A man police are calling the “Rico Suave Bandit” has LA’s billionaires and high society crowd on edge. His smooth ways and charm give him access to enclaves like the Four Seasons Hotel, where last weekend he stole anywhere from “millions” to $45,000 in jewels from Florida sugar baron Pepe Fanjul by pretending to be an employee of the hotel.

This fits in somewhat with his modus operandi, which appears to be to target foreigners who carry jewelery in hotels or other “safe” places. To wit, “Rico Suave” is also suspected of robbing the Staples Center locker room when an Israeli basketball team was in town for an exhibition game, as well as a downtown hotel room used by Chivas Mexico.

The incredible Kobe Bryant hits the game winning shot… again. In a listless game against a mediocre but dangerous Raptors team led by the Avatar-like Chris Bosh, the Lakers never really came alive– until the last shot by the King of LA, Kobe Bryant.

The Los Angeles Times breaks the sad news of former Dodger great Willie Davis’s untimely demise at the age of 69. An exceprt:

Former Los Angeles Dodgers center fielder Willie Davis was found dead Tuesday morning in his Burbank home, police said. He was 69. Authorities said that a neighbor who usually brought breakfast to the former baseball star’s Victory Boulevard home found Davis’ body.

The case is being handled by the Los Angeles County coroner, but authorities said there was nothing to indicate foul play and that it appears that Davis died of natural causes.

Davis, an All-City athlete in several sports at Roosevelt High School in Boyle Heights in the late 1950s, became one of the Dodgers’ early stars after the team moved to Los Angeles from Brooklyn in 1958. Known for his offense, Davis played center field for the Dodgers for 13 seasons starting in 1961. He hit in a team record 31 consecutive games in 1969 and batted .305 or above three years straight in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

Aquifer Media produced this video focusing on Ramon Martinez, Bicycle Kitchen volunteer and Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition staff member with the City of Lights program.

Glen Bell, founder of Taco Bell (and Der Weinerschnitzel), has died at the age of 86 at his home in Rancho Sante Fe. The Southern Calfornian and former Marine is survived by his wife, three children, and four grand-children.

Many taco purists bemoan the rise of Taco Bell, which is many Americans’ first exposure to tacos or mexican food. The bastardization of the street taco into the crunchy, cheesy, lettuce-y fast-food taco induces revulsion and contempt in street gourmets the world over, and rightly so. However one cannot deny that to date, Glen Bell is the man most responsible for bringing the words “taco” and “burrito” to the farthest corners of the planet, setting the stage for the global taco revolution. As people discover authentic tacos, they realize that the transcendant flavors and aromas of a taco can reveal the lies behind corporate hegemony of all aspects of life. Or something like that.

Bell was a fast-food titan and originator, one of the original crew of Southern Californians who invented fast food. Like the others, he started out slinging hamburgers, but switched to tacos to both differentiate himself and introduce people to his favorite food, tacos. He is the direct or indirect inspiration for SoCal taco-preneurs from Southgate to San Diego. Originally sold for 19 cents out of a window in his taco shack in San Berdoo, the empire grew and grew and grew before it was sold to Pepsi in 1978 for $125m. Today there are more than 5,000 Taco Bells in 14 different countries including China and Dubai.

Some nice video, without commentary from Robert J. Lopez of the LA Times. What a peaceful place, thank god it finally got built.

The LA Times reports:

Several residents in the north San Fernando Valley sniffed a strange odor in the air this morning and called 911 to report it, authorities said.

“They didn’t describe what it smelled like, fortunately,” said Rich Matheney, a spokesman for the Los Angeles Fire Department.

Photo by Louis

LA’s Cadalack Ron scumbag heroin addict underground rapper. 2 recorded tracks plus an a capella battle.