Radar

The victims of the 2008 Metrolink train disaster in Chatsworth are being remembered today with at least two ceremonies, KTLA reported. Twenty-five passengers were killed and another 135 were injured -- 46 critically -- when the commuter train crashed head-on with a Union Pacific freight train. Authorities said Metrolink's engineer, 46-year-old Robert Sanchez, had been texting teenage train enthusiasts in the minutes leading up to the collision.

Are you a cat person or a dog person? Or are you just not an animal person? According to a recent CalTech study , our brains are hardwired to react to creatures of the nonhuman kind. CalTech and UCLA researchers found that neurons throughout the brain's center for processing emotions (amygdala) respond preferentially to images of animals. "Our study shows that neurons in the human amygdala respond preferentially to pictures of animals, meaning that we saw the most amount of activity in cells when the patients looked at cats or snakes versus buildings or people," Florian Mormann, lead author on the paper and a former postdoctoral scholar in the Division of Biology at Caltech, said in a press release.

Silver Lake residents are asking that the city removes "No Cruising" signs erected along Griffith Park Boulevard and Hyperion Avenue, the Eastsider LA reported. “Cruising,” in this case, refers to searching for sex partners. The signs were installed in 1997 following many years of complaints of gay men cruising for sex near popular bars. Residents say the signs have outlived their purpose, according to the news site . Saggy pants aren't allowed on Southwest flights, even if you're a celebrity Green Day front man Billie Joe Armstrong says he was kicked off of a Southwest Airlines flight from Oakland to Burbank last week for wearing his pants too low, KGO-TV reported.

Governor Jerry Brown vetoed a bill Tuesday that would have doubled fines for illegal cellphone use while driving, Laist.com reported. The bill would have also held bicyclists accountable to the same laws as drivers. The governor said he supports discouraging the use of cellphone in the car, but didn't want ratchet up the penalties for such infractions. The bill's author, Sen. Joe Simitian (D-Palo Alto), said Brown's veto is “a lost opportunity to save more lives," according to the news site.

Some 31.5 million Americans are expected to travel more than 50 miles from home over Labor Day weekend, a 2.4 percent decline from 2010, according to AAA .  Due to steep gasoline prices, inflated hotel room rates and high unemployment more people are opting for a 'staycation.' Expect to see a lot folks at local beaches, parks and their own backyard. In San Diego, 200,000 visitors are expected to descend on beaches despite recent shark sightings.  Officials vow more lifeguards will be on duty to watch for sharks and patrol the extra crowds.

Mountain lions aren't just wandering out of the hills above Burbank and making appearances in nearby residential areas. One of these big cats was struck by a car and killed Wednesday morning after attempting to cross the 405 Freeway near the Getty on-ramp, The Los Angeles Times reported. The 15-month-old male, known as P-18, was one of three kittens born last year in the Santa Monica Mountains and had been tracked since he was a few weeks old. Trees or puppies?

As a web editor, I'll give you one guess as to what I spend most of my day doing. Hint: it involves a computer, coffee and a reliable Internet connection. Yes, I'm surfing that metaphorical wave on the web. Besides updating Times Community News' websites and blogs, I'm constantly searching for what else is out there. Events. Breaking news. Weird news. You name it. Since I tend to share whatever I find with the newsroom staff anyway, I figured I'd also share these items with you. Hence, this daily blog with the monkier 'On the Radar.' I hope to gather informative and useful news and events from around the area.

It was evident in last year's state title run and figures to remain the case when nearly all of the squad's key members return this season — the Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy soccer team has a plethora of offensive stars who, when working together, can make scoring look effortless. In a 2009-10 campaign that saw the team go unbeaten in the Mission League, reach the CIF Southern Section Division II semifinals and win the first CIF Southern California Regional crown (Division III)

GLENDALE ? All the city?s traffic cops will soon be outfitted with next-generation speed-detection guns as part of a $150,302 state grant, officials said Monday. The Glendale Police Department will use $22,500 of the California Office of Traffic Safety grant to purchase five lidar guns to ensure each officer, detective and sergeant in the traffic bureau has one available to them at all times, Glendale Police Sgt. Dennis Smith said. Lidar is more effective than radar because it is more accurate, he said.

It is almost a certainty that at least one, possibly more, earthquakes have shaken California today. They may not have been large, but they were all significant because these small quakes release pressure from faults. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, a fault is a three-dimensional surface within Earth where rocks have broken. The rocks on one side of the fault have moved past the other side. A fault line is where the fault cuts the Earth?s surface. With the help of an airborne radar system, scientists at NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory in La Cañada Flintridge are studying these faults throughout the state to create a type of earthquake map that will allow them to get a better understanding of which faults are most active and which are more likely to have large earthquakes in the future.