A 67-year-old man whose car plunged 200 feet down a mountain in the Angeles National Forest survived for six days by eating bugs and leaves and drinking creek water, his family told KTLA TV Channel 5 Thursday night.
David Lavau was with another person in the vehicle when it went off Lake Hughes Road north of Castaic on Friday.
His car was spotted Thursday evening by family members and friends who had formed a search party. They alerted the Los Angeles County Fire Department.
"I looked down and saw my dad's car," Sean Lavau told the station. "My heart dropped."
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Man in mountain car crash survived 6 days on leaves and bugs
Long Beach police seek suspects in 2010 slaying
Long Beach police Thursday released sketches of two men suspected of helping kill a man who had come to the city to buy a car.
Franklin Robles was killed during a robbery Aug. 9, 2010, in the 1400 Block of W. 16th Street in Long Beach. Robles lived in Lake Elsinore.
Police described one suspect as Latino, 5-feet, 5-inches tall, with a medium build, short hair, small goatee and multiple tattoos on both arms. The other man is described as Latino, 5-feet 7-inches tall with a medium build, shaved head and pudgy face.
Since January 2007, at least 187 homicides have been reported in Long Beach, according to a Times Homicide Report database.
Anyone with information is asked to call Det. Malcolm Evans or Det. Todd Johnson at (562) 570-7244.
ALSO:
Fullerton officer Manuel Ramos released on bail
Parents jailed after toddler eats cocaine in Atascadero
Two-thirds of Californians support death penalty, poll finds
— Robert J. Lopez
Sketch: Long Beach homicide suspects. Credit: Long Beach Police Department
1 dead, 1 rescued from wrecked car in Angeles National Forest
Los Angeles County firefighters Thursday night helped rescue a victim and pronounced another person dead from a car accident that apparently occurred several days ago in the Angeles National Forest.
The survivor was airlifted by helicopter to a hospital from the site on Lake Hughes Road in the vicinity of Warm Springs Mountain, the Los Angeles County Fire Department said.
The department said it was told by people at the scene that the car had crashed five days ago.
The name and condition of the victim was not known. The person was initially spotted by family members who had formed a search party, according to a report by KTLA-TV Channel 5.
No other details were immediately available.
ALSO:
Fullerton Officer Manuel Ramos released on bail
Parents jailed after toddler eats cocaine in Atascadero
Two-thirds of Californians support death penalty, poll finds
— Robert J. Lopez
Photo: Car crash survivor being taken to a hospital. Credit: KTLA-TV Channel 5
At night, a red tide glows blue along the San Diego County coast
Find a dark spot on the San Diego County coastline after night falls and you might be be treated to a spectacular neon blue light show.
Bioluminescent waves, which glow a vivid blue as they crash ashore, have been dazzling nighttime visitors to the beach this week. Photographers have been snapping photos of the otherworldly surf as it has increased in intensity over the last few days.
The electric blue glow is caused by an algae bloom commonly referred to as a “red tide.” The organism, a phytoplankton called Lingulodinium polyedrum, has bloomed since late August, turning the water a brownish-red color in the daytime, according to UC San Diego scientists.
The movement of the waves turns the tide a brilliant blue, visible only after night falls.
It’s caused by a chemical reaction on the cellular level, according to Scripps Institution of Oceanography Professor Peter J. Franks, who calls the phytoplankton “my favorite dinoflagellate.”
“Why favorite?” Franks wrote in an email Q&A posted on the blog Deep-Sea News. “Because it’s intensely bioluminescent. When jostled, each organism will give off a flash of blue light created by a chemical reaction within the cell. When billions and billions of cells are jostled -- say, by a breaking wave -- you get a seriously spectacular flash of light.”
Though it is hard to predict how long it will last, experts say it could stick around for several more weeks or months.
The algae produces a mild toxin that can accumulate in some sea creatures, but it is not harmful to people. It is safe to swim in too, UC San Diego experts said, though increased ear and sinus infections have been reported during blooms.
The striking surf has awed nighttime visitors to the San Diego-area shoreline, who have shared photographic evidence widely online.
The glowing images have lit up blogs and social networks, awing observers like Kevin Baird, who posted a photo of the bioluminescent surf on his Twitter feed, likening it to “SpongeBob's aurora borealis.”
“How do i recreate that in my reef tank?” Jeremy von Kuster wondered after watching the red tide Wednesday night at Torrey Pines.
Any sort of fast motion can agitate the plankton--breaking waves, swimming fish and even footprints in the wet sand. For an eerie experiment, try capturing some ocean water in a bottle and shaking it to generate a vivid glow.
One family at Tamarack Beach in Carlsbad was collecting the seawater in bottles to generate just that effect, the North County Times described: "If you dump the bottles in the toilet and turn off the lights, it will light up the whole bowl,” Duane Collings, of Oceanside, told the newspaper. “It's a trip.”
--Tony Barboza
Photo: A visitor near the pier in Oceanside, Calif., watches flashes of neon blue in the crashing waves. Credit: Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times
Suspected homicide victim found near Lake Arrowhead is identified
Authorities have identified the man whose body was found Wednesday night in the office of the historic Antler’s Inn near Lake Arrowhead and whose death is being investigated as a homicide.
The victim was identified as Daniel Rubalcava, 56, of Twin Peaks, according to the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department. An autopsy is scheduled to determine cause of death.
Deputies were called to the inn on California 189 in Twin Peaks at 10:40 p.m. Wednesday and found Rubalcava’s body upstairs. He apparently had suffered blunt-force trauma to the head, authorities said.
The investigation into Rubalcava’s death is continuing.
ALSO:
Fullerton officer Manuel Ramos released on bail
Parents jailed after toddler eats cocaine in Atascadero
Two-thirds of Californians support death penalty, poll finds
– Phil Willon
Woman sentenced for dragging dog 2 miles with pickup
A Lancaster woman accused of dragging her dog more than two miles behind her pickup has pleaded no contest to felony animal cruelty charges, officials said Thursday.
Cecilia Bojorquez, 46, was driving more than 50 mph as her brown cocker spaniel, with a rope tied around its neck, was dragged along the asphalt in the July 28 incident, officials said.
An off-duty animal control officer spotted the dog jumping out of the bed of the pickup with the rope around its neck as the Dodge barreled along the roadway in Lancaster.
"Horrified, he attempted to catch up to the truck, honking his horn and flashing his lights," the Los Angeles County Department of Animal Care and Control said in a statement.
"The dog's injuries were so severe, the emergency hospital humanely euthanized her," agency Director Marcia Mayeda said. The incident, she said, was one of the "more agonizing animal cruelty and neglect cases in recent memory."
Bojorquez was sentenced Monday to 3 years’ probation, 45 days of community service and $300 in fines and court costs. She was also ordered to take animal cruelty classes.
ALSO:
Fullerton officer Manuel Ramos released on bail
Parents jailed after toddler eats cocaine in Atascadero
Two-thirds of Californians support death penalty, poll finds
— Robert J. Lopez
3.3 quake strikes near Oakland
A shallow magnitude 3.3 earthquake was reported Thursday afternoon two miles from Oakland, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The temblor occurred at 4:47 p.m. Pacific time at a depth of 9.3 miles.
According to the USGS, the epicenter was three miles from Alameda, three miles from Piedmont and 12 miles from San Francisco City Hall.
In the past 10 days, there have been three earthquakes magnitude 3.0 and greater centered nearby.
Read more about California earthquakes on L.A. Now.
— Ken Schwencke
Image credit: Google Maps
Popular Hawaiian musician charged in L.A. sex crime case
Cecilio Rodriguez, 66, of the duo Cecilio and Kapono, is charged with two counts of committing lewd and lascivious acts in Los Angeles County with a child younger than 14, according to a criminal complaint.
The victims are sisters and reported the incident to the Sheriff's Department in June, said Sandi Gibbons, spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County district attorney's office.
Document: Criminal complaint in Cecilio Rodriguez sex crime case
The first incident took place between Nov. 6, 1997, and Nov 5. 1999. The second occurred between May 6, 1996 and May 5, 1998, the complaint alleges.
Rodriguez formed the group with Henry Kapono on Oahu's picturesque North Shore in 1973, according to the group's website. Known by their fans as "C&K," Rodriguez and Kapono have been on tour in California.
Rodriguez was being held in Los Angeles County Jail in lieu of $200,00 bail, according to Sheriff's Department booking records. He is scheduled for a preliminary hearing Oct. 13. at the Compton Courthouse.
ALSO:
Fullerton officer Manuel Ramos released on bail
Parents jailed after toddler eats cocaine in Atascadero
Two-thirds of Californians support death penalty, poll finds
— Robert J. Lopez
Photo: Cecilio Rodriguez. Credit: Rodriguez's Twitter account
San Diego building owner agrees to evict pot dispenaries, massage parlors
The owner of a building in the North Park neighborhood has agreed to evict four medical marijuana dispensaries and a dozen massage parlors from his building, the San Diego city attorney announced Thursday.
City Atty. Jan Goldsmith had sought a court order against the owner on the premise that the marijuana and massage businesses were violating city zoning laws.
A San Diego police officer said he believes the marijuana dispensaries were responsible for an increase in loitering, traffic congestion and smoking pot in public.
The owner of the building at 4009-4010 Park Blvd., while not admitting liability, has agreed to pay $10,000 in civil penalties, Goldsmith said.
--Tony Perry in San Diego
Hells Angels arrested on drug charges in San Diego County raids
Twenty-six members or associates of the Hells Angels motorcycle gang were arrested on drug charges during early morning raids Thursday by SWAT teams from the FBI and the San Diego and Oceanside police departments.
In addition to the 26 arrests, six people already in custody were charged and four suspects are considered fugitives, said Keith Slotter, special agent in charge of the FBI's San Diego office.
More than 250 law enforcement officers were involved in serving search and arrest warrants at 19 locations. During the searches, 10 firearms, thousands of dollars and several quantities of drugs were seized, officials said.
The suspects, charged with conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, are set to be arraigned Friday in federal court.
ALSO:
Fullerton officer Manuel Ramos released on bail
Parents jailed after toddler eats cocaine in Atascadero
Two-thirds of Californians support death penalty, poll finds
-- Tony Perry in San Diego
Jackson chef: Conrad Murray never asked me to call 911
A chef who prepared meals for Michael Jackson and his children testified Thursday that the singer’s doctor interrupted her lunch preparation with a panicked cry for help.
"He said, ‘Go get help. Go get security. Go get Prince,’ ” chef Kai Chase told the jury at Dr. Conrad Murray’s involuntary manslaughter trial.
She said the physician was “flustered” and “his eyes were big.”
“He was screaming,” she said.
According to a prosecution timeline, Chase’s encounter with Murray occurred minutes after he discovered the pop star had stopped breathing and about 10 minutes before an ambulance was summoned.
Full coverage of Conrad Murray's trial
Deputy Dist. Atty. Deborah Brazil asked Chase, “Did he every direct you or request you call 911?’
“No,” Chase said.
Murray, 58, faces four years in prison if convicted.
His defense lawyers contend Jackson gave himself a fatal dose of the surgical anesthetic propofol.
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Paris Jackson ‘on the floor balled up, crying’
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-- Victoria Kim, from Superior Court
Photo: Kai Chase, Michael Jackson's personal chef, left is question by Deputy Dist. Atty. Deborah Brazil , Thursday. Credit Al Seib / Los Angeles Times
Hells Angels arrested in raids throughout San Diego County
Hells Angels members and associates of the motorcycle gang were arrested during early morning raids Thursday by SWAT teams of the FBI and San Diego and Oceanside police departments, officials said.
More than 250 law enforcement officers were involved in serving federal search and arrest warrants, the FBI said.
The number of arrests and the charges were not revealed. Those arrested were booked at the downtown federal prison and are set to be arraigned in federal court Friday.
The raids came after an investigation by the county's Violent Crime Gang Task Force, which includes federal, state and local law enforcement agencies, along with the IRS, Bureau of Prisons and San Diego County parole and probation department.
--Tony Perry in San Diego
San Diego mother gets term for fatal mauling of 2-year-old son
A 30-year-old San Diego woman was sentenced Thursday to 365 days in jail after pleading guilty to child endangerment in the fatal mauling of her 2-year-old son by the family dog.
Valerie Grace Carlson will get credit for the 313 days she has been in jail since being arrested and thus will be free within weeks, officials said.
Carlson had passed out after a late night of heavy drinking when the German shepherd mauled her son Aaron, according to court documents.
Three other children were asleep in the house in the Tierrasanta neighborhood. Carlson's husband, who is in the military, was forward deployed.
Paramedics came to the home near noon on July 31, 2010. The child was pronounced dead at Rady Children's Hospital; the dog was later killed.
According to prosecutors, Carlson said she usually put the dog in a crate at night but had failed to do so because she was too tired.
Along with the jail sentence imposed in San Diego County Superior Court, Carlson was sentenced to five years’ probation and will be permitted to move to Colorado to be near her family.
After the toddler's death, county officials removed the three other children from the home; the children's father now has custody, officials said.
--Tony Perry in San Diego
Decision postponed, again, on Yellowstone snowmobile rule
Once again the National Park Service has punted instead of issuing a final rule regarding the number of snowmobiles it will allow to operate each day in Yellowstone National Park.
Supt. Dan Wenk announced Thursday that the issue required additional analysis and that the park would implement an interim policy of allowing up to 318 commercially guided snowmobiles in the park each day, and 78 commercially guided snowcoaches.
Wenk said that when the winter use season starts Dec. 15, the same rules that have been in place the last two years will still apply.
He said a final "sustainable" rule is expected before the start of the 2012-13 season.
The debate over the use of snowmobiles in the nation's oldest park dates to the Clinton administration, when the use of the machines was to be phased out because of concerns about noise, air and sound pollution, as well as visitor and wildlife safety. That rule was reversed by President George W. Bush.
The issue of snowmobiles in the park has been studied for more than a decade, at a cost of more than $10 million.
ALSO:
Secluded park threatened with closure
Yellowstone park releases report on grizzly attack
EPA scolded on greenhouse gas report review process
-- Julie Cart
Photo: A bison crosses the road ahead of snowmobilers at Yellowstone National Park in a 2003 photo. Credit: Craig Moore / Associated Press
Divers to test sunken WWII oil tanker off California coast
The U.S. Coast Guard has hired a diving firm to help it determine whether oil is present aboard a WWII tanker sunken off the California coast.
The S.S. Montebello was sunk a few miles off the coast of Cambria, north of San Luis Obispo, on Dec. 23, 1941. It remains there, 900 feet below the surface, according to a Coast Guard statement.
Several dives over the last 15 years have found no signs of leakage from the ship’s hull.
“The California coast is a vital national resource,” said Coast Guard Capt. Roger Laferriere. “It is our duty to ensure we gain good information about the Montebello so we can do our best to protect the marine environment.”
The Seattle-based diving firm, Global Diving and Salvage, will attempt to retrieve oil and sediment samples in dives that begin in mid-October, when weather is best along that stretch of coastline.
ALSO:
Fullerton officer Manuel Ramos released on bail
Parents jailed after toddler eats cocaine in Atascadero
Two-thirds of Californians support death penalty, poll finds
-- Sam Quinones
Immigrant rights groups want radio hosts John and Ken off the air
Jorge-Mario Cabrera, a longtime immigrant rights activist, is used to being called to task for his views. But when radio hosts John Kobylt and Ken Chiampou recently gave out his cellphone number on the air in a campaign against the California Dream Act, he found himself unprepared for the barrage of hate-filled phone calls that followed.
“Hi, this message is for Mr. Cabrera,” one caller said in a voicemail transcribed by Cabrera. “Listen, you pile of garbage…You need to pack your [expletive] up and go back to wherever it is you came from. Nobody wants you here. You are invading the legal people that are in this country and ruining this country. I hope you choke in your own vomit.”
In the days after the KFI-AM radio hosts read Cabrera’s cellphone and office numbers on the air and urged listeners opposed to state tuition assistance for illegal immigrants to call him, Cabrera, a spokesman for the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles, said he got more than 400 calls, many of them filled with hateful language and calls for violence.
“It’s never been as cutting, as humiliating as these calls were,” Cabrera said. “These calls were intent to diminish me as a person.”
The incident struck a chord among leaders of civil and immigrant rights groups across the state, many of whom saw it as the latest example in a long history of the popular radio show inciting anger and vitriol.
Deputies cleared in fatal shooting of man holding cellphone
The civil jury deliberated for less than an hour before its unanimous verdict in the 2009 death of Woodrow Player, 22.
According to an L.A. County Sheriff’s Department statement, deputies received a report from a woman saying her boyfriend had stuck a gun in her ribs and threatened to kill her.
En route, deputies spotted a driver matching the description and attempted to stop the car, which was driven by Player. He pulled into a liquor store parking lot on Berendo Street, according to the statement.
Instead of raising his hands, Player allegedly reached to the floor of his car.
He then appeared to comply with deputies’ commands and got out. But he ran across the boulevard and into an alley, twice turning toward the deputies and pointing a dark object at them, according to the statement.
New Irvine housing development backs away from the beige
Irvine has a respected UC campus, a much-admired reputation as an extraordinarily safe place to live and -- in the words of residents and outsiders alike -- a deep love for cookie-cutter homes and stucco.
And beige. Lots of beige.
In a city-sponsored contest last spring to drum up a proper motto for the city, residents sounded off to the Orange County Register about the sameness of the place. Among their submissions: "Sixteen Zip Codes, Six Floor Plans." "Irvine: We Have 62 Different Words for Beige.” "Sorry, I Thought This Was My House.”
But now, according to the newspaper, the architecture and color pallete in one of America’s definitive master-planned communities is being upended.
Instead of the Mediterranean look that has dominated the city’s cul de sacs and precisely designed villages, the city council has approved plans for 5,000 homes that stray all over the architecture map, from Craftsman to Victorian and possibly with buckets of color to pick from.
The new community, to be built by FivePoint, will hug the retired El Toro Marine Base, which is slowly being transformed into a huge municipal expanse of open space known as the Great Park. The economy has slowed both the park and the residential development.
City officials in Irvine have generally bristled at the thought that their city is boring or bland, but Eric Tolles, the city’s director of community development, conceded that the architecture proposed by the project’s developer "is a departure from what we've seen in recent years."
Irvine's reputation for controlling everything from the color and style of homes to the number of ficus trees that can be planted in parkways has its positives, too, residents and officials agree.
Police told The Times recently that one reason the crime rate is so low in town is that banks and shops are not planted alongside freeways, thus discouraging would-be robbers who need a quick getaway. Walls are generally covered in handsome vines, making graffiti attacks rare. Even the cellphone towers blend nicely into the neighborhoods.
Guard testifies Conrad Murray stopped CPR to gather drug vials
Michael Jackson’s doctor tried to revive him with a substandard version of CPR, performing chest compressions intermittently with one hand while the singer lay on a mattress, a security guard testified Thursday.
Alberto Alvarez, Jackson’s director of logistics, was the first staffer to enter the bedroom where Jackson lay lifeless on June 25, 2009.
He told jurors that Dr. Conrad Murray told him Jackson had “a bad reaction” and needed to get to a hospital, but then stopped CPR and directed him to gather up pill bottles.
Full coverage of Conrad Murray's trial
Alvarez said Murray grabbed a handful of vials and told him, “Here, put these in a bag.”
The doctor also asked him to remove an intravenous drip bag containing “a milky white substance” -- a description consistent with the surgical anesthetic propofol.
Only then did Murray request Alvarez call 911, the guard testified.
Irvine woman faces manslaughter charge in red-light crash
An Irvine woman who allegedly ran a red light and killed the driver of another car will be arraigned Friday in Santa Ana on a charge of vehicular manslaughter.
Prosecutors allege Laurie Anne Keen, 43, Irvine, was not paying attention when she drove through a red light Jan. 18 in Irvine.
Her van crashed into the driver's side of a Toyota sedan that was making a legal left turn.
The driver of the Toyota, 77-year-old Patricia Thompson-Yates, was pronounced dead at a hospital of multiple blunt force injuries.
Keen was charged last month with one felony count of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence and faces a maximum sentence of six years in state prison if convicted.
Prosecutors will ask that Keen be held in lieu of $100,000 bail.
ALSO:
Fullerton officer Manuel Ramos released on bail
Repeal of 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' makes ruling moot, judges say
SWAT team rescues woman, child after husband allegedly stabs wife
-- Abby Sewell
Surge in heroin arrests alarms Newport Beach police
Heroin-related arrests are up dramatically, particularly among younger users, Newport Beach police said Wednesday.
Most of those arrested on suspicion of selling and possessing heroin are in their late teens and 20s, a demographic that in the past was not typically associated with the drug, police said.
Cheap black tar heroin distributed by Mexican street gangs is increasingly being used at high school parties in Newport, police said, adding that some youngsters first get a taste for opiates from prescription pills.
"In speaking with many of these young heroin users, it seems they are being first exposed to heroin by friends who use the drug or while they are at social gatherings," said Det. Elijah Hayward. "Some of the people we have talked to were first introduced to the drug when they were 14 or 15 years old."
In the last three months, police have made 13 arrests for heroin sales and 19 for heroin possession. Another 18 arrests were made in the same time frame for narcotic prescription pills. Some of those arrested in the recent busts are as young as 17, according to the Daily Pilot.
Last year during the same time period, police made two arrests for heroin possession, two for sales and 12 for possession of narcotic pills.
ALSO:
Fullerton officer Manuel Ramos released on bail
Parents jailed after toddler eats cocaine in Atascadero
Accused flasher wanted child virgin to marry, police say
-- Lauren Williams, Times Community News
Covina police investigate body in car trunk
Covina police are investigating the discovery of a decomposing dead body in the trunk of a car registered to a missing man.
Officers found the Toyota Camry, which appeared abandoned, Tuesday evening parked on the 1000 block of East Wanamaker Drive.
A license check revealed the car belonged to a 26-year-old man reported missing Friday to the Ontario Police Department, according to a Covina police report.
Approaching the vehicle, officers smelled a powerful odor coming from the trunk. They forced open the trunk and found the body of a man inside.
The body had not been identified nor a cause of death determined, police said.
ALSO:
Fullerton officer Manuel Ramos released on bail
Accused flasher wanted child virgin to marry, police say
SWAT team rescues woman, child after husband allegedly stabs wife
-- Sam Quinones
Man posing as officer assaults woman, Redlands police say
Redlands police are investigating an incident in which a man posing as a police officer assaulted a woman.
The man was driving a motorized scooter on Citrus Avenue west of Alabama Street about 10 a.m. Tuesday when he motioned for a woman driving on the street to pull over, according to a Redlands police report.
He asked for her identification, saying he was a police officer, then that he was a police Explorer.
He was not wearing a uniform, had no gun and there were no lights on his scooter.
After some conversation, he attempted to lead the woman to a nearby orange grove. She refused.
He then asked to see her underwear and reached under her dress. She hit the suspect and drove off.
The man was described as a light-skinned Latino, 25 to 30 years old, clean-shaven, a black button-down, short-sleeve shirt and tan Dockers-style pants.
Anyone with information is asked to call Redlands police at (909) 798-7671 or (909) 798-7681. Anonymous tips can be made by texting 274637 and using the keyword “REDTIP."
ALSO:
Fullerton officer Manuel Ramos released on bail
Parents jailed after toddler eats cocaine in Atascadero
Accused flasher wanted child virgin to marry, police say
-- Sam Quinones
Image: A composite sketch of Redlands assault suspect. Credit: Redlands Police Department
Think Like a Doctor: Weak Legs Solved!
On Wednesday I challenged readers to figure out a fascinating case of a 52-year-old father of two disabled sons who experienced sudden weakness in his legs, low potassium and hyperthyroidism. More than 220 of you shared your thoughts and, astonishingly, 61 correctly diagnosed this patient.
I suspect that some of you used the same strategy to put it all together as the doctor who ultimately helped solve the real case.
The correct diagnosis is …
Thyrotoxic periodic paralysis (also called hyperthyroid hypokalemic periodic paralysis)
The first correct answer came from Aaron Milestone of Brooklyn, less than an hour after the story was posted. Mr. Milestone, 37, is a graphic designer and volunteer emergency medical technician (E.M.T.) who is studying to go to medical school. He tells me that he once saw a documentary about a boy with a genetic condition called hypokalemic periodic paralysis and used Google to find a connection with that illness and hyperthyroidism.
A number of other readers came close to the right answer by guessing hypokalemic periodic paralysis, but they didn’t take the next step and link the condition to the patient’s hyperthyroidism.
How the Diagnosis Was Made:
After the patient was admitted to the intensive care unit, Dr. Kathleen Samuels, a second year resident, presented the case to a roomful of colleagues and teachers in the daily conference known as Resident Report.
As the residents hashed out the case, Dr. Jeremy Schwartz, one of the chief residents, thought of hypokalemic (from the Latin, meaning low potassium) periodic paralysis, a genetic disease that causes a transient paralysis similar to what the patient had. However, this type of periodic paralysis usually shows up much earlier, when patients are in their teens, and frequently develops into a slowly progressive muscle wasting disease in late middle age.
Dr. Schwartz wondered whether there could be a form of this disease that showed up later in life and was not inherited. Could the periodic paralysis be linked to the man’s hyperthyroid state? Or even his diabetes?
As the discussion carried on around him in the conference room, Dr. Schwartz checked a medical reference site on the computer and searched for a paper describing a disease that combined hypokalemic periodic paralysis and hyperthyroidism. As soon as he hit the enter key, page after page appeared, filled with articles describing an acquired version of hypokalemic periodic paralysis triggered by high levels of thyroid hormone.
The Diagnosis:
In the inherited version of hypokalemic periodic paralysis, young men (mostly) are born with cells that have a tendency to suck up potassium under the right circumstances. These attacks usually come on after a high carbohydrate meal, after intense exercise or during times of stress — conditions that can trigger the release of insulin. The insulin, in turn, tells the cells to suck up potassium. Too much thyroid hormone also signals cells to take up potassium. This can result in dangerously low levels of potassium in the fluid outside the cell where it’s needed for muscles to work.
This patient had it all. Blood tests showed that he had high levels of thyroid hormone, glucose and insulin. In addition, he was experiencing high levels of stress because his oldest son was in the hospital. After the diagnosis, he told the resident that for the past few weeks he’d also been living on high-carbohydrate foods from hospital vending machines.
Still, hyperthyroidism is common; diabetes is common; high carbohydrate diets and stress are epidemic; and yet this kind of periodic paralysis is rare. Current thinking is that some patients have inherited a predisposition to develop thyrotoxic periodic paralysis under the right set of circumstances.
Notably, the condition is much more common in patients of Asian descent, a fact that Well blog readers frequently mentioned. But it can occur in patients like this one who are not Asian.
The Patient’s Story:
The patient was given a small dose of replacement potassium by mouth, and his potassium level returned to normal. The phosphate and magnesium also improved without any additional treatment, and his strength returned as his blood chemistry normalized. Thyroid tests revealed that the patient had Grave’s disease, a disorder in which the immune system somehow triggers the thyroid to overproduce its normally tightly regulated hormone. The patient was started on a thyroid medication, and since his thyroid has been under control, he hasn’t had another attack of pain or weakness for the past five months.
I learned about this patient because I was his doctor of record. I last saw him two years ago in my clinic. He came to me because he had heartburn, but I had noted his rapid heart rate and tremor and suspected that he had hyperthyroidism. I gave him a lab slip to check his thyroid hormone, but he didn’t follow through and get his blood drawn. He didn’t come to see me again until after he was discharged from the hospital.
I reminded him of our earlier appointment. Why hadn’t he gotten the blood test I ordered for him? Why hadn’t he come back? He looked a little embarrassed, but his answer was direct: his complaint had been the heartburn, and the pill I prescribed fixed that. My concerns about hyperthyroidism didn’t seem important to him. He didn’t care about a body part he’d never heard of, possibly causing a disease with symptoms he didn’t feel. Indeed, like many people with overactive thyroids, he felt great.
All that changed when he lost his strength. Suddenly, he told me, he was quite literally unable to care for his two disabled sons. “If I am not around, they will have no one,” he told me. So now he takes his thyroid medicine regularly. He gets his blood drawn as often as needed to keep his disease in check.
“I don’t do it for myself,” he told me. “I have to take care of myself so I can take care of my kids.”
Couple killed in Jurupa Valley high school shooting identified
A couple shot to death in an apparent murder-suicide in the parking lot of Patriot High School in Jurupa Valley were identified Thursday by the Riverside County coroner's office.
Maria Celia Aguirre, 61, of Riverside was a volunteer at the high school. She was taken to Riverside Community Hospital where she was pronounced dead after the 10:40 a.m. Wednesday shooting.
Her husband, Donaciano Aguirre, 64, also of Riverside, was pronounced dead in the school parking lot.
News agencies quoted witnesses who said he shot his wife, then himself.
Parents jailed after toddler eats cocaine in Atascadero
The parents of an 18-month-old Atascadero boy were in custody Thursday after he ingested cocaine in their home, police said.
Priscilla Tabarez, 20, the boy's mother, called police Wednesday night to report her son had eaten some cocaine, according to an Atascadero police report.
The boy was taken to a hospital and was placed in protective custody with San Luis Obispo County's child welfare department.
It was unclear how the child ingested the drug.
Police arrested Tabarez and her 18-year-old brother, Isaac, who was at the house, as well as the child’s father, Daniel Sanchez, 26, on charges of felony child endangerment.
They were booked into the San Luis Obispo County jail.
ALSO:
Fullerton officer Manuel Ramos released on bail
Accused flasher wanted child virgin to marry, police say
SWAT team rescues woman, child after husband allegedly stabs wife
-- Sam Quinones
Naked couple in car leads police to alleged credit card fraud ring
Laguna Beach police have arrested four members of an alleged credit card fraud ring and detectives plan to serve arrest warrants on two additional suspects.
The suspected ringleader, Dwight Christian Vaccaro, 46, was arrested at his Costa Mesa home Sept. 22 on suspicion of manufacturing and distributing fraudulent credit cards, Laguna Police Sgt. Robert Rahaeuser told the Laguna Beach Coastline Pilot.
Prior to Vaccaro's arrest, Laguna Beach police began an investigation after officers discovered a naked couple in a vehicle drinking alcohol behind White House Restaurant at 3 a.m. on Sept. 19.
After the arrests, detectives were led to a possible third suspect involved in identity theft and fraudulent credit card usage, Rahaeuser said.
Questioning the Claims of Toning Sneakers
Those fancy Reebok sneakers that promise better legs and a better behind “with every step” may be just like every other sneaker, report Andrew Martin and Anahad O’Connor in today’s New York Times.
Federal regulators said Wednesday thatReebok International is liable for $25 million in customer refunds for making false claims about its EasyTone line….
Reebok introduced the shoes and their “balance ball-inspired technology” in 2009 with a tantalizing proposition. Just wearing the sneakers, Reebok said, would tone and strengthen a customer’s legs 11 percent better than regular walking shoes and sculpt bottoms 28 percent better.
Toning sneakers are designed to create slight instability, forcing muscles to work harder and so become more shapely and strong. Reebok offered toning versions of running shoes and sandals, too. The company’s ads for the shoes featured the toned behinds of scantily clad women and promised attention-grabbing results.
To learn more, read the full story, “Reebok to Pay Settlement Over Health Claims,” and then join the discussion. Do you own toning shoes? Tell us about your experience.
A Safer Shoulder Workout
Is your shoulder workout doing more harm than good?
For gymgoers looking to build strength and fill out their T-shirts, poor form or technique can turn shoulder workouts into a fast track to physical therapy. About a third of all resistance training injuries involve the deltoids, the muscles that form the rounded contour of the shoulder, making them one of the most common injuries that occur in the weight room.
But many of these injuries can be prevented with small changes in technique, a fact highlighted by new research published in the latest issue of Strength & Conditioning Journal.
The research focuses on one of the most popular shoulder exercises for men and women: the upright row. If you spend any time around the weight rack at your gym, chances are you know it.
To perform an upright row, pick up a barbell with an overhand grip, hold it by your waist, and lift straight up toward your chin. Some people use a pair of light dumbbells, kettle bells or a cable machine. All accomplish the same goal, strengthening the trapezius (a large muscle that spans the neck, shoulders and back) and the medial deltoid (the middle of the three muscles that make up the deltoids).
The problem, research shows, is that most people invariably lift the weight too high, which can lead to shoulder impingement, in which the shoulder blade rubs, or impinges, on the rotator cuff, causing pain and irritation.
“I would say 80 percent of gymgoers do this exercise wrong,” said Brad Schoenfeld, a lecturer in the exercise science department at Lehman College (part of the City University of New York) and an author of the study. “In fact, if you ask a lot of trainers, they’ll say never do an upright row, you’ll get an impingement from it.”
The study found that three simple steps can reduce the risk of injury.
“Usually people are trying to pull the weight as high as they can,” said Mr. Schoenfeld, the author of “Look Great at Any Age” and other fitness books. “You increase the chances of impingement when you bring your elbows up beyond 90 degrees — basically when they’re past parallel to your shoulders.”
The same rule holds for another popular exercise called the lateral raise, which develops the medial deltoids. Mr. Schoenfeld advises starting with a weight or kettle bell in each hand, arms at your side and knees slightly bent. Lift the weights out to the side, arms slightly bent — but do not extend any higher than the level of your shoulders. Just as with the upright row, poor form in the lateral raise can lead to impingement.
Exercising the medial deltoids carries a number of aesthetic and practical benefits. In addition to creating more muscle definition, the exercises can round out the shoulders and enhance the look of the upper arms (think Michelle Obama or Hugh Jackman guns). The exercises can also build strength for everyday activities like carrying groceries, lifting heavy objects or hoisting small children.
Mr. Schoenfeld also advises eliminating two shoulder exercises from your workout. Skip the behind-the-neck shoulder press because lifting behind the neck can easily strain the rotator cuff and put excessive stress on the shoulder joint. A related exercise, the behind-the-neck pull down, causes similar problems and raises the risk of impingement.
Instead, just pull the bar down in front of your head, not behind it.
“You should always do the pull down from the front,” Mr. Schoenfeld said. “If you pull down hard behind the neck it can damage the cervical spine, and studies show that the front lat pull down has greater muscle recruitment. I just can’t think of any reason why you should ever do the behind-the-neck pull down.”
Can You Sleep on the Plane?
In the Frugal Traveler column, Seth Kugel laments the plight of the fatigued traveler.
To me, sleeping in cramped conditions on a full coach flight is virtually impossible. … I decided to turn to sleep experts for a fuller picture. Dr. Jeffrey Ellenbogen, chief of sleep medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital, said that as we get deeper and deeper into sleep, our muscles become more and more relaxed. That means it’s impossible to sleep well while sitting up because our neck muscles have to keep working. What about a neck pillow? “It’s the right idea, but most are poorly constructed,” he said.
Traveling next to someone willing to let you rest your head on his or her shoulder is a big help, as is a window seat that allows you to lean on the side of the plane. I usually travel alone, so the first bit doesn’t help, and I’m reluctant to take a window seat because if I can’t sleep (the usual state of things) I’ll have to choose between waking the person next to me to get out and wander, or going stir-crazy in my little corner.
To learn more about what the experts say about sleeping on planes, read the full story, “Cramped in Coach, or the Science of Sleep,” and then please join the discussion.
Two firefighters injured battling Artesia school fire
Two firefighters suffered minor injuries early Wednesday morning battling a blaze that broke out at a school in Artesia.
Los Angeles County firefighters responded to a report of a fire at 2:42 a.m. and arrived at Elliot Elementary School on Cortner Avenue to find two classrooms in a detached bungalow ablaze, said dispatch supervisor Michael Pittman.
The fire was knocked down at 3:08 a.m.
Two firefighters suffered minor burns and went to the hospital as a precautionary measure, Pittman said.
The cause of the fire was under investigation.
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Southbound 710 closes after cement truck topples
Conrad Murray trial: Day 3 to bring one of most damning witnesses
-- Abby Sewell
Man slain in Bellflower shooting
Police were investigating the shooting death of a man early Thursday morning in Bellflower.
The shooting occurred about 12:20 a.m. in the 15100 block of Woodruff Place, according to Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department officials.
The victim, whose name was not released, was pronounced dead at a hospital.
Officials had no further information.
City News Service reported that deputies told a news crew the man was slain in a drive-by shooting and they were looking for two men seen fleeing in a car.
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Conrad Murray trial: Day 3 to bring one of most damning witnesses
-- Abby Sewell
Conrad Murray trial: Day 3 to bring one of most damning witnesses
Alberto Alvarez, Jackson’s director of logistics, placed the call to 911 about 25 minutes after the time prosecutors believe Murray discovered that the singer had stopped breathing.
In a previous hearing, Alvarez testified that for at least part of that time, Murray was focused on gathering up pill bottles and other evidence of his treatment of Jackson. “He instructed me to put them in a bag,” Alvarez said in January.
Among the items Murray told him to collect, he said, was an IV bag containing a milk-like liquid consistent with the surgical anesthetic propofol.
Live video: Full coverage of Conrad Murray's trial
Jackson died June 25, 2009, of an overdose of propofol and sedatives.
Other witnesses scheduled for the third day of Murray’s trial include Jackson’s personal chef, who was in the home at the time preparing lunch, and two paramedics who attempted to revive Jackson.
The chef, Kai Chase, previously testified that a panicked Murray shouted into the kitchen for assistance but never told her what was wrong or that she should call medics. He “screamed to get help, to get [Jackson’s son] Prince and to call for security,” Chase said.
The paramedics are expected to recount how Murray gave false information as they tried to save the singer’s life. One medic, Richard Senneff, said Jackson looked like “a hospice patient” and seemed to have been dead for at least 20 minutes, but Murray insisted that he had just lost consciousness and had no medical problems.
“I asked if he was taking any medications ... he said no, none, he’s not taking anything,” Senneff said.
In truth, the doctor had been treating Jackson’s chronic insomnia with propofol, which is not supposed to be used outside a surgical setting, for weeks.
Murray, 58, faces a maximum of four years in prison and the possible loss of his medical license if convicted of involuntary manslaughter. He has pleaded not guilty. His lawyers assert that Jackson dosed himself with a fatal combination of drugs.
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Photo: Conrad Murray listens to testimony during the second day of his involuntary manslaughter trial. Credit: Al Seib / Los Angeles Times
Southbound 710 closes after cement truck topples
An overturned cement truck has forced the closure of all lanes on the southbound 710 freeway at Florence Avenue this morning.
The California Highway Patrol is reporting that the accident occurred shortly before 4 a.m.
It was unknown when the lanes would reopen.
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Fullerton Officer Manuel Ramos released on bail
The website lists Ramos as “released” shortly after midnight Thursday due to “bond posted.”
News services were reporting Wednesday that fellow Fullerton officers were collecting money to pay his $1 million bail.
Ramos, 37, a 10-year veteran of the department, was one of two officers charged last week by Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckus in the death of Thomas, a homeless and schizophrenic man, in downtown Fullerton in July. The case is believed to be the first time an on-duty police officer has been charged with murder in Orange County.
Ramos' attorney, John Barnett, said Thomas had a violent side and provoked the cops.
Another officer, Cpl. Jay Cicinelli, has been charged with involuntary manslaughter. He posted $25,000 bail shortly after his arrest.
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Officer Manuel Ramos appears in Superior Court in Santa Ana last week for arraignment. Credit: Paul Rodriguez / AP Photo
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