Category: Los Angeles

WASHINGTON —  Democratic Rep. Mike Levin defeated a challenge from Republican Matt Gunderson to secure a fourth term representing a coastal district in San Diego and Orange counties in Congress. The Associated Press called the race in California’s 49th Congressional District on Tuesday, though official results will take longer. The win means Democrats will retain control of a seat that had been vulnerable to flipping. But it may not be enough for Democrats to win control of the House. Republicans were two seats away from winning the majority Tuesday night. Levin, a former environmental attorney, was elected to the House in 2018 and has supported zero-emission vehicles, protections for water quality and safe removal of nuclear fuel from the closed San Onofre plant. Gunderson owned three car dealerships in Orange County before he retired. He ran as a supporter of abortion rights, tax cuts and border security. The biggest issues in the coastal district that lies about 50 miles north of the border with Mexico included the environment, housing, veteran affairs and immigration. The 49th District was one of several tight congressional races in California that

Fue el mes pasado cuando Fernando Valenzuela, de 63 años, el lanzador de los Dodgers de Los Ángeles que desató la Fernandomanía, murió a causa de una misteriosa enfermedad. Una copia recientemente publicada de su certificado de defunción disipa gran parte del misterio: Según ese documento, la causa subyacente de la muerte de Valenzuela estaba posiblemente relacionada con una enfermedad hepática y una insuficiencia hepática. El certificado, publicado por primera vez por TMZ, enumera el shock séptico, la cirrosis alcohólica descompensada y la cirrosis esteatohepatitis no alcohólica como causas subyacentes. El certificado también sugiere que la enfermedad de Creutzfeldt-Jakob puede haber contribuido a su muerte. Según el Instituto Nacional de Trastornos Neurológicos y Accidentes Cerebrovasculares, Creutzfeldt-Jakob es una enfermedad cerebral rara y letal que provoca cambios en el tejido cerebral y afecta a la coordinación muscular y la memoria. Los últimos detalles llegan tres semanas después de la muerte de Valenzuela y días después de que se celebrara una misa funeral pública por él en la Catedral de Nuestra Señora de los Ángeles, en el centro de Los Ángeles. Desde su muerte el 22 de

A Thousand Oaks man has been found guilty of torture for beating his 4-year-old daughter until she suffered “catastrophic” injuries to her brain and spine that put her in a coma. Tekquan Alexander, 28, was convicted Tuesday on charges that include torture, assault and corporal injury to a child. He was also convicted on special allegations that the victim was vulnerable and he abused a position of trust to injure the child. The abuse dates back to at least the week of Thanksgiving 2021, when Alexander punched and beat his daughter with a belt. Days later, he attacked her again after she wet the bed, first with a belt and then with an electronic cable. “He continued to beat her until she became unresponsive in the bathroom of their Thousand Oaks home,” the Ventura County District Attorney’s Office stated in a news release. The girl was airlifted to Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles where she was diagnosed with traumatic injuries to her brain and spine, as well as broken bones and dozens of cuts and bruises. Tekquan Alexander, 28, of Thousand Oaks, is shown in

By David Morgan November 12, 2024 / 9:31 PM EST / CBS News DOC NYC, America’s largest documentary film festival, returns Wednesday for its 14th edition in New York City, with films available for viewing both in-person and online. The festival showcases an international lineup of more than 200 feature-length and short films, including many world, North American and NYC premieres. Held in-person Nov. 13-21 at venues in Manhattan, the festival also streams many features online through Dec. 1. (For tickets and streaming passes click here.) The festival also includes filmmaker Q&As, panel discussions, master classes and workshops with notable documentarians and industry insiders. The full lineup may be viewed here. Special events The festival’s opening night feature is the U.S. premiere of “Blue Road: The Edna O’Brien Story,” Sinéad O’Shea’s revealing portrait of the defiant Irish novelist. O’Brien’s sexually-infused stories of women pushing against societal expectations, beginning with “The Country Girls,” raised the ire of Catholic sensibilities and censors, but won her fans for her clear-eyed depictions of youth and innocence being shattered. Cleverly piecing together archival footage and TV appearances, recent interviews with O’Brien

President-elect Donald Trump has tapped Fox News personality Pete Hegseth to lead the Department of Defense, making him the first on-air talent from the conservative-leaning network to join the incoming administration. And he may not be the last. Hegseth, a decorated combat veteran who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, will leave the network immediately, a Fox News representative said Tuesday. Hegseth, 44, has been a co-host of the weekend edition of morning program “Fox & Friends” since 2017 alongside Will Cain and Rachel Campos-Duffy. An Army National Guard officer, he joined the network as a contributor in 2014. “Pete is tough, smart and a true believer in America First,” Trump said in his statement announcing the appointment. “With Pete at the helm, America’s enemies are on notice — Our Military will be Great Again, and America will Never Back Down.” A number of Fox News contributors are expected to join the new Trump administration. Former Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director Tom Homan, who made paid appearances on the network, was named as Trump’s border czar on Monday. But Hegseth’s exit is a surprise. He is

It’s been nearly a week since election day, and California is still counting ballots, imposing an agonizing wait on a nation wondering who will lead the next U.S. House of Representatives. It isn’t a surprise that California is taking its time to verify, process and count the ballots of its more than 22 million registered voters. While some might see the delay as a problem, Russia Chavis Cardenas, the voting rights and redistricting program manager for California Common Cause, called it a virtue. “It means elections officials are doing everything they can to count every legitimate ballot fairly and accurately,” Cardenas said. California has an estimated 5 million ballots that still need to be counted, according to the most recent report of unprocessed ballots by the California secretary of state. The county that’s leading the pack in unprocessed ballots is Los Angeles, with a daunting 1 million ballots left to count. The ballots waiting to be tallied include same-day ballots, but a majority are vote-by-mail ballots. A majority of the unprocessed ballots for counties across the state are vote-by-mail. Registered voters tend to hold onto

A history teacher at Valley View High School in Moreno Valley has been placed on administrative leave after going on a profanity-laced anti-Trump rant after the election that has since gone viral on social media.   The teacher’s punishment has sparked something of a controversy with students walking out of class in protest of his suspension.   “A racist, draft-dodging coward, treasonous scum. Why would he win? Why did he win?” the teacher is heard saying in the recording. “But has Donald Trump quoted Hitler? Yes. Does he embody some of Hitler’s ideas? Yes.”   The recording, after it was shared to social media, has racked up millions of listens.   “Let me tell you, I know of Latino men on this campus and students that love Donald Trump,” the teacher continued. “He called their mothers rapists, he called their fathers rapists. He called them criminals. He called them poison in the blood of our country.”   Students protest a teacher’s suspension after he was recorded going on a post-election anti-Trump rant in class. (KTLA) A world history teacher was placed on leave after delivering

Family members of a 36-year-old Playa Vista woman who has not been seen or heard from in nearly two weeks have come from all over the country to try and find her.   Chanel Banks, according to family members, moved to Los Angeles more than a decade ago to pursue a career in acting.   Her cousin, Danielle-Tori Singh, told KTLA that she never thought her first trip to California would be to look for Banks, who hasn’t been heard from since late October.   “The last text we got from her before her phone went off the grid was Oct. 30,” Singh explained. “I’m not going to leave California until I find my cousin.”   Chanel Banks and her husband seen in this undated photo. (Danielle-Tori Singh) Chanel Banks, seen in this undated photo. (Danielle-Tori Singh) Family members seen passing out flyers of Chanel Banks, missing since at least Oct. 30, 2024. (KTLA) Chanel Banks, seen in this undated photo. (Danielle-Tori Singh) Chanel Banks’ vehicle seen at her apartment in Playa Vista on Nov. 12, 2024. (KTLA) Chanel Banks, seen in this undated photo.

A 33-year-old man was convicted Tuesday of killing a teen friend’s parents in an ambush that also claimed a third victim eight years ago in Fullerton. Frank Sato Felix was convicted of three counts of murder with special circumstances of multiple victims. Felix, who is scheduled to be sentenced Jan. 17, faces life in prison without the possibility of parole. Co-defendant Joshua Charles Acosta, 29, was convicted in November 2018 and was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, plus an extra 75 years. Felix was convicted of helping his best friend Acosta kill 39-year-old Jennifer Goodwill-Yost; her husband, 34-year-old Christopher Yost; and their friend, 28-year-old Arthur William Boucher on Sept. 23, 2016. Felix’s attorney, David Paulson, deferred an opening statement in the trial. The 6-year-old daughter of the couple called 911 at about 8:20 a.m. Sept. 24, 2016, saying, “mom and dad and Billy died” in their home on 401 S. Gilbert St., according to Senior Deputy District Attorney Seton Hunt. The girl told the dispatcher she wanted police to take her and her 9-year-old sister away because they were frightened

A 40-year-old handyman who fatally beat his fiancee in a “gruesome” attack that included biting her and breaking her neck at her Woodcrest home was convicted Tuesday of first-degree murder and other offenses. A Riverside jury deliberated less than two days before finding Eduardo Avalos Escoto guilty of the 2019 slaying of 42-year-old Brandie Frazier. The jury went behind closed doors Thursday afternoon to weigh evidence from the two-week trial. Riverside County Superior Court Judge Valerie Navarro gave the panel Friday off going into the holiday weekend, and jurors returned to the Riverside Hall of Justice on Tuesday, deliberating most of the day before announcing verdicts. Along with the murder count, Escoto was convicted of sentence-enhancing allegations of inflicting great bodily injury, using sophistication in perpetrating a crime and taking advantage of a position of trust. The judge scheduled a sentencing hearing for Dec. 10. Escoto, who is being held without bail at the Byrd Detention Center in Murrieta, is facing 30 years to life in state prison. According to a trial brief filed by the District Attorney’s Office, the defendant and Frazier met while

A Sylmar resident was arrested on a three-count federal indictment for the advertisement and distribution of more than 600 explicit images of minors. (Anadolu / Getty Images) A 23-year-old man accused of an online sextortion scheme in the San Fernando Valley awaits sentencing after pleading guilty to distributing explicit images of minors, the United States Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California confirmed Tuesday. Sylmar resident Alejandro Garcia Aranda was arrested in July on a three-count federal indictment for advertising and distributing more than 600 images and videos containing child pornography through his Instagram handle, “valleyhoezzz818,” which was created around May 2020. Authorities said he used the images to shame girls and extort high school victims by threatening to post more compromising content if they did not send more photos. Aranda admitted to selling the images, according to the plea agreement. Investigators found that Aranda received payment via Cash App, PayPal, Venmo and Zelle from online customers who bought the explicit content. Aranda sent paying customers a zip file stored on MEGA, a file hosting service based in New Zealand, containing the explicit sexual

In a move that further signals Donald Trump’s commitment to enforce stringent controls on illegal immigration, the president-elect confirmed Tuesday he planned to appoint South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem as secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. Trump has already signaled he will tap Stephen Miller and Tom Homan, two longtime allies with a track record of pushing for mass deportations and extreme clampdowns on immigrants, to serve senior roles as deputy chief of staff for policy and “border czar.” Noem, 52, a Trump loyalist who has offered firm backing for the GOP leader’s promise to carry out mass deportations, will preside over a vast department that oversees multiple agencies, including the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The department has more than 260,000 employees and a $60-billion budget. After Trump defeated Vice President Kamala Harris, Noem was asked how a Trump administration would carry out his plan to deport millions of immigrants who entered the country illegally. “It is going to be a big operation,” Noem told NewsNation. “President Trump has already indicated that he

Roy Haynes, a jazz drummer and band leader whose skill and versatility led to performances with such diverse artists as Louis Armstrong, Charlie Parker, Chick Corea and Pat Metheny over the course of his seven-decade career, has died. A representative for Haynes confirmed to The Times that the prolific percussionist died Tuesday. His daughter, Leslie Haynes-Gilmore, told the New York Times her father died after a brief illness. He was 99. Haynes’ far-reaching résumé boasted expertise in most of the stylistic areas of jazz history. Called upon to play New Orleans music, swing, bebop, avant-garde, fusion, modal jazz, jazz rock, acid-jazz and more, he responded with extraordinary skill and imagination. “One can hear the essences of all of those bandstands, concert jobs, dances, parties and jam sessions in the freedom of his beat and command of tempo,” critic Stanley Crouch, a drummer himself, wrote for the online magazine Slate. “Haynes,” he added, “has no date on the way he plays. It is and always was contemporary.” Haynes’ remarkable longevity as a performer was underscored over the decades whenever he played at New York City’s venerable

DeShaun Foster acknowledged that both of the game balls he’s been given this season to commemorate coaching firsts could have gone to someone equally worthy. His kicker. That’s how valuable Mateen Bhaghani has been in his first season at UCLA. The transfer from California made a game-winner against Hawaii that represented Foster’s first coaching victory (earning him a game ball from athletic director Martin Jarmond ) and converted a career-long 57-yarder against Iowa last Friday to help give Foster his first home victory (and a second game ball from his boss). “I’m glad we got him from that other school up the road,” Foster said Tuesday. Bhaghani’s consistency in making 14 of 17 field-goal attempts this season has done more than put the sophomore in the conversation to join Norm Johnson, John Lee, Chris Sailer, Justin Medlock and Ka’imi Fairbairn as one of the Bruins’ all-time great kickers; it has also earned him the nickname “Money Bhags” from special teams coordinator Kodi Whitfield. “Super cool,” Bhaghani said. “I’ve been enjoying it.” Bhaghani’s 57-yarder topped the 54-yarder he made earlier this season against Oregon and was

(The Hill) — President-elect Trump has tapped tech entrepreneurs Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy to lead an advisory group focused on cutting federal spending and reducing the size of the government Trump announced Tuesday that Musk and Ramaswamy would lead his “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE), an initiative meant to “slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures” and restructure federal agencies. Trump said that DOGE would “provide advice and guidance from outside of government” and partner with the White House Office of Budget and Management (OMB). “It will become, potentially, ‘The Manhattan Project’ of our time. Republican politicians have dreamed about the objectives of “DOGE” for a very long time,” the President-elect added. Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk listens as Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign event at the Butler Farm Show, Oct. 5, 2024, in Butler, Pa. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File) Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy addresses the Family Research Council’s Pray Vote Stand Summit in Washington, D.C., on Friday, September 15, 2023. It was not immediately clear whether DOGE would be an official part of the Trump administration

Family members of a 36-year-old Playa Vista woman who has not been seen or heard from in nearly two weeks have come from all over the country to try and find her.   Chanel Banks, according to family members, moved to Los Angeles more than a decade ago to pursue a career in acting.   Her cousin, Danielle-Tori Singh, told KTLA that she never thought her first trip to California would be to look for Banks, who hasn’t been heard from since late October.   “The last text we got from her before her phone went off the grid was Oct. 30,” Singh explained. “I’m not going to leave California until I find my cousin.”   Chanel Banks and her husband seen in this undated photo. (Danielle-Tori Singh) Chanel Banks, seen in this undated photo. (Danielle-Tori Singh) Family members seen passing out flyers of Chanel Banks, missing since at least Oct. 30, 2024. (KTLA) Chanel Banks, seen in this undated photo. (Danielle-Tori Singh) Chanel Banks’ vehicle seen at her apartment in Playa Vista on Nov. 12, 2024. (KTLA) Chanel Banks, seen in this undated photo.

Updated on: November 12, 2024 / 9:14 PM EST / CBS News Trump fills out Cabinet; Democrats swap blame Trump fills out his new Cabinet as Democrats point fingers 05:58 President-elect Donald Trump  will nominate Fox News host Pete Hegseth to be secretary of defense, the former president announced Tuesday night.  Hegseth, 44, is an Army veteran who served in Iraq and Afghanistan. He has an undergraduate degree from Princeton and a master’s degree from Harvard.  “I am honored to announce that I have nominated Pete Hegseth to serve in my Cabinet as The Secretary of Defense,” Trump said in a statement Tuesday night. “Pete has spent his entire life as a Warrior for the Troops, and for the Country. Pete is tough, smart and a true believer in America First. With Pete at the helm, America’s enemies are on notice — Our Military will be Great Again, and America will Never Back Down.” File: Fox News host Pete Hegseth  Roy Rochlin/Getty Images Hegseth joined Fox News as a contributor in 2014 and became a co-host of “Fox & Friends Weekends.”  He is the author

Explosion rocks Louisville, Kentucky, neighborhood – CBS News Watch CBS News An explosion in Louisville, Kentucky, injured several people on Tuesday at the Givaudan Sense Colour plant, a company that produces coloring for soft drinks. CBS News national correspondent Dave Malkoff reports. Be the first to know Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. Not Now Turn On

Updated on: November 12, 2024 / 9:18 PM EST / CBS/AP What Musk could gain from Trump’s second term What Elon Musk could gain from Trump’s second term 04:33 President-elect Donald Trump announced Tuesday that billionaire Elon Musk and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy will head up a new temporary agency known as the Department of Government Efficiency. Trump in a statement said the two “will pave the way for my Administration to dismantle Government Bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure Federal Agencies – Essential to the ‘Save America’ Movement.” Trump seemed to suggest that Musk and Ramaswamy might not formally join the government, explaining that the two would “provide advice and guidance from outside of Government, and will partner with the White House and Office of Management & Budget to drive large scale structural reform, and create an entrepreneurial approach to Government never seen before.” L-R: File photos of entrepreneur and former Republican presidential hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy and Tesla, SpaceX and X CEO Elon Musk. Getty Images In his own statement, Musk said the new agency “will send shockwaves through the system, and

Tulsa police tries to build trust with community Tulsa Police Department tries to build trust with community 03:47 Sheeba Atiqi’s is on a goodwill tour, and while it may look easy, it’s anything but. As a civilian ambassador for the Tulsa Police Department, her goal is to thaw relations with an often standoffish community. “People are afraid to approach them, afraid to ask them questions,” Atiqi said. “My job as a police ambassador is basically to be the liaison between the department and the community members.” It can be challenging, Atiqi says, because people may be “afraid due to their own background to engage with officers.” Tulsa is proud of its history as the center of the oil industry, but the city also grapples with ghosts — especially the aftermath of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, when local police assisted a rampaging white mob, leading to dozens, if not more, being killed and a Black neighborhood of nearly forty square blocks being incinerated. So the distrust that Tulsa police face runs deep and spans generations. “If you don’t learn from history, you’re doomed to repeat

It was just last month when 63-year-old Fernando Valenzuela, the beloved Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher who sparked Fernandomania, died from a mysterious illness. A newly published copy of his death certificate dispels much of the mystery: According to that document, Valenzuela’s underlying cause of death was possibly related to a liver disease and liver failure. The certificate, first reported by TMZ, listed septic shock, decompensated alcoholic cirrhosis and nonalcoholic steatohepatitis cirrhosis as underlying causes. The certificate also suggest that Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease may also have contributed to his death. A rare and lethal brain disease, Creutzfeldt-Jakob causes changes in brain tissue and affects muscle coordination and memory, according to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. The latest details come three weeks after Valenzuela’s death and days after a public funeral Mass was held for him at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in downtown Los Angeles. Since his death on Oct. 22, Dodgers fans have been celebrating the life of the legendary pitcher who meant so much to Angelenos, especially in the Latino community. An informal memorial was created outside Dodger Stadium