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Snow is falling in the Big Bear area, where teams of police officers are still hunting for fugitive ex-LAPD officer Christoper Dorner. At least one media tweet from Big Bear has referred to white-out conditions. The San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department said Friday morning that 100 officers were staging at the Bear Mountain Resort, and that today's search would focus on the forest near where Dorner's burned-out truck was found yesterday and the mountain above. No one is reporting any clear leads from last night's search. A reported sighting of Dorner in a white Lexus in Barstow was false, the sheriff said. In the meantime, they will search on the mountain and keep looking elsewhere too.
The Bear Valley schools closed Friday, but the local ski areas opened. The weather means searchers cannot use helicopters. The LAPD has called off its citywide tactical alert, but security remains high.
Aside: You wonder how many media types went up the mountain yesterday and are now stuck in Big Bear without chains or the right clothes.
Meanwhile, a lawyer for the two women shot by LAPD officers in Torrance while delivering newspapers called the incident "unacceptable." He noted that Emma Hernandez, 71, and her daughter, Margie Carranza, 47, looked nothing like the suspect. Hernandez was shot twice in the back and is in stable condition; the other woman received stitches in a finger. "We trust that the LAPD will step up and do the right thing and acknowledge that what they did was unacceptable, and we'll deal with it," Glen T. Jonas said. LAT, Daily Breeze
LAT: Authorities gear up for continued search in Big Bear
LAT: Cops' nightmare: As the scope of Christopher Jordan Dorner's ambitions sank in Thursday, thousands of police hunted him and waited, on edge, as he seemed determined to hunt them.
LANG: Massive manhunt for ex-LAPD officer Christopher Dorner leads to San Bernardino Mountains
Eric Garcetti reportedly raised about $250,000 last night at his fundraiser in Hollywood, at which Moby played for almost two hours. Garcetti joined the band on stage, playing the keyboard to "Porcelain" and also playing the congas.
The top five candidates for mayor faced an unusually tough grilling Thursday led by Austin Beutner, the former deputy mayor who once stood as a leading contender in the race. "They've all said they don't support a sales tax increase. Property tax is out of our control. I don't think any of them want to increase utility fees. Some of them even say they want to do away with half-a-billion [dollars] that the city gets in revenue from businesses already. But we're in a crisis, as some of the candidates said, and it's time for them to have a specific plan," Beutner said at the forum held by Biz Fed and the Daily News. LAT, DN
Los Angeles' top budget analyst warned that the city could lose 500 cops and be forced to close jails, cut the Fire Department and make other public-safety cuts if a proposed half-percent sales tax doesn't pass on March 5. DN, KPCC
The LA Times endorsed Mike Feuer for city attorney, after endorsing Carmen Trutanich four years ago. "In some respects, Trutanich has lived up to the hopes of those who supported him then...And yet he has been a disappointment too." LAT editorial
The Daily News opinion staff urged Long Beach police chief Jim McDonnell to run for sheriff. DN
The Berman-Waxman machine era ended on Jan. 3 when, "for the first time since Ronald Reagan was California governor and The Brady Bunch was churning out new episodes, Waxman and Berman don’t both hold elective office." National Journal
Los Angeles author Daniel A. Olivas had a New York Times opinion piece about his experiences with one of LA's sexual abuser priests. "I once hoped that fictionalizing Father Al would help expose the truth to a community that had been so thoroughly betrayed. But I have now come to the conclusion that fiction can never match the audacious brutality visited upon those children for so many years." NYT op-ed
A few dozen flights at LAX are being canceled due to weather in the Northeast.
