Monday, September 12, 2011

3-year-old killed, toddler, pregnant mother wounded in shooting

A man opened fire on the front porch of a San Bernardino home Monday evening, killing a 3-year-old girl and seriously wounding a second toddler and her pregnant mother, police said.

San Bernardino police responded to reports of shots fired at a house in the 1300 block of D Street at 7:46 p.m. Monday, according to San Bernardino Police Lt. David Harp.

The gunman apparently approached the house on foot, fired multiple rounds at the porch and struck the three victims before fleeing, according to San Bernardino Police Lt. Gwendolyn Waters.

“They were on the front porch, the children were playing, when somebody in the street opened fire on the front of the house, knowing those children were on the porch,” Waters said.

Man gets 25 years to life in murder of Torrance woman

Tony Lopez Perez was sentenced Monday to 25 years to life in prison for the 2009 murder of Cori Daye Desmond, a South Bay waitress whom authorities said Perez killed after she refused his advances.

Investigators said Perez, 37, of Redondo Beach, at the time the manager of a Santa Monica restaurant and with no felony record, encountered Desmond, 28, of Torrance about 2 a.m. Feb. 15, 2009, as she was leaving a Redondo Beach bar where she once worked.

Desmond's body, wrapped in plastic trash bags, was later found dumped in a snowbank near Highway 330 in the San Bernardino Mountains.

Perez pleaded not guilty to murder after his arrest in October 2009. He was convicted in July. The sentencing hearing Monday before San Bernardino County Superior Court Judge J. David Mazurek included emotional statements from Perez, his former girlfriend and Cori Desmond's father, according to Christopher Lee, a spokesman for the San Bernardino County district attorney's office.

In an impact statement Mark Desmond shared with The Times, he called Perez a "liar, rapist and murderer" and "the epitome of evil."

Assemblyman Feuer signals possible bid for L.A. city attorney

Assemblyman Mike Feuer

State Assemblyman Mike Feuer (D-Los Angeles) filed paperwork Monday to raise money for a possible 2013 bid for L.A. city attorney, 10 years after he lost a tight election for the office.

Feuer formed a fundraising committee for the office currently occupied by Carmen Trutanich, who is “exploring” a run for L.A. County district attorney in 2012 -- and who has already raised $500,000 for that campaign.

Feuer and Trutanich are both represented by campaign consultant John Shallman, who helped Trutanich win the city attorney seat in 2009. Shallman said Feuer opened the fundraising committee “on the assumption that Mr. Trutanich runs for district attorney and wins.”

He said Feuer will begin raising money immediately.

“Mike’s been strongly encouraged to run for an open seat and begin raising money,” Shallman said. “He opened a committee [Monday] for the possibility of a vacancy in the city attorney’s office.”

Feuer, 53, served on the L.A. City Council from 1995 to 2001, the year he lost his bid for city attorney to Rocky Delgadillo. He has been in the Assembly for five years, representing a district that takes in West Hollywood, Beverly Hills and an assortment of Los Angeles neighborhoods including Sherman Oaks, Studio City, Brentwood and West Los Angeles.

Feuer has touted his work on public safety and environmental issues, including a bill to reduce cancer-causing toxics in consumer products. Last week, he was one of several Assembly Democrats who voted to provide special treatment for real estate developer Anschutz Entertainment Group, which sought to have any environmental lawsuits against its proposed NFL stadium heard within 175 days.

Another likely candidate in the 2013 city attorney race is Gregory W. Smith, an attorney who represents firefighters and police officers who belong to the Los Angeles Police Protective League, the rank-and-file police union.

The league was a major supporter of Trutanich in 2009, spending nearly $745,798 to help him get elected.

Smith, who lives in West Los Angeles, has not filed any paperwork to raise campaign contributions but said he intends to run.

ALSO:

Murder-suicide suspected in Escondido deaths

Officials break ground on Santa Monica rail extension

Chatsworth train crash victims to be remembered in Simi Valley

-- David Zahniser at Los Angeles City Hall

Photo: Assemblyman Mike Feuer, center, in a 2008 file photo. Credit: Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times

Anna Nicole Smith judge was biased, prosecutors allege [Updated]

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/.a/6a00d8341c630a53ef0154333c309e970c-600wi

The judge who oversaw the trial over prescription drugs provided to late model Anna Nicole Smith was biased, acted arbitrarily and capriciously, and carved out a “celebrity exception” to state law, the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office alleged in papers filed with an appellate court Monday.

The prosecution’s appeal followed the extraordinary step taken by Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Robert Perry in January to dismiss all but one misdemeanor conviction from a jury’s decision finding two defendants guilty of conspiracy to obtain medications under a false name.

He said at the time that the verdicts against Smith’s longtime companion Howard K. Stern and psychiatrist Khristine Eroshevich were not supported by evidence.

In the opening brief filed Monday in its appeal of Perry’s ruling, prosecutors wrote that the judge had repeatedly expressed “antipathy” toward them throughout the trial, calling their case a “kitchen-sink prosecution” and accusing them of being influenced by the “celebrity nature” of the case.

“Having repeatedly and unequivocally expressed its bias against this case and the trial prosecutors, the court granted the new trial motions and dismissed the case ... because the court wanted to usurp the charging power of the People,” they wrote.

Prosecutors said evidence at trial showed that when Eroshevich wrote prescriptions for sedatives under Stern’s name to be given to Smith, the concern wasn’t for her privacy but to avoid detection by state authorities. Perry’s finding that Stern was concerned about Smith’s privacy and his remark that “there is a strong interest on the part of celebrities for privacy” was in effect “creating a celebrity exception” to the law, they wrote.

“There is simply no legal authority or medical practice evidence to justify an exception allowing a prescription to be written in anything but the intended user’s true name,” they wrote in Monday’s filing.

Bradley Brunon, who represented Eroshevich at trial, said Perry had been neutral during the trial and that the prosecutors' new filing was “another pathetic effort to get their way in the courtroom.” Stern’s attorney was not immediately available for comment.

[Updated, 7:11 p.m.: Late Monday, Steve Sadow, Stern's attorney, emailed: "As the lead trial lawyer for Mr. Stern and having spent three months in the courtroom with these prosecutors, it does not surprise me one bit that they would try to blame Judge Perry, a fundamentally fair and well-respected trial judge, for their failed attempt to convict my client.

"Any displeasure expressed by Judge Perry with the prosecution's case was not only justified but deserved. The evidence was woefully insufficient to convict and the trial judge showed real courage in rightfully exercising his discretion to ensure justice was served."]

Smith died in 2007 of an accidental overdose in Hollywood, Fla. A third doctor, her primary care physician, Sandeep Kapoor, was acquitted of all charges by the jury. The three defendants had initially faced a total of 23 counts of illegally prescribing and obtaining powerful sedatives and opiates for Smith.

ALSO:

Teen found guilty of murder in Melody Ross slaying

O.C. church official arrested on suspicion of child molestation

Thousands of female inmates in California set for early release

-- Victoria Kim

Photo: Anna Nicole Smith. Credit: L.A. Times

Two teens plead not guilty to raping two girls in San Diego park

Two 16-year-old boys pleaded not guilty Monday in San Diego County Superior Court to charges of kidnapping, raping and sodomizing two girls in a public park in the upscale Rancho Penasquitos neighborhood.

Leonel Contreras and William Rodriguez, their heads bowed during the arraignment, were each ordered held on $5-million bail. The two did not know their alleged victims, prosecutors said.

The two are accused of forcing the girls, ages 15 and 16, at knife-point to strip naked and then taking turns raping and sodomizing them.

The office of Dist. Atty. Bonnie Dumanis has decided to charge the two as adults despite their ages.

The attack occurred Sept. 3  about 8:30 p.m. when the girls went to the park after a family party.

The assault lasted 30 to 40 minutes, prosecutors said, and ended when the family of one of the girls went looking for her, calling her name. The attackers rode away on a bicycle.

The accused are in the U.S. illegally, prosecutors said.

Witnesses sought in Santa Monica beach assault

Still no cause in fire that destroyed Jack Nicholson home

No charges against men in 9/11 jet scare

--Tony Perry in San Diego

 

Anna Nicole Smith judge was biased, prosecutors allege

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/.a/6a00d8341c630a53ef0154333c309e970c-600wi

The judge who oversaw the trial over prescription drugs provided to late model Anna Nicole Smith was biased, acted arbitrarily and capriciously, and carved out a “celebrity exception” to state law, the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office alleged in papers filed with an appellate court Monday.

The prosecution’s appeal followed the extraordinary step taken by Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Robert Perry in January to dismiss all but one misdemeanor conviction from a jury’s decision finding two defendants guilty of conspiracy to obtain medications under a false name.

He said at the time that the verdicts against Smith’s longtime companion Howard K. Stern and psychiatrist Khristine Eroshevich were not supported by evidence.

In the opening brief filed Monday in its appeal of Perry’s ruling, prosecutors wrote that the judge had repeatedly expressed “antipathy” toward them throughout the trial, calling their case a “kitchen-sink prosecution” and accusing them of being influenced by the “celebrity nature” of the case.

“Having repeatedly and unequivocally expressed its bias against this case and the trial prosecutors, the court granted the new trial motions and dismissed the case ... because the court wanted to usurp the charging power of the People,” they wrote.

Prosecutors said evidence at trial showed that when Eroshevich wrote prescriptions for sedatives under Stern’s name to be given to Smith, the concern wasn’t for her privacy but to avoid detection by state authorities. Perry’s finding that Stern was concerned about Smith’s privacy and his remark that “there is a strong interest on the part of celebrities for privacy” was in effect “creating a celebrity exception” to the law, they wrote.

“There is simply no legal authority or medical practice evidence to justify an exception allowing a prescription to be written in anything but the intended user’s true name,” they wrote in Monday’s filing.

Bradley Brunon, who represented Eroshevich at trial, said Perry had been neutral during the trial and that the prosecutors' new filing was “another pathetic effort to get their way in the courtroom.” Stern’s attorney was not immediately available for comment.

[Updated, 7:11 p.m.: Late Monday, Steve Sadow, Stern's attorney, emailed: "As the lead trial lawyer for Mr. Stern and having spent three months in the courtroom with these prosecutors, it does not surprise me one bit that they would try to blame Judge Perry, a fundamentally fair and well-respected trial judge, for their failed attempt to convict my client.

"Any displeasure expressed by Judge Perry with the prosecution's case was not only justified but deserved. The evidence was woefully insufficient to convict and the trial judge showed real courage in rightfully exercising his discretion to ensure justice was served."]

Smith died in 2007 of an accidental overdose in Hollywood, Fla. A third doctor, her primary care physician, Sandeep Kapoor, was acquitted of all charges by the jury. The three defendants had initially faced a total of 23 counts of illegally prescribing and obtaining powerful sedatives and opiates for Smith.

ALSO:

Teen found guilty of murder in Melody Ross slaying

O.C. church official arrested on suspicion of child molestation

Thousands of female inmates in California set for early release

-- Victoria Kim

Photo: Anna Nicole Smith. Credit: L.A. Times

Autistic boy, 8, sought in San Bernardino Mountains

Joshua Robb A search in a San Bernardino Mountains community was continuing as nightfall approached for an 8-year-old autistic boy who ran away from his elementary school Monday morning.

Joshua Robb, whom authorities described as "severely autistic," was last seen on the playground of Grandview Elementary School in Twin Peaks, near Lake Arrowhead.

The boy, who has brown hair and dark brown eyes, was wearing a tan and gray striped shirt, black shorts and gray sandals, according to the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department. He is about 4 feet, 6 inches tall.

Joshua left the school about 11 a.m., and the search was launched soon after. Sheriff’s deputies, the California Highway Patrol and numerous volunteers were scouring the heavily wooded areas surrounding the school. A helicopter was also aiding in the effort.

Authorities had followed Joshua’s footsteps leading from the school, but failed to find the boy. Sheriff’s spokeswoman Jodi Miller said officials planned on continuing the search throughout the night, using infrared and night vision equipment.

Anyone with information was asked to call the department’s Twin Peaks station at (909) 336-0600 or (909) 387-8313.

ALSO:

Murder-suicide suspected in Escondido deaths

Officials break ground on Santa Monica rail extension

Chatsworth train crash victims to be remembered in Simi Valley

-- Victoria Kim

Coyotes at Glendale home will be trapped, killed, officials say

Coyote house

A pack of coyotes that has moved into a vacant home in north Glendale will be euthanized after they are caught, a Los Angeles County official told the Glendale News-Press on Monday, adding that the focus “is on human life.”

County officials will assess areas around Brockmont Drive this week to decide where to set traps to catch several coyotes that neighbors say have taken up residence in a burned, hollowed out home that has sat vacant since November.

Neighbors say they fear that the coyotes, whose pups have been raised on the street, could turn territorial and dangerous.

Once caught, the animals will be euthanized because they cannot be returned to the wild, said Ken Pellman, spokesman for the Los Angeles County Agricultural Commissioner/Weights and Measures.

ALSO:

Teen found guilty of murder in Melody Ross slaying

O.C. church official arrested on suspicion of child molestation

Thousands of female inmates in California set for early release

-- Mike Kellam, Times Community News

Photo: The abandoned house that neighbors say is inhabited by coyotes.

Credit: Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times

Beverly Hills, Santa Monica bail out beleaguered Bell

Bell city 
For a while, it seemed like nobody wanted anything to do with Bell –- least of all, work for the city.

Battered by a massive corruption case that led to criminal charges against eight former officials, the small, working-class town in southeast Los Angeles County had difficulty hiring administrators and even struggled to find a firm to audit its books.

But now Bell is getting some unexpected help from well-heeled towns like Beverly Hills and Santa Monica.

Those cities, and others, have agreed to lend top-flight workers to help the city right itself and dig out of a financial mess that has left Bell on the edge of insolvency.

Beverly Hills, for instance, is expected to provide Bell a management analyst and an IT analyst who will help update the city’s computer system and draw up new city policies.

The city of San Mateo, more than 300 miles north, has already sent a human resources director to help out, and in the coming days a temporary city clerk is expected to show up.

Santa Monica, meanwhile, dispatched its deputy police chief to help Bell’s interim city administrator, the second person to run the town since Robert Rizzo was forced out and subsequently charged with public corruption.

Rizzo, his former assistant and six former council members are awaiting trial on felony charges of draining Bell’s treasury by paying themselves exorbitant salaries and top-of-the-line retirement benefits and taking personal loans.

The help-Bell movement is being championed by the International City Management Assn. and the California League of Cities, organizations that were deeply critical of the city’s leadership.

In addition to the pro bono work from places like Beverly Hills, several retired government employees have offered to help the city at no cost.

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

--Ruben Vives

Photo: Residents gather in front of Bell City Hall last year to cheer the arrest of Robert Rizzo and seven other former leaders. Credit: Jay L. Clendenin

 

Fake victim faces prison in San Bruno explosion case

An investigator sifts through the remains of a home following the San Bruno pipeline explosion. 
A San Francisco woman will face up to two years in prison for posing as a victim of last September’s San Bruno gas pipeline explosion in order to receive benefits.

San Mateo County District Atty. Steve Wagstaffe said Niesha Taylor, 26, was one of a dozen people charged with falsely claiming to be a blast victim for financial gain. All were charged with felonies. She is the sixth to be convicted.

“We heard the stories that came out of Hurricane Katrina and it offended everybody,” Wagstaffe said. “These were similar in taking advantage of people’s tragedy. From the beginning I said, ‘We have no sympathy, no lenience for these people,' and we’ve maintained that the whole way through.”

The Sept. 9, 2010, blast killed eight people, injured dozens and destroyed 38 homes.

According to prosecutors, Taylor and her boyfriend, Deonte Bennett, told staff at the benefits center that all their belongings in their rental unit were destroyed and that they needed replacements as well as new identification and other services.

Tigers cubs, otter pups, Komodo dragon born at L.A. Zoo









And now for a few new faces at the Los Angeles Zoo.

Three male Sumatran tiger cubs were born Aug. 6 to the zoo’s female tiger, Melukakan (a.k.a. Lulu), according to a statement released by zoo officials Monday.

Sumatran tigers are listed as an endangered species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

The carnivores are found only on the Indonesian island of Sumatra and require dense vegetation to hide and hunt their prey. They have been threatened by the destruction of their natural habitat and poaching.

Lulu will be a single mom, raising her three cubs by herself in seclusion during the next few months, according to the statement. Once the cubs have matured, they will be allowed to enter the public viewing area, probably in December, the statement said.

As the cubs mature, their vision will improve, their strength will increase and their personalities will emerge. Video and photos of the cubs will be posted online week by week.

Other new arrivals at the zoo include two giant otter pups born July 10, on display at the Winnick Family Animal Care Center. Giant otters are exhibited in only five U.S. zoos and are considered and endangered species because of poaching and water pollution.

In addition, the zoo's female Komodo dragon, Lima, saw 21 eggs hatch between Aug. 3 and 12.

As the hatchlings mature, they will grow from a 1 foot to about 9 feet long, weighing in at more than 200 pounds. They were not on display this week, according to the zoo's statement.

Long Beach police shoot 2 dogs, 1 fatally, to stop attack on owner

Map shows approximate location of incident in black

Police shot two dogs -- one of them fatally -- after they attacked their owner at her Long Beach residence.

Long Beach officers were in the midst of an unrelated investigation at a residence near Willow Street and Bellflower Boulevard about 4 p.m. Sunday when they were alerted to the dog attack, said Sgt. Rico Fernandez.

The unidentified owner of the dogs was trying to put the them in the garage when they began biting her, Fernandez said. Officers first tried to use non-lethal force, but the dogs continued to attack the woman.

"Fearing that the owner was in danger of serious injury, one officer discharged his firearm to save her and stop the attack,” Fernandez said. “The dogs fled from the garage but remained a threat to the injured owner and the officers, and both dogs were shot by officers.”

The owner was treated for multiple dog bites. One dog was pronounced dead at the scene, and the other was treated at an undisclosed animal hospital.

ALSO:

Witnesses sought in Santa Monica beach assault

Still no cause in fire that destroyed Jack Nicholson home

93-year-old woman pistol-whipped, tied up in home-invasion robbery

--Andrew Blankstein

Map: Shows approximate location of incident in black. Credit: Mapping L.A. / Los Angeles Times

Reader photos: Southern California Moments, Day 255

Click through for more photos of Southern California Moments.

All that power: From a downtown L.A. vantage point, Eric Rios photographs a skyline of towering power lines Aug. 7.

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.

O.C. church official arrested on suspicion of child molestation

A bishop at a Laguna Hills church has been arrested on suspicion of molesting the young son of a congregation member, and investigators are questioning another possible victim.

Bishop Oscar Perez Perez, 68, of the Old Catholic Church, which is not part of the Roman Catholic Church, was taken into custody Saturday night at his home in Lake Forest after an investigation by Orange County sheriff's detectives, said Jim Amormino, a spokesman for the department.

Perez was booked on suspicion of lewd acts with a child under 14 and held in lieu of $100,000 bail.

Amormino said the boy, who is under 12 but whose exact age was not released, reported an incident in August to his mother, which led to the investigation.

Detectives also were interviewing a possible second victim and believe others connected to the congregation may have been molested by the bishop.

The Old Catholic Church holds services in rented space at St. George's Episcopal Church in Laguna Hills, according to Amormino.

ALSO:

No charges against men in 9/11 jet scare

Still no cause in fire that destroyed Jack Nicholson home

Statue in Cardiff-by-the-Sea adorned in fire gear in 9/11 tribute

-- Richard Winton
twitter.com/lacrimes

San Pedro woman who stabbed daughter gets 12 years for manslaughter

A woman accused of stabbing her 10-year-old daughter to death before attempting to kill herself, pleaded no contest Monday to voluntary manslaughter in connection with the death last year at Fort MacArthur military facility in San Pedro.

Long Beach Superior Court Judge Charles Sheldon sentenced Bong Sook Chavez, 51, to 12 years in state prison for the July 9, 2010, attack on her daughter, Quesi. Chavez entered the plea after prosecutors agreed to dismiss murder charges.

Chavez, the wife of a retired Navy reservist, stabbed her daughter in the neck about 2:30 a.m. as they lay in bed and then stabbed herself in the neck. Both were taken to a hospital, but the girl died several hours later.

The incident unfolded at Fort MacArthur, an administrative center and residential community for the U.S. Air Force Space Division.

ALSO:

No charges against men in 9/11 jet scare

Still no cause in fire that destroyed Jack Nicholson home

Statue in Cardiff-by-the-Sea adorned in fire gear in 9/11 tribute

-- Richard Winton
twitter.com/lacrimes

Chatsworth train crash victims to be remembered in Simi Valley

Metrolink crash

A day after the somber national remembrance of the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, survivors of one of the worst railroad disasters in U.S. history are holding a memorial of their own.

On Sept. 12, 2008, Metrolink 111 was scheduled to arrive in Simi Valley at 4:23 p.m. But the train crashed in Chatsworth, just a few miles from the Simi Valley station. Twenty-five people died, including the engineer who was later determined to be texting when he failed to stop at a warning light.

Relatives of those who died and some of the more than 130 people who suffered injuries will be on hand at Simi Valley’s train station Monday afternoon, marking the moment their loved ones’ train was to have pulled in three years ago.

Some of the survivors and their families are angry, frustrated that their medical bills exceed the money they are to receive in a settlement with Metrolink and Veolia, the French company that Metrolink hired to run the line.

“Some of the victims won’t get enough to pay their medical bills,” said Barbara Kloster, a Thousand Oaks resident whose son Michael nearly died in the wreck.

Michael Kloster has resumed his career as an audio engineer despite losing a kidney, his gall bladder, most of his spleen, and massive injuries to his digestive tract.  Even with his settlement of $7 million -- the second highest among those injured –- he’ll be $500,000 in the red, according to his mother.

A 1997 federal law -- the Amtrak Reform and Accountability Act -- caps liability damages for railroads at $200 million. That provision was widely criticized after the crash.  

Barbara Kloster organized this afternoon’s remembrance. She said there’s no formal program.

“We’ll probably just hug,” she said. 

ALSO:

No charges against men in 9/11 jet scare

Still no cause in fire that destroyed Jack Nicholson home

Statue in Cardiff-by-the-Sea adorned in fire gear in 9/11 tribute

-- Steve Chawkins

Photo: Investigators at the crash scene in 2008. Credit: Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times

Is SpongeBob SquarePants Bad for Children?

New research on children and television has put SpongeBob Squarepants on the hot seat.

Researchers report that 4-year-olds who had just watched the fast-paced fantasy cartoon “SpongeBob SquarePants” — which follows the undersea adventures of a yellow sponge — did worse on tests of attention and problem-solving than young children who watched a slower-paced educational program or spent time drawing.

Officials from Nickelodeon, the network that produces “SpongeBob,” dismissed the significance of the study, saying in a statement that preschool-age children are not the show’s intended audience. “SpongeBob” is designed for 6- to 11-year-olds, according to the network, which questioned the study’s small sample size of white middle- and upper-middle-class children.

The study, which appeared in the Sept. 12 issue of the journal Pediatrics, involved 60 children whose parents reported similar levels of television-watching and attention skills. The children were randomly assigned to one of three groups: one watched nine minutes of the cartoon, another viewed nine minutes of the educational program “Caillou,” and the remaining group spent the time with drawing paper, markers and crayons.

The tests were administered immediately after the children watched the program and were designed to assess what is known as children’s executive function, which underlies attention, working memory, problem-solving and the delay of gratification. The children were given tasks that involved following instructions, reversing the order of numbers and resisting treats.

“The children who watched the cartoon were operating at half the capacity compared to other children,” said Angeline S. Lillard, a professor of psychology at the University of Virginia and one of the paper’s authors.

She said the effect was not specific to “SpongeBob SquarePants” and has also been demonstrated with other fast-paced cartoons in which “there are lot of things happening that can’t happen in real life — magical things going on in totally new places, the bed catapults you out and you land in a lake wearing an astronaut costume — and happen in fast succession.”

“There is so much stuff that’s hard to assimilate, it might be disrupting the child’s thinking process, so they may not be able to grasp the messages that are educational,” Dr. Lillard said. “This suggests the brain is working very hard to register it all and gets exhausted afterward.”

Asked whether the fatigue might indicate that some kind of learning had occurred while watching “SpongeBob SquarePants,” she said the random and unpredictable nature of the cartoon was more likely to “disrupt the ability to focus rather than strengthen it.”

The study is one of the first to use a control group and randomization to try to gauge the impact of different types of television on children, and to look at the type of show rather than the amount of television watched, said Dr. Dimitri A. Christakis, director of behavior and development at Seattle Children’s Research Institute, who wrote an accompanying editorial.

“It’s important for parents to know that not all viewing is the same. It’s not just about turning the TV off, but about changing the channel,” Dr. Christakis said.

He noted that the study had “notable weaknesses,” including its small sample size and the lack of adequate blinding. In addition, the children were not assessed before the viewing and drawing, relying instead on parental reports.

But the findings, Dr. Christakis says, could have “profound implications for children’s cognitive and social development.” In his editorial, though, he notes that “there is a competing school of thought that the digital-native generation is becoming acculturated in ways that will make it well suited to the fast-paced world they will grow to inherit.”

Television viewing data show that Sponge Bob is watched by very young children. During the past 8 months, 1.74 million children aged 14 and younger have watched the show. Among those viewers, 39 percent were between the ages of 2 and 5, according to Nielsen.

The American Academy of Pediatrics discourages television for children under 2, recommending other activities like reading, playing, singing and talking with a child, and it suggests limiting older children to no more than two hours of total entertainment media time, preferably of high-quality programming.

“As parents, we often assume that if it’s a cartoon, it’s fine,” Dr. Rahil Briggs, a psychologist and director of the Healthy Steps Program at Children’s Hospital at Montefiore in the Bronx said in commenting on the study.

But she said the fast-paced fantastical sequences of some programs might actually prime the early childhood brain to “not be able to pay attention to something that is not so fantastic. You may be priming the brain to be almost A.D.H.D.-like impulsive.”

Venice guests use wrestling hold to detain burglar

VernonA suspected burglar at a Venice home was arrested early Monday after he was confronted by guests who disarmed him and took his identification before officers caught him hiding under a pile of clothes at a nearby house.

The Maine resident scaled a wall, climbed onto a roof and pulled off some "acrobatic moves" to enter a home in the 800 block of Vernon Avenue about 2:30 a.m. Monday, said Officer Jeff Bert of the Los Angeles Police Department.

The suspect took a laptop but was unable to make a quick getaway because of double locks on the doors, Bert said.

At least two guests who were in the courtyard noticed the stranger and detained him by placing him in a full nelson wrestling hold.

"These people were not going to be victimized," Bert said.

The man tried to slash the guests with a knife but was eventually disarmed.

Murder-suicide suspected in Escondido deaths

Two bodies found in burned Escondido homeThe deaths of two people found in a burned Escondido home were being investigated Monday as a possible murder-suicide, police said.

The bodies of the man and woman thought to be in their 50s were found in the master bedroom of the home on East Valley Parkway when police responded to a fire call Monday morning.

Each victim had died of a single gunshot wound to the head, police said.

Escondido is in inland northern San Diego County.

ALSO:

Witnesses sought in Santa Monica beach assault

Still no cause in fire that destroyed Jack Nicholson home

No charges against men in 9/11 jet scare

-- Tony Perry in San Diego

Photo: Two bodies were found in the burned San Diego County home Monday morning. Credit: Fox 5 San Diego

Expo Line to Westside enters second phase of construction

Expo Line 
Los Angeles city and county leaders will gather in Santa Monica on Monday to mark the start of construction on the second phase of the Expo Line.

The rail line will be the first to reach far into the traffic-clogged Westside since trolleys ran about 50 years ago.

Construction on the first phase of the line — which promises to take commuters 8.6 miles from downtown Los Angeles to Culver City in 30 minutes — began in 2006 with a price tag of $640 million, but that eventually jumped to $932 million.

The second phase has a budget of $1.5 billion and will continue 6.6 miles west to Colorado Avenue and 4th Street in downtown Santa Monica. Officials hope to have the full line open in 2015.

Chemotherapy for Dogs

When a beloved pet is diagnosed with cancer, many owners aren’t sure whether they should pursue aggressive treatments. John Rennie, the former editor of Scientific American, faced this decision when his dog was diagnosed with brain and lung tumors. He chose to give his dog chemotherapy treatment, an issue he wrote about recently in the online magazine Txchnologist. One of the surprises he encountered: chemotherapy, while it creates many challenges for dogs, is often less grueling than it is for humans.

The reason, however, is that they do not receive comparable doses of the toxic drugs. Justifying months of chemical hell is easier with people who might gain decades of added life. The tradeoff, of course, is that the dogs’ chemo is less potent.

During his previous eight years with us, our canine Rasputin had survived eating a box of chocolates, New York City garbage, some kind of wire clip that snagged in his intestines and a mouthful of rat poison. So it was no surprise that Newman took chemotherapy in stride. He continued to lead me on daily walks that went for miles, and his vigor and sociable nature held up well, pushing far past the early benchmarks for his mortality. Periodic checkups confirmed that the tumors in his lungs were stable or shrinking. It was easy to forget that he was sick at all.

But Newman was also undeniably (if ever so incrementally) slowing down, whether because of the brain tumor, the drugs or his own advancing age. He was sleeping more and walking less. Jumping and running involved more obvious effort.

To learn more about his experience with canine chemotherapy, read the full report, “Cancer and Dogs: One Pet’s Tale,” and then join the discussion below.

Man allegedly exposes himself to another child walking to school

A fifth potential victim of a man who allegedly exposed himself to an adult and four minors while on their way to schools in Fountain Valley and Santa Ana has come forward, police said.

John Rodriguez, 20, of Santa Ana is charged with one felony count of attempted sexual battery, five misdemeanor counts of indecent exposure and four misdemeanor counts of child annoyance, the Huntington Beach Independent reported, citing the Orange County district attorney's office.

A 16-year-old girl who was walking to school in Santa Ana on Aug. 11 said Rodriguez drove alongside her in his car and asked if she wanted a ride. The girl refused, and Rodriguez exposed himself.

The girl ran away and later reported the incident to the Santa Ana Unified School District Police Department.

The other alleged incidents occurred earlier this year. Rodriguez faces a maximum sentence of five years and six months in custody and will be ordered to register as a sex offender if convicted.

He was being held on $200,000 bail.

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-- Michael Miller, Times Community News

Really? The Claim: Fingers Wrinkle Because of Water Absorption

THE FACTS

Anyone who has ever been out in the rain too long or soaked for hours in a tub knows the prunelike effect it can have on your hands and feet. Conventional wisdom suggests it is nothing more than the skin absorbing water.

But a number of questions have puzzled scientists. Why do “wet wrinkles” appear only on the hands and feet? And why are the most prominent wrinkles at the ends of the digits? Surgeons already know that cutting nerves in a finger prevents the wrinkling, suggesting the process is controlled by the nervous system.

Now a paper in the journal Brain, Behavior and Evolution offers more evidence that wet wrinkles serve a purpose. Much like the tread on a tire, they improve traction.

In the study, an evolutionary neurobiologist and his co-authors examined 28 fingers wrinkled by water. They found that they all had the same pattern of unconnected channels diverging away from one another as they got more distant from the fingertips.

The wrinkles allow water to drain away as fingertips are pressed to wet surfaces, creating more contact and a better grip. Next is a plan to study whether pruney fingers are in fact better at gripping, and whether mammals in wet habitats are more likely to get them. Wet wrinkles have been confirmed only in humans and macaques.

THE BOTTOM LINE

Wet wrinkling may serve a purpose: better grip and traction.

No charges against men in 9/11 jet scare

No charges will be filed against three men who caused an incident on a Los Angeles-to-New York flight on Sunday.

The American Airlines flight was escorted by fighter jets into John F. Kennedy International Airport after the men refused to leave the bathroom, according to the FBI.

Flight No. 34 took off at 8 a.m. in Los Angeles and landed safely at 4:15 p.m. in New York. The incident is not believed to be related to terrorism, FBI spokeswoman Kelly Langmesser said. Agents are on the ground interviewing people and conducting an investigation, she said.

An air marshal was on board the flight and secured the cockpit when the passengers refused to exit the bathroom, Langmesser said. Law enforcement officials were notified and the plane was escorted during the last few hundred miles.

The men were questioned after the plane landed and released.

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Still no cause in fire that destroyed Jack Nicholson home

Fire At Hollywood Hills Home Owned By Jack Nicholson

Fire officials were continuing to investigate the case of a fire Friday night that destroyed a Hollywood Hills home owned by actor Jack Nicholson and that injured 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.

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.

Nicholson is listed as the owner, but he does not live there.

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