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Photo: Chris Humphrey, all rights reserved

Convicted arsonist John Orr, when he was with the Glendale Fire Dept.

In the history of arson investigation, no case has been more surprising than that of John Leonard Orr.

A fire captain and arson investigator, Orr was convicted in 1992 of three counts of arson and sentenced to life in prison. Though he has always maintained his innocence, investigators believe he may be the among the most active serial arsonists in history. A federal agent who investigated Orr believes he may have been responsible for as many as 2000 arson fires between the 1984 and 1991, when he was arrested.

The case against Orr had its roots in a 1984 fire that destroyed a hardware store in South Pasadena. Though a host of investigators concluded the cause of the fire was an electrical malfunction, Orr, who was among the investigators, insisted it was an arson fire.

Over the next few years, a series of of fires were set near the sites of arson investigation conferences. A fingerprint was found on a piece of notebook paper at the site of one of the fires. Eventually, investigators were able to match the print to John Orr.

Agents placed a tracking device in Orr's car, and on December 4, 1991, when he was found at the scene of a suspected arson fire, Orr was arrested.

That an arson investigator would be an arsonist is strange enough, but to add another bizarre note to the incident, Orr had written a novel, Points of Origin, which centered on a serial arsonist who was also a fireman. The book became the basis of an HBO film, Point of Origin, starring Ray Liotta. And Orr's story was also the basis of a novel, Fire Lover by ex-LAPD officer Joseph Wambaugh

Thanks to Chris Humphrey for providing the photo of John Orr. In the 1980's, Humphrey was a photographer for the Glendale News-Press. He now lives in Northern California.

SoCal Connected presents a little diversion to test your neighborhood knowledge - Name That Spot.

Here are some visual details from a specific site somewhere in Southern California. It might be a city block, a neighborhood, a park, or a civic institution. Your assignment, should you choose to accept it, is to study the material and try to guess the location.

OK. Can you Name That Spot?

You can use our contact form to send us your guess.

And if you missed it, try your luck with last week's Name That Spot.

SoCal Connected presents a little diversion to test your neighborhood knowledge - Name That Spot.

Here are some visual details from a specific site somewhere in Southern California. It might be a city block, a neighborhood, a park, or a civic institution. Your assignment, should you choose to accept it, is to study the material and try to guess the location.

OK. Can you Name That Spot?

You can use our contact form to send us your guess. (Just make sure to select "Name That Spot" as a subject.) Or, those of you using Twitter can tweet your guess using the #SCCNAME Twitter hashtag using the embedded window below. Sorry, no prizes for the winners. This is Public Television.

Try the first Name That Spot. It's a single block in the heart of Hollywood.

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Read an excerpt from Michael Connelly's new book, "Nine Dragons." For more, including an audio clip from the same book, visit his website.

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Most of the viewers that wrote in got this one. The correct answer: Leimert Park.

Situated just north of the Crenshaw District, this beautiful neighborhood was originally developed in the late 1920's. It features lots of tasteful architecture, and lots of spectacular trees. For more than a generation, it's been a focal point for African-American arts and culture in Los Angeles.

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Bill Bratton is gone, and a new police chief takes his place. He's LAPD veteran Charlie Beck. The LA Weekly's Jill Stewart has some advice for the new top cop.

A award-winning police reporter, Michael Connelly is beloved by crime fiction fans for his taught thrillers.

SoCal's Val Zavala spent some time with Connelly, talking crime, journalism, and sharing one his favorite spots in the city.

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Read an excerpt from Connelly's latest novel, Nine Dragons

Crime novelist Michael Connelly, featured in this week's So Cal Connected, got his start as a police beat reporter for the LA Times.

Since switching from fact to fiction, he's sold millions of books (they've been translated into 35 languages) and won every major award for mystery writing.

Connelly is a uniquely talented storyteller.

But newspapers seem to breed fiction writers. In fact, the crime novel genre boasts a number of former "cop shop" reporters. Just to name a few:

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Sure there are upscale mobile dining "experiences" to go along with your more down-home taco and Korean BBQ trucks. But the real innovation in meals on wheels is in how easy it is to find them. Many now use Web sites and Twitter to broadcast their locations.

But how to find them?

The premier site for LA roadside dining fans is Find LA Food Trucks. It's just a page full of little boxes, each representing a different truck, with Twitter-powered location updates, and links to the truck's Web site.

Now that you can locate scores of trucks, find out about what your fellow curbside diners are saying about their mobile eating experiences at Yelp. Lots and lots of real reviews from real people.

And if you just want a nice list of trucks to follow on Twitter, TweepML serves 'em up.

Bet you don't think about getting all your day's fat in one sitting when you're scarfing down that tasty treat. Take a quiz to find out how much you know about making smart food choices.

Photos by Flickr members Bruce Tuten, kali.ma, jspace3, emborg, adwriter, and Hienrock. Used under the Creative Commons license.

For over a year now there has been a moratorium on issuing new permits for fast-food restaurants in an area of South Central LA. Some see it as just one step government can take in combating an epidemic of obesity. Others say even if government could make us eat better, banning fast-food restaurants is not the solution. Plus, they're a long, and vibrant part of LA eating - food trucks. And humorist Brian Unger says life is scary enough - who needs Halloween?

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CHEAT! CHEAT! The answer is here.

SoCal Connected introduces a little diversion to test your neighborhood knowledge - Name That Spot.

Here are some visual details from a specific site somewhere in Southern California. It might be a city block, a park, or a civic institution. Your assignment, should you choose to accept it, is to study the material and try to guess the location.

OK. Can you Name That Spot?

CHEAT! CHEAT! The answer is here.

If you have a location to suggest for Name That Spot, use our contact form to send us your guess. .

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Mary Donkersloot is a Registered Dietician with a private practice in Beverly Hills. She specializes in child nutrition and eating disorders.

Feeding kids is an important job for parents. Taking the easy way out and opting for processed, packaged or fast foods can often mean too much sugar, fat, salt, which generally means too many calories. In some cases, this kind of eating leads to devastating results, including overweight kids. On the other hand, it can be daunting to plan balanced, family meals that are appealing to kids and not too time consuming.

As a mom and a nutritionist, I strive for family meals with protein, whole grains, fruit and vegetables, but eating white bread and watching TV happens, even at my house. I remind myself that perfection is not the goal. It’s less about rigid rules and more about guidelines. Call it a lifestyle. Here are ten tips for trim kids:

1. Delineate the role of the parent and the child. The parent decides what the child will eat, the time and the place. From the menu the parent provides, the child decides what and how much he or she will eat. This will avoid struggles and allow the child to regulate their own food intake, as it should be. If a child seems to want to eat too much, make sure they consume vegetables and milk before giving seconds of the starch. (Kids don’t usually want seconds of the protein). For overweight kids, serve both a cooked and a raw vegetable.

2. Give meals a sense of occasion. Set a nice table, take time to chat over dinner. Parents should eat meals with their kids as often as possible. Kids want to be like grown-ups and they can learn about a variety of foods, normal portion sizes, setting limits and balancing nutrients from observing what parents choose to serve and what parents actually eat. Parents should avoid talk about dieting with kids. Instead, be a positive role model.

3. Expose kids to a wide variety of foods as soon as they start eating solids. If they see parents eating a variety, they’ll want it too. Dinners should include fish at least two or three times a week, chicken two or three times a week, and lean meant once or twice. Vary starches to include rice, pasta, and potatoes (mashed, roasted, boiled with butter, hash browns or home made French fries).

4. Let kids participate in food preparation. They can peel potatoes and carrots, pour the oatmeal in the boiling water, stir the soup, husk the corn, wash the salad greens, and set the table. Helping out is great for self-esteem and helps to expand the connection with food in a positive way. Clean up is a lot easier if kids do their share. Start these behaviors as early as pre-school, so kids are used to it as they grow up.

5. Limit processed foods. Kids who are used to chicken nuggets that are infused with sugar, oils, and flavorings are not as likely to go for home -cooked chicken breasts. Meanwhile, the nuggets are higher in fat and calories, setting kids up for a palate with expectations that don’t appreciate fresh, real food like peas, corn, green beans, fish, chicken and lean meat.

6. Make sure kids are hungry at meal times. Kids who have continual and unlimited access to juice and goldfish crackers will be too full from snacks and consequently less eager to try new foods at dinner. Snacks should be mini-meals, a little protein, a little carbohydrate, and a little fat. Let kids drink water or milk with snacks. Here are some snack ideas: apple or banana with peanut butter or almond butter, cheese stick with grapes, bread with peanut butter, dry cheerios and a glass of milk, blueberries with yogurt or pudding.

7. Limit juice, lemonade and other sugared drinks to 4 to 6 ounces per day, or avoid altogether for overweight children. Avoid apple juice altogether if you can. Because of its sweetness, kids get hooked on it and their palate may not longer want milk or water. Juice between meals can make a child too full so they are not hungry at mealtime. Eliminate all soft drinks.

8. Serve a fruit or vegetable each time you feed your child. For example, serve a fruit with breakfast and snacks, and a vegetable with lunch and dinner. Sneak fruits into milkshakes or smoothies and add vegetables to soups and sandwiches.

9. Desserts are best after a meal. There’s no reason to cut out desserts completely, but it is reasonable to allow them after a meal and not before. Choose desserts that are not ultra-rich, like a small amount of regular (not premium) ice cream with bananas or chocolate, or oatmeal cookies with milk, or strawberries dipped in chocolate or popsicles.

10. Limit dining out to once a week. When you make trips to fast food restaurants, which should be infrequently, once or twice a month or less, tell kids you’ll only go there if they agree to certain rules. Order small or regular-sized sandwiches instead of whopping double-super-sized. Order milk instead of soda. Let them eat fries, even though they are not ideal. Just make it a treat and not a regular occurrence.

Feature image photo by Flickr user Emborg. Used under the Creative Commons license

Congratulations! The recession is unofficially over.

Still, there are foreclosures on almost every block. Unemployment is at historic highs. The budget deficit is ballooning and the planet is warming. Do we really need a scary holiday, when EVERYDAY is scary enough? Humorist Brian Unger ponders Halloween, during the Great Recession.

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SoCal Connected anchor Val Zavala takes us on a mobile dining adventure, inside the food trucks that remain a vibrant part of the LA food scene. From the ubiquitous taco wagons, to the upscale restaurants on wheels, and all the specialty food vans in between, these migrating eateries are an important part of the local economy. And, she says, technology now makes finding them easy.

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For the past year, there's been a moratorium on new fast-food restaurants over a wide swath of South Central LA. Proponents say it's a way of improving the diet for the population, in an area with too few healthy food choices. Others think government has no business trying to legislate good eating habits. Correspondent Angie Crouch takes a hard look at food and politics in Los Angeles.

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This week we're featuring stories about food. The politics of food, and the joy of eating at food trucks.

Southern California has been a crockpot of innovation when it comes to how and what we eat. Scroll through a few of our culinary contributions:

Los Angeles now has more medical marijuana clinics than it can count. These pot clubs are already pseudo-legal at best, and some of them appear to be getting around a city ordinance designed to stop their proliferation.

Correspondent Judy Muller hits the streets to find some of these clinics and drills city council members on why they have had so much trouble enforcing a moratorium on new dispensaries.

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Over four million pot plants destroyed, this season alone. Squads of law enforcement officials spend each fall eradicating plants from thousands of illegal pot farms. The cops say most are operated by Mexican cartels. They figure it's easier to grow the weed here then it is to try and smuggle it across the border.

Finding the pot farms is the easy part - they can be fairly easily spotted from the air. But getting to them is where it gets tough. Many are in very rugged, remote areas.

Correspondent John Larson went on a search and destroy mission with a group of elite officers we call the Cannabis Cowboys.

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