Identification

"Biodiversity" may not be a word generally associated with the urban sprawl that is Los Angeles, but an upcoming event rooted in the city's more rustic spots may change all that. BioBlitz, an annual event organized by the National Geographic Society and the National Park Service, will make its first appearance in California this weekend. For 24 hours beginning at noon Friday, teams of scientists and naturalists will lead members of the public out into the wilderness to begin recording as many species of living organisms as possible.

The Los Angeles County coroner's office is seeking the public's help in identifying a man found dead in the San Fernando Valley. Coroner's officials said the man was stabbed to death. His body was dumped shortly after midnight June 7 in the 9100 block of Bartee Avenue in Arleta. Officials described the man as a Latino between 25 and 35 years of age, about 5 feet 6 and weighing 165 pounds. Officials said he has an old diagonal scar on the right side of his lips. He was wearing a white metal ring with a red stone on his left ring finger.

Retired postal worker John Reichardt was looking for a way to fill his free time when he joined the Orange County Sheriff's Department's volunteer program three years ago. The 68-year-old Santa Ana resident now works about 30 hours a week at John Wayne Airport, searching for unattended luggage, inspecting trucks carrying shipments into the airport and helping travelers negotiate their way through busy terminals.

Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca has a special interest in supporting two state bills aiming to stop the widespread and rampant theft of valuable metals, including copper wiring and pipes. Sometime around 4 a.m. July 26, thieves climbed the walls of four office buildings in Santa Fe Springs and stripped large air-conditioning units of their copper wires, insulation and fans. One of the buildings hit: the sheriff's Commercial Crimes Bureau.

Identity theft is soaring in California, and street gangs are angling for a piece of the action. Recent cases point to an interest in identity fraud by organizations as diverse as a Long Beach chapter of the Crips, the Armenian Power gang and the prison-based Mexican Mafia, according to law enforcement officials and fraud experts. The trend among criminals better known for violence and drug trafficking goes against type.

Wells Fargo & Co. is notifying about 5,000 people that their personal information might have been seen by someone using a bank access code illegally. A bank spokeswoman said Tuesday that MicroBilt Corp., a consumer data vendor, told Wells Fargo on July 1 that there was unusual activity on one of the bank's access codes. The activity was particularly suspicious because Wells Fargo no longer uses that vendor for consumer information.

More than 40 business executives and other professionals appointed as special reserve deputies by erstwhile Orange County Sheriff Michael S. Carona have reported their badges and IDs lost or stolen, including his chief political and legal advisor Michael Schroeder -- who lost two shields.

Grieving relatives tried to identify bodies from the wreckage of a Spanish jet that crashed at Madrid's airport on its second attempt at takeoff after mechanical problems. Airline officials declined to comment on possible causes for Wednesday's crash, in which 153 people were killed, but said Spanair Flight JK5022 had earlier been delayed due to a problem with the air intake heating system before it attempted a second takeoff for its flight to Las Palmas in the Canary Islands.

A computer containing banking security details of more than 1 million people has been sold on eBay, bank officials said. The Royal Bank of Scotland acknowledged that a machine belonging to archiving company Graphic Data and sold "inappropriately to a third party" had information about credit card applications from some RBS customers and data from other banks. The computer contained account numbers, passwords, cellphone numbers and signatures.

Lobbyists who work the corridors of Los Angeles City Hall are up in arms over a plan to make them wear badges identifying their profession each time they enter a municipal building. The City Ethics Commission will meet this week to begin reviewing a planned overhaul of its lobbying ordinance, which contains a proposal to require lobbyists to wear the badges at any city-sponsored event and any other location where they are "engaged in lobbying."