Which Way, L.A.?

Airport Security; Too Many Chefs in LAX Kitchen?

President Bush may be upset with Congress for not acting fast enough to provide new funding for airport security, but money is not the only issue. Even after Congress created the Transportation Security Administration, there remains a crazy quilt of competing agencies with no one authority in charge. In last week-s deadly shooting at LAX, it was an El Al Airlines agent who subdued and killed the gunman, local police who secured the scene, and the FBI that is conducting the investigation. Who-s in charge? Amy Zegart, assistant professor of policy studies at UCLA, and Steve Van Beek, of the trade group Airports Council International-North America, elaborate on the conflicting jurisdictions of 15 federal agencies and 90 airlines. Newsmaker: Inglewood Police Beating Over the weekend, a local TV station broadcast amateur videotape of Inglewood police officers punching a handcuffed teenager and slamming his head against the hood of a car. One of the officers appeared to have lacerations on his face. Gina Keating, of Reuters News Service, recaps the details of the altercation as well as investigations by three different agencies and community reaction to the beating. Reporter's Notebook: Post-Secession Blues Last week-s LA Times poll showed that the San Fernando Valley would vote for secession 52 to 37 percent. But for the breakup to actually happen, the rest of LA would have to agree, which the poll shows it would not. Planning analyst Bill Fulton, author of The Reluctant Metropolis, looks at the -nightmare scenario- that would deny Valley voters what they asked for at the polls.