Coyote Crisis at Cal State L.A.

Gentle reader...

We're shaken today by having been ear-witnesses to a disturbing incident on the edge of the Cal State Los Angeles campus.

Yesterday evening, one or more coyotes were seen on campus, behaving aggressively. A child was nipped and a student felt menaced and called campus police for help.

We live next to the school in a woodsy area, and at 8pm heard the sound of a gunshot, followed by the high-pitched squeal of an injured animal. Richard immediately called campus police, and was told that officers had killed a coyote.

But as he hung up, a volley of shots rang out, seemingly just outside our window. The animal had escaped into the steep hillside where coyotes have their dens.

LAPD arrived, and news vans and helicopters. Our neighborhood was taped off as a crime scene, with spotlights illuminating the hill. Somewhere in the darkness, an animal was suffering. And all over campus, students and teachers were huddling frightened by the gunfire and lack of information.

By morning, Fish and Wildlife officers were on the scene, with plans to trap and kill as many coyotes as it takes until they get a DNA match to the one that bit the child. DNA tests aren't instantaneous, so there seems no end in sight.

Our day has been taken up with addressing the confounding questions of jurisdiction, use of force and appropriate responses to wildlife management, and talking with the good folks at Project Coyote to learn more about these interesting animals and how we can co-exist.

And as night falls, we think with worry of the cool coyotes who we hear harmonizing with emergency sirens and barking at the moon, and occasionally see trotting around the neighborhood in the morning mist. At least one of them is acting strangely, and should be captured for the safety of the community. But what if that injured animal crawled away to die after being shot? How many harmless creatures will be trapped and killed, and why?

Spare a thought for the wild things tonight.

We're not on the bus this weekend, but on Sunday you'll find Kim signing books at the Vintage Paperback Show in Glendale. Next Saturday, it's the Pasadena Confidential crime bus tour, and Sunday our free LAVA Sunday Salon talk and walk on the Los Angeles Mall. Join us, do!

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RECENTLY TOURED

At the Pasadena Museum of History, we're thrilled to see Ray Bradbury's glasses on display. We helped make them a part of the new Dreaming the Universe exhibition. See them at a special event on 4/19.

LAVA'S FORENSIC SCIENCE SEMINAR - SUN. 5/20

Four times a year, we gather in the teaching crime labs of Cal State L.A. to explore the history and future of American forensic science. On May 20, join us for an inquiry into the Grim Sleeper serial killer investigation. Your $36.50 ticket benefits graduate level Criminalistics research.

COMING SOON

39TH ANNUAL VINTAGE PAPERBACK SHOW - SUN. 3/18... From 10-11am (note chang to previous schedule) our Kim Cooper will be signing copies of her acclaimed mystery novel The Kept Girl, based on a real 1920s Los Angeles cult murder investigation. She'll also have copies of the new Raymond Chandler map, and How To Find Old Los Angeles. And the show is simply packed with dealers peddling the most depraved and delightful exploitation fiction, artwork and magazines. For more info, click here.

PASADENA CONFIDENTIAL - SAT. 3/24... The Crown City masquerades as a calm and refined retreat, where well-bred ladies glide around their perfect bungalows and everyone knows what fork to use first. But don't be fooled by appearances. Dip into the confidential files of old Pasadena and meet assassins and oddballs, kidnappers and slashers, black magicians and all manner of maniac in a delightful little tour you won't find recommended by the better class of people. (Buy tickets here.)

THE LAVA SUNDAY SALON - SUN. 3/25... Our free cultural lecture and walking tour series returns to the basement level of Grand Central Market. The theme is The Los Angeles Mall Reconsidered, a deep dive into an endangered mid-century landscape packed with art and history. Free, reservation required. (To RSVP, click here.)

HOTEL HORRORS & MAIN STREET VICE - SAT. 3/31... Through the 1940s, downtown was the true city center, a lively, densely populated, exciting and sometimes dangerous place. But while many of the historic buildings remain, their human context has been lost. This downtown double feature tour is meant to bring alive the old ghosts and memories that cling to the streets and structures of the historic core, and is especially recommended for downtown residents curious about their neighborhood's neglected history. (Buy tickets here.)

THE REAL BLACK DAHLIA - SAT. 4/7... Join us on this iconic, unsolved Los Angeles murder mystery tour, from the throbbing boulevards of a postwar Downtown to the quiet suburban avenue where horror came calling. After multiple revisions, this is less a true crime tour than a social history of 1940s Hollywood female culture, mass media and madness, and we welcome you to join us for the ride. This tour usually sells out, so don't wait to reserve. (Buy tickets here.)

THE LOWDOWN ON DOWNTOWN - SAT. 4/14... This is not a tour about beautiful buildings—although beautiful buildings will be all around you. This is not a tour about brilliant architects--although we will gaze upon their works and marvel. The Lowdown on Downtown is a tour about urban redevelopment, public policy, protest, power and the police. It is a revealing history of how the New Downtown became an "overnight sensation" after decades of quiet work behind the scenes by public agencies and private developers. Come discover the real Los Angeles, the city even natives don't know. Features a visit to the Dutch Chocolate Shop, a tiled wonderland not open to the public. (Sorry, tour is sold out with waiting list. Stay tuned for the next date.)

GROWING UP WITH RAY BRADBURY TALK - 4/19... In association with the new exhibition Dreaming the Universe: The Intersection of Science, Fiction, & Southern California at the Pasadena Museum of History, come join our Richard Schave in conversation with Ramona Bradbury, talking about life at home with her famous writer father Ray Bradbury. You'll have a chance to ask questions, and see the exhibition. Space is limited for this special event. (Buy tickets here.)

BLOOD & DUMPLINGS - SAT. 4/21... Forget Hollywood, babe, 'cause the quintessential L.A. town is definitely El Monte, its history packed with noirish murders, brilliant thespians, loony Nazis, James Ellroy's naked lunch and the lion farm that MGM's celebrated kitty called home. See all this and so much more, including the Man from Mars Bandit's Waterloo, when you climb aboard the daffiest crime tour in our arsenal, and the only one that includes a dumpling picnic at a landmark playground populated with fantastical giant sea creatures. Special on this tour: the secret diary of Vilma, El Monte's sassy Clifton's Cafeteria camera girl. Not frequently offered, you won't want to miss this ride. (Buy tickets here.)

CHARLES BUKOWSKI'S L.A. - SAT. 4/28... Come explore Charles Bukowski's lost Los Angeles and the fascinating contradictions that make this great local writer such a hoot to explore. Haunts of a Dirty Old Man is a raucous day out celebrating liquor, ladies, pimps and poets. The tour includes a visit to Buk's DeLongpre bungalow, where you'll see the Cultural-Historic Monument sign that we helped to get approved, and a mid-tour provisions stop at Pink Elephant Liquor. (Buy tickets here.)

Additional upcoming tours: Raymond Chandler’s Los Angeles (5/5), Special event: Crawling Down Cahuenga: Tom Waits’ L.A. (5/12), Hollywood! (5/19), Weird West Adams (6/2).

OUR HISTORIC L.A. PODCAST

In Episode #125: a last visit to the Caravan Book Store to talk with second generation bookman Leonard Bernstein, plus public policy maven Donald Spivack on the two biggest challenges facing Los Angeles. Click here to tune in. New: find stories on the map!

AND FINALLY, LINKS

Shining a light on San Diego’s lost Theosophical compound of Lomaland. A few stray structures still survive on the grounds of Point Loma Nazarene University.

Love is (belatedly) in the air: the Huntington now holds a remarkable collection of early Valentines cards and ephemera. Thank you, Rosin family!

Redlands citrus packing house to be redeveloped as a food hall (we hope without the non-functional, historically-inaccurate water tower attached).

L.A.'s Neighborhood Councils have all kinds of of problems, but its the NC that doesn't exist that's the subject of a museum exhibition: Zillionaires Against Humanity: Sabotaging the Skid Row NC.

A love letter to the Caravan Book Store, as it trundles off into the sunset.

Liberty Park becomes a Los Angeles landmark. But first, the property owner terrorized attendees of a City Hall meeting by threatening to turn his assault rifle on citizens.

Video Vault: Explore the holy grail of Los Angeles transit history, the Subway Terminal Tunnel, in this LAVA Sunday Salon video. If you’ve only got a few minutes, try our Subway Terminal Tunnel tour sneak peek.

The battle to possess the Bernard Maybeck-designed Earle C. Anthony estate takes a grim turn. RIP, Sister Catherine Rose Holzman. May the just prevail, whoever they are!

Caltrans is a crummy steward of the historic houses where the 710 won't go, among them Julia Child's girlhood home.

New on our Kim Cooper’s The Kept Girl book blog: Touring The NoMad Hotel, or... The Bank of Italy is alive, alive!

Bumps on the road to restoring beloved light sculpture Vermonica, removed without notice by Bureau of Street Lighting.

With rents spiking in L.A. and thousands homeless, why isn't the city doing anything to shut down illegal hotels like Onni Group's Level Furnished Living in Downtown L.A.?

yrs,
Kim and Richard
Esotouric