Man guilty of child abuse for shooting at dog in front of girl, 7

A Baldwin Park man was convicted Wednesday of child abuse for shooting at a barking dog in front of a 7-year-old girl.

Carleton Raye States, 31, also was convicted of discharging a firearm with gross negligence and having a concealed weapon, according to the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office. Jurors deliberated for just more than a day.

On May 25, the girl was playing outside her home with her female terrier named Smalls when States began to provoke the dog, prosecutors said. The dog started barking, and States pulled out a gun. The girl ran inside her home as States fired a shot at the dog.

Muslim woman sues Southwest Airlines after being taken off flight

 
A Muslim woman from San Diego is suing Southwest Airlines after being taken off a flight in March when crew members deemed her behavior suspicious.

Irum Abbasi, who was wearing a hijab, the Islamic head scarf, was seated on a flight preparing to depart from San Diego's Lindbergh Field for San Jose when a flight attendant became concerned about something she thought Abbasi had said on her cellphone.

Abbasi later said that she told someone on her cellphone, "I have to go," but that the attendant thought she had said, "It's a go."

Abbasi was escorted off the plane by an employee of the Transportation Security Administration.

Boy who killed gay classmate deserves leniency, jurors say

Several jurors who deadlocked last month in the case of a former middle school student accused of killing his gay classmate said prosecutors should significantly reduce charges against the boy.

They said they didn't believe Brandon McInerney killed Larry King because the boy was gay and urged that he be tried in Juvenile Court instead of as an adult.

"Brandon got a raw deal,'' said juror Nancy Shulman.

She and two other jurors stood in the audience Wednesday during a hearing where prosecutors said they will retry McInerney as an adult for first-degree murder but drop the key allegation that the crime was motivated by a hatred of homosexuals. The jurors wore light-blue rubber bracelets stamped "Free Brandon" and said they were there to support McInerney.

California workplace shooting: 3 killed in rampage identified

Three people fatally shot Wednesday by a disgruntled co-worker at a quarry near Cupertino, Calif., have been identified, authorities said.

The victims were identified as John Vallejos, 51, and Mark Munoz, 59, both of San Jose, and Manuel Pinon, 48, of Newman, Calif., said Santa Clara County Sheriff Laurie Smith. Vallejos and Munoz died at the scene and Pinon died at a hospital, she said.

Authorities are continuing to search for Shareef Allman, 47, a trucker at the Lehigh Southwest Cement Permanente Plant, who police said showed up at a company safety meeting early Wednesday armed with a rifle and handgun and opened fire, killing two at the scene and wounding seven others.

9 arrested in Pasadena protest over home foreclosure

Nine people were arrested Wednesday afternoon in Pasadena after protesting the foreclosure of a La Puente woman’s home.

A group of about 70 people supporting Rose Gudiel and her disabled mother began protesting outside Pasadena City Hall, then moved to a Fannie Mae building nearby. Fannie Mae owns the loan on Gudiel's house.

The building’s management determined that the protesters were being disruptive to business. After several warnings, the crowd dispersed and after a third warning nine people were arrested, said Lt. Pete Hettema of the city’s Police Department.

"Everyone was pretty cooperative," Hettema said. "Obviously, the people in there were attempting to make a statement."

Ex-model who cut up husband, ate body parts, is denied parole

A woman who killed her husband, then chopped up, cooked and bagged parts of his body with leftover Thanksgiving turkey, was denied parole Wednesday in a lengthy and, at times, emotional hearing.

Omaima Nelson, 43, a former model commonly compared to the fictional cannibal Hannibal Lecter at the time of the 1991 murder in Costa Mesa, said she was a changed woman, eager to live the "good life God meant."

The parole hearing was held at the Central California Women's Facility in Chowchilla, northwest of Fresno, where Nelson is serving a sentence of 27 years to life.

San Diego judge orders nine pot dispensaries to close

A San Diego judge Wednesday ordered nine medical marijuana dispensaries to shut down, ruling that the operations violate city zoning laws.

Superior Court Judge Ronald Prager granted a request by San Diego City Atty. Jan Goldsmith to order the closures. Injunction requests against four other dispensaries were delayed until next week so hearings can be scheduled.

"We have shut down about 40 illegal marijuana dispensaries in the past 12 months," Goldsmith said. "But we have a lot more work to do."

Even after the nine dispensaries close, the city has more than 150 marijuana dispensaries.

What the city does not have is an ordinance regulating where marijuana dispensaries can open.

The City Council rescinded its ordinance rather than permit an initiative supported by marijuana activists from reaching the ballot.

The activists said the city's ordinance was too restrictive and had led a signature-gathering campaign to qualify a repeal for the ballot.

Goldsmith's stand against medical marijuana dispensaries has been backed by U.S. Atty. Laura Duffy.

Funds set up for family of girl slain at South Gate high school

 

Two funds have been established to help defray burial and other costs for the family of 17-year-old Cindi Santana, who died Friday after being stabbed at a high school in South Gate.

An online contribution site, authorized by the family, has been set up by family friends.

The South Gate Police Officers' Assn. has established a separate memorial fund with the family’s consent. Donations can be mailed to the South Gate Police Officers' Assn., c/o Cindi Santana, 8620 California Ave., South Gate, CA 90280. The association can be contacted at (323) 573-2632 or (562) 254-0411.

Steve Jobs mourned by Apple workers, Cupertino residents

At the Apple campus in Cupertino, Calif., the flags were at half-staff Wednesday afternoon with the news that company co-founder Steve Jobs had died at age 56.

Apple workers were clustered at the front of the corporate headquarters taking pictures.

Peggy Fang, one of many local residents mourning Jobs' death, came to place a bouquet of flowers at the base of the flags. Several TV satellite trucks were parked in a lot nearby.

PHOTOS: Steve Jobs | 1955-2011

"I'm a Cupertino resident. I live down the street. I have a good life because of Apple stock. It's very sad," Fang said in tears.

Jobs "made such a big difference. Our property values went up," she said. "The whole city of Cupertino is different because of him. It was sad to see him leave. I was really surprised when I heard the news. We should have a Steve Jobs statue at City Hall.... Without him being here, the whole technology is different. He’s different, not like anybody else."

RELATED:

TIMELINE: The life and work of Steve Jobs

OBITUARY: Apple's co-founder transformed computers and culture

What will Apple's future be without Steve Jobs?

Steve Jobs resigns as Apple's CEO but named company chairman

-- Maria L. La Ganga in Cupertino, Calif.

Photo: Steve Jobs smiles at the end of the iPhone OS4 special event at Apple headquarters in Cupertino back in April. Credit: Robert Galbraith / Reuters

High winds, street flooding come with heavy rainstorm

The first major rainstorm of the season moved through Southern California on Tuesday, bringing winds and flooding.

The National Weather Service said the worst of the storm is passing this afternoon, but the scattered showers will remain through the evening.

The storm flooded some streets and resulted in wind gusts that topped 60 mph in some canyons. Officials were monitoring a cliff in San Pedro for a potential mudslide.

Photos: Southland storm

Snow levels will be above 7,500 feet, and the temperature in mountain areas could drop quickly, prompting the agency to advise people at higher elevations to be prepared for cold conditions if they venture outdoors.

"People hiking in the high country need to be aware ... of this potentially dangerous situation," the agency said in a statement.

ALSO:

Lone protester launches occupy USC vigil

Serial killer to face charges in 5 California deaths

Student charged with murder in South Gate school stabbing appears in court

— Shelby Grad and Robert J. Lopez

Photo: A pedestrian navigates a wet set of stars along Hollywood Boulevard at Highland Avenue as early morning rain blanketed the Southland Wednesday. Credit: Al Seib/Los Angeles Times

Drug-dealing doctor sentenced to 7 years in prison

A federal judge on Wednesday sentenced a drug-dealing doctor who was once California’s top prescriber of narcotic painkillers and other commonly abused drugs to seven years in federal prison.

U.S. District Judge S. James Otero said he was being somewhat lenient on Nazar Al Bussam, 72, because he did not want the physician to die in prison.

During the hearing, Otero said he had read what he characterized as “very troubling” disclosures in a Los Angeles Times report that linked Al Bussam to the deaths of three patients to whom he had prescribed drugs and two other people who had drugs prescribed by him in their possession.

Authorities did not discover those deaths during their three-year probe of Al Bussam, who they said generated nearly $2 million in cash while recklessly prescribing addictive narcotics to drug addicts and dealers.

Photos: Five who died

Prosecutors brought The Times article to the judge’s attention, saying they thought Otero should be aware of it, but did not seek to enter it as evidence or to postpone sentencing to conduct further investigation.

Reader photos: Southern California Moments Day 278

Funky chicken: Revelers dance at the 41st annual Oktoberfest celebration at Big Bear Lake in this Oct. 2 photo by Scott Broadhurst.

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.

Caltech tops prestigious world university rankings

Caltech has been ranked the world's best research university by a British higher education magazine, beating Harvard University in the ranking for the first time.

The Pasadena university, which specializes in science and engineering, was honored as the top institution in the World University Rankings released by the Times Higher Education magazine in London. Harvard had topped the list each year since the rankings began in 2004, but it was tied for second this year, along with Stanford University. The University of California system had five campuses ranked in the top 40 worldwide.

Caltech placed second last year and its rise to first by a small margin over Harvard was attributed mainly to increases in its research funding, according to an analysis of the World University Rankings. The listing relies heavily on measurements of research budgets, faculty publication of papers and the impact of such research.

"It’s not that Harvard has declined. It’s that Caltech has just slightly edged across the line in the indicators," Phil Baty, the rankings’ editor, said in an interview Wednesday.

Warrant lead singer died of alcohol poisoning in Valley motel

Jani Lane, former lead singer of the 1980s glam-band Warrant, died at a Woodland Hills motel of alcohol poisoning, coroner's officials said Wednesday.

Lane died Aug. 11 at the Comfort Inn of "acute ethanol intoxication" -- or drinking alcohol to a level the person is poisoned, said Assistant Chief Ed Winter of the L.A. County coroner's office.

Alcohol and prescription drugs were found in the motel room. An autopsy and toxicology tests determined the 47-year-old Redondo Beach resident's cause of death.

His body was found about 5:30 p.m. in the motel in the 20100 block of Ventura Boulevard

Obituary: Jani Lane, lead singer for metal band Warrant, dies at 47

Lane, born John Kennedy Oswald, was pronounced dead by Fire Department paramedics.

Warrant's two first albums -- "Dirty Rotten Filthy Stinking Rich" in 1989 and "Cherry Pie" in 1990 -- sold more than 2 million copies each.

ALSO:

Third worker dies in Cupertino shooting

Ex-model who ate husband's body parts still a threat, D.A. says

Two mountain lions spotted on front lawn of Sierra Madre home

-- Richard Winton

twitter.com/lacrimes

Photo: Former Warrant singer Jani Lane performs in Las Vegas in 2005. Credit: Ethan Miller / Getty Images

Orange man found guilty in sexual attack at park

Jurors found an Orange man guilty Wednesday of dragging a woman into the bushes at a park and sexually assaulting her.

Alfredo Fraga, 23, was convicted of two felony counts in the attack with an enhancement allegation of kidnapping in the commission of a sexual offense.

He faces a maximum of 30 years to life in state prison when he is sentenced Dec 2.

The 58-year-old victim was walking alone on a trail at Esplanade Park in an unincorporated area of Santa Ana in 2009 when Fraga grabbed her by the waist and dragged her into nearby bushes.

Report of student with gun leads to Anaheim high school lockdown

Loara High School in Anaheim has been placed on lockdown and police conducted room-to-room searches after a student was reported to be on campus with a gun, officials said Wednesday.

There were no immediate reports of injuries and police had not found the student suspected in the incident first reported to Anaheim police around 10:30 a.m.

Nearby James Madison Elementary School also was locked down as a precaution, authorities said.

A student told a faculty member that they had seen another student with a gun, leading to the call to police.

ALSO:

Ex-model who ate husband's body parts still a threat, D.A. says

Two mountain lions spotted on front lawn of Sierra Madre home

Ex-boyfriend headed to court in fatal stabbing of high school girl

-- Andrew Blankstein
twitter.com/anblanx

Gov. Jerry Brown signs ban on chemical BPA in baby bottles

Gov. Jerry Brown has signed a bill banning the chemical bisphenol A, or BPA, from baby bottles and toddlers' drinking cups.

The bill, the Toxin-Free Infants and Toddlers Act (AB 1319), had passed the Senate in August.

The legislation, sponsored by state Sen. Fran Pavley (D-Agoura Hills) and Assemblywoman Betsy Butler (D-Marina Del Ray) would ban BPA in baby bottles and sippy cups made or sold after July 1, 2013. It would also require manufacturers to use the least toxic alternative to BPA in those products. Similar efforts have failed in recent years.

Supporters have urged California to follow the lead of other states and nations in restricting BPA, which has been linked to cardiovascular disease, diabetes and sexual dysfunction in people and cancer in mice.

Opponents argued that the bill could open companies to lawsuits if the chemical is found in baby products after the ban takes effect.

ALSO:

Dirty money: BPA on dollar bills

Bisphenol A: Should there be laws?

Bisphenol A and its potential health risks

-- Geoff Mohan

Photo: Bisphenol A is found in many plastic baby bottles and other food containers. Credit: Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times

Crash at South L.A. mall leaves car dangling from second floor

A woman in her 30s hit the gas instead of the brake, careening through the recently refurbished Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza mall before being stopped by a glass partition that left the car dangling 20 feet above the ground.

The incident involving the 37-year-old, who was said to be unlicensed, was reported at 8:47 a.m. at the mall at 3650 W. Martin Luther King Blvd.

The driver, who was not identified, was unhurt, as was a passenger described as an older woman who authorities said was the registered owner of the 1986 Acura Legend.

LAPD Capt. Kelly Mulldorfer said the driver was in the parking lot near a Sears when she hit the gas instead of the brake. The car slammed through the new mall doors, ran over freshly installed carpeting and headed 100 feet toward a rotunda encircled by a new glass railing on the second floor of the mall.

It was the railing, Mulldorfer said, that "kept the car from careening onto the bottom floor."

Fortunately, the mall was not open at the time and no construction workers were in the area, she said.

ALSO:

Ex-model who ate husband's body parts still a threat, D.A. says

Two mountain lions spotted on front lawn of Sierra Madre home

Ex-boyfriend headed to court in fatal stabbing of high school girl

--Andrew Blankstein (Twitter.com/anblanx)

Photo: A 1986 Acura Legend sits precariously over the railing at the Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza mall Wedneday after a driver reportedly hit the gas instead of the brake. Credit: LAPD

California workplace shooting: Third victim dies

 

Authorities have confirmed that a third victim has died in the workplace shootings near Cupertino, Calif., that left seven others injured, including several in critical condition.

Two people died at the scene and the third at the hospital, Santa Clara County Sheriff Laurie Smith said at a noon news conference. The shootings took place at the Lehigh Southwest Cement Co. 

A massive manhunt is continuing for Shareef Allman, 49, a trucker at the quarry, who authorities said showed up at a safety meeting at the plant early Wednesday armed with an assault rifle and handgun and opened fire, killing two at the scene and wounding six others.

Photos: Shooting at California quarry

Later, authorities said, the suspect attempted to steal a woman’s car, then shot her. She was taken to a hospital, where her condition was not immediately known.

Santa Monica police chief to step down

Santa Monica Police Chief Tim Jackman said he plans to retire at the end of the year but remain on the job as interim chief until his successor is named, probably in March.

Jackman, 52, was appointed chief of the Santa Monica Police Department in December 2006.

He replaced James T. Butts, who retired after 15 years with the department to oversee security at Los Angeles World Airports. Butts is now mayor of Inglewood.

A former Marine, Jackman holds a master's of business administration from UC Irvine. He spent nearly 24 years with the Long Beach Police Department before taking the Santa Monica post.

City Manager Rod Gould praised Jackman for improving systems, staffing and strategies. Jackman established a community policing model that helped reduce crime and gang violence.

Among other accomplishments, Jackman oversaw the creation of a crime mapping system that allowed the public to see when and where crimes have occurred on an interactive map.

RELATED:

Santa Monica's new chief is considered a cop's cop

Sheriff's watchdog unit critical of Santa Monica detectives

Santa Monica police using Facebook to communicate with public

--Martha Groves

Photo: Timothy Jackman in 2006. Photo: Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times.

A slurring Michael Jackson talks about children in recording

 
Jurors at the trial of Michael Jackson’s personal physician heard a recording Wednesday of the singer sounding heavily drugged six weeks before his death.

In the recording discovered on Dr. Conrad Murray’s iPhone, Jackson rambled to his doctor about his upcoming comeback concerts and plans to build a hospital for children.

“God wants me to do it. I’m gonna do it, Conrad,” the singer said in slurred words.

“I know you would,” Murray replied.

Conrad Murray witnesses: Who's who

Mumbling and at times incomprehensible, the singer went on to tell Murray what he had often said publicly -– that he related to children because his music career had interrupted his own youth.

“I love them because I didn’t have a childhood. I had no childhood. I feel their pain,” Jackson said.

Murray replied “Mmm-mmm” repeatedly as Jackson spoke, and after the singer suddenly grew silent asked, “You OK?”

"I am asleep," Jackson replied.

Prosecutors, who first revealed the existence of the recording in opening statements, maintain the May 10, 2009, recording proves Murray knew Jackson’s “state” but continued procuring drugs for him, including the anesthetic propofol which is blamed along with sedatives for his death.

The recording was played during the testimony of a computer forensic expert who analyzed Murray’s iPhone.

Stephen Marx also recovered a second recording, a voicemail in which Jackson's manager told Murray his famous patient needed stepped-up medical treatment.

In the message left five days before Jackson’s death, manager Frank DiLeo asked the physician to call him.

"I’m sure you are aware he had an episode last night. He’s sick,” said DiLeo, who died earlier this year. “I think you may need to get a blood test on him. We got to see what he’s doing.”

Jackson had missed a week of rehearsals and arrived at one practice too weak to perform, according to previous testimony.

Murray faces a maximum of four years in prison if convicted of involuntary manslaughter in Jackson’s June 25, 2009, death. His defense contends the singer self-administered propofol and sedatives.

RELATED:

Full coverage: Trial of Michael Jackson's doctor

Cocktail waitress on phone with Conrad Murray as Jackson dying

Conrad Murray mistress recounts doctor's routine for Jackson care

-- Harriet Ryan

Photo: Dr. Conrad Murray wipes away tears in court. Credit: Al Seib

California workplace shooting: Cupertino schools on alert

Schools in the Cupertino, Calif., area were reporting sparse attendance Wednesday as word spread that an armed man, suspected of killing two and wounding six at his workplace, remained at large.

The Cupertino Union School District, which operates the area's elementary and middle schools, informed parents its campuses were open and on high alert. 

"In light of today’s police activities in the city, please note that all schools in the district are open," a recorded message at the school said. "Based on the current information from law enforcement, all our students will be kept indoors until further notice."

The Fremont Union High School District sent an emergency notification by email and phone early Wednesday, informing parents of its 10,500 students "that due to a police emergency we were advising them to keep their students home," said public information officer Bettylu Smith.

California workplace shooting: Car sought in manhunt is found

Authorities say they have found a car abandoned by the suspect in the Cupertino, Calif., workplace shooting as a manhunt continues for Shareef Allman, 49, identified as the man who killed two people and wounded six others.

The suspect was seen driving a Brown Mercury Cougar, but police communications officers reported that officers have found the vehicle and Allman was no longer with it.

A manhunt was going on for the suspect Wednesday morning in Cupertino, where schools were closed and police were searching door-to-door.

The first shootings took place at a 4 a.m. safety meeting at the Lehigh Southwest Cement Co. in the hills above Cupertino.

Later, authorities said, the suspect attempted to steal a woman’s car, then shot her. She was taken to a hospital, where her condition was not immediately known.

Allman, 49, apparently runs a self-publishing business and has published a novel about domestic violence. 

And in a video on Youtube, which has now been taken down, an individual identified as Shareef Allman can be seen interviewing the Rev. Jesse Jackson on a San Jose community cable TV station.

And a Shareef Allman is listed in voter registration records as living in San Jose.

Facebook lists a user named Shareef Allman, featuring a photo of the cover of a novel written by Allman titled “Amazing Grace.” He gives his occupation as “miner.”

Suspect in California quarry shooting described by authorities

Santa Clara County sheriff’s officials said the suspect in the Cupertino, Calif., quarry shooting was armed with an AK-47 assault rifle and a 9-mm handgun.

A broadcast over the department’s emergency radio frequency described the suspect, Shareef Allman, 49, as black, 5-feet-11, 260 pounds, and dressed in a brown jacket and blue sweat pants. (Earlier reports had had given the suspect's last name as Alman, and an age of 45.)

Photos: Shooting at California quarry

He allegedly shot and killed two people at a 4 a.m. safety meeting at the Lehigh Southwest Cement Co. quarry.

He later allegedly tried to carjack a Hewlett Packard employee in the Homestead neighborhood of the city.

He shot her and ran off. She was taken to a hospital and her condition was unknown.

Schools in the area have been closed and sheriff’s deputies are searching for him door-to-door after first cornering him in a Sunnyvale neighborhood, according to department radio reports.

ALSO:

Ex-model who ate husband's body parts still a threat, D.A. says

Two mountain lions spotted on front lawn of Sierra Madre home

Ex-boyfriend headed to court in fatal stabbing of high school girl

-- Sam Quinones

twitter.com/samquinones7

Photo: Police surround the entrance to the quarry on Wednesday morning where the deadly shootings occurred. Credit: Paul Sakuma / Associated Press

Video: A video uploaded to YouTube September 2010 shows shooting suspect Shareef Allman interviewing Rev. Jesse Jackson. Credit: CreaTV

A Hollywood Movie Takes on Cancer

This weekend I saw the movie “50/50,” the story of a young cancer patient who faced even odds of surviving his disease. I wasn’t sure I wanted to see a cancer movie — after all, I see cancer often enough in real life on the oncology ward where I work.

But what I liked about this movie is that it didn’t give cancer the Hollywood treatment. One of the messages was that while cancer certainly is life-changing, it doesn’t necessarily change your life. That may mean that a bad relationship is still bad after cancer. Or that if members of your family annoy you, they will still annoy you when you have cancer. However, you may realize you care about them more than you thought you did, and you may also discover how much they care about you.

The filmmakers also manage to capture the fear that the word “cancer” can instill in people, with special effects that include showing a patient’s vision fading out and a doctor’s voice drifting off into the distance. Every nurse knows that when patients hear “the C word,” they often don’t hear anything else you’re trying to tell them.

Throughout the movie, health care workers aren’t perfect, either. A doctor doesn’t say hello to his patient, but sits down at his desk and dictates a note filled with medical terminology. A grim-faced surgeon explains a series of unexpected complications without telling the panicked family how the patient is doing.

Although the movie was about a young patient, it reminded me of a patient I once cared for who was in his 60s. He hated being in the hospital, and got to the point where he would swear at the staff and seemed angrily depressed. He was having family troubles and wasn’t home to run the family business. His wife worked six days a week and couldn’t visit most days. When it came time for him to undergo a bone marrow transplant, his spirits seemed so low that I wasn’t sure he would be able to make it through emotionally.

But just a few months ago I saw him in the hospital hallway. He’d come back to visit, and his hair had grown. He was a different person. He told us how he worked only when he felt like it — a complete change from his work habits before his illness — and how his family problems had resolved. Amazingly, he looked happy.

“I’m measuring my survival in years now,” he said.

That doesn’t mean that cancer is an “opportunity” or “the best thing that ever happened” to anyone; it isn’t. Not even close. But whether a person is 26 or 66, facing death can bring about change. And sometimes, maybe often, it offers a fresh look at a person’s life and makes them want more out of it.

Big storm moves into Southern California; snow level dropping

The morning commute got off to a wet, soggy start Wednesday with the arrival of cold front that forecasters say will bring gusty winds and up to 2 inches of rain in mountain areas, the National Weather Service said.

Scattered showers and periods of intense rain were reported across the region Wednesday morning, slowing the commute. But more intense rain is expected for the afternoon drive home. The front will bring rain for about three to four hours Wednesday afternoon but will be quickly pushed out of the region by strong high-altitude winds.

Snow levels will be above 7,500 feet, and the temperature in mountain areas could drop quickly, prompting the agency to advise people at higher elevations to be prepared for cold conditions if they venture outdoors.

"People hiking in the high country need to be aware ... of this potentially dangerous situation," the agency said in a statement.

ALSO:

Lone protester launches occupy USC vigil

Serial killer to face charges in 5 California deaths

Student charged with murder in South Gate school stabbing appears in court

— Robert J. Lopez

twitter.com/LAJourno

Image: National Weather Service

Suspect identified in California workplace shooting

Santa Clara County sheriff's officials have identified the suspect in the Cupertino, Calif., workplace shooting as Shareef Alman, 45. The shooting left two dead and six wounded.

Alman also shot a Hewlett-Packard employee in the leg and carjacked her vehicle as he fled the scene, authorities said, and is reportedly holed up in a home in nearby Sunnyvale.

"He is armed and dangerous," Cardoza said, according to the Mercury News in San Jose.

The rampage started at 4:30 a.m. when the suspect walked into a safety meeting at the Lehigh and opened fire with a handgun and a rifle, according to Cardoza.

After 2 killed in California workplace shooting, 2nd shooting reported

KCBS News in San Francisco is reporting there has been a second shooting in Cupertino, Calif., in a parking lot at Homestead Road and Tantau Avenue.

It's unknown if that shooting is related to an earlier one Wednesday at a Cupertino quarry, where at least two people were killed when a worker opened fire. The parking lot is about five miles away from the quarry.

Another four people were badly wounded in the early morning shooting at Lehigh Permanente Cement Inc. and the suspect was not in custody, the Associated Press reported.

Officers in Santa Clara County report the shooter was on foot and may be armed with an AK-47, according to emergency service scanners. KGO-TV in San Francisco reports an employee allegedly showed up at the morning safety meeting armed with an automatic rifle and handgun and began firing.

The shooter reportedly contacted police with a radio at the site and threatened to continue shooting, a TV station reported.

The quarry is located in the hills above Cupertino.

Phone calls to the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Department were not immediately returned.

ALSO:

Ex-model who ate husband's body parts still a threat, D.A. says

Two mountain lions spotted on front lawn of Sierra Madre home

Ex-boyfriend headed to court in fatal stabbing of high school girl

 -- Sam Quinones

twitter.com/samquinones7

Photo: Fox 40 Sacramento

Mattel drops paper company linked to Indonesia deforestation

It's official: Barbie has broken up with Asia Pulp and Paper.

Responding to a campaign by Greenpeace, toy giant Mattel, maker of the famed Barbie doll line, announced Wednesday that it will stop buying paper and packaging that the environmental group has linked to rain forest destruction in Indonesia.

The El Segundo company said it will tell suppliers to avoid wood fiber from companies “that are known to be involved in deforestation.” Among those companies, Greenpeace said in a statement, is Asia Pulp and Paper (APP) group. 

“The rain forests of Indonesia should be for species like the Sumatran tiger, not for throwaway toy packaging," Bustar Maitar, head of Greenpeace’s campaign to save the forests in Indonesia, said in the statement  "That’s why it is such good news that Mattel has developed a new paper buying policy."

The group urged Asia Pulp and Paper to follow in the path of its sister company, Golden Agri-Resources, which “has already committed to clean up its act and has won back lucrative contracts."

Greenpeace has pledged to push other companies, such as Disney and Hasbro, to take similar action to protect rain forests. 

Mattel's move comes after Greenpeace tested packaging from the company's toys, packaged in Indonesia, and found the cardboard contained significant amounts of timber from Indonesian rain forests. The group used Mattel's advertising campaign that featured a "reunion" between Barbie and Ken to draw attention to the packaging, sending an activist dressed as Ken and another as Barbie, who drove a pink skip loader to the company's corporate office in June. They hung a banner from the building that read: “Barbie: It’s Over. I don’t date girls that are into deforestation.”

Mattel’s new policy also includes safeguards against buying wood fiber from tree plantations established in areas where natural forests once stood, a practice that is driving deforestation, Greenpeace said.  

The toy maker also said it intends to increase the amount of recycled paper it uses, and to increase the use of wood products certified by the Forest Stewardship Council.

"Mattel is committed to advancing the use of sustainably-sourced paper and wood fiber in our packaging and products," a statement on the company's website said. "Mattel will strive to implement these fundamental principles to guide our efforts and maximize, to the extent feasible, the use of post-consumer recycled content and sustainable fiber."

The company also said it will "maximize post-consumer recycled content where possible, while maintaining packaging and product integrity and compliance with applicable laws and regulations."

It pledged to use only fiber whose source is known and traceable, and which is harvested "in compliance with applicable laws and regulations" locally, nationally and internationally, and in accordance with "international guidelines and treaties to protect the rights of indigenous peoples."

The company said it will establish specific goals and report on its progress publicly.

Indonesia has one of the fastest rates of forest destruction in the world. The Indonesian government estimates that nearly 2.5 million acres of rain forest is being lost every year, according to Greenpeace.  

Indonesia’s rain forest, the largest in the world after those in the Amazon and the Congo, is home to orangutans, tigers, elephants, clouded leopards and scores of other endangered plants and animals. In the last half-century, about 40% of the country’s forests have been cleared, mainly for palm oil plantations and pulp and paper operations.

Despite a partial moratorium announced last month, Indonesian government plans suggest, by some accounts, that nearly half of the remaining natural forest could be cut in the next two decades.

ALSO:

US forest rules face controversial overhaul

Chiapas to California: preserving forests for dollars

Proposed law threatens to cripple Amazon rain forest protection

-- Geoff Mohan

Photo: Environmental activist Elise Nabor in a Barbie outfit, driving her "Barbiedozer" is stopped by an El Segundo police officer a half block away from the Mattel building in El Segundo, during a June protest. Credit: Mark Boster

1 dead, others hurt in boat full of suspected illegal immigrants

One person was dead Wednesday and nine others received emergency care after a boat crammed with suspected illegal immigrants washed ashore in San Diego's Pacific Beach.

The boat with 15 persons aboard reached the beach about 2:30 a.m., the San Diego Police Department said.

One person in the boat was found dead of unknown causes. Others were taken to a hospital for care and others were in custody.

ALSO:

Lone protester launches occupy USC vigil

Serial killer to face charges in 5 California deaths

Student charged with murder in South Gate school stabbing appears in court

-- Tony Perry in San Diego

Overturned car clogs downtown L.A. commute

Traffic through downtown Los Angeles was clogged Wednesday morning by a car that overturned after it struck the center divider on the northbound Harbor Freeway (110) at 9^th Street.

No one was hurt in the 6 a.m. accident involving a Chrysler Sebring, according to a California Highway Patrol report. Two northbound lanes were closed and emergency vehicles laboring to clear the accident were contributing to the tie-up.

The incident also was causing backups on the Santa Monica Freeway (10) through downtown.

It was unclear how long lanes would remain closed.

ALSO:

Lone protester launches occupy USC vigil

Serial killer to face charges in 5 California deaths

Student charged with murder in South Gate school stabbing appears in court

-- Sam Quinones

twitter.com/samquinones7

The Apple iPhone 4S, Siri, and the Turing Test

You may, if you have walked past a newsstand, caught more than five seconds of any news programme or accessed pretty much any part of the internet in the last 24 hours, have been made aware of the existence of a thing called the iPhone 4S. If you have read beyond the headline of any of those stories, you may be aware that it comes with a feature called Siri.

If you have actually watched what Siri is supposed to do, you may have stocked up on canned goods and bottled water, and installed a ferroconcrete bunker down the bottom of the garden ahead of the coming war with the machines.

I exaggerate. Slightly. Siri is a piece of voice recognition software, part-developed by the US military research group Darpa, which allows you to talk to your phone. Its advert shows a bunch of clear-skinned, clean-limbed Americans chatting away with the thing as though it's a childhood friend. "Is it chilly in San Francisco this weekend?" "Not too cold," it replies. "Maybe down to 61 degrees." "How about Napa Valley?" "Doesn't seem like it". The ad shows the whole process with a background of jaunty ragtime music, but I really would rather have it played out to something dark and industrial, preferably the duh-duh duh duh-duh theme to Terminator 2.

There are two ways that this can go. Either it's an outrageously misleading advert, and the voice-recognition thing will be the usual pointless and infuriating chore it always was – switching on at arbitrary moments and calling your mother in the middle of a meeting – or it really does what it says. Shane Richmond, our technology editor, has had a brief play around with it and he gets the sense that it "could be a big deal".

Being able to talk to a computer in natural language – "What's the traffic like around here?" "Text my wife and tell her I'll be 30 minutes late" – is pure sci-fi. It's even got the same lilting-feminine-robot voice of every space-opera computer in history.

I'm sure you've all heard of the Turing Test, invented by the great British code-breaker, mathematician and computing pioneer Alan Turing: an early, pragmatic suggestion for determining whether or not computers have intelligence. In it, a human judge would attempt to determine, from a conversation (usually text-based), whether they are talking to a human or a computer. If they cannot reliably judge, then the machine, to all intents and purposes, can be considered to be intelligent.

I'm not, by any means, suggesting that the iPhone 4S is actually anywhere near that. But it is, on the evidence of the advert, the closest of anything I've ever seen; it's the first real-life computer to give me the Uncanny Valley effect just by talking. You can't help but wonder, while watching it, how long it will be before it says, with chilling calm, "I'm sorry Dave. I'm afraid I can't do that". We're living in the future, and I have to admit I'm a little bit scared of it.

All that said, I'll probably still buy one. I'm a geek, you see.

Suspect in freeway shootings booked into San Diego jail

Enrique Ayon, 24, of Lancaster, was booked into county jail in downtown San Diego late Tuesday night on charges stemming from a series of shootings along two local highways Monday morning.

Ayon is charged with attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon, unlawful use of a weapon, and firing into an occupied dwelling.

He is set for arraignment Thursday in San Diego County Superior Court.

Ayon was arrested at gunpoint Tuesday in the Lake View Terrace area of Los Angeles County after a motorist spotted his 2006 Chevrolet Malibu and called 911. He offered no resistance.

Ayon is suspected of three shootings along Interstate 805 and 5 in San Diego, and one along Interstate 805 in National City. A 26-year-old man was shot in the leg and three vehicles were left with bullet holes.

The motive for the shootings is still unclear. 

Court documents show Ayon was arrested in the past for possession of marijuana and weapons.

ALSO:

Lone protester launches occupy USC vigil

Serial killer to face charges in 5 California deaths

Student charged with murder in South Gate school stabbing appears in court

--Tony Perry in San Diego

Photo: Enrique Ayon. Credit: CHP

No second trial in murdered gay teen case, gay rights group urges

 
A national gay rights group says that Ventura County prosecutors should do the “just and merciful thing” and reach a plea deal with Brandon McInerney for fatally shooting a gay middle-school student rather than trying him a second time.

A court hearing is scheduled Wednesday morning, when it is expected prosecutors will announce whether they will try McInerney again for shooting Larry King, and if so, whether as an adult or a minor.

Eliza Byard, executive director of the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network, urged prosecutors and defense attorneys to reach a compromise.

A Ventura County judge last month declared a mistrial after a nine-woman, three-man jury was unable to reach a verdict in the murder trial, which captured broad attention.

Trying McInerney a second time would “only dig into old wounds that have never been given a chance to heal," Byard said in a written statement.

McInerney’s emotional nine-week trial ended in a hung jury, with seven jurors voting for voluntary manslaughter and five pushing for either first- or second-degree murder.

One juror contacted by media after the trial said McInerney’s age at the time of the crime was a significant factor in the panel’s inability to find agreement. Many felt he shouldn’t have been tried as an adult, said juror Karen McElhaney.

McInerney was 14 at the time of the shooting, King 15.

Others who followed the case said on Twitter that they found it shocking McInerney wasn’t convicted of a point-blank shooting that his attorneys conceded he committed and wondered whether jurors couldn't reach a verdict because the victim was gay.

Earthquake: 3.3 quake strikes near Anza

A shallow magnitude 3.3 earthquake was reported Wednesday morning 13 miles from Anza, Calif., according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The temblor occurred at 12:36 a.m. Pacific time at a depth of 8.1 miles.

According to the USGS, the epicenter was 17 miles from Borrego Springs, 17 miles from La Quinta, 24 miles from Palm Springs and 62 miles from San Diego.

In the past 10 days, there have been three earthquakes of magnitude 3.0 and greater centered nearby.

Read more about California earthquakes on L.A. Now.

-- Ken Schwencke

Image credit: Google Maps