Tuesday, September 13, 2011

LAPD sets up perimeter, searches for parolee near the Venice Pier [Updated]

LAPD search area in Venice.
Los Angeles police were searching vehicles leaving an area along the Marina Peninsula on Tuesday night as they looked for a parolee at large in the beachfront neighborhoods south of the Venice Pier.

A perimeter had been set up in an area bounded roughly by Washington Boulevard on the north, Strongs Drive on the east and Pacific Avenue on the west, said Officer Karen Rayner of the Los Angeles Police Department.

Officers were searching vehicles to ensure that the unidentified parolee would not flee the area. It was unclear what caused police to look for the parolee.

The incident was first reported on Twitter by Venice 311, which monitors LAPD scanner reports in the area.

No other details were immediately available.

[Updated 10:59 p.m.: Some LAPD units had been released, but officers were still searching for the suspect who was wanted in connection with property thefts in the area, Rayner said.]

ALSO:

Good deed elicits a 'despicable' slaying

Missing autistic boy is found in San Bernardino National Forest

O.C. church official charged with sexually assaulting two 11-year-old boys

-- Robert J. Lopez
twitter.com/LAJourno

Map: The area being searched by the LAPD. Credit: Times Mapping L.A.

LAPD sets up perimeter, searches for parolee near the Venice Pier

LAPD search area in Venice.
Los Angeles police were searching vehicles leaving an area along the Marina Peninsula on Tuesday night as they looked for a parolee at large in the beachfront neighborhoods south of the Venice Pier.

A perimeter had been set up in an area bounded roughly by Washington Boulevard on the north, Strongs Drive on the east and Pacific Avenue on the west, said Officer Karen Rayner of the Los Angeles Police Department.

Officers were searching vehicles to ensure that the unidentified parolee would not flee the area. It was unclear what caused police to look for the parolee.

The incident was first reported on Twitter by Venice 311, which monitors LAPD scanner reports in the area.

No other details were immediately available.

ALSO:

Good deed elicits a 'despicable' slaying

Missing autistic boy is found in San Bernardino National Forest

O.C. church official charged with sexually assaulting two 11-year-old boys

-- Robert J. Lopez

twitter.com/LAJourno

Map: The area being searched by the LAPD.

Credit: Times Mapping L.A.

The terrible plight of cancer patients in parts of Africa


South Africa has cancer services but many other parts of Africa do not


We complain a good deal about the standard of medical care for cancer patients in the UK; about too few radiotherapy centres; about too many cancer patients being diagnosed late; about a lack of information, communication and referrals to support systems. All of this is true and we have a long way to go – but, just recently, I have been stopped short by two emails from a teacher in Ghana. Internet access is hard to find but, when he is at work, Alex can use the school computer – when it is available. By this means – in a desperate attempt to discover more about cancer and its treatments – he came upon my blog and wrote to tell me what is happening to his family and to ask why Africa has been forgotten when it comes to cancer medicine and care.


Alex and his family used to live in Liberia but moved to Ghana to try and find treatment for his sick wife – there was none at all in Liberia. Angelica has breast cancer and has had a double mastectomy but still no treatment. Why? Because none is available in Ghana. Unless you are able to buy air tickets – the price of which is equivalent to six months' salary – and seek medical care in South Africa, you have no hope.


Alex and Angelica have four children – Rose, 18, Rita, 16, Anita, 15 and Peter, 13. Needless to say Alex is deeply unhappy as he witnesses the children watching their mother living with constant, searing pain. Angelica cannot bear to see her children so upset and, because she does not want her children to remember her this way, she begs to die. She refuses to let Alex spend the tiny amount of money he manages to save from his salary of $103 per month, with an extra $20 he earns by giving private lessons, on her. In the past few years he sold everything he owned to try and raise enough money to "make Angelica comfortable".


The doctors have told Alex that "cancer cells are hereditary and that your children may have it". Screening is suggested. Alex says that "occasionally the government offers free screening" and he plans to take the children to the city where the only hospitals and doctors are to be found. However, he knows that when he gets there "the centre will not be organised and money will have to change hands". The few hospitals that there are in Ghana are not equipped to deal with cancer patients.


The high illiteracy rate in the country, combined with no health education, means that "People do not know all cancers. Most people think it is one and the same". Alex says that "Cancer has become so rampant in Africa – particularly those affecting women – that a lot of people carry the disease and die without knowing they had cancer".


I have no answer for Alex – but I wonder, are there any charities who might help Angelica? If you know of one, please could you email me on judith.potts@telegraph.co.uk and I will contact it on Alex's behalf. As Alex says, this is just one family's story – there are thousands of other African families in equally dire straits. Surely there must be some way of helping?


Alex finishes his last email with the words "If my wife's life is remembered through your blog, it would be a great honour".

No, Alex, it is an honour for me to try and help. It is the least I can do.



Brush fire burns 1,000 acres on U.S. 395 near Big Pine

Brush fire near Big Pine
A brush fire was raging out of control Tuesday night and had scorched about 1,000 acres of vegetation along U.S. Highway 395 near Big Pine, officials said.

The blaze broke out about 1:30 p.m. and was initially reported by the California Highway Patrol to be about 10 acres and moving north and west toward Big Pine.

A wind shift stoked the flames and caused the blaze to spread toward the south, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said Tuesday evening.

About 120 firefighters were battling the Inyo County blaze. Earlier, they were being assisted by four air tankers and a water-dropping helicopter.

The cause was under investigation.

ALSO:

Good deed elicits a 'despicable' slaying

Missing autistic boy is found in San Bernardino National Forest

O.C. church official charged with sexually assaulting two 11-year-old boys

— Robert J. Lopez

twitter.com/LAJourno

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

L.A. school board moves to include LGBT people in curriculum

Photo: LAUSD school board member Steve Zimmer. Credit: Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times The Los Angeles Board of Education on Tuesday approved a plan to include more positive images of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in lesson plans.

The move, sponsored by board member Steve Zimmer, comes after the state passed a law mandating that textbooks and history lessons include the contributions of gay, bisexual and transgender citizens.

The vote was 6-0, with board member Marguerite Poindexter LaMotte absent.

The resolution calls for including "age-appropriate" materials for elementary and secondary students in the nation's second-largest school district and giving staff safety and anti-bullying training.

Supt. John Deasy is expected to update the board within two months on how the district plans to implement the plan.

ALSO:

Shoe print found in search for autistic boy lost in forest

 Man gets 25 years to life in murder of Torrance woman

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

--Jason Song

Photo: LAUSD school board member Steve Zimmer. Credit: Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times

Irvine 11 attorney: Ambassador cut short talk to attend Lakers game

Irvine 11 
The Israeli ambassador to the United States cut short his appearance at UC Irvine last year not because of disruptions by Muslim students but because he wanted to attend a Lakers game, a defense attorney for the students said Tuesday.

The so-called Irvine 11 are accused of interfering with Michael Oren’s right to free speech by constantly interrupting his appearance as the students took turns reading statements as the ambassador tried to speak.

Those in the audience, prosecutors said, were in turn deprived of listening and interacting with Oren.

Ultimately, prosecutors said, Oren was forced to cancel a question-and-answer session because of the disruption.

But defense attorney Lisa Holder said that Oren could have stayed for a question-and-answer session after the protesters were led away but instead opted to go to Staples Center.

Orange County Superior Court Judge Paul Wilson denied Holder’s request to show jurors a photo of Oren posing with Kobe Bryant at the game.

Of the 11 UCI and UC Riverside students originally charged in the case, 10 are standing trial. The 11th student is performing community service that will lead to the charges against him being dropped upon completion.

The case had drawn attention because of its 1st Amendment overtones and the long history of student protests at universities.

Defense attorney Jacqueline Goodman said that student protesters did not break the law but instead exercised free speech in the manner of Rosa Parks, Cesar Chavez and the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., the very figures they learned about in their classrooms.

“It was disruptive,” Goodman said, “but not so substantial in a controversial political speech as to constitute a crime.”

ALSO:

Good deed elicits a 'despicable' slaying

Missing autistic boy is found in San Bernardino National Forest

O.C. church official charged with sexually assaulting two 11-year-old boys

-- Mona Shadia

Twitter: @MonaShadia

Photo: Protesters taped their mouths earlier this year to illustrate what they think is a 1st Amendment issue involving 11 Muslim students accused of disrupting a speech. Credit: Mark Boster Los Angeles Times.

3 firefighters struck by lightning while battling brush fire

Three U.S. Forest Service firefighters were struck by lightning Tuesday afternoon while battling a brush fire in the Los Padres National Forest, officials said.

The firefighters were in stable condition after being taken to a hospital, the U.S. Forest Service said.

The blaze broke out about 3:30 p.m. in the Mount Pinos Ranger District near the borders of Ventura and Kern counties as thunderstorms rumbled through the region, officials said.

Flash flooding and thunderstorms were reported Tuesday afternoon and evening in mountain areas from Santa Barbara County to the Antelope Valley, the National Weather Service said.

ALSO:

Good deed elicits a 'despicable' slaying

Missing autistic boy is found in San Bernardino National Forest

O.C. church official charged with sexually assaulting two 11-year-old boys

— Robert J. Lopez

twitter.com/LAJourno

Federal appeals court says teacher has no right to banners mentioning God

Banner 
A federal appeals court Tuesday rejected a claim by a teacher in the Poway Unified School District that his rights were violated when he was ordered to take down banners mentioning God.

Bradley Johnson, a high school math teacher, was ordered in 2007 by the school principal to take down the banners. He complied but filed a federal lawsuit.

Federal Judge Roger Benitez last year sided with Johnson. The banners, including ones reading "In God We Trust" and "One Nation Under God," are patriotic expressions deeply rooted in American history, he ruled.

But a three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday that the school district, like any employer, has the right to restrict the workplace speech of its employees.

Johnson is a teacher at Westview High School in the Rancho Penasquitos neighborhood of San Diego, part of the Poway district.

--Tony Perry in San Diego

 

Photo: Bradley Johnson and his classroom banners. Credit: Thomas More Legal Center, which represented Johnson in the lawsuit

 

Google News removes website financed by water district

Photo: Central Basin Water District General Manager Art Aguilar speaks at a board of directors meeting in Commerce. Credit: Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times Officials at Google News on Tuesday removed a website from its search index that had contracted with a local water district to produce promotional pieces “written in the image of real news.”

The move came in response to a Times story on an unusual agreement between the Central Basin Municipal Water District and a consultant affiliated with the news website, News Hawks Review. Under the deal the water district, a public agency based in Southeast L.A. County, paid nearly $200,000 to a consultant to publish positive stories that appeared as articles on Google News.

A Google spokesman said in a statement to The Times that News Hawks Review had violated its guidelines and would no longer appear in Google News searches. The spokesman did not elaborate on the specifics of the violation.

News Hawks Review had published more than 30 stories about the Central Basin in the last year on topics such as its recycled water system and legal battle over groundwater rights.

The website was part of a corporate communications firm under contract with the water district, according to agreements reviewed by the Times.

Central Basin officials declined to comment Tuesday. But in a previous interview, spokeswoman Valerie Howard said she did not find the website misleading, adding that it had helped bring more attention to the district’s projects.

Edward Coghlan, the principal of the firm that produced the stories, did not respond to an interview request.

ALSO:

Shoe print found in search for autistic boy lost in forest

 Man gets 25 years to life in murder of Torrance woman

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

--Sam Allen

Photo: Central Basin Water District General Manager Art Aguilar speaks at a board of directors meeting in Commerce. Credit: Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times

Flash floods force closures at Joshua Tree National Park

Park Route 11 Flood Damage
Flash flooding in Joshua Tree National Park Tuesday on tore up roadways and flooded parts of campgrounds, forcing officials to close areas of the park.

At least 3 inches of rain fell in the Pinto Basin and Cottonwood Spring areas of the park, officials said. No injuries were reported.

The Cottonwood Visitors Center was flooded, and parts of the Cottonwood Campground were washed away. The two sites have been closed to visitors, along with Route 11 between the White Tank Campground entrance to the south park boundary at Interstate 10, park spokesman Joe Zarki said in a statement.

All other areas of the park, including the popular Route 12 between Twentynine Palms and Joshua Tree, remain open. Visitors are urged to pay attention to local weather reports for updates on flash-flood warnings.

ALSO:

Good deed elicits a 'despicable' slaying

Missing autistic boy is found in San Bernardino National Forest

O.C. church official charged with sexually assaulting two 11-year-old boys

— Robert J. Lopez

twitter.com/LAJourno

Photo: Heavy flooding tore up roads Tuesday at Joshua Tree National Park. Credit: National Park Service

Tiger cub found dead at L.A. Zoo

Tiger cub found dead
The Los Angeles Zoo today announced that one of three male Sumatran tiger cubs born Aug. 6 has died.

Zoo officials said a necropsy performed on the cub after it was found dead Monday indicated that it had sustained head trauma, but it was not immediately clear how it occurred.

The cub's mother, Lulu, will continue to raise the two other cubs, according to the zoo. The tiger successfully raised litters in 2005 and 2007.

Because tiger cubs depend on their mothers for the first year, the zoo said each birth in captivity "is significant and not without risk."

ALSO:

Good deed elicits a 'despicable' slaying

Missing autistic boy is found in San Bernardino National Forest

O.C. church official charged with sexually assaulting two 11-year-old boys

-- Jason Wells

Photo: One of three tiger cubs born Aug. 6 at the L.A. Zoo has died. Credit: Photo courtesy of L.A. Zoo

Reader photos: Southern California Moments, Day 256

Click through for more photos of Southern California Moments.

Stars over San Diego: The Sept. 8-9 power outage in San Diego brought out the stars in the sky, says Animesh Ray. "We had dinner in moonlight on our backyard."

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.

Missing autistic boy is found in San Bernardino National Forest

Missing-boy-found

An autistic 8-year-old boy who was missing for more than 24 hours after running away from his school was found in "pretty good shape" Tuesday afternoon in a deep canyon in the rugged San Bernardino National Forest, sheriff's officials said.

Joshua Robb, who had crawled through a school fence at Grandview Elementary late Monday morning, was found about a mile away in an area that was difficult to reach.

"He's drinking water ... eating ... it's elation ... relief," San Bernardino County sheriff's Lt. Rick Ells told reporters at the Twin Peaks Sheriff's Station near Lake Arrowhead.

Medics have been flown in to check his condition.

"His general condition, he seems in pretty good shape. He is tired, eating," said Ells.

Rescuers had spread out across the forest Tuesday morning in a frantic search for the boy.

A shoe print was found by the more than 60 deputies and California Highway Patrol officers who were looking for the boy.

News of the boy's rescue came just as Joshua's father, Ron Robb, was speaking to reporters.

He was found by a three-person crew. First they found the striped shirt he'd been wearing about a mile and a half northeast of the school. They took a photograph of it and emailed his mother, Patricia Calcott, 44, to find out if it belonged to her son. She said it was Joshua's.

The crews continued and found him not far from where the shirt was found in a deeply forested area described as being like a canyon. Capt. Tony Nicassio said "he was basically boxed in."

Shoe print found in search for autistic boy lost in forest

 Man gets 25 years to life in murder of Torrance woman

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

--Kurt Streeter in Twin Peaks

Photo: A member of the search team checks for footprints in the San Bernardino National Forest. The missing boy was found a few hours later. Credit: Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times

Rising sea levels could take financial toll on California beaches

Malibu

Beach communities in California will suffer huge economic losses in tourism and tax revenues as rising sea levels eat away at the California coastline over the next century, according to a state-commissioned study released Tuesday.

As climate change warms the ocean, causing it to swell, storm damage and erosion will narrow the state's beaches and diminish their appeal to tourists, recreational visitors and wildlife, economists at San Francisco State predict.

Venice Beach could lose up to $440 million in tourism and tax revenue if the Pacific Ocean rises 55 inches by 2100 as scientists predict, according the study commissioned by the California Department of Boating and Waterways.

A drop in visitors to an eroded Zuma Beach and Broad Beach in Malibu would cost nearly $500 million in revenue, the study found.

At San Francisco’s Ocean Beach, the increasingly erosive power of storm surges could cause $540 million in damage to land, buildings and infrastructure by century’s end, researchers project.

The study also examined Torrey Pines in San Diego County and Carpinteria in Santa Barbara County. Read the full story on L.A. Now.

-- Tony Barboza

Photo: Waves slam into homes in Malibu. Credit: Al Seib / Los Angeles Times

Fullerton police void horn-honking citations at Kelly Thomas protest

People protest outside the Fullerton Police station

Fullerton police have voided three citations given to motorists who extensively honked their horns in support of the protest last Saturday over Kelly Thomas’ death following a violent altercation with police officers.

As the Orange County district attorney and federal authorities continue to investigate the homeless man's beating on July 5 after he was wrestled to the ground by six Fullerton police officers, protesters have packed downtown on a weekly basis to express their anger at authorities and encouraged motorists to support their cause.

Fullerton Police Sgt. Andrew Goodrich said the department received numerous complaints from residents and businesses in recent weeks and last weekend sought to curtail the excessive honking and began issuing citations.

Goodrich said police spoke to protest organizers on Friday and Saturday about the complaints and asked them to stop encouraging the honking. When they failed to comply, officers cited three drivers.

Those drivers were initially cited for violating a California vehicle code section which state horns can be used "when reasonably necessary to insure safe operation" of a vehicle. In those citations, he said, the drivers leaned on the horns continuously for several blocks. "We are not talking a few seconds of noise here," he said.

Goodrich, however, said the police captain opted to void the first ticket given to a motorist because the individual told the department he did not understand what was acceptable.

San Diego mayor urges governor to sign bill aiding stadium project

Qualcomm Stadium

San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders is urging Gov. Jerry Brown to sign legislation that would help San Diego build a new football stadium by easing environmental rules and limiting lawsuits.

AB 900, Sanders said, "would give San Diego's future multiuse stadium project and those planned in other California cities the same kind of considerations that a similar bill would give L.A.'s stadium project."

The Los Angeles stadium project is meant to help lure an NFL team to the city. San Diego's Chargers are considered at the top of the list of teams that might relocate.

For a decade the Chargers have told San Diego officials that the team needs a new facility to replace Qualcomm Stadium if the franchise is to remain in the city.

While San Diego has yet to forward a stadium project, Sanders and other officials have promised to have a proposal ready for a public vote in November 2012.

ALSO:

Suspect sought in fatal shooting of 3-year-old girl

Water district pays for favorable stories on Google News

Pilot unhurt in small plane's emergency landing on Lancaster road

-- Tony Perry in San Diego

Photo: Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego. Credit: Donald Miralle/Getty Images

Good Samaritan’s act sparked shootings, San Bernardino police say

Good Samaritan’s act sparked shootings, San Bernardino police say

The suspect involved in a shooting that killed a 3-year-old girl and critically wounded a pregnant woman and another 3-year-old was apparently angry that a Good Samaritan in their home had tried to stop him from assaulting a woman nearby, according to San Bernardino Police Chief Keith Kilmer.

 Both children were shot in the head. The woman, who was five months pregnant, was shot in the neck and the jaw. Police said her unborn child was not harmed. The surviving 3-year-old is in critical condition at Loma Linda University Medical Center.

Kilmer called the shooting a "tragic, senseless, despicable homicide," saying it came after nearly two months without a murder in the city.

Mayor Patrick Morris called on residents to assist with the investigation. Police believe there are witnesses to the shooting, which occurred Monday night in the 1300 block of D Street, six blocks from San Bernardino Police Department headquarters.

"Today we'll come together as a city and find justice for this family," Morris said.

The shooter was on foot and opened fire on the front patio of the home, which was crowded with children and adults. He fled down the street.

The suspect has been identified as a black man in his early 20s, 6 feet tall and weighing 160 to 170 pounds with a thin build.

Police spokeswoman Lt. Gwendolyn Waters said that officers have responded to several incidents at the home over the years. But she said that the shooting does not appear to be related.

Waters said someone at the home saw the suspect beating a woman nearby and separated them.

"Somebody from that residence intervened and did a good thing," Waters said.

Sophia Cardona, the great-grandmother of the 3-year-old girl killed, said she was in the kitchen making tacos when she heard the gunfire.

"We lost one of our babies," Cardona said Tuesday of her great-granddaughter Nylah Franco-Torrez. "She was a sweet little girl."

ALSO:

Man gets 25 years to life in murder of Torrance woman

Search continues for autistic boy in San Bernardino mountains

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

-- Phil Willon in San Bernardino

Photo: (left) A family photo of the victim, Nylah Franco-Torrez. (right) Sophia Cardona, left,  stands in the doorway while her granddaughter Destiny Hull,14, cleans up the blood on their front porch  where a 3-year-old girl was killed and another 3-year-old girl and a pregnant woman were wounded in a shooting Monday. Credit: Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times

Think Like a Doctor: Hiccups Solved!

On Monday I challenged Well readers to figure out a medical mystery involving a middle-aged man with persistent hiccups.

More than 275 readers submitted their guesses. Many readers recognized that the man’s confusion, low blood pressure and involuntary movements were side effects of Thorazine, the drug given to treat the patient’s hiccups. And, almost as many made the link between the patient’s surgery earlier in the week and his hiccups. But only three readers were able to correctly identify how the two events were related.

The correct diagnosis is …pulmonary embolus.

The first two correct answers came within seconds of each other. And so, although we usually assign only one winner, in this case there will be two.

I asked one of the winners, Dr. Mark Lowell, an emergency room physician in Ann Arbor, Mich., how he figured out the case, and he laughed.

“I think everything is a P.E.” he told me, noting that he’d done research on pulmonary embolism. “What’s going to fool you the most? What’s the worst thing this could be in a healthy guy with something funny going on in his chest?”

Our second winner is Dr. Michael Benjamin, a physician specializing in hematology and oncology in Los Angeles. “The challenge of course with P.E. is thinking about it, so kudos to the P.A. for figuring it out. He probably saved the patient’s life.”

The Diagnosis:

Pulmonary embolus occurs when a clot that formed somewhere in the body breaks free, travels in the circulation and eventually lodges in the lung. It can be a serious problem, even life threatening. And it can be very tough to diagnose.

The condition is not uncommon; each year, more than 100,000 cases of pulmonary embolus occur in the United States. The symptoms are not very specific: patients often feel short of breath, their heart may race, they may have chest pain or cough up blood. Or they may not feel much at all. Up to a third of patients may not have any of the symptoms usually associated with these clots.

How the Diagnosis Was Made:

When the patient became lightheaded after the second dose of Thorazine, Steve Ferrante, the physician assistant handling the case, knew that a drop in blood pressure is a common side effect of this medication. And the uncontrollable movements of the patient’s arms and legs were consistent with a condition known as akathisia, a usually transient disorder that also is a common side effect of Thorazine and other antipsychotic medicines.

However, that sudden drop in blood pressure could also suggest other, more serious diseases as well, and Mr. Ferrante started to worry that maybe he was missing something.

Then Mr. Ferrante remembered hearing about two other patients coming to the same emergency room within the past couple of years. Both patients had come in with hiccups and both were diagnosed with a pulmonary embolus.

Mr. Ferrante’s patient had undergone a hernia repair operation just a few days earlier. Post-surgical patients are at increased risk for developing clots, most commonly in the legs. This patient didn’t have the typical symptoms and had none of the swelling or redness that would suggest the presence of a clot in his leg. But a clot could form in the abdomen or pelvis, and moving around, as this patient had, could have caused the clot to break up and be carried away by the circulating blood, ending up in the lungs.

Other Cases of Hiccups:

In the 1970s a psychologist named Arthur Elstein conducted a series of experiments pitting doctors who were widely considered “expert diagnosticians” against physicians who were considered to be just good “regular doctors.” Each were asked to solve a series of tough diagnostic cases. The assumption was that the experts would solve more cases than the regular doctors. What they found instead was that the doctors most likely to diagnose a tough case were those who had already encountered a similar case — either through their own experience or through hearing about someone else’s experience.

Mr. Ferrante had learned about other patients with persistent hiccups from Dr. Getaw Hassen, an attending physician in the Metropolitan Hospital emergency room on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. The first patient was a 54-year-old man with progressive shortness of breath and swelling in the legs. Doctors had admitted him to the hospital for further work-up and treatment, but the patient had left after a couple of days against medical advice. He returned a week later, complaining about four days of unrelenting hiccups. The doctors found a massive, life-threatening pulmonary embolus.

The second case arrived in the emergency room a few months later. This was a 40-year-old woman who came to the same emergency room complaining of several days of flank pain and hiccups. A CT scan showed that the hiccuping woman, who two weeks earlier had undergone a hysterectomy, had a large pulmonary embolus.

With these two cases in mind, Mr. Ferrante added a CT scan of the lung to the lab studies he had ordered. (You can see the CT scan to the right.) The radiologist spotted the occlusion and notified Dr. Hassan. The patient was admitted to the hospital and treated with anticoagulants. The current recommendation is that patients with a first pulmonary embolus continue to take anticoagulants for at least three months.

Why would a clot in the lungs cause a patient to hiccup? It’s hard to know for certain, but it seems likely that a part of the lung that was injured by the loss of blood flow must have been next to the diaphragm and caused some irritation that led to hiccups.


The Patient’s Story:

It’s been a couple of months now, and the patient will soon be able to stop taking the blood thinner. It is a difficult medicine to manage, and he’s had to go in to see his doctor for a blood test and possible dose change every week since he started taking it. The patient tells me he has seen more doctors this summer than he has in all his previous 46 years. He can’t wait until he’s done. Indeed, it’s hard for him to believe he’s had to take this medicine just because of a case of hiccups. That, he tells me, was nothing compared to how awful he felt when he got that second dose of Thorazine. That sense of being out of it and having his body take on a mind of its own really scared him. And despite what his doctors tell him, he’s not completely convinced that the drug — and not the hiccups — isn’t somehow to blame for everything else.

Medical costs for Bryan Stow to exceed $50 million, attorney says

Bryan Stow
Medical costs for San Francisco Giants fan Bryan Stow, who has been hospitalized since he was beaten at Dodger Stadium in March, are expected to exceed $50 million, his attorneys wrote in a court filing.

The estimate came in a civil lawsuit filed by Stow's family against a number of Dodger entities and Frank McCourt.

Attorneys for Stow and his two minor children, Tyler and Tabitha, allege that antiquated facilities and inadequate security at the stadium allowed for the March 31 attack against the Santa Cruz paramedic. The suit blames McCourt's "extravagant" lifestyle for the reduced security presence.

The lawsuit asked for punitive damages on top of compensation for the family's losses, contending that alcohol promotions and lack of security constituted "malice, oppression, and/or a conscious disregard of the rights and safety" of Stow. Last week's filing indicates the family's attorneys will likely be asking for damages far in excess of $50 million.

Attorneys for the team had previously asked a judge to rule that punitive damages were improper because the plaintiffs could not prove an officer or director of any of the sued Dodger entities authorized a wrongful act leading to an attack. They also argued that Stow's children should not be allowed to sue, and that any mention of McCourt's lifestyle should be thrown out.

A hearing is scheduled on the defense motion for Sept 30.

ALSO:

San Diego State University opens surfing research center

Rain, lightning, hail likely in some parts of Southern California

Water district pays for favorable stories listed on Google News

-- Victoria Kim

Photo: An image of Bryan Stow and his children is shown at San Francisco's AT&T Park before a game earlier this year between the Giants and the St. Louis Cardinals. Credit: Beck Diefenbach / Reuters

Has Your Therapist Been to Therapy?

How would you feel if you learned your therapist was also in therapy? In the Sacramento Street Psychiatry blog of Psychology Today, Dr. Steven Reidbord explores the implications of therapists who seek therapy.

Recently a patient asked whether I’d ever been in therapy myself. Without answering his question directly (see my thoughts on psychotherapist disclosure and privacy), I replied that many of us have, and asked what it meant to him. It would be a bad sign: “How can you help if you need help too?” We went on to discuss his feeling that being in psychotherapy marked him as defective or deficient. He would naturally prefer a therapist who did not share similar defects and deficiencies.

Many patients take the opposite view. They believe a doctor who knows what it’s like to be a patient can better empathize with them. So this patient’s concern stood out in my mind — he truly feels his psychotherapy is a mark against him, a kind of declaration or admission that he is damaged.

I later reminded myself that professionals — and others, everyone really — regularly use services offered by others in the same field. Lawyers have their own lawyers, doctors see their own doctors. Chefs eat meals made by other chefs, barbers get haircuts from other barbers. The only problematic examples that come to mind are when the condition being treated is shameful or morally repugnant, or when the condition could directly affect the service being offered. Examples of the former: police officers who require the “services” of other police officers after committing crimes, and clergy who need spiritual or moral counseling for their own transgressions. Examples of the latter: a neurologist with brain damage, and a business consultant who cannot maintain his or her own business and needs outside help. How does this apply to psychotherapists, and what light does it shed on patients’ feelings about seeing therapists themselves?

Read the full column, “Have You Seen a Therapist Yourself?” on Psychology Today, and then please join the discussion below.

Rain, lightning, hail likely in some parts of Southern California

http://sat.wrh.noaa.gov/satellite/2km/Hanford/IR2HNX.GIF

Thunderstorms and rain are expected to hits parts of the Inland Empire as well as San Diego and Orange County on Tuesday.

The National Weather Service issued a special alert, warning of hail, thunderstorms and possible lightning in the region. The greatest chance of severe weather is in desert and inland valley areas, but officials said showers are also possible along the Orange and San Diego county coastal areas.

Flash flooding is possible in desert areas, according to the NWS.

The warning lasts through Tuesday afternoon.

ALSO:

Rug store manager suspected of six more sexual assaults

Water district pays for favorable stories listed on Google News

Pilot unhurt in small plane's emergency landing on Lancaster road

-- Shelby Grad

Image: National Weather Service 

Coyotes at Glendale house get a reprieve

Coyote house

L.A. County officials said Tuesday they will hold off on trapping and euthanizing a  pack of coyotes living in an abandoned Glendale home, which is now slated for demolition.

County officials had planned to trap and then euthanize the pack of about six coyotes because they posed a threat to pets and small children. The pack also would not survive if relocated in the wild, officials said.

But news of the possible killings caused a public outcry, with county and city officials fielding calls opposing the plans. Glendale Deputy City Atty. Yvette Neukian, who met with Brett van den Berg, owner of the fire-gutted house on Brockmont Drive, said the demolition of the structure would begin within a week.

Because the coyotes have not been aggressive and neighbors are taking precautions against attracting coyotes, officials think the pack will move on once the house is torn down, said Ken Pellman, spokesman for the Los Angeles County Agricultural Commissioner/Weights and Measures.

"In this situation, it looks like trapping will not be necessary," Pellman said.

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

-- Mark Kellam, Times Community News

Photo: The abandoned Glendale house that neighbors say is inhabited by coyotes. Credit: Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times

 

Couple in Escondido apparent murder-suicide had money problems

The man and woman found dead in their Escondido home Monday of an apparent murder-suicide have been identified as a married couple ensnared in financial, legal and health problems.

The San Diego County medical examiner identified the couple as Virginia Silva, 64, and Fredrico Silva-Flores, 62. Silva had been in declining health.

The couple owned the popular Valley Produce and Nursery stand near their home.

The Escondido Police Department has listed their deaths as probable murder-suicide. Suicide notes were left in English and Spanish. Autopsies are pending.

The couple had filed a lawsuit against their son, who is a co-owner of the home and has filed for bankruptcy, according to the North County Times. Fredrico Silva-Flores had also sought a restraining order against the son, the newspaper reported.

The bodies were found Monday morning when police responded to a call about a fire at the home. Police believe Silva-Flores started the fire after killing his wife.

ALSO:

Suspect sought in fatal shooting of 3-year-old girl

Water district pays for favorable stories listed on Google News

Pilot unhurt in small plane's emergency landing on Lancaster road

-- Tony Perry in San Diego

Four to stand trial in cross-burning case

Three men and one woman have been ordered to stand trial on charges they burned an 11-foot cross outside the San Luis Obispo home of a black teen.

A San Luis Obispo County judge ruled Monday that there was enough evidence for Jeremiah Hernandez, 32; Jason Kahn, 36; Sara Matheny, 24; and William Soto, 20 to face charges of arson, conspiracy and hate crime, the San Luis Obispo County Tribune reported.

The cross was set on fire on March 18 in a lot behind the house.

Defense attorneys said there was no evidence the defendants knew a black person lived there.

But Judge Jacquelyn Duffy cited Kahn's swastika tattoos and testimony from the teen that she had met Soto, the newspaper reported.

ALSO:

Water district pays for favorable stories listed on Google News

Pilot unhurt in small plane's emergency landing on Lancaster road

Suspect sought in fatal shooting of 3-year-old girl

-- Kimi Yoshino

Water district pays for favorable stories listed on Google News

Central Basin pays firm for positive stories on Google News
Central Basin agreementThe Central Basin Municipal Water District is paying nearly $200,000 in taxpayer money for promotional online articles "written in the image of real news" designed to get to the top of a Google News search, records show.

Agreements reviewed by The Times show the water district hired a consultant to produce the upbeat stories. Readers who typed "Central Basin Municipal Water District" into Google News got a story hailing the benefits of a new recycled water system. Another prominently listed piece praises the agency it its legal battle over groundwater rights.

The articles appear on News Hawks Review, which resembles professional news website. The site is indexed on Google News, carries advertisements and boasts an "experienced and highly knowledgeable" staff of editors and reporters. But records show it is directly affiliated with a corporate communications firm doing work for Central Basin.

It's fairly common for private-sector businesses and celebrities to game search engines to generate positive buzz or better sales. But Web experts said they had never heard of a public entity employing such a strategy to increase its visibility online. They also question whether Google would continue to classify News Hawks Review as a "news channel" if it knew the articles were paid for by the district.

District officials portray the arrangement as innovative, noting that people who search for "water conservation" or "recycled water" on Google News were now more likely to find stories about Central Basin.

Valerie Howard, the district's public affairs manager, said the articles caused a "huge spike" in traffic to Central Basin's main website and proved far more effective than traditional news releases.

Crews look for autistic 8-year-old in forest near Lake Arrowhead

Joshua Robb, missing autistic boy Facing the threat of thunderstorms, the search continued Tuesday for a severely autistic 8-year-old boy who ran away from his elementary school into the San Bernardino National Forest, authorities said.

Officials saw Joshua Robb running away from Grandview Elementary School in the Lake Arrowhead area Monday morning, apparently after squeezing  through a fence.

Staff members chased Joshua, who is 4-feet-6 and about 75 pounds, but couldn’t catch him before he ran into a nearby forest.

San Bernardino County sheriff’s deputies responded within minutes of receiving a call that a boy was missing from the school, said Cindy Bachman, a spokeswoman for the agency.

“This kind of behavior where he runs off is typical,” she said, while adding that Joshua had never fled into the forest before or been gone long enough to merit a search by law enforcement.

Crime alerts for Hollywood Hills West, Mar Vista and eight other L.A. neighborhoods

Crime reports are up significantly for the latest week in 10 L.A. neighborhoods, according to an analysis of LAPD data by the Los Angeles Times’ Crime L.A. database.

Five neighborhoods reported a significant increase in violent crime. Hollywood Hills West (A) was the most unusual, recording three reports compared with a weekly average of 0.3 over the last three months.

Mar Vista (F) topped the list of six neighborhoods with property crime alerts. It recorded 16 property crimes compared with its weekly average of 10.3 over the last three months.

One neighborhood triggered alerts for both violent and property crime.

Alerts are based on an analysis of crime reports for Sept. 3–9, the most recent seven days for which data are available.

-- Ben Welsh, Thomas Suh Lauder

Search continues for autistic boy in San Bernardino mountains

Joshua Robb Authorities planned to search the woods of a San Bernardino Mountains community overnight for a severely autistic 8-year-old boy who ran away from his elementary school during morning recess.

San Bernardino County sheriff's spokeswoman Cindy Bachman said Joshua Robb ran out of the gates of Grandview Elementary School's playground in Arrowhead about 11 a.m. Monday.

School staff pursued him, but the 4-foot, 6-inch boy ran into nearby woods and had not been found as of 11:15 p.m. Monday, Bachman said.

"There's no sign of him," she said.

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