SoCal Sunday Reads: Predictive Policing at the LAPD, L.A. Auto Show's Greenest Car & More

Stories of note within KCET-TV's reach, which is Southern California and the neighboring counties to the north:

• The LAPD and UCLA are rolling out a new predictive policing program this month. "Using years of crime statistics, the computer churns out maps with small highlighted areas where it predicts a crime will occur," reports National Public Radio.
• The LAPD is also preparing for the 12:01 a.m. Monday shuttering of the Occupy L.A. camp at city hall. The L.A. Times says this could be a defining moment for Chief Charlie Beck, who has displayed a "charm offensive" since the occupation began.
• The greenest car at the L.A. Auto Show, which ends today, is not electric, but powered by natural gas, explains GOOD.
• Construction of a solar installation in eastern San Luis Obispo County has begun. The Topaz Solar Farm, which will power around 160,000 homes, has faced opposition from local environmental groups and recently lost a $1.9 billion loan guarantee from the federal government, according to the SLO Tribune.
• California Watch finds that Chino Valley Medical Center in San Bernardino County has an extraordinarily high amount--"six times the state average"--of Medicare patients with acute heart failure, a diagnosis which triggers a bonus payment to the hospital. In fact, "of the 10 hospitals with the highest rates in California, eight were owned by Prime," the owner of Chino Valley.
• "Marine scientists are trying to find out why previously unknown blooms of toxic algae are suddenly proliferating along the California coast, killing wildlife and increasing the risk of human sickness," according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

The above photo is by Flickr user denisetaylor?¼, via KCET's Southern California Flickr Pool.