Thursday, August 25, 2011

Main highway to Yosemite still closed as wildfire rages

Yosemite Road Closure
A main highway into Yosemite National Park remained closed Thursday night as a wildfire raged across timber and brush lands on both sides of the Merced River, officials said.

California 140 is shut down in Mariposa County four miles east of Midpines to four miles west of the Yosemite border, the state Department of Transportation said.

The blaze, called the Motor Fire, had burned about 1,000 acres and was moving up the north slope toward Trumbull Peak and a historic fire lookout tower, the U.S. Forest Service said. The blaze was burning in the Sierra and Stanislaus National forests. It was sparked by a motor home fire around noon near California 140, officials said.

About 300 firefighters were battling the blaze. Earlier, they were being assisted by an aerial attack that included 13 planes and helicopters, officials said.

ALSO:

Bryan Stow suffers setback, infections

Elderly man stung more than 400 times by bees faring well

Earthquakes in California more mellow than on crusty East Coast

-- Robert J. Lopez

twitter.com/LAJourno

Map shows area where California 140 is closed. Credit: Google Maps

Carson council names new city manager

David c. biggs The Carson City Council on Thursday night appointed David C. Biggs as city manager, a job that will pay $195,000 a year.

Biggs is currently serving as interim assistant city administrator in Montebello. He  has worked for a number of cities and was city manager of Tustin and Morgan Hill, near San Jose.

He served as assistant city manager of Redondo Beach for five years but served only a few months in Tustin before the City Council fired him in March.

Biggs’ three-year contract with Carson was approved on a 4-0 vote, with Councilman Mike Gipson absent.

“We are very excited about bringing Mr. Biggs on board,” Carson Mayor Jim Dear said. “Carson will certainly benefit from Mr. Biggs’ remarkable leadership and extensive experience in the different aspects of city management.”

The previous city manager, Jerry Groomes, resigned to take a job as director of the Southeast Economic Development Corp. in San Diego.

ALSO:

Bryan Stow suffers setback, infections

Elderly man stung more than 400 times by bees faring well

Earthquakes in California more mellow than on crusty East Coast

-- Jeff Gottlieb

Photo: David C. Biggs. Credit: City of Carson.

LAPD ends search for suspects in shooting of South L.A. officer

Photo: The scene of the shootout that left an officer injured in South L.A. Credit: KTLA-TV

Los Angeles police ended their search Thursday night for suspects in the shooting of a veteran officer.

Investigators were continuing to follow leads in the afternoon shooting in which an attacker fired a barrage of bullets at officers, striking one of them several times, the Los Angeles Police Department said.

Several people had been detained earlier for questioning in connection with the attack at Western Avenue and 66th Street. 

The wounded officer was hospitalized in stable condition. His name was not released, but police described him as a seven-year veteran assigned to the 77th Street Division.

More than 100 officers, clad in helmets and armed with high-powered weapons, conducted a search for suspects. Overhead, police helicopters circled low as some officers went door to door.

RELATED:

LAPD holds several people in shooting of officer in South L.A.

LAPD launches massive search for suspects in shooting of officer

LAPD officers shot at repeatedly by attacker in South L.A.

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

Photo: Shooting scene. Credit: KTLA-TV Channel 5.

Court rules Camp Pendleton Marine should stand trial for Iraq killings

Photo: Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich. Credit: Associated Press A military appeals court Thursday rejected a request that could further delay the court martial of a Marine from Camp Pendleton accused in the killing of 24 Iraqis in Haditha in 2005.

"Put simply, it is time to place this matter before a trial court for a verdict," said a decision handed down by the U.S. Navy-Marine Corps Court of Criminal Appeals in Washington, D.C.

The court rejected a request filed on behalf of Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich that it order one of his former military defense attorneys, now in private practice in Texas, to rejoin the defense team.

Wuterich's rights were not violated when a trial judge at Camp Pendleton allowed the attorney to leave the case, the court ruled. Wuterich "still enjoys the benefits of numerous other defense counsel, some of whom have been serving him for years," the opinion said.

Wuterich was the squad leader when Marines swept through three houses in Haditha after a roadside bomb had killed one Marine and injured two others. Twenty-four Iraqis, including three women and seven children, were killed by the Marines.

Of eight Marines charged in the incident, only Wuterich has yet to have his case resolved. Six Marines had the charges dismissed, and one was found not guilty. Wuterich remains on duty at Camp Pendleton.

ALSO:

Bryan Stow suffers setback, infections

Elderly man stung more than 400 times by bees faring well

Earthquakes in California more mellow than on crusty East Coast

--Tony Perry in San Diego

Photo: Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich. Credit: Associated Press

Baseball star Lenny Dykstra charged with indecent exposure

Lenny Dykstra Baseball legend Lenny Dykstra was charged with two counts of indecent exposure involving women who responded to housekeeping ads he had placed on Craigslist, authorities said Thursday.

When the women arrived to meet Dykstra, 48, he allegedly told them the job required them to give massages and then exposed himself, the Los Angeles city attorney's office said in a statement.

The charges stemmed from alleged incidents between 2009 and April, according to the city attorney's office. Dykstra is scheduled to be arraigned Sept. 7 in Los Angeles County Superior Court.

Raised in Garden Grove, Dykstra played center field and helped the New York Mets win the 1986 World Series.

In June, he was charged by Los Angeles County prosecutors with nearly two dozen felony counts connected to a scheme to get luxury cars and possession of cocaine, human growth hormone and Ecstasy.

The charges came a month after Dykstra was indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of bankruptcy fraud and obstruction of justice for allegedly hiding more than $40,000 in property that should have gone to his creditors, authorities said.

The  New Yorker magazine once dubbed Dystra "baseball's most improbable post-career success story."

ALSO:

Bryan Stow suffers setback, infections

Elderly man stung more than 400 times by bees faring well

Earthquakes in California more mellow than on crusty East Coast

— Robert J. Lopez

twitter.com/LAJourno

Photo: Lenny Dykstra in New York in 2008. Credit: Amy Sussman/Getty Images.

Vernon council adopts reforms as alternative to disincorporation

Photo: Vernon City Hall. Credit: Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times The Vernon City Council voted unanimously Thursday to adopt a series of reforms proposed by a state senator as an alternative to disincorporation, including doubling the city’s tiny and controversial housing stock.

Vernon still faces a legislative effort in Sacramento to dissolve it, but the vote during a special session of the City Council attracted a rare standing room-only crowd of city workers and business leaders.

State Sen. Kevin De Leon (D-Los Angeles) had been an original co-author of the bill, AB 46, to disincorporate the city, but this week withdrew his backing and instead proposed wide-ranging reforms.

His announcement came on the same day that Los Angeles County supervisors expressed deep concerns about taking over Vernon if the bill passed, noting the city’s large debt and downward financial trend. In its current form, AB 46 calls for the county to take over some parts of Vernon’s government.

Vernon has also received scrutiny for some of the salaries paid to top officials, including Eric T. Fresch, a former city administrator who made as much as $1.65 million in 2008. De Leon’s recommendations included a provision limiting salaries and benefits for senior officials.

Actor in Austin Powers film convicted of torture in rape case

Joseph Son An actor who had a small part in an Austin Powers film was convicted Thursday  of torture in connection with a Christmas Eve gang rape of an Orange County woman, authorities said.

Joseph Hyungmin Son, 40, was found guilty of one felony count of torture in connection with the 1990 attack, the Orange County district attorney's office said.

Son was initially charged in 2008 with multiple sexual offenses in connection with the rape, but the charges  were dropped because the statute of limitations had expired, the district attorney's office said. A co-defendant in the case was sentenced in January to 17 years and four months in state prison after pleading guilty to rape, kidnapping and other charges.

The victim was kidnapped and taken away in a vehicle as she walked her dog. The woman was pistol-whipped, repeatedly raped and allowed to leave naked with her pants tied around her eyes, prosecutors said.

Using the name Joe Son, he played the role of Random Task in the 1997 film "Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery" and had roles in other marital-arts films, according to the Internet Movie Database.

ALSO:

Bryan Stow suffers setback, infections

Elderly man stung more than 400 times by bees faring well

Earthquakes in California more mellow than on crusty East Coast

— Robert J. Lopez

twitter.com/LAJourno

LAPD holds several people in shooting of South L.A. officer

Photo: The scene of the shootout that left an officer injured in South L.A. Credit: KTLA-TV Los Angeles police have detained several people in connection with a shootout that left an officer injured with multiple wounds, law enforcement authorities said Thursday afternoon.

A veteran officer with the Los Angeles Police Department's 77th Street Division was hit at least three times Thursday afternoon when a gunman opened fire during a pedestrian stop at Western Avenue and 66th Street.

The officer was taken to a hospital, where he was listed in stable condition, the LAPD said.

The shooting prompted a large police search for suspects. The gunman fled north on Western, police said.

ALSO:

Bryan Stow suffers setback, infections

Elderly man stung more than 400 times by bees faring well

Earthquakes in California more mellow than on crusty East Coast

--Andrew Blankstein (twitter.com/anblanx)

Photo: The scene of the shootout that left an officer injured in South L.A. Credit: KTLA-TV Channel 5.

Southern California sizzles as temperatures top 100

Photo: Ivan Vera, 9, of El Monte, cools off in the streaming tap water flowing into Legg Lake at Whittier Narrows Recreation Area in El Monte on Thursday. Credit: Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times Southern California sizzled Thursday as triple-digit temperatures hit the region and a heat alert was declared in Los Angeles County.

The high temperature was 105 in Lancaster, 103 in Burbank and 104 in Ojai, the National Weather Service said.

Downtown Los Angeles topped out at 90 degrees. Along the coast, the Santa Monica Pier recorded a high of 71 degrees while Ventura was 75.

In the Inland Empire, Lake Elsinore was 108 and Riverside reached 104. Desert areas such as Thermal and Blythe hit 114 degrees, the service said.

The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health advised people to avoid heat-related problems and take advantage of cooling centers set up by officials. For a list of centers, see the department's website.

The National Weather Service said monsoonal moisture could spark thunderstorms Friday and Saturday.

ALSO:

Bryan Stow suffers setback, infections

Elderly man stung more than 400 times by bees faring well

Earthquakes in California more mellow than on crusty East Coast

— Robert J. Lopez

twitter.com/LAJourno

Photo: Ivan Vera, 9, of El Monte cools off in water flowing into Legg Lake at Whittier Narrows Recreation Area on Thursday. Credit: Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times

Officials renew attack on bees that stung 95-year-old man

Bees Authorities were preparing Thursday for what they expected and hoped would be a final -- and fatal --assault on a hive of bees that on Wednesday chased away an exterminator, attacked responding firefighters and stung a 95-year-old bystander repeatedly.

Louis Todero was walking in the 1700-block of Ruxton Lane in Redondo Beach when thousands of bees attacked him, apparently stinging him hundreds of times.

“He’s in the hospital but he’s doing fine,” said Redondo Beach Police  Sgt Phil Keenan. “He definitely had a decent immunity for bees. I’m not sure I would have survived.”

This time, the outcome is expected to be different.

First of all, a different exterminator is waiting until the evening when bees are less energized. Four police officers have been assigned to go door to door to warn people to stay inside and close all doors and windows. The street will be blocked off as well. And there will be immediate treatment for anyone who is attacked.

The target will be a two-story apartment building, occupied by a sizeable hive that could stretch from the roofing structure into the walls. The exterminator will work from the roof and the operation, if all goes as expected, should be swifter than the time it takes to warn people to stay safely out of reach, Keenan said.

It is “probable,” officials said, but not immediately confirmed whether the hive was home to the so-called Africanized bees that are known for responding aggressively when disturbed or threatened.

ALSO

 Shark fin ban in California clears key Senate vote

After 35-year ban, dogs are allowed back in downtown Santa Cruz

Shark sighting closes popular San Diego beach

-- Howard Blume

Photo: A sign is posted in a Redondo Beach neighborhood where a 95-year-old man was rushed to the hospital Wednesday after being attacked by a swarm of bees. Credit: Christina House/For The Times

$4.4-million settlement reached for San Gabriel Valley cleanup

Four companies have agreed to pay a total of $4.4 million in cleanup costs at a contaminated groundwater site in the San Gabriel Valley.

Aerojet-General Corp., Mammoet Western Inc., Time Realty Investments and Tonks Properties consented to the payments -- but admitted no wrongdoing -- under the terms of two settlements announced Thursday by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The money will help fund treatment of drinking water supplies tainted with the industrial solvents PCE and TCE and other chemicals, including perchlorate.

The settlements bring to $13 million the amount paid by firms that owned property or ran operations above the South El Monte portion of the San Gabriel Valley aquifer. EPA attorney Jim Collins said the government has claims pending against seven other companies, and expects to recover more than half of the $40 million to $50 million in total treatment costs. Federal and state agencies will pay for the rest.

The South El Monte groundwater unit is part of a much larger Superfund site, designated in 1984, that encompasses the San Gabriel Valley aquifer, which was polluted with industrial chemicals commonly used in the 1960s and '70s.             

 ALSO:

California acts to limit pollutant targeted by Erin Brockovich

Fracking: Monterey shale exploration draws protest

Report raises questions about EPA's 2008 perchlorate decision

-- Bettina Boxall

Wildfire shuts down California 140 near Yosemite

Yosemite Road Closure

One of the main highways to Yosemite National Park has been closed because of a wildfire burning in the region, officials said Thursday.

California 140 has been shut down about four miles on the east and west sides from Midpines in Mariposa County, the California Department of Transportation said.

Motorists are advised to use another route. For Yosemite road conditions, travelers can call (209) 372-0200.

Officials said the fire was burning outside of park property in the Stanislaus National Forest. There was no estimate on when the highway would be reopened.

ALSO:

Bryan Stow suffers setback, infections

Elderly man stung more than 400 times by bees faring well

Earthquakes in California more mellow than on crusty East Coast

— Robert J. Lopez

twitter.com/LAJourno

Map shows area where California 140 is closed. Credit: Google Maps.

Massive search for two suspects in shooting of LAPD officer

Map shows approximate location of the attack in black and recent crime reports in brown and red. Click for more details on the Times' interactive Crime L.A. project. Two suspects were being sought Thursday afternoon after a shootout that left a Los Angeles police officer with multiple injuries.

A third man was hospitalized after the shooting but it was unclear whether he is a suspect or a bystander, LAPD Cmdr. Andy Smith said.

The veteran officer, assigned to the LAPD's 77th Division, was shot at least three times Thursday afternoon when a suspect opened fire on him during a pedestrian stop in South Los Angeles, officials said. He was hospitalized in stable condition.

The attack occurred on Western Avenue near 66th Street when the officer and his partner pulled over two suspects, one on foot and another on a bicycle. Moments after stepping out of their black and white patrol vehicle, one of the suspects opened fire at close range with a pistol.

More than a dozen shots were fired, officials said.

The gunman fled north on Western Avenue. A second man involved in the incident fled south. One forced his way into a home on 71st Street and ran out the back door, said a source with knowledge of the unfolding search, who requested anonymity because he is not authorized to comment publicly.

12 to 15 shots fired at LAPD officers

Map shows approximate location of incident in black and recent crime reports in brown and red. Click for more details on The Times' interactive Crime L.A. project.

A Los Angeles police officer sustained at least three gunshot wounds Thursday afternoon when a  suspect opened fire on him during a pedestrian stop in South L.A., officials said.

The attack occurred on Western Avenue when the officer pulled over several pedestrians and one cyclist. As soon as the officer and his partner got out of the car, one of the men opened fire.

Authorities say 12 to 15 shots were fired. Two shots hit the officer in the chest but were absorbed by his protective vest. Another shot hit his wrist and  shattered his elbow.

Large swaths of the area were shut down during what LAPD Assistant Chief Earl Paysinger described as a "massive manhunt." One suspect was arrested but one or two others are at large.

The officer was rushed to a local hospital with what officials non-life-threatening injuries.

The shooting was reported at 2:45 p.m. near 66th Street and Western Avenue.

No other information was immediately available.

ALSO:

Baby dropped from parking structure dies

Rapper Game investigated in Hollywood nightclub assault

Jurors can consider lesser charge in gay student shooting

--Joel Rubin in South L.A. and Andrew Blankstein in Los Angeles.

Map: Shows approximate location of the attack in black and recent crime reports in brown and red. Credit: Crime L.A.

Reader photos: Southern California Moments, Day 237

Click through for more photos of Southern California Moments.

Stampede: A man pushing a stroller appears to be in the path of charging horses -- really, a mural -- at the Del Mar Racetrack in this Aug. 13 photo by Trung Nguyen.

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.

Surgeon General Calls for Health Over Hair

The United States surgeon general has a new message for American women: It’s O.K. to have a bad hair day.

As the country’s leading spokespeople on public health, surgeon generals often weigh in on issues of national importance like tobacco smoke and disease prevention. But when the current surgeon general, Dr. Regina M. Benjamin, visited a trade show in Atlanta this month, it was to talk about what has become something of a pet cause: Too many women forgo exercise because they’re worried it will ruin their hair.

“Often times you get women saying, ‘I can’t exercise today because I don’t want to sweat my hair back or get my hair wet,’ ” she said in an interview. “When you’re starting to exercise, you look for reasons not to, and sometimes the hair is one of those reasons.”

The problem, said Dr. Benjamin, is that many women — particularly black women, like herself — invest considerable amounts of time and money in chemical relaxers and other treatments that transform naturally tight curls into silky, straight locks. Moisture and motion can quickly undo the efforts, with the result that many women end up avoiding physical activity altogether.

The trade show where she spoke, the Bronner Brothers International Hair Show, draws 60,000 hair stylists, including those who specialize in the unique styling needs of black women.

“I hate to use the word ‘excuse,’ but that’s one of them,” said Dr. Benjamin, the founder of a rural health clinic in Bayou La Batre, Ala., on the Gulf Coast. “We want to encourage people, and also give women the ability to look good and feel good and to be empowered about their own health.”

As the titular head of the Public Health Service, the surgeon general holds a largely ceremonial post, but the job is not without its outspoken leaders and controversies. Dr. C. Everett Koop helped shift the debate over AIDS in the 1980s to respect for infected patients, and a decade later Dr. Joycelyn Elders came under fire for broaching the topic of teaching about masturbation.

Today, some question Dr. Benjamin’s focus on such a “niche” issue as putting health before hair.

“The role of the surgeon general is traditionally, and appropriately, to take on big issues,” said Jeff Stier, a senior fellow at the National Center for Public Policy Research, a conservative think tank. “I don’t know whether the surgeon general’s role is to engage in smaller issues like this. It strikes me as bizarre.”

Medical experts also note that grooming is only one of the many obstacles that can stand in the way of the treadmill. Juggling the demands of family, children and work — an issue that transcends race — can make an hour of cardio seem like a luxury, and by the end of the day, “many women are just plain exhausted,” said Dr. Pamela Peeke, an assistant professor of medicine at the University of Maryland and a spokeswoman for the American College of Sports Medicine. “I hear it from my patients all the time.”

But Dr. Benjamin and other researchers who study the issue say that removing any barrier to physical activity is crucial to the health of American women, and in particular black women, a group that has a higher rate of obesity than any other demographic. According to government figures, nearly 50 percent of black women over age 20 are overweight or obese, compared with 33 percent of white women and 43 percent of Hispanic women.

When researchers at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center in North Carolina sampled 103 black women from the area, they found that about a third exercised less because they were concerned it would jeopardize their hair. Of those women, 88 percent did not meet the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines for physical activity, which is 150 minutes of moderate intensity exercise each week, or about 20 minutes a day.

Dr. Amy McMichael, a professor of dermatology who led the study, said she had noticed over the years that some of her overweight patients would mention their hair when explaining why the gym was off-limits.

“Being an African-American woman myself,” she said, “I have to go through those same trials and tribulations when I exercise, so I started to realize that this is probably a barrier for many women.”

Dr. Benjamin, whose mother was a hairstylist, has visited the Bronner Brothers show two years in a row. She notes that studies have shown that black men and women are more likely to see a doctor and pay attention to their health when prodded by their barbers and hairdressers, and she sees hair stylists as health ambassadors of sorts.

“When they have that customer in their chair they build up a rapport with them, they build up a trust,” she said. “We want them talking about health issues.”

As surgeon general, Dr. Benjamin has introduced new fitness initiatives, released a report on tobacco smoke and unveiled a new icon to replace the old food pyramid. But it’s her unusual stance on hair and health that is likely to garner the most attention.

“It’s not just African-American women,” she said. ” I’ve talked to a number of people, and I saw it with my older white patients too. They would say, ‘I get my hair done every week and I don’t want to mess up my hair.’”

Dr. Rebecca Alleyne, a breast cancer surgeon in Los Angeles, said she ran, cycled or swam six days a week until a year and a half ago, when she stopped wearing hair extensions, which required little maintenance, and began pressing her hair.

“I noticed I would stop for two or three days when I got it pressed,” she said. “The barrier for me was the $60 and two-and-a-half-hour investment in a hair salon that kept me wanting to preserve my hairstyle.”

Within six weeks, she said, she had gained five pounds. She eventually switched to wearing her hair naturally.

Jackie Gordon, 47, an executive secretary at a predominantly white law firm in Columbus, Ohio, started relaxing her hair as a teenager. Her firm grants longer breaks to those who visit the building gym, but Ms. Gordon does not join her colleagues for their lunchtime spin classes.

“It’s just too much of an effort to take care of my hair afterward,” she said. “When I tell them, I see the underlying look: ‘You’re just making excuses, you’re lazy,’” she said.

“I have to blow-dry my hair and then curl it. At a minimum that’s another good hour,” she said. “Other women at the office can wash and let their hair dry naturally. If I do that without a relaxer in my hair, it will look like an Afro.”

Annual L.A. Greek Fest is called off

Getprev Just five miles south of Sunset Junction, where a street festival was recently canceled, another classic summer event is being called off this year: the L.A. Greek Fest.

Usually held the first weekend in September, the three-day festival draws up to 40,000 people to St. Sophia Greek Orthodox Cathedral on Normandie Avenue just south of Pico Boulevard.

The event is a fusion of Greek and Latino food and music and has grown in popularity.

But this year, a community center is being built on the church's property and the festival would interrupt construction too much, said festival director Ted Pastras.

Renting restrooms, a kitchen and other infrastructure that the old community center used to provide was also too costly, he said.

"We really tried to find a way around it, but it just didn't work out," Pastras said, adding that next year, the event will return for the 13th time.

The community center, set to be completed in December, will also offer a mix of programs for the surrounding neighborhoods.

ALSO:

Coachella police shoot and kill dog after it attacks two young girls

Bryan Stow suffers setback, infections

Angry bees in Redondo Beach stung man 400 times, police believe

--Esmeralda Bermudez

Photo: St. Sophia. Credit: Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times

Man convicted in triple murder gets chance to prove innocence

A federal appeals court has given a Modesto man convicted of a triple-murder arson a chance not only to prove his innocence but to present evidence of alleged incompetent legal representation and jury misconduct.

George Souliotes, 70, received a life sentence after being convicted of setting a fire in 1997 that killed his tenants, Michelle Jones and her two children, Daniel Jr. and Amanda. The fire occurred at a time when Souliotes was in the process of evicting the Jones family.

Prosecutors contended that Souliotes was in debt and set the blaze to obtain insurance money. But Santa Clara University's Northern California Innocence Project maintained the conviction was based on inaccurate and outdated fire science and faulty eye witness testimony.

A trial judge had blocked Souliotes' appeal because his lawyers missed a legal deadline by five days. The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals later resurrected the appeal, but limited the kind of evidence Souliotes could present. A new order has removed that limitation, although a judge must still determine the scope of the evidence that will be considered.

Prosecutors during two trials, one of which ended in a hung jury, argued the fire at the small Modesto house was set with a flammable liquid and that its residue was found on Souliotes' shoes. A scientist years later showed the substance on Souliotes' shoes did not match the fire residue.

During Souliotes' first trial, defense lawyers presented 14 witnesses. During the second trial that ended in conviction, they summoned only one witness, and he had previously testified for the prosecution.

Defense lawyers presented the appeals court with a report from a former FBI agent who conducted a polygraph and found that Souliotes, a Greek immigrant, was truthful when he denied any involvement in the blaze.

RELATED:

From the archives: A conviction up in smoke?

From the archives: Man sentenced to life in prison will get to argue his innocence

--Maura Dolan

California Dream Act one step closer to reality

Gil Cedillo

A key state Senate committee approved Thursday a hotly debated bill to give college students who are illegal immigrants access to public financial aid in what supporters see as their best hope for success since the battle began five years ago.

AB 131, part of a two-bill package known as the California Dream Act, would allow undocumented students who qualify for reduced in-state tuition to apply for an estimated $38 million in Cal Grants, community college fee waivers and other public financial aid.

Versions of the bill have been approved since 2006 but were vetoed by then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger; Gov. Jerry Brown, who last month signed a companion bill allowing undocumented students to apply for $88 million in private aid, has said he would have signed the bills that Schwarzenegger vetoed last year.

Many undocumented students say the aid will be a godsend, allowing them to pursue their dreams of a college education. But foes call the bill a giveaway to illegal immigrants at a time of deep financial stress.

ALSO:

Baby dropped from parking structure dies

Rapper Game investigated in Hollywood nightclub assault

Jurors can consider lesser charge in gay student shooting

-- Teresa Watanabe

Photo: California Assemblyman Gil Cedillo (D-Los Angeles) smiles before the signature of his AB 130 bill at the Mather Luther King Library at Los Angeles City College July 25. Credit: Damian Dovarganes / Associated Press

California shark fin ban advances

Sharkfins
A push to outlaw shark fins, the main ingredient in a traditional Chinese soup, cleared a key obstacle Thursday when it passed a state Senate committee.

The bill, which would ban the sale, trade and possession of shark fins in the state, has been championed by conservation groups as a way to curb their harvest, a practice that has contributed to the sharp decline of shark populations worldwide.

But the measure has divided California’s Chinese American community. For centuries the gelatinous soup prepared with dried shark fins has been served as a pricey Chinese delicacy, and opponents say banning it would discriminate against a cultural tradition.

The bill passed the Senate Appropriations Committee on a 5-2 vote and now moves to the Senate floor, where a vote is expected within the next few weeks.

The California State Assembly passed the ban in May, 65 to 8, but it ran into obstacles in the upper house.

Chinese American restaurateurs and traders have lobbied against the ban. They are backed by several Chinese American lawmakers, including Sen. Ted Lieu (D-Torrance), who voted against the measure Thursday and has called it "an unfair attack on Asian culture and cuisine."

On the other side are conservationists, who are supported by some Chinese American lawmakers, chefs and celebrities, including basketball star Yao Ming. Tens of millions of sharks are killed each year for their fins and scientists say the fin trade threatens to disrupt ocean ecosystems. To harvest the fins, fishermen cut them off live sharks and dump them back in the water to die.

Assemblyman Paul Fong (D-Sunnyvale), a sponsor of the bill, was born in China and grew up eating shark fin soup but turned against it several years ago after watching a film about how the fin trade was wiping out shark populations.

“At this rate they're going to be extinct in our lifetime,” Fong said in an interview. “And without the top predator, our ocean's ecosystem goes into a huge imbalance and falls like a house of cards.”

“I'm proud of my Chinese roots, and our culture will live and survive without shark's fin,” he added.

Similar legislation has been signed in Washington, Oregon and Hawaii. President Obama signed federal legislation tightening a ban on shark finning in U.S. waters this year.

If approved by the Senate and signed by the governor, the California law would go into effect in 2013.

ALSO:

Interior department to hold big gulf oil lease sale

City Council not commenting on Laguna Beach access issue

Mysterious orange goo in Alaskan Arctic identified as tiny eggs

--Tony Barboza

Photo: Shark fins drying on a boat in Micronesia. The California Senate has moved forward to ban sale, trade and possession of the culinary delicacy. Credit: Associated Press

Fullerton police receive numerous death threats

Fullerton death

The Orange County district attorney's office has released a list of some "specific instances of threats" made against Fullerton police officers in connection with the death of homeless man Kelly Thomas after a struggle with six officers.

The district attorney's office and the city of Fullerton have so far refused to release the names of the six officers involved in the July 5 incident that led to the death of Kelly Thomas, although names of some officers allegedly involved have been published on the local blog Friends for Fullerton's Future. The city denied a records request from The Times on the grounds that releasing the names would "result in endangering the safety of the involved officers." Acting police Chief Kevin Hamilton said previously that the officers involved in the incident had received threats.

The district attorney's office compiled a list 18 instances that officials regard as threats in response to a records request from the Orange County Register.

Some of the items on the list included explicit mention of violence, including a call to the Fullerton police dispatch center saying "a bomb will go off in your place soon" and a voicemail message to the district attorney's office saying, "One of these days, sooner than you think, we're going to pull out the M16s, the AK47s and all the other little fancy weapons we've been storing away for years... and we're going to turn them loose on you ... cops." Another caller allegedly asked the police department to send "officers they don't want" to his home.

Other instances listed were more vague, including a voicemail saying that Fullerton police spokesman Sgt. Andrew Goodrich should release information about the case and "threatening that this is only the beginning and they should prepare to get ready" and another voicemail stating that "if nothing gets done about the murderers that work at FPD, something will happen."

The list also included a blog entry on the Fullerton's Future blog calling for someone to make the officers' contact information and addresses public.

The district attorney's office has said that the officers' names will be released when prosecutors decide whether to file criminal charges. 

The six officers involved remain on paid administrative leave. Police Chief Michael Sellers, who was facing calls from the public and two council members to resign, went on medical leave two weeks ago.

The O.C. district attorney’s chief of staff Susan Kang Schroeder said the office is investigating the voicemail messaged sent to their office that spoke of opening fire on officers with AK47s and M16s, as well as some other calls.

She acknowledged that some of the items included on the list did not appear to constitute direct threats.

“Some are more direct than others, but we have to look at them as a totality of all the calls,” she said.

ALSO:

Baby dropped from parking structure dies

Rapper Game investigated in Hollywood nightclub assault

Jurors can consider lesser charge in gay student shooting

-- Abby Sewell

Photo: A crowd gathers in front of the Fullerton police station Sunday to protest the death of Kelly Thomas, a homeless man who died after an altercation with several officers. Credit: Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times

Michael Jackson death: Judge refuses to sequester jury in trial

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/.a/6a00d8341c630a53ef0148c7fe6405970c-320wi

Jurors will sleep in their own beds during the upcoming trial of Michael Jackson’s personal physician.

A judge rejected a defense request Thursday for round-the-clock sequestration of the panelists, saying he was confident jurors will heed his warnings to avoid what is anticipated to be intense media coverage of the televised proceedings.

“I expect that the jurors will follow the high road and that means that they will not be in the receipt of or in contact with information regarding this case” outside the courtroom, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michael Pastor said at a hearing.

Lawyers for Dr. Conrad Murray, who stands accused of involuntary manslaughter, had argued for isolation of the jurors in light of opinionated television commentary of the Casey Anthony trial this summer.

The judge said jurors will be kept away from reporters in the courthouse and instructed often that reading or watching coverage of the case will result in serious consequences such as contempt of court charges, incarceration and financial penalties.

“I have tremendous faith in the jury system and in the individual promises of jurors,” he said.

Pastor said the cost of sequestration was a factor although not the determining one. Hotel rooms and other sequestrations expenses would set the cash-strapped court system back more than $500,000, he said.

After the judge denied the sequestration request, defense attorney Ed Chernoff said the judge should ban cameras in the courtroom during testimony to blunt the effect of legal analysts on cable TV.

The judge refused.

“Yes, in all likelihood there will be talking heads. Frequently talking heads are talking through other body parts,” Pastor said.

Jury selection begins Sept. 8.

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Baby dropped from parking structure dies

Rapper Game investigated in Hollywood nightclub assault

Jurors can consider lesser charge in gay student shooting

-- Harriet Ryan

Photo: DR. Conrad Murray. Credit: Los Angeles Times

Proposition 8 hearing will not be videotaped, judge rules

A federal judge in San Francisco decided Thursday that an upcoming hearing on Proposition 8 would not be videotaped because of objections by backers of the ban on same-sex marriage. 

The Monday hearing has been scheduled to determine whether videotapes of last year's historic federal Proposition 8 trial should be released to the public.

Backers of the 2008 ballot measure that ended six months of gay marriages in California contend that public release of the trial videotapes would subject their witnesses and others to harassment.

ALSO:

Baby dropped from parking structure dies

Rapper Game investigated in Hollywood nightclub assault

Jurors can consider lesser charge in gay student shooting

-- Maura Dolan in San Francisco

Fullerton police recieve numerous death threats

Fullerton death

The Orange County district attorney's office has released a list of some "specific instances of threats" made against Fullerton police officers in connection with the death of homeless man Kelly Thomas after a struggle with six officers.

The district attorney's office and the city of Fullerton have so far refused to release the names of the six officers involved in the July 5 incident that led to the death of Kelly Thomas, although names of some officers allegedly involved have been published on the local blog Friends for Fullerton's Future. The city denied a records request from The Times on the grounds that releasing the names would "result in endangering the safety of the involved officers." Acting police Chief Kevin Hamilton said previously that the officers involved in the incident had received threats.

The district attorney's office compiled a list 18 instances that officials regard as threats in response to a records request from the Orange County Register.

Some of the items on the list included explicit mention of violence, including a call to the Fullerton police dispatch center saying "a bomb will go off in your place soon" and a voicemail message to the district attorney's office saying, "One of these days, sooner than you think, we're going to pull out the M16s, the AK47s and all the other little fancy weapons we've been storing away for years... and we're going to turn them loose on you ... cops." Another caller allegedly asked the police department to send "officers they don't want" to his home.

Other instances listed were more vague, including a voicemail saying that Fullerton police spokesman Sgt. Andrew Goodrich should release information about the case and "threatening that this is only the beginning and they should prepare to get ready" and another voicemail stating that "if nothing gets done about the murderers that work at FPD, something will happen."

The list also included a blog entry on the Fullerton's Future blog calling for someone to make the officers' contact information and addresses public.

The district attorney's office has said that the officers' names will be released when prosecutors decide whether to file criminal charges. 

The six officers involved remain on paid administrative leave. Police Chief Michael Sellers, who was facing calls from the public and two council members to resign, went on medical leave two weeks ago.

The O.C. district attorney’s chief of staff Susan Kang Schroeder said the office is investigating the voicemail messaged sent to their office that spoke of opening fire on officers with AK47s and M16s, as well as some other calls.

She acknowledged that some of the items included on the list did not appear to constitute direct threats.

“Some are more direct than others, but we have to look at them as a totality of all the calls,” she said.

ALSO:

Baby dropped from parking structure dies

Rapper Game investigated in Hollywood nightclub assault

Jurors can consider lesser charge in gay student shooting

-- Abby Sewell

Photo: A crowd gathers in front of the Fullerton police station Sunday to protest the death of Kelly Thomas, a homeless man who died after an altercation with several officers. Credit: Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times

Two students capture spotlight at back-to-school event

The message delivered by L.A. schools Supt. John Deasy was the main focus of attention Wednesday in an annual address at Hollywood High School, but a pair of students captured the imagination of an auditorium packed with campus principals, other managers, officials, parents and guests.

First there was recent Millikan Middle School graduate Kian Farahbakhshian, 13, who gave the pledge of allegiance after first being acknowledged for making the highest score possible on the Advanced Placement biology exam, which high schoolers typically take to be eligible for college credit. He also aced a college-entrance exam.

Kian exemplified the high-achieving students that attend and depend on the public schools in L.A. Unified, the state’s largest school system.

Demitrius Furlow, 33, represented the huge numbers of struggling students that the school system is hoping to reach sooner and more effectively. Furlow listed six district schools he attended, without ever earning a diploma. About half of district students don’t graduate on track after four years of high school. Furlow hadn’t managed it after 14 years.

“I took a journey into darkness,” Furlow told the audience, “making one mistake after another.”

An Insurance Maze for U.S. Doctors

A former colleague from Canada who practiced medicine with me here in the States never hesitated to make one thing clear to me: He couldn’t wait to get back.

It wasn’t the cultural life that he missed, nor was it the ex-girlfriend I always suspected he pined for. It was the medicine.

“It’s different,” he would say wistfully, without elaborating. “Practicing medicine is just different over there.”

A study published this month in the journal Health Affairs made me think of my colleague again and offered one likely possibility for his return to Canada: There, he had more time to focus on his patients.

Researchers asked hundreds of physicians and administrators in private practices across the United States and Canada how much time they spent each day with insurers and other third-party payers, tracking down information for claims that were denied or incorrectly paid, resolving questions about insurance coverage for prescription drugs or diagnostic tests, and filing the different forms required by each and every insurance company.

Physicians in Canada, where health care is administered mainly by the government, did spend a good deal of time and money communicating with their payers. But American doctors in the study spent far more dealing with multiple health plans: more than $80,000 per year per physician, or roughly four times as much as their northern counterparts. And their offices spent as many as 21 hours per week with payers, nearly 10 times as much as the Canadian offices.

“The amount of time we spend on this is just crazy,” said Dr. Sara L. Star, a partner in a three-physician pediatrics practice in suburban Chicago. “But each insurance company has its own language, its own set of rules and specific contracts with certain laboratories, hospitals, physicians and pharmaceutical companies.”

And when those companies offer multiple “insurance products,” the convoluted coverage grid acquires yet another level of complexity. Each “product” comes with its own unique permutation and combination of authorization requirements, rules for claims and list of approved prescription drugs.

Large practices often choose to outsource the job to firms that specialize in wading through the labyrinthine rules and regulations. Some hire several nurses or administrators to work exclusively with insurers, with each specializing in the arcane rules of a single insurer. But most primary care providers in this country — clinicians who are part of practices with five or fewer physicians — cannot afford to pay for additional help. Instead, they must make their way through the thicket of insurers and rules by themselves.

The complicated task inevitably gets in the way of patient care.

A young patient complaining of extreme fatigue, for example, might benefit from a $40 blood test that could confirm infectious mononucleosis in 10 minutes. But a doctor cannot order the simple test without first checking with the insurance company to see if it is covered and if there are any constraints on where the patient’s blood can be drawn and the test run.

Tracking down answers often means phone calls with long periods on hold, digging up old patient information and even recruiting office workers to act as specimen couriers to other labs and hospitals in order to expedite results or save frail patients or harried family members the hassle of traveling to an “approved site” for a test or procedure. “If someone comes in with a sick infant who needs a test, we often eat the costs and draw the blood ourselves,” Dr. Star said. “We aren’t going to tell them to put that kid in a car seat, drive a mile to an approved lab, park, register, then wait in line.”

Even more confusing are frequent changes in health care plans, particularly regarding prescription drugs. Every week, payers send physicians’ offices notifications of changes in their list of approved medications, lists that run to hundreds of different drugs. The sheer volume of new information makes it impossible for doctors to keep up. “Physicians get into medical school because we can follow rules,” said Dr. Marian Bouchard, a family doctor who practices with two other physicians and a nurse practitioner in Bristol, Vt. “But none of us can or want to follow the minutiae of a hundred rules at once, especially when we are trying to be present for our patients.”

The authors of the study offer several recommendations to reduce the confusion and inefficiency of interactions between physician practices and payers. Not surprisingly, they propose simplifying the forms and procedures that add to costs without improving quality. “There are rules that really save money or improve patient care that health plans won’t want to change,” said Sean Nicholson, one of the study authors and an economist in the department of policy analysis and management at Cornell University. “But there are also a lot of things that don’t matter that they could and should standardize.”

The insurance industry, for example, could embrace a single set of universal standards to measure quality rather than the dozens that are currently used. They could adopt a uniform process of obtaining authorization for tests, procedures or consultations. And while widespread adoption of electronic medical records and changes in how doctors are reimbursed may eventually decrease some administrative burdens, the results of the study leave little doubt as to the costs now and in the foreseeable future for doctors and patients.

“We aren’t saying that we should go to a single-payer system,” Dr. Nicholson added. “But it’s important to know exactly what all the benefits of the current costs are.”

Coachella police shoot and kill dog after it attacks two young girls

A Coachella police officer shot and killed a dog after the canine attacked two girls and later turned on officers, authorities said Thursday.

The incident occurred about 7.30 p.m. Tuesday in a shopping center at 48th Avenue, according to the Coachella Police Department.

Officers were called to the venue after reports of a vicious dog, police said. When they arrived they learned that two girls walking on the sidewalk were attacked by what appeared to be a pit bull, the police said.

One of the girls, a 9-year-old Coachella resident, had “a serious leg wound caused by the dog,” according to police. Paramedics were called to treat the girl, who was later taken by ambulance to Desert Regional Medical Center in Palm Springs.

The other girl, aged 12, appeared to have minor injuries, authorities said.

Officers found the dog outside a nearby restaurant and attempted to contain it while awaiting the arrival of an animal control officer, police said.

“The dog attacked the officers, compelling an officer to shoot the dog with a handgun,” according to a police statement.

The canine was apprehended by an animal control officer and later died, authorities said.

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Baby dropped from parking structure dies

Rapper Game investigated in Hollywood nightclub assault

Jurors can consider lesser charge in gay student shooting

-- Ann M. Simmons

San Diego police officer killed in off-duty motorcycle accident

Blakeley 

An off-duty San Diego police officer was killed Wednesday night when his motorcycle collided with a pickup truck in the Palm City neighborhood, the Police Department said.

Christopher Blakeley, 26, a three-year veteran of the department, failed to stop for a red light while traveling at "a high rate of speed." The truck rolled over and passengers sustained minor injuries.

ALSO:

Baby dropped from parking structure dies

Rapper Game investigated in Hollywood nightclub assault

Jurors can consider lesser charge in gay student shooting

-- Tony Perry in San Diego

 

Immigrant rights activists arrested after entering L.A. federal building

At least six immigrant rights activists were arrested inside the Edward R. Roybal federal building in downtown Los Angeles this week after they entered the building and refused to leave, officials said.

The protesters, some of whom said they were undocumented students, were demanding an end to the Secure Communities immigration enforcement program, organizers said.

In addition to the group that entered the building Wednesday, nearly 200 supporters protested outside, police said. Some of them blocked a ramp used by immigration buses, organizers said. The arrests were made by the Federal Protective Service, which is in charge of security at federal buildings. Los Angeles police were also on scene to monitor the crowd, officials said.

The activists were arrested "after they blocked traffic through the building’s lobby and subsequently refused to leave the premises," said Department of Homeland Security spokesman Matt Chandler.

One of the protesters, Ruben Barrera, 17, of Los Angeles, said in a statement that his brother was arrested and then detained by immigration authorities last week.

Under Secure Communities, fingerprints of all inmates booked into local jails and cross-checked with the FBI's criminal database are forwarded to Immigration and Customs Enforcement to be screened for immigration status.

“People are afraid to do anything because it can lead them to confrontation with authorities and from there they can be booked and passed to ICE,” said Jesus Barrios, a spokesman for the protesters.

The protest was organized by the San Gabriel Valley and Inland Empire Dream Teams, which are made up of undocumented students and their supporters.

ALSO:

Baby dropped from parking structure dies

Jurors can consider lesser charge in gay student shooting

Slain couple stuffed in trash were dead more than a month

--Paloma Esquivel

Angry bees in Redondo Beach stung man 400 times, police believe

Af

Authorities believe Africanized honey bees swarmed around a 95-year-old man, stinging him more than 400 times, police said.

The incident occurred Wednesday in Redondo Beach.

"He literally got stung by thousands of bees," Sgt. Phil Keenan of the Redondo Beach Police Department told The Times. "Most men would have died, but he's taking it in stride."

Keenan said officials suspect they were Africanized honey bees, also known as "killer bees" because of how aggressive they were.

He said the man was expected to be released Wednesday evening from a local hospital. The bees attacked the man about 2:50 p.m. Wednesday in the 1700 block of Ruxton Lane. The bees apparently became agitated by a private fumigator who was trying to remove them from a nearby apartment building, police said.

The man's name was not released by police.

ALSO:

Baby dropped from parking structure dies

Rapper Game investigated in Hollywood nightclub assault

Jurors can consider lesser charge in gay student shooting

— Robert J. Lopez

twitter.com/LAJourno

Photo: Africanized honey bees. Credit: Associated Press

American Airlines plans to inspect jetways after 2 hurt at LAX

LAX jet way collapse
American Airlines said Wednesday night that it plans to immediately inspect all its jet bridges at Los Angeles International Airport after two people were injured when one of the structures collapsed.

The captain and a passenger on flight 557 were injured as they exited the Boeing 737 about 6:50 p.m. Wednesday, said airline spokesman Rhonda Rathje.

"They were stepping on the platform closest to the jet bridge," she told The Times.

It was unclear what caused the platform to collapse. Rathje said she did not know whether the airline or LAX was responsible for inspecting and maintaining the jet bridges.

"We're looking into everything right now," she said, "and should know more in a couple days."

The passenger and captain were taken to Daniel Freeman Memorial Hospital in Marina del Rey and were listed in fair condition. Officials said both fell at least 10 feet to the tarmac and complained of pain to their ankles, backs and necks.

The passenger was expected to be released Wednesday night,  Rathje said.

The flight, which originated in Boston and had a stopover in Chicago, was carrying 107 passengers and crew members. The plane was damaged and towed to a hangar.

Ian Gregor, a Federal Aviation Administration spokesman in Los Angeles, said the agency would investigate any damage to  the aircraft.

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Two injured in LAX jet way collapse

Two people fall at least 10 feet when LAX jet way collapses

Damaged aircaft towed to hangar at LAX after 2 injured in jet way collapse

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

Photo: Crews inspect jet bridge damage. Credit: KTLA

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