Compton area fire that killed 3-year-old blamed on electrical problem

 
A fire that tore through a house near Compton, leaving a 3-year-old boy dead, was caused by an electrical problem and has been classified as accidental, authorities have announced.

Ivan Boggs was found outside the bathroom of the two-story home in the 800 block of East Lennon Street after the Thursday blaze. He was unconscious and pronounced dead at a nearby hospital.

His 38-year mother suffered minor injuries trying to save him, investigators said. She later escaped through a second-floor balcony.

Los Angeles County Fire Inspector Don Kunitomi said late Friday evening that the electrical problem could have been a short circuit or bad wiring.

The mother was "very upset and despondent," authorities said.

ALSO:

Kelly Thomas case: Fullerton officers paychecks cut off

Man used gun fiancee gave him to kill her, prosecutor says

Federal officials begin major crackdown on marijuana operations

-- Gale Holland

Photo: Scene of Thursday's fire near Compton. Credit: KTLA-TV

 

Burglars who tipped authorities to child porn stash likely to get leniency

There is honor among thieves.

Two teenage burglars risked arrest by tipping off Merced County authorities that CDs they'd stolen from a barn contained child pornography.

Their decision to come forward resulted in the arrest earlier this week of Kraig Stockard, 54, of Delhi, Calif., on suspicion of possession of pornography of children under 14, Merced County sheriff's spokesman Tom MacKenzie said.

The Merced County district attorney is reviewing the case for possible burglary as well as pornography charges, "but I'm pretty sure the D.A. will show leniency," MacKenzie said. "If they didn't tell us what they did, we wouldn't have found out something more heinous.

"It just goes to show, there's a line even the bad guys won't cross," MacKenzie said.

Stockard had reported the theft of propane tanks, tools and sodas, but not the missing CDs, to authorities, MacKenzie said. The young men, ages 17 and 19, took the 50 CDs to be blanks, and asked a family member -- possible an older sister -- to load them with music, he said.

She discovered the pornography and persuaded the young men to go to their parents, who insisted they turn the discs over to deputies, MacKenzie said.  The teenagers made no effort to hide what they'd done, Mackenzie said.

"They were pretty straightforward about it," he said.

Deputies had Stockard come in, ostensibly to recover the stolen property, and confronted him with the CDs. He confessed eventually that they were his, MacKenzie said.

Investigators got a search warrant and seized three desktop computers and an external hard drive that  Stockard led them to believe could contain more pornographic material.

Stockard was jailed briefly and released on bail. The two young burglars were not arrested and therefore are not being identified, MacKenzie said.

ALSO:

Kelly Thomas case: Fullerton officers paychecks cut off

Man used gun fiancee gave him to kill her, prosecutor says

Federal officials begin major crackdown on marijuana operations

-- Gale Holland

 

 

 

 

New snowmobile crossing near Yosemite may accommodate rare red foxes

Federal officials on Friday said they would move a newly designated snowmobile crossing on the Pacific Crest Trail just north Yosemite if it interferes with a recently discovered population of Sierra Nevada red foxes in the area.

At least half a dozen Sierra Nevada red foxes, a species once believed to have been nearly wiped out in the 1920s, roam the high-country wilderness just west of Bridgeport, U.S. Forest Service biologists said.

The crossing was designated on Friday. It was chosen to minimize snowmobilers’ exposure to avalanche risk, provide access to Highway 108 near Sonora Pass, and provide land managers with an opportunity to shift its location, if necessary, to accommodate the foxes, said Mike Crawley, Bridgeport district ranger for the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest.

“If we happen to find a fox den or foxes nearby whose lives would be affected, we can move the crossing,” Crawley said. “There’s not a huge amount of wiggle room, perhaps a quarter-mile.”

The Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009 directed the Forest Service to create a motorized winter crossing of the Pacific Crest Trail in accordance with the National Trails System Act. The act states that the crossing will not interfere with wildlife or harm the surrounding landscape.

Until last year, biologists believed the only known population of Vulpes vulpes necator consisted of roughly 20 animals clinging to survival in the Lassen Peak region, about 150 miles to the north.

Several red foxes have been sighted in recent months west of Bridgeport, and DNA analysis of scat collected in the area indicates they may be related, Forest Service biologist Sherri Lisius said. In addition, an adult red fox was struck and killed by a vehicle in January near the intersection of U.S. 395 and SR 108.

“We don’t know much about the effects of recreation use on the Sierra Nevada red fox,” Lisius said.

Federal wildlife technicians have installed motion-sensitive cameras throughout the area, and continue to follow tracks left in the snow in hopes of finding a den with pups.

The Sierra Nevada red fox lives at high elevations, eating small mammals and birds. It has a reddish head, back and sides; black backs of the ears; black "socks" on its feet; and a white-tipped tail.

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Yellowstone grizzly bear euthanized for 'predatory behaviors'

Southwestern pond turtle making a comeback in San Diego County

Agency seeks to end sea otter relocations, to allow them off SoCal

 

-- Louis Sahagun

 

Photo: Pacific Crest Crossing area north of Yosemite in the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest. Credit: Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest

 

 

 

 

County should take control of L.A. Coliseum, supervisor says

 
L.A. County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas wants the county Board of Supervisors to take direct control of the troubled L.A. Memorial Coliseum from a joint state, city and county commission, the politician wrote in a letter Friday.

The need for reform comes, he wrote, as the Coliseum has found itself unable to pay millions of dollars for renovations to the stadium and as its finances are under scrutiny.

Document: Letter calling for dissolution of Coliseum Commission

"It is now clear to me the Coliseum's future viability will depend on a new operational structure," said Ridley-Thomas, whose district includes the stadium. He also sits on the Coliseum Commission.

His letter requests that County Counsel Andrea Ordin write a report about how the state and city and county of Los Angeles would dissolve the commission. "I believe the County of Los Angeles may be in the strongest position among the three parties to manage the Coliseum, and would therefore request you examine the legal viability of that option," he wrote.

Kelly Thomas case: Fullerton officers paychecks cut off

 
The paychecks for two Fullerton police officers charged in the death of a mentally ill homeless man will be cut off beginning Saturday.

Officer Manuel Ramos and Cpl. Jay Cicinelli, along with four other officers involved in the July 5 incident, have been on paid administrative leave. Ramos and Cicinelli are the only officers charged in Kelly Thomas' death.

Last week, city officials gave Ramos and Cicinelli notice that they would be placed on unpaid leave starting Oct. 8.

That announcement followed the Orange County district attorney's decision to charge Ramos with second-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter and Cicinelli with involuntary manslaughter and excessive use of force.

Kelly, a familiar figure in downtown Fullerton, was beaten and repeatedly stunned with a Taser until he lost consciousness, prosecutors say. He died days after his confrontation with officers.

Ramos and Cincinelli, who are both free on bail, were given until the end of business hours Friday to contest the decision to cut off their pay.

Neither did so, said department spokesman Sgt. Andrew Goodrich.

ALSO:

Burglars report victim's pornography to police

Man used gun fiancee gave him to kill her, prosecutor says

Federal officials begin major crackdown on marijuana operations

-- Richard Winton

Photo: Orange County Dist. Atty. Tony Rackauckas announces at a news conference that charges have been filed against Fullerton Officer Manuel Ramos and Cpl. Jay Cicinelli. Credit: Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times

 

$5,000 reward offered in killing of mountain lion

A $5,000 reward is being offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of poachers who killed a mountain lion in the Santa Monica Mountains.
 
The state Department of Fish and Game is providing half of the reward and the Humane Society of the United States the rest.

The mutilated carcass of the 7-year-old male was found Sept. 11 in the Ventura County portion of the Santa Monicas several weeks after a tracking collar used to follow the animal's movements stopped transmitting signals.

It is illegal to hunt or trap mountain lions, which are protected under state law. Anyone with information about the case should call the fish and game department hot line at (888) 334-2258.

ALSO:

Mountain lion killed by poachers in the Santa Monica Mountains

Mountain lion killed crossing the 405 Freeway

Two mountain lions spotted on front lawn of Sierra Madre home

 -- Bettina Boxall

Photo: A remote camera recorded this photo of the mountain lion, known by biologists as P-15, before his death. Credit: National Park Service  

Tehachapi slender salamander denied endangered species protection

Jeremy Nichols had never seen a living Tehachapi slender salamander when, acting as a private citizen, he filed a petition in 2006 asking the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to list the stealthy, brick-red amphibian as endangered.

Nichols became infatuated with the salamander after reading an article about it in a book about North American reptiles and amphibians. His petition cited Tejon Ranch Co.’s development plans as threats to its existence.

The agency agreed to study the matter, declaring in the Federal Register in 2009 that Nichols' petition presented "substantial scientific or commercial information" to warrant a comprehensive review.

On Friday, the service rendered its final conclusion: Batrachoseps stebbinsi does not warrant a spot on the endangered species list. An analysis determined that cattle grazing, road construction, flood control projects, disease, severe wildfires, prolonged drought and construction of Tejon Ranch’s proposed 7,860-acre residential and commercial development, the Tejon Mountain Village project, would not impact the species in the foreseeable future.

The salamander resides in two canyons about 13 miles apart and separated by a freeway 60 miles north of Los Angeles.

It lives mostly underground and, without lungs, absorbs oxygen through its skin. When threatened, it can coil its body like a snake.

The salamanders live most of their lives underground, emerging only when it rains. They occur on north-facing slopes within canyons or ravines, beneath rocks, fallen logs, talus, or leaf litter. They feed on small arthropods and other invertebrates.

It is unknown how long it lives, and no juveniles have been seen in the wild or reported.

Nichols, a climate program director with Wild Earth Guardians, an environmental group based in Santa Fe, N.M., was not immediately available for comment.

ALSO:

Court approves endangered species settlement

Rocky Mountain pikas not nearing extinction, study finds

Endangered arroyo toads cling to existence in the Tehachapi Mountains 

-- Louis Sahagun

Photo: An adult Tehachapi slender salamander from Caliente Creek, Kern County. Credit: Gary Nafis.

With conflict-law exemption, Reyes wants to rejoin rail board

Los Angeles City Councilman Ed Reyes said Friday that he is interested in returning to the board of a San Gabriel Valley light rail project now that the governor has signed a bill exempting project officials from a state conflict-of-interest law.

The bill, which Gov. Jerry Brown approved, applies to board members and board alternates of the Metro Gold Line Foothill Extension Construction Authority, which is building an 11-mile light rail segment between Pasadena and Azusa.

State law generally forbids public officials from serving on multiple boards, commissions, city councils and other governing bodies with interests that are likely to clash. The rail officials in question also hold city council positions.

Assemblywoman Norma Torres (D-Pomona) sought the legislation to neutralize a complaint to the state attorney general filed by Christopher Sutton, a Pasadena attorney representing a San Gabriel Valley property owner involved in a condemnation dispute with the rail agency.

Five charged with poaching 132 lobsters in Redondo Beach

Five Southern California men have been arrested and charged with illegally plucking 132 lobsters late at night in Redondo Beach, state wildlife officials announced Friday.

Wardens said they watched in the early morning hours of Sept. 29 as the men spent four hours with nets and bags, diving into the water along the King Harbor Jetty and pulling out lobsters of all sizes, said Patrick Foy, a warden with the California Dept. of Fish and Game.

When the men tried to drive off in a pickup truck about 2 a.m., game wardens stopped them and recovered 132 lobsters, many of them shorter than the size limit. Spiny lobster can not be legally harvested until Oct. 1, after which there is a bag limit of seven per person.

Arrested were Ramon Gonzalo Montes, 28; Omar De Leon Aguilar, 26, and Juan Manuel De Leon Haro, 34, all from Los Angeles and Augustin Granados, 67, and Ruben Flores, Jr.,38, both of South Gate.

All  have pleaded not guilty to charges of gross overlimit of lobster and possession of lobster for commercial sale.

The men's gear was seized as evidence and the lobsters were returned to the ocean.

Game wardens have issued nearly 100 spiny lobster poaching citations in southern Los Angeles and Orange counties since the season opened  Oct. 1, "but nowhere has the poaching pressure been greater than Redondo Beach," according to a statement by the Dept. of Fish and Game.

Officials said they were focusing patrols on the worst abusers--those taking lobsters regardless of size or limit--because they can depress entire local populations. The purpose of season and size restrictions is to give lobsters time to grow and reproduce before being harvested.

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Gov. Jerry Brown outlaws sale, possession of shark fins

Big catches mask dwindling numbers of sea bass

Blue whales dine in treacherous waters off L.A.'s coast

--Tony Barboza

Photo: Gear seized and lobster recovered in the Sept. 29 poaching arrest of 5 Southern California men. Credit: California Dept. of Fish and Game.

Man guilty of scheming with mom to kill cancer-stricken stepdad

A man was convicted Friday of conspiring to kill his cancer-stricken stepfather 13 years ago as part of a plot to save his mother medical treatment costs and enrich her with the life insurance and estate.

Thomas Day Aehlert, 41, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in connection with the death of Jack Jessee, who prosecutors allege was stabbed to death by a hit man in Placentia.

Orange County prosecutors say Aehlert and his mother, Sandra Jessee, 58, paid the hit man $50,000 to have Jack Jessee killed in his home. Jack Jessee, 56, was stabbed repeatedly on the night of Aug. 13, 1998. Sandra Jessee's trial for murder for financial gain is due to begin Oct. 21.

Sandra Jessee sold their home, collected her husband's retirement savings and a life insurance settlement and moved to Arizona, where Aehlert lived, authorities said. Investigators said she collected more than $650,000.

The case went cold until 2005, when investigators were able to link the suspects in the case.

Prosecutors say that Aehlert got a friend to arrange the hit and make it look like a residential burglary. Sandra Jessee is accused of leaving her house to go to the bank with the knowledge that the hit man would come while she was away.

After she left, the friend and the hit man, Thomas Garrick, returned to the victim’s house, prosecutors said. Garrick is accused of entering the home and stabbing the victim several times, killing him.

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South Pasadena to create 24 miles of bikeways

Young women compete for spot on 2012 Rose Court

Steve Lopez: It's time for Sheriff Lee Baca to step aside

-- Richard Winton

twitter.com/lacrimes

 

 

 

Conrad Murray tape: "Make me sleep," Michael Jackson begged

 
Jurors at the trial of Michael Jackson’s personal physician heard the doctor describe in his own words what happened in the final hours of the singer’s life.

In a police interview conducted two days after Jackson’s life, Dr. Conrad Murray narrated in a collected, steady voice the long hours during which he tried in vain to get Jackson to sleep on drugs other than propofol, the powerful surgical anesthetic that ultimately caused his death.

After about nine hours of unsuccessful attempts with two different sedatives, Jackson began begging for the drug that the doctor suspected he had grown dependent on, Murray said in the interview.

“At that time he said can I have some milk?” Murray recalled. “He said please, please, give him some milk.”

“Hot milk?” a detective asked.

Conrad Murray witnesses: Who's who

“This is just a medicine that he was familiar with, it’s called propofol,” Murray said.

Murray said by that time, it was already around 10:40 a.m., and he told Jackson he would need to wake up around noon. But Jackson persisted, the doctor told the detectives.

“He said just make me sleep, doesn’t matter what time I get up ... He said I can’t function if I can’t sleep,” the doctor said. “I agreed at that time that I would switch ... to the propofol.”

Murray said because of the other drugs he had given the singer throughout the night, he only administered half of the dose he normally gave.

In using the anesthetic, normally used only in hospital settings, the physician told detectives he “took all precautions that were available” including oxygen tanks and a pulse oximeter, a device for monitoring oxygen levels in the blood and heart rate.

He then left Jackson’s bedside for a mere two minutes to go to the bathroom and returned to find his patient wasn’t breathing, Murray said in the interview.

His otherwise calm voice grew louder and excited as he described performing CPR and trying to get help.

Rabid bat gets tangled in 3-year-old girl’s hair

A 3-year-old girl in Lake Elsinore was exposed to rabies after a rabid bat got tangled in her hair as she played in her front yard.

The incident happened Saturday at about 8 p.m. on the 2900 block of Enterprise Way. The girl's mom pulled the animal out of her daughter's hair after covering her hand in cloth. Animal control officers then euthanized it and sent it to a Riverside County public health lab, which confirmed it was rabid, said Officer Monique Middleton of Animal Friends of the Valleys.

"It's really unfortunate," she said. "The bat was probably chasing an insect and somehow crossed paths with this little girl."

It was not clear if the girl was bitten, but she began receiving a series of injections just in case. Middleton said the family was shook up over the ordeal and declined to comment.

"It's the kind of thing you see in horror movies," she said.

The animal control agency, which services several cities in Southwest Riverside County, had sent about 20 bats for rabies testing this year. This was the first to test positive in a couple years.

Middleton said the flying mammals are common. They move in the night, attracted to insects, which congregate near the light. They are almost blind, she said, and not prone to attack humans. Usually dogs or cats drag them into people's homes.

Countywide, three bats tested positive for rabies last year and nine, so far, this year, said Barbara Cole, Riverside County's disease control director.

She said anyone exposed to a bat should seek treatment soon since any direct contact can be dangerous, not just bites or scratches. Also, because bats have such tiny teeth it's hard to tell if you've been bitten.

The rabies virus attacks the central nervous system and is almost always fatal. Symptoms include fever, headache and weakness.

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O.C. pastor, soccer coach molested 8-year-old girl, police say

Federal officials begin major crackdown on marijuana operations

Conrad Murray, in taped interview, recalls being hired by Jackson

-- Esmeralda Bermudez

Officials announce schedule for roundups of wild horses, burros

The federal Bureau of Land Management on Friday released the tentative calendar for its annual wild-horse and burro roundups.

The roundups begin this month and continue through next March in California and several Western states. The BLM is expected to gather thousands of animals via helicopter herding. Some of the horses are to be removed from the range and others -- about 2,000 horses -- are to receive a fertility-control vaccine.

The controversial program has drawn criticism from animal-welfare advocates in the past as being unnecessary and harmful to the horses and foals. In response, the BLM has allowed the public to observe the roundups. 

The BLM estimates that approximately 33,00 wild horses and about 5,500 burros roam BLM-managed range lands in 10 Western states, based on data from February 2011. Wild horses and burros have virtually no natural predators, and their herd sizes can double about every four years. 

Public-lands ranchers complain that the animals compete with livestock for scarce food in the arid West.

ALSO:

Yellowstone grizzly bear involved in attacks euthanized

Mountain lion killed by poachers in the Santa Monica Mountains

Sierra Nevada red foxes are more common than once thought

-- Julie Cart

Photo: Wild horses gallop on the open range in 2010. Credit: Alan Berner / Associated Press

 

FBI explores California angle in case of missing baby in Missouri

A relative of the parents of a missing Kansas City, Mo., baby said Friday the family is hoping a tip from California will help them find her.

Mike Lerette told KMBC-TV in Kansas City that the FBI may be looking at some surveillance video of a couple in California with a very young child.

He did not say where in California the couple lived, and the TV station did not indicate how Lerette was related to the family.

The 10-month-old daughter of Jeremy Irwin and Deborah Bradley, named Lisa, disappeared from their home between late Monday night and early Tuesday morning.

The parents are reportedly no longer cooperating with police, according to Bradley's grandfather.

ALSO:

Burglars report victim's pornography to police

Man used gun fiancee gave him to kill her, prosecutor says

Federal officials begin major crackdown on marijuana operations

-- From a Times staff writer

Navy SEAL convicted on weapons-selling charges

A Navy SEAL from a Coronado-based team was convicted Friday of being part of a scheme to sell prohibited firearms, including AK-47 assault rifles from Iraq and Afghanistan.

A federal jury in Las Vegas took about 10 hours over two days to convict Nicholas Bickle, 34, an enlisted sailor, of 13 felony charges. He is scheduled to be sentenced Jan. 20.

Prosecutors said Bickle and two civilians sold the firearms to undercover agents of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

The Russian-developed AK-47, illegal to possess without a federal permit, is highly prized among collectors and can fetch a hefty price. Some of the weapons were smuggled back to the U.S. from war zones, prosecutors said.

ALSO:

Boy's death in house fire near Compton investigated

Psychic said stealing jewelry would remove curse, sheriff says

Jackson fan at Conrad Murray trial: "We want to know what happened"

-- Tony Perry in San Diego

 

Man used gun fiancee gave him to kill her, prosecutor says

An unemployed Fountain Valley man accused of having killed his fianee during an argument over another girlfriend shot her with a gun she had given him as a present, a prosecutor alleged Friday.

Phillip Nguyen, 25, was arrested Thursday and charged with the February death of Uyennie Ton, whom he’d been dating for three years, said Sonia Balleste, an Orange County deputy prosecutor.

Contrary to earlier reports, Ton did not live with Nguyen at his family’s trailer home in Fountain Valley.

Nguyen and Ton were target-practice fans, and Ton had given him the gun as a present, Balleste said, declining to state what kind of gun it was.

On Feb. 25, Nguyen allegedly shot Ton with the gun during an argument over another woman he’d been having sex with. Her death was originally reported by Nguyen and his mother as a suicide.

The case took several months to prepare, Balleste said, because detectives “had to scientifically prove whether it could have happened the way they said it happened.”

ALSO:

Boy's death in house fire near Compton investigated

Psychic said stealing jewelry would remove curse, sheriff says

Jackson fan at Conrad Murray trial: 'We want to know what happened'

-- Sam Quinones

twitter.com/samquinones7

Coroner identifies boy who died in house fire near Compton

A 3-year-old boy who died when his home near Compton caught fire was identified Friday as Ivan Buggs.

Ivan was killed Thursday afternoon in the 800 block of E. Lennon Street.

His age was initially reported as 4, but Asst. Chief L.A. County Coroner Ed Winter said the boy would have turned 4 shortly after Christmas.

His 38-year-old mother, who police said attempted to rescue him, suffered minor injuries.

His death has been classified as "suspicious," and the investigation has been taken over by homicide detectives from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

Ivan's mother escaped from a second-floor balcony as flames tore through the home.

She told investigators she was resting on the second floor with her son when she smelled smoke, said Lt. Mark Rossen of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.

The cause of the fire was under investigation.

ALSO:

Prince Harry in El Centro for helicopter training

Psychic said stealing jewelry would remove curse, sheriff says

Jackson fan at Conrad Murray trial: 'We want to know what happened'

 -- Sam Quinones

twitter.com/samquinones7

Photo: A fire truck sits outside a house that caught fire near Compton. Credit: Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times

After 10 years, SoCal Marines still key to Afghanistan war

 
As the war in Afghanistan enters its 10th year, Marines from bases in Southern California continue to play a major combat role, primarily in the longtime Taliban stronghold of Helmand province on the Pakistan border.

In 2001, Marines from Miramar Marine Corps Air Station in San Diego flew some of the first combat missions into Afghanistan. Marines from Camp Pendleton were the first conventional ground troops “into country.”

A decade later, more than 50 Marines from Camp Pendleton have died in combat in Afghanistan (along with 345 Marines from Camp Pendleton killed in Iraq, and 115 from Twentynine Palms).

On Monday night, Marines from the 1st Battalion, 5th Regiment will return to Camp Pendleton from a deployment to the Sangin district of Helmand province. In seven months, 17 Marines from the One-Five and its attached units were killed and 185 wounded.

The One-Five had replaced the 3rd Battalion, 5th Regiment, which had 25 killed and more than 200 wounded in Sangin.

As the One-Five returns, its replacement in Sangin, where Taliban fighters continue to attack Marines with roadside bombs and booby traps, is the 3rd Battalion, 7th Regiment from Twentynine Palms.

Afghanistan remains a “work in progress,” said Capt. Brian Huysman, a One-Five company commander close to finishing his second deployment to Afghanistan.

“They [the Three-Five] were able to put their foot in the door,” Huysman said in a telephone interview from Afghanistan. “We were able to get into the room.”

In a teleconference with Pentagon reporters this week, Major Gen. John Toolan, who led Camp Pendleton troops into Baghdad in 2003 and now leads U.S. and coalition troops in Helmand province, said there has been significant progress thwarting the Taliban and mentoring the Afghan forces but that considerable effort remains, including potential combat.

“Major offensive pushes are now underway,” Toolan said.

At the end of the question-and-answer period, Toolan drew attention to Sgt. Ricardo Ramirez of the One-Five. Ramirez lost a hand due to combat injuries in Iraq in 2006.

Still, he reenlisted, the first hand amputee to be allowed to remain in the Marine Corps. He has been a patrol leader in Afghanistan.

“The same grunt things he did with two hands, now he does with one hand and a hook,” Toolan said. “These are the kind of people we have over here and that’s why we’re making progress.”

ALSO:

Prince Harry in El Centro for helicopter training

Psychic said stealing jewelry would remove curse, sheriff says

Jackson fan at Conrad Murray trial: 'We want to know what happened'

-- Tony Perry in San Diego

Photo: Sgt. Ricardo Ramirez from Camp Pendleton, in Afghanistan. Ramirez is the first hand amputee to be allowed to remain in the Marine Corps. Credit: Cpl. Benjamin Crilly

Crime alerts for Mar Vista and 11 other L.A. neighborhoods

Crime reports are up significantly for the latest week in 12 L.A. neighborhoods, according to an analysis of LAPD data by the Los Angeles Times’ Crime L.A. database.

Four neighborhoods reported a significant increase in violent crime. Mar Vista (A) was the most unusual, recording five reports compared with a weekly average of 0.5 over the last three months.

Eagle Rock (B) topped the list of 10 neighborhoods with property crime alerts. It recorded 23 property crimes compared with its weekly average of 8.8 over the last three months.

Two neighborhoods triggered alerts for both violent and property crime.

Alerts are based on an analysis of crime reports for Sept. 26–Oct. 2, the most recent seven days for which data are available.

-- Ben Welsh, Thomas Suh Lauder

Feeding Teenagers With Cookies and Bars

Teenagers always seem to be hungry, but they also always seem to be busy, with no time to eat. Martha Rose Shulman offers a solution in this week’s Recipes for Health: tasty and nutritious cookies and bars that busy teenagers can eat on the run.

My son, an eighth grader who has grown six inches in the last year, will not eat lunch at school. It’s not about the sandwiches I’ve tried to pack, or the school lunches (which I wouldn’t blame him for not eating). Nor is it a question of appetite: He’s always hungry. During his 30-minute lunch period he wants to play basketball. If he goes to the cafeteria he doesn’t have time to get a game in.

“Can’t you just wolf down a peanut butter sandwich?” I asked him. “It takes too long” was his reply (this from a boy who always bolts his food). But something sweet, that’s another story; a granola bar he will eat. So I decided that if all he’s going to eat is something sweet, then that sweet had better have some food value. His science, history and English classes are all after lunch, and his brain cells need nutrients. Here are the goods I came up with — not as nourishing as the real lunch he has after he gets home from school, but better (and cheaper) than anything I could find in the store.

Here are five tasty treats to satisfy the hungry teenager in all of us.

Coconut Granola Bars: These are crunchy and a little bit sticky. If you are vegan you can substitute agave syrup for the honey.

Crisp Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies: Inspired by two recipes in Maida Heatter’s “Book of Great Cookies,” these crisp treats may be the best peanut butter cookies you’ve ever tasted.

Chocolate Pecan Bars: This is like a toned-down pecan pie in bar form.

Sesame Coconut Bars: These heavenly bars are inspired by Sesame Dream Bars, from “Diet for a Small Planet” by Frances Moore Lappé.

Seeded Whole-Wheat Scones: These scones are not overly sweet and have a light, wonderful texture.

Afghanistan: 10 years of California’s War Dead

Since the war in Afghanistan began 10 years ago, more than 1,800 U.S. military members have died.

Among them were 187 Californians who lost their lives serving in Operation Enduring Freedom.

The Times has been tracking all California servicemembers who died during the wars in Iraq or Afghanistan. The database includes photos and obituaries of the war dead, along with memories and tributes to the men and women from friends, family and strangers.

Times' database: California's War Dead

Among the more recent deaths was Sgt. Tyler Nicholas Holtz, 22, a U.S. Army Ranger from Dana Point. He was killed Sept. 24 during his fourth combat deployment to Afghanistan. Military officials said he was killed by small arms fire during a heavy firefight and was posthumously awarded a Bronze Star.

"Sgt. Holtz had the stuff from which legends are made," said Col. Mark Odom, commander of the 75th Ranger Regiment.

ALSO:

Boy's death in house fire near Compton investigated

Arnold Schwarzenegger unveils statue at his museum in Austria

Bank protesters in L.A. arrested after trying to cash $673-billion check

-- Kimi Yoshino and Tony Perry

Photo: A ceremony at Camp Pendleton earlier this year pays tribute to the 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine unit, which has suffered at least 24 dead in Afghanistan. Credit: Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times

 

UC Berkeley hit by mumps, students receive vaccinations

Hundreds of students at UC Berkeley lined up for vaccinations this week as health officials tried to prevent a mumps outbreak from spreading on campus and beyond.

As of Friday, there were as many as 20 known cases -- seven confirmed and about 13 suspected, said Kim LaPean, spokeswoman for University Health Services.

"It doesn't seem like there's a lot of fear on campus, but students are taking everything seriously," LaPean said.

More than 900 students lined up for shots on Thursday, some waiting in line for more than an hour.

Cases have been identified across the campus -- in on-campus housing, co-ops, fraternity and sorority houses and among students who live off campus up to 20 miles away.

UC Berkeley's Tang Health Center advised students to check their health records to make sure they had received two doses of the MMR vaccine for mumps, measles and rubella.

Those who had been vaccinated were recommended to get a third dose.

Mumps is a contagious viral infection that is spread through saliva and mucus. Symptoms, which include fever, headaches and swollen glands, develop 16 to 18 days after exposure.

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Psychic said stealing jewelry would remove curse, sheriff says

-- Esmeralda Bermudez

Photo: Students walk through Sather Gate at UC Berkeley in 2007. Health officials at the college are trying to prevent a mumps outbreak. Credit: Justin Sullivan / Getty Images

Psychic said stealing jewelry would remove curse, sheriff says

A psychic was arrested by Los Angeles County sheriff's officials for allegedly scaring a 12-year-old girl into stealing $10,000 in jewelry.

During "psychic readings," the suspect, Jackeline Lopez, of Palmdale, allegedly told the girl "horrible things" would happen to her unless she stole the jewelry from her parents.  

"Over a period of a month following the reading, suspect Lopez encouraged the victim to bring her jewelry from the victim’s home to be used in removing the curse from the victim and their family," the Sheriff's Department said in a statement released Friday morning.  "Routinely Lopez would orchestrate a ritual in which the victim would place the stolen jewelry in the caldron and attempt to remove the curse. Each time, however, Lopez would tell the victim that what they had brought was not enough to remove the horrible curse and she needed more. This continued until the victim’s parents noticed the missing jewelry and confronted the victim on its whereabouts."

The psychic sessions occurred in Lopez's garage, which was decorated with candles, chalk outlines, black cauldrons and human skull replicas, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said Thursday.

Lopez was arrested on suspicion of extortion, and authorities are seeking possible additional victims. Anyone with information is asked to call investigators at (661) 272-2477.  Anonymous tips can be left at (800) 222-8477.

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-- Andrew Blankstein (twitter.com/anblanx) and Robert J. Lopez (twitter.com/LAJourno)

Photo: Garage where authorities say psychic readings were held. Credit: Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department

Medical marijuana dispensaries battle new federal crackdown

A new federal crackdown on medical marijuana businesses in California is facing strong resistance from backers of the dispensaries.

"It's coming out of left field as far as we're concerned," said Joe Elford, the chief counsel for Americans for Safe Access, which advocates for medical marijuana use. "I really don't know what inspired this. It's a complete about-face from what [Obama] said when he was campaigning."

Federal prosecutors are threatening to shut down medical marijuana dispensaries throughout California, sending letters that warn landlords to stop sales of the drug within 45 days or face the possibility that their property will be seized and they will be charged with a crime.

The stepped-up enforcement escalates the Obama administration's efforts to rein in the spread of pot stores, which accelerated after the attorney general announced in 2009 that federal prosecutors would not target people using medical marijuana in states that allow it.