(pic by visualsushi of LAPD cruiser at Wilshire & La Brea, intersection where Biggie was murdered)

According to the Times,

Nine years after the slaying of rap star Biggie Smalls, LAPD Chief William J. Bratton has launched a task force of senior homicide detectives to hunt down the killer, a rare show of force for a cold-case murder with no new evidence.

The beefed-up Los Angeles Police Department probe comes in the wake of a wrongful-death lawsuit against the city of Los Angeles by the rapper’s mother, Voletta Wallace, and other relatives. Whatever new evidence the police turn up could bolster the city’s contention that LAPD officers played no role in the rapper’s death. Wallace maintains they did.

Western Ave. & Washington Blvd. ~ South Los Angeles

Okay, so the editors here told me I could write about anything related to crime in the greater Los Angeles area and it did not have to be related to tacos in any way, shape, or form. But look what fell into my lap while I was surfing the LAPD blog this morning:

At 2:05 in the morning on July 22, 2006, Eric Salvador, 26, and his cousin, Efrain Martinez, 27-years-old, were eating at a taco stand (ed. Perhaps La Canada Taqueria, specializing in mariscos?) in the 3100 block of West Pico Boulevard. A male Hispanic by the name of Edgar Suchite, 35, saunters into the stand and begins yelling at the pair, as well as other patrons.

Without warning, Edgar shoots Salvador in the chest. (Continued)

Full Color Burners…

Street Bomb…

(Continued)

Wilshire Blvd. ~ Brentwood

Look, we know. Hare Krishnas kinda skeev you out. We’ve been there. Some top-knotted white guy, who you can totally tell was way into crystal meth just last year, gives you a ‘free book’ full of colorful mythology, than asks you to pay for it five minutes later. And some places find them as deep and persistent as time-share salesmen.

We’re happy to find out all previous experience with this cult, ahem, sect has left us with the wrong impression. After 2 conversion-free lunches at Govinda’s and our second Festival of the Chariots at Venice Beach, we’ve become quite envious of the Hare Kirshna lifestyle. Let’s briefly examine why they rule so hard.

First of all, we already know these people like to party. Hard. When was the last-time your cool-dude friends decided to hold an impromptu dance-party in the middle of the street, breaking it down in public like it was Sabado Gigante? When was that again? Oh…never? Interesting!

(Continued)

From the Times:

Mobster Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel feasted on pheasant while under lockup there. Charles Manson, during his murder trial, unsuccessfully dangled string out his jail cell window to smuggle marijuana and a hacksaw. The bodies of Marilyn Monroe, Sharon Tate and Robert F. Kennedy were examined in its basement.

Today, 12 years after the Northridge earthquake shut it down, the hall on West Temple Street is home to pigeons and vermin that pass through its broken windows. The crumbs of decaying ceilings and walls cover the floor, and elevator shafts sit feet-deep in stagnant water. Outside, the Italian Renaissance facade is dulled by dust.

Now, a $16-million federal grant to retrofit the building could slip through the county’s hands if it doesn’t approve construction contracts by the end of the year, according to a civil grand jury report. The county has already filed for an extension, but even with the grant — a mere drop in the estimated $200-million fiscal bucket needed to revive the building — the building may never reopen.

Photo from Nailmaker