Top 5 Westside Stories: Pipe Bombs, School Lockdown, Earthquake, 405 Closure, Patch Redesign

Close out your weekend with a recap of the newsiest and most popular Patch articles from last week. Here are the five stories that topped the headlines on Westside Patch sites:

• The LAPD Bomb Squad detonated 17 explosive devices found inside the Palms-Area apartment of Robert Wilson at the border with Culver City. The ordeal shut down city streets as residents were evacuated for most of the day. Wilson has since plead not guilty to seven different felony counts related to the incident.
  

• A 19-year-old man was arrested Thursday on suspicion of making threats against several schools, prompting evacuations and lockdowns in Santa Monica. The man, who claimed to be a Santa Monica College student, is accused of calling and threatening to shoot up the school and kill himself.

• A magnitude-4.0 earthquake rattled portions of the Westside and South Bay Wednesday, but there were no immediate reports of damage or injuries. The quake, which was originally reported with a magnitude of 3.9 but was quickly upgraded, struck at 1 p.m. six miles south of Rancho Palos Verdes and seven miles southwest of San Pedro, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

• Contractors working on the I-405 Sepulveda Pass Improvements Project in west Los Angeles will once again close down all northbound lanes of the 405 freeway for two nights this weekend. From 11 p.m. until 9 a.m., all of the northbound lanes will be closed between the Santa Monica Boulevard off-ramp to the Santa Monica Boulevard on-ramp, according to a notification from Metro.

• Patch launched a total redesign of all of our sites on the Westside this week making it easier for readers to connect to the towns they live in. The new sites feature easy posting of events, announcements and anything else you have to say. Check out your local Patch today and tell us what you think.