Suspicious backpack found on bus in Koreatown; man held

A man was detained Saturday evening as sheriff's detectives investigated a suspicious backpack belonging to him that was found aboard a bus in Koreatown.

Passengers were evacuated from the bus near Vermont Avenue and Wilshire Boulevard as detectives with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Arson/Explosives Detail arrived about 6 p.m., said Lt. Kimberly Unland.

Red Line and Purple Line trains bypassed the Wilshire/Vermont subway station, and buses made detours around the intersection as a precaution.

No other details were immediately available.

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FULL COVERAGE: Southern California blackout

Arizona power company baffled by events that led to outage

Power company employee caused massive blackout, utility says

-- Tony Barboza

Map shows the intersection near which bus passengers were evacuated. Credit: Mapping L.A.

Red-light camera ban approved in Laguna Niguel

Laguna Niguel has voted to ban red-light cameras in the city.

The city has never installed the system, but it has been evaluated from time to time, City Manager Tim Casey said.

"We've never really felt compelled to recommend consideration or installation," Casey said in a phone interview. "[The purpose of] this particular ordinance was to adopt a stronger position that we don't think these types of systems are appropriate or necessary in Laguna Niguel."

A future repeal of the prohibition would require two steps by the City Council and would give the public opportunity for input, according to the Coastline Pilot.

The ordinance will be officially adopted at the Sept. 20 meeting.

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FULL COVERAGE: Southern California blackout

Arizona power company baffled by events that led to outage

Power company employee caused massive blackout, utility says

-- Joanna Clay, Times Community News

Flash flooding closes lanes on 14 Freeway

Flash flooding caused by a thunderstorm closed some roadways Saturday afternoon in northern Los Angeles County's Antelope Valley, authorities said.

Two lanes of the southbound 14 Freeway near Avenue S in Palmdale were closed about 3:30 p.m. after the roadway flooded, said California Highway Patrol Officer Jennifer Connolly.

A freeway offramp near Soledad Canyon Road in Santa Clarita was also closed because of flooding, she said.

Earlier in the afternoon the National Weather Service warned residents of northern Los Angeles County that a severe storm moving northwest through the area could cause flash flooding, quarter-size hail and winds in excess of 60 mph.

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Weird weather reported across Southern California

Surf Dog Surf-A-Thon delayed by pollution due to San Diego blackout

Gang member threatened to stab boy, police say

-- Tony Barboza

Reader photos: Southern California Moments, Day 253

Me and my ...: Chad Hutson takes a photo of his son, Tyce, as he stops to look at his shadow on his first visit to Disneyland on Aug. 28.

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.

Severe storm warning issued for northern L.A. County

The National Weather Service took the unusual step of interrupting television programming shortly before 2:30 p.m. Saturday to warn residents of northern Los Angeles County of a severe storm that could cause flash flooding moving northwest  through the afternoon.

The announcement, heard over KABC-TV (Channel 7) and interrupting a football game between Penn State and the University of Alabama, warned residents that the storm could produce quarter-size hail, cloud-to-surface lightning and winds in excess of 60 mph.

The warning urged residents of the northern county, particularly in the area of Acton and Quartz Hill, to stay inside, preferably in buildings with strong walls.

-- Sam Quinones

 

Needles boy drowns in Colorado River

The body of a 16-year-old Needles boy was pulled from the Colorado River on Saturday morning after he and three others jumped from a bridge into the river 12 hours earlier.

A San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department report identified the victim as  Andrew McShane.

Andrew and three others were seen jumping off the K Street Bridge into the river about 9:35 p.m. Friday.

The three others surfaced and swam to safety. Andrew, however, had difficulty swimming and didn’t make it to the riverbank, according to the sheriff’s report.

The Sheriff’s Dive Team and Marine Enforcement Unit searched the waters until finally discovering his body about 9:40 a.m. Saturday.

No foul play is suspected.

-- Sam Quinones

Weird weather reported across Southern California

Weird weather continued throughout patches of Southern California Saturday.

In Corona, firefighters were responding to “numerous” fires caused by lightning, said an 911 dispatcher.

By late morning, a thunderstorm had moved through Woodland Hills, with high winds and hail. The National Weather Service warned the storm was accompanied by frequent dangerous lightning.

Meanwhile, the NWS had issued a flash-flood watch through late Saturday in the Antelope Valley, as well as in the mountains in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties, due to another slow-moving thunderstorm, which was dropping as much as 2 inches of rain an hour.

Earlier Saturday, a storm cell moved through northern Orange County bringing thunder and hail. Southern California Edison reported isolated power outages due to the storm in Westminster and surrounding areas are expected to last into the early afternoon.

Other areas, however, were seeing no inclement weather at all. In East Los Angeles, the annual Mexican Independence Day Parade went off with no weather problems. At the Los Angeles County Fair in Pomona, “it’s a little bit overcast, but other than that it’s normal,” said Leslie Galerne, Fairplex spokeswoman.

ALSO:

Tiger from San Diego Zoo kills mate at El Paso Zoo

San Juan Capistrano man charged in blackout altercation

Surf Dog Surf-A-Thon delayed by pollution due to San Diego blackout

-- Sam Quinones

Photo: Patchy clouds stretch from southern California to New Mexico. Credit: Associated Press

 

Storm brings hail, strong winds to L.A., Orange County areas

 


A fast-moving storm pelted northern Orange County with hail, thunder and strong winds Saturday morning.

As of 8:10 a.m., the storm was moving over Costa Mesa and into Huntington Beach, according to the National Weather Service.

"We heard the thunder and then all of a sudden we heard on the roof the slamming of the hail," said Costa Mesa Police Officer J. Horn. "They were good-sized hail –- like big shooter marbles."

The National Weather Service issued a severe storm warning and said the storm will continue moving north through the morning. The agency said other storms were forming near Dana Point and the southern Santa Ana Mountains and moving north.

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Man held in Southern California mortgage fraud case

Bail set for campaign treasurer arrested on fraud charge

4 men face murder charges in San Juan Capistrano jewelry heist

-- Sam Quinones

 

Photos: Top: Hail in Orange. Davan Maharaj / Los Angeles Times. Rain and hail in Lakewood. Credit: Shelby Grad / Los Angeles Times

San Juan Capistrano man charged in blackout altercation

A San Juan Capistrano man will face a charge of assault with a deadly weapon after allegedly attacking a neighbor in an altercation over a noisy generator during Thursday's electricity blackout.

Peter Quill, 45, was booked into Orange County Central Jail after the incident, which took place shortly before 11 p.m. Thursday in the 27000 block of Via Estancia, said Orange County Sheriff's Lt. James England.

Quill and the neighbor had exchanged words over the noise created by the neighbor's generator. Quill allegedly went to turn off the generator. When the neighbor confronted him, Quill allegedly hit the man with a flashlight, England said.

The neighbor was treated at a local hospital. Quill was bailed out of jail on Friday, England said.

-- Sam Quinones

 Photo: Peter Quill. Credit: Orange County Sheriff's Department

Tiger from San Diego Zoo kills mate at El Paso Zoo

 
A Malayan tiger from the San Diego Zoo on loan to the El Paso Zoo has killed her intended mate in what is being described possibly as a love-triangle between three tigers.

Three-year-old Seri killed the 6-year-old male Wzui.

Seri may have been jealous of Wzui's attention toward the 15-year-old female Melor, according to media accounts.

In June, a zoo news release noted friction between the three tigers: "The male tiger Wzui likes both females, but the two females don't like each other."

Seri reportedly grabbed Wzui's neck in her jaws on Thursday and bit down. By the time keepers were on scene, Wzui was dead.

Seri was born at the San Diego Zoo in April 2008 and sent to the El Paso Zoo in July 2010 for breeding.

"Wzui will be greatly missed," said El Paso Zoo Director Steve Marshall.

The Malayan tiger is a subspecies of tiger found in the Malay Peninsula and is considered an endangered species.

ALSO:

Man held in Southern California mortgage fraud case

Bail set for campaign treasurer arrested on fraud charge

4 men face murder charges in San Juan Capistrano jewelry heist

-- Tony Perry in San Diego

Photo: Tiger Wuzi was killed by his mate Thursday at the El Paso Zoo. Credit: Associated Press 

Surf Dog Surf-A-Thon delayed by pollution due to San Diego blackout

 
The sixth annual Surf Dog Surf-A-Thon, which had been set for Sunday at Dog Beach in Del Mar, has been postponed because of water pollution caused by the recent massive power blackout, organizers announced.

Billed as the largest such event in the U.S., the Surf-A-Thon was to feature such well-known surf dogs as Riccochet, Nany, Dozer and Buddy, along with the ever-popular Beach Bum Bikini Babe Canine Costume Contest.

The annual event is a fundraiser for the Helen Woodward Animal Center in Rancho Santa Fe.

The event, presented by the pet-food company Eukanuba, is being rescheduled for Sept. 25. For information, visit Surfdog.kintera.org, or call (858) 756-4117 Ext. 312.

Buddy, a 13-year-old Jack Russell Terrier from Ventura, is set to become the first inductee into the Surf Dog Hall of Fame at the rescheduled event.

-- Tony Perry in San Diego

Photo: Two San Diego dogs, Abbie G, left, and Nani, at a surf dog contest in Huntington Beach in 2009. Credit: Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times

 

Secluded park threatened with closure

Seclusion is threating Henry W. Coe State Park near Gilroy.

Light visitation and low revenues have made California's second-largest park a target in the state's budget battles.

In May, California officials announced plans to close this rugged expanse and 69 other state parks by next summer to save $22 million, leaving volunteer groups scrambling to raise funds and forge agreements to keep them open.

Shutting down one-quarter of its park system, a move long threatened but never carried out in the state's history, has exposed a maze of obstacles and complications.

Park boosters around the state say abandoning the properties creates logistical headaches that could undermine the small savings the plan will bring, so they are working feverishly to keep them as accessible as possible. Read the full story on the park cuts.

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Texas wildfires: Is drought the new climate?

Climate change: Drought, floods, tornadoes part of 'new normal'?

Is nature doing what the climate models predict?

--Tony Barboza

Home owned by Jack Nicholson badly damaged in fire

 

Jack Nicholson was renting out a home that caught fire Friday night in the Hollywood Hills, injuring two firefighters.

The fire broke out in a two-story, single-family home in the 7300 block of Woodrow Wilson Drive about 7:55 p.m., said Matt Spence of the Los Angeles Fire Department.

About 85 firefighters responded to the blaze. Spence said the extent of injuries to the two firefighters was unclear.

It took crews a little more than 90 minutes to knock down the flames at what Spence described as a "large" home, and firefighters struggled to ensure that it did not spread to brush near the house, Spence said.

“It was tricky, just because of where it was, on a hillside, dark, windy roads, a lot of brush,” he said, adding that “it’s extremely dark up there.”

KTLA News reported that the actor is listed as the owner, but he does not live there. The station said he was renting it out to two other actors.

CAPE CANAVERAL, FLA. (CNN) -- After a couple of weather delays, NASA finally launched its moon research mission Saturday morning.

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Man held in Southern California mortgage fraud case

Bail set for campaign treasurer arrested on fraud charge

4 men face murder charges in San Juan Capistrano jewelry heist

-- Ari B. Bloomekatz

Photo: KTLA-TV

Squirrel causes power surge, Burbank to pay man for damage

A judge this week ruled in favor of a man who filed a claim against the city of Burbank for an incident in which a squirrel chewed on aluminum wiring, causing a power surge that damaged electrical equipment.

After a hearing on Wednesday in the Glendale courthouse, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Laura Matz granted Jon Buxer his entire claim — $1,745, plus $50 for additional costs incurred.

On April 14, 2010, a squirrel chomped through an electrical grounding wire that runs from a power pole to a Buxer's house, which triggered a power surge that damaged electrical equipment inside the Lincoln Street home.

The animal wasn’t electrocuted because the grounding wire doesn’t carry electricity. But when that wire is severed, it can cause a surge of energy in the wires that do supply power, damaging appliances, according to the Glendale News-Press.

It is the second time Buxer has taken the city to court over squirrel-related electrical damages inside the house he owns in the 900 block of North Lincoln Street.

A similar incident occurred in 2009, prompting Buxer to file a claim against the city seeking damages. He later won the case in small claims court, but the city appealed. Buxer won the appeal and the city was forced to shell out $4,800.

ALSO:

Man held in Southern California mortgage fraud case

Bail set for campaign treasurer arrested on fraud charge

4 men face murder charges in San Juan Capistrano jewelry heist

-- Veronica Rocha, Times Community News

One killed in Harbor Freeway collision in L.A.

A motorcycle rider was killed in a fiery collision with a pickup truck on the Harbor Freeway south of downtown early Saturday.

The 3:45 a.m. crash, on the freeway’s northbound lanes north of Adams Boulevard, closed the freeway for more than two hours, according to a California Highway Patrol report.

The name of the motorcyclist was not immediately available.

CHP officers were investigating the possibility that the crash was caused by one of the drivers’ attempt to avoid a mattress on the roadway.

-- Sam Quinones

Storm warning issued for parts of Orange County

The National Weather Service has issued a severe storm warning for parts of northern Orange County Saturday morning.

The NWS was forecasting winds stronger than 60 miles per hour and the potential for quarter-sized hail as a storm cell moved through the area.

The storm was moving over Garden Grove and Westminster shortly before 8 a.m., the NWS reported.

-- Sam Quinones