Azusa Police Department

After just a week as Los Alamitos' police chief, Michael J. Skogh feels that he has already attended too many police funerals. In his first official act Jan. 3, Skogh attended the funeral of Manhattan Beach Police Officer Martin L. Ganz, who was killed Dec. 28 during a traffic stop by a still unidentified gunman.

It happens all the time, police say. A shopper finds a space, parks the car, heads for the store. In what may be just a few minutes inside the shopping center, the car is stolen. Auto theft in Los Angeles County has increased 34% since 1984, the California Highway Patrol said. In the San Gabriel Valley, it has jumped 96% since 1984, according to FBI crime statistics.

State wildlife officials could not immediately be located, they lacked the right equipment and they did not properly tranquilize a 356-pound bear that wandered into Azusa on May 20 and was eventually killed, according to a report from the Azusa Police Department. The bear, one of an estimated 60 California black bears inhabiting the nearby Angeles National Forest, came onto city streets at 4 a.m. and was killed 3 1/2 hours later by 14 shots fired by four police officers.

More than a few motorists have done double takes and clucked their tongues at those sexually suggestive signs popping up across town announcing Los Angeles' newest sports franchise. But Azusa City Manager Rick Cole decided to do something about them. And now the public official is being investigated on suspicion of criminal vandalism for what he says was an act of conscience.

San Gabriel Valley cities are having mixed results in billing drivers who are under the influence of drugs or alcohol when they are involved in a traffic accident. Police departments in La Verne, Covina and Azusa charge drivers for the officers' time, from the moment they arrive at the scene of an accident to completion of an accident report.

In the wake of a judge's striking down Monrovia's landmark daytime curfew for teenagers, some cities with similar ordinances said their regulations conform with state law and will hold up in court. Officials in a number of other cities, however, aren't so sure and said they are assessing how the ruling might affect their statutes. About 70 to 80 cities across the state followed Monrovia's lead with laws that allow the police to fine truant teenagers.

High on a hill above Laguna Beach, with a sweeping view of coastline from San Pedro to Dana Point, Irvine Co. security officer Tony Castillo pointed to the fresh tracks in the dirt and shook his head. "Mountain bikes," he said. "I tell them all they have to do is read the signs, but I guess some people just don't read."

A sharp upswing in reports of crime targeting gay men and Jews helped push Los Angeles County to an overall increase in reported hate crime last year, the county Human Relations Commission said Wednesday. County officials acknowledged, however, that the increase was at least partially attributable to improved reporting of the crimes, making it impossible to know whether the number of incidents actually increased.

In response to "Bear Killed by Police in Azusa Neighborhood," May 21: With all the poaching that is already decimating the bear population in this country, you would think a little more care would go into protecting the bear that wandered into a neighborhood. More disturbing, though, is the fact that it seems this bear was killed for the convenience of time. I have read nothing yet that suggests this bear was about to maul someone, only that it had broken through two barriers. Of course there is the obvious question, why hadn't the state Department of Fish and Game wardens shot more tranquilizer darts into this creature?

The moment the beer bottle fire bomb crashed through Sandra Sanni's bedroom window, the sleeping woman bolted up and saw sparks flying past her dresser, sprinkling a trail of embers on a pile of laundry and the hall carpet. The bottle landed at the entrance to her 6-year-old boy's bedroom door and burst into flames. "I was batting it down with a blanket, but all I was doing was spreading the sparks," the Azusa woman said Friday.