Friday, November 18, 2011

California public schools fare poorly in new poll

California’s public schools earned a grade of C or below by voters in a new USC Dornsife/Los Angeles Times poll.

A majority said schools were in bad shape, and about half said they were getting worse. The causes include funding shortages, wasteful spending on administration and bureaucratic barriers to innovation, respondents said.

About half supported the right of parents to demand, by majority vote, sweeping changes at low-performing schools. These could include reorganizing staff and curriculum, converting to charter schools or closing campuses altogether. Last year, California became the first state in the nation to extend that right through what is known as the Parent Trigger law.

But voters were upbeat about their local schools — far more than about those statewide. Sixty-four percent said their neighborhood campuses were doing a good or excellent job of preparing their children or grandchildren for college.

The survey was conducted for the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences and the Los Angeles Times by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research, a Democratic firm, and American Viewpoint, a Republican company. They questioned 1,500 registered California voters from Oct. 30 to Nov. 9. The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 2.52 percentage points.

Look for more findings at www.latimes.com.

--Teresa Watanabe

 

Pilot killed in plane crash at L.A. County fairgrounds was alone

Small-Plane-Crash.JPEG-02dea
The pilot who died Friday afternoon in a small-plane crash at the county fairgrounds in Pomona was flying alone, authorities said.

The cause of the accident is unknown, said Ian McGregor, a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration. The single-engine Mooney M20M was heading for Brackett Field, which is in La Verne adjacent to the fairgrounds, about 2:15 p.m. on the Fairplex racetrack.

The fairgrounds were closed.

The  plane is registered to a law office in Pasadena.The pilot’s identity is being withheld until his family can be notified, McGregor said. The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating.

ALSO:

Man sentenced to prison for fatally beating three dogs

'Bonnie' Pointer of Pointer Sisters arrested on drug charge

Natalie Wood: New info warrants reopening case, detective says

-- Gale Holland

Photo: Investigators at the site of a small-plane crash at the county fairgrounds in Pomona. Credit: Dave J. Iannone / Associated Press

Bus fire closes 405 Freeway at rush hour

A tour bus caught fire on the 405 Freeway north of Olympic Boulevard about 6:15 p.m., closing four southbound lanes to rush-hour traffic, authorities said Friday night.

Two lanes reopened at 7:20 p.m., but traffic remained backed up to the 101 Freeway in the San Fernando Valley, a California Highway Patrol spokesman said.

California Highway Patrol Officer Christian Cracraft said driving was stop-and-go over the hill. All lanes will reopen as soon as the bus is towed, he added.

Two passengers were transferred to another bus that happened to be passing by, a Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman said. There were no injuries.

 ALSO:

Man sentenced to prison for fatally beating three dogs

'Bonnie' Pointer of Pointer Sisters arrested on drug charge

Natalie Wood: New info warrants reopening case, detective says

-- Gale Holland

Panel examining L.A. County jails holds first meeting

A commission created to examine deputy-on-inmate abuse at Los Angeles County jails met for the first time Friday afternoon, pledging to restore public trust in the troubled lockups.

The panel, commissioned by the Board of Supervisors, is still in its infancy. Its five appointed members now need to pick two others before they can begin their examination of lapses in jail policy and management.

The members are former California Supreme Court Justice Carlos Moreno, activist Cecil “Chip” Murray, Long Beach Police Chief Jim McDonnell and retired federal judges DickranTevrizian and Lourdes Baird, who was picked to head the panel.

FULL COVERAGE: Times investigation into L.A. County Jails

Among the list of potential candidates approved by the board and willing to join are former Times writer Tim Rutten and ex-Gov. George Deukmejian.

The county jails have come under intense scrutiny in recent months. The FBI is investigating reports of abuse and other misconduct by deputies, and the U.S. attorney's office has demanded a large volume of documents on custody employees since 2009.

Confidential sheriff’s documents reviewed by The Times have shown that department brass were raising alarms about excessive force almost two years ago.

The jails commission technically has no authority to mandate reforms or punish sheriff’s employees. Sheriff Lee Baca is an elected official, and beyond the board's setting his budget, how he runs his department is wholly under his authority. Baca has, however, acknowledged that he failed in keeping tabs on his jails and has expressed willingness to implement suggested reforms.

“I’m confident this won’t be another report on a shelf somewhere gathering dust,” Moreno said. “I think the sheriff will step up to the plate.”

McDonnell, the only law enforcement executive on the commission, said he’d bring a “sensitivity to the realities of policing in Los Angeles.”

McDonnell labeled himself a “user of the L.A. County jails” and said he’s well aware of the challenges deputies face inside the lockups, given the county’s gang problems.

Details have not been finalized, but the commission is expected to use a budget of about $150,000 over some six months to publish its report. It will have access to confidential sheriff’s records and will likely be staffed by a handful of full-time employees and a significant number of local pro bono attorneys.

ALSO:

Man sentenced to prison for fatally beating three dogs

'Bonnie' Pointer of Pointer Sisters arrested on drug charge

Natalie Wood: New info warrants reopening case, detective says

-- Robert Faturechi

Photo: Inside Los Angeles County Jail. Credit: Los Angeles Times

Police seek information in slaying of transgender woman in Hollywood

This post has been corrected. Please see the note at bottom for details.

Authorities are seeking the public’s help in identifying a man who shot and killed a transgender woman in Hollywood late Thursday and who may also be responsible for the attempted armed robbery of a transgender woman in West Hollywood less than an hour later.

The shooting victim, Nathan Henry Vickers, 32, was found lying unconscious near Lexington Avenue and Gower Street at 9:58 p.m. According to the Los Angeles Police Department, the victim had suffered a gunshot wound to the chest and was pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics. The suspect apparently ran off after the shooting, and the motive for the slaying remains unknown, police said.

Vickers was also known as "Cassidy," according to area residents.

The shooting was followed by the attempted armed robbery of a transgender woman at Plummer Park in West Hollywood at 10:35 p.m., according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, which provides law enforcement services for the city. The department described the robbery suspect as a 5-foot-8 black male weighing 240 pounds and wearing a black hat and black clothing.

Anyone with information about the slaying is asked to contact Hollywood homicide detectives at (213) 972-2910 during business hours. During non-business hours or on weekends, calls should be directed to (877) LAPD-24-7 or (877) 527-3247.

[For the record, 7:02 p.m. Nov. 18: An earlier version of this post incorrectly said the slaying occurred Friday night.]

ALSO:

Man sentenced to prison for fatally beating three dogs

'Bonnie' Pointer of Pointer Sisters arrested on drug charge

Natalie Wood: New info warrants reopening case, detective says

-- Sam Quinones

Four high school football players accused of sexual assault of player

Four football players from a high school in Chula Vista were arraigned Friday in San Diego County Juvenile Court on charges of sexually assaulting a fellow football player.

The four have been suspended from Castle Park High School, and the football team has forfeited a game.

The suspects are accused of sexually assaulting their victim with a foreign object. The incident may have begun as a kind of initiation after the team finished its daily practice.

Because the four are juveniles, their names were not released and the arraignment was closed.

-- Tony Perry in San Diego

Cal State has no plans to redo tuition vote, despite complaints

California State University officials said Friday that there are no plans for the governing board to reconsider its decision to raise tuition next fall, despite criticism about how the vote was conducted following a raucous meeting this week that was disrupted by protesters.

The Board of Trustees halted Wednesday’s meeting as police and demonstrators clashed outside, shattering a glass door and resulting in four arrests and injuries to three university officers.

The meeting was moved from the boardroom to a nearby conference room where trustees voted 9 to 6 to raise tuition by 9% in the next school year. But many members of the public and media complained they were given no notice that the session was resuming or were not allowed access.

In a letter sent Friday to Chancellor Charles B. Reed and board Chairman Herb Carter, Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom asked trustees to put the tuition increase back on the agenda at a scheduled special meeting on Dec. 5, saying that “otherwise we contribute to the perception that this process is anything less than open and transparent.”

In a response, Reed said officials did the best they could under “volatile and chaotic circumstances” and “gathered as many persons (who were not participating in the ruckus) as we could in a situation where communication was imperfect.”

The chancellor added that “no one was excluded from the adjacent meeting room” and noted that a full public comment period had already been conducted before order broke down.

Terry Francke, an attorney for the open government advocacy group Californians Aware, said state laws governing trustee meetings allow disruptive spectators to be removed and sessions to be relocated. But Francke, who was not at the meeting, said descriptions of the events suggest trustees may have violated some aspects of the law in their handling of procedures.

Francke said, however, it was unlikely that the trustees’ action would be overturned if taken to court. “This kind of violation is not on the list that warrants a court to declare the actions taken null and void,"’ he said.

ALSO:

Man sentenced to prison for fatally beating three dogs

'Bonnie' Pointer of Pointer Sisters arrested on drug charge

Natalie Wood: New info warrants reopening case, detective says

-- Carla Rivera 

Police shoot suspected car thief after he fires at officers

Police car

San Bernardino police shot and wounded a suspected car thief who fired at officers during a car chase on city streets Friday morning, authorities said.

The suspect, Michael Madrigal, 27, was shot several times, authorities said. He was listed in critical condition at Loma Linda University Medical Center.

According to a statement released by the San Bernardino Police Department, an officer on patrol near Fremontia Drive and Alexander Avenue ran the license plate number of the car Madrigal was driving and discovered that it had been reported stolen. When the officer tried to pull the car over, Madrigal fled.

The car chase lasted six minutes, with Madrigal firing on four officers driving in pursuit, according to department spokeswoman Lt. Gwendolyn Waters. One of the bullets struck the front of a police cruiser, she said. None of the officers fired their weapons during the chase, she said.

Madrigal eventually stopped in front of his family’s home in the 1300 block of North Roxbury Drive, where the officers, fearing for their lives, shot at him, Waters said. Police recovered two handguns allegedly used by the suspect. No officers were injured.

“We are very thankful our officers were not injured and were able to resolve this incident without any innocent people being hurt," Chief of Police Robert Handy said in a statement.
Madrigal is expected to survive.

ALSO:

Man sentenced to prison for fatally beating three dogs

'Bonnie' Pointer of Pointer Sisters arrested on drug charge

Natalie Wood: New info warrants reopening case, detective says

--- Phil Willon in Riverside

Photo: Damaged San Bernardino police cruiser. Credit: San Bernardino Police Department

Slaying of transgender woman in Hollywood prompts request for information

Authorities are seeking the public’s help in identifying a man who shot and killed a transgender woman in Hollywood late Friday and who may also be responsible for the attempted armed robbery of a transgender woman in West Hollywood less than an hour later.

The shooting victim, Nathan Henry Vickers, 32, was found lying unconscious near Lexington Avenue and Gower Street at 9:58 p.m. According to the Los Angeles Police Department, the victim had suffered a gunshot wound to the chest and was pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics. The suspect apparently ran away after the shooting, and the motive for the slaying remains unknown, police said.

Vickers was also known as “Cassidy,” according to area residents.

The shooting was followed by the attempted armed robbery of a transgender woman at Plummer Park in West Hollywood at 10:35 p.m., according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, which provides law enforcement services for the city. The department described the robbery suspect as a black male, 5 feet, 8 inches tall, weighing 240 pounds and wearing a black hat and black clothing.

Anyone with information regarding the crime is encouraged to contact Hollywood homicide Det. Vinton or Officer Goodkin at (213) 972-2910 during business hours. During non-business hours or on weekends, calls should be directed to 1-877-LAPD-24-7 (1-877-527-3247).

-- Sam Quinones

Modern span will replace historic downtown L.A. bridge

Sixth Street Bridge
A modern cable-supported bridge will replace the stately arches of the 6th Street Bridge over the Los Angeles River on downtown's eastern edge, the Los Angeles City Council decided.

The chance to build a new monument that will reflect contemporary design won out over an appeal from preservationists to replicate the double steel arches in the main span.

“We’re going to have a bridge that links to the city’s past while looking to the future,” said Councilman Jose Huizar, whose district includes the 1932 bridge. “I think it’s the right direction to go.”

Tom LaBonge was the only council member to vote against the new design, decrying the loss of a bridge that is viewed by preservationists as a key part of an ensemble of a dozen historic Los Angeles River bridges.

“This drastically changes what is a tremendous view of this bridge,” he said. “It hurts me to see that we would let this bridge go.”

Marine charged with murder in beating death at Camp Pendleton

A Marine has been charged with murder and assault in the beating death of another Marine at Camp Pendleton.

The Marine, whose name was not released, was charged in the Nov. 6 death of Lance Cpl. Mario Arias Jr., 19, of Canoga Park, officials said.

The suspect was injured after jumping from the third-story barracks where Arias’ body was found about 1 a.m., officials said.

No motive has been released.

A hearing in the case has yet to be scheduled.

ALSO:

Man sentenced to prison for fatally beating three dogs

'Bonnie' Pointer of Pointer Sisters arrested on drug charge

Natalie Wood: New info warrants reopening case, detective says

--Tony Perry in San Diego

Reader photos: Southern California Moments Day 322

Click through for more photos of Southern California Moments.
On edge: Russo Mutuc captures a self portrait in the early morning fog in Los Angeles on Nov. 1.

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.

1 dead in small-plane crash at fairgrounds in Pomona

At least one person has died in a small-plane crash Friday at the county fairgrounds in Pomona, authorities said.

It was unclear how many people were in the plane, but the fairgrounds, known as Fairplex, were closed, said Capt. Henry Rodriguez of the Los Angeles County Fire Department.

The plane may have crashed onto the racetrack, he said.

No further details were immediately available.

ALSO:

Man sentenced to prison for fatally beating three dogs

'Bonnie' Pointer of Pointer Sisters arrested on drug charge

Natalie Wood: New info warrants reopening case, detective says

-- Matt Stevens

Cal State Fullerton encampment to disband

An encampment at Cal State Fullerton is being disbanded Friday after a group of students who had pitched tents to protest education cuts was threatened with arrest and possible expulsion.

About 50 students had been sleeping overnight since Tuesday as part of a wave of demonstrations on Cal State and University of California campuses throughout the state.

The students had set up about 20 tents in a designated area after campus officials gave permission and provided extra trash receptacles.

But administrators determined that the encampment violated university policy and told the students they would be subject to arrest and disciplinary actions that could include expulsion if they remained.

"We started with the idea that there would be a point in time when it would need to come to a close," Dean of Students Lea Jarnagin said. "We're coming up on the holidays next week with no student presence on campus, so there doesn't really seem to be a need to continue."

Cameron Mahdad, a protest organizer, said students decided to comply and work instead on a signature drive to be presented to the California State University Board of Trustees at a special December meeting. The petition seeks more student and faculty voices in decision-making through an elected board.

“We feel like there would be no point in getting arrested, and none of us want to get expelled,” said Mahdad, 20, a business major. “That would ruin our message, and we feel we can move our fight toward gathering signatures.”

Meanwhile, at Humboldt State in Arcata, members of Occupy Humboldt  are continuing overnight vigils begun several weeks ago in a corner of the campus quad. The students technically are not allowed to camp and must remain awake, but they are being allowed to shelter themselves with covers, campus spokesman Paul Mann said.

ALSO:

Redlands infant dies after being run over by mother

Occupy L.A.: 72 people arrested in downtown protests

Yacht captain blames Robert Wagner for Natalie Wood's death

-- Carla Rivera

Natalie Wood: New info warrants reopening case, detective says

An L.A. County sheriff's homicide detective said Friday that new information investigators recently received about the 1981 death of actress Natalie Wood was substantial enough to cause them to reopen the case, but he said her husband, Robert Wagner, is not a suspect.

"As a homicide bureau, we are always open to receiving additional information about older cases and current cases," said Lt. John Corina. "If we receive information that we assess and deem credible or reliable, we are not opposed to reacting to it."

In answer to a question at a news conference at Sheriff's Department headquarters in Monterey Park, Corina reiterated that Wood's husband was not a suspect in her death off the coast of Catalina Island.

PHOTOS: Natalie Wood | 1938-1981

"Robert Wagner is not a suspect," he said.

He said several sources had come forward with new information that warranted "another look at the case."

Santa Monica dog beach plans are dead, officials say

Plans for designating a second Los Angeles County dog beach in Santa Monica are dead
Plans for designating a second Los Angeles County dog beach in Santa Monica were dashed this week when city staff said that opposition from the state guaranteed that there was "no chance" of the proposal moving forward.

The City Council, urged on by an advocacy group called Unleash the Beach, voted last month to work with the state to establish a pilot off-leash dog zone at the beach.

In a meeting between Santa Monica city staffers and representatives of California State Parks, which owns Santa Monica State Beach, "it was made clear that there was no chance for a pilot program to move forward at this time," according to a memo by Community and Cultural Services Director Barbara Stinchfield.

INTERACTIVE: Guide to Southern California's off-leash dog beaches

California law prohibits unleashed dogs on state beaches without an order from a State Parks superintendent. The agency remains firmly opposed to relaxing the rules anywhere in the state, citing risks that dogs would pose to threatened species, habitat, beach-goers and other dogs. The state also has raised concerns about the health and environmental effects of dog droppings.

Water-quality groups also oppose a dog beach that extends into the surf, saying dog feces would pollute beach water and sand and sicken swimmers.

"Santa Monica taxpayers have spent millions of dollars cleaning up local beaches (over $2.5 million on the successful Santa Monica Pier cleanup alone)," Heal the Bay President and dog owner Mark Gold wrote on his blog, "so adding a new source of fecal bacteria to our local beaches doesn't make any sense in these financially challenging times."

The idea of a trial dog beach in Santa Monica is one of several by Los Angeles-area groups that have argued there should be more space on the sand for dogs.

Rosie's Dog Beach, a three-acre zone in Long Beach, is the only place along the county's 75-mile coastline where canines can legally run off-leash.

ALSO:

Human-smuggling boat stopped off Seal Beach

Parker, $1,000 dog abandoned with broken leg, gets new family

-- Tony Barboza

Photo: Chester stands on his hind legs to catch a ball at Rosie's Dog Beach in Long Beach. Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times

Voters find state universities pricey but good, poll says

Despite a decade of tuition increases and fears that they will be priced out of California's public universities, state voters have a positive view of the University of California and Cal State systems, a new poll has found.

A majority of respondents, 55%, said they viewed the two systems favorably. A quarter said they had an unfavorable impression of UC, and 27% looked askance at Cal State.

"I think they are very expensive overall," said Eric Medin, 18. Nevertheless, he said he hopes to transfer to UCLA from a community college and would commute from his Calabasas home to keep costs down.

The survey was conducted for the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences and the Los Angeles Times by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research, a Democratic firm, in conjunction with American Viewpoint, a Republican company. The poll was taken among 1,500 registered California voters Oct. 30 through Nov. 9. The overall margin of sampling error is plus or minus 2.52 percentage points.

ALSO:

Restraining order at Occupy L.A. is moot issue -- for now

Natalie Wood: Detectives will interview captain as a first step

Parker, $1,000 dog abandoned with broken leg, gets new family

-- Larry Gordon

 

Candidates in L.A. Council runoff pick up key endorsements

As the Jan. 17 runoff contest to replace Janice Hahn on the Los Angeles City Council heats up, several South Bay politicians are weighing in.

On Thursday, Los Angeles City Atty. Carmen Trutanich endorsed Joe Buscaino, a Los Angeles Police Department officer with no political experience. Both Trutanich and Buscaino are natives of San Pedro, the port neighborhood seen by many as the political center of the 15th District, which also includes Harbor City, Wilmington and Watts.

"As a local Pedro boy myself, I'm proud to strongly endorse the Pedro candidate in this race," Trutanich said in a statement. He praised Buscaino as "fresh blood," and said he trusts "that he'll do everything he can to prevent any further public safety cuts."

Buscaino's opponent, State Assemblyman Warren Furutani (D-Gardena), also picked up a key San Pedro endorsement earlier this week when the assemblywoman who represents the neighborhood threw her support behind his campaign.

In a statement sent to Furutani supporters, Bonnie Lowenthal (D-Long Beach) called him "a fighter for the communities he represents," and praised his efforts to help secure state funds to rebuild a bridge in the Port of Long Beach. Furutani was born in San Pedro but now lives in the Harbor Gateway area, a skinny strip that runs along the 110 Freeway that connects the Port of Los Angeles with the rest of the city. Furutani already represents about a third of the district in the Legislature.

Natalie Wood death: New information is substantial, detective says

An L.A. County sheriff's homicide detective said Friday that new information investigators recently received about the 1981 death of actress Natalie Wood was substantial enough to cause them to reopen the case, but he said her husband, Robert Wagner, is not a suspect.

"As a homicide bureau, we are always open to receiving additional information about older cases and current cases," said Lt. John Corina. "If we receive information that we assess and deem credible or reliable, we are not opposed to reacting to it."

In answer to a question at a news conference at Sheriff's Department headquarters in Monterey Park, Corina reiterated that Wood's husband was not a suspect in her death off the coast of Catalina Island.

PHOTOS: Natalie Wood | 1938-1981

"Robert Wagner is not a suspect," he said.

He said several sources had come forward with new information that warranted "another look at the case."

Man sentenced to prison for fatally beating three dogs

A 25-year-old man was sentenced Friday to five years and four months in prison for fatally beating three dogs owned by his then-girlfriend.

Patrick Land pleaded guilty in the case and was sentenced in San Diego County Superior Court. After the deaths last year, he fled to North Carolina but was arrested there and sent to San Diego for trial.

According to testimony in the case, Land was jealous of the attention his then-girlfriend gave to the dogs, and was believed to have restrained and then beaten the animals. His DNA was found on the dogs' bodies.

Land had three felony theft convictions in North Carolina in 2005, according to court documents.

-- Tony Perry in San Diego

Natalie Wood: Detectives will interview captain as a first step

Los Angeles County sheriff’s detectives plan to re-interview yacht captain Dennis Davern as part of their re-opened investigation into the death of Natalie Wood, then decide whether it's necessary to interview other principals in the case.

Whether he provides anything new will largely determine how extensive the investigation will be, said a source familiar with the case who did not want to be identified because of its sensitive nature.

“Any new information [from the investigation] will set the course as to whether there is a broader investigation,” said the source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the case was ongoing.

The case was re-opened in part because of questions from the media about the circumstances surrounding Wood’s death. Some of those questions were prompted by the captain’s account of the night, detailed in the book “Goodbye Natalie, Goodbye Splendour.” His statements are also the centerpiece of a "48 Hours" segment, produced in conjunction with Vanity Fair, scheduled to air Saturday.

The 30th anniversary of Wood’s death is Nov. 29.

Davern’s published account  of that night is different from the statements he originally provided to authorities. In the book, he says he lied to authorities about the events of that night. He is now describing a heated argument between Wood and her husband, actor Robert Wagner.

Wood, 43, was boating off Catalina Island on Thanksgiving weekend 1981 with Wagner, Christopher Walken and others when she somehow went overboard and died. Officials at the time ruled her death an accident, but there has since been much speculation about whether there was more to the story.

L.A. County Sheriff Lee Baca told The Times that detectives want to talk to the captain of the boat after learning of comments he recently made about events on board. Baca added only that the captain "made comments worthy of exploring."

A law enforcement source added that the Sheriff's Department recently received a letter from an unidentified "third party" who said the captain had "new recollections" about the case. The source spoke on the condition of anonymity because the case was ongoing.

Wagner on Thursday released a statement through his spokesman expressing support for a new investigation.

The actor "trusts they will evaluate whether any new information relating to the death of Natalie Wood Wagner is valid, and that it comes from a credible source or sources other than those simply trying to profit from the 30-year anniversary of her tragic death," Wagner's spokesman, Alan Nierob, said in the statement.

Wood and Wagner spent the holiday weekend on their 60-foot yacht, Splendour, along with Walken, who at the time was Wood's costar in the film "Brainstorm."

On the evening of Saturday, Nov. 28, authorities said, the boat had anchored and the trio had dinner at Doug's Harbor Reef restaurant on Catalina. Later, they returned to the yacht and had drinks. Wagner and Walken had an argument. Wagner said in a 2008 interview with The Times that the argument concerned how much of one's personal life should be sacrificed in pursuit of one's career and art.

They eventually calmed down and said goodnight, Wagner said, but when he went to bed, Wood wasn't there.

Wagner thought that his wife had taken a small inflatable boat by herself, as she had done before, his spokesman said after the incident. After 10 to 15 minutes passed without her returning, Wagner went to look for her on a small cruiser, the spokesman said. When he couldn't find her, he contacted the harbor patrol.

Authorities discovered Wood's body about 8 a.m. Sunday, about a mile away from the yacht. The dinghy was found beached nearby.

RELATED:

Robert Wagner supports inquiry into Natalie Wood's death

Yacht captain blames Robert Wagner for Natalie Wood's death

Natalie Wood investigation prompted by boat captain's comments

-- Andrew Blankstein and Richard Winton

Parker, $1,000 dog abandoned with broken leg, gets new family

Parker, the abandoned $1,000 puppy, has found a new homeParker, the abandoned $1,000 puppy, has found a new home, the San Diego County Department of Animal Services announced Friday.

A San Diego man bought the beagle/Boston terrier mix for $1,000 from a Los Angeles pet store but abandoned it when it suffered a broken leg within a few weeks. He left the dog with a friend who took it to a county animal shelter, where it underwent surgery paid for by donations to the agency's "Spirit Fund.''

After the puppy's tale was made public, dozens of people offered to adopt her. A Santee couple was selected, officials said.

Officials said Parker's case represents two disturbing trends:

-- Recession-beset owners abandoning animals because they cannot afford veterinarian bills.

-- People paying high prices for purebred and mixed-breed dogs from "puppy mills" when county shelters have plenty of similar dogs ready for adoption.

ALSO:

Redlands infant dies after being run over by mother

Occupy L.A.: 72 people arrested in downtown protests

Yacht captain blames Robert Wagner for Natalie Wood's death

-- Tony Perry in San Diego

Photo: Parker and her broken leg. Credit: San Diego County Department of Animal Services

2 colleges receive money to teach languages to military personnel

Two California universities have received funding to teach military personnel the languages of countries where they may be deployed
Two California universities have received funding to teach military personnel the languages of countries where they may be deployed, the Defense Department announced this week.

San Diego State University received $1.8 million to continue its language program teaching Pashto, Farsi and Arabic -- the languages of Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan and other countries.

In eight-week courses, San Diego State has provided language training to 2,000 active-duty and reserve Marines since 2006.

Cal State Long Beach received a $250,000 grant to develop a pilot program for military personnel, starting with California National Guard soldiers from the 40th Infantry Division based at Los Alamitos. Starting in January, classes in Arabic and Persian Farsi are to be offered.

ALSO:

Redlands infant dies after being run over by mother

Occupy L.A.: 72 people arrested in downtown protests

Yacht captain blames Robert Wagner for Natalie Wood's death

-- Tony Perry in San Diego

Photo: Marine Chief Warrant Officer Brandon Smith talks with Afghan villagers in Helmand province. Credit: Cpl. Katherine Solano / Marine Corps

Greenhouse gases, water vapor and you

Vaporgirl600
Several readers pointed out an omission in last week’s post about the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s release of its Annual Greenhouse Gas Index, which showed that man-made gases that contribute to global warming continued a steady rise. The post -– and the AGGI –- mentioned carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide and other gases, but failed to mention the biggest contributor to global warming: plain old water vapor.

“I want to comment that the way-dominant greenhouse gas in the atmosphere is not mentioned, namely water vapor,” writes Ken Saunders of Pacific Palisades. “Water vapor accounts for about 97 percent of the total (natural plus man-emitted) greenhouse warming of the planet. See, e.g., John Houghton's ‘The Physics of Atmospheres, 3rd edition,’ Cambridge University Press, 2002.”

This is true, water vapor is the major player in the greenhouse effect and is often omitted from reports and reporting about global warming -– mostly because it is more of a symptom than a cause in global climate change, and cannot be easily mitigated.

Tom Boden, director of the U.S. Energy Department’s Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, acknowledges in an email: “Folks are right when they state water vapor is a powerful greenhouse gas and not routinely measured directly in the atmosphere. Atmospheric water vapor is difficult to measure, highly reactive, and variable in amount due to meteorological conditions (i.e., atmospheric water vapor is continuously being generated from evaporation and continuously removed by condensation).”

“Water vapor is the most important greenhouse gas and natural levels of [carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide] are also crucial to creating a habitable planet,” writes John Reilly, professor at MIT and co-director of the Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change, Center for Environmental Policy Research, in an email.

That idea leads many to believe that global warming is natural and cannot be affected much by human activity. Reader Roy W. Rising of Valley Village writes: “Today's report focuses on a bundle of gases that comprise a very small part of total of ‘greenhouse’ gases. It totally disregards the long-known fact that about 95% of all ‘greenhouse’ gases is WATER VAPOR! Spending billions of dollars to alter a few components of the 5% won't affect the natural course of climate change.” 

Reilly warns, however, that scientists don’t blame water vapor or clouds for global warming.

“Concerns about global warming are about how human beings are altering the radiative balance,” says Reilly. “While some of the things we do change water vapor directly, they are insignificant. Increasing ghg's [greenhouse gases] through warming will increase water vapor and that is a big positive feedback [meaning: the more greenhouse gases, the more water vapor, the higher the temperature]. But the root cause are ghg's. So in talking about what is changing the climate, changes in water vapor are not a root cause.”

Water vapor is, however, included in modeling used to study global warming. Boden adds: “We do measure water vapor fluxes routinely at the Earth's surface in terrestrial systems. All climate models account for water vapor in the processes of evaporation, condensation and transpiration. Since water vapor is naturally occurring and mostly driven by natural processes it would be difficult to mitigate (e.g., cap on a lake) and thus does not enter into reduction discussions.”

So, when NOAA’s Jim Butler confirmed in our previous post that carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, methane, and two CFCs cause 95% of global warming, he meant that these five gases are at the root of a complex reaction that also involves water vapor and any number of other factors. The fact that you and I are responsible for generating a bunch of those man-made gases makes them the five to watch.

Thanks for placing your comments on the blog.

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-- Dean Kuipers

Photo: Britney Waugh stands in Fogscreen, an exhibit at WIRED NextFest 2007 in which pictures are projected onto a vapor "screen" that is dry to the touch. Credit: Al Seib/Los Angeles Times.

Occupy L.A.: Serious crimes have doubled in area, police say

Occupy Los Angeles encampment
Serious crimes more than doubled in the area around Occupy Los Angeles during the first 45 days since the protesters began their encampment, Los Angeles Police Department officials said.

From Oct. 1 to Monday, the LAPD reported 24 arrests for crimes including robbery, theft and aggravated assault.

The reporting area is bounded by Temple,  2nd, Hill and Alameda streets.

PHOTOS: Day of protest

The LAPD reported a total of 102 arrests compared to 60 during the same 45-day period in 2010. 

Of those, many included offenses such as disorderly conduct, drug violations, public drunkenness and lewd acts.

Representatives from Occupy L.A. plan to file a court motion for a temporary restraining order to prevent police from dismantling their encampment around City Hall without providing notice.

RELATED:

UCLA ousts Occupy encampment

Occupy L.A.: 72 people arrested in downtown protests

Occupy L.A. protesters to seek restraining order against police

-- Andrew Blankstein

Photo: Tents along Spring Street at L.A. City Hall. Credit: Al Seib / Los Angeles Times

Hate crimes drop to 21-year low in L.A. County

Hate crimes reported in L.A. County fell to their lowest level in 21 years, fueled by major drops in vandalism and in gang-related crimes, particularly those by Latino gangs targeting African Americans, which had made up a large number of the most violent hate crimes.

The Los Angeles County Commission on Human Relations' 2010 Hate Crime Report documents a third consecutive year in which hate crimes dropped around the county.

The total number of crimes fell to 427 from 593 in 2009 -- marking the lowest number of reported hate crimes since 1989.

The drop contrasted with hate crimes statewide, which remained largely unchanged in 2010 from the year before, the report noted.

In L.A. County, hate crimes reported against African Americans were cut almost in half; hate crimes against Jews fell by more than 40%.

UCLA ousts Occupy encampment

UCLA protesters in November
UCLA police arrested 14 people Friday morning who had set up an Occupy encampment on the campus' Wilson Plaza, a school official said.

The encampment of about 25 tents, which had been set up Thursday afternoon, was cleared by 6 a.m. Friday, said UCLA spokesman Phil Hampton.

Police began giving a dispersal order about 5:15 a.m. Some 40 people obeyed the order and left with their tents and sleeping bags. Another 14 chose to be arrested.

They offered no resistance, and the process was orderly, Hampton said.

They were expected to be cited and released, he said.

ALSO:

Occupy L.A.: Police arrest protesters at Bank of America

UCLA tells Occupy Wall Street protesters to take down tents

Occupy L.A.: Protesters to seek restraining order against police

 -- Sam Quinones

twitter.com/samquinones7

Photo: UCLA student protesters near campus Nov. 9. Credit: Damian Dovarganes / Associated Press.

Earthquake: 3.2 quake strikes near Ocotillo

A shallow magnitude 3.2 earthquake was reported Friday morning 10 miles from Ocotillo, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The temblor occurred at 6:14 a.m. Pacific time at a depth of 3.1 miles.

According to the USGS, the epicenter was 12 miles from Jacumba Hot Springs, 21 miles from Pine Valley, 35 miles from El Centro and 53 miles from Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico.

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

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

-- Ken Schwencke

Image: A map shows the location of the epicenter of the Friday morning earthquake near Ocotillo. Credit: Google Maps

Earthquake: 3.2 quake strikes near The Geysers

A shallow magnitude 3.2 earthquake was reported Friday morning three miles from The Geysers, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The temblor occurred at 2:59 a.m. Pacific time at a depth of 1.2 mile.

According to the USGS, the epicenter was seven miles from Cobb, nine miles from Cloverdale, 27 miles from Santa Rosa and 76 miles from San Francisco City Hall.

In the past 10 days, there has been one earthquake magnitude 3.0 and greater centered nearby.

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

— Ken Schwencke

Image: Location of the epicenter. Credit: Google Maps

The BMA admits it was wrong about smoking in cars – yet it is still making dubious claims


The BMA has been caught out (Photo: PA)


The British Medical Association has admitted that its claim that smoking in cars generates 23 times more toxins than you would find in a smoky bar is wrong. It included the claim in a press release issued yesterday, and the churnalists of the mainstream media, from respectable broadsheets to intemperate tabloids, repeated it without question. Yet as I argued in a post here yesterday, it is bunkum: last year a serious academic study for the Canadian Medical Association Journal said it  had "failed to locate any scientific source" for the idea that lighting up in cars produces secondhand smoke 23 times as potent as that found in a bar. Now, quietly, with no media fanfare, the BMA has corrected its press release. It now says: "The restrictive internal environment in motor vehicles could expose drivers and passengers to toxins up to 11 times greater than in a smoky bar."


But this is also a dubious claim. Can it really be the case that having a ciggie in a car exposes passengers to a climate 11 times nastier than you would find in a bar packed with people puffing on fags? Even one of the studies cited by the BMA as proof for this figure actually says something quite different. Published in the American Journal for Preventative Medicine, the study found that in a car with closed windows, smoking generated particulate concentrations of 272 micrograms per cubic metre of air, while in a car with its windows open smoking gave rise to just 51 micrograms per cubic metre. In bars, the figure was either similar (the study found 206 micrograms per cubic metre in smoky bars in Massachusetts) or it was significantly higher (reaching 412 micrograms per cubic metre in smoky bars in New York). Nowhere can I see hard evidence that smoking in cars generates 11 times the toxicity of a smoky bar.


It's time for the BMA to admit that its report demanding a ban on smoking in cars was a career low, a true jumping-of-the-shark for this busybody outfit determined to lecture the British populace. This is what happens when you opt for moralism over medicine and become more concerned with socially re-engineering the feckless masses than with boosting medical services. The BMA needs to butt out of our private lives and choices and go back to doing proper medicine, and the media should be more critical of nanny-state demands dressed up in pseudoscientific garb.



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