Franklin Avenue

You gotta love the ingenuity of this: L.A. Times columnist Steve Lopez writes today about a group of cops from the L.A. County sheriff's department who figured out a new way to keep prostitutes, drug dealers, etc. out of abandoned buildings. A special assignment unit led by Lt. Shaun Mathers (younger brother of Jerry "The Beaver" Mathers) discovered a product from New Zealand called Skunk Shot, which is so repulsive that the cops can spread a little around the area-- and like magic, keep away the bad guys.