to 10 percent in May and yesterday Lancaster's mayor effectively shut down the struggling Desert Inn to pre ... More >>

Morning Sixpack: A News Roundup

Chris Brown Deal in the Works? R&B singer Chris Brown's attorney, Mark Geragos, may be close to making a plea deal with the District Attorney's office regarding the charges Brown faces in the alleged beating of singer-girlfriend Rihanna. Brown's arraignment has been scheduled for 3 p.m. Monday. ... More >>

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