PETS BITE CITY: The city of Lancaster...

PETS BITE CITY: The city of Lancaster is trying to make amends with pet store owners who have been yowling ever since the City Council gave a $187,000 subsidy to a giant pet supply chain. The subsidy was meant to serve as bait to lure PetsMart to Lancaster, but owners of small shops say the chain will drive them out of business. (B16). . . . Even if the city grants subsidies or offers loans to small stores, some shopkeepers say, it might not be worth sticking around. “My fear is that we’re going to go the way of the small mom-and-pop hardware and grocery stores,” said one.

COVER-UP?: The family of an 18-year-old who was shot nine times by police after brandishing a broom at officers and neighbors and claiming to be both Jesus Christ and Satan speaks out (B1). “They wouldn’t kill an animal like that,” said Santos Gallardo, mother of Efrain Lopez, the slain youth. The family has hired a tough lawyer who recently won a multimillion-dollar police brutality case in Long Beach.

LUV 2 RIDE: They rode for love, and they loved the ride. About 15,000 motorcyclists roared from Glendale to Castaic Lake on Sunday as part of the 10th annual Love Ride to raise money to fight muscular dystrophy (B2). . . . As the Golden State Freeway shivered mightily beneath them, bikers who looked up could see that the walkways above the freeway were bursting with people straining to get a look.

HIP HOP HURRAH: Tagging is a big thing at Chubb’s Hip-Hop shop in Palmdale. But the swirls and colors that disc jockey Ray Hernandez and artist Patrick Crockerham have sprayed on the walls don’t highlight gang names or threaten anybody’s enemies (B5). . . . Instead, customers can shop and dance with a backdrop of the anti-drug and anti-gang messages the two have painted. “Several local business people have talked to Patrick and Ray about doing murals in their places,” said the store’s owners.