Friday, October 14, 2011

Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall would be as happy eating puppies as pigs: does he have a point?


Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall

Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall


TV chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall has “sparked outrage” this week, according to the Daily Mail, with his suggestion that eating puppy meat is no worse than eating a pork chop.


Now, before dog lovers get too upset, he’s not suggesting that people start eating dog meat: rather, as a reformed-meat-eater-vegetarian, he’s suggesting that they should stop eating pork. He makes the fair point that eating pork is “an artificial construct of our society; a cultural decision to make pets out of dogs and meat out of pigs.”


His statements have caused upset in the animal welfare world, with animal charities issuing statements strongly disagreeing with him. But does he have a fair point? Should we, as a pig-eating country, shut up about dog-eating countries, just letting them get on with it?


The World Society for the Protection of Animals knows a lot about this subject. WSPA has been working with the South Korean dog meat industry since 1998, when it responded to complaints about the inhumane treatment of dogs and cats in Korean markets. WSPA is a responsible international organisation: if dog farming could be done humanely, the organisation would have put its cultural bias to one side and worked with local organisations for stronger dog welfare laws to protect the animals in the markets.


In the end, WSPA made the call to campaign for an outright ban on dog meat. The organisation came to the conclusion that it’s impossible for dogs to be farmed and slaughtered humanely, anywhere and in any situation.


Despite Mr Fearnley-Whittingstall’s contention, dogs are different to pigs. Pigs may not always have decent lives on farms, but with care, they can be farmed humanely. Dogs have not been bred for generations as farm animals; instead, they have been bred as social creatures and as companions to humans.


If you try to put dogs into farm-type conditions, it just doesn’t work: they suffer far more than traditional farm animals suffer. Dogs cannot live in artificially large, closely packed social groups without fear and intense aggression. The resulting chronic stress frequently results in stereotypic and other abnormal behaviours that are distressing to watch and must be highly distressing for the dogs to experience. Whereas pigs in many intensively reared situations may suffer similar stress, it is possible for pigs to be farmed in ways that do offer them lives worth living.


As Dr Les Sims of the Hong Kong Government Agriculture Fisheries and Conservation Department has stated, “No country in the world has developed a humane way of raising and slaughtering dogs, and in our opinion, it cannot be done”.


The reports released by WSPA about the nature of dog farming in South Korea certainly support this view; the severity and range of welfare issues are shocking, which is why WSPA is currently campaigning to end the dog meat industry in that country.


Some pigs do suffer in the production of pork; in contrast,  all the dogs involved in meat production suffer when dog meat is on the menu.



Union members, Occupy L.A. protesters descend on revamped Hotel Bel-Air

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Economic protesters from the Occupy L.A. campsite at Los Angeles City Hall are on their way to join dozens of union supporters demonstrating in front of the newly refurbished Hotel Bel-Air, organizer Mario Brito said Friday afternoon.

The swanky spa and hotel is reopening after a two-year renovation with only about a dozen of its former union workers on the staff of 275, dealing a blow to the UNITE Local 11 hotel workers union and its members. UNITE contends the hotel used the renovation as a pretext to destroy union jobs.

Public relations representatives and executives of the hotel did not return calls for comment.

Photos: "Occupy" protests

"We're lending support to the struggle against a company so greedy they want to hire the lowest denominator," Brito said by cellphone, over the whoops and chanting of protesters aboard the union-supplied bus.

Los Angeles City Councilman Bill Rosendahl, in a phone call from the scene, said he supported the workers' protest.

Deputies arrested in off-duty shooting near park in La Mirada

Three Los Angeles County deputies were relieved of duty, and two of them were arrested following an off-duty shooting incident near La Mirada Regional Park, authorities said Friday night.

Judith Gonzalez, 36, was arrested on suspicion of felony assault with a deadly weapon. Adrienne Myers, 35, was arrested  on suspicion of felony battery. The third deputy, who was not arrested, was not identified.

No one was hit by gunfire in the early Friday incident, but one of the three deputies was treated and released for injuries at a hospital. The name of that deputy was not released.

Deputy Pete Gomez of the sheriff's media bureau said he could not say what happened at the park during the predawn incident, but that brandishing or pointing a gun could be charged as an assault.

"I don't know if there was an argument, I don't know if there was a fight. I do know this will be thoroughly investigated," he said.

Bail was set at $50,000 for each deputy arrested.

ALSO:

Seal Beach shooting: D.A. expects an insanity defense

San Jose hot dog vendors held on weapons, drug charges

L.A. schools need billions in facilities upgrades, report finds

-- Gale Holland

Wife sentenced to seven years in fatal knifing of her husband

Photo: Janeth Hernandez. Credit: Sana Ana Police DepartmentA Santa Ana woman who admitted to fatally knifing her husband after an Easter party in 2010 was sentenced Friday to seven years in state prison.

Janeth Hernandez, 30, had pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the April 5, 2010, death of her husband, Carlos Humberto Vallejo.

The couple began fighting about the party and Hernandez sliced Vallejo in the thigh, which began bleeding profusely. Vallejo died at the scene.

Orange County Senior Deputy Dist. Atty. Larry Yellin of the Homicide Unit prosecuted the case. 

ALSO:

Police remove Occupy San Diego tents, 1 protester arrested

KFI’s ‘John and Ken’ show loses advertisers as Latinos protest

Seal Beach shooting: Murder charges expected against suspect

-- Gale Holland

Photo: Janeth Hernandez. Credit: Santa Ana Police Department

Marine in prison for killing Iraqi allowed to be with wife during labor

Hutchins9999
A Marine from Camp Pendleton serving a prison sentence in the killing of an unarmed Iraqi has been granted emergency leave from the brig so he can be with his wife as she delivers the couple's second child, a boy.

Lt. Gen. Thomas Waldhauser, commander of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, granted the leave to Lawrence Hutchins, now being held at the brig at Miramar Marine Corps Air Station, according to the North County Times.

Hutchins will be brought under guard to the hospital at Camp Pendleton so he can be with his wife, Reyna. She is set to have labor induced Monday, the newspaper said.

Reyna Hutchins became pregnant when her husband was free on appeal. The couple has a 6-year-old daughter.

In August, an assistant secretary of the Navy rejected a parole recommendation for Hutchins. The Navy Clemency and Parole Board had recommended that Hutchins be paroled, but Assistant Secretary Juan Garcia said parole would be "premature."

Hutchins, then a sergeant and squad leader, was the leader of a plot to kill an unarmed Iraqi suspected of cooperating with insurgents who were attacking Marines with roadside bombs in the Hamdania area in 2006. He was convicted at a court-martial in 2007.

Rocky Delgadillo to head advocacy group for L.A. doctors

Former Los Angeles City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo

Former Los Angeles City Atty. Rocky Delgadillo has been named the top executive of the Los Angeles County Medical Assn., a local advocacy group for doctors, the organization said Friday.

The association praised Delgadillo for his work at City Hall, where his office sued insurance companies Health Net and Anthem Blue Cross over such issues as business practices and denial of claims.

Health Net, based in Woodland Hills, settled the case by paying $6.3 million to 800 people who had their policies rescinded. The case with Anthem Blue Cross is ongoing, said Frank Mateljan, a spokesman for the city attorney’s office.

The association weighs in on healthcare policy in Sacramento and across the state. In a statement, Delgadillo promised to help the association’s members “focus on the important work they do, and not on the bureaucracy that plagues the medical profession.”

Delgadillo left office in 2009 and attempted unsuccessfully to run for state attorney general the following year. A representative of Delgadillo said he will be paid by the association even as he continues to practice with the law firm Liner Grode Stein Yankelevitz Sunshine Regenstreif & Taylor.

When Delgadillo was in office, that firm was hired by the city to handle cases at the Department of Water and Power, the Port of Los Angeles and Los Angeles World Airports.

ALSO:

Police remove Occupy San Diego tents, 1 protester arrested

KFI’s ‘John and Ken’ show loses advertisers as Latinos protest

Seal Beach shooting: Murder charges expected against suspect

- David Zahniser at Los Angeles City Hall

Photo: Former Los Angeles City Atty. Rocky Delgadillo in 2008 announcing that his office filed a civil law enforcement action against Blue Shield. Credit: Liz O. Baylen / Los Angeles Times

Men indicted for coaching Chinese to fake Christian persecution

Two San Gabriel men were indicted Friday on federal immigration fraud charges for allegedly helping hundreds of Chinese nationals file bogus U.S. asylum applications claiming they were persecuted for their Christian beliefs, authorities said.

Haoren Ma, 47, owner of New Arrival Immigration Service on Valley Boulevard, and his employee, Minghan Dong, 55, charged up to $6,500 per person to coach asylum seekers on providing identical, and identically false, accounts of Chinese authorities breaking up underground church meetings, and arresting and torturing phantom worshipers, authorities allege.

The men also provided written materials and audiotapes tutoring immigrants in Christian precepts, officials said. Among the learning aids was a DVD labeled "Jesus 1."

Dong and Ma each face up to 85 years in federal prison and a $2.5-million fine, prosecutors said.

ALSO:

Seal Beach shooting: D.A. expects an insanity defense

L.A. council members may exempt themselves from Arizona boycott

Gang sweep targets convicted criminals with ties to Mexican drug cartels

 -- Gale Holland

L.A. medical marijuana ordinance upheld by judge

Photo: Wanda Smith, a diabetic with multiple medical issues, holds a protest sign in front of the courthouse on Ocean Blvd in Long Beach last month. Credit: Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times
A local judge had upheld the controversial medical marijuana ordinance enacted by Los Angeles, denying motions from 29 medical marijuana dispensaries for a preliminary injunction.

The decision came after Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Anthony J. Mohr held a series of hearings over many months on a host of challenges raised by the collectives. It represents a major victory for the city attorney’s office, which has invested considerable time and expense in defending the city’s ordinance from a phalanx of lawyers working for dispensaries. 

“It has been a long wait but well worth it,” said Jane Usher, a special assistant city attorney. “It is absolutely gratifying to have the city’s ordinance validated.”

In his 26-page opinion, Mohr dispenses with all of the arguments raised by collectives, including that they have a vested right to continue operating in the city. Usher called this a key ruling for the city. “Had that argument prevailed, we would be addressing the claims of more than 200, perhaps as many as 500 collectives,” she said. “I never felt that argument had a shred of credibility.”

San Diego highway at standstill as negotiators try to talk man out of suicide

Friday night rush-traffic is at a standstill on State Route 163 near downtown San Diego as negotiators try to talk a man out of committing suicide by jumping from a bridge over the freeway.

The California Highway Patrol closed the highway about 2 p.m. as a negotiators tried to talk to the man, who was demanding to speak to Dist. Atty. Bonnie Dumanis.

Southbound traffic was closed through Balboa Park to Interstate 5, northbound traffic to Interstate 8. Southbound lanes were opened about 6:30 p.m. as negotiations continued.

ALSO:

Seal Beach shooting: D.A. expects an insanity defense

San Jose hot dog vendors held on weapons, drug charges

L.A. schools need billions in facilities upgrades, report finds

--Tony Perry in San Diego

Some Occupy San Diego protesters remain; two arrested, tents removed

Police
Several dozen Occupy San Diego protesters remained Friday night in the plaza behind City Hall after a day in which police forcibly removed their tents and other structures and two protesters were arrested.

Protesters had been given a deadline of midnight Thursday to remove their tents, tarps, chairs, tables and other items. That deadline was later delayed until 7 a.m. Friday.

When police moved in around 7:45 a.m., protesters locked arms and attempted to passively block police from removing the tents. A 21-year-old man was arrested as other protesters chanted "We are the 99%."

Within 30 minutes, the tents were gone.

But several hours later, protesters had erected two more tents, and when police attempted to remove those tents, protesters physically resisted.

Police used chemical spray on several protesters and a 39-year-old man was arrested.

Police Chief Bill Lansdowne, who supervised the morning eviction, said protesters were welcome to remain in the plaza but without their tents and other property.

The plaza needed to be cleared, he said, because of an event planned for Saturday in the plaza and civic auditorium: a dance troupe.

Some protesters have moved to Balboa Park. Activists have also announced an Occupy North County rally for Saturday in the suburb of Encinitas.

ALSO:

Seal Beach shooting: D.A. expects an insanity defense

San Jose hot dog vendors held on weapons, drug charges

L.A. schools need billions in facilities upgrades, report finds

--Tony Perry in San Diego

Photo: Police tussling with Occupy San Diego protesters. Credit: Gregory Bull / Associated Press

L.A. council members may exempt themselves from Arizona boycott

Los Angeles Councilman Ed Reyes

Eighteen months after they agreed to boycott Arizona over its handling of immigration enforcement, members of the Los Angeles City Council could sidestep the business ban in a new and dramatic fashion -- by traveling to a conference in Phoenix.

Councilman Ed Reyes, who co-authored the boycott in May 2010, introduced a motion Friday that would suspend the travel ban next month so he and his colleagues can attend the Congress of Cities & Exposition, a yearly event staged by the National League of Cities.

The exemption, if approved by Reyes’ colleagues on Tuesday, would allow council members to dine in Arizona restaurants, hobnob in Arizona watering holes and sleep in Arizona hotels – all activities that were discouraged as part of the city’s protest of Senate Bill 1070, a law passed last year to crack down on illegal immigration.

Reyes, whose Eastside district has a high concentration of Mexican and Central American immigrants, said he supported the idea of having the conference in Phoenix after a lengthy debate by the league’s board of directors, where he was a member last year. Reyes said he was swayed in part by the plan to weave the topic of immigration -- and the impacts of crackdowns on undocumented residents -– into the conference's workshops and sessions.

“We have an opportunity to educate and inform other cities on how punitive this [law] is to the economy and Americans,” said Reyes, the son of a Mexican immigrant. “So I don’t mind the political complexity of it -- and the political naysayers who would label me as not being focused. In fact, I’m very focused on trying to address this injustice.”

On its website, the National League of Cities said its conference is being staged in Arizona to support Phoenix and other cities in the state, some of which have taken actions to oppose SB 1070. That law required police to check the status of those they suspect of being in the country illegally – a provision that was struck down in federal court. That decision was upheld in the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.

Opponents of the law have said that it would promote discrimination based on skin color. Supporters of the law disagreed and said stronger measures are needed to secure the nation’s borders.

L.A.’s boycott calls on city departments to suspend all travel to Arizona unless special circumstances exist showing that doing so could “seriously harm city interests.” It also calls for city agencies to stop purchasing goods from Arizona companies “to the extent practicable.”

Since the ban was approved, the council  has continued to maintain tens of millions of dollars in contracts with companies in Arizona, suspending its ban to purchase key products and services. Nevertheless, the Los Angeles Police Department abandoned a plan last year to send a team of helicopter pilots to an Arizona training conference.

That event was also held in Phoenix.

ALSO:

Police remove Occupy San Diego tents, 1 protester arrested

KFI’s ‘John and Ken’ show loses advertisers as Latinos protest

Seal Beach shooting: Murder charges expected against suspect

- David Zahniser at Los Angeles City Hall

Photo: Los Angeles City Councilman Ed Reyes meets with supporters after a vote last year to ban most city travel to Arizona and future contracts with companies in that state. Credit: Al Seib / Los Angeles Times

 

L.A. schools need billions in facilities upgrades, report finds

Photo: Students at Hollenbeck Middle School.  Credit: Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles public schools are in need of billions of dollars in repairs and renovations, according to the findings of a report released Friday on the condition of schools in the nation's largest districts.

The report by the Council for Great City Schools, a coalition of urban school districts in U.S., said that Los Angeles Unified, the nation's second largest district, requires $17.8 billion for repairs, renovation and modernization, with another $5.7 billion needed to pay for deferred maintenance at schools.

Of the districts examined in the report, many had the majority of their schools built more than 60 years ago. The report projected more than $100 billion worth of repairs, construction and maintenance is needed in the 65 districts included in the survey, which serve about 7 million students. The report also found that if the districts launch about $16 billion in facilities projects in one year, it could create more than 200,000 jobs.

Federal officials on Friday seized on the report as an opportunity to promote President Obama's job creation plan, which would direct $2.8 billion to California that could be used for schools.

"Our children only get one shot at a good education. They deserve better than crumbling school buildings and half-century-old science labs," Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said in a statement Friday. Duncan said the president's American Jobs Act would "provide billions for school modernization, which will help give our children the world-class education they deserve."

ALSO:

Police remove Occupy San Diego tents, 1 protester arrested

KFI’s ‘John and Ken’ show loses advertisers as Latinos protest

Seal Beach shooting: Murder charges expected against suspect

-- Rick Rojas

Photo: Students at Hollenbeck Middle School sit in a classroom that could use some upgrades. Credit: Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times

L.A. gives local businesses a leg up in city contracts

Los Angeles City Council member Paul Krekorian
In a move intended to juice the economy, the Los Angeles City Council unanimously approved a new law that will give preferential treatment to local companies seeking city contracts.

The ordinance, which was spearheaded by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s office, is intended to keep the city’s money close to home, strengthen local businesses and create jobs.

“We’re purchasing pencils and stationery from companies that are outside the state of California. That is ludicrous and that needs to change,” said Councilman Paul Krekorian, who introduced the measure almost a year ago with Councilman Bernard C. Parks.

Under the ordinance, companies with at least 50 full-time employees or half their total employees or their headquarters in Los Angeles County would get preference on contracts worth more than $150,000.

Villaraigosa said in a statement after the vote that the program “helps level the playing field, making it possible for local businesses to compete more effectively for city government contracts.” The cost of doing business in Los Angeles is about 10% higher than in other cities, according to his office.

Gang sweep targets convicted criminals with ties to Mexican drug cartels

A gang sweep dubbed Operation Garlic Press has struck another blow to criminals in California with ties to Mexican drug cartels.

At a Friday news conference in the farming town of Gilroy, famed for its annual garlic festival, Atty. Gen. Kamala Harris announced the arrests of more than 100 previously convicted felons. The arrests involved the sale of drugs, firearms and stolen property.

"After noticing an increase in crime, Gilroy officials asked for help in dismantling a gang network that had set up shop in their town," Harris said in a statement. The arrests were made in  Alameda, Santa Clara, San Benito, Monterey and Santa Cruz counties.

In June, in the neighboring Central Valley, agents staged a three-day sweep with helicopters and police dogs at more than 50 locations. Law enforcement said the prison gang Nuestra Familia, which controls most of the Norteno street gangs in Central California, had set up top leaders in small farming communities. From out-of-the-way towns, they were directing an elaborate network of drug and human smuggling and bringing violence  to formerly peaceful communities.

In the past, such  large-scale sweeps have sometimes pushed the criminal activity into neighboring areas.

However, the latest take-down, from the western edge of the Central Valley to the coast, predates the first sweep. Harris said the operation has been going on for 18 months. Undercover agents purchased drugs, gun and stolen vehicles. The suspects were arrested on state and federal charges.

ALSO:

Police remove Occupy San Diego tents, 1 protester arrested

KFI’s ‘John and Ken’ show loses advertisers as Latinos protest

Seal Beach shooting: Murder charges expected against suspect

--Diana Marcum

Reader photos: Southern California Moments Day 287

Click through for more photos of Southern California Moments.

Warped reality: Collin Levin points his camera at a convex mirror in the parking lot of Sherman Oaks Westfield Fashion Square on Sept. 5.

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.

San Jose hot dog vendors held on weapons, drug charges

And what would you like to go with that hot dog? Ketchup? Relish? A Smith & Wesson .357 revolver perhaps? Or a side of meth?

Two hot dog vendors were arraigned Thursday on federal weapons and drug charges after agents said the men sold guns and a quarter-pound of methamphetamine to an undercover San Jose police officer.

Jose "Chepe" Golberto Ortiz, 58, and Guillermo "El Gallo" Gonzalez Castillo, 23, were indicted earlier this month. Adding to their difficulties was the fact that neither man could even possess firearms legally.

According to the indictment, Ortiz is a convicted felon and Castillo is in the country illegally.

As reported in the San Jose Mercury News:

"Castillo sold the undercover agent an AK-47 assault rifle and more than 800 rounds of ammunition for $14,000," court documents said. "But this time, ‘El Gallo’ (Spanish for 'rooster') delivered his weapons from a baby carriage that he wheeled to the undercover officer’s car."

The two men were arrested at the hot dog stand, according to the Mercury News, and face lengthy prison terms if convicted.

ALSO:

Police remove Occupy San Diego tents, 1 protester arrested

KFI’s ‘John and Ken’ show loses advertisers as Latinos protest

Seal Beach shooting: Murder charges expected against suspect

-- Maria L. La Ganga in San Francisco

Seal Beach shooting: D.A. expects an insanity defense

Photo: Scott Dekraai makes his first appearance in Orange County Superior Court for the murder rampage at the Meritage Salon in Seal Beach. Credit: Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times
Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas said he expects the defense team to argue that the alleged gunman in the Seal Beach shooting rampage is insane.

"I think we're hearing something about the defense at this point," Rackuackas said shortly after Scott Dekraai's arraignment was postponed. "I won't be surprised if we get an insanity plea."

Dekraai faces the death penalty if convicted on eight counts of murder and one count of attempted murder. Authorities say that, in an act of revenge, he opened fire at Salon Meritage, killing his ex-wife, Michele Fournier, and seven other people. The two had been embroiled in a years-long custody dispute over their 8-year-old son.

Seal Beach shooting victims: Who's who

At the brief hearing, Dekraai's family law attorney, Robert Curtis, requested a continuance because they need time to assemble a defense team.

Curtis also told the judge that Dekraai needs his anti-psychotic medication, specifically trazodone and topamax.

Dekraai's doctor has diagnosed him with post-traumatic stress disorder stemming from a tugboat accident in 2007, in which a fellow deckhand was killed and he suffered a serious leg injury, according to court records. Fournier also accused him of being bipolar.

Rackauckas said a medical team will evaluate Dekraai to determine whether he needs the medication.

He said family members were upset, in part, because they were unhappy with the continuance and want the proceedings to "go quickly."

"They're just terribly distraught," he said. "There's just all of the emotions, including anger."

RELATED:

Suspect suffered PTSD from boat injury

Victim predicted ex-husband would kill her

Full coverage: Deadly Seal Beach shooting

-- Nicole Santa Cruz at Orange County Superior Court

Photo: Scott Dekraai makes his first appearance in Orange County Superior Court for the mass shooting  at the Meritage Salon in Seal Beach. Credit: Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times

Teen overcome by fumes, dies at recycling plant

Federal and state officials are investigating the death of a teenager who was overcome by fumes in a tunnel at a Kern County recycling plant where he worked.

Armando Ramirez, 16, was killed late Wednesday morning as he was cleaning the inside of a drain pipe.

His brother, Eladio Ramirez, 22, was critically injured after trying to rescue him, said Kern County Fire Department Capt. Joaquin Gaeta.

A third man who was not identified was also treated for injuries.

The brothers were found unconscious about 7 feet down a shaft at the Community Recycling Center in Lamont, just southeast of Bakersfield, Gaeta said.

3 off-duty deputies detained after shots fired in La Mirada

Three off-duty Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies were detained early Friday morning in La Mirada by fellow deputies who responded to reports of gunfire around a nearby park, officials said.

Deputies were sent to La Mirada Regional Park on the 13700 block of Adelfa Drive at 3:04 a.m., said Lt. Mary Leef. They took the three off-duty deputies in for questioning, she said.

Their names were not being released. Leef said it was unclear what the deputies were doing in the park.

"That's why it's still under investigation," she said, adding that no one was injured by gunfire.

The shooting incident is being investigated by the sheriff's Internal Affairs Bureau, the Office of Independent Review and the Internal Criminal Investigations Bureau.

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Salon shooting: Victims tried to hide, play dead, D.A. says

Lindsay Lohan often a no-show for community service work

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-- Esmeralda Bermudez

Salon shooting: Only ‘one punishment’ will fit crime, D.A. says

Salon Meritage
Orange County Dist. Atty. Tony Rackauckas said it was not necessary to convene a committee to decide whether to seek the death penalty in the Seal Beach salon shooting rampage because only "one punishment" would fit the crime.

In most cases, Rackauckas said the committee reviews facts of the case as well as aggravating and mitigating circumstances.

Full coverage: Deadly shooting at Seal Beach beauty salon

"But there are some crimes that are so depraved, so callous, so malignant, that there is only one punishment that will fit the crime," Rackauckas said at a news conference Friday. "When a person, in a case such as this, goes on a rampage and kills innocent people in an indiscriminate bloody massacre, I will of course seek the death penalty. The circumstances of this case are so terrible and incomprehensible that the aggravating factors overwhelm any mitigation that has any likelihood of being raised."

Rackauckas said suspect Scott Dekraai's actions were "intentional" and "methodical." He faces murder charges in the deaths of Michelle Fournier, Victoria Buzzo, David Caouette, Laura Elody, Randy Fannin, Michelle Fast, Lucia Kondas and Christy Wilson. He is also charged in the attempted murder of Harriet Stretz.

"This is the only way our society can get anything approaching justice for the victims, their families, the town of Seal Beach and the larger community we live in," Rackauckas said.

Rackauckas, who fought back tears at several points during the news conference, said this "mass murder will never make sense."

He vowed to make sure that the victims are remembered and that justice is served.

ALSO:

Lindsay Lohan often a no-show for community service work

Police remove Occupy San Diego tents, 1 protester arrested

KFI’s ‘John and Ken’ show loses advertisers as Latinos protest

-- Louis Sahagun and Nicole Santa Cruz

Salon shooting: Victims tried to hide, play dead, D.A. says

Scott Evans Dukraai
The Orange County district attorney said victims of the Seal Beach salon shooting were shot in the head and chest, while others tried to hide or play dead.

When alleged gunman Scott Dekraai, 41, walked into Salon Meritage, he was "prepared to commit murder" and armed with a bulletproof vest and three firearms, Tony Rackauckas said in a news conference in Santa Ana.

There were about 20 people in the salon, and many who were "just trying to stay out of the way," Rackauckas said.

Officials said Dekraai used at least two handguns in the shooting and did not appear to be under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

Rackauckas called the circumstances of Wednesday's massacre in which eight people were killed and one critically wounded "terrible and incomprehensible."

"The people of our community were made victims of a bloody massacre by a methodical, merciless killer," he said.

In a rampage that lasted two minutes, his ex-wife, Michelle Fournier, was among the first two shot, said Acting Seal Beach Police Chief Tim Olson. Dekraai and Fournier were locked in a vicious custody battle over their 8-year-old son.

Stylist who ‘made people happy’ among Seal Beach victims

Victoria BuzzoA Laguna Beach woman was among those killed in Wednesday's shooting rampage at a Seal Beach salon.

Victoria Buzzo, 54, died after the shooting inside the Salon Meritage when suspect Scott Dekraai allegedly walked in and started firing. She was a stylist at the salon.

Full coverage: Deadly shooting at Seal Beach beauty salon

Family members gathered at the Buzzo's home near the Laguna Woods-Aliso Viejo border declined to comment on Thursday.

Her mother, Ann Li Mandri, told the Orange County Register that Buzzo was a happy, bubbly person.

"She made people happy," Li Mandri said. "Everybody who knew her loved her."

Buzzo had been married to her high school sweetheart, David Buzzo, for more than 30 years, her mother said.

"They were just a happy couple," she told the newspaper. "I can't remember one time that she said she was mad at him, or he said he was mad at her. They had everything in common."

RELATED:

Suspect suffered PTSD from boat injury

Victim predicted ex-husband would kill her

Witness says of gunman: ‘Anybody he saw he was shooting’

-- Joseph Serna and Kimi Yoshino

Lindsay Lohan often a no-show for community service work

LohanActress Lindsay Lohan has rarely appeared at a women's shelter and never shown up at the coroner's office, where she is supposed to do a combined 480 hours of community service, law enforcement sources said.

Lohan was ordered in May to have her community service completed by next April in connection with her conviction for stealing a necklace from a Venice jeweler.

Lohan has completed 21 of 360 hours required at the skid row shelter for women, according to law enforcement sources.

Jane Robison, a Los Angeles district attorney's office spokeswoman, confirmed that because she failed to keep appointments at the women's center, she was transferred to the American Red Cross for those community service hours.

Lohan on several occasions failed to appear for her appointed shifts at the skid row center and on some occasions worked less than the four hours she was required to complete each day.

In addition, Lohan has yet to appear at the Los Angeles County coroner's office, where she must complete 120 hours of janitorial work.

Judge Stephanie Sautner will review Lohan's probation progress next week as part of a sentence stemming from probation in drunken driving and misdemeanor theft cases.

Crime alerts for San Pedro and seven other L.A. neighborhoods

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

Three neighborhoods reported a significant increase in violent crime. San Pedro (A) was the most unusual, recording eight reports compared with a weekly average of 4.4 over the last three months.

Mission Hills (D) topped the list of five neighborhoods with property crime alerts. It recorded 11 property crimes compared with its weekly average of 6.6 over the last three months.

Alerts are based on an analysis of crime reports for Oct. 5–Oct. 11, the most recent seven days for which data are available.

Ben Welsh, Thomas Suh Lauder

Two firefighters injured in South Gate

Fire2
Two firefighters suffered minor back injuries Friday morning while fighting a persistent house fire in South Gate.

The blaze, believed to have started at about 5:30 a.m. in the attic, was under investigation, said Los Angeles County Fire Department Inspector Matt Levesque.

It burned through the roof of the two-story home at 3070 Santa Ana Street as more than 50 firefighters in a dozen engines battled nearly two hours to put it out.

One firefighter injured his back while on a ladder and was taken to the hospital. Another was hurt when the ceiling from the second floor collapsed on his back. He was treated at the scene, Levesque said.

The residents of the home, which had been converted into two residences, were not injured.

ALSO:

Police remove Occupy San Diego tents, 1 protester arrested

KFI’s ‘John and Ken’ show loses advertisers as Latinos protest

Seal Beach shooting: Murder charges expected against suspect

-- Esmeralda Bermudez

Photo: Los Angeles County firefighters douse the smoldering ruins of a house fire in South Gate. Credit: Al Seib / Los Angeles Times

KFI’s ‘John and Ken’ show loses advertisers as Latinos protest

Protesters demonstrate against the John & Ken show outside KFI offices in Burbank on Thursday
Verizon and AT&T Wireless have pulled their advertising off KFI's "John and Ken" show in response to a campaign by several Latino groups to drive the controversial radio talk hosts off the air.

Vons and Ralphs, which have advertised on the show in the past, have agreed to not advertise in the future, the Burbank Leader reported.

The National Hispanic Media Coalition made the announcement during a demonstration Thursday in front of KFI's offices in Burbank.

The campaign to fire John Kobylt and Ken Chiampou began after the duo read the phone number of Jorge-Mario Cabrera, a local immigration rights advocate, on the air. Within minutes, Cabrera, a staff member with the Coalition of Humane Immigration Rights of L.A., reportedly received hundreds of hate-filled calls.

Police remove Occupy San Diego tents, 1 protester arrested

Occupy San Diego
Meeting only token resistance, police removed the Occupy San Diego tents and other property Friday morning from the plaza behind City Hall. One man was arrested.

As protesters chanted and locked arms, two dozen police at about 7:45 a.m. moved to dismantle the tents and cart off the chairs, tables, tarps and other property.

By 8:30 a.m., the property had been removed.

One man was arrested for physically attempting to block officers, said Chief Bill Lansdowne.

Larry Zarian, first Armenian American on Glendale council, dies

Larry Zarian and sons
Larry Zarian, the first Armenian American to be elected to the Glendale City Council and a former mayor, has died.

Zarian, 73, died of blood cancer Thursday at Glendale Adventist Medical Center, his family said in a statement, according to the Glendale News-Press.

Zarian, who also had his own local cable show, “The Larry Zarian Forum,” was surrounded by family and friends at the time of his death as Frank Sinatra songs played in the background.

“He cherished the gift of each day; he loved deeply and was loved deeply in return,” his family said in the statement. “He truly made a difference.”

In 1983, Zarian became the first Armenian American elected to the Glendale City Council, where he served for 16 years.

Police issue warning, begin arrests in Occupy San Diego protest

San Diego police began to arrest Occupy San Diego protesters
San Diego police began to arrest Occupy San Diego protesters Friday morning for refusing to remove their tents and other property from the plaza behind City Hall.

At least one arrest was made, and police have told other protesters they will be arrested and their property confiscated. A 7 a.m. deadline was issued for property to be removed.

An estimated five-dozen protesters remain in the plaza, down from several hundred for much of the week. Police Chief Bill Lansdowne was in the plaza directing officers Friday morning.

Metrolink train fatally strikes pedestrian

A person was struck and killed by a Metrolink train early Friday morning west of the Rancho Cucamonga station, officials said.

Train 301 was headed westbound from San Bernardino when it hit the person at Hellman Avenue about 4:35 a.m. No details on the victim were available.

The accident occurred in an area where pedestrians usually do not cross, said Metrolink spokeswoman Sherita Coffelt.

None of the 190 passengers on the train were injured. They were being moved out of the area on buses.

Coffelt said morning commuters could expect major delays.

ALSO:

Seal Beach shooting: Custody dispute seen as motive

Police release new details on Seal Beach shooting victims

Two Amtrak trains collide in Oakland, injuring passengers

-- Esmeralda Bermudez

Seal Beach shooting: Murder charges expected against suspect

Scott Evans Dukraai

Murder charges were expected to be filed Friday against a man suspected of killing his ex-wife and seven others in a shooting rampage at a Seal Beach beauty salon.

Scott Evans Dekraai of Huntington Beach is the suspect in the worst mass killing in Orange County. He was being held without bail since his arrest Wednesday after the massacre at the Salon Meritage on Pacific Coast Highway.

Orange County Dist. Atty. Tony Rackauckas and Seal Beach Police Department Capt. Tim Olson, the department's acting chief, planned to hold a news conference late Friday morning to discuss the charges against Dekraai, who turns 42 Monday.

Full coverage: Deadly shooting at Seal Beach beauty salon

The eight people killed were the salon's owner, Randy Lee Fannin, 62; Victoria Ann Buzzo, 54; Lucia Bernice Kondas, 65; Laura Lee Elody, 46; Christy Lynn Wilson, 47; hair stylist Michelle Marie Fournier, 48, Dekraai's ex-wife; Michelle Daschbach, 47; and David Caouette, 64.

Occupy San Diego protesters get new deadline to move their stuff

Occupy1
San Diego police have set a new 7 a.m. deadline for Occupy San Diego protesters in the City Hall plaza to remove their tents and other property or risk arrest.

The initial deadline had been midnight.

Dozens of protesters complied with the earlier deadline, some moving to Balboa Park. But others remained, with their signs, tables, chairs and tents still in the plaza.

Police have said that while protesters are welcome to remain, their property has to be removed in advance of a dance concert set for the plaza concourse.

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N.Y. protesters begin a march up Broadway

Opinion: Wall Street protests reflect a long American tradition

--Tony Perry in San Diego

Photo: Occupy San Diego protest. Credit: Tony Perry / Los Angeles Times

The perfect British loaf of bread


Perfect toast: have a look at this. Below is a Sherston loaf from Hobbs House bakery in the Cotswolds turned into a "toaster". This the bakery's most popular loaf. The bread is made using the overnight sponge method, which allows the dough to ferment slowly and develop flavour.


It's toasted: a loaf made to a century-old recipe from the Cotswold village of Sherston (Photo courtesy of Tom Herbert at the Hobbs House Bakery)


This traditional sponge-and-dough, two-stage process is relatively unusual today. It takes time, and time is money as they say, so modern industrial bread-making tries as hard as it can to eliminate time from the equation – which is why mass-produced bread tastes of nothing. But this is the way nearly all bread was made until about 50 years ago, when the invention of the dreaded Chorleywood Bread Process changed our daily bread so drastically for the worse. The dough is made of white wheat flour, fresh yeast, salt, a bit of shortening for texture, some Vitamin C, and water.


If everyone had access to bread like this, we'd be a healthier and happier nation.



Some Occupy San Diego protesters move to Balboa Park, others stay put

Occupy5
Dozens of Occupy San Diego protesters began moving to an alternate site in Balboa Park on Thursday night after police warned that they could be arrested if they did not move their tents and other structures from the plaza behind City Hall.

But some protesters appeared ready to remain, even at the risk of being arrested for defying the police order. No arrests have been made.

At about 4 p.m., police told protesters that while they could remain, their tents, tarps, chairs, tables and other structures had to be removed by midnight.

The plaza needs to be cleared of all structures so it can be washed Friday in advance of a dance recital Saturday expected to attract more than 1,000 people, Assistant Chief Boyd Long told the protesters.

Long said that people refusing to move their property would be risking arrests and that their property could be impounded.

The city has an ordinance that bans tents and other obstructions in the public right-of-way.

By 11:45 p.m., only a few police were on the edge of the plaza, with no indication that arrests were in the immediate offing.

-- Tony Perry in San Diego

Photo: Occupy San Diego protest outside City Hall. Photo: Tony Perry / Los Angeles Times

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