Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Crews battle 200-acre brush fire in Santa Barbara County

General area of Santa Barbara brush fire Firefighters in Santa Barbara County were battling a brush fire Wednesday afternoon that had scorched about 200 acres in the Aliso Canyon area.

Crews from the Santa Barbara County Fire Department and U.S. Forest Service were trying to stop the flames as they moved at a moderate rate of speed in light vegetation, fire officials said.

The blaze broke out in Aliso Canyon near California 166 about 4 p.m. and was initially burning about 30 acres when crews responded, the Santa Barbara County Fire Department said. No structures were immediately threatened, and no injuries were reported.

Fire commanders were requesting additional strike crews. Three helicopters and three air tankers were assisting firefighters on the ground.

ALSO:

LAPD probes unruly 'Taco Tuesday' bike ride

Audit slams 'shoddy' oversight of L.A. community college projects

Police got waitress accused of selling cocaine drunk, her attorney says

— Robert J. Lopez

twitter.com/LAJourno

Map shows area where brush fire was burning. Credit: Google Maps.

Los Angeles narrows its search for a fire chief [Updated]

The search for a new fire chief has been narrowed to three candidates, all veterans of the Los Angeles Fire Department, according to a letter sent Wednesday to the Board of Fire Commissioners.

In the letter, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said he plans to interview two candidates the board recommended, Chiefs Patrick Butler and Emilie Mack, as well as Interim Fire Chief Brian Cummings.

All three candidates are minorities, a significant fact given past accusations of racial bias in the department. In 2006, Fire Chief William Bamattre resigned after a firehouse prank -- involving an African American firefighter who was served spaghetti mixed with dog food -- escalated into a discrimination case.

The two chiefs who succeeded Bamattre, Douglas Barry and Millage Peaks, were both African American.

The new chief will take over a department that has undergone significant change in recent years, thanks to deep budget cuts and a controversial redeployment plan. The plan, which was instituted earlier this summer, calls for firetrucks or ambulances at about one-fourth of the city's 106 fire stations to be put out of service.

Peaks, who championed the plan despite opposition from the firefighters union, stepped down in July. Cummings, who is also African American and who served as chief of staff for Peaks, was named his temporary replacement.

Butler is an assistant chief assigned to the North Division, according to department spokesman Jamie Moore. He is part Latino and speaks fluent Spanish. Mack, who is half African American and half Korean, is a deputy chief in charge of administrative operations.

[Updated, 8:03 p.m.: The mayor must name his choice for fire chief by Tuesday.]

 

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Man charged with molesting 4-year-old girl

Teenage offenders who escaped from work crew are caught

Food trucks expelled from downtown L.A.'s monthly Art Walk

-- Kate Linthicum 

Man convicted of trying to murder girlfriend gets 35 to life

A man convicted of trying to kill his girlfriend and holding Los Angeles police at bay inside his Tarzana townhouse was sentenced Wednesday to 35 years to life in prison, authorities said.

Jason Dana Paul, 40, shot his girlfriend and then barricaded himself inside the townhouse for 10 hours in February 2010 before he was arrested, the Los Angeles County district attorney's office said.

Police confiscated high-powered weapons from the residence that included a machine gun, assault rifle and semiautomatic handgun.

Paul was sentenced at the courthouse in Van Nuys. He was convicted of felonies that included attempted first-degree murder, assault on a peace officer and possession of a machine gun.

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LAPD probes unruly 'Taco Tuesday' bike ride

Audit slams 'shoddy' oversight of L.A. community college projects

Police got waitress accused of selling cocaine drunk, her attorney says

— Robert J. Lopez

twitter.com/LAJourno

Crews make progress in battling Santa Barbara County brush fire

Firefighters in Santa Barbara County on Tuesday night were gaining the upper hand in their efforts to battle a brush fire that had burned 200 acres. General area of Santa Barbara brush fire

The advance of the blaze was stopped, and crews from the Santa Barbara County Fire Department and U.S. Forest Service were cutting a containment line around the perimeter, fire officials said.

Most of the fire crews were expected to be released by midnight, with the remaining firefighters working through the night mopping up hotspots, the Fire Department said. The blaze broke out around 4 p.m in Aliso Canyon near Highway 166. 

No injuries were reported, and no structures were damaged. The cause was under investigation.

ALSO:

LAPD probes unruly 'Taco Tuesday' bike ride

Audit slams 'shoddy' oversight of L.A. community college projects

Police got waitress accused of selling cocaine drunk, her attorney says

— Robert J. Lopez

twitter.com/LAJourno

Photo: Aerial image and map show the area where brush was burning. Credit: Google Maps

Natural gas fracking needs to be monitored, panel says

Fracking by Halliburton
Hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking," in shale formations should be monitored closely for its environmental effects, a federally appointed panel recommended Thursday.

The assessment was the Obama administration's first major pronouncement on the coast-to-coast shale gas boom that has raised concerns about the risks to underground water supplies from the chemicals injected into subterranean rock to unlock natural gas.

Fracking has raised concerns in areas rich with shale gas that drinking water may become contaminated by the chemicals, which include benzene, hydrochloric acid, formaldehyde and methanol.

The energy industry has maintained that fracking is safe and fracking advocates say there has been no direct proof of drinking-water contamination.

The report came from an expert panel appointed by Energy Secretary Steven Chu. The panel’s chairman, John M. Deutch, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and former CIA director under President Clinton, said he was optimistic about the report’s potential effect.

“Given the report’s tone and common sense advice, it could influence industry and regulators’ attitudes,” Deutch said. It offered something for almost every side, said some environmental groups and industry representatives. “The report urges industry to come clean and for scientists and regulators to do their jobs,” said Benjamin Grumbles, president of the Clean Water America Alliance, an association whose members include municipal water districts and private industry.

The report won over some industry observers by eschewing the view common among environmental groups that shale gas production is inherently dangerous. “On the whole, this is another example of a group of experts that has essentially concluded that environmental risk exists in shale gas production but that those risks are well-managed,” said Lee Fuller, vice president of government relations for the Independent Petroleum Assn. of America, a trade association.

Still, the report noted that there was an urgency to addressing environmental issues. The report identifies four main concerns: possible water pollution from chemicals used in fracking and from methane gas released by the process; air pollution from methane and emissions from equipment used in gas production; potential disruption to communities and the cumulative adverse effects on their ecology.

The panel recommended that companies measure and disclose what’s in the water throughout the production process and called on them to also disclose the chemicals they inject into the ground, unless the mix is “genuinely proprietary.” It also called for monitoring and reducing emissions at gas production sites and for making some areas off-limits to gas extraction.

ALSO:

Fracking: Monterey shale exploration draws protest

California bill would reveal chemicals used in "fracking" process

EPA wants companies to reveal chemicals used in controversial gas extraction method

-- Neela Banerjee

Photo: A Halliburton rig drills for Shell Exploration & Production in Pinedale, Wyo., using hydraulic fracturing. Credit: Los Angeles Times

Salmonella Lurks in Pet Foods Too

When it comes to worries about food poisoning, human food typically gets all the attention. But a growing number of tainted food recalls in the past few years involve pet products.

Earlier this week, Merrick Pet Care of Amarillo, Tex., recalled 248 cases of its Doggie Wishbone pet treats because of a potential contamination with salmonella. Just last month, Nestlé Purina PetCare issued a recall after some bags of its Purina One Vibrant Maturity dry cat food tested positive for salmonella. Indeed, over the past two years, pet food makers have issued nearly three dozen recalls of pet food and dog treats like pig ears because of salmonella concerns.

“The problem of salmonella in pet foods and pet treats, even in pet supplements like vitamins, is something people should be aware of,” said Dr. Casey Barton Behravesh, a veterinary epidemiologist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The most recent recalls were a result of salmonella detected during random testing and not because of illness in animals or humans, but experts caution that tainted food poses threats to both pets and people. Last year, the C.D.C. reported that in 2006, dozens of toddlers, including 32 children under the age of 2, were infected with salmonella as a result of coming into contact with dry dog and cat food, marking the first time human infections were linked to dry pet food. Other recent salmonella outbreaks in humans have been linked to pig ears and pet treats made with beef and salmon.

”It’s important for people to know that after they feed their pets or give them treats, they should wash their hands, particularly before they prepare food or baby bottles or before they eat,” said Dr. Behravesh.

Dried pet food typically is heated to high temperatures that kill bacteria before it can be shaped into different shapes of kibble. But dry food is not necessarily produced under sterile conditions and contamination can occur at various stages in the production process, veterinarians say. Canned food, by contrast, is vacuum-sealed and sterilized but can be contaminated after it is opened if improperly stored or handled.

Pig ears, which are frozen, cleaned and flavored but not cooked, may become contaminated from the original animal carcass. One study in Canada found that 51 percent of pig ears purchased at retail stores contained salmonella; a June report in The Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association also found high rates of contamination, 41 percent, in pig ears sold in the United States.

“We know from past investigations that pig ears and similar treats that involve dried animal parts can be a risk for salmonella infection in people,” Dr. Behravesh said.

Raw meat diets, including scraps and bones obtained from butchers, are another common source of salmonella exposure in pets. In the June report, 45 percent of commercial raw meat diets fed to greyhounds tested positive for salmonella.

In the documented outbreaks involving humans, pets consuming the contaminated food or treats often didn’t show visible signs of food poisoning, though often a pet’s illness is never diagnosed by a veterinarian. Symptoms of food poisoning in pets are similar to those in people and include lethargy, fever, vomiting and bloody diarrhea that can last for three to five days.

“A lot of people don’t realize pets can be just as vulnerable to these food-borne infections as we are,” said Kimberly May, assistant director of professional and public affairs at the American Veterinary Medical Association. Puppies and kittens as well as adult animals with compromised immune systems are most vulnerable.

To lower the risk of salmonella exposure to both humans and pets, the American Veterinary Medical Association recommends avoiding raw food diets and storing pet foods properly. Dry foods, treats and vitamins should be kept in a cool, dry place, away from the kitchen area, and food and water bowls should be washed often. Individually packaged pig ears are less likely to be contaminated than those from bulk bins.

Children, the elderly and people with suppressed immune systems should not handle pet food or treats. Everyone should wash their hands before and after handling pet products.

D.A. will not prosecute Saudi prince in Tower Lane project

The Los Angeles County district attorney's office has declined to prosecute a Saudi prince who owns land in Benedict Canyon, saying there was insufficient proof that the prince or his agents lied when they sought applications to build a mansion complex on Tower Lane.

After hearing from influential neighbors who opposed the Tower Lane project, Los Angeles City Councilman Paul Koretz contacted City Atty. Carmen Trutanich and told him of alleged inaccuracies, discrepancies and omissions in project paperwork. Trutanich referred the matter to the district attorney.

In an Aug. 5 letter to the city attorney's office, the D.A.'s office said there were "significant proof problems regarding a perjury charge." The D.A.'s office added that, if the city attorney believed a felony had been committed, it should refer the case to the Los Angeles Police Department.

The 5.2-acre property is in the city of Los Angeles, on the border of Beverly Hills. It is owned by Prince Abdulaziz ibn Abdullah ibn Abdulaziz al Saud, a son of Saudi King Abdullah.

The initial application for an 85,000-square-foot compound, since withdrawn, included a 42,000-square-foot main house, a son's villa and other structures. A more recent application calls for a somewhat reduced project.

Ben Reznik, an attorney for the prince, said the letter "confirms that the complaints raised by [neighbors] ... are totally frivolous."

RELATED:

Neighbors unite against proposed 'megamansion'

Saudi prince pulls plans for Tower Lane 'megamansion'

Saudi prince scales back plans for Benedict Canyone Compound

 

--Martha Groves

Los Angeles narrows its search for a fire chief

The search for a new fire chief has been narrowed to three candidates, all veterans of the Los Angeles Fire Department, according to a letter sent Wednesday to the Board of Fire Commissioners.

In the letter, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said he plans to interview two candidates the board recommended, Chiefs Patrick Butler and Emilie Mack, as well as Interim Fire Chief Brian Cummings.

All three candidates are minorities, a significant fact given past accusations of racial bias in the department. In 2006, Fire Chief William Bamattre resigned after a firehouse prank -- involving an African American firefighter who was served spaghetti mixed with dog food -- escalated into a discrimination case.

The two chiefs who succeeded Bamattre, Douglas Barry and Millage Peaks, were both African American.

The new chief will take over a department that has undergone significant change in recent years, thanks to deep budget cuts and a controversial redeployment plan. The plan, which was instituted earlier this summer, calls for firetrucks or ambulances at about one-fourth of the city's 106 fire stations to be put out of service.

Peaks, who championed the plan despite opposition from the firefighters union, stepped down in July. Cummings, who is also African American and who served as chief of staff for Peaks, was named his temporary replacement.

Butler is an assistant chief assigned to the North Division, according to department spokesman Jamie Moore. He is part Latino and speaks fluent Spanish. Mack, who is half African American and half Korean, is a deputy chief in charge of administrative operations.

[Updated, 8:03 p.m.: The mayor must name his choice for fire chief by Tuesday.]

 

ALSO:

Man charged with molesting 4-year-old girl

Teenage offenders who escaped from work crew are caught

Food trucks expelled from downtown L.A.'s monthly Art Walk

-- Kate Linthicum 

L.A. County opens mental health urgent care center near Olive View

 Center
The new county-run mental health urgent care center that opened near Olive View-UCLA Medical Center in Sylmar on Wednesday is expected to relieve crowding at the hospital’s emergency room and expand outpatient treatment for the mentally ill across the San Fernando Valley.

The $10.8-million center is the third that county officials have helped open in recent years, including facilities east of downtown near Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center and on the Westside near Brotman Medical Center.

Olive View's psychiatric emergency room has a dozen beds, its psychiatric ward 32 beds, and they are often busy, officials said.

Zev The psychiatric emergency room sees 5,000 to 6,000 patients a year, about half of whom come in search of prescriptions or other non-critical care and would be better served in an urgent care, said to Dr. Alex Kopelowicz, the hospital's chief of psychiatry.

“We’re decompressing the ER,” Kopelowicz said as he toured the new facility shortly before the opening ceremony Wednesday afternoon. “It should also make it easier to transition people to ongoing care and make sure they don’t fall through the cracks.”

The mission-style building, complete with Spanish tile, specially commissioned sculptures and paintings, was paid for with $6.65 million from the county’s general fund and $4.15 million in state income tax money gathered under the Mental Health Services Act, or Prop 63.

High levels of toxic PBDE found in pregnant California women

Amizotaedit A study released Wednesday found the highest levels ever reported among pregnant women worldwide of toxic polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), flame retardant chemicals largely banned in California in 2004.

The UC San Francisco research team tested 25 second-trimester pregnant women from Northern and Central California seeking care in San Francisco in 2008 and 2009 and found they had high levels of the chemicals in their blood, putting their babies at risk, according to the study published in Wednesday's Environmental Science and Technology journal.

Researchers believe the women's high PBDE levels were due to California’s strict flammability regulations enacted in the 1970s, which led manufacturers to add flame retardants to a wide variety of products, from electronics to furniture.

PBDEs may be toxic to the liver, thyroid and nerve development, according to the EPA.

We spoke with Ami Zota, a postdoctoral fellow at UCSF's Program on Reproductive Health and the Environment and lead author of the study, about what the findings mean and what can be done.

Q: You and other California researchers have studied these chemicals and their effect on women before -- what's new about this study?

A: The average levels of PBDE chemicals are the highest reported to date among pregnant women worldwide. This was surprising, given that most PBDEs have been banned in California since 2004.

Q: Where are these flame-retardant chemicals coming from?

A: A couple of things. PBDEs since the mid-'70s have been added to many products we use in our everyday environments — couches, carpet padding, electronics — computers, TVs — a range of products. They’re also added to crib mattresses, children’s car seats, most products that have polyurethane foam in them have PBDEs in them, or now they have a replacement flame retardant.

Q: So are pregnant women getting exposed to these chemicals because when they're getting ready to have a baby they buy used cribs and car seats?

Body found on cliff at Point Fermin Park in San Pedro

Point Fermin The body of a man was found Wednesday afternoon on a bluff overlooking the Pacific in San Pedro, the Los Angeles Fire Department said.

The body appeared to be that of a man about 30 years old. The discovery was made during a cliff rescue at Point Ferman Park, the Fire Department said.

The cause of death had not been determined. No other details were available.

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LAPD probes unruly 'Taco Tuesday' bike ride

Audit slams 'shoddy' oversight of L.A. community college projects

Police got waitress accused of selling cocaine drunk, her attorney says

— Robert J. Lopez

twitter.com/LAJourno

Stow beating: Getaway driver didn’t know of attack, prosecutors say

Getaway driver did not know about Bryan Stow attack The woman who drove the the getaway car for suspects in the Bryan Stow beating will not be charged because she apparently did not witness the beating and did not know about the attack at the time, according to court documents.

Dorene Sanchez, the sister of suspect Louie Sanchez and the girlfriend of suspect Marvin Norwood, drove the men from the stadium after they allegedly beat Stow at Dodger Stadium. But prosecutors said there was insufficient evidence to charge her. She has testified before the grand jury.

Sanchez was arrested on suspicion of being an accessory to the crime. But according to a charging evaluation worksheet completed by prosecutors, she did not know she was harboring, concealing or aiding the suspects.

"There is no admissible evidence to establish that Ms. Sanchez had knowledge of the felony offense," the document states.

Prosecutors say that she went to the car but that the suspects left the immediate area, moving several hundred feet away.

"It is unclear that Ms. Sanchez could witness the assault in the parking lot," the document states.

When the men returned to the car, they got into the back seat and told Dorene Sanchez to drive.

Sources said that she later learned the men were involved in the crime. Prosecutors declined to say why they did not charge her based on her later knowledge of the attack.

RELATED:

Bryan Stow moving arm, kisses sister, family says

Bryan Stow tried to escape his attackers, prosecutors say

Witness in Bryan Stow beating may have died from peanut allergy

-- Richard Winton

20 arrested in operation targeting Riverside street gang

Twenty members and associates of a notorious Riverside street gang were arrested Wednesday by more than 200 law enforcement officers as part of a multi-agency investigation into violence and drug trafficking, authorities said.

The operation targeted the 1200 Bloc Crips gang, which has been involved in drug dealing and other crimes in the city for more than 50 years, authorities said.

Agents and officers from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation and the Riverside Police Department served search and arrest warrants and conducted parole searches at more than 40 locations in and around Riverside. Increased illegal activity by the gang in the last year prompted the six-month investigation that led to the arrests, authorities said.

The operation was a message to street gangs members that "continue to perpetuate a regrettable and dangerous cycle of narcotics sales, murder and retaliation," John A. Torres, special agent in charge of the ATF office in Los Angeles, said in a statement.

Authorities said the reputed gang members and their associates were arrested on suspicion of state and federal firearms violations and on parole violations.

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LAPD probes unruly 'Taco Tuesday' bike ride

Audit slams 'shoddy' oversight of L.A. community college projects

Police got waitress accused of selling cocaine drunk, her attorney says

— Robert J. Lopez

twitter.com/LAJourno

Reader photos: Southern California Moments, Day 222

Click through for more photos of Southern California Moments.

Eyes on the road: Kim C. Martin takes a shot of the 5-91 interchange in Orange County from her sideview mirror July 22.

Every day of 2011, we're featuring reader-submitted photos of Southern California Moments. Follow us on Twitter and visit the Southern California Moments homepage for more on this series.

Teenage offenders who escaped from work crew are caught

Photo: Vehicles are parked at the Hollywood Hills site where two prisoners escaped Friday. Credit: Los Angeles Times Two teenage offenders who walked away from a work crew near Studio City last week were arrested after a brief chase, authorities said Wednesday.

Pablo Ontaneda, 18, and Christopher Ochoa, 19, were picked up at a private home in Riverside County late Tuesday, according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. During a pursuit, they suffered what the department described as minor injuries. After treatment at a local hospital, they were booked into Riverside County Jail.

The pair were part of a crew from the Ventura Youth Correctional Facility in Camarillo and had been sought by several law enforcement agencies since their escape Friday.

Under the supervision of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, they had been clearing brush near Mulholland Drive and Laurel Canyon Boulevard in the Hollywood Hills.

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LAPD probes unruly 'Taco Tuesday' bike ride

Audit slams 'shoddy' oversight of L.A. community college projects

Police got waitress accused of selling cocaine drunk, her attorney says

-- Steve Chawkins

Photo: The Hollywood Hills site where two prisoners escaped Friday. Credit: Los Angeles Times

Peter Douglas, California Coastal Commission chief, will retire

Douglas
Peter Douglas, an aggressive opponent of development on the California coast who helped write the state's landmark Coastal Act, announced his retirement Wednesday after 26 years as executive director of the California Coastal Commission.

Douglas, 68, who has been fighting lung cancer since last spring, told the panel he will go on sick leave Monday and will retire on Nov. 1.

The executive has been the muscle behind the agency in charge of enforcing the nation’s strongest coastal protection law and has spent 41 years working to guarantee public access to the state’s 1,100-mile coastline while keeping it largely undeveloped.

In remarks at a public meeting in Watsonville, Douglas said he planned to hand off leadership of the agency to Senior Deputy Director Charles Lester, who has been filling in while Douglas has undergone aggressive chemotherapy. But it is ultimately up to the 12-member panel to choose a new leader.

Douglas began his crusade for coastal protection in the 1970s as a legislative aide and consultant, helping to draft Proposition 20, which voters passed in 1972, and the 1976 state Coastal Act, which created the Coastal Commission. After serving as the agency’s chief deputy, he was named its third executive director in 1985.

Since then, Douglas is credited with transforming the start-up panel into an influential land-use agency that has final say in nearly all development proposed along the coastline, from single-family homes, docks and beach stairways to the largest projects, such as subdivisions, marinas, highways and power plants.

Douglas is beloved by conservationists, but he has been a lightning rod for developers and property owners who have fought with the agency over beachside projects and public access to the shoreline. Local governments often have clashed with Douglas over his agency’s challenges to what they consider local matters, such as beach curfews, beach pathways and parking restrictions. He has served under both Democratic and Republican governors and survived a number of attempts at ousting him.

State Senate President Darrell Steinberg said the preservation of California’s magnificent coastline wouldn’t have happened without Douglas, whom he called “the driving force in creating the nation’s most comprehensive coastal protections.”

“Without Peter’s unwavering voice for environmental protection and public access,” Steinberg said in a statement, “millions of Californians and visitors from around the world would have been denied the enjoyment of our pristine coastline.”

Douglas was not available for comment Wednesday, but he released a biography and personal comments that highlighted key accomplishments, including empowering citizen activists across the state, opening new public accessways to the coast and, in the 1980s, requiring the Jonathan Club, a club then made up only of white males, to open its doors to women and people of color in order to expand its Santa Monica facility.

Speaking in June at a conference in Sacramento about the Coastal Commission, Douglas told a room packed with both admirers and foes that he was proudest of subdivisions that were not built and wetlands that were not filled.

He said one of the agency's biggest challenges will be “implementing a visionary law in a myopic political world.”

Protecting the coast “is a job that’s never done, it’s always being done,” he said. “It’s what we owe future generations. We’re not going away.”

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L.A. television producer Dayna Bochco named to Coastal Commission

Judge orders Malibu homeowner to clear pathway to beach

California replaces Wyland's whale tail license plate

-- Tony Barboza

Photo: Peter Douglas listens during public comment at a 1996 Coastal Commission hearing in Huntington Beach. Credit: Los Angeles Times

Common Sleep Problem Raises Dementia Risk

Sleep-disordered breathing, or sleep apnea, is a common condition characterized by repeated awakenings and pauses in breathing during the night. People with the disorder often snore and gasp during sleep, and it has been associated with hypertension, cardiovascular disease and diabetes. Now a new study suggests it may also be associated with mental decline and dementia.

The study, published in The Journal of the American Medical Association, is not the first to find a connection between sleep apnea and dementia, but it is the first to use an objective measure of sleep-disordered breathing — actually counting the number of disordered breathing events during a night of sleep using EEGs and other equipment. It is also the first to study the matter prospectively, first finding the disordered sleeping pattern in healthy people without dementia, and then checking, years later, to see if they were more likely than regular sleepers to deteriorate mentally.

The scientists, led by Dr. Kristine Yaffe, a professor of psychiatry at the University of California, San Francisco, studied 298 physically and mentally healthy women, average age 82. They were recruited from four different geographic areas — Baltimore County in Maryland, Minneapolis, Portland, Ore., and the Monongahela Valley near Pittsburgh, Pa.

Each woman completed a battery of tests of mental acuity and spent a night attached to devices to measure their breathing and wake-sleep patterns. Of the 298 women, 105 met the criteria for sleep-disordered breathing, with an average of 15 or more episodes of interrupted breathing per hour during the night.

At a re-examination five years later, 45 percent of the women with sleep disordered breathing had developed mild cognitive impairment or dementia, compared with 31 percent of those who slept normally. After controlling for age, race, body mass index, education level, smoking status, the presence of diabetes or hypertension, and the use of antidepressants and other medicines, the women with sleep-disordered breathing at the start of the study were 85 percent more likely to have mild cognitive impairment or dementia after five years than those whose night-time breathing was normal.

Sleep itself plays a role in the consolidation of long-term memory, so the scientists at first suspected that the frequent interruptions of sleep, and getting less sleep, might have caused the effect. But they found that the number of sleep disruptions and the total duration of sleep had no association with mental impairment. It was only hypoxia — reduced oxygen to the brain caused by the breathing disruptions — that was consistently associated with mental impairment.

The authors acknowledge that their study has certain limitations. Sleep data was gathered for only one night, so possible variability in sleep disturbances over time was not captured. And the study involved mostly white women, so the results may not be generalizable to men or to other ethnicities. But the prospective design and the objective measures of sleep-disordered breathing give the study considerable strength.

“I don’t think everyone should be running to a sleep lab,” Dr. Yaffe said, “but if you have sleep apnea you probably want to be monitored for cognitive symptoms. And this may be another reason to be evaluated for sleep problems. There are studies that suggest that if you treat sleep apnea you actually may improve cognitive ability.”

Glendale bans medical marijuana dispensaries

Medical marijuana banned in Glendale

The Glendale City Council approved a total ban on medical marijuana dispensaries in the city Tuesday night.

The ban is slated to take effect Sept. 9, about two weeks before an existing moratorium prohibiting dispensaries from opening expires, the Glendale News Press reported.

Current zoning codes have so far kept marijuana dispensaries at bay, but city officials, citing growing interest from collectives, have sought stronger language to keep them out.

Glendale's ordinance uses the zoning code to ban businesses that engage in any activity that violates federal, state or local laws from operating in any zone. The ordinance identifies medical marijuana dispensaries as being banned in all zones.

Los Angeles passed an ordinance last year limiting the number of dispensaries to 70, exempting those in the city before 2007.

A lawsuit against the city of Anaheim challenging its ban on dispensaries awaits a ruling this month in Orange County Superior Court, which medical marijuana experts say could set a precedent. Glendale officials have said they were confident that their ban is on firm legal footing.

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LAPD probes unruly 'Taco Tuesday' bike ride

Police got waitress accused of selling cocaine drunk, lawyer says

Judge sides with NFL fan who used obscene gesture, fought security guards

-- Brittany Levine, Times Community News

Photo: Medical marijuana for sale. Credit: Ross D. Franklin / Associated Press

L.A. Council votes to shift $97 million in redevelopment funds

California Governor Jerry Brown (L) responds to a question during a budget forum as State Controller John Chiang (R) listens in at Memorial Auditorium in Sacramento in December 2010. Credit: EPA/JOHN G MABANGLO

After months of serving as the ripest of targets for budget-cutting state officials, L.A.’s redevelopment agency turns out to be not so dead after all.

That news became official on Wednesday, when the Los Angeles City Council voted in favor of an urgency ordinance that keeps its redevelopment agency alive and intact -- by moving roughly $97 million in redevelopment funds to Los Angeles County.

Had the Community Redevelopment Agency refused to send that sum, it would likely have been forced to go out of business, under the terms of a budget deal approved nearly two months ago between Gov. Jerry Brown and the Legislature. Brown had repeatedly called for the outright elimination of redevelopment agencies.

Under a compromise, redevelopment agencies across the state can stay put in if they turn over $1.7 billion to other agencies this year and more money in future years. Even with those reductions, Los Angeles’ redevelopment agency will have $1 billion to spend between now and 2016 on a list of projects that was hurriedly compiled to keep the money out of state hands.

A Nurse, a Patient and a Television

Hospital patients watch a lot of television to pass the time. As a result, nurses often catch glimpses of news and entertainment programs while walking in and out of patient rooms.

I saw Sarah Palin announce her candidacy for the vice presidency in a patient’s room. I also watched footage of the tsunami sweeping across Japan, destroying people’s houses and lives, at the hospital. Everything I know about the show “Jon and Kate Plus 8” and the guilty pleasure one gets from watching Judge Judy, I learned from bits and pieces seen on TV at work.

Television gives our patients, who often stay for weeks, a way for the world to come to them. Some get hooked on the History Channel; for others, it’s the movies that keep them occupied. One patient scheduled his whole day around watching Jerry Springer. Stuck in the hospital with cancer, the sad and troubled lives of the guests on the Jerry Springer show made him feel he wasn’t doing so badly after all.

One night I was working evening shift and realized two of my patients were watching the same detective show. I joked with one of them, a kindly, middle-aged man, that I could probably watch the entire show in segments going from room to room.

Then he invited me to sit down and finish watching the episode with him. I looked up at the screen and saw the actor Mark Harmon, alongside an actor I remembered as “Pa” on “The Waltons.”

“Oh, I can’t,” I said, reflexively. I had rounds to make and goodness knows what else.

He pressed me to stay. “You’ve got your phone. They’ll call you if they need you.”

But again I declined, and left.

Outside his room, standing at my med cart, I felt troubled. Yes, I had “things” to do. Nurses always have meds, charting, tasks — all pulling at our consciences. My patient’s invitation, though, was exerting a stronger pull, bringing to the fore a value I had felt so strongly as a new nurse: the importance of being with the patient.

It hit me that in my dedication to accomplishing the hospital work I was required to do, that I had forgotten how to be a nurse. I went back to the patient’s room.

He didn’t say much when I walked in and sat down. We watched together companionably, though. The plot involved drug dealers and safe houses, and my patient filled me in on who was who and what was happening. Justice was restored, and the episode ended with Mark Harmon and his dad repairing his dad’s store, which the drug dealers had wrecked.

The patient, happy for the company, elaborated on the show’s ending. “See, it’s the father and son, working together,” he explained. The scene obviously meant something to him, and reminded me, somewhat painfully, how little I knew about him. He was somebody’s son, possibly also a father. How was it that I no longer felt I had time to ask such basic and important questions?

This patient was scheduled to be discharged the next day after several weeks in the hospital. But the cost of saving his life had been isolation and, perhaps, a quiet loneliness. Not much of a price for a life, some would say, but such difficult feelings can over time take a toll on a person. All he’d wanted from me was to keep him company for a few minutes.

I had forgotten that television can be social. My patient had made a simple request of me to sit down and watch TV with him, to briefly be a part of his normal outside-the-hospital life that he would soon return to. The experience reminded me that enabling a patient’s humanity is part of every nurse’s job.

“Only connect!” the novelist E. M. Forster famously said, and that night I realized that television is just one way for nurses to enter a patient’s world. I just hope that next time a patient invites me to stay in a room I remember all the reasons why I’m in the hospital, and don’t hesitate to say yes.

Man suffers burns in car fire on 134 Freeway

Man taken to hospital after truck bursts into flames on 134 Fwy. near Forest Lawn A driver suffered burns to his upper body Tuesday night when his small truck burst into flames on the 134 Freeway near Forest Lawn Memorial Park.

The man, who wasn't immediately identified, was taken to a local hospital as Los Angeles firefighters extinguished the blaze in the eastbound lanes, according to 818 Now.

No other injuries were reported. The man was the sole occupant of the vehicle.

ALSO:

Costa Mesa releases detailed report on city salaries to praise

Police got waitress accused of selling cocaine drunk, lawyer says

-- Ross A. Benson, Times Community News

Photo: Firefighters battle a car fire on the 134 Freeway. Credit: Ross A. Benson / Times Community News

Swapping Meat for Nuts to Lower Diabetes Risk

Eating red meat, and in particular processed red meat like bacon and hot dogs, raises the risk of Type 2 diabetes. But replacing just one serving a day with nuts or low-fat dairy can lower the risk, according to a study by Harvard researchers.

Many other investigators have explored the link between diabetes and meat consumption, but this study is the largest and most comprehensive on the subject to date, following hundreds of thousands of people over the course of several decades. It is also the first to look not only at whether red meat consumption heightened the risk, but also at whether replacing meat with dairy or plant-based proteins like nuts and whole grains could make a difference.

The findings come from a broad analysis of three groups of male and female health professionals, totaling nearly 300,000 people ages 25 to 75. The researchers looked at their eating and health habits dating to 1976. The subjects answered detailed questions about their diets and medical history and provided updated information every two years.

Over all, the authors found that eating a daily serving of unprocessed red meat, equivalent to a 100-gram cut of steak, roughly the size of a deck of playing cards, was enough to raise the risk of Type 2 diabetes by 19 percent. Eating just 50 grams a day of processed meat — one hot dog or sausage, for example, or a little more than two strips of bacon — increased the risk 51 percent. In addition to bacon and sausage, processed meats include deli and luncheon meats, among them salami, bologna and ham.

But the researchers then decided to see what would happen if a person who regularly ate red meat limited consumption of it, a measure advocated by many health officials as well as environmentalists. Using mathematical models, the researchers calculated the benefits of replacing one serving of meat with nuts and found it resulted in a 21 percent lower risk of Type 2 diabetes. Choosing a serving of Greek yogurt or another low-fat dairy product over red meat decreased the risk 17 percent, and whole grains reduced the risk by 23 percent. Even substituting poultry or fish for red meat lowered the risk of developing diabetes.

Dr. Frank Hu, a professor of nutrition and epidemiology at the Harvard School of Public Health and an author of the study, said the results should send a clear message that Americans need to reduce their intake of red meat.

“It’s a very important message, given that diabetes is rising very rapidly and consumption of red meat, including both processed and unprocessed, is very high,” he said. “We’re talking about switching from a meat-centered diet to a more plant-based diet for the prevention of diabetes and other chronic diseases.”

Across the United States, more than 11 percent of adults, or about 25 million people, have diabetes, many the Type 2 form linked to diet, obesity and inactivity. According to the United States Department of Agriculture’s most recent statistics, the average American eats more than 100 pounds of red meat every year.

Dr. Hu said he would recommend that the average person eat no more than one serving of processed meat a week and limit unprocessed red meat to two or three servings a week. “I think that’s the level that above which it appears to be associated with a substantially increased risk,” he said.

Other studies have linked red meat consumption to heart disease and Type 2 diabetes, but most have focused primarily on processed meat, had relatively small sample sizes or looked at men and women separately. Another question that has plagued previous studies was whether meat was in fact a hazard or whether other less than healthful habits associated with a high meat intake — like smoking, less exercise and a greater body mass index — were the real culprits.

In the current study, the researchers did find that people who ate more red meat were more likely to smoke and avoid physical activity. They also tended to eat more calories over all and had higher B.M.I.’s. But even after adjusting for all of those factors, an elevated risk involving red meat intake and Type 2 diabetes remained.

So what is it about red meat that could cause the connection?

The authors proposed several theories. For one, processed meat contains high amounts of sodium and chemical preservatives like nitrates, which can damage cells in the pancreas involved in the production of insulin. Red meat in general also has high levels of a type of iron called heme that, when consumed in high amounts, can increase oxidative stress and lead to chronic inflammation, which can also affect insulin production.

Dr. Hu said the simple fact that people who eat a lot of red meat tend to gain more weight was also a factor, since obesity and Type 2 diabetes are intertwined.

“But even after adjusting for B.M.I. we still showed a significantly elevated risk,” he said, “so it means that the greater risk goes beyond the obesity link.”

3-year-old boy chokes to death on pushpin at preschool

A 3-year-old Oceanside boy choked to death when his airway become blocked by a pushpin, according to the San Diego County medical examiner.

Tyler Howell was attending preschool Monday when he began making a gasping sound and clutching his neck. CPR was attempted and paramedics called. An examination later found his windpipe to be blocked.

-- Tony Perry in San Diego

Swapping Nuts for Meat to Lower Diabetes Risk

Eating red meat, and in particular processed red meat like bacon and hot dogs, raises the risk of Type 2 diabetes. But replacing just one serving a day with nuts or low-fat dairy can lower the risk, according to a study by Harvard researchers.

Many other investigators have explored the link between diabetes and meat consumption, but this study is the largest and most comprehensive on the subject to date, following hundreds of thousands of people over the course of several decades. It is also the first to look not only at whether red meat consumption heightened the risk, but also at whether replacing meat with dairy or plant-based proteins like nuts and whole grains could make a difference.

The findings come from a broad analysis of three groups of male and female health professionals, totaling nearly 300,000 people ages 25 to 75. The researchers looked at their eating and health habits dating to 1976. The subjects answered detailed questions about their diets and medical history and provided updated information every two years.

Over all, the authors found that eating a daily serving of unprocessed red meat, equivalent to a 100-gram cut of steak, roughly the size of a deck of playing cards, was enough to raise the risk of Type 2 diabetes by 19 percent. Eating just 50 grams a day of processed meat — one hot dog or sausage, for example, or a little more than two strips of bacon — increased the risk 51 percent. In addition to bacon and sausage, processed meats include deli and luncheon meats, among them salami, bologna and ham.

But the researchers then decided to see what would happen if a person who regularly ate red meat limited consumption of it, a measure advocated by many health officials as well as environmentalists. Using mathematical models, the researchers calculated the benefits of replacing one serving of meat with nuts and found it resulted in a 21 percent lower risk of Type 2 diabetes. Choosing a serving of Greek yogurt or another low-fat dairy product over red meat decreased the risk 17 percent, and whole grains reduced the risk by 23 percent. Even substituting poultry or fish for red meat lowered the risk of developing diabetes.

Dr. Frank Hu, a professor of nutrition and epidemiology at the Harvard School of Public Health and an author of the study, said the results should send a clear message that Americans need to reduce their intake of red meat.

“It’s a very important message, given that diabetes is rising very rapidly and consumption of red meat, including both processed and unprocessed, is very high,” he said. “We’re talking about switching from a meat-centered diet to a more plant-based diet for the prevention of diabetes and other chronic diseases.”

Across the United States, more than 11 percent of adults, or about 25 million people, have diabetes, many the Type 2 form linked to diet, obesity and inactivity. According to the United States Department of Agriculture’s most recent statistics, the average American eats more than 100 pounds of red meat every year.

Dr. Hu said he would recommend that the average person eat no more than one serving of processed meat a week and limit unprocessed red meat to two or three servings a week. “I think that’s the level that above which it appears to be associated with a substantially increased risk,” he said.

Other studies have linked red meat consumption to heart disease and Type 2 diabetes, but most have focused primarily on processed meat, had relatively small sample sizes or looked at men and women separately. Another question that has plagued previous studies was whether meat was in fact a hazard or whether other less than healthful habits associated with a high meat intake — like smoking, less exercise and a greater body mass index — were the real culprits.

In the current study, the researchers did find that people who ate more red meat were more likely to smoke and avoid physical activity. They also tended to eat more calories over all and had higher B.M.I.’s. But even after adjusting for all of those factors, an elevated risk involving red meat intake and Type 2 diabetes remained.

So what is it about red meat that could cause the connection?

The authors proposed several theories. For one, processed meat contains high amounts of sodium and chemical preservatives like nitrates, which can damage cells in the pancreas involved in the production of insulin. Red meat in general also has high levels of a type of iron called heme that, when consumed in high amounts, can increase oxidative stress and lead to chronic inflammation, which can also affect insulin production.

Dr. Hu said the simple fact that people who eat a lot of red meat tend to gain more weight was also a factor, since obesity and Type 2 diabetes are intertwined.

“But even after adjusting for B.M.I. we still showed a significantly elevated risk,” he said, “so it means that the greater risk goes beyond the obesity link.”

Hit-and-run driver sought in death of San Pedro man, 75

Police are seeking the public's help in finding a driver who struck and killed a 75-year-old man in San Pedro over the weekend.

Chong Min was crossing at the corner of Third and Mesa streets when a white minivan hit him, Los Angeles police said.

The driver drove away, police said. Min died from his injuries.

LAPD Officer Rosario Herrera said police did not have a description of the driver, but believed the car continued westbound on Third Street after the collision Saturday at 7 p.m. Anyone with information is asked to call investigators at (323) 421-2500.

-- Robert Faturechi

Teen trapped in sand tunnel thanks his rescuers

Teen trapped in Newport Beach sand tunnel thanks rescuers

A Virginia teenager who was rescued from under seven feet of sand met with about 15 of the Newport Beach firefighters and lifeguards Tuesday who helped save him last week.

Matt Mina, 17, of Charlottesville, visited the Lido Station to meet with his rescuers and, as a show of thanks, handed out a batch of almond-crusted cookies, the Daily Pilot reported.

On Aug. 3, firefighters and lifeguards helped pull Mina out of the sand after a tunnel he was digging near the 54th Street beach caved in and left him buried alive for about 30 minutes.

Mina, who is visiting his aunt in Orange while on summer vacation, echoed warnings issued by firefighters since the accident for beach visitors not to dig tunnels or holes in the sand more than waist-deep.

"It's kind of deadly," Mina said.

At the firehouse Tuesday morning, he described the harrowing experience of being trapped beneath the sand. When he tried to move, he recalled, the sand compressed around him, creating a straitjacket-like feeling.

Since the incident, Mina said he has "enjoyed things more."

Firefighters and lifeguards marveled that the teen emerged relatively unscathed. He was discharged from Hoag Hospital three hours after being admitted because of soreness.

About 50 firefighters were on the scene after the sand tunnel collapsed, said Division Chief Ralph Restadius.

"I'm very grateful to see Matt standing here today," said Battalion Chief Jeff Boyles. "It all worked out in this case."

The incident hasn't turned Mina off to California, though he said he probably wouldn't be digging more holes any time soon.

"I kind of like California," Mina said. "I went to the beach the next day."

RELATED:

2 teens hurt in beach tunnel collapse near Santa Cruz

'I thought I was going to die,' says teen trapped in sand tunnel

-- Lauren Williams, Times Community News

Photo: Matt Mina, 17, right, shakes hands with Blaine Fletcher, a Newport Beach lifeguard who was one of the first rescue personnel to arrive after a hole Mina was digging collapsed on him. Credit: Scott Smelter / Daily Pilot

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