Thursday, July 28, 2011

Union workers at Angel Stadium authorize strike

Angels fans at anaheim stadium

Workers at Angel Stadium in Anaheim voted Thursday to authorize a strike in response to a wage freeze instituted by stadium management.

The vote gives the workers’ union, SEIU United Service Workers West, the right to call a strike at any time, according to a statement from the union.

Anaheim Stadium workers -- janitors, ushers and ticket-takers -- are the lowest paid at any of the major stadiums in California, the union says. Attendance at the stadium, it says, is fifth highest in Major League Baseball. The Angels' baseball team payroll, the union says, is $140 million.

Stadium officials did not respond to a request for comment.

ALSO:

Glendale considers ban on marijuana stores

L.A. is one step closer to privatizing zoo

Local day laborers: Older, undocumented, undereducated

 -- Sam Quinones

Photo: The dugout and stands at Angel Stadium in Anaheim. Credit: Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times

Jury deliberates elections code violation case against judge

A jury has begun deliberating in the case of a Los Angeles County Superior Court commissioner accused of offering to pay his only opponent to switch races so he could run unopposed.

Family court Judge Harvey Silberman, who was ultimately elected to Superior Court Seat 69 in the 2008 race, faces an allegation of violating the elections code by signing off on a proposal to pay the $1,787 it would have cost his opponent to run for a different seat. The code makes it a felony to pay or solicit money to dissuade someone from running for public office.

In closing arguments Thursday, a prosecutor told jurors that phone records and testimony showed Silberman had authorized his campaign consultant to make the offer to his opponent, Deputy Dist. Atty. Serena Murillo. Silberman was worried about running against Murillo because she is Latina, Deputy Atty. Gen. Zee Rodriguez argued.

An attorney for the judge, who has been off the bench since he was indicted in 2009, said whatever offer was made was the work of rogue, overzealous campaign consultants acting of their own accord.

Silberman’s two consultants, who were also indicted, have since pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges and testified against their former client. The judge’s attorney, Shepard Kopp, contended that the consultants, Evelyn Alexander and Alan Steinberg, took the stand out of self interest and told jurors their testimony should not be believed.

If convicted, Silberman faces a maximum sentence of three years in state prison.

ALSO:

Tow truck crashes into Yoshinoya restaurant in Koreatown

Local day laborers: Older, undocumented, undereducated

Silver Star revoked for former Clinton defense official now in prison

-- Victoria Kim

Stolen loot discovered in Kern County lake

Divers search in a Kern County lake.

An errant golf shot led to the latest discovery of loot from a theft ring that apparently dumped its booty into the murky shallows of a Kern County lake.

A suspect who may have ties to the thefts was arraigned on a separate charge of receiving stolen property.

Divers recovered a trove of pilfered goods July 20 from the floor of Four Island Lake in Bear Valley Springs, an unincorporated community west of Tehachapi.

The two dozen items included iPhones, iPods, GPS devices, a flat-screen television and power tools, such as sanders and chain saws. Also recovered was a 12-gauge shotgun.

While some items were in bags, the bags were not water tight.

Investigators suspect thieves were not planning a later salvage operation, but rather disposing of evidence, possibly out of fear investigators might be closing in.

For burglarized residents, investigators had good news and bad, said Sgt. David Watts of the Bear Valley Police Department: “The bad news is I don’t think it’s going to work anymore.”

“The only thing that would come in on that TV is Nemo,” and only if Nemo “swam in,” said Watts referring to the animated fish character in the film “Finding Nemo.”

The divers were supplied by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, whose divers frequently have the grim task of recovering human remains from oceans, lakes and rivers.

Jury deadlocks on charges against truck driver in fatal crash

Marcoscosta

This post has been corrected. See the note at the bottom for details.

The jury in the murder trial for the driver of a runaway big rig that killed a 12-year-old girl and her father two years ago in La Cañada Flintridge reported Thursday that it had reached verdicts on the two counts of second-degree murder, but was deadlocked on the lesser charges of involuntary manslaughter.

The Los Angeles County Superior Court judge sent the jury back to deliberate on the involuntary manslaughter charges against the driver, 46-year-old Marcos Costa, the Glendale News-Press reports.

The courtroom in Pasadena was packed with supporters of Costa, and family and friends of the victims, Palmdale resident Angel Posca, 58, and his 12-year-old daughter, Angelina.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Carolina Lugo had argued that Costa acted with willful disregard for human life as he proceeded down Angeles Crest Highway and the truck's brakes went out, sending it barreling through Foothill Boulevard, striking several cars and crashing into a bookstore.

Costa's defense had portrayed the horrific crash an accident, one that he tried to steer out of despite losing control of the big rig.

The verdict marked the beginning of the end of a long chapter in which Costa was forced to accept professional legal help after a failed attempt to represent himself in trial. Testimony in the weeks-long proceedings included the scientific and the emotional as witnesses recalled the violent events of the crash.

One of them, Melissa Watkins, the bookstore's inventory manager at the time, testified that she and Costa locked eyes for a brief moment while the 25-ton truck barreled toward the store.

"I saw the horror on his face," she said. "His eyes were bulging out of his head."

ALSO:

Stolen loot discovered in Kern County lake

Former Yankees pitcher Hideki Irabu found dead in Rancho Palos Verdes

Rep. Howard Berman proposes helicopter noise bill for L.A.

-- Jason Wells and Daniel Siegal, Times Community News

Photo: Marcos Costa. Credit: Times Community News

For the record, 6:02 p.m., July 28: An earlier version of this post incorrectly stated in the text and the headline that the jury was hung on the second-degree murder charges. The jury is deadlocked on involuntary manslaughter charges.

California Supreme Court to hear Proposition 8 case Sept. 6

The  legal battle over Proposition 8, the 2008 ballot measure that reinstated a ban on same-sex marriage, will go before the California Supreme Court on Sept. 6, when the justices will hear arguments on whether initiative proponents are entitled to defend measures they sponsored.

The state high court scheduled the hearing for 10 a.m. at its San Francisco courtroom. The justices will then have 90 days to decide whether state law gives proponents of ballot measures like Proposition 8 legal standing to defend them in court when state officials refuse to do so.

The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has postponed a decision on the marriage ban's constitutionality pending clarification of state law by the California court. If the federal appeals court determines the opponents of gay marriage lack the right to appeal last August's ruling against Proposition 8, that ruling would likely become law.

California's top court has traditionally given wide latitude to initiative sponsors but has never before ruled on whether they can take the place of state officials in appealing court decisions. State officials have refused to defend Proposition 8.

ALSO:

Former LAX policewoman awarded nearly $1 million for gender discrimination

Homeless man killed in Fullerton police brawl; witnesses sought

DJ's 'marvelous stunt' went 'terribly wrong’

Lady Gaga fans line up early for Hollywood concert

-- Maura Dolan

Your commute: Live L.A. traffic conditions

Lady Gaga fans line up early for Hollywood concert

Lady gaga fans await pop diva's appearance

Hundreds of people lined up early Thursday along Hollywood Boulevard and Highland Avenue in the hopes of getting a glimpse and maybe an autograph from Lady Gaga.

The pop diva is scheduled to perform a concert at 7:30 p.m. and tape an appearance on the late-night talk show "Jimmy Kimmel Live" -- which is filmed at the El Capitan Theater across the street from Grauman’s Chinese Theater, where a DJ's would-be block party got out of hand Wednesday night.

Dozens of police officers -- including 20 authorized to work overtime -- were on patrol in advance of Lady Gaga's appearance. The area was still recovering from disturbances the previous evening between police and thousands of people who showed up for a promised block party outside the premiere of a film about the Electric Daisy Carnival music festival.

Some Lady Gaga fans said they’d been in line since 4 a.m. Damien Hamlin drove from Bakersfield, arriving at 10 a.m.

“I love Lady Gaga for her message,” said Hamlin, 17. “Her shows are life-changing.”

Concert organizers had blocked off Hawthorn Avenue, parallel to Hollywood Boulevard, next to a parking lot where the concert is to take place. Promoters were expecting 2,000 people -- up from an original estimate of 1,000, most of whom had been given free tickets through radio and online promotions.

ALSO:

Stolen loot discovered in Kern County lake

Dog shot with arrow in Riverside is euthanized

Former Yankees pitcher Hideki Irabu found dead in Rancho Palos Verdes

-- Sam Quinones

Photo: Michael Adame, left, and Edgar Sandoval came from Orange County to attend Lady Gaga's Thursday night concert. Credit: Michael Robinson Chavez / Los Angeles Times

 

Jury is hung on murder charges against driver in fatal crash

Marcoscosta
The jury in the murder trial for the driver of a runaway big rig that killed a 12-year-old girl and her father two years ago in La Cañada Flintridge was unable to agree on a verdict on two murder charges.

The Los Angeles County Superior Court judge sent the jury back to deliberate on lesser charges of involuntary manslaughter for the driver, 46-year-old Marcos Costa, the Glendale News-Press reports.

The courtroom in Pasadena was packed with supporters of Costa, and family and friends of the victims, Palmdale resident Angel Posca, 58, and his 12-year-old daughter, Angelina.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Carolina Lugo had argued that Costa acted with willful disregard for human life as he proceeded down Angeles Crest Highway and the truck's brakes went out, sending it barreling through Foothill Boulevard, striking several cars and crashing into a bookstore.

Costa's defense had portrayed the horrific crash an accident, one that he tried to steer out of despite losing control of the big rig.

The verdict marked the beginning of the end of a long chapter in which Costa was forced to accept professional legal help after a failed attempt to represent himself in trial. Testimony in the weeks-long proceedings included the scientific and the emotional as witnesses recalled the violent events of the crash.

One of them, Melissa Watkins, the bookstore's inventory manager at the time, testified that she and Costa locked eyes for a brief moment while the 25-ton truck barreled toward the store.

"I saw the horror on his face," she said. "His eyes were bulging out of his head."

ALSO:

Stolen loot discovered in Kern County lake

Former Yankees pitcher Hideki Irabu found dead in Rancho Palos Verdes

Rep. Howard Berman proposes helicopter noise bill for L.A.

-- Jason Wells and Daniel Siegal, Times Community News

Photo: Marcos Costa. Credit: Times Community News

Horse killed, owner stung by swarms of bees in Riverside

A horse died Thursday afternoon and its owner was stung several times after swarms of bees attacked them, Riverside County authorities said.

The horse owner, who was not identified, was treated for numerous bee stings at an emergency room and asked hospital officials to send someone to check on his horse. Riverside County Animal Services officers went to the Arlanza neighborhood in Riverside, where they found that the horse had died from the bee stings, according to a department report.

It was unclear how many times the horse and owner had been stung.

Officers believe the attack may have been triggered when the horse owner began spraying his horse with fly repellent. The enraged bees swarmed out of two hives in the neighborhood.

Exterminators were on the scene late Thursday disposing of the hives, according to the report.

ALSO:

Tow truck crashes into Yoshinoya restaurant in Koreatown

Local day laborers: Older, undocumented, undereducated

Silver Star revoked for former Clinton defense official now in prison

-- Sam Quinones

Gold Line Pasadena-to-Azusa rail extension contract awarded

Goldline
Officials with the Gold Line Foothill Extension Construction Authority awarded a $486-million contract to add light-rail from Pasadena to Azusa.

The contract, given Wednesday to a joint venture of Kiewit Corp. and Parsons Corp., includes building an 11.5-mile extension of the line, six stations and scores of crossings, among other construction.

The project is being funded by Measure R, the half-cent sales tax for transportation projects approved by voters in 2008.

Habib F. Balian, chief executive officer of the construction authority, said the total budget for the line exceeds $730 million.

In addition to the 11.5 miles of added rail, the project includes a large, "iconic" footbridge over the 210 Freeway and parking facilities.

Officials said the project should be completed in 2015.

ALSO:

Stolen loot discovered in Kern County lake

Near-riot in Hollywood: DJ's 'marvelous stunt' went 'terribly wrong’

Former Yankees pitcher Hideki Irabu found dead in Rancho Palos Verdes

-- Ari Bloomekatz

Photo:  A Metro Gold Line test train rolls across a fresh pavement coating at Clarence Street and First Street in Boyle Heights east of downtown Los Angeles. Credit: Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times

Reader photos: Southern California Moments, Day 209

Click through for more photos of Southern California Moments.

Park life: Sahra Sulaiman photographs a boy, a wild pigeon and a bouncing baby girl on a late afternoon in Macarthur Park.

Every day of 2011, we're featuring reader-submitted photos of Southern California Moments. For the first week of August, we challenge you to go mobile. Follow us on Twitter and visit the Southern California Moments homepage for more on this series.

Dog shot with arrow in Riverside is euthanized

German shepherd shot by arrow
Authorities in Riverside are asking for the public's help in finding whoever shot a dog with an arrow from a crossbow, causing injuries so severe it had to be euthanized.

A private foundation has put up a $500 reward for information leading to an arrest.

A security guard found the German shepherd mix around noon Wednesday on the campus of La Sierra University, said John Welsh, spokesman for Riverside County Animal Services.

When he looked closer, he saw an arrow lodged in the dog’s side, Welsh said Thursday.

It was unclear whether the dog had come onto the campus from surrounding neighborhood streets after being injured or how long the animal might have been suffering, Welsh said.

Due to the dog’s panic and distress, animal services officials had to use a catch pole to apprehend the animal, which was taken to Western Riverside County/City Animal Shelter in Jurupa Valley.

Lady Gaga’s Hollywood concert prompts concern from LAPD

Ladygaga

In the wake of Wednesday evening's near-riot at the premiere of the Electric Daisy film, Los Angeles police and fire officials are bracing for another huge crowd Thursday afternoon when Lady Gaga performs at an outdoor concert in Hollywood.

Lady Gaga is set to appear on "Jimmy Kimmel Live" Thursday afternoon at his studio at Hollywood Boulevard and Highland Avenue. Some 2,000 fans have been permitted to attend the exclusive mini concert that will occur behind the theater, said Los Angeles Fire Department Battalion Chief Mike Bowman.

The area usually accommodates about 1,000 people, but show producers were allowed to remove chain-link fences at either end of the parking lot to accommodate additional fans.

The street behind the theater, Hawthorn Avenue, will be closed between Orange Drive and Highland Avenue for much of the day, according to police.

Fans were already gathering Thursday morning. Her fans, who call themselves "Little Monsters," were discussing the concert on social media. Kimmel was also promoting the event, offering 10 pairs of tickets to those who "tweet something weird." Kimmel has held similar events, including one with Coldplay in 2008.

Dozens of Los Angeles Police will staff lines of officers across each end of the small road that runs behind the famous El Capitan Theatre.

"We are asking people without tickets to stay away from the event," said LAPD Cmdr Andy Smith. "We will have plenty of officers on hand to deal with anyone who acts in an unsafe or unlawful manner."

On Wednesday evening, hundreds of people converged in Hollywood for the premiere of a dance music documentary about the Electric Daisy Carnival. Many may have been responding to a tweet by a popular deejay known as Kaskade, who encouraged fans to join him for a "block party," police and organizers said. Although dozens of fans were detained –- and some threw bottles and other objects -– police only made a couple arrests.

RELATED:

Tourists caught up in 'Electric Daisy' chaos

Near-riot in Hollywood: Debate over who is to blame

'Electric Daisy' premiere near-riot recalls 1990 Depeche Mode chaos

-- Richard Winton and Andrew Blankstein

Photo: Lady Gaga appears at the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards in Los Angeles in her infamous meat outfit. Credit: Mario Anzuoni / Reuters

Local day laborers: Older, undocumented, undereducated

The average day laborer in Harbor City and Wilmington is 44 years old and has lived in the United States for nearly 17 years, according to survey results out of Harbor-UCLA Medical Center.

The Harbor-UCLA Summer Urban Health Fellowship conducted research and health outreach with the assistance of seven volunteer doctors,  nine medical students, 13 college students and 20 local high schoolers.

Their project’s findings were based on interviews with 158 day laborers in Harbor City and Wilmington.

The profile of these local workers differs from a national sample of day laborers based on research from 2004. That earlier study found day laborers had an average age of 34 and had been in the country an average of six years.

The local surveys found that 75% of the workers are not legal United States residents -- not surprising given the informal nature of day work and the difficulty of finding regular jobs without U.S. citizenship.

Bell City Council finds short-term chief administrator

Bell City Hall
The Bell City Council has appointed Ken Hampian, former city manager of San Luis Obispo, as the city's acting chief administrative officer.

Hampian, who served as San Luis Obispo's top administrator for nine years before retiring at the end of 2009, is expected to serve for 30 days. During that time he will help the council pick an interim city administrator, who will serve for six months, to be followed by someone who will keep the job on a more permanent basis. He was appointed Wednesday night.

Hampian will not be paid a salary but will be paid expenses, including lodging and meals.

The council voted last week to cut its ties to Pedro Carrillo, who served as interim chief administrative officer for a year after Robert Rizzo was let go amid corruption charges. Carrillo's contract had expired, and Mayor Ali Saleh filled the position until Hampian was appointed.

"I am very excited to have Mr. Hampian join our team," Saleh said. "Further, I am much more confident that Bell will move out of the shadow of the previous administration because the city of Bell is a resilient community and there are a lot of caring individuals that are the council's partners."

Saleh said he's pleased that Hampian has more than 30 years of experience and that he has also volunteered his services to find a transition team that will also work for free.

RELATED:

Robert Rizzo's bid to have Bell pay legal costs denied by judge

Bell lets top administrator walk; freshman mayor to run city

Bell leader needs patience, common sense, departing official says

-- Jeff Gottlieb

Photo: Bell City Hall. Credit: Liz O. Baylen / Los Angeles Times

Silver Star revoked for former Clinton defense official now in prison

Wade Sanders

Wade Sanders, a former official in the Clinton administration now in federal prison after pleading guilty to possession of child pornography, has had his Silver Star -- awarded for bravery as a swift-boat captain in Vietnam -- revoked by the secretary of the Navy.

Navy Secretary Ray Mabus took the action in August but it was only revealed this week in a story in the Marine Corps Times.

A spokesman for Mabus said the unusual action was taken after a review of "both the incident for which the award was made and the processing of the award itself." The award was made in 1992.

No reference was made in the statement to Sanders' guilty plea in San Diego federal court in December 2008 to possession of child pornography. Sanders, now 70, is set to be released from prison in March.

A retired Navy captain, Sanders served as deputy assistant secretary of the Navy for reserve affairs in the Clinton administration. Later he was an attorney in San Diego, a military adviser to then-Lt. Gov. John Garamendi and a frequent guest on national and local television on military issues.

During the 2004 presidential campaign, Sanders was a spokesman for Democratic candidate Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and defended him against criticism from other swift-boat sailors.

Federal prosecutors asserted that Sanders kept more than 600 images of child pornography on his computer, including a 21-minute video showing prepubescent girls having sex with an adult male. Sanders said he was keeping the images as research for a book on the exploitation of children.

ALSO:

Glendale considers ban on marijuana stores

Evacuees return home after freight train derailment

Mom accidentally shoots daughter with gun mistaken to be cigarette lighter

-- Tony Perry in San Diego

Photo: Wade Sanders. Credit: Associated Press

Mom accidentally shoots daughter with gun mistaken to be cigarette lighter

A Banning woman accidentally shot her 12-year-old daughter after pulling the trigger of a miniature revolver she had mistaken for a novelty cigarette lighter, authorities said Thursday.

Rachel Avila, 30, and her daughter were talking in front of their mobile home in the 100 block of North Phillips Street on Sunday when Avila spotted what she thought was a novelty cigarette lighter lying on the ground, said officials with the Banning Police Department.

It was shaped like a miniature firearm, police said.

Avila picked up the object and tried to light it by pulling the trigger, police said.

The first time, nothing happened, but her second attempt released a 22-caliber bullet.

“The bullet struck the ground, and then ricocheted upward and entered her daughter’s upper right arm,” Banning police said in a statement.

Homeless man killed in Fullerton police brawl; witnesses sought

Investigators are seeking witnesses to a brawl involving Fullerton police that led to the death of a homeless man.

Kelly Thomas, 37, became involved in an altercation with officers at the Fullerton bus depot July 5 that left him in critical condition on life-support.

He died five days later at the UC Irvine Medical Center in Orange.

Responding to reports of someone breaking into cars, officers had confronted Thomas, a transient well-known to merchants and officers in downtown Fullerton.

The Orange County Register reported that Thomas, who suffered from schizophrenia, began to struggle as officers tried to search him and that Thomas sustained head and neck injuries.

Glendale considers ban on marijuana stores

Medpot
The Glendale City Council is considering enacting a permanent ban on medical marijuana dispensaries.

The ordinance was introduced Tuesday, just two months before a moratorium prohibiting the shops is set to expire, the Glendale News-Press reported.

The council enacted the moratorium in 2009 to prevent dispensaries from opening, but it will expire in September with no option for an extension.

Last month, city attorneys were directed to draft an all-out ban.

ALSO:

Near-riot in Hollywood: Debate over who is to blame

Financial plan for downtown stadium gets first public airing

Near-riot in Hollywood: Tourists caught up in 'Electric Daisy' chaos

-- Mark Kellam, Times Community News

Photo: Medical marijuana. Credit: Los Angeles Times

Teen robbed at gunpoint in Glendale trying to sell cellphone on Craigslist

A teen trying to sell a cellphone on Craigslist was robbed at gunpoint in Glendale by two 18-year-old men, police said Thursday.

Scott Yoon, of La Crescenta, and Sung Na, of Glendale, both 18, were arrested Saturday shortly after they tried to flee the scene of the robbery about 5.p.m at Colorado and Porter streets, Glendale police said.

Yoon and Na had agreed to meet the 17-year-old Glendale teen in a McDonald’s parking lot after he advertised an Android cellphone for $400 on Craigslist, said Sgt. Tom Lorenz of the Glendale Police Department.

The teen waited for the pair at the parking lot and saw a black BMW drive up next to him, according to the Glendale News-Press.

He approached the BMW’s passenger side and began talking about the phone. Na allegedly grabbed the cellphone from the teen and pulled out  a black handgun hidden under his thigh, cocked it and pointed it at the teen, Lorenz said.

Police later arrested the pair and recovered an Airsoft pellet gun, which Lorenz said resembled a Glock handgun.

ALSO:

Glendale considers ban on marijuana stores

Evacuees return home after freight train derailment

Suspect sought in parking dispute killing at Chuck E. Cheese's

-- Veronica Rocha, Times Community News

Near-riot in Hollywood: Debate over who is to blame

Electric daisy film premiere disturbance

Questions are already emerging about who is to blame for the near-riot on Hollywood Boulevard on Wednesday during the premiere of the "Electric Daisy Carnival Experience" film screening.

The Los Angeles Police Department arrested two people on suspicion of felony vandalism in connection with damage to the windshields and roofs of three police cruisers.

The screening for the movie, which documented one of the nation's largest electronic dance parties, had been a private, invitation-only event promoted for weeks.

But a popular deejay known as Kaskade may have encouraged hundreds of uninvited fans to converge on Hollywood when he tweeted about a block party, police and organizers said.

Pasquale Rotella, chief executive of rave producer Insomniac Inc., issued a statement saying the organization was not to blame for the problems.

PHOTOS: Rowdy crowd at Electric Daisy Carnival screening

"I want to make clear that while this film showcased an Insomniac event, Insomniac had nothing to do with the supposed 'block party,' which was not a part of the premiere. The crowd issues that arose were a result of individuals responding to social media information which mistakenly led them to believe they could see artists perform.

"Despite the crowd's unruly behavior, while the movie premiere did take place, even I was unable to attend the premiere of a movie that I have worked tirelessly to produce.

"Insomniac strongly believes in personal responsibility and hopes that anyone who didn’t comply with police orders is held accountable."

About 2:30 p.m. Wednesday, the Kaskade tweeted to his 90,000 Twitter followers that he was heading to Grauman's Chinese Theatre for a block party: "ME+BIG SPEAKERS+MUSIC=BLOCK PARTY!!!”

Later, tweets from the DJ reflected the scene unfolding. About 7:30 p.m. he tweeted: “News choppers overhead. The man trying to shut us down. Hang on I am coming!!! This is crazy.”

Shortly thereafter, he wrote, “EVERYONE NEEDS TO GO HOME NOW! I DON'T WANT THIS TO REFLECT BADLY ON EDM OR WHAT WE ARE

The LAPD is continuing to investigate the incident.

-- Andrew Blankstein in Los Angeles and Ricardo Lopez in Hollywood

RELATED:

Full coverage: Rowdy crowd at Electric Daisy Carnival Experience screening

Insomniac responds to death of rave attendee in Dallas

Electric Daisy Carnival rave moving to Las Vegas after conflict and controversy at the Coliseum

Photo: Police in riot gear respond to the disturbance outside the "Electric Daisy" film premiere. Credit: Jay Clendenin / Los Angeles Times

Evacuees return home after freight train derailment

Train derails in Littlerock

Residents of about 250 Antelope Valley homes who were forced to evacuate after a derailed freight train triggered fears of a hazardous material spill were allowed to return home early Thursday.

The evacuees, many of whom took refuge at a nearby school, received the green light about 2 a.m., said Inspector Matt Levesque of the Los Angeles County Fire Department.

Sheriff’s deputies will continue to patrol the affected area, including a 2,000-foot evacuation corridor along the track in Littlerock where the derailment occurred, authorities said.

The evacuation came after 21 cars on a 68-car southbound Union Pacific train heading to Colton derailed about 1:25 p.m. Wednesday near Littlerock, east of Palmdale.

Near-riot in Hollywood: Video from Electric Daisy premiere

Numerous videos have emerged on YouTube showing Wednesday night's disturbance on Hollywood Boulevard involving the premiere of a movie about the Electric Daisy Carnival music festival.

Crowds spilled into the street around Grauman's Chinese Theatre, with some people throwing bottles at police.

Here is a sampling:

This video shows aerial shots of the crowd forming on Hollywood Boulevard and police setting up a line of officers in the street. The video also shows some people dancing in the middle of the street and the tense scene as police try to hold the crowd in place.

 

This video shows police cars and motorcycles moving in after the large crowd gets unruly.

 

The video shows people not involved in the disturbance trying to get around Hollywood as police closed off streets.

RELATED:

Full coverage: Rowdy crowd at Electric Daisy Carnival Experience screening

Insomniac responds to death of rave attendee in Dallas

Electric Daisy Carnival rave moving to Las Vegas after conflict and controversy at the Coliseum

-- Shelby Grad

Credit: YouTube

Designing a Better Food Label

How should the government improve the food label?

A project at the University of California, Berkeley, School of Journalism has taken on the task of designing a better food label, asking for ideas to replace the current black and white Nutrition Facts label that appears on every food package. Although the designs aren’t part of the official effort to redesign food packages, the Berkeley project has generated dozens of new ideas that are likely to be considered by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which is in the process of revising the existing food label. This fall, the Institute of Medicine is expected to release its own report on food packaging and labeling.

“We asked food thinkers and design minds to come together and give advice on how they might rethink the food label and bring some insight into how design impacts choice,’’ said Lily Mihalik, co-creator of the project and a News21 fellow, which is a journalism fellowship supported by the Carnegie and Knight Foundations. “There are a lot of things right with the current label, but at the same time people are confused. The question is whether a new nutrition facts label could help people make more educated decisions.’’

The panel of judges included food writer Michael Pollan, consumer health activist Michael Jacobson, San Francisco pediatrician Dr. Robert Lustig, San Francisco graphic designer Laura Brunow Miner and Belgian design professor Andrew Vande Moere.

The winning entry, from San Francisco visual designer Renee Walker, uses colorful boxes to depict the relative proportion of ingredients in a product. (Click on the photo to see four different examples of the label.)

“Walker’s design is dramatic, intriguing and holds great promise,’’ said Mr. Pollan. “I liked being able to see the visual breakdown of foods, although I wonder how her design would work with more complicated products, like Lucky Charms, say, or a power bar. Even so, it’s a step in the right direction. What I’d like to see next is some sort of color coding for the food groups and some attempt to show the degree of processing of various foods. Eating doesn’t have to be complicated; figuring out what’s in your food shouldn’t be either.”

Mr. Jacobson put the label in third place over all, and said he especially liked the graphic representation of food ingredients.

“I like the bold, colorful rectangles showing how much of which ingredients are in the food,” he said. “Of course, just listing percentages in the ingredient label would save a huge amount of space, but this graphic is a lot more attractive and easier to understand.”

The second place design, from Joey Brunelle, replaces serving size calories with total calories per package or bottle. A green, yellow and red color-coding system denotes reasonable, questionable or unhealthy amounts of carbohydrates or fat.

“I think Joey’s design works because it’s realistic for a consumer to read and benefit from,” said Ms. Miner. “It uses common iconography, like the red/green/yellow (stoplight) which I saw in a few designs, in an incredibly simple way. It’s one of the few designs that works at a glance.”

Two designs, from Bradley Mu, a freelance Web designer and recent interactive media graduate from Elon University in North Carolina, and Dylan Brown, creative director at Pixar Canada in Vancouver, tied for third place. Mr. Mu’s label mimics the traditional food label but uses color and highlights natural foods in green type and food additives in bold. It also features the glycemic index, a measure of how quickly a food increases the level of sugar in the body.

Mr. Vande Moere said that the green versus bold type would give food makers an incentive to include more healthful ingredients.

“The bar graphs are informative and minimalistic, while not making up the majority of allocated space,” he said. “The color coding is consistent, simple and meaningful.”

The design by Dylan Brown uses color-coded letter grades to rate food ingredients, offering green A’s and B’s, yellow C’s and red D’s and F’s.
“I like the minimalist approach,’’ said Mr. Jacobson. “Clear lettering, clear grades with added color-coding, and no fancy, space-taking graphs for people to puzzle over. … If anything, this label could convey somewhat more information, such as serving sizes. Too bad the food industry would never allow “F” ratings to go on their labels.”

Although none of the designs received a complete endorsement from the judges, they noted that each label offered some improvement over the current food label. Other concerns, such as the amount of processed ingredients in a food, were more difficult to represent in the label, noted Mr. Pollan.

“The focus on nutrients is probably inevitable but it distracts from the issue of whether you’re getting real food or not,” he said. “The degree of processing matters more, very often, than the nutrients as expressed in a label. So how do we capture that?”

Although the judging panel has picked its favorites among the label submission, the project is now asking members of the public to vote on their favorites. The project’s Web site, Rethink the Food Label, will take votes through mid-day Sunday and announce the winner next week. Visitors to the site can also view a slideshow of all the submitted designs.

I have broken a world record


Arriving at the Arctic Circle (Photo: ribstothelimit)

Arriving at the Arctic Circle (Photo: ribstothelimit)


Here we are at the start of the Arctic Circle. It’s not an easy tourist destination to reach, given that this monument is stuck on an island in the middle of the Norwegian sea and seems to be guarded by a pair of very noisy oyster catchers, but we have done it.


Nautical miles travelled: 950. Males travelled with: seven. Killer whales spotted: six. Times cried: three (I had a little weep when we made it to our final destination). Bruises on bottom: four. Injuries: zero, unless you count the nails I broke getting in to the dry suit every day. Minutes of dark encountered since leaving Scotland: none. Price of a beer in Norway: seven quid.


Seven quid!


What I knew about the Arctic before this trip was informed by a Bruce Parry documentary and some picture books I must have read as a child. I had expected polar bears and ice caps but – and this won’t please the Delingpoles out there – it has been boiling on the Lofoten islands and yesterday I enjoyed an ice cold beer while wearing some shorts, a vest,

flip-flops and sunglasses.


I am now the first woman to have gone to the arctic in a rib (that’s a rigid inflatable boat). This feels terribly adventurous, and isn’t something I thought I’d ever be writing. Back to the wilds of London now. Am not sure how I will cope without the seven snoring blokes I have had this incredible experience with.


A world away from London (Photo: ribstothelimit)

A world away from London (Photo: ribstothelimit)



A new use for an old medicine?


A beta blocker may have benefits for cancer patients

A beta blocker is being studied as a preventative


Propranolol is a drug used to treat high blood pressure. Researchers have been focusing their attention on its benefits in preventing breast cancer in women.


Two studies – one by scientists at Nottingham University and the latest, a joint collaboration between Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore and Trinity College, Dublin – have found that women taking propranolol in the year before breast cancer was diagnosed, were 76 per cent less likely to develop advanced cancer than those not using it. The Nottingham University study also showed that there were 71% fewer deaths among women already using beta blockers – of which propramolol is one.


As far as I can see, the study does not prevent the development of breast cancer but it is suggested that it might prevent the already-developed cancer from spreading. More studies are underway.


In the USA, tamoxifen, raloxifene and exemestane are being used already as preventative medication. Earlier this year, an international panel of cancer experts called for these drugs to be used in a similar way in the UK. Professor Jack Cuzick – who chaired the panel and is an epidemiologist at Queen Mary College, University of London – said “Tamoxifen and Raloxifene should be approved in the UK. The evidence for them is overwhelming.” The panel narrowed the selection of women, who would be offered the preventative therapies, to those with a greater than 4 per cent chance of developing breast cancer in the next 10 years.


However, no drug is without its side-effects. Beta-blockers, though cheap to produce, can cause dizziness, insomnia and could raise the chances of developing type-two diabetes. Tamoxifen and raloxifene’s side effects range from menopause-like symptoms, through joint pain and cramps – which I experience all the time – to blood clots, strokes and uterine cancer.


In fact, the figures from Professor Jack Cuzick’s panel estimate that, for every 1000 women given preventative tamoxifen, there would be 20 fewer breast cancers, but there would also be three more womb cancers and six cases of deep vein thrombosis.


Obviously, these drugs could only be given to healthy individuals – in the case of exemestane, the drug would be given to healthy post-menopausal women – but for how long? Would it be five years – the length of time for which tamoxifen is prescribed for breast cancer patients? Would that be long enough? Should it be for life?


For people who fall into the chosen category, there would be a good deal of weighing up the benefits against the risks and side effects. What do you think? If the drug was appropriate for you and you were in the high-risk category, would you take it for prevention? Should the UK allow tamoxifen and raloxifene to be used for this purpose too?


This would be mimicking the policy on statins – used to lower cholesterol (the fatty substance that clogs up the arteries) and prevent heart attacks and strokes. Currently, there are 7 million patients in the UK taking statins and some schools of medical thought would have every one of us taking the drug.


Is the logic of this that, eventually, we will all be taking a vast number of daily medications in the belief that they will enable us not to develop a specific condition (which we might not develop anyway) and to live for ever?


Email me at judith.potts@telegraph.co.uk



The wonderful work of Marie Curie Cancer Care


Marie Curie Cancer Care representatives pictured during their 2008 partnership with Tesco

Marie Curie Cancer Care representatives pictured during their recent partnership with Tesco


As the summer progresses, thousands of people are giving their time, their money or their skills to raise funds for their particular choice of charity. Near my home in Yorkshire is a small airfield and, at this time of year, every weekend sees brave souls hurling themselves out of aeroplanes in their attempts to further their charitible cause. I am happy to walk, run, sew or cook but I am not sure I have the guts to parachute -even attached to handsome hunk – or the strength to climb mountains!


That brings me to Richard Parks (on both counts!). Richard played rugby for Wales and retired two years ago after a shoulder injury. In December 2010 he began a remarkable challenge. Called The 737, it required him to climb to the summit of the world’s 7 highest mountains and reach the 3 poles in 7 months – Everest counts as a pole. Today he reached the last summit – Elbrus in Russia – in an extraordinary time of 6 months, 11 days, 7 hours and 53 minutes. Richard’s plan is to raise £1 million for Marie Curie Cancer Care. People he refers to as “Great Britons” have joined him at various points of his challenge. Steve Williams – the rower who won two olympic gold medals in Athens and Beijing – was his companion for Everest and, for Kilimanjaro, Marie Curie Nurse Janet Stuart from Barry in Wales was his fellow climber.


Richard is a fervent supporter of Marie Curie Cancer Care and says that he “has seen and heard the difference that the charity makes to the lives of terminally ill people and their families”. I have seen it too and would definitely place all Marie Curie and Macmillan cancer nurses among the greatest of Britons. The nursing and palliative care given by these nurses, to enable a terminally ill patient to remain at home for the end of life, takes a very special kind of person. At a time when the whole family is distraught, these specially trained nurses also give emotional support to the whole family.


Marie Curie Cancer Care also carries out research into palliative and end of life care and I really hope Richard’s amazing feat will raise his goal of £1 million. If you would like to donate please log on to www.justgiving.com/richardparks737challenge


On a more down-to-earth topic – but for just as good a cause – the Simple range of products has produced a limited edition of face wipes. As you go about your daily life and find yourself in a shop which sells Simple products, may I suggest you buy a packet of these wipes. Macmillan are receiving 10p for each pack sold and hope to raise £25,000 to go towards their nurses and the general work of the charity.


The work of these nurses in hospices and home nursing care means that terminally ill people – with a myriad of different diseases, not just cancer – have a choice as to where to end their lives.



The miracle drug that led me back to the cheeseboard


The perfect cheeseboard (Photo: Alamy)

The perfect cheeseboard (Photo: Alamy)


Daily Telegraph Notebook


Whatever happened to cholesterol? Twenty years ago, everyone was terrified of animal fat. Public health campaigns warned us to avoid artery-clogging cheese and butter.


Now, red meat, rich in saturated fat, is back in fashion, as is offal, which is full of cholesterol. Restaurants that offer meaty delights such as bone marrow and pig’s trotters are booming. And look at Simon Hopkinson’s new cookery show, which has just started on BBC1 in the prime Friday night slot.


“Hoppy”, as he’s known, specialises in lip-smacking, artery-furring dishes that only work if you load them with butter and eggs. “I just love it,” says Hopkinson – “it” being stuff like wobbly quiche lorraine, sticky toffee pudding (“First of all, double cream ”) and, of course, risotto (“clever old rice, butter and cheese”). His salade niçoise isn’t complete without soft-yolked eggs. And the programme is adoringly photographed with lots of slow-motion shots of oil glugging out of bottles.


Where has this new insouciance come from, this relaxed attitude to fat?


Partly, it must be related to the discrediting of the low-fat diet. People noticed that parts of the world where they embraced “low-fat” (but heavily sugared) foods with most enthusiasm – e.g. America – also happened to be where you found the fattest individuals.


The other development is the arrival of cholesterol-blasting statins. Whatever your view of these drugs – some think they’re over-prescribed – they are taken by five million patients in Britain, of whom I am one. I have experienced the joy of seeing the levels of “bad” fats in my blood plummet – as if by magic.


My GP put me on a low dose, to treat raised cholesterol. Six months later, I went for a review; the doctor looked at his screen, showing that my lipids were miraculously reduced, and said: “Wow.” You can understand why GPs might be evangelical about this medicine, since it does its job so amazingly well – more than can be said for a lot of drugs.


Now, people know there is a solution. You still have to eat sensibly. But before statins, those unfortunates who built up high levels of fat in their blood, like me, had little choice in middle age: give up cheese, or face a multiple heart bypass. There are inconveniences with statins. You can’t eat grapefruit, because it interferes with the medicine’s absorption. But, as I hover over the cheeseboard, I can’t pretend I’m concerned about the absence of grapefruit in my diet.



To mark 50 years since the death of Ernest Hemingway, the publisher André Deutsch has brought out a coffee-table book of photographs of the author. Papa with a marlin, Papa hunting big game, Papa at a bullfight. One image shows him sitting at a typewriter, but he was also happy writing while standing up. Kenneth Lynn’s biography has a photo of Hemingway standing by a desk that comes up to elbow height. Lynn says the novelist “wrote compulsively, often standing up”. Another writer who worked standing up was John Henry Newman. That is where the similarities end. Try as I might, I can’t see Cardinal Newman propping his foot on the carcass of a wildebeest that he’s just bagged.



I’m not sure what to think about the children’s internet craze Moshi Monsters. These creepy virtual pets come in lurid colours, with fur and huge eyes that denote empathy, I think. There’s a commercial angle, obviously: it starts off free, but parents have to shell out a fiver a month if their children want access to the Underground Disco, where they find Lady GooGoo and Broccoli Spears. Our oldest child says to me: “I’m adopting you a monster.” But he only wants to get me involved so I agree to pay for a subscription. I don’t think I will adopt a Moshi. Grown-ups are not supposed to understand their children’s mental worlds.



I shudder to think where we’d be without grandparents


Children are very lucky to have grandparents (Photo: Alamy)

Children are very lucky to have grandparents (Photo: Alamy)


‘Tell the children about chucking a stone at the Germans, Daddy,” I pleaded over lunch. My father didn’t need to be asked twice. Seventy years ago, as the son of a famous partisan leader (awarded a DSO by the British and hunted by the fascists), he was in hiding from the Germans, living with his aunt in north-west Italy. But when German tanks crunched down the village street, the temptation was irresistible. The convoy stopped. A Nazi officer jumped down from his tank.


Who’d cast the stone? The officer scoured the villagers who lined the street. My father, aged 8 (“Just like you, Isabella” he tells my daughter), defiantly stepped forward. The soldier made a gesture to show he would cut off his hand as punishment. The boy’s age moved the German to pity. He shouted a few more threats, but mounted his tank again.

I watched my daughter relishing this spontaneous history lesson: just one of many blessings her grandparents have bestowed on her (and her parents). The list includes babysitting, baking and piano lessons, cherry picking, and dresses with frills, flounces and obscene prices. All services are given free, and in an environment so safe that CRB checks are not required.


Grandparents are so crucial to our quality of life, I was not surprised to learn that an archaeologist credits them with promoting the dawn of culture. Professor Rachel Caspari of the University of Michigan has discovered that when homo sapiens began enjoying some degree of longevity, civilisation flowered. Leaving granny and grandpa in charge of the little ones, mummy and daddy could indulge in cave painting, trying new recipes (why not crush this wheat?) and fashioning flashy spears.


Grandparents continue to be indispensable. Today, they house their progeny, lend money, offer counselling, pay tuition fees and provide a haven to the distraught children of divorce. Having transformed us from hunter-gatherer to luvvy, they are now nothing short of life-savers.



Bell Pottinger, the PR company founded by Tim Bell, coached Rebekah Brooks for her appearance before the House of Commons Committee for Culture, Media and Sport last week. But Brooks’s unconvincing performance was not in the same league as Lord Bell’s first PR triumph – Margaret Thatcher. With the late Sir Gordon Reece, he moulded Baroness Thatcher’s public persona – down to the bouffant hairdo and pearls.


This is why the producers of The Iron Lady, scheduled for release next January, signed up Stephen Sherbourne, until recently Lord Bell’s right-hand man, to help Meryl Streep with her portrayal of Lady T. Sherbourne said there was little to add to the actress’s extraordinary insight into her subject: Miss Streep had read a great deal about the former PM, knew about the workings of Parliament and was in superb command of her brief. If only the same could be said of Rebekah Brooks.



Do you fume when someone asks you to meet them at the “train station” and then complains about the appalling “transportation”? These Americanisms get the good people at the BBC very worked up, according to its magazine.


The snooty corporation even flinched at words like “tremendous” and “lengthy”, whose origins lie across the Atlantic.


They invited readers to pitch in with their own pet peeves and gained fuming responses, offering “oftentimes” and “gotten” as examples. But someone hadn’t been checking their lexicon. It turns out that “oftentimes” comes from the King James Bible, and “gotten” from old English. I’m all for language policing, but let’s not be peevish about words simply because they come from America; far more offensive are leaden terms such as “appropriate”—which broadcasters and officials bandy about with, er, gay abandon.



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