For Your Consideration: Bring The Olympics To The Southern California Mountains

It is the Olympic rings being used in all its glorious public domain. 

HEAPS PEAK IN THE SAN BERNARDINO MOUNTAINS - There is much talk that Los Angeles may be a step closer to hosting the 2024 Summer Olympics. Deals from the L.A. City Council to the International Olympic Committee are still being worked out, and there are a few other things to work out. One of those things to be worked out is competing with other cities around the world to host the games. If all goes well, and many of us hope we receive the answer we are looking for, it would be the third time L.A. will host the Summer Olympics.

Standing at The L.A. Memorial coliseum looking to the north and turning your head to the northeast you can see, provided the inversion layer and its hazy smoggy nastiness is not blocking the view, The Transverse Range, which make up The San Gabriel and San Bernardino Mountains. Having the Summer Olympics in L.A. and throughout Southern California really do make for a perfect fit, but what about The Winter Olympics? I know saying "let's bring The Winter Olympics to Southern California" sounds like a joke, and maybe even a third-tier Woody Allen joke (New York, by the way, has never hosted the Olympic games), but seriously, the powers that be should seriously look at and consider bringing the Winter Olympic games to our local mountains.

Seriously, Could Our Local Mountains Really Host The Olympics?

Yes. The Sochi Olympics wrapped up in February 2014 bringing to end the somewhat contentious XXII Olympic Winter Games. Among the many real or perceived problems, there was one real problem, which is the Sochi games were just a little too warm for the Winter Olympics, which is not unlike our own mountains. The climate in the Sochi area is typically rather mild and Russian officials stored significant amounts of snow for the games, just in case. Nonetheless, despite social issues outside the gates and despite the events in nearby Ukraine, the Sochi games were an overall success.

So, if a place like Sochi with its lack of snow can pull off a Winter Olympics then why cannot our own Southern California mountains, The San Gabriel and San Bernardino Mountains, host the winter games? After all, the weather in our local mountains are about the same as in Sochi, as you never quite know if it is going to be a snowy year or warm year, and if it is a warm year our ski resorts know how to make and store quite of bit of snow.

Where In Our Mountains?

Probably the most logical site for the home-base of the Winter Olympics would be Big Bear, but however events could be spread all over the Transverse Range. Spreading out Olympic events is nothing new. It was done in Sochi, and it was done during the 1984 Summer Olympics and 1932 Summer Olympics in L.A. with many Olympic games spread throughout Southern California.

Sure, there would be some infrastructure that would need to be built, but that would be a boom to the local construction industry.

Okay. All This New Stuff Is Built, But What Happens When The Games Leave?
 
What happens when the Olympics leave the mountain resorts with so much new stuff built? Well, for places in Big Bear, and perhaps other places in the San Bernardino and San Gabriel Mountains, they can now brag and sell their ski resorts as being world famous, and boost their ski resorts from being local destinations to world destinations. What skier would not love to play and ski at an Olympic ski resort?

What About The Mountain Roads?

What about accommodating all the Olympic spectators, and those mountain highways?

Yes, as any person who has driven our mountain highways and roads can attest, the roadways to and around the mountain towns are not the best, and can provide for a white-knuckle ride at times, but this would provide the opportunity to improve the mountain highways.

Furthermore, shuttle service can be provided to and from events, and up and down the mountain. Also, this may be an opportunity to explore other unique forms of transportation, such as a tramway from the base of the mountain to perhaps Big Bear, not unlike the Palm Springs Tram.

Just Where Is Everybody Going To Stay?

In the mountain towns there would be a need to build some new hotels, but there are many hotel and motel rooms down the mountain in the Inland Empire that are underused and could be used to house Winter Olympic spectators.

Of course before, during and right after the Olympic games it will be massive boost to the hospitality industry, and not just in the mountains, but it will have a positive ripple affect throughout Southern California. It is not an unlikely scenario that hotels from Palm Springs to L.A. would be filled up with Winter Olympic spectators. 

What About Traffic Down The Mountain?

What about traffic having a ripple affect in the flat lands? Well, we all worked together during the 1984 games, and during the recent events on Interstate 405, and so why cannot it be that way again for the Winter Olympics?

Consider It and Bring It To Our Mountains!

We say to the powers that be, bring the Winter Olympics to the Southern California Mountains. We have, and could easily have, the infrastructure in place, and hosting the games here you would not have to worry about any possible social problems taking center stage at the games. The United States is a very stable place to hold the Winter Olympics, and our Southern California mountain range will make it even better.

As an added bonus to consider, though it is on a smaller scale, Big Bear has hosted the X-Games, among other such major winter sporting events.

The Winter Olympics in Southern California? Yes, this can be done.

We have already hosted two Summer Olympics, and maybe a third, and now let us take stage in hosting the games The Winter Olympics!

This can be done, and so let us do it!

[NOTE: This originally appeared on this site in February 2014 and has been updated. Also, this site and story is not supported by or affiliated with any local chamber of commerce, booster groups or local Olympic committee. Holding the Winter Olympics in our local mountains is an interested idea to float around and, frankly, something to give serious consideration to.]

 

The Day In 1932 The Summer Olympics Came To L.A.

THE FLAME SHINING BRIGHT ATOP OF THE L.A. MEMORIAL COLISEUM - For the first time since the 1984 Summer Olympics over 7,000 athletes from 177 countries are at Exposition Park competing in 27 different sports for the Special Olympics World Games. This is an amazing event and Southern California is quite lucky to be hosting such an event. (If you have not had a chance to make it to any events you should go, and most sporting events are free.) Just as these games in Los Angeles are underway with the incredible, inspiring athletes doing what they do best word came way that Boston is withdrawing its bid to host the 2024 Summer Olympics.


The official program of the 1932 Summer Olympics. Photograph in public domain.

What does this mean? Well, even though there has been no official announcement, yet, L.A. is tip-toeing its way back to bidding on hosting the 2024 Summer Olympics. Of course, at this point in the Olympic bidding game, L.A. still has a very long way to go as they have to compete with not just other cities around the United States, but around the world to win hosting the Summer Olympics.

If L.A. is successful in winning the 2024 games The City of Angels would be the only place in the United States to hold three modern Olympic events.

Before we look forward let us look back to the past to one Summer Olympic event. No, not the 1984 Summer Olympics, which, by the way, is often credited for "saving" the modern Olympics by way of over-the-top opening ceremony pageantry and major corporate sponsorship, but the very first Summer Olympics in 1932, officially known as the Games of the X Olympiad, which opened July 30, 1932.


Opening ceremony of the 1932 Summer Olympics at L.A. Memorial Coliseum. Photograph in public domain. 

How Did L.A. Win the Bid For The 1932 Summer Olympics?

As you may know by now these days a city in the world bidding to host the Olympics, be it the summer or winter event, is a major competitive event in and of itself with a lot of wooing and impressing International Olympic Committee (IOC) officials.


A parasol for those needing some shade from the summer sun while watching the Summer Olympics. Unclear if this is an official Olympic sanctioned item.

Now to bid for the 1932 summer games L.A. did not have a lot of competition in the bidding process to host the Tenth Modern Olympiad. By not having a lot of competition that is to say L.A. had no competition in bidding to host the games, because L.A. was the only city to bid to host the games.

Why Was L.A. The Only City To Bid On Hosting The 1932 Summer Olympics?

Well, then, as it is now, the decision on where to host the Olympics was made many years in advance. The selection was made at the 23rd IOC Session in Rome, Italy, in 1923, and that decision came on the heels of "the wars to end all wars." Many countries were broke and just weary. So, basically, what was Europe's disadvantage in dealing with the depressing aftermath of World War I was L.A.'s advantage.

The Great Depression Put A Damper On The Olympics


The official 1932 Summer Olympics' logo. Used under public domain.

While the 1920s were a "Roaring" time by the end of that jazz decade the stock market crash of 1929 ushered in the Great Depression. The depression was so bad that many nations and athletes just simply could not afford the trip to L.A. to compete in the 1932 Olympics. In fact, participation in the 1932 games was the lowest since the 1904 Olympics, with only half as many athletes taking part as had in the 1928 Olympics.

Adding To The L.A. Olympics' Woes Was California's Remoteness

Atop of the many problems The Great Depression brought on what further compounded problems with the 1932 Summer Olympics was the difficulty of reaching Southern California. Hard to even imagine today of such a thing, but California was still a remote, somewhat isolated area of the world. Remember, in 1932 the main mode of transportation was passenger railway, which could take several days, and airline travel was still a very exotic thing. Driving your car or taking a bus cross-country could be a harrowing experience.

The President Did Not Even Attend The Opening Ceremony, Or Any Olympic Event

With the many problems plaguing the U.S. and world President Herbert Hoover did not attend the opening ceremony or any Olympic event in L.A. Yes, Mr. Hoover, by this point not a very popular president, skipped this major event held in his country.

Mr. Hoover would be the second U.S. president to miss the Olympics in the United States held during his term behind President Theodore Roosevelt. Mr. Roosevelt refused to attend the 1904 Summer Olympics held in St. Louis, because St. Louis Mayor David R. Francis declined to let Mr. Roosevelt help officiate the games.

Despite Adverse Conditions The Opening Ceremony Broke Records And Set The Standard For Today's Olympic Opening Ceremonies

With The Great Depression, the President of the United States opting not to attend the games and the problems of just simply getting to Southern California you would think these Olympic games would make the record books for being poorly attended and a general lack of caring for the summer games. Glad to report, you would be wrong.


Rare color photograph of the opening ceremony of the 1932 Summer Olympics at L.A. Memorial Coliseum. Photograph in public domain.

Turns out over 100,000 people attended the opening ceremony at the Memorial Coliseum, and, according to the Olympic Movement, "Its scale and quality were beyond anything that had come before, creating the first Games we would recognize today."

Furthermore, the 1932 Summer Olympics, according to Olympic officials, "gave birth to the modern format."

The 1932 Summer Games Gave Birth To The Modern Olympic Village


Rare photograph of the first Olympic Village in Baldwin Hills. Photograph in public domain.

Before the 1932 Summer Olympics athletes, their athletic trainers and other Olympic officials basically had to stay at whatever hotel or other housing they could find, and for Olympic officials that ended up being very expensive. That changed in 1932 with the building of the first modern Olympic Village in Baldwin Hills. Now the males stayed in Baldwin Hills while the female athletes were housed at the Chapman Park Hotel on Wilshire Boulevard.


The female athletes competing in the 1932 Summer Olympics stayed in style at the Chapman Park Hotel as shown in this postcard. Photograph in public domain.

The idea, and perhaps rough draft, of an Olympic Village came about during the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris, France, where Olympic organizers built cabins near the Stade Olympique de Colombes to allow the athletes to easily access the Games' venues.

The 1932 Summer Olympics Brought Shorter Games

Before the 1932 Summer Olympics most summer games were around 80 days. By the time the Summer Olympics came to L.A. the days of the games were cut down to 16 days of events. Since then all Summer Olympics have been between 15-to-18 days.

The Victory Podium Was Used For The First Time In L.A.

In what is one of the most iconic sites of every Olympics is the use of the victory podium awarding the gold, silver and bronze metals. This was first introduced during the 1932 Games in L.A.

The 1932 Olympics Is The Reason L.A. Does Not Have a Tenth Street 

Sounds strange, but it is true. When L.A. was selected to host what would be the Games of the X Olympiad, or, the Tenth Modern Olympics, (or rather, being the only one in the class of nations around the world to raise her hands and volunteer to host the games) to honor the occasion the L.A. City Council voted to change the name of Tenth Street to Olympic Boulevard (see what the L.A. City Council they there).

What some people may not know is that Olympic Blvd. is longer than the more famous Wilshire Blvd. as it stretches from Santa Monica all the way across the city to East Los Angeles and into Montebello. 

By the way, here is an interesting side-note: Olympic Blvd. was once a highway of sorts, California State Route 26. 

The Grand Olympic Auditorium In Downtown L.A. Was Built For The 1932 Olympics

Even though there was very little, well, no competition for winning the bid to host the 1932 Olympics the L.A. Olympic committee officials still needed some places and things to impress The IOC. One of those places was the building of The Grand Olympic Auditorium in 1924. When it opened in 1925 it was the largest indoor venue in the U.S. seating over 15,000 people. During the 1932 Games competitions of boxing, wrestling and weightlifting events were held at The Olympic Auditorium.

The Day LAX Was Bombed By The Alphabet Bomber

DRIVING DOWN CENTURY BOULEVARD - Driving down the boulevard amid the towering hotels leading into Los Angeles International Airport suddenly figuring out what lane you need to be in for arrivals or departures sometimes you are held up by airport police checks, and when that happens hopefully you are not running late for your flight. It is said, "everything changed after 9/11," and with that includes posting police officers in airport entrances for random security checks. However, well before the obscene events of September 11, 2001, threats and terror attacks on airports were, unfortunately, nothing too new.


The iconic Theme Building at LAX. Photograph used under Creative Commons license.

On August 6, 1974, the most deadliest terrorist attack in Los Angeles since the 1910 Los Angeles Times bombing occurred at LAX, which resulted in the death of three people and dozens injured. In fact, it was, at the time, the worst terrorist attack at an American airport.

The 1970s was an overall turbulent era in America, and adding to the turbulence were many nationalist and domestic groups setting off various bombs around the country for mostly political reasons. New York seemed to be the center of these domestic terrorist attacks with many bombs set off in office buildings around Manhattan damaging buildings. San Francisco and the Bay Area also experienced dozens of bombings during this time. L.A. had been mostly spared from these political terrorist attacks.

Today, when a pipe bomb or even simply the threat of a terror attack occurs it causes great fear and panic around the country. Back then in the 1970s, frankly, much like how the British shrugged off IRA attacks, domestic bombings, hijackings and other such terror attacks in the United States were almost accepted as a "normal" way of life in 1970s America.

What Happened?

The 1974 LAX bombing was, at the time, the most destructive, deadliest bombing to ever hit a U.S. airport. The bomb was set off at the Pan American World Airways (Pam Am) terminal about 20 feet from the Pam Am check-in counter. Three people were killed and 36 people were injured.

According to the United Press International news report of the event,

Michael Strong of the police airport detail said he was about 100 yards away when "a tremendous blast shook the area and it was a scene of utter devastation. People were down on the floor crying for help. Bodies were blown all over the lobby. "All I could see was blood. There was blood everywhere," said skycap Gary Cartwright.

Police and federal agents tried to determine the origin of the blast. Investigators said the force indicated an explosive charge equal to about eight pounds of dynamite. 

The Damage

The bomb tore out sections of a concrete wall behind the lockers, hurled some of the lockers through the lobby, ripped into the ceiling shredded baggage and blew out the glass from of the terminal.

The Alphabet Bomber 

The suspect behind the LAX bombing was a Yugoslavian immigrant named Muharem Kurbegovic who claimed to be the leader of Aliens of America. The bomber was dubbed "The Alphabet Bomber" after he dropped off an audiotape at KNXT- TV (now KCBS-TV) following the LAX attack. The audiotape said in part, "The first bomb was marked with the letter A, which stands for airport [...] The second bomb will be associated with the letter L, etc., until our name has been written on the face of this nation in blood."

The second bomb was found inside a locker at the downtown L.A. Greyhound station, which, according to the Los Angeles Police Bomb Squad, was, at the time, the most powerful explosive device they ever handled and defused.

Prior Alphabet Bomber Attacks Before The LAX Bombing

About year before setting off the bomb at the Pam Am terminal The Alphabet Bomber set off firebombs at the homes of two Los Angeles Police commissioners and a judge. Furthermore, Kurbegovic burnt down two Marina Del Rey apartment buildings.

Hoax Attacks On The U.S. Supreme Court Justices

The first public movements concerning The Alphabet Bomber was an audiotape sent to the L.A. Times on July 7, 1974, with Kurbegovic claiming he put nerve gas on tiny lead disks hidden under stamps on postcards mailed that June to all nine justices of the U.S. Supreme Court. As Kurbegovic explained on the tape, "Each postcard shows the Palm Springs home of entertainer Bob Hope and reads as follows: ‘It is justices of your greatness that made this nation so great. Respectfully, Bob Hope’."

The postcards never made it to Supreme Court, and in fact, they never made it out of Southern California, because the nine postcards had been intercepted at the Palm Springs Post Office on June 16, where the canceling machines had broken the tiny vials under the stamps. The postal worker at the Palm Springs Post Office thought they were toy caps.

Turns out the nerve gas was not real as Kurbegovich admitted a few weeks later, in another threatening tape to the L.A. Times, the postcards were a hoax and the liquid in the vials was harmless. In this audiotape Kurbegovich said, “A reasonable man will pause to think if someone points a gun at him whether the gun is loaded or empty."

Note On Public Warnings About 1970s Domestic Terrorist Attacks

It may seem strange for terrorists to call into media outlets and to buildings that were being targeted warning them about an impending terror attacks, but however, in the 1970s many groups behind bombings often telephoned or mailed notices of upcoming terrorists attacks. Certain groups, like The Weather Underground, did this to prevent mass causalities. Leaving messages, be it an audiotape or letter, in seemingly random locations, like a restaurant or telephone booth, was typically the mode of operation for many 1970s domestic terrorists.

Why Did The Alphabet Bomber Do All This? 

It is believed this terrorist committed these acts because judges and commissioners prevented him from opening his own taxi dance hall. A taxi dance hall is where a person can pay a woman to dance with you. Kurbegovic, it turns out, was caught in a taxi dance hall doing a lewd act, which led to his arrest. Kurbegovich believed that arrest would prevent his chances to open his own taxi dance hall business, and threatened his chances of becoming an American citizen.

So, Just What Was The Alphabet Bomber's Main Demand?

Well, simply put, Kurbegovic's main demands of his campaign of terror was to bring an end to immigration and naturalization laws, and ending many laws about sex.

What Happened To The Alphabet Bomber?

He was finally caught after being followed by investigators, and has spent time between high-security prisons and mental facilities.

As the L.A. Times reported,

Oct. 16, 1980: After six days of deliberations, a jury convicted Muharem Kurbegovic of first-degree murder for a 1974 bombing at Los Angeles International Airport that killed three people and injured 36 others.

The jury found the so-called Alphabet Bomber guilty on 25 counts of murder, arson, attempted murder, possession of explosive material and exploding a bomb, The Times reported.

Kurbegovic, 37, an immigrant from Yugoslavia, "acted as his own attorney during the eight-month trial," The Times said.

It is extraordinarily unlikely Kurbegovic will ever be freed.

Was Aliens of America A Large Terrorist Group?

Nope!

Unlike many domestic terrorist groups of the 1970s all investigations show and proved Aliens of America was simply a one-man-act of Kurbegovic.

The Worst Terrorist Attack At An Airport Would Happen Over A Year Later

In summer 1974 the bombing at the Pam Am terminal at LAX was the worst, deadliest terrorist attack at an airport, but, sadly, over a year later that record would be broken.

On December 29, 1975, a bomb exploded at the TWA baggage reclaim terminal at LaGuardia Airport in New York killing 11 people. It is believed Croatian nationalists were likely behind the attack. Still, to this day, the LaGuardia Airport bombing remains unsolved.

Ten Interesting Facts About Fillmore

WHERE HIGHWAY 126 MEETS CENTRAL AVENUE - With the towering San Cayetano Mountain peak providing a fantastic scenic backdrop the small Ventura County city of Fillmore is a unique fusion of Southern California's past and present. Located in the Santa Clara River Valley, roughly between Santa Clarita and Ventura along State Route 126, in the last week Fillmore has been in the news as the area has been experiencing dozens of small earthquakes. Aside from Mother Nature reminding us we live in earthquake country, there are more interesting things about Fillmore than may meet the eye.


View of downtown Fillmore. Used under a Creative Commons License.

So, as the city celebrates its 101st anniversary, here are ten interesting facts about "The Last Best Small Town," Fillmore.

1 - The City of Fillmore Is NOT Named After The President

Yes, let us get this one out of the way. Millard Fillmore was the 13th President of the United States, and 12th Vice President of the United States, and there are several cities, street names and places, like The Fillmore in San Francisco, around the country named after the president, but that city in Ventura County is not one of them. The city name has nothing at all to do with the president.

2 - So, Where Did Fillmore Get Its Name?

Fillmore's name comes not from a former president, but a former general superintendent. The name was J. A. Fillmore, and he was the general superintendent for the pacific division of the Southern Pacific Railroad.

3 - The Railroad Is How Fillmore Came To Be

Like a handful of cities around Southern California the city Fillmore came to be thanks to "The Octopus," Southern Pacific Railroad. In 1887 Southern Pacific built a railroad through the Santa Clara River Valley, and the powers that be at the railroad, and the Southern Pacific was a very large power, established this little town of Fillmore. On July 10, 1914, Fillmore residents voted to incorporate the the town, officially making it the city of Fillmore.

4 - Fillmore's Roots Go Way Back Before The Railroad

On around August 11, 1769, the controversial Spanish Portola expedition came down into the valley from a night's encampment near Rancho Camulos and set up camp in what is now modern day Fillmore. A short time before the full Spanish Portola expedition came into the valley Franciscan Fray Juan Crespi, who had been traveling with the expedition, ventured on his own in a trip to the then unnamed Santa Clara River Valley, and during that lone venture Franciscan Crespi named the valley, Cañada de Santa Clara.

5 - Hollywood Comes To Fillmore

With its charming small town feeling and look, old trains provided by The Fillmore & Western Railway, citrus fields all around and the city being rather close to the Entertainment Capital of The World, many films and television shows have been filmed in Fillmore. In fact, the City of Fillmore has its own Film Fillmore website where you, whether you are a film student, independent film maker or blockbuster film director, can apply for a film permit.

6 - Badly Hit By The 1994 Northridge Earthquake


Damaged hotel and theater building in downtown Fillmore following the 1994 earthquake. Photograph by NOAA/NGDC, J. Dewey, U.S. Geological Survey. Image in public domain.

As the Los Angeles film industry has found its way to this little city northwest of The City of Angeles its real life disasters have also been felt in Fillmore. The 1994 Northridge Earthquake still remains the most costly earthquake in American history, and the damage was not confined to the L.A. area. The thrust of that earthquake at 4:31 a.m. moved in a northwest direction, which resulted in severe damage in Fillmore. Its historic downtown area suffered severe damage, and many homes were badly damaged. This bit of recent history is not lost on many Fillmore residents now dealing with and wondering about the dozens of minor earthquakes in recent days.

7 - You Can Still Hear, and Ride, The Old Trains In Fillmore

Fillmore's modern existence came to be thanks to the railroads. Now thanks to The Fillmore & Western Railway you can still ride the old trains. Throughout the year The Fillmore & Western Railway provides train rides along the railway with its locomotives through the Santa Clara River Valley.

8 - Fillmore Has Its Own Newspaper Of Record

While The Ventura County Star is the main newspaper for Ventura County, Fillmore has its own newspaper, The Fillmore Gazette, "The Newspaper of Record for the City of Fillmore."

9 - Fillmore Freeway Debate

The 126 provides a very scenic drive between Ventura and Santa Clarita, and it has become a not-so-secret route between Ventura County and the L.A. area in the last 20 years for commuters not too happy to use U.S. Route 101. With more drivers motoring along highway 126 it has earned a not so great name, Blood Alley, due to the high volume of accidents. In these last couple decades there has been some debate and study whether or not to build a freeway from the Interstate 5 and SR 126 interchange in Santa Clarita to where the 126 becomes a freeway in Santa Paula. This idea has not quite been welcomed by city officials and boosters in Fillmore. City officials fear a freeway will bypass the city, which will cause Fillmore to lose lots of money as motorists would not be traveling through the heart of Fillmore.

As it stands now the California Department of Transportation (CalTrans) has no immediate plans to build a freeway. In the meantime there have been improvements along the 126, such as adding lanes.

10 - It Is Still A Big Agriculture City

In a lot of cities around Southern California you would be very hard-pressed to find a place where the economy is driven by agriculture. The hundreds of citrus groves that once dominated the Southern California landscape gave way to paved roads, tract-housing and strip malls. In Fillmore you can still find rows of citrus trees around the town, and the Fillmore economy is driven by agriculture.

The KNBC David Horowitz Incident

FROM THE NOW GONE NBC BURBANK STUDIOS - Say the name David Horowitz to almost anybody who grew up in Southern California and the reply is often, "Oh, remember that when he was held up on Channel 4?"

Here is probably the most infamous, bizarre moment in Los Angeles television history when on 4:42 p.m. on August 20, 1987, a mentally disturbed man walked onto the KNBC-TV news set in Burbank during a live broadcast, held a gun to the back of Fight Back consumer reporter David Horowitz and ordered him to read a rambling statement.


The audio on this is not all that great, but here is a KNBC news report later that day on what happened on their news set.

The gunman was Gary Stollman, who was the son of former KNBC pharmacist reporter Max Stollman. Max Stollman had recently left KNBC some months earlier.

The four-page letter the gunman demanded Mr. Horowitz read began with, "The man who has appeared on KNBC for the last three years is not my biological father. "He is a clone, a double created by the Central Intelligence Agency and alien forces." It was at that point KNBC News Director Tom Capra ordered the station off-the-air.

When KNBC went off-the-air Stollman noticed the brightly colored "One Moment Please" card on one of the television monitors, and the anchors, John Beard and Kirstie Wilde, along with the camera operators and floor director, had to convince Stollman that KNBC was really on-the-air. The deception seemed to work.

During the ordeal it is amazing to watch Mr. Horowitz appear, well, acting completely relaxed and carrying on like a regular interviewer, despite the fact he had a gun to his back.

Looks can always be a bit deceiving as Mr. Horowitz told the Los Angeles Times in 1987, "The guy came up and put a gun in my back [and] my first reaction was, 'I can't believe this is happening.' "His first words to me were, 'Read this or I'll shoot you!' "People later told me how calm I looked, but believe me, I wasn't!"

"I kept thinking of my wife and kids," Mr. Horowitz said to the Times. "I didn't know if the guy was a terrorist or a whacko or somebody trying to get even for something. "My fear was that if any police came into the studio, and there was a marksman there and he fired at this guy, I might be caught in the cross-fire or this guy might pop a shot off and get me through the back of the head or whatever because I was not aware of the fact that this guy had a toy gun."

With a gun pointed to his back Mr. Horowitz told United Press International in 1987, "who the hell was going to rescue me?"

At the end of the saga when it is reveal the weapon was no more than an unloaded pellet gun Mr. Horowitz shrugs his shoulders and gives something that could be best described as a, "you've got to be freaking kidding me!" look as Stollman was thanking him for reading his statement that lasted seven minutes.

Just as Stollman put the toy gun down on the news desk co-anchor Mr. Beard quickly grabbed the fake weapon and Burbank Police rushed onto the set and promptly arrested Stollman.

Mr. Beard later told reporters he had never felt his heart beat as fast as he did that afternoon. Most disturbingly to Mr. Beard was, "if he (Mr. Horowitz) is shot how am I going to explain to people at home what just happened."

On a site called SkepticFiles.org Stollman has a rambling manifesto written in 1991 titled, The Invasion of the Human Race.

There, Stollman says in part,

I never planned out my life to wind up on the set of KNBC in Los Angeles LIVE, standing behind TV consumer advocate David Horowitz holding a toy gun to his head, demanding that he read a statement about how space aliens and the CIA had replaced my father and family with clones. I had only planned on becoming a computer programmer and a good citizen. At least that was before I discovered I had somehow stumbled onto a vast plot to overthrow the human race.

So just how did Stollman get past security? Ms. Wilde, co-anchor with Mr. Beard during the incident, told the Times Mr. Stollman simply exploited his father's former position with KNBC.

Ms. Wilde told the Times, "He scoped the studio out before. "He came last Thursday and called me to get in. "He said he was Max Stollman's son and he lives in the East and he never had the opportunity to see his dad while he was on our air and could he come down and watch. "I felt kind of bad because Max's contract was terminated and he hadn't had a chance to see him, so I said come on down."

The impression left on Mr. Wilde prior to the incident was Stollman, "seemed a little unstable, or maybe not very bright."

Since the incident Stollman has been in and out of mental facilities and continues to post conspiracy thoughts on message boards, as noted above.

After the incident Mr. Horowitz launched a state and later national campaign to outlaw toy guns that look a little too much like the real thing.

Mr. Horowitz remained with KNBC until August 1992 when management declined to renew his contract. Many in the industry believe his 20-plus years at the NBC owned-and-operated station came to a sudden end because funds were needed to pay Paul Moyer's unprecedented $8 million contract. Mr. Moyer had come to KNBC from KABC-TV in August 1992. In August and into fall of 1992, in addition to Mr. Horowitz, a few on-air and many behind the scenes employees were also let go from KNBC.

During his time at KNBC, aside from being a consumer advocate and hosting his famed Fight Back program, Mr. Horowitz was the first television reporter on-the-air following the 1971 Sylmar Earthquake. During that event he was broadcasting sitting on a stool in a darken parking lot. Later joining him during that early morning coverage was fellow KNBC reporter Tom Brokaw.

For a time David Horowitz returned to television in 1994-95 on KCBS-TV, joining Jerry Dunphy and Dr. George Fischbeck.


Today Mr. Horowitz is still fighting back for you by way of FightBack.com. Photograph used under a Creative Commons license.

Timely enough just a short time later on October 1, 1987, KNBC would once again be in the national spotlight for another bizarre on-air incident, and this time with David Letterman making fun of the incident, when Kent Shocknek and Christopher Nance went under the news desk for an extended period of time during an aftershock of the Whittier Narrows Earthquake. Mr. Shocknek, who retired from KCBS/KCAL-TV in 2014, has said many times over there was a genuine threat with heavy studio lights swinging precariously overhead. Nonetheless this incident created an awkward moment and is, much to Mr. Shocknek's dismay, perhaps the second most unusual event in local television that is highly remembered.

(Editor's Note: This story has been updated and reedited, but originally appeared in the now defunct Southern California News Wire in 2010, and it seems parts of this story has been plagiarized in some places around the Internet. So goes life on the Internet.)

14 Random City Facts: Santa Ana

SANTA ANA - Passing south on Interstate 5, the Santa Ana Freeway, just below the Orange Crush Interchange, you come across a place that bills itself on its water-tower as, "Downtown Orange County." That is not too far fetched as Santa Ana is the Orange County seat, which is to say all the main Orange County government services are headquartered in the city. In fact, and here is a Santa Ana fact in the opening paragraph, the Orange County government is the largest employer in Santa Ana.

So, with a quick glance passing along down the I-5 Santa Ana, like much of Southern California, looks so much like one of the many same suburban cities making up the puzzle piece of the Los Angeles Basin. Getting off the freeway and spending some time in the city you will see there is much more to Santa Ana than meets the eye.

 
Postcard of 1973 downtown Santa Ana. Used under Creative Commons license.

Here are 14 random facts, in no particular order, about Santa Ana. We hope this will inspire you to learn more about the fun, interesting and sometimes not-so-happy history of Santa Ana.

1 - Santa Ana Is More Densely Populated Than L.A.

Wait! That cannot be right. L.A. has over four million people and is the second largest city in America. Yes, that is true, but the City of Angels is not quite as densely populated as Santa Ana, and so just how densely populated is Santa Ana? Well, in an answer that often surprises a lot of people is Santa Ana is the United States' fourth most densely populated city behind, New York, San Francisco and Boston, respectively, according to the 2010 United States Census.


It is Fourth Street in circa 1950 Santa Ana. Used under a Creative Commons license.

2 - Santa Ana Is a Rather Safe City

There is a perception in Orange County and around Southern California that Santa Ana is not quite safest place to be. Sure, like any large city they have their problems, from street crime to corruption in city government, and some of these problems make the rounds on local news and even international news. However, and this is another thing that surprises many people, according to a 2011 Forbes study of cities with populations of 250,000 and up, Santa Ana ranked as the nation's fourth safest city.


Downtown Santa Ana circa 1940s. Used under Creative Commons license.

3 - Who Named It Santa Ana?

The name of Santa Ana comes from the controversial Friar Junípero Serra who named the area Vallejo de Santa Ana following the 1769 expedition of Gaspar de Portolá. The original name, Vallejo de Santa Ana, translates into Santa Ana Valley, or, Valley of Saint Anne. This name did not include just where the city currently sits, but rather Vallejo de Santa Ana was the name of most of present day Orange County. Furthermore, growing up in Southern California some people have said the city was named after General Santa Anna, but that is not true.


Downtown Santa Ana in the 1930s, Used under a Creative Commons license.

4 - How Did The Present Day City of Santa Ana Come To Be?

The Santa Ana of today is a result of a guy from Kentucky named, William H. Spurgeon. The story goes, Mr. Spurgeon rode through on horseback on October 10, 1869, and he liked what he saw and paid Jacob Ross, Sr., $595 for 74.2 acres. In 1870, Mr. Spurgeon became postmaster and owned a general store and, to no real surprise, he became the city's first mayor when Santa Ana incorporated on June 1, 1886.

5 - Who Was Jacob Ross, Sr.?

Before the guy from Kentucky bought the land that would become the city of Santa Ana it was owned by Jacob Ross, Sr. After California was taken by the U.S. from Mexico Mr. Ross purchased 650 acres from the Yorba family's vast Rancho Santiago de Santa Ana. The Rancho was a Spanish land-use grant that had been awarded in 1810 to Jose Antonio Yorba, a sergeant of the Spanish army who served with Mr. Portola's 1769 expedition. For more on these land grants check out the Californio-Alta California-Spanish-Mexican-American history of California.

6 - Santa Ana Used To Be Called Hotuuk

Long before the Spanish or other Europeans came to the area the indigenous Native American Tongva inhabited the area beginning around the year 500. After the Spanish colonization the Tongva people became known by their European names, Gabrieleño, Fernandeño, and Nicoleño.

7 - Orange County's First Gay Pride Parade Was Held In Santa Ana

On September 11, 1989, Orange County LGBTQ history was made with the first Orange County Cultural Pride Festival parade held at Santa Ana’s Centennial Regional Park. According to festival organizers around 10,000 people attended the event. This event was not without incident as the Santa Ana Police riot squad had to be called out. According to the Los Angeles Times,

Six people were arrested Sunday after a fist-swinging brawl broke out among more than 50 militant gays and fundamentalist Christians at Orange County's first Gay Pride Festival.

About 50 riot-equipped Santa Ana police were called in to Centennial Regional Park to quell the disturbance, but no serious injuries were reported as the two-day gay festival concluded Sunday evening.

The six people arrested--identified by police as militant gay activists as well as fundamental Christians--were taken to the Santa Ana police station, where they were cited for interfering with police and released.

Despite the rough start this event is considered to be a milestone in Orange County LGBTQ history.

8 - Santa Ana May Be The Nation's Fourth Most Densely Populated City, But It Is Not The Most Populated City In Orange County

As first noted above Santa Ana is one of America's top five most densely populated cities ranking up there with New York and San Francisco. However, in total population numbers Santa Ana is not the largest city in Orange County with its 329,427 residents, according to the 2011 U.S. Census. Rather, the most populated city in Orange County is the home of the Mouse, Anaheim, with their 336,265 residents, according to the 2010 U.S. Census.


Owl Drug Store in Santa Ana. Used under a Creative Commons license.

9 - There Was A Lynching at Sycamore and Main

Many like to think lynchings were a thing that only happened in another part of the country, but, sadly, Southern California had more than a few of them, and one of them happened in Santa Ana on August 20, 1892. The person lynched was Francisco Torres. Mr. Torres was accused of the murder of Captain William McKelvey near the home of Madame Modjeska. According to the 1892 L.A. Times,

Pinned on the breast of the corpse was a placard on which was written: 'A CHANGE OF VENUE.' His hands were tied behind him and his feet were bound together, one foot being bare and the other with a stocking on. An undershirt and dark pair of pants were the only clothing on the body. Torres's face told the story of terrible suffering, a bungling job and a desperate struggle for life. So quietly was the lynching done that it did not even arouse the guests in the Hotel Brunswick, not fifty feet away.

10 - Santa Ana Burnt Down and Destroyed Their Chinatown

Combine xenophobia against Chinese and having that Chinese xenophobia recognized by local, state and federal officials, with things like Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, along with city officials claiming Chinatown is a hotbed for the dreaded leprosy, and you have the makings of people doing whatever they can in wanting to get rid of "undesirable" Chinese by burning down their neighborhood. That is, sadly, what happened on a May day in Santa Ana. On May 25, 1906, over 1,000 people gathered to watch Santa Ana's Chinatown be burnt to the ground. Gustavo Arellano, of Ask A Mexican fame and the incredible editor-in-chief at the OC Weekly, wrote a very important piece about this conveniently overlooked important bit of history.

11 - The 1970 Movement for a Democratic Military Peace March

Orange County back then in 1970 was not a place nationally known as being a hotbed of liberal, anti-war or left-wing political activism, and many of the powers that be, from the Chamber of Commerce to Register owner R.C. Hoiles did all they could to keep it that way. (By the way, and probably not a big surprise for those who know a little bit about Orange County history, Orange County was known for lot of right-wing activism, such as being a hot-spot for The John Birch Society, and Mr. Hoiles' Register had many editorials, many from Mr. Hoiles himself, that wanted to keep Orange County that way.) Well, in 1970 in a protest that looked like something coming out of Berkeley the Movement for a Democratic Military sponsor a four-mile peace march and rally at Santa Ana Memorial Park where around 2,000 people listened to speeches given by members of the military. The speeches, according to the Raitt Street Chronicles, included pleas stop to all alleged military censorship and intimidation; military wages commensurate with the minimum federal wage; an immediate pull out from Vietnam; and an end to the draft.

12 - The 1969 Movie Theater Riot

Much like how liberal and left-wing protests had been mostly kept under wraps in 1960s Orange County, and in many cases driven underground as being associated with any such group in Orange County could cause you to lose your job, there was not a lot of rioting happening. Orange County had been mostly spared from the racial riots and civil unrest that were occurring in many places around the nation in the 1960s.

In 1969 the racial divisions and tensions happening around the country and boiling in parts of Orange County exploded at a Santa Ana movie theater. According to the OC Weekly,

More than 400 Mexican and black youths riot in Santa Ana after a black girl was kicked out of a theater. She had complained after a white teen yelled, "Why don't you black niggers keep quiet?" Teens threw bottles and bricks at police, set fires, and even took batons away from officers and beat them with the sticks.

13 - The 1933 Long Beach Earthquake Gives Santa Ana A Whole Lot of Damage


Damage in Santa Ana following the 1933 earthquake. Used under a Creative Common license.

The deadliest earthquake in Southern California history was the 1933 Long Beach Earthquake, and this earthquake still holds the record for being Orange County's most damaging earthquake causing major damage in downtown Santa Ana. One reason Santa Ana had so much major damage was the fact that the epicenter of this earthquake was not in Long Beach, but rather in nearby Newport Beach. The Newport-Inglewood Fault was the cause of this earthquake (interestingly enough in the past few months there has been a series of minor magnitude 2-3 earthquakes in the Inglewood/West L.A. area on or around this fault).

14 - The Santa Ana Winds Are Not Named After The City

Raymond Chandler once wrote, "There was a desert wind blowing that night. It was one of those hot dry Santa Ana's that come down through the mountain passes and curl your hair and make your nerves jump and your skin itch. On nights like that every booze party ends in a fight. Meek little wives feel the edge of the carving knife and study their husbands' necks. Anything can happen. You can even get a full glass of beer at a cocktail lounge."

There has been, and will continue to be, much debate on the etymology of just where the name Santa Ana Winds comes from. However, one thing is a fact, those winds that have brought much burning destruction on mountains and hills are not named after the city, and furthermore have nothing to do with Orange County.

When Local Radio Was A Big Deal

SAN BERNARDINO - Driving east on Baseline in San Bernardino onward to Highland you may notice three mid-size radio towers and an unassuming shack building behind San Gorgonio High School, and probably not think much of it. There is much more to the shack building than meets the eye, because that little building behind the high school actually has quite a bit of pop musically history behind it.

That little building once housed radio station KMEN on 1290 AM, and at its peak in the 1960s that radio station was a powerhouse. Many big names in pop music history, and radio history, came through that little building.


A "K/MEN-DOUS-TEN" Survey Sheet ending January 24, 1964, and of course The Beatles are number one.

Sometimes lost or buried in radio broadcast history with much focus on stations like, 93/KHJ, 1110/KRLA, 77/WABC or 89/WLS, KMEN never quite received its due in broadcast history.

Known as K/MEN 129 with its deejay personalities known as The K/MEN this radio station broadcasting out by a cow pasture was once a force in the radio and music industry.

In an era of YouTube, Pandora, Spotify, iTunes, Soundcloud and other forms of new media to check out new bands, for a younger generation it may be hard to imagine that radio was nearly the only place you can check out new bands. Even for new bands today, it may be hard to imagine the backing you needed from radio to have some sort of success. Back then, before the Internet, before cable television (if you can even imagine such a time), radio was one of the biggest forms of entertainment for kids, teens and adults. Bands back then did not have all these outlets to have their music heard, and bands knew radio was the place to go if you wanted to be heard.

Adding to bands wanting to be heard, competition from rival Inland Empire top 40 station 59/KFXM added to the sense of urgency on K/MEN's part to be the first in airing the newest bands.

Here are four things K/MEN 129 has in connection to music history.

1 - The Rolling Stones


A 1966 ticket stub of The Rolling Stones' performance at The Swing Auditorium.

It was K/MEN that brought The Rolling Stones for their very first U.S. performance at The Swing Auditorium in San Bernardino. How this radio station in San Bernardino brought them to the U.S. for the first time is a whole story in and of itself, which we will have in the not too distant future. The short story is, in the wake of The British Invasion K/MEN had a connection in London sending them the latest British hit-makers, and basically looking and hoping to find the next Beatles. Well, K/MEN's London connection sent them an album by "this group that is better than The Beatles," as their London connection described The Rolling Stones. Afternoon K/MEN personality Bill Watson played a cut from the album, suddenly the telephone lines were jammed, and "Mr. Kicks," as Bill Watson was known, did something extraordinarily out of the ordinary for top 40 radio and played the entire album.


Mick Jagger on stage at The Swing Auditorium in San Bernardino doing his thing.

The Rolling Stones had made plans to tour the United States, but Mr. Watson knew they needed to get this band now! Mr. Watson, calling across The Atlantic, finally got in touch in The Rolling Stones' manager Andrew Loog Oldham. After some deals were cut, and told of the reaction of The Rolling Stones, Mick Jagger and company soon took to the U.S. stage for the very first time in San Bernardino thanks to K/MEN.


Those are San Bernardino Sheriff's deputies keeping the screaming girls back from "attacking" The Rolling Stones.

2 - The Beach Boys

Many singers, songwriters and bands came through the small lobby of K/MEN hoping their tune will make it on-the-air. Among these many hopeful bands who came through was a group of brothers from Hawthorne who called themselves, The Beach Boys. Mr. Watson, who, by the way, was the program direction, really liked this band and told them to get their music properly licensed and they will play it. Once the guys from Hawthorne got all the legal stuff taken care of it is believed K/MEN was the first to play The Beach Boys. In later years The Beach Boys replied in kind by singing jingles for K/MEN.

3 - Up, Up and Away with Jimmy Webb

Not too long ago we wrote about Colton, and one of its well known residents was singer/songwriter Jimmy Webb, who was certainly influenced by what K/MEN was playing. One of Mr. Webb's biggest hits he wrote was, "Up, Up and Away," performed by The Fifth Dimension (and sung by other performers over the years). Well, K/MEN once had its own hot-air balloon, and Mr. Webb thought it was a very nice looking thing, and so he wrote a song about it, and that tune became, "Up, Up and Away." In fact, the song was originally meant to be part of a K/MEN promotion. Apparently, the story goes, Mr. Webb wrote the song in just one afternoon sitting in his car at the Robert Hall Clothes store parking lot on La Cadena Drive and Mount Vernon Avenue in Colton (after sitting empty for many years a 99 Cent Only Store now occupies the old Robert Hall clothing store).


They may be a little out of sync in this video, but the tune written by Colton's Jimmy Webb and performed by The Fifth Dimension makes for pure top 40 AM gold.

4 - John Peel

Before he began his legendary music show on BBC Radio 1 the man known as John Peel was across the pond here in the states hosting the morning show on K/MEN in 1965. Back then while in Inland Empire radio he was not known as John Peel, but rather he did something highly odd in radio, he used his real name on-air, John Ravenscroft. John Peel returned to England in 1967 and found a gig for a short time at Radio London aboard one of England's pirate radio ships (many of these England radio pirates were supported by U.S. record labels and had their radio jingles supplied by U.S. jingle makers). Mr. Peel would begin his BBC career later in 1967 and soon became a force in discovering and exposing England to underground, punk, new wave and alternative music. The Peel Sessions soon became, and still are, sought after albums.


The Peel Sessions record with The Smiths. Used under Fair Use.

Know Your Rights! Can You Legally Avoid Showing Your ID To A Police Officer?

BARSTOW - For many years Johnny Carson had a joke that went something like this: What do you call the bathroom between Los Angeles and Las Vegas? Barstow!

Barstow has been the punchline of many jokes. It seemed in some 1980s sitcoms the characters on the way to Las Vegas often broke down in Barstow.

In the 1990s in the Saved By The Bell wedding episode, where Zack and Kelly finally get married in Las Vegas, Zack, Slater and Screech encounter some problems on the way to Las Vegas with the local police in Barstow locking up the high school pals.

On screen it seems Barstow is a place of bad luck and amusing jokes, but in the last week there has been a very "in real life" event in Barstow, which has brought questions of personal rights when encountering law enforcement.


A photograph of handcuffs used under a Creative Commons License.

This past week Barstow and its police force were in the national news spotlight when a Barstow Police officer roughed up and arrested a pregnant woman who refused to show the officer her identification.

In our occasional series called, Know Your Rights, the question asked in all this is, can you legally refuse to show a law enforcement officer your identification if the officer asks for it? 

Before we go much further let us announce our legal disclaimer: The information about when you can and cannot show a law enforcement officer your identification is for general information purposes only and should not be taken as any kind of formal legal advice for any individual case or situation. If you find yourself in some legal trouble contact an attorney.

So, Can I Refuse To Show A Police Officer My ID?

The answer is this, if you are in California and you are NOT suspected of a crime you have no obligation to identify yourself. Furthermore, even if law enforcement is conducting an investigation the law enforcement officer cannot simply require you to provide your identification for no reason.

If I Refuse To Show My ID To Police Will I Be Arrested?

The simple answer would be, and should always be, no, and you would not be arrested. However, as many cases have been documented, many people have been arrested simply for refusing to show their identification to law enforcement. If you are arrested for simply refusing to show your identification that is considered to be a wrongful arrest. Again, if you are arrested for this reason alone you should contact an attorney.

What If I Am Outside of California?

Notice the words above, "If you are in California..." That is an important point, because if you are a Southern Californian, or Northern Californian, in another state there are different laws, rules and procedures when it comes to being compelled to show a law enforcement officer your identification. In some states you may be required to show your identification when asked by law enforcement, but not in California.

What Protects My Right In Refusing To Show My ID To Police?

The simply answer to this is, The Fourth Amendment, which states in part, "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause..."

So, When Am I Required To Show Police My ID?

There are basically two times you are required to show your identification to law enforcement.

The first, if you are driving and pulled over you are required to show your identification, because, well, law enforcement needs to make sure you are licensed to drive. Remember, as it points out in the Department of Motor Vehicles' California Driver Handbook, driving is a privilege, not a right. Part of that privilege is sometimes when asked you need to show you are a licensed driver.

The second, if you are arrested and booked then you are required show your identification.

The Bottom Line

In California, unless you are behind the wheel driving and pulled over or been arrested, you typically have a right not to show your identification to a law enforcement officer.

Know Your Rights! Can You Legally Avoid Driving Through A DUI Checkpoint?

JUST A LITTLE SOUTH OF FAIRFAX AND SANTA MONICA - It is a Saturday night and for drivers motoring south along Fairfax Avenue (some perhaps to hear their friend's band at Canter's Kibitz Room) they find themselves in a traffic jam. With the emergency lights up ahead it looks like an accident. As the motorist inches closer and maybe hoping to see, but not admit it out-loud, a mangled vehicle the driver sees something different, law enforcement all over the street with bright lights that look like they belong on a sound stage in Burbank or Culver City. It is not an accident, but a D.U.I. checkpoint.


Stock photograph of a sign informing and warning motorists of a D.U.I. checkpoint up ahead. Used under a Creative Commons license.

In recent years D.U.I. checkpoints have become controversial since some law enforcement departments use them to catch those driving without a license, and those driving without driver's licenses often tend to be immigrants. D.U.I. checkpoints have also been used to stop people, and question and search them, and their vehicle, for things that have nothing to do with drunk driving.

The United States Supreme Court has ruled that police must have a reason to pull you over, and that reason is not always a concrete, "black and white" decision. The Court has given law enforcement a rather large "gray area" when it comes to deciding whether or not to pull a motorist over. D.U.I. checkpoint critics say such checkpoints are simply a way to bypass the Supreme Court's ruling to search somebody without any reason.

D.U.I. checkpoints being used for more than catching drunk and drugged up drivers is a whole other issue, but here, in this new feature called, Know Your Rights, we are going to focus on what your rights are when it comes to wanting to avoid going through D.U.I. checkpoints.

Can You Avoid Going Through D.U.I. Checkpoints?

There is a lot of contention when it comes to D.U.I. checkpoints, but a question a lot of people wonder, "If I see a D.U.I. checkpoint can I turnaround and avoid going throw it?"

The short answer is, yes.

Now before we go forward in explaining this let us make a couple things clear.

Do NOT EVER Drink And Drive, Or Do Drugs And Drive

Drinking and driving is not cool. Way too many innocent people have been injured or killed due to drunk driving. If you know you are going to go out someplace where drinking will be involved make some plans on how you are going to get back home. This may involve taking public transportation, taking a taxi or using a ride sharing service. Or, you may just need to sleep it off in your car. You have a lot of options available to you when you need to sober up. Bottom line, do not ever drink and drive.

Second point, and this is our legal disclaimer, the information about avoiding D.U.I. checkpoints is for general information purposes only and should not be taken as any kind of formal legal advice for any individual case or situation.

So, Can I Turnaround At A DUI Checkpoint?

Yes, if you see a D.U.I. checkpoint up ahead you can turnaround and avoid going through it, if it is safe and legal to turnaround.

What causes a lot of people to be pulled over after turning around from a D.U.I. checkpoint is doing things like performing illegal U-Turns crossing over the double yellow lines. Now if there is a side street open and you safely and legally turn down the side street there should be no reason for you to be pulled over. If you make a legal U-Turn you should be okay. Why? Law enforcement rules prohibit officers from pulling you over for simply legally avoiding a D.U.I. checkpoint.

Keep in mind that if you have something like a taillight out that is cause for pulling you over.

What it comes down to is this, if you can safely and legally turnaround to avoid a D.U.I. checkpoint, and there is nothing wrong with your car, you can avoid going through a D.U.I. checkpoint.

What If There Is A Police Car Sitting On The Side Street?

At the risk of sounding like we are picking on law enforcement, and we are not, if you can safely and legally make a U-Turn or turn onto a side-street sometimes a police car will be parked in the place where you can legally turnaround and get out of going through the D.U.I. checkpoint. These police cars are there to deter, and frankly, intimidate, anybody thinking of avoiding going through the checkpoints. As long as you are not breaking any traffic laws, or other laws, there should be no reason to prevent a motorist from legally avoiding a D.U.I. checkpoint, and thus no reason for the police to pull you over.

Do D.U.I. Checkpoints Violate The Fourth Amendment?

Many people, understandably, think D.U.I. checkpoints are unreasonable search and seizure. However, the California Supreme Court and United States Supreme Court have held that D.U.I. checkpoints are valid and do not violate the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution.

In fact, The California Supreme Court in Ingersoll v. Palmer said,

The sobriety checkpoint presents a compelling parallel to the airport screening search. While the label "administrative search" is open to some criticism in application to either the airport search or the sobriety checkpoint stop, both, although they operate mechanically as a search or inspection for the violation of law, actually serve a primary and overriding regulatory purpose of promoting public safety. Their primary purpose is to prevent and deter conduct injurious to persons and property; they are not conventional criminal searches and seizures.

So, no. As it stands now D.U.I. checkpoints do not violate the Fourth Amendment and it is the same as going through airport security.

The Bottom Line Is This...

You can avoid D.U.I. checkpoints as long as you are not breaking any traffic laws and/or have a reason for police to pull you over. Simply legally and lawfully avoiding a D.U.I. checkpoint is typically not reason enough for police to pull you over.

Editor's Note: Know Your Rights is a new feature that will be exploring and explaining all about your rights.