LOS ANGELES (CBS) — The LAPD has a new breed of bomb-sniffing dogs at Los Angeles International Airport.

For years, bomb detection K-9s have been highly effective at identifying the presence of explosives but here’s the catch: the package had to be stationary. But the vapor wake dog’s target is the bomber who is moving.

Izzy is part of a growing new breed of counter-terrorism specialists that can detect and follow the vapors given off by explosives.

“What a Vapor Wake is specifically known for is a moving target,” Officer Tom Davoren said. “So a person with a suicide vest, a backpack, a rollerbag full of explosives, the dog will pick it up like any other dog, but what separates him is he will track that vapor wake and he’ll follow that person through a terminal, through a busy congested airport.”

A plainclothes LAPD officer will tuck a quantity of plastic explosives into a bag. Izzy has to find it as part of his training.

“With the K-9 program, the training was always nose down, looking at articles, suitcases, abandoned backpacks, but the recognition is that people carry bombs and they’re moving targets,” said Deputy Chief Mike Downing, the LAPD’s chief of counterterrorism.

Moving targets killed 184 people in Madrid in 2004 and more than 50 people during the coordinated attacks in London in 2005. But it was the attempted airplane bombing over Detroit on Christmas Day in 2009, the so-called Underwear Bomber that prompted Downing to change tactics.

If a vapor-wake dog had been stationed in the airport where the Underwear Bomber was walking by, that day would have turned out differently, Downing said.

“Absolutely, it would have made a difference. And I think it was that one event that really made us start thinking about, how do we counter that?” he said.

They turned to the veterinary college at Auburn University where vapor wake dogs are put through a rigorous 6-month regimen. The dogs go through obstacle courses until they are comfortable climbing over baggage, searching under counters or picking up a vapor trail and chasing it down. But not all of them make it:

“Out of ten dogs you’re looking at the 2-3 best dogs out of that class for vapor wake.,” Auburn University’s John Pearce said.

A nonprofit group that seeks to find affordable housing and jobs for the homeless reported this week to the Neighborhood Council of Westchester/Playa that progress has been made at Westchester Park.

The park, which is adjacent to City Coucilman Bill Rosendahl's Westchester District Office, had become a homeless enclave with people sleeping overnight in the park's bushes or in vehicles parked in the municipal complex's parking lot.

Tomasz Babiszkiewicz of People Assisting the Homeless (PATH), which has been working with Rosendahl to address local homeless issues, told the board Tuesday night that three people who had been living in Westchester Park recently were found housing and three more who had been homeless in vehicles also now have housing.

The group conducted a homeless survey of the park starting Sept. 28 and over three days found 19 people living in the park and 27 vehicles occupied with overnight dwellers.

The success stories mentioned above included a "frail and vulnerable older female" who was living in the park until PATH moved her into its Westside shelter and who is projected to find permanent housing in 90 days. A "chronically homeless older man in poor health" who lived in the park and a man who lived in his vehicle were able to find low-cost market-rate housing on Venice Boulevard, Babiszkiewicz said.

Booker Pearson, head of the neighborhood council's homelessness and vehicular living committee, publicly thanked Rosendahl for opening the Westside winter shelter early and for his "Roadmap to Housing" program designed to move people from living in their vehicles into homes.

"Some of these people were going to die," Pearson said. "They were very, very ill and sleeping in bushes. It was going to kill them."

Pearson also said the eight to 10 homeless people who had been congregating in the lobby of Rosendahl's office were no longer gathering there and the clients and staff of the senior center that is also on the municipal complex are no longer being harassed or threatened.

Several other homeless people who are willing to work toward permanent housing have been contacted and expect to be housed within the next few months, Pearson said.

"Our support to PATH has paid huge dividends," Pearson said. "My biggest fear is we won't keep the ball rolling."

The other potential option explored by the Council was the postponement of the elections until 2014. However, the Council feared mass resignations from neighborhood council officers who didn't want to sign on for an additional tour of duty. In an earlier story from the Daily News, Councilmember Paul Krekorian points out that representative governance requires, you know, occasional elections: "That frustrates the very goal we're trying to achieve, which is to create a more robust democratic process."

Meanwhile, the City Clerk is exploring a cheaper way of running the elections, and should have a process in place by 2014, according to the Daily News. Diana Nave, president of the Northwest San Pedro Neighborhood Council, tells the CCT that "By and large, you're going to find that neighborhood councils say (the City Council decision) is a good thing."Image via zach by design
· Neighborhood council vote woes [Daily News]
· L.A. to change neighborhood council election requirements [Contra Costa Times]

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In an open letter, Greyhound CEO Dave Leach is urging the "30 Rock" actor, who compared American Airlines to the bus giant as a criticism, to give his company a shot.

"Now I'm the first to admit that Greyhound has had some challenges in the past, so I understand that you probably were basing your comments on that alone," writes Leach. "But we've made so many changes in recent years to significantly improve the travel experience. My guess is you've never traveled with us, but I ask you to give us a try for a number of reasons and see for yourself that we're really a great way to travel."

Leach mentions the hundreds of new buses in the Greyhound fleet that offer added more legroom, leather seats, power outlets and free Wi-Fi -- meaning electronic devices won't have to be shut off. He even directs Baldwin to Greyhound's Facebook page so that the actor could start a Words With Friends game with the company, which is "more than happy to take on the challenge."

In closing, Leach invites Baldwin to meet him in New York to take a trip to Boston so he "can see first-hand what a great ride Greyhound can be."

The letter seems like an attempt to piggyback on the massive publicity surrounding Baldwin's complaints about American Airlines. The "Words With Friends-Gate" story has now generated enough interest that the quirky Taiwanese studio Next Media Animation released a take on the feud.

Accusing the 30 Rock star of being a "serial Twitter ranter," the clip describes the brouhaha, which started when the actor refused to switch off a mobile device after boarding a transcontinental flight in Los Angeles. A dust-up with a flight attendant ensued, and, according to the airline, Baldwin took his device into a lavatory and "was extremely rude to the crew, calling them inappropriate names and using offensive language."

Shortly after the incident, Baldwin deactivated his Twitter account -- but not before posting a number of anti-American Airlines messages and coining the hashtag #theresalwaysunited to promote the rival airline.

In a not-so-subtle swipe at the star, the video also shows a svelte Baldwin arranging Scrabble-like tiles that spell out "Crybaby." He has not yet admitted publicly to having played that word.

The winds knocked out power to about 14,000 customers in areas served by Southern California Edison, the utility said Wednesday night.

At LAX, all four runways were operational, said Ian Gregor, a Federal Aviation Administration spokesman. Earlier, two runways on the south side of the airport had been closed because of debris blown by the winds.

The strong winds knocked out power in areas including El Segundo, La Cañada Flintridge, Venice and Westchester.

The blackout and a brush fire forced officials to shut down the Metro Green Line between the Redondo Beach and El Segundo stations, officials said. Service was later restored, and the brush fire was knocked down.

Inoperable traffic signals on the Westside snarled traffic in Marina del Rey and other areas.

Los Angeles Unified School District Supt. John Deasy, who lives near LAX, said he was without power for hours Wednesday evening.

"This is unreal," he said in an interview on his fading cellphone. "I’ve lived in California for 10 years and these are the worst Santa Anas I’ve ever seen.  I lived on the East Coast and I’ve never seen winds like these. This is a hurricane -- without the rain," Deasy said.

ALSO:

Teacher investigated for allegedly showing porn film to students

DA to seek to have Conrad Murray serve his time in state prison

Judge: Murray's secret recording designed to blackmail Jackson

-- Andrew Blankstein, Robert J. Lopez and Sandy Banks

Photo: A large tree was toppled by the gusty winds.

Credit: KTLA-TV Channel 5

Fierce Santa Ana winds struck Wednesday evening, knocking out power to parts of Los Angeles International Airport and at least one neighborhood in Venice.

At LAX, there was no lighting in the central terminal area parking structures except parking structure 6, officials said. Terminals were dark except for minimal emergency lighting. Traffic lights in adjacent intersections also were out.

Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Ian Gregor said there were no immediate reports of flights being affected by the blackout.

In Venice, residents in the Walk Street neighborhood west of Lincoln Boulevard reported shortly after 7 p.m. that the lights had been out for at least 15 minutes. Earlier, lights in the area had gone off and come back on.

The National Weather Service was predicting a significant wind event with gusts up to 80 mph in the mountains.

No other details were immediately available.

ALSO:

Teacher investigated for allegedly showing porn film to students

DA to seek to have Conrad Murray serve his time in state prison

Judge: Murray's secret recording designed to blackmail Jackson

-- Andrew Blankstein (twitter.com/anblanx) and Robert J. Lopez (twitter.com/LAJourno)

Photo: Traffic flows past darkened structures at Los Angeles International Airport.

Credit: Alan Hagman / Los Angeles Times