Los Angeles International Airport

President Obama recently groused that no U.S. airport ranked among the world's top 25 airports. If you're a regular traveler to or from Los Angeles, you may be even more disappointed to learn that Los Angeles International Airport didn't even make the top 100. Obama was referring to a ranking released in April - the Skytrax World Airport Awards - that is based on a survey of 12.1 million travelers around the world. Out of 395 airports worldwide, LAX ranked 109th. It came in at 24th among 50 airports in North America.

As the sea of luggage twists and turns down rollers from terminals at Los Angeles International Airport, the bags stop briefly at large platforms where workers separate them for flights across the world. It is there, police said, that a group of baggage handlers pulled off one of the largest property heists in airport history. For months, detectives said, workers rifled through bags looking for items to steal. "Basically everything of value -- be it electronics, jewelry and items -- that could be stolen in seconds would be removed from bags," LAX Police Chief Pat Gannon said.

One thing you may not be able to do this year: Grab a bite at Encounter restaurant at the free-standing Theme Building inside Los Angeles International Airport. It has closed. Whatever new restaurant concepts are being considered and when those ideas might be presented to airport officials is unknown, an airport spokeswoman said Tuesday. Westfield Concession Management , which brought tony eateries such as Umami Burger and 800 Degrees to LAX's expanded Tom Bradley International Terminal amid a splashy rollout last year, is in charge of coming up with those concepts and ideas.

  MILWAUKEE - Somehow the days get even more unpredictable for Chris Kaman. He went 10 games in a row without getting off the bench, then started for the Lakers on Tuesday against the New York Knicks because Pau Gasol was sidelined by vertigo. He also voiced his displeasure that day with this season, saying he "can't wait till it's over," a shot at Coach Mike D'Antoni and the small-ball concept. That was the easy part for Kaman. He did not travel with the Lakers the day before Thursday's game against the Milwaukee Bucks because he stayed in Los Angeles for a family member's undisclosed medical procedure.

Los Angeles International Airport is among the five most "problematic or dangerous" airports in the nation, according to the 200 pilots who answered a questionnaire in Professional Pilot magazine this spring. Why? Some pilots cited the airport's design, but crowded airspace was the primary problem. There were 665,000 takeoffs and landings at LAX, the nation's third-busiest airport, last year.

Saying that it comes down to who runs Los Angeles International Airport--the airlines or the city--airport commissioners Sunday committed $250,000 to fight a lawsuit filed Friday by 40 airlines against an increase in airport landing fees. "We will prevail," said Ted Stein, acting chairman of the Airport Commission. "Litigation is expensive, but the city's overriding interest in controlling its own airport is more important than anything else," Stein said.

The city of Los Angeles has announced that three major airlines and a commuter carrier will lose their rights to use Los Angeles International Airport early next month--and that dozens of other air carriers will follow--unless they pay disputed landing fees.

Every President from Dwight Eisenhower to George Bush has walked all over Joe Mack's work. So have the Pope, King Hussein of Jordan and the Emperor of Japan. So did Nelson Mandela, who even stopped to shake hands with Mack. Mack is part of the select custodial team at Los Angeles International Airport charged with rolling out the red carpet for visiting dignitaries.

Scientists have discovered four new species of legless lizards in California, including one species that lives beneath the sand dunes near Los Angeles International Airport. But before we go on, let's get one thing straight: Yes, a snake is a legless lizard, but not all legless lizards are snakes. Throughout the history of lizard evolution, several lizard lineages have lost their legs, James Parham of Cal State Fullerton said. Snakes are the best-known and most diverse of these lineages, but more than 200 other types of limbless lizards exist throughout the world.

LAX shooting: The latest A composed, solitary gunman shot his way into Los Angeles International Airport on Friday morning, killing a transit security screener and injuring at least one more before being wounded by police and taken into custody. The incident was over in less than 10 minutes, but caused chaos at the world's sixth-busiest airport and disrupted thousands of flights across the nation. The gunman was identified as Paul Anthony Ciancia, a 23-year-old New Jersey native who lived most recently in Los Angeles.

The emergency response to November's deadly shooting at Los Angeles International Airport was hampered by poor communications and a lack of coordination between agencies, problems that contributed to a chaotic evacuation and delays reaching victims, officials said Tuesday. A new report on the shooting found that firefighters and paramedics had difficulty determining where to go. There was a delay in setting up a unified emergency command center. Thousands of passengers spilled onto secure airport ramps where planes were parked or fled onto nearby streets, many lugging their bags along Sepulveda, Lincoln and Century boulevards.

Kanye West received two years' probation and was ordered to take anger management classes Monday after pleading no contest to misdemeanor battery on a paparazzo last summer at Los Angeles International Airport. The 36-year-old rapper was not in court Monday but entered his plea via attorney Blair Berk. West had pleaded not guilty in November to the misdemeanor charges of criminal battery and attempted grand theft in connection with the July 19 scuffle. The grand theft charge was dropped in exchange for the plea. Each of the counts carried a penalty of up to six months in jail or a $1,000 fine.

An in-depth report that critiques the response of public safety agencies and airport officials to November's deadly shooting at Los Angeles International Airport will be released to the public Tuesday. The Los Angeles Board of Airport Commissioners, which sets policy for LAX, LA/Ontario International Airport and Van Nuys Airport, is scheduled to discuss the review during a special meeting that begins at noon. Earlier in the morning, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti is also scheduled to address the evaluation at a news conference.

Saudi Arabian Airline is scheduled to begin new service from Los Angeles International Airport to Saudi Arabia later this month, an occasion that is customarily celebrated with an elaborate ceremony on the tarmac and in the terminal. For example, when Emirates Airline debuted in December daily service between LAX and Dubai, the airlines taxied the A380 plane to the gate under a shower of water from the airport fire trucks' water cannons. But with California in its worst drought in modern times, LAX officials told Saudi Arabian Airline that they'll have to make do without the water cannons for the celebration of the new service.

Citing the recent death of a baggage handler at Los Angeles International Airport, state legislators on Friday called for committee hearings to assess worker safety at California airports. Although Cal/OSHA is looking into the death of Cesar A. Valenzuela on Feb. 21, a group of lawmakers announced at a news conference in downtown Los Angeles that they would conduct a wider investigation. "This is a horrible tragedy and we must find out if this could have been prevented," said state Sen. Ted Lieu (D-Torrance)

Hawaiian Airlines will debut nonstop daily service between Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) and Maui's Kahului Airport (OGG) on May 2, a month earlier than scheduled, because of "robust demand," the airline said in a statement Wednesday. It also will add a second daily flight on the route for summer. The year-round daily service on Airbus 330s between L.A. and the Hawaiian island had originally been scheduled to begin on June 1. Flights from L.A. leave at 11:15 a.m. and arrive at 1:40 p.m.; return flights will depart Maui at 3:40 p.m. and arrive in L.A. at 11:55 p.m. A second daily flight to Maui will operate from June 30 to Sept.

He had no radio. He was not trained as a security officer. His job was to push passengers in wheelchairs, as he later testified to the Los Angeles Board of Airport Commissioners. But two Saturdays ago, Perfecto Adalid, 75, an employee of a private firm that provides security for United Airlines at LAX, was told to guard a checkpoint leading from an elevator onto the airfield. Three hours into Adalid's shift, a man without a security badge got out of a van and headed toward the elevator.

With Southern California in the midst of a mini-heat wave, Los Angeles set a record high Sunday, the National Weather Service said. The temperature Sunday at Los Angeles International Airport soared to 85 degrees, surpassing the record of 82 degrees for the day set in 2012.   In Long Beach temperatures reached 87, matching the record for that date set in 2004. The hotter-than-normal weather conditions made it one of the toughest and hottest race days  for Los Angeles Marathon runners.

Officials kept their cool as they turned up the heat to finish construction of a new central utility plant in the middle of Los Angeles International Airport. LAX operators invited retired plant engineers to return and help run the old heating and cooling plant while current engineers were being trained to operate a new $438-million facility. On Tuesday, the retirees will be on hand at noon when 79-year-old former chief building operating engineer Walt Garrick flips the switch to shut down the old plant, which has been in continuous operation keeping airport passengers and workers comfortable since 1961.