Scott Schenter

Scott Schenter, the former appraiser at the center of the corruption probe into Assessor John Noguez, pleaded not guilty this afternoon to 60 counts of falsifying department documents.

After the plea hearing, district attorney investigators returned to the courtroom to ask that Schenter be placed in "special housing." Judge Upinder Kalra approved the request.

The D.A.'s office makes such arrangements for public officials and for those whose safety might be threatened in custody, said D.A. spokeswoman Sandi Gibbons. In the past, the D.A.'s office has also obtained special jail accommodations for potential witnesses.
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When Barack Obama was running for president he wasn't shy about his past marijuana use, saying, "I inhaled. That was the point."

Well, it looks like he wasn't joking.

A forthcoming election-year biography of the commander in chief, Barack Obama: The Story, by David Maraniss, describes the future leader of the free world as quite the bogarter of weed when he was a teen in Hawaii:

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Jacrews7

Memorial Day weekend is the traditional kick-off for summer.

Don't start it $10,000 in the hole, which is about what you will pay in fines and legal costs if you get a DUI -- not to mention a likely night in jail.

The CHP, the LAPD and the L.A. County Sheriff's Department will be testing you this weekend. Here's our cheat sheet for checkpoints and patrols to beware:

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illustration by Matt Mahurin

When it comes to headlines, it's hard to top the one that ran on the L.A. Weekly's cover Feb. 24, 2011: "Porn Machete Murder."

But really, what better title for the true tale of low-level porn actor Stephen Hill -- a "mope," in industry parlance -- who attacked his coworkers with a Japanese sword, then held the LAPD at bay for nearly eight hours by brandishing the same sword and threatening to kill himself? When the police finally moved in with tasers and bean-bags, Hill threw himself off the edge of a cliff, tumbling more than 30 feet to his death.

Hill's violent rampage left a studio manager wounded and a fellow mope -- Chinese-born Herbert Wong, aka Tom Dong -- dead.

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Fugue

Californians are leaning toward approving a $1-per-pack tax on cigarettes. That's a no-brainer, since most of us don't smoke, and laws about lighting up in public have been getting more and more draconian.

But a funny thing happened on the way to November.

Support for this new tax, proposed under Prop. 29, is starting to burn out.

And we think we know why:

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omar laribi

Ripping the sh-- out of the 'Bu.

The annual bible of where to go to the beach this summer and not get sick is out.

The place to avoid, apparently, is Malibu.

And not just because David Geffen doesn't want you there.

Yes, despite the concentration of billionaires, babes and gaudy, Tuscany-villa architecture, the rich folks of Malibu are some dirty girls:

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Face / Off

Living in L.A., you know someone, someday will turn this into an opportunity to finally make Joan Rivers attractive.

For now, UCLA's foray into the face transplant business seems inspired by disfigured war veterans who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan. The university announced this week that it is establishing the first such surgery lab in the western United States -- the UCLA Face Transplantation Program.

To celebrate, it sent us this creepy video:

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Paul Robinson

Black population in AD 50

In the current issue of L.A. Weekly, the feature story "Democratic War for L.A.'s Richest" takes a look at the hard-fought, highly contentious political race for California Assembly District 50 -- one of the wealthiest, most celebrity-packed, left-winger districts in the entire country.

It also happens to be where a whole bunch of white people live -- in the above map, which shows the black population in AD 50, there's just a sprinkling of African-American folks in the southeastern section of the district.

"[AD 50] is the remaining bastion of white L.A.," geographer Paul Robinson told us for the article.

Here are more maps that Robinson drew up for the Weekly that show what he means. The pink areas in the maps are generally where the white people live and the various shades of red are where other folks reside, depending on the map.

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SCNTMarketing via YouTube

I missed you SO SO bad.

Hey Staples Center, want some free press?

You got it! But only because you apparently put a zillion hours of talent-coaxing and editing into your music video for "Call Me Maybe," the catchy-ass Carly Rae Jepsen song that recently turned into a YouTube meme. And lucky for you, it's a meme we're not quite sick of yet. (So. Catchy.)

"STAPLES Center was Sports-ageddon May 17th - May 20th, 2012, with 6 Playoff Games in 4 Days..."

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Nina

So it's been a hot spring and you're ready to burst forth and get your toes wet for summer's traditional opening weekend?

Well, Mother Nature is playing a cruel joke on you for the Memorial Day holiday.

Not only are we expecting cooler temps, clouds and even drizzle along the coast, but the Pacific Ocean just might want to swallow you whole. So be careful:

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Some Sherman signs on their way to the landfill

Now that we're down to the last 10 days of the Berman/Sherman blood feud, things are getting pretty silly.

First, the Howard Berman camp was high-fiving about Brad Sherman's photoshopped mailers. Sherman sent mailers to Jewish households that included a picture of his mother. But she was airbrushed out of the ones that went to the goyim. Everyone had a good laugh at Sherman's expense.

Now, Sherman is accusing the Berman camp of stealing his lawn signs. OK, typical campaign sniping. But Sherman claims he has the photos to prove it.

Take a look. At right is a photo of some Berman precinct-walkers in possession of some folded-up Sherman signs.
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Facebook

Mama sunbather, now in some federal trash chute somewhere.

An anonymous tipster (who we would totally bear-hug if he weren't so damn anonymous) has lifted the veil on yesterday's big street-art mystery: Who planted three paper-mache sunbathers in the abandoned lot at 1st and Broadway?

Curbed LA, the Los Angeles Times, LA Weekly and LA Observed all joined in on the hunt, speaking with stunned passersby and county employees...

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Carolyn Coles via Flickr

GTFO.

[Update: Upon hearing the news, a good friend of ours asked if straight male bachelor parties are banned, as well. Great question! Brian Rosman, a publicist for The Abbey, says that although that "has never once happened," it would "probably fall under the same ban." Yes, he decides -- "any celebration of straight marriage" is banned from The Abbey. Glad we got that figured out.]

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Like Kobe Bryant to a woman in a hotel room, Metro today told Beverly Hills that this is gonna happen.

Parts of the city had been dead against running the Westside subway extension underneath Beverly Hills High School, but the objections had little to do with science and much to do with NIMBYism.

Today, Metro's board ...

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Victory.

Reagan Blood is destined to become the name of a hipster electronic act headed for next year's Coachella.

It is not, however, something that is going to be sold this week at auction.

The British auction house that had put a vial of what it said was genuine blood from the 40th president up for bidding (it had been drawn following the assassination attempt on his life in 1981), has pulled the plug on the much publicized sale and has vowed to bring the blood back to California:

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The Brian Banks Story

10 years later, Banks wants a comeback.

Updated at the bottom: The Chargers respond.

At 16 years old, Long Beach Polytechnic High School sports star Brian Banks was on the fast track to a smashing football career. He was a starring middle linebacker on one of California's top high-school teams, and had offers flowing in from all the best colleges. USC wanted him on full ride.

Then, at 17 years old, Banks was convicted of kidnapping and raping a female classmate at Long Beach Poly and sentenced to six years in state prison.

His youth, and football career, were over. Until today...

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An image Burkhart used for her massage service.

Around New Year's Harry Burkhart went on an arson spree that terrorized Los Angeles, prosecutors say. And one of his reported motives was that his dear mother, a woman who ran an erotic massage business out of the same apartment building where the pair lived, was going to be extradited back to Germany.

Well, more than 50 arson fires later, including a three day spree that ended the day after New Year's, and mom is still going back to Germany, it would seem:

U.S. Attorney's Office spokesman Thom Mrozek this morning announced that ...

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obeygiant.com

To appear in this week's copy of Ebony.

It was only a matter of time before L.A. street artist (turned international graphic-design star and Obama portraiteer) Shepard Fairey took on Trayvon.

We're actually surprised it didn't happen sooner. Though there remains the sporadic rally cry for the young black Florida teen's murderer to be brought to justice, including a star-studded protest in L.A. last month, the news event is largely in the tail curve of its Internet popularity. Perhaps that's why Ebony Magazine tries to revive the cause in this week's issue:

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Nate 'Igor' Smith

The L.A. City Council made history when it voted to require condom use at on-location porn shoots in our fair metropolis.

But history still awaits. We reported last week that a top city official has requested that a report on how to enforce this rule be put off until almost the end of summer.

Now comes word that figuring out how to police prophylactic use is in the hands of ...

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David Maghamifar via Facebook

The 25-year-old whose car flew off Pier 300 at Los Angeles Harbor on Saturday afternoon has been identified as David Maghamifar.

A Facebook profile that appears to belong to the victim says he grew up in Genova, Italy -- attending high school at Liceo Classico Emiliani -- before moving to SoCal for college. Maghamifar says he graduated from Cal State Long Beach in 2010.

According to weekend news reports, witnesses at the Harbor saw his car...

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